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+Project Gutenberg's Myths of Babylonia and Assyria, by Donald A. Mackenzie
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Myths of Babylonia and Assyria
+
+Author: Donald A. Mackenzie
+
+Release Date: September 5, 2005 [EBook #16653]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MYTHS OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Sami Sieranoja, Tapio Riikonen and PG
+Distributed Proofreaders
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+
+MYTHS OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA
+
+Donald A. Mackenzie
+
+
+
+TABLE OF CONTENTS
+
+                Preface
+                Introduction
+I.              The Races and Early Civilization of Babylonia
+II.             The Land of Rivers and the God of the Deep
+III.            Rival Pantheons and Representative Deities
+IV.             Demons, Fairies, and Ghosts
+V.              Myths of Tammuz and Ishtar
+VI.             Wars of the City States of Sumer and Akkad
+VII.            Creation Legend: Merodach the Dragon Slayer
+VIII.           Deified Heroes: Etana and Gilgamesh
+IX.             Deluge Legend, the Island of the Blessed, and Hades
+X.              Buildings and Laws and Customs of Babylon
+XI.             The Golden Age of Babylonia
+XII.            Rise of the Hittites, Mitannians, Kassites, Hyksos, and
+                Assyrians
+XIII.           Astrology and Astronomy
+XIV.            Ashur the National God of Assyria
+XV.             Conflicts for Trade and Supremacy
+XVI.            Race Movements that Shattered Empires
+XVII.           The Hebrews in Assyrian History
+XVIII.          The Age of Semiramis
+XIX.            Assyria's Age of Splendour
+XX.             The Last Days of Assyria and Babylonia
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+
+This volume deals with the myths and legends of Babylonia and Assyria,
+and as these reflect the civilization in which they developed, a
+historical narrative has been provided, beginning with the early
+Sumerian Age and concluding with the periods of the Persian and
+Grecian Empires. Over thirty centuries of human progress are thus
+passed under review.
+
+During this vast interval of time the cultural influences emanating
+from the Tigro-Euphrates valley reached far-distant shores along the
+intersecting avenues of trade, and in consequence of the periodic and
+widespread migrations of peoples who had acquired directly or
+indirectly the leavening elements of Mesopotamian civilization. Even
+at the present day traces survive in Europe of the early cultural
+impress of the East; our "Signs of the Zodiac", for instance, as well
+as the system of measuring time and space by using 60 as a basic
+numeral for calculation, are inheritances from ancient Babylonia.
+
+As in the Nile Valley, however, it is impossible to trace in
+Mesopotamia the initiatory stages of prehistoric culture based on the
+agricultural mode of life. What is generally called the "Dawn of
+History" is really the beginning of a later age of progress; it is
+necessary to account for the degree of civilization attained at the
+earliest period of which we have knowledge by postulating a remoter
+age of culture of much longer duration than that which separates the
+"Dawn" from the age in which we now live. Although Sumerian (early
+Babylonian) civilization presents distinctively local features which
+justify the application of the term "indigenous" in the broad sense,
+it is found, like that of Egypt, to be possessed of certain elements
+which suggest exceedingly remote influences and connections at present
+obscure. Of special interest in this regard is Professor Budge's
+mature and well-deliberated conclusion that "both the Sumerians and
+early Egyptians derived their primeval gods from some common but
+exceedingly ancient source". The prehistoric burial customs of these
+separate peoples are also remarkably similar and they resemble closely
+in turn those of the Neolithic Europeans. The cumulative effect of
+such evidence forces us to regard as not wholly satisfactory and
+conclusive the hypothesis of cultural influence. A remote racial
+connection is possible, and is certainly worthy of consideration when
+so high an authority as Professor Frazer, author of _The Golden
+Bough_, is found prepared to admit that the widespread "homogeneity of
+beliefs" may have been due to "homogeneity of race". It is shown
+(Chapter 1) that certain ethnologists have accumulated data which
+establish a racial kinship between the Neolithic Europeans, the
+proto-Egyptians, the Sumerians, the southern Persians, and the
+Aryo-Indians.
+
+Throughout this volume comparative notes have been compiled in dealing
+with Mesopotamian beliefs with purpose to assist the reader towards
+the study of linking myths and legends. Interesting parallels have
+been gleaned from various religious literatures in Europe, Egypt,
+India, and elsewhere. It will be found that certain relics of
+Babylonian intellectual life, which have a distinctive geographical
+significance, were shared by peoples in other cultural areas where
+they were similarly overlaid with local colour. Modes of thought were
+the products of modes of life and were influenced in their development
+by human experiences. The influence of environment on the growth of
+culture has long been recognized, but consideration must also be given
+to the choice of environment by peoples who had adopted distinctive
+habits of life. Racial units migrated from cultural areas to districts
+suitable for colonization and carried with them a heritage of
+immemorial beliefs and customs which were regarded as being quite as
+indispensable for their welfare as their implements and domesticated
+animals.
+
+When consideration is given in this connection to the conservative
+element in primitive religion, it is not surprising to find that the
+growth of religious myths was not so spontaneous in early
+civilizations of the highest order as has hitherto been assumed. It
+seems clear that in each great local mythology we have to deal, in the
+first place, not with symbolized ideas so much as symbolized folk
+beliefs of remote antiquity and, to a certain degree, of common
+inheritance. It may not be found possible to arrive at a conclusive
+solution of the most widespread, and therefore the most ancient folk
+myths, such as, for instance, the Dragon Myth, or the myth of the
+culture hero. Nor, perhaps, is it necessary that we should concern
+ourselves greatly regarding the origin of the idea of the dragon,
+which in one country symbolized fiery drought and in another
+overwhelming river floods.
+
+The student will find footing on surer ground by following the process
+which exalts the dragon of the folk tale into the symbol of evil and
+primordial chaos. The Babylonian Creation Myth, for instance, can be
+shown to be a localized and glorified legend in which the hero and his
+tribe are displaced by the war god and his fellow deities whose
+welfare depends on his prowess. Merodach kills the dragon, Tiamat, as
+the heroes of Eur-Asian folk stories kill grisly hags, by casting his
+weapon down her throat.
+
+    He severed her inward parts, he pierced her heart,
+    He overcame her and cut off her life;
+    He cast down her body and stood upon it ...
+    And with merciless club he smashed her skull.
+    He cut through the channels of her blood,
+    And he made the north wind to bear it away into secret places.
+
+Afterwards
+
+    He divided the flesh of the _Ku-pu_ and devised a cunning plan.
+
+Mr. L.W. King, from whose scholarly _Seven Tablets of Creation_ these
+lines are quoted, notes that "Ku-pu" is a word of uncertain meaning.
+Jensen suggests "trunk, body". Apparently Merodach obtained special
+knowledge after dividing, and perhaps eating, the "Ku-pu". His
+"cunning plan" is set forth in detail: he cut up the dragon's body:
+
+    He split her up like a flat fish into two halves.
+
+He formed the heavens with one half and the earth with the other, and
+then set the universe in order. His power and wisdom as the Demiurge
+were derived from the fierce and powerful Great Mother, Tiamat.
+
+In other dragon stories the heroes devise their plans after eating the
+dragon's heart. According to Philostratus,[1] Apollonius of Tyana was
+worthy of being remembered for two things--his bravery in travelling
+among fierce robber tribes, not then subject to Rome, and his wisdom
+in learning the language of birds and other animals as the Arabs do.
+This accomplishment the Arabs acquired, Philostratus explains, by
+eating the hearts of dragons. The "animals" who utter magic words are,
+of course, the Fates. Siegfried of the _Nibelungenlied_, after slaying
+the Regin dragon, makes himself invulnerable by bathing in its blood.
+He obtains wisdom by eating the heart: as soon as he tastes it he can
+understand the language of birds, and the birds reveal to him that
+Mimer is waiting to slay him. Sigurd similarly makes his plans after
+eating the heart of the Fafner dragon. In Scottish legend
+Finn-mac-Coul obtains the power to divine secrets by partaking of a
+small portion of the seventh salmon associated with the "well dragon",
+and Michael Scott and other folk heroes become great physicians after
+tasting the juices of the middle part of the body of the white snake.
+The hero of an Egyptian folk tale slays a "deathless snake" by cutting
+it in two parts and putting sand between the parts. He then obtains
+from the box, of which it is the guardian, the book of spells; when he
+reads a page of the spells he knows what the birds of the sky, the
+fish of the deep, and the beasts of the hill say; the book gives him
+power to enchant "the heaven and the earth, the abyss, the mountains
+and the sea".[2]
+
+Magic and religion were never separated in Babylonia; not only the
+priests but also the gods performed magical ceremonies. Ea, Merodach's
+father, overcame Apsu, the husband of the dragon Tiamat, by means of
+spells: he was "the great magician of the gods". Merodach's division
+of the "Ku-pu" was evidently an act of contagious magic; by eating or
+otherwise disposing of the vital part of the fierce and wise mother
+dragon, he became endowed with her attributes, and was able to proceed
+with the work of creation. Primitive peoples in our own day, like the
+Abipones of Paraguay, eat the flesh of fierce and cunning animals so
+that their strength, courage, and wisdom may be increased.
+
+The direct influence exercised by cultural contact, on the other hand,
+may be traced when myths with an alien geographical setting are found
+among peoples whose experiences could never have given them origin. In
+India, where the dragon symbolizes drought and the western river
+deities are female, the Manu fish and flood legend resembles closely
+the Babylonian, and seems to throw light upon it. Indeed, the Manu
+myth appears to have been derived from the lost flood story in which
+Ea figured prominently in fish form as the Preserver. The Babylonian
+Ea cult and the Indian Varuna cult had apparently much in common, as
+is shown.
+
+Throughout this volume special attention has been paid to the various
+peoples who were in immediate contact with, and were influenced by,
+Mesopotamian civilization. The histories are traced in outline of the
+Kingdoms of Elam, Urartu (Ancient Armenia), Mitanni, and the Hittites,
+while the story of the rise and decline of the Hebrew civilization, as
+narrated in the Bible and referred to in Mesopotamian inscriptions, is
+related from the earliest times until the captivity in the
+Neo-Babylonian period and the restoration during the age of the
+Persian Empire. The struggles waged between the great Powers for the
+control of trade routes, and the periodic migrations of pastoral
+warrior folks who determined the fate of empires, are also dealt with,
+so that light may be thrown on the various processes and influences
+associated with the developments of local religions and mythologies.
+Special chapters, with comparative notes, are devoted to the
+Ishtar-Tammuz myths, the Semiramis legends, Ashur and his symbols, and
+the origin and growth of astrology and astronomy.
+
+The ethnic disturbances which occurred at various well-defined periods
+in the Tigro-Euphrates valley were not always favourable to the
+advancement of knowledge and the growth of culture. The invaders who
+absorbed Sumerian civilization may have secured more settled
+conditions by welding together political units, but seem to have
+exercised a retrogressive influence on the growth of local culture.
+"Babylonian religion", writes Dr. Langdon, "appears to have reached
+its highest level in the Sumerian period, or at least not later than
+2000 B.C. From that period onward to the first century B.C. popular
+religion maintained with great difficulty the sacred standards of the
+past." Although it has been customary to characterize Mesopotamian
+civilization as Semitic, modern research tends to show that the
+indigenous inhabitants, who were non-Semitic, were its originators.
+Like the proto-Egyptians, the early Cretans, and the Pelasgians in
+southern Europe and Asia Minor, they invariably achieved the
+intellectual conquest of their conquerors, as in the earliest times
+they had won victories over the antagonistic forces of nature. If the
+modern view is accepted that these ancient agriculturists of the
+goddess cult were of common racial origin, it is to the most
+representative communities of the widespread Mediterranean race that
+the credit belongs of laying the foundations of the brilliant
+civilizations of the ancient world in southern Europe, and Egypt, and
+the valley of the Tigris and Euphrates.
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+
+Ancient Babylonia has made stronger appeal to the imagination of
+Christendom than even Ancient Egypt, because of its association with
+the captivity of the Hebrews, whose sorrows are enshrined in the
+familiar psalm:
+
+    By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down;
+    Yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.
+    We hanged our harps upon the willows....
+
+In sacred literature proud Babylon became the city of the anti-Christ,
+the symbol of wickedness and cruelty and human vanity. Early
+Christians who suffered persecution compared their worldly state to
+that of the oppressed and disconsolate Hebrews, and, like them, they
+sighed for Jerusalem--the new Jerusalem. When St. John the Divine had
+visions of the ultimate triumph of Christianity, he referred to its
+enemies--the unbelievers and persecutors--as the citizens of the
+earthly Babylon, the doom of which he pronounced in stately and
+memorable phrases:
+
+    Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen,
+    And is become the habitation of devils,
+    And the hold of every foul spirit,
+    And a cage of every unclean and hateful bird....
+
+    For her sins have reached unto heaven
+    And God hath remembered her iniquities....
+    The merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her,
+    For no man buyeth their merchandise any more.
+
+"At the noise of the taking of Babylon", cried Jeremiah, referring to
+the original Babylon, "the earth is moved, and the cry is heard among
+the nations.... It shall be no more inhabited forever; neither shall
+it be dwelt in from generation to generation." The Christian Saint
+rendered more profound the brooding silence of the desolated city of
+his vision by voicing memories of its beauty and gaiety and bustling
+trade:
+
+    The voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers and trumpeters
+        shall be heard no more at all in thee;
+    And no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any
+        more in thee;
+    And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee;
+    And the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no
+        more at all in thee:
+    For thy merchants were the great men of the earth;
+    For by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.
+    _And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints,_
+    _And of all that were slain upon the earth_.[3]
+
+So for nearly two thousand years has the haunting memory of the
+once-powerful city pervaded Christian literature, while its broken
+walls and ruined temples and palaces lay buried deep in desert sand.
+The history of the ancient land of which it was the capital survived
+in but meagre and fragmentary form, mingled with accumulated myths and
+legends. A slim volume contained all that could be derived from
+references in the Old Testament and the compilations of classical
+writers.
+
+It is only within the past half-century that the wonderful story of
+early Eastern civilization has been gradually pieced together by
+excavators and linguists, who have thrust open the door of the past
+and probed the hidden secrets of long ages. We now know more about
+"the land of Babel" than did not only the Greeks and Romans, but even
+the Hebrew writers who foretold its destruction. Glimpses are being
+afforded us of its life and manners and customs for some thirty
+centuries before the captives of Judah uttered lamentations on the
+banks of its reedy canals. The sites of some of the ancient cities of
+Babylonia and Assyria were identified by European officials and
+travellers in the East early in the nineteenth century, and a few
+relics found their way to Europe. But before Sir A.H. Layard set to
+work as an excavator in the "forties", "a case scarcely three feet
+square", as he himself wrote, "enclosed all that remained not only of
+the great city of Nineveh, but of Babylon itself".[4]
+
+Layard, the distinguished pioneer Assyriologist, was an Englishman of
+Huguenot descent, who was born in Paris. Through his mother he
+inherited a strain of Spanish blood. During his early boyhood he
+resided in Italy, and his education, which began there, was continued
+in schools in France, Switzerland, and England. He was a man of
+scholarly habits and fearless and independent character, a charming
+writer, and an accomplished fine-art critic; withal he was a great
+traveller, a strenuous politician, and an able diplomatist. In 1845,
+while sojourning in the East, he undertook the exploration of ancient
+Assyrian cities. He first set to work at Kalkhi, the Biblical Calah.
+Three years previously M.P.C. Botta, the French consul at Mosul, had
+begun to investigate the Nineveh mounds; but these he abandoned for a
+mound near Khorsabad which proved to be the site of the city erected
+by "Sargon the Later", who is referred to by Isaiah. The relics
+discovered by Botta and his successor, Victor Place, are preserved in
+the Louvre.
+
+At Kalkhi and Nineveh Layard uncovered the palaces of some of the most
+famous Assyrian Emperors, including the Biblical Shalmaneser and
+Esarhaddon, and obtained the colossi, bas reliefs, and other treasures
+of antiquity which formed the nucleus of the British Museum's
+unrivalled Assyrian collection. He also conducted diggings at Babylon
+and Niffer (Nippur). His work was continued by his assistant, Hormuzd
+Rassam, a native Christian of Mosul, near Nineveh. Rassam studied for
+a time at Oxford.
+
+The discoveries made by Layard and Botta stimulated others to follow
+their example. In the "fifties" Mr. W.K. Loftus engaged in excavations
+at Larsa and Erech, where important discoveries were made of ancient
+buildings, ornaments, tablets, sarcophagus graves, and pot burials,
+while Mr. J.E. Taylor operated at Ur, the seat of the moon cult and
+the birthplace of Abraham, and at Eridu, which is generally regarded
+as the cradle of early Babylonian (Sumerian) civilization.
+
+In 1854 Sir Henry Rawlinson superintended diggings at Birs Nimrud
+(Borsippa, near Babylon), and excavated relics of the Biblical
+Nebuchadrezzar. This notable archaeologist began his career in the
+East as an officer in the Bombay army. He distinguished himself as a
+political agent and diplomatist. While resident at Baghdad, he devoted
+his leisure time to cuneiform studies. One of his remarkable feats was
+the copying of the famous trilingual rock inscription of Darius the
+Great on a mountain cliff at Behistun, in Persian Kurdistan. This work
+was carried out at great personal risk, for the cliff is 1700 feet
+high and the sculptures and inscriptions are situated about 300 feet
+from the ground.
+
+Darius was the first monarch of his line to make use of the Persian
+cuneiform script, which in this case he utilized in conjunction with
+the older and more complicated Assyro-Babylonian alphabetic and
+syllabic characters to record a portion of the history of his reign.
+Rawlinson's translation of the famous inscription was an important
+contribution towards the decipherment of the cuneiform writings of
+Assyria and Babylonia.
+
+Twelve years of brilliant Mesopotamian discovery concluded in 1854,
+and further excavations had to be suspended until the "seventies" on
+account of the unsettled political conditions of the ancient land and
+the difficulties experienced in dealing with Turkish officials. During
+the interval, however, archaeologists and philologists were kept fully
+engaged studying the large amount of material which had been
+accumulated. Sir Henry Rawlinson began the issue of his monumental
+work _The Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia_ on behalf of the
+British Museum.
+
+Goodspeed refers to the early archaeological work as the "Heroic
+Period" of research, and says that the "Modern Scientific Period"
+began with Mr. George Smith's expedition to Nineveh in 1873.
+
+George Smith, like Henry Schliemann, the pioneer investigator of
+pre-Hellenic culture, was a self-educated man of humble origin. He was
+born at Chelsea in 1840. At fourteen he was apprenticed to an
+engraver. He was a youth of studious habits and great originality, and
+interested himself intensely in the discoveries which had been made by
+Layard and other explorers. At the British Museum, which he visited
+regularly to pore over the Assyrian inscriptions, he attracted the
+attention of Sir Henry Rawlinson. So greatly impressed was Sir Henry
+by the young man's enthusiasm and remarkable intelligence that he
+allowed him the use of his private room and provided casts and
+squeezes of inscriptions to assist him in his studies. Smith made
+rapid progress. His earliest discovery was the date of the payment of
+tribute by Jehu, King of Israel, to the Assyrian Emperor Shalmaneser.
+Sir Henry availed himself of the young investigator's assistance in
+producing the third volume of _The Cuneiform Inscriptions_.
+
+In 1867 Smith received an appointment in the Assyriology Department of
+the British Museum, and a few years later became famous throughout
+Christendom as the translator of fragments of the Babylonian Deluge
+Legend from tablets sent to London by Rassam. Sir Edwin Arnold, the
+poet and Orientalist, was at the time editor of the _Daily Telegraph_,
+and performed a memorable service to modern scholarship by dispatching
+Smith, on behalf of his paper, to Nineveh to search for other
+fragments of the Ancient Babylonian epic. Rassam had obtained the
+tablets from the great library of the cultured Emperor Ashur-bani-pal,
+"the great and noble Asnapper" of the Bible,[5] who took delight, as
+he himself recorded, in
+
+    The wisdom of Ea,[6] the art of song, the treasures of science.
+
+This royal patron of learning included in his library collection,
+copies and translations of tablets from Babylonia. Some of these were
+then over 2000 years old. The Babylonian literary relics were, indeed,
+of as great antiquity to Ashur-bani-pal as that monarch's relics are
+to us.
+
+The Emperor invoked Nebo, god of wisdom and learning, to bless his
+"books", praying:
+
+    Forever, O Nebo, King of all heaven and earth,
+    Look gladly upon this Library
+    Of Ashur-bani-pal, his (thy) shepherd, reverencer of thy
+        divinity.[7]
+
+Mr. George Smith's expedition to Nineveh in 1873 was exceedingly
+fruitful of results. More tablets were discovered and translated. In
+the following year he returned to the ancient Assyrian city on behalf
+of the British Museum, and added further by his scholarly achievements
+to his own reputation and the world's knowledge of antiquity. His last
+expedition was made early in 1876; on his homeward journey he was
+stricken down with fever, and on 19th August he died at Aleppo in his
+thirty-sixth year. So was a brilliant career brought to an untimely
+end.
+
+Rassam was engaged to continue Smith's great work, and between 1877
+and 1882 made many notable discoveries in Assyria and Babylonia,
+including the bronze doors of a Shalmaneser temple, the sun temple at
+Sippar; the palace of the Biblical Nebuchadrezzar, which was famous
+for its "hanging gardens"; a cylinder of Nabonidus, King of Babylon;
+and about fifty thousand tablets.
+
+M. de Sarzec, the French consul at Bassorah, began in 1877 excavations
+at the ancient Sumerian city of Lagash (Shirpula), and continued them
+until 1900. He found thousands of tablets, many has reliefs, votive
+statuettes, which worshippers apparently pinned on sacred shrines, the
+famous silver vase of King Entemena, statues of King Gudea, and
+various other treasures which are now in the Louvre.
+
+The pioneer work achieved by British and French excavators stimulated
+interest all over the world. An expedition was sent out from the
+United States by the University of Pennsylvania, and began to operate
+at Nippur in 1888. The Germans, who have displayed great activity in
+the domain of philological research, are at present represented by an
+exploring party which is conducting the systematic exploration of the
+ruins of Babylon. Even the Turkish Government has encouraged research
+work, and its excavators have accumulated a fine collection of
+antiquities at Constantinople. Among the archaeologists and linguists
+of various nationalities who are devoting themselves to the study of
+ancient Assyrian and Babylonian records and literature, and gradually
+unfolding the story of ancient Eastern civilization, those of our own
+country occupy a prominent position. One of the most interesting
+discoveries of recent years has been new fragments of the Creation
+Legend by L.W. King of the British Museum, whose scholarly work, _The
+Seven Tablets of Creation_, is the standard work on the subject.
+
+The archaeological work conducted in Persia, Asia Minor, Palestine,
+Cyprus, Crete, the Aegean, and Egypt has thrown, and is throwing, much
+light on the relations between the various civilizations of antiquity.
+In addition to the Hittite discoveries, with which the name of
+Professor Sayce will ever be associated as a pioneer, we now hear much
+of the hitherto unknown civilizations of Mitanni and Urartu (ancient
+Armenia), which contributed to the shaping of ancient history. The
+Biblical narratives of the rise and decline of the Hebrew kingdoms
+have also been greatly elucidated.
+
+In this volume, which deals mainly with the intellectual life of the
+Mesopotamian peoples, a historical narrative has been provided as an
+appropriate setting for the myths and legends. In this connection the
+reader must be reminded that the chronology of the early period is
+still uncertain. The approximate dates which are given, however, are
+those now generally adopted by most European and American authorities.
+Early Babylonian history of the Sumerian period begins some time prior
+to 3000 B.C; Sargon of Akkad flourished about 2650 B.C., and Hammurabi
+not long before or after 2000 B.C. The inflated system of dating which
+places Mena of Egypt as far back as 5500 B.C. and Sargon at about 3800
+B.C. has been abandoned by the majority of prominent archaeologists,
+the exceptions including Professor Flinders Petrie. Recent discoveries
+appear to support the new chronological system. "There is a growing
+conviction", writes Mr. Hawes, "that Cretan evidence, especially in
+the eastern part of the island, favours the minimum (Berlin) system of
+Egyptian chronology, according to which the Sixth (Egyptian) Dynasty
+began at _c_. 2540 B.C. and the Twelfth at _c_. 2000 B.C.[8] Petrie
+dates the beginning of the Twelfth Dynasty at _c_. 3400 B.C.
+
+To students of comparative folklore and mythology the myths and
+legends of Babylonia present many features of engrossing interest.
+They are of great antiquity, yet not a few seem curiously familiar. We
+must not conclude, however, that because a European legend may bear
+resemblances to one translated from a cuneiform tablet it is
+necessarily of Babylonian origin. Certain beliefs, and the myths which
+were based upon them, are older than even the civilization of the
+Tigro-Euphrates valley. They belong, it would appear, to a stock of
+common inheritance from an uncertain cultural centre of immense
+antiquity. The problem involved has been referred to by Professor
+Frazer in the _Golden Bough_. Commenting on the similarities presented
+by certain ancient festivals in various countries, he suggests that
+they may be due to "a remarkable homogeneity of civilization
+throughout Southern Europe and Western Asia in prehistoric times. How
+far", he adds, "such homogeneity of civilization may be taken as
+evidence of homogeneity of race is a question for the ethnologist."[9]
+
+In Chapter I the reader is introduced to the ethnological problem, and
+it is shown that the results of modern research tend to establish a
+remote racial connection between the Sumerians of Babylonia, the
+prehistoric Egyptians, and the Neolithic (Late Stone Age) inhabitants
+of Europe, as well as the southern Persians and the "Aryans" of India.
+
+Comparative notes are provided in dealing with the customs, religious
+beliefs, and myths and legends of the Mesopotamian peoples to assist
+the student towards the elucidation and partial restoration of certain
+literary fragments from the cuneiform tablets. Of special interest in
+this connection are the resemblances between some of the Indian and
+Babylonian myths. The writer has drawn upon that "great storehouse" of
+ancient legends, the voluminous Indian epic, the _Mahabharata_, and it
+is shown that there are undoubted links between the Garuda eagle myths
+and those of the Sumerian Zu bird and the Etana eagle, while similar
+stories remain attached to the memories of "Sargon of Akkad" and the
+Indian hero Karna, and of Semiramis (who was Queen Sammu-ramat of
+Assyria) and Shakuntala. The Indian god Varuna and the Sumerian Ea are
+also found to have much in common, and it seems undoubted that the
+Manu fish and flood myth is a direct Babylonian inheritance, like the
+Yuga (Ages of the Universe) doctrine and the system of calculation
+associated with it. It is of interest to note, too, that a portion of
+the Gilgamesh epic survives in the _Ramayana_ story of the monkey god
+Hanuman's search for the lost princess Sita; other relics of similar
+character suggest that both the Gilgamesh and Hanuman narratives are
+derived in part from a very ancient myth. Gilgamesh also figures in
+Indian mythology as Yama, the first man, who explored the way to the
+Paradise called "The Land of Ancestors", and over which he
+subsequently presided as a god. Other Babylonian myths link with those
+found in Egypt, Greece, Scandinavia, Iceland, and the British Isles
+and Ireland. The Sargon myth, for instance, resembles closely the myth
+of Scyld (Sceaf), the patriarch, in the _Beowulf_ epic, and both
+appear to be variations of the Tammuz-Adonis story. Tammuz also
+resembles in one of his phases the Celtic hero Diarmid, who was slain
+by the "green boar" of the Earth Mother, as was Adonis by the boar
+form of Ares, the Greek war god.
+
+In approaching the study of these linking myths it would be as rash to
+conclude that all resemblances are due to homogeneity of race as to
+assume that folklore and mythology are devoid of ethnological
+elements. Due consideration must be given to the widespread influence
+exercised by cultural contact. We must recognize also that the human
+mind has ever shown a tendency to arrive quite independently at
+similar conclusions, when confronted by similar problems, in various
+parts of the world.
+
+But while many remarkable resemblances may be detected between the
+beliefs and myths and customs of widely separated peoples, it cannot
+be overlooked that pronounced and striking differences remain to be
+accounted for. Human experiences varied in localities because all
+sections of humanity were not confronted in ancient times by the same
+problems in their everyday lives. Some peoples, for instance,
+experienced no great difficulties regarding the food supply, which
+might be provided for them by nature in lavish abundance; others were
+compelled to wage a fierce and constant conflict against hostile
+forces in inhospitable environments with purpose to secure adequate
+sustenance and their meed of enjoyment. Various habits of life had to
+be adopted in various parts of the world, and these produced various
+habits of thought. Consequently, we find that behind all systems of
+primitive religion lies the formative background of natural phenomena.
+A mythology reflects the geography, the fauna and flora, and the
+climatic conditions of the area in which it took definite and
+permanent shape.
+
+In Babylonia, as elsewhere, we expect, therefore, to find a mythology
+which has strictly local characteristics--one which mirrors river and
+valley scenery, the habits of life of the people, and also the various
+stages of progress in the civilization from its earliest beginnings.
+Traces of primitive thought--survivals from remotest antiquity--should
+also remain in evidence. As a matter of fact Babylonian mythology
+fulfils our expectations in this regard to the highest degree.
+
+Herodotus said that Egypt was the gift of the Nile: similarly
+Babylonia may be regarded as the gift of the Tigris and
+Euphrates--those great shifting and flooding rivers which for long
+ages had been carrying down from the Armenian Highlands vast
+quantities of mud to thrust back the waters of the Persian Gulf and
+form a country capable of being utilized for human habitation. The
+most typical Babylonian deity was Ea, the god of the fertilizing and
+creative waters.
+
+He was depicted clad in the skin of a fish, as gods in other
+geographical areas were depicted wearing the skins of animals which
+were regarded as ancestors, or hostile demons that had to be
+propitiated. Originally Ea appears to have been a fish--the
+incarnation of the spirit of, or life principle in, the Euphrates
+River. His centre of worship was at Eridu, an ancient seaport, where
+apparently the prehistoric Babylonians (the Sumerians) first began to
+utilize the dried-up beds of shifting streams to irrigate the soil.
+One of the several creation myths is reminiscent of those early
+experiences which produced early local beliefs:
+
+    O thou River, who didst create all things,
+    When the great gods dug thee out,
+    They set prosperity upon thy banks,
+    Within thee Ea, the king of the Deep, created his dwelling.[10]
+
+The Sumerians observed that the land was brought into existence by
+means of the obstructing reeds, which caused mud to accumulate. When
+their minds began to be exercised regarding the origin of life, they
+conceived that the first human beings were created by a similar
+process:
+
+    Marduk (son of Ea) laid a reed upon the face of the waters,
+    He formed dust and poured it out beside the reed ...
+    He formed mankind.[11]
+
+Ea acquired in time, as the divine artisan, various attributes which
+reflected the gradual growth of civilization: he was reputed to have
+taught the people how to form canals, control the rivers, cultivate
+the fields, build their houses, and so on.
+
+But although Ea became a beneficent deity, as a result of the growth
+of civilization, he had also a demoniac form, and had to be
+propitiated. The worshippers of the fish god retained ancient modes of
+thought and perpetuated ancient superstitious practices.
+
+The earliest settlers in the Tigro-Euphrates valley were
+agriculturists, like their congeners, the proto-Egyptians and the
+Neolithic Europeans. Before they broke away from the parent stock in
+its area of characterization they had acquired the elements of
+culture, and adopted habits of thought which were based on the
+agricultural mode of life. Like other agricultural communities they
+were worshippers of the "World Mother", the Creatrix, who was the
+giver of all good things, the "Preserver" and also the
+"Destroyer"--the goddess whose moods were reflected by natural
+phenomena, and whose lovers were the spirits of the seasons.
+
+In the alluvial valley which they rendered fit for habitation the
+Sumerians came into contact with peoples of different habits of life
+and different habits of thought. These were the nomadic pastoralists
+from the northern steppe lands, who had developed in isolation
+theories regarding the origin of the Universe which reflected their
+particular experiences and the natural phenomena of their area of
+characterization. The most representative people of this class were
+the "Hatti" of Asia Minor, who were of Alpine or Armenoid stock. In
+early times the nomads were broken up into small tribal units, like
+Abraham and his followers, and depended for their food supply on the
+prowess of the males. Their chief deity was the sky and mountain god,
+who was the "World Father", the creator, and the wielder of the
+thunder hammer, who waged war against the demons of storm or drought,
+and ensured the food supply of his worshippers.
+
+The fusion in Babylonia of the peoples of the god and goddess cults
+was in progress before the dawn of history, as was the case in Egypt
+and also in southern Europe. In consequence independent Pantheons came
+into existence in the various city States in the Tigro-Euphrates
+valley. These were mainly a reflection of city politics: the deities
+of each influential section had to receive recognition. But among the
+great masses of the people ancient customs associated with agriculture
+continued in practice, and, as Babylonia depended for its prosperity
+on its harvests, the force of public opinion tended, it would appear,
+to perpetuate the religious beliefs of the earliest settlers, despite
+the efforts made by conquerors to exalt the deities they introduced.
+
+Babylonian religion was of twofold character. It embraced temple
+worship and private worship. The religion of the temple was the
+religion of the ruling class, and especially of the king, who was the
+guardian of the people. Domestic religion was conducted in homes, in
+reed huts, or in public places, and conserved the crudest
+superstitions surviving from the earliest times. The great "burnings"
+and the human sacrifices in Babylonia, referred to in the Bible, were,
+no doubt, connected with agricultural religion of the private order,
+as was also the ceremony of baking and offering cakes to the Queen of
+Heaven, condemned by Jeremiah, which obtained in the streets of
+Jerusalem and other cities. Domestic religion required no temples.
+There were no temples in Crete: the world was the "house" of the
+deity, who had seasonal haunts on hilltops, in groves, in caves, &c.
+In Egypt Herodotus witnessed festivals and processions which are not
+referred to in official inscriptions, although they were evidently
+practised from the earliest times.
+
+Agricultural religion in Egypt was concentrated in the cult of Osiris
+and Isis, and influenced all local theologies. In Babylonia these
+deities were represented by Tammuz and Ishtar. Ishtar, like Isis,
+absorbed many other local goddesses.
+
+According to the beliefs of the ancient agriculturists the goddess was
+eternal and undecaying. She was the Great Mother of the Universe and
+the source of the food supply. Her son, the corn god, became, as the
+Egyptians put it, "Husband of his Mother". Each year he was born anew
+and rapidly attained to manhood; then he was slain by a fierce rival
+who symbolized the season of pestilence-bringing and parching sun
+heat, or the rainy season, or wild beasts of prey. Or it might be that
+he was slain by his son, as Cronos was by Zeus and Dyaus by Indra. The
+new year slew the old year.
+
+The social customs of the people, which had a religious basis, were
+formed in accordance with the doings of the deities; they sorrowed or
+made glad in sympathy with the spirits of nature. Worshippers also
+suggested by their ceremonies how the deities should act at various
+seasons, and thus exercised, as they believed, a magical control over
+them.
+
+In Babylonia the agricultural myth regarding the Mother goddess and
+the young god had many variations. In one form Tammuz, like Adonis,
+was loved by two goddesses--the twin phases of nature--the Queen of
+Heaven and the Queen of Hades. It was decreed that Tammuz should spend
+part of the year with one goddess and part of the year with the other.
+Tammuz was also a Patriarch, who reigned for a long period over the
+land and had human offspring. After death his spirit appeared at
+certain times and seasons as a planet, star, or constellation. He was
+the ghost of the elder god, and he was also the younger god who was
+born each year.
+
+In the Gilgamesh epic we appear to have a form of the patriarch
+legend--the story of the "culture hero" and teacher who discovered the
+path which led to the land of ancestral spirits. The heroic Patriarch
+in Egypt was Apuatu, "the opener of the ways", the earliest form of
+Osiris; in India he was Yama, the first man, "who searched and found
+out the path for many".
+
+The King as Patriarch was regarded during life as an incarnation of
+the culture god: after death he merged in the god. "Sargon of Akkad"
+posed as an incarnation of the ancient agricultural Patriarch: he
+professed to be a man of miraculous birth who was loved by the goddess
+Ishtar, and was supposed to have inaugurated a New Age of the
+Universe.
+
+The myth regarding the father who was superseded by his son may
+account for the existence in Babylonian city pantheons of elder and
+younger gods who symbolized the passive and active forces of nature.
+
+Considering the persistent and cumulative influence exercised by
+agricultural religion it is not surprising to find, as has been
+indicated, that most of the Babylonian gods had Tammuz traits, as most
+of the Egyptian gods had Osirian traits. Although local or imported
+deities were developed and conventionalized in rival Babylonian
+cities, they still retained traces of primitive conceptions. They
+existed in all their forms--as the younger god who displaced the elder
+god and became the elder god, and as the elder god who conciliated the
+younger god and made him his active agent; and as the god who was
+identified at various seasons with different heavenly bodies and
+natural phenomena. Merodach, the god of Babylon, who was exalted as
+chief of the National pantheon in the Hammurabi Age, was, like Tammuz,
+a son, and therefore a form of Ea, a demon slayer, a war god, a god of
+fertility, a corn spirit, a Patriarch, and world ruler and guardian,
+and, like Tammuz, he had solar, lunar, astral, and atmospheric
+attributes. The complex characters of Merodach and Tammuz were not due
+solely to the monotheistic tendency: the oldest deities were of
+mystical character, they represented the "Self Power" of Naturalism as
+well as the spirit groups of Animism.
+
+The theorizing priests, who speculated regarding the mysteries of life
+and death and the origin of all things, had to address the people
+through the medium of popular beliefs. They utilized floating myths
+for this purpose. As there were in early times various centres of
+culture which had rival pantheons, the adapted myths varied greatly.
+In the different forms in which they survive to us they reflect, not
+only aspects of local beliefs, but also grades of culture at different
+periods. We must not expect, however, to find that the latest form of
+a myth was the highest and most profound. The history of Babylonian
+religion is divided into periods of growth and periods of decadence.
+The influence of domestic religion was invariably opposed to the new
+and high doctrines which emanated from the priesthood, and in times of
+political upheaval tended to submerge them in the debris of immemorial
+beliefs and customs. The retrogressive tendencies of the masses were
+invariably reinforced by the periodic invasions of aliens who had no
+respect for official deities and temple creeds.
+
+We must avoid insisting too strongly on the application of the
+evolution theory to the religious phenomena of a country like
+Babylonia.
+
+The epochs in the intellectual life of an ancient people are not
+comparable to geological epochs, for instance, because the forces at
+work were directed by human wills, whether in the interests of
+progress or otherwise. The battle of creeds has ever been a battle of
+minds. It should be recognized, therefore, that the human element
+bulks as prominently in the drama of Babylon's religious history as
+does the prince of Denmark in the play of _Hamlet_. We are not
+concerned with the plot alone. The characters must also receive
+attention. Their aspirations and triumphs, their prejudices and
+blunders, were the billowy forces which shaped the shoreland of the
+story and made history.
+
+Various aspects of Babylonian life and culture are dealt with
+throughout this volume, and it is shown that the growth of science and
+art was stimulated by unwholesome and crude superstitions. Many rank
+weeds flourished beside the brightest blossoms of the human intellect
+that wooed the sun in that fertile valley of rivers. As in Egypt,
+civilization made progress when wealth was accumulated in sufficient
+abundance to permit of a leisured class devoting time to study and
+research. The endowed priests, who performed temple ceremonies, were
+the teachers of the people and the patrons of culture. We may think
+little of their religious beliefs, regarding which after all we have
+only a superficial knowledge, for we have yet discovered little more
+than the fragments of the shell which held the pearl, the faded petals
+that were once a rose, but we must recognize that they provided
+inspiration for the artists and sculptors whose achievements compel
+our wonder and admiration, moved statesmen to inaugurate and
+administer humanitarian laws, and exalted Right above Might.
+
+These civilizations of the old world, among which the Mesopotamian and
+the Nilotic were the earliest, were built on no unsound foundations.
+They made possible "the glory that was Greece and the grandeur that
+was Rome", and it is only within recent years that we have begun to
+realize how incalculable is the debt which the modern world owes to
+them.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+THE RACES AND EARLY CIVILIZATION OF BABYLONIA
+
+
+  Prehistoric Babylonia--The Confederacies of Sumer and
+  Akkad--Sumerian Racial Affinities--Theories of Mongolian and
+  Ural-Altaic Origins--Evidence of Russian Turkestan--Beginnings of
+  Agriculture--Remarkable Proofs from Prehistoric Egyptian
+  Graves--Sumerians and the Mediterranean Race--Present-day Types in
+  Western Asia--The Evidence of Crania--Origin of the Akkadians--The
+  Semitic Blend--Races in Ancient Palestine--Southward Drift of
+  Armenoid Peoples--The Rephaims of the Bible--Akkadians attain
+  Political Supremacy in Northern Babylonia--Influence of Sumerian
+  Culture--Beginnings of Civilization--Progress in the Neolithic
+  Age--Position of Women in Early Communities--Their Legal Status in
+  Ancient Babylonia--Influence in Social and Religious Life--The
+  "Woman's Language"--Goddess who inspired Poets.
+
+
+Before the dawn of the historical period Ancient Babylonia was
+divided into a number of independent city states similar to those
+which existed in pre-Dynastic Egypt. Ultimately these were grouped
+into loose confederacies. The northern cities were embraced in the
+territory known as Akkad, and the southern in the land of Sumer, or
+Shumer. This division had a racial as well as a geographical
+significance. The Akkadians were "late comers" who had achieved
+political ascendency in the north when the area they occupied was
+called Uri, or Kiuri, and Sumer was known as Kengi. They were a people
+of Semitic speech with pronounced Semitic affinities. From the
+earliest times the sculptors depicted them with abundant locks, long
+full beards, and the prominent distinctive noses and full lips, which
+we usually associate with the characteristic Jewish type, and also
+attired in long, flounced robes, suspended from their left shoulders,
+and reaching down to their ankles. In contrast, the Sumerians had
+clean-shaven faces and scalps, and noses of Egyptian and Grecian
+rather than Semitic type, while they wore short, pleated kilts, and
+went about with the upper part of their bodies quite bare like the
+Egyptian noblemen of the Old Kingdom period. They spoke a non-Semitic
+language, and were the oldest inhabitants of Babylonia of whom we have
+any knowledge. Sumerian civilization was rooted in the agricultural
+mode of life, and appears to have been well developed before the
+Semites became numerous and influential in the land. Cities had been
+built chiefly of sun-dried and fire-baked bricks; distinctive pottery
+was manufactured with much skill; the people were governed by
+humanitarian laws, which formed the nucleus of the Hammurabi code, and
+had in use a system of cuneiform writing which was still in process of
+development from earlier pictorial characters. The distinctive feature
+of their agricultural methods was the engineering skill which was
+displayed in extending the cultivatable area by the construction of
+irrigating canals and ditches. There are also indications that they
+possessed some knowledge of navigation and traded on the Persian Gulf.
+According to one of their own traditions Eridu, originally a seaport,
+was their racial cradle. The Semitic Akkadians adopted the distinctive
+culture of these Sumerians after settlement, and exercised an
+influence on its subsequent growth.
+
+Much controversy has been waged regarding the original home of the
+Sumerians and the particular racial type which they represented. One
+theory connects them with the lank-haired and beardless Mongolians,
+and it is asserted on the evidence afforded by early sculptural
+reliefs that they were similarly oblique-eyed. As they also spoke an
+agglutinative language, it is suggested that they were descended from
+the same parent stock as the Chinese in an ancient Parthian homeland.
+If, however, the oblique eye was not the result of faulty and
+primitive art, it is evident that the Mongolian type, which is
+invariably found to be remarkably persistent in racial blends, did not
+survive in the Tigris and Euphrates valleys, for in the finer and more
+exact sculpture work of the later Sumerian period the eyes of the
+ruling classes are found to be similar to those of the Ancient
+Egyptians and southern Europeans. Other facial characteristics suggest
+that a Mongolian racial connection is highly improbable; the prominent
+Sumerian nose, for instance, is quite unlike the Chinese, which is
+diminutive. Nor can far-reaching conclusions be drawn from the scanty
+linguistic evidence at our disposal. Although the languages of the
+Sumerians and long-headed Chinese are of the agglutinative variety, so
+are those also which are spoken by the broad-headed Turks and Magyars
+of Hungary, the broad-headed and long-headed, dark and fair Finns, and
+the brunet and short-statured Basques with pear-shaped faces, who are
+regarded as a variation of the Mediterranean race with distinctive
+characteristics developed in isolation. Languages afford no sure
+indication of racial origins or affinities.
+
+Another theory connects the Sumerians with the broad-headed peoples of
+the Western Asian plains and plateaus, who are vaguely grouped as
+Ural-Altaic stock and are represented by the present-day Turks and the
+dark variety of Finns. It is assumed that they migrated southward in
+remote times in consequence of tribal pressure caused by changing
+climatic conditions, and abandoned a purely pastoral for an
+agricultural life. The late Sumerian sculpture work again presents
+difficulties in this connection, for the faces and bulging occiputs
+suggest rather a long-headed than a broad-headed type, and the theory
+no longer obtains that new habits of life alter skull forms which are
+usually associated with other distinctive traits in the structure of
+skeletons. These broad-headed nomadic peoples of the Steppes are
+allied to Tatar stock, and distinguished from the pure Mongols by
+their abundance of wavy hair and beard. The fact that the Sumerians
+shaved their scalps and faces is highly suggestive in this connection.
+From the earliest times it has been the habit of most peoples to
+emphasize their racial characteristics so as to be able, one may
+suggest, to distinguish readily a friend from a foeman. At any rate
+this fact is generally recognized by ethnologists. The Basques, for
+instance, shave their pointed chins and sometimes grow short side
+whiskers to increase the distinctive pear-shape which is given to
+their faces by their prominent temples. In contrast, their neighbours,
+the Andalusians, grow chin whiskers to broaden their already rounded
+chins, and to distinguish them markedly from the Basques.[12] Another
+example of similar character is afforded in Asia Minor, where the
+skulls of the children of long-headed Kurds are narrowed, and those of
+the children of broad-headed Armenians made flatter behind as a result
+of systematic pressure applied by using cradle boards. In this way
+these rival peoples accentuate their contrasting head forms, which at
+times may, no doubt, show a tendency towards variation as a result of
+the crossment of types. When it is found, therefore, that the
+Sumerians, like the Ancient Egyptians, were in the habit of shaving,
+their ethnic affinities should be looked for among a naturally
+glabrous rather than a heavily-bearded people.
+
+A Central Asiatic source for Sumerian culture has also been urged of
+late with much circumstantial detail. It breaks quite fresh and
+interesting ground. Recent scientific expeditions in Russian and
+Chinese Turkestan have accumulated important archaeological data which
+clearly establish that vast areas of desert country were at a remote
+period most verdurous and fruitful, and thickly populated by organized
+and apparently progressive communities. From these ancient centres of
+civilization wholesale migrations must have been impelled from time to
+time in consequence of the gradual encroachment of wind-distributed
+sand and the increasing shortage of water. At Anau in Russian
+Turkestan, where excavations were conducted by the Pumpelly
+expedition, abundant traces were found of an archaic and forgotten
+civilization reaching back to the Late Stone Age. The pottery is
+decorated with geometric designs, and resembles somewhat other
+Neolithic specimens found as far apart as Susa, the capital of ancient
+Elam, on the borders of Babylonia, Boghaz Köi in Asia Minor, the seat
+of Hittite administration, round the Black Sea to the north, and at
+points in the southern regions of the Balkan Peninsula. It is
+suggested that these various finds are scattered evidences of early
+racial drifts from the Central Asian areas which were gradually being
+rendered uninhabitable. Among the Copper Age artifacts at Anau are
+clay votive statuettes resembling those which were used in Sumeria for
+religious purposes. These, however, cannot be held to prove a racial
+connection, but they are important in so far as they afford evidence
+of early trade relations in a hitherto unsuspected direction, and the
+long distances over which cultural influence extended before the dawn
+of history. Further we cannot go. No inscriptions have yet been
+discovered to render articulate this mysterious Central Asian
+civilization, or to suggest the original source of early Sumerian
+picture writing. Nor is it possible to confirm Mr. Pumpelly's view
+that from the Anau district the Sumerians and Egyptians first obtained
+barley and wheat, and some of their domesticated animals. If, as
+Professor Elliot Smith believes, copper was first used by the Ancient
+Egyptians, it may be, on the other hand, that a knowledge of this
+metal reached Anau through Sumeria, and that the elements of the
+earlier culture were derived from the same quarter by an indirect
+route. The evidence obtainable in Egypt is of interest in this
+connection. Large quantities of food have been taken from the stomachs
+and intestines of sun-dried bodies which have lain in their
+pre-Dynastic graves for over sixty centuries. This material has been
+carefully examined, and has yielded, among other things, husks of
+barley and millet, and fragments of mammalian bones, including those,
+no doubt, of the domesticated sheep and goats and cattle painted on
+the pottery.[13] It is therefore apparent that at an extremely remote
+period a knowledge of agriculture extended throughout Egypt, and we
+have no reason for supposing that it was not shared by the
+contemporary inhabitants of Sumer.
+
+The various theories which have been propounded regarding the outside
+source of Sumerian culture are based on the assumption that it
+commenced abruptly and full grown. Its rude beginnings cannot be
+traced on the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates, but although no
+specimens of the earliest form of picture writing have been recovered
+from the ruins of Sumerian and Akkadian cities, neither have any been
+found elsewhere. The possibility remains, therefore, that early
+Babylonian culture was indigenous. "A great deal of ingenuity has been
+displayed by many scholars", says Professor Elliot Smith, "with the
+object of bringing these Sumerians from somewhere else as immigrants
+into Sumer; but no reasons have been advanced to show that they had
+not been settled at the head of the Persian Gulf for long generations
+before they first appeared on the stage of history. The argument that
+no early remains have been found is futile, not only because such a
+country as Sumer is no more favourable to the preservation of such
+evidence than is the Delta of the Nile, but also upon the more general
+grounds that negative statements of this sort cannot be assigned a
+positive evidence for an immigration."[14] This distinguished
+ethnologist is frankly of opinion that the Sumerians were the
+congeners of the pre-Dynastic Egyptians of the Mediterranean or Brown
+race, the eastern branch of which reaches to India and the western to
+the British Isles and Ireland. In the same ancient family are included
+the Arabs, whose physical characteristics distinguish them from the
+Semites of Jewish type.
+
+Some light may be thrown on the Sumerian problem by giving
+consideration to the present-day racial complexion of Western Asia.
+The importance of evidence of this character has been emphasized
+elsewhere. In Egypt, for instance, Dr. C.S. Myers has ascertained that
+the modern peasants have skull forms which are identical with those of
+their pre-Dynastic ancestors. Mr. Hawes has also demonstrated that the
+ancient inhabitants of Crete are still represented on that famous
+island. But even more remarkable is the fact that the distinctive
+racial type which occupied the Palaeolithic caves of the Dordogne
+valley in France continues to survive in their vicinity after an
+interval of over twenty thousand years.[15] It is noteworthy,
+therefore, to find that in south-western Asia at the present day one
+particular racial type predominates over all others. Professor Ripley,
+who summarizes a considerable mass of data in this connection, refers
+to it as the "Iranian", and says: "It includes the Persians and Kurds,
+possibly the Ossetes in the Caucasus, and farther to the east a large
+number of Asiatic tribes, from the Afghans to the Hindus. These
+peoples are all primarily long-headed and dark brunets. They incline
+to slenderness of habit, although varying in stature according to
+circumstances. In them we recognize at once undoubted congeners of our
+Mediterranean race in Europe. The area of their extension runs off
+into Africa, through the Egyptians, who are clearly of the same race.
+Not only the modern peoples, but the Ancient Egyptians and the
+Phoenicians also have been traced to the same source. By far the
+largest portion of this part of Western Asia is inhabited by this
+eastern branch of the Mediterranean race." The broad-headed type
+"occurs sporadically among a few ethnic remnants in Syria and
+Mesopotamia".[16] The exhaustive study of thousands of ancient crania
+in London and Cambridge collections has shown that Mediterranean
+peoples, having alien traits, the result of early admixture, were
+distributed between Egypt and the Punjab.[17] Where blending took
+place, the early type, apparently, continued to predominate; and it
+appears to be reasserting itself in our own time in Western Asia, as
+elsewhere. It seems doubtful, therefore, that the ancient Sumerians
+differed racially from the pre-Dynastic inhabitants of Egypt and the
+Pelasgians and Iberians of Europe. Indeed, the statuettes from Tello,
+the site of the Sumerian city of Lagash, display distinctively
+Mediterranean skull forms and faces. Some of the plump figures of the
+later period suggest, however, "the particular alien strain" which in
+Egypt and elsewhere "is always associated with a tendency to the
+development of fat", in contrast to "the lean and sinewy appearance of
+most representatives of the Brown race".[18] This change may be
+accounted for by the presence of the Semites in northern Babylonia.
+
+Whence, then, came these invading Semitic Akkadians of Jewish type? It
+is generally agreed that they were closely associated with one of the
+early outpourings of nomadic peoples from Arabia, a country which is
+favourable for the production of a larger population than it is able
+to maintain permanently, especially when its natural resources are
+restricted by a succession of abnormally dry years. In tracing the
+Akkadians from Arabia, however, we are confronted at the outset with
+the difficulty that its prehistoric, and many of its present-day,
+inhabitants are not of the characteristic Semitic type. On the Ancient
+Egyptian pottery and monuments the Arabs are depicted as men who
+closely resembled the representatives of the Mediterranean race in the
+Nile valley and elsewhere. They shaved neither scalps nor faces as did
+the historic Sumerians and Egyptians, but grew the slight moustache
+and chin-tuft beard like the Libyans on the north and the majority of
+the men whose bodies have been preserved in pre-Dynastic graves in the
+Nile valley. "If", writes Professor Elliot Smith, "the generally
+accepted view is true, that Arabia was the original home of the
+Semites, the Arab must have undergone a profound change in his
+physical characters after he left his homeland and before he reached
+Babylonia." This authority is of opinion that the Arabians first
+migrated into Palestine and northern Syria, where they mingled with
+the southward-migrating Armenoid peoples from Asia Minor. "This blend
+of Arabs, kinsmen of the proto-Egyptians and Armenoids, would then
+form the big-nosed, long-bearded Semites, so familiar not only on the
+ancient Babylonian and Egyptian monuments, but also in the modern
+Jews."[19] Such a view is in accord with Dr. Hugo Winckler's
+contention that the flow of Arabian migrations was northwards towards
+Syria ere it swept through Mesopotamia. It can scarcely be supposed
+that these invasions of settled districts did not result in the fusion
+and crossment of racial types and the production of a sub-variety with
+medium skull form and marked facial characteristics.
+
+Of special interest in this connection is the evidence afforded by
+Palestine and Egypt. The former country has ever been subject to
+periodic ethnic disturbances and changes. Its racial history has a
+remote beginning in the Pleistocene Age. Palaeolithic flints of
+Chellean and other primitive types have been found in large numbers,
+and a valuable collection of these is being preserved in a French
+museum at Jerusalem. In a northern cave fragments of rude pottery,
+belonging to an early period in the Late Stone Age, have been
+discovered in association with the bones of the woolly rhinoceros. To
+a later period belong the series of Gezer cave dwellings, which,
+according to Professor Macalister, the well-known Palestinian
+authority, "were occupied by a non-Semitic people of low stature, with
+thick skulls and showing evidence of the great muscular strength that
+is essential to savage life".[20] These people are generally supposed
+to be representatives of the Mediterranean race, which Sergi has found
+to have been widely distributed throughout Syria and a part of Asia
+Minor.[21] An interesting problem, however, is raised by the fact
+that, in one of the caves, there are evidences that the dead were
+cremated. This was not a Mediterranean custom, nor does it appear to
+have prevailed outside the Gezer area. If, however, it does not
+indicate that the kinsmen of the Ancient Egyptians came into contact
+with the remnants of an earlier people, it may be that the dead of a
+later people were burned there. The possibility that unidentified
+types may have contributed to the Semitic blend, however, remains. The
+Mediterraneans mingled in Northern Syria and Asia Minor with the
+broad-headed Armenoid peoples who are represented in Europe by the
+Alpine race. With them they ultimately formed the great Hittite
+confederacy. These Armenoids were moving southwards at the very dawn
+of Egyptian history, and nothing is known of their conquests and
+settlements. Their pioneers, who were probably traders, appear to have
+begun to enter the Delta region before the close of the Late Stone
+Age.[22] The earliest outpourings of migrating Arabians may have been
+in progress about the same time. This early southward drift of
+Armenoids might account for the presence in southern Palestine, early
+in the Copper Age, of the tall race referred to in the Bible as the
+Rephaim or Anakim, "whose power was broken only by the Hebrew
+invaders".[23] Joshua drove them out of Hebron,[24] in the
+neighbourhood of which Abraham had purchased a burial cave from
+Ephron, the Hittite.[25] Apparently a system of land laws prevailed in
+Palestine at this early period. It is of special interest for us to
+note that in Abraham's day and afterwards, the landed proprietors in
+the country of the Rephaim were identified with the aliens from Asia
+Minor--the tall variety in the Hittite confederacy.
+
+Little doubt need remain that the Arabians during their sojourn in
+Palestine and Syria met with distinctive types, and if not with pure
+Armenoids, at any rate with peoples having Armenoid traits. The
+consequent multiplication of tribes, and the gradual pressure
+exercised by the constant stream of immigrants from Arabia and Asia
+Minor, must have kept this part of Western Asia in a constant state of
+unrest. Fresh migrations of the surplus stock were evidently propelled
+towards Egypt in one direction, and the valleys of the Tigris and
+Euphrates in another. The Semites of Akkad were probably the
+conquerors of the more highly civilized Sumerians, who must have
+previously occupied that area. It is possible that they owed their
+success to the possession of superior weapons. Professor Elliot Smith
+suggests in this connection that the Arabians had become familiar with
+the use of copper as a result of contact with the Egyptians in Sinai.
+There is no evidence, however, that the Sumerians were attacked before
+they had begun to make metal weapons. It is more probable that the
+invading nomads had superior military organization and considerable
+experience in waging war against detached tribal units. They may have
+also found some of the northern Sumerian city states at war with one
+another and taken advantage of their unpreparedness to resist a common
+enemy. The rough Dorians who overran Greece and the fierce Goths who
+shattered the power of Rome were similarly in a lower state of
+civilization than the peoples whom they subdued.
+
+The Sumerians, however, ultimately achieved an intellectual conquest
+of their conquerors. Although the leaders of invasion may have formed
+military aristocracies in the cities which they occupied, it was
+necessary for the great majority of the nomads to engage their
+activities in new directions after settlement. The Semitic Akkadians,
+therefore, adopted Sumerian habits of life which were best suited for
+the needs of the country, and they consequently came under the spell
+of Sumerian modes of thought. This is shown by the fact that the
+native speech of ancient Sumer continued long after the dawn of
+history to be the language of Babylonian religion and culture, like
+Latin in Europe during the Middle Ages. For centuries the mingling
+peoples must have been bilingual, as are many of the inhabitants of
+Ireland, Wales, and the Scottish Highlands in the present age, but
+ultimately the language of the Semites became the prevailing speech in
+Sumer and Akkad. This change was the direct result of the conquests
+and the political supremacy achieved by the northern people. A
+considerable period elapsed, however, ere this consummation was
+reached and Ancient Babylonia became completely Semitized. No doubt
+its brilliant historical civilization owed much of its vigour and
+stability to the organizing genius of the Semites, but the basis on
+which it was established had been laid by the ingenious and
+imaginative Sumerians who first made the desert to blossom like the
+rose.
+
+The culture of Sumer was a product of the Late Stone Age, which should
+not be regarded as necessarily an age of barbarism. During its vast
+periods there were great discoveries and great inventions in various
+parts of Asia, Africa, and Europe. The Neoliths made pottery and
+bricks; we know that they invented the art of spinning, for
+spindle-whorls are found even in the Gezer caves to which we have
+referred, while in Egypt the pre-Dynastic dead were sometimes wrapped
+in finely woven linen: their deftly chipped flint implements are
+eloquent of artistic and mechanical skill, and undoubted mathematical
+ability must be credited to the makers of smoothly polished stone
+hammers which are so perfectly balanced that they revolve on a centre
+of gravity. In Egypt and Babylonia the soil was tilled and its
+fertility increased by irrigation. Wherever man waged a struggle with
+Nature he made rapid progress, and consequently we find that the
+earliest great civilizations were rooted in the little fields of the
+Neolithic farmers. Their mode of life necessitated a knowledge of
+Nature's laws; they had to take note of the seasons and measure time.
+So Egypt gave us the Calendar, and Babylonia the system of dividing
+the week into seven days, and the day into twelve double hours.
+
+The agricultural life permitted large communities to live in river
+valleys, and these had to be governed by codes of laws; settled
+communities required peace and order for their progress and
+prosperity. All great civilizations have evolved from the habits and
+experiences of settled communities. Law and religion were closely
+associated, and the evidence afforded by the remains of stone circles
+and temples suggests that in the organization and division of labour
+the influence of religious teachers was pre-eminent. Early rulers,
+indeed, were priest-kings--incarnations of the deity who owned the
+land and measured out the span of human life.
+
+We need not assume that Neolithic man led an idyllic existence; his
+triumphs were achieved by slow and gradual steps; his legal codes
+were, no doubt, written in blood and his institutions welded in the
+fires of adversity. But, disciplined by laws, which fostered
+humanitarian ideals, Neolithic man, especially of the Mediterranean
+race, had reached a comparatively high state of civilization long ages
+before the earliest traces of his activities can be obtained. When
+this type of mankind is portrayed in Ancient Sumeria, Ancient Egypt,
+and Ancient Crete we find that the faces are refined and intellectual
+and often quite modern in aspect. The skulls show that in the Late
+Stone Age the human brain was fully developed and that the racial
+types were fixed. In every country in Europe we still find the direct
+descendants of the ancient Mediterranean race, as well as the
+descendants of the less highly cultured conquerors who swept westward
+out of Asia at the dawn of the Bronze Age; and everywhere there are
+evidences of crossment of types in varying degrees. Even the influence
+of Neolithic intellectual life still remains. The comparative study of
+mythology and folk beliefs reveals that we have inherited certain
+modes of thought from our remote ancestors, who were the congeners of
+the Ancient Sumerians and the Ancient Egyptians. In this connection it
+is of interest, therefore, to refer to the social ideals of the early
+peoples who met and mingled on the southern plains of the Tigris and
+Euphrates, and especially the position occupied by women, which is
+engaging so much attention at the present day.
+
+It would appear that among the Semites and other nomadic peoples woman
+was regarded as the helpmate rather than the companion and equal of
+man. The birth of a son was hailed with joy; it was "miserable to have
+a daughter", as a Hindu sage reflected; in various countries it was
+the custom to expose female children after birth and leave them to
+die. A wife had no rights other than those accorded to her by her
+husband, who exercised over her the power of life and death. Sons
+inherited family possessions; the daughters had no share allotted to
+them, and could be sold by fathers and brothers. Among the peoples who
+observed "male right", social life was reflected in the conception of
+controlling male deities, accompanied by shadowy goddesses who were
+often little else than figures of speech.
+
+The Ancient Sumerians, on the other hand, like the Mediterranean
+peoples of Egypt and Crete, reverenced and exalted motherhood in
+social and religious life. Women were accorded a legal status and
+marriage laws were promulgated by the State. Wives could possess
+private property in their own right, as did the Babylonian Sarah, wife
+of Abraham, who owned the Egyptian slave Hagar.[26] A woman received
+from her parents a marriage dowry, and in the event of separation from
+her husband she could claim its full value. Some spinsters, or wives,
+were accustomed to enter into business partnerships with men or
+members of their own sex, and could sue and be sued in courts of law.
+Brothers and sisters were joint heirs of the family estate. Daughters
+might possess property over which their fathers exercised no control:
+they could also enter into legal agreements with their parents in
+business matters, when they had attained to years of discretion. Young
+women who took vows of celibacy and lived in religious institutions
+could yet make business investments, as surviving records show. There
+is only one instance of a Sumerian woman ascending the throne, like
+Queen Hatshepsut of Egypt. Women, therefore, were not rigidly excluded
+from official life. Dungi II, an early Sumerian king, appointed two of
+his daughters as rulers of conquered cities in Syria and Elam.
+Similarly Shishak, the Egyptian Pharaoh, handed over the city of
+Gezer, which he had subdued, to his daughter, Solomon's wife.[27] In
+the religious life of ancient Sumeria the female population exercised
+an undoubted influence, and in certain temples there were priestesses.
+The oldest hymns give indication of the respect shown to women by
+making reference to mixed assemblies as "females and males", just as
+present-day orators address themselves to "ladies and gentlemen". In
+the later Semitic adaptations of these productions, it is significant
+to note, this conventional reference was altered to "male and female".
+If influences, however, were at work to restrict the position of women
+they did not meet with much success, because when Hammurabi codified
+existing laws, the ancient rights of women received marked
+recognition.
+
+There were two dialects in ancient Sumeria, and the invocatory hymns
+were composed in what was known as "the women's language". It must not
+be inferred, however, that the ladies of Sumeria had established a
+speech which differed from that used by men. The reference would
+appear to be to a softer and homelier dialect, perhaps the oldest of
+the two, in which poetic emotion found fullest and most beautiful
+expression. In these ancient days, as in our own, the ideal of
+womanhood was the poet's chief source of inspiration, and among the
+hymns the highest reach of poetic art was attained in the invocation
+of Ishtar, the Babylonian Venus. The following hymn is addressed to
+that deity in her Valkyrie-like character as a goddess of war, but her
+more feminine traits are not obscured:--
+
+    HYMN TO ISHTAR
+
+    To thee I cry, O lady of the gods,
+    Lady of ladies, goddess without peer,
+    Ishtar who shapes the lives of all mankind,
+    Thou stately world queen, sovran of the sky,
+    And lady ruler of the host of heaven--
+    Illustrious is thy name... O light divine,
+    Gleaming in lofty splendour o'er the earth--
+    Heroic daughter of the moon, oh! hear;
+    Thou dost control our weapons and award
+    In battles fierce the victory at will--
+    crown'd majestic Fate. Ishtar most high,
+    Who art exalted over all the gods,
+    Thou bringest lamentation; thou dost urge
+    With hostile hearts our brethren to the fray;
+    The gift of strength is thine for thou art strong;
+    Thy will is urgent, brooking no delay;
+    Thy hand is violent, thou queen of war
+    Girded with battle and enrobed with fear...
+    Thou sovran wielder of the wand of Doom,
+    The heavens and earth are under thy control.
+
+    Adored art thou in every sacred place,
+    In temples, holy dwellings, and in shrines,
+    Where is thy name not lauded? where thy will
+    Unheeded, and thine images not made?
+    Where are thy temples not upreared? O, where
+    Art thou not mighty, peerless, and supreme?
+
+    Anu and Bel and Ea have thee raised
+    To rank supreme, in majesty and pow'r,
+    They have established thee above the gods
+    And all the host of heaven... O stately queen,
+    At thought of thee the world is filled with fear,
+    The gods in heaven quake, and on the earth
+    All spirits pause, and all mankind bow down
+    With reverence for thy name... O Lady Judge,
+
+    Thy ways are just and holy; thou dost gaze
+    On sinners with compassion, and each morn
+    Leadest the wayward to the rightful path.
+
+    Now linger not, but come! O goddess fair,
+    O shepherdess of all, thou drawest nigh
+    With feet unwearied... Thou dost break the bonds
+    Of these thy handmaids... When thou stoopest o'er
+    The dying with compassion, lo! they live;
+    And when the sick behold thee they are healed.
+
+    Hear me, thy servant! hearken to my pray'r,
+    For I am full of sorrow and I sigh
+    In sore distress; weeping, on thee I wait.
+    Be merciful, my lady, pity take
+    And answer, "'Tis enough and be appeased ".
+
+    How long must my heart sorrow and make moan
+    And restless be? How long must my dark home
+    Be filled with mourning and my soul with grief?
+    O lioness of heaven, bring me peace
+    And rest and comfort. Hearken to my pray'r!
+    Is anger pity? May thine eyes look down
+    With tenderness and blessings, and behold
+    Thy servant. Oh! have mercy; hear my cry
+    And unbewitch me from the evil spells,
+    That I may see thy glory... Oh! how long
+    Shall these my foes pursue me, working ill,
+    And robbing me of joy?... Oh! how long
+    Shall demons compass me about and cause
+    Affliction without end?... I thee adore--
+    The gift of strength is thine and thou art strong--
+    The weakly are made strong, yet I am weak...
+    O hear me! I am glutted with my grief--
+    This flood of grief by evil winds distressed;
+    My heart hath fled me like a bird on wings,
+    And like the dove I moan. Tears from mine eyes
+    Are falling as the rain from heaven falls,
+    And I am destitute and full of woe.
+
+           *       *       *       *       *
+
+    What have I done that thou hast turned from me?
+    Have I neglected homage to my god
+    And thee my goddess? O deliver me
+    And all my sins forgive, that I may share
+    Thy love and be watched over in thy fold;
+    And may thy fold be wide, thy pen secure.
+
+           *       *       *       *       *
+
+    How long wilt thou be angry? Hear my cry,
+    And turn again to prosper all my ways--
+    O may thy wrath be crumbled and withdrawn
+    As by a crumbling stream. Then smite my foes,
+    And take away their power to work me ill,
+    That I may crush them. Hearken to my pray'r!
+    And bless me so that all who me behold
+    May laud thee and may magnify thy name,
+    While I exalt thy power over all--
+    Ishtar is highest! Ishtar is the queen!
+    Ishtar the peerless daughter of the moon!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+THE LAND OF RIVERS AND THE GOD OF THE DEEP
+
+
+  Fertility of Ancient Babylonia--Rivers, Canals, Seasons, and
+  Climate--Early Trade and Foreign Influences--Local Religious
+  Cults--Ea, God of the Deep, identical with Oannes of Berosus--Origin
+  as a Sacred Fish--Compared with Brahma and Vishnu--Flood Legends in
+  Babylonia and India--Fish Deities in Babylonia and Egypt--Fish God
+  as a Corn God--The River as Creator--Ea an Artisan God, and links
+  with Egypt and India--Ea as the Hebrew Jah--Ea and Varuna are Water
+  and Sky Gods--The Babylonian Dagan and Dagon of the
+  Philistines--Deities of Water and Harvest in Phoenicia, Greece,
+  Rome, Scotland, Scandinavia, Ireland, and Egypt--Ea's Spouse
+  Damkina--Demons of Ocean in Babylonia and India--Anu, God of the
+  Sky--Enlil, Storm and War God of Nippur, like Adad, Odin, &c.--Early
+  Gods of Babylonia and Egypt of common origin--Ea's City as Cradle of
+  Sumerian Civilization.
+
+
+Ancient Babylonia was for over four thousand years the garden of
+Western Asia. In the days of Hezekiah and Isaiah, when it had come
+under the sway of the younger civilization of Assyria on the north, it
+was "a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of
+oil olive and of honey[28]". Herodotus found it still flourishing and
+extremely fertile. "This territory", he wrote, "is of all that we know
+the best by far for producing grain; it is so good that it returns as
+much as two hundredfold for the average, and, when it bears at its
+best, it produces three hundredfold. The blades of the wheat and
+barley there grow to be full four fingers broad; and from millet and
+sesame seed, how large a tree grows, I know myself, but shall not
+record, being well aware that even what has already been said relating
+to the crops produced has been enough to cause disbelief in those who
+have not visited Babylonia[29]." To-day great tracts of undulating
+moorland, which aforetime yielded two and three crops a year, are in
+summer partly barren wastes and partly jungle and reedy swamp.
+Bedouins camp beside sandy heaps which were once populous and thriving
+cities, and here and there the shrunken remnants of a people once
+great and influential eke out precarious livings under the oppression
+of Turkish tax-gatherers who are scarcely less considerate than the
+plundering nomads of the desert.
+
+This historic country is bounded on the east by Persia and on the west
+by the Arabian desert. In shape somewhat resembling a fish, it lies
+between the two great rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates, 100 miles
+wide at its broadest part, and narrowing to 35 miles towards the
+"tail" in the latitude of Baghdad; the "head" converges to a point
+above Basra, where the rivers meet and form the Shatt-el-Arab, which
+pours into the Persian Gulf after meeting the Karun and drawing away
+the main volume of that double-mouthed river. The distance from
+Baghdad to Basra is about 300 miles, and the area traversed by the
+Shatt-el-Arab is slowly extending at the rate of a mile every thirty
+years or so, as a result of the steady accumulation of silt and mud
+carried down by the Tigris and Euphrates. When Sumeria was beginning
+to flourish, these two rivers had separate outlets, and Eridu, the
+seat of the cult of the sea god Ea, which now lies 125 miles inland,
+was a seaport at the head of the Persian Gulf. A day's journey
+separated the river mouths when Alexander the Great broke the power of
+the Persian Empire.
+
+In the days of Babylonia's prosperity the Euphrates was hailed as "the
+soul of the land" and the Tigris as "the bestower of blessings".
+Skilful engineers had solved the problem of water distribution by
+irrigating sun-parched areas and preventing the excessive flooding of
+those districts which are now rendered impassable swamps when the
+rivers overflow. A network of canals was constructed throughout the
+country, which restricted the destructive tendencies of the Tigris and
+Euphrates and developed to a high degree their potentialities as
+fertilizing agencies. The greatest of these canals appear to have been
+anciently river beds. One, which is called Shatt en Nil to the north,
+and Shatt el Kar to the south, curved eastward from Babylon, and
+sweeping past Nippur, flowed like the letter S towards Larsa and then
+rejoined the river. It is believed to mark the course followed in the
+early Sumerian period by the Euphrates river, which has moved steadily
+westward many miles beyond the sites of ancient cities that were
+erected on its banks. Another important canal, the Shatt el Hai,
+crossed the plain from the Tigris to its sister river, which lies
+lower at this point, and does not run so fast. Where the artificial
+canals were constructed on higher levels than the streams which fed
+them, the water was raised by contrivances known as "shaddufs"; the
+buckets or skin bags were roped to a weighted beam, with the aid of
+which they were swung up by workmen and emptied into the canals. It is
+possible that this toilsome mode of irrigation was substituted in
+favourable parts by the primitive water wheels which are used in our
+own day by the inhabitants of the country who cultivate strips of land
+along the river banks.
+
+In Babylonia there are two seasons--the rainy and the dry. Rain falls
+from November till March, and the plain is carpeted in spring by
+patches of vivid green verdure and brilliant wild flowers. Then the
+period of drought ensues; the sun rapidly burns up all vegetation, and
+everywhere the eye is wearied by long stretches of brown and yellow
+desert. Occasional sandstorms darken the heavens, sweeping over
+sterile wastes and piling up the shapeless mounds which mark the sites
+of ancient cities. Meanwhile the rivers are increasing in volume,
+being fed by the melting snows at their mountain sources far to the
+north. The swift Tigris, which is 1146 miles long, begins to rise
+early in March and reaches its highest level in May; before the end of
+June it again subsides. More sluggish in movement, the Euphrates,
+which is 1780 miles long, shows signs of rising a fortnight later than
+the Tigris, and is in flood for a more extended period; it does not
+shrink to its lowest level until early in September. By controlling
+the flow of these mighty rivers, preventing disastrous floods, and
+storing and distributing surplus water, the ancient Babylonians
+developed to the full the natural resources of their country, and made
+it--what it may once again become--one of the fairest and most
+habitable areas in the world. Nature conferred upon them bountiful
+rewards for their labour; trade and industries flourished, and the
+cities increased in splendour and strength. Then as now the heat was
+great during the long summer, but remarkably dry and unvarying, while
+the air was ever wonderfully transparent under cloudless skies of
+vivid blue. The nights were cool and of great beauty, whether in
+brilliant moonlight or when ponds and canals were jewelled by the
+lustrous displays of clear and numerous stars which glorified that
+homeland of the earliest astronomers.
+
+Babylonia is a treeless country, and timber had to be imported from
+the earliest times. The date palm was probably introduced by man, as
+were certainly the vine and the fig tree, which were widely
+cultivated, especially in the north. Stone, suitable for building, was
+very scarce, and limestone, alabaster, marble, and basalt had to be
+taken from northern Mesopotamia, where the mountains also yield copper
+and lead and iron. Except Eridu, where ancient workers quarried
+sandstone from its sea-shaped ridge, all the cities were built of
+brick, an excellent clay being found in abundance. When brick walls
+were cemented with bitumen they were given great stability. This
+resinous substance is found in the north and south. It bubbles up
+through crevices of rocks on river banks and forms small ponds. Two
+famous springs at modern Hit, on the Euphrates, have been drawn upon
+from time immemorial. "From one", writes a traveller, "flows hot water
+black with bitumen, while the other discharges intermittently bitumen,
+or, after a rainstorm, bitumen and cold water.... Where rocks crop out
+in the plain above Hit, they are full of seams of bitumen."[30]
+Present-day Arabs call it "kiyara", and export it for coating boats
+and roofs; they also use it as an antiseptic, and apply it to cure the
+skin diseases from which camels suffer.
+
+Sumeria had many surplus products, including corn and figs, pottery,
+fine wool and woven garments, to offer in exchange for what it most
+required from other countries. It must, therefore, have had a brisk
+and flourishing foreign trade at an exceedingly remote period. No
+doubt numerous alien merchants were attracted to its cities, and it
+may be that they induced or encouraged Semitic and other raiders to
+overthrow governments and form military aristocracies, so that they
+themselves might obtain necessary concessions and achieve a degree of
+political ascendancy. It does not follow, however, that the peasant
+class was greatly affected by periodic revolutions of this kind, which
+brought little more to them than a change of rulers. The needs of the
+country necessitated the continuance of agricultural methods and the
+rigid observance of existing land laws; indeed, these constituted the
+basis of Sumerian prosperity. Conquerors have ever sought reward not
+merely in spoil, but also the services of the conquered. In northern
+Babylonia the invaders apparently found it necessary to conciliate and
+secure the continued allegiance of the tillers of the soil. Law and
+religion being closely associated, they had to adapt their gods to
+suit the requirements of existing social and political organizations.
+A deity of pastoral nomads had to receive attributes which would give
+him an agricultural significance; one of rural character had to be
+changed to respond to the various calls of city life. Besides, local
+gods could not be ignored on account of their popularity. As a result,
+imported beliefs and religious customs must have been fused and
+absorbed according to their bearing on modes of life in various
+localities. It is probable that the complex character of certain
+deities was due to the process of adjustment to which they were
+subjected in new environments.
+
+The petty kingdoms of Sumeria appear to have been tribal in origin.
+Each city was presided over by a deity who was the nominal owner of
+the surrounding arable land, farms were rented or purchased from the
+priesthood, and pasture was held in common. As in Egypt, where we
+find, for instance, the artisan god Ptah supreme at Memphis, the sun
+god Ra at Heliopolis, and the cat goddess Bast at Bubastis, the
+various local Sumerian and Akkadian deities had distinctive
+characteristics, and similarly showed a tendency to absorb the
+attributes of their rivals. The chief deity of a state was the central
+figure in a pantheon, which had its political aspect and influenced
+the growth of local theology. Cities, however, did not, as a rule,
+bear the names of deities, which suggests that several were founded
+when Sumerian religion was in its early animistic stages, and gods and
+goddesses were not sharply defined from the various spirit groups.
+
+A distinctive and characteristic Sumerian god was Ea, who was supreme
+at the ancient sea-deserted port of Eridu. He is identified with the
+Oannes of Berosus,[31] who referred to the deity as "a creature
+endowed with reason, with a body like that of a fish, with feet below
+like those of a man, with a fish's tail". This description recalls the
+familiar figures of Egyptian gods and priests attired in the skins of
+the sacred animals from whom their powers were derived, and the fairy
+lore about swan maids and men, and the seals and other animals who
+could divest themselves of their "skin coverings" and appear in human
+shape. Originally Ea may have been a sacred fish. The Indian creative
+gods Brahma and Vishnu had fish forms. In Sanskrit literature Manu,
+the eponymous "first man", is instructed by the fish to build a ship
+in which to save himself when the world would be purged by the rising
+waters. Ea befriended in similar manner the Babylonian Noah, called
+Pir-napishtim, advising him to build a vessel so as to be prepared for
+the approaching Deluge. Indeed the Indian legend appears to throw
+light on the original Sumerian conception of Ea. It relates that when
+the fish was small and in danger of being swallowed by other fish in a
+stream it appealed to Manu for protection. The sage at once lifted up
+the fish and placed it in a jar of water. It gradually increased in
+bulk, and he transferred it next to a tank and then to the river
+Ganges. In time the fish complained to Manu that the river was too
+small for it, so he carried it to the sea. For these services the god
+in fish form instructed Manu regarding the approaching flood, and
+afterwards piloted his ship through the weltering waters until it
+rested on a mountain top.[32]
+
+If this Indian myth is of Babylonian origin, as appears probable, it
+may be that the spirit of the river Euphrates, "the soul of the land",
+was identified with a migrating fish. The growth of the fish suggests
+the growth of the river rising in flood. In Celtic folk tales high
+tides and valley floods are accounted for by the presence of a "great
+beast" in sea, loch, or river. In a class of legends, "specially
+connected with the worship of Atargatis", wrote Professor Robertson
+Smith, "the divine life of the waters resides in the sacred fish that
+inhabit them. Atargatis and her son, according to a legend common to
+Hierapolis and Ascalon, plunged into the waters--in the first case the
+Euphrates, in the second the sacred pool at the temple near the
+town--and were changed into fishes". The idea is that "where a god
+dies, that is, ceases to exist in human form, his life passes into the
+waters where he is buried; and this again is merely a theory to bring
+the divine water or the divine fish into harmony with anthropomorphic
+ideas. The same thing was sometimes effected in another way by saying
+that the anthropomorphic deity was born from the water, as Aphrodite
+sprang from sea foam, or as Atargatis, in another form of the
+Euphrates legend, ... was born of an egg which the sacred fishes found
+in the Euphrates and pushed ashore."[33]
+
+As "Shar Apsi", Ea was the "King of the Watery Deep". The reference,
+however, according to Jastrow, "is not to the salt ocean, but the
+sweet waters flowing under the earth which feed the streams, and
+through streams and canals irrigate the fields".[34] As Babylonia was
+fertilized by its rivers, Ea, the fish god, was a fertilizing deity.
+In Egypt the "Mother of Mendes" is depicted carrying a fish upon her
+head; she links with Isis and Hathor; her husband is Ba-neb-Tettu, a
+form of Ptah, Osiris, and Ra, and as a god of fertility he is
+symbolized by the ram. Another Egyptian fish deity was the god Rem,
+whose name signifies "to weep"; he wept fertilizing tears, and corn
+was sown and reaped amidst lamentations. He may be identical with
+Remi, who was a phase of Sebek, the crocodile god, a developed
+attribute of Nu, the vague primitive Egyptian deity who symbolized the
+primordial deep. The connection between a fish god and a corn god is
+not necessarily remote when we consider that in Babylonia and Egypt
+the harvest was the gift of the rivers.
+
+The Euphrates, indeed, was hailed as a creator of all that grew on its
+banks.
+
+    O thou River who didst create all things,
+    When the great gods dug thee out,
+    They set prosperity upon thy banks,
+    Within thee Ea, the King of the Deep, created his dwelling...
+    Thou judgest the cause of mankind!
+    O River, thou art mighty! O River, thou art supreme!
+    O River, thou art righteous![35]
+
+In serving Ea, the embodiment or the water spirit, by leading him, as
+the Indian Manu led the Creator and "Preserver" in fish form, from
+river to water pot, water pot to pond or canal, and then again to
+river and ocean, the Babylonians became expert engineers and
+experienced agriculturists, the makers of bricks, the builders of
+cities, the framers of laws. Indeed, their civilization was a growth
+of Ea worship. Ea was their instructor. Berosus states that, as
+Oannes, he lived in the Persian Gulf, and every day came ashore to
+instruct the inhabitants of Eridu how to make canals, to grow crops,
+to work metals, to make pottery and bricks, and to build temples; he
+was the artisan god--Nun-ura, "god of the potter"; Kuski-banda, "god
+of goldsmiths", &c.--the divine patron of the arts and crafts. "Ea
+knoweth everything", chanted the hymn maker. He taught the people how
+to form and use alphabetic signs and instructed them in mathematics:
+he gave them their code of laws. Like the Egyptian artisan god Ptah,
+and the linking deity Khnumu, Ea was the "potter or moulder of gods
+and man". Ptah moulded the first man on his potter's wheel: he also
+moulded the sun and moon; he shaped the universe and hammered out the
+copper sky. Ea built the world "as an architect builds a house".[36]
+Similarly the Vedic Indra, who wielded a hammer like Ptah, fashioned
+the universe after the simple manner in which the Aryans made their
+wooden dwellings.[37]
+
+Like Ptah, Ea also developed from an artisan god into a sublime
+Creator in the highest sense, not merely as a producer of crops. His
+word became the creative force; he named those things he desired to
+be, and they came into existence. "Who but Ea creates things",
+exclaimed a priestly poet. This change from artisan god to creator
+(Nudimmud) may have been due to the tendency of early religious cults
+to attach to their chief god the attributes of rivals exalted at other
+centres.
+
+Ea, whose name is also rendered Aa, was identified with Ya, Ya'u, or
+Au, the Jah of the Hebrews. "In Ya-Daganu, 'Jah is Dagon'", writes
+Professor Pinches, "we have the elements reversed, showing a wish to
+identify Jah with Dagon, rather than Dagon with Jah; whilst another
+interesting name, Au-Aa, shows an identification of Jah with Aa, two
+names which have every appearance of being etymologically connected."
+Jah's name "is one of the words for 'god' in the Assyro-Babylonian
+language".[38]
+
+Ea was "Enki", "lord of the world", or "lord of what is beneath";
+Amma-ana-ki, "lord of heaven and earth"; Sa-kalama, "ruler of the
+land", as well as Engur, "god of the abyss", Naqbu, "the deep", and
+Lugal-ida, "king of the river". As rain fell from "the waters above
+the firmament", the god of waters was also a sky and earth god.
+
+The Indian Varuna was similarly a sky as well as an ocean god before
+the theorizing and systematizing Brahmanic teachers relegated him to a
+permanent abode at the bottom of the sea. It may be that Ea-Oannes and
+Varuna were of common origin.
+
+Another Babylonian deity, named Dagan, is believed to be identical
+with Ea. His worship was certainly of great antiquity. "Hammurabi",
+writes Professor Pinches, "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 (Dagon of the Philistines), is found in a few personal
+names.[39]
+
+It is possible that the Philistine deity Dagon was a specialized form
+of ancient Ea, who was either imported from Babylonia or was a sea god
+of more than one branch of the Mediterranean race. The authorities are
+at variance regarding the form and attributes of Dagan. Our knowledge
+regarding him is derived mainly from the Bible. He was a national
+rather than a city god. There are references to a Beth-dagon[40],
+"house or city of Dagon"; he had also a temple at Gaza, and Samson
+destroyed it by pulling down the two middle pillars which were its
+main support.[41] A third temple was situated in Ashdod. When the
+captured ark of the Israelites was placed in it the image of Dagon
+"fell on his face", with the result that "the head of Dagon and both
+the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold; only the stump
+of Dagon was left".[42] A further reference to "the threshold of
+Dagon" suggests that the god had feet like Ea-Oannes. Those who hold
+that Dagon had a fish form derive his name from the Semitic "dag = a
+fish", and suggest that after the idol fell only the fishy part (dāgo)
+was left. On the other hand, it was argued that Dagon was a corn god,
+and that the resemblance between the words Dagan and Dagon are
+accidental. Professor Sayce makes reference in this connection to a
+crystal seal from Phoenicia in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, bearing
+an inscription which he reads as Baal-dagon. Near the name is an ear
+of corn, and other symbols, such as the winged solar disc, a gazelle,
+and several stars, but there is no fish. It may be, of course, that
+Baal-dagon represents a fusion of deities. As we have seen in the case
+of Ea-Oannes and the deities of Mendes, a fish god may also be a corn
+god, a land animal god and a god of ocean and the sky. The offering of
+golden mice representing "your mice that mar the land",[43] made by
+the Philistines, suggests that Dagon was the fertilizing harvest god,
+among other things, whose usefulness had been impaired, as they
+believed, by the mistake committed of placing the ark of Israel in the
+temple at Ashdod. The Philistines came from Crete, and if their Dagon
+was imported from that island, he may have had some connection with
+Poseidon, whose worship extended throughout Greece. This god of the
+sea, who is somewhat like the Roman Neptune, carried a lightning
+trident and caused earthquakes. He was a brother of Zeus, the sky and
+atmosphere deity, and had bull and horse forms. As a horse he pursued
+Demeter, the earth and corn goddess, and, like Ea, he instructed
+mankind, but especially in the art of training horses. In his train
+were the Tritons, half men, half fishes, and the water fairies, the
+Nereids. Bulls, boars, and rams were offered to this sea god of
+fertility. Amphitrite was his spouse.
+
+An obscure god Shony, the Oannes of the Scottish Hebrides, received
+oblations from those who depended for their agricultural prosperity on
+his gifts of fertilizing seaweed. He is referred to in Martin's
+_Western Isles_, and is not yet forgotten. The Eddic sea god Njord of
+Noatun was the father of Frey, the harvest god. Dagda, the Irish corn
+god, had for wife Boann, the goddess of the river Boyne. Osiris and
+Isis of Egypt were associated with the Nile. The connection between
+agriculture and the water supply was too obvious to escape the early
+symbolists, and many other proofs of this than those referred to could
+be given.
+
+Ea's "faithful spouse" was the goddess Damkina, who was also called
+Nin-ki, "lady of the earth". "May Ea make thee glad", chanted the
+priests. "May Damkina, queen of the deep, illumine thee with her
+countenance; may Merodach (Marduk), the mighty overseer of the Igigi
+(heavenly spirits), exalt thy head." Merodach was their son: in time
+he became the Bel, or "Lord", of the Babylonian pantheon.
+
+Like the Indian Varuna, the sea god, Ea-Oannes had control over the
+spirits and demons of the deep. The "ferryman" who kept watch over the
+river of death was called Arad-Ea, "servant of Ea". There are also
+references to sea maidens, the Babylonian mermaids, or Nereids. We
+have a glimpse of sea giants, which resemble the Indian Danavas and
+Daityas of ocean, in the chant:
+
+    Seven are they, seven are they,
+    In the ocean deep seven are they,
+    Battening in heaven seven are they,
+    Bred in the depths of ocean....
+    Of these seven the first is the south wind,
+    The second a dragon with mouth agape....[44]
+
+A suggestion of the Vedic Vritra and his horde of monsters.
+
+These seven demons were also "the messengers of Anu", who, although
+specialized as a sky god in more than one pantheon, appears to have
+been closely associated with Ea in the earliest Sumerian period. His
+name, signifying "the high one", is derived from "ana", "heaven"; he
+was the city god of Erech (Uruk). It is possible that he was developed
+as an atmospheric god with solar and lunar attributes. The seven
+demons, who were his messengers, recall the stormy Maruts, the
+followers of Indra. They are referred to as
+
+    Forcing their way with baneful windstorms,
+    Mighty destroyers, the deluge of the storm god,
+    Stalking at the right hand of the storm god.[45]
+
+When we deal with a deity in his most archaic form it is difficult to
+distinguish him from a demon. Even the beneficent Ea is associated
+with monsters and furies. "Evil spirits", according to a Babylonian
+chant, were "the bitter venom of the gods". Those attached to a deity
+as "attendants" appear to represent the original animistic group from
+which he evolved. In each district the character of the deity was
+shaped to accord with local conditions.
+
+At Nippur, which was situated on the vague and shifting boundary line
+between Sumer and Akkad, the chief god was Enlil, whose name is
+translated "lord of mist", "lord of might", and "lord of demons" by
+various authorities. He was a storm god and a war god, and "lord of
+heaven and earth ", like Ea and Anu. An atmospheric deity, he shares
+the attributes of the Indian Indra, the thunder and rain god, and
+Vayu, the wind god; he also resembles the Semitic Adad or Rimman, who
+links with the Hittite Tarku. All these are deities of tempest and the
+mountains--Wild Huntsmen in the Raging Host. The name of Enlil's
+temple at Nippur has been translated as "mountain house", or "like a
+mountain", and the theory obtained for a time that the god must
+therefore have been imported by a people from the hills. But as the
+ideogram for "mountain" and "land" was used in the earliest times, as
+King shows, with reference to foreign countries,[46] it is more
+probable that Enlil was exalted as a world god who had dominion over
+not only Sumer and Akkad, but also the territories occupied by the
+rivals and enemies of the early Babylonians.
+
+Enlil is known as the "older Bel" (lord), to distinguish him from Bel
+Merodach of Babylon. He was the chief figure in a triad in which he
+figured as earth god, with Anu as god of the sky and Ea as god of the
+deep. This classification suggests that Nippur had either risen in
+political importance and dominated the cities of Erech and Eridu, or
+that its priests were influential at the court of a ruler who was the
+overlord of several city states.
+
+Associated with Bel Enlil was Beltis, later known as "Beltu--the
+lady". She appears to be identical with the other great goddesses,
+Ishtar, Nana, Zerpanituᵐ, &c., a "Great Mother", or consort of an
+early god with whom she was equal in power and dignity.
+
+In the later systematized theology of the Babylonians we seem to trace
+the fragments of a primitive mythology which was vague in outline, for
+the deities were not sharply defined, and existed in groups. Enneads
+were formed in Egypt by placing a local god at the head of a group of
+eight elder deities. The sun god Ra was the chief figure of the
+earliest pantheon of this character at Heliopolis, while at Hermopolis
+the leader was the lunar god Thoth. Professor Budge is of opinion that
+"both the Sumerians and the early Egyptians derived their primeval
+gods from some common but exceedingly ancient source", for he finds in
+the Babylonian and Nile valleys that there is a resemblance between
+two early groups which "seems to be too close to be accidental".[47]
+
+The Egyptian group comprises four pairs of vague gods and
+goddesses--Nu and his consort Nut, Hehu and his consort Hehut, Kekui
+and his consort Kekuit, and Kerh and his consort Kerhet. "Man always
+has fashioned", he says, "and probably always will fashion, his god or
+gods in his own image, and he has always, having reached a certain
+stage in development, given to his gods wives and offspring; but the
+nature of the position taken by the wives of the gods depends upon the
+nature of the position of women in the households of those who write
+the legends and the traditions of the gods. The gods of the oldest
+company in Egypt were, the writer believes, invented by people in
+whose households women held a high position, and among whom they
+possessed more power than is usually the case with Oriental
+peoples."[48]
+
+We cannot say definitely what these various deities represent. Nu was
+the spirit of the primordial deep, and Nut of the waters above the
+heavens, the mother of moon and sun and the stars. The others were
+phases of light and darkness and the forces of nature in activity and
+repose.
+
+Nu is represented in Babylonian mythology by Apsu-Rishtu, and Nut by
+Mummu-Tiamat or Tiawath; the next pair is Lachmu and Lachamu, and the
+third, Anshar and Kishar. The fourth pair is missing, but the names of
+Anu and Ea (as Nudimmud) are mentioned in the first tablet of the
+Creation series, and the name of a third is lost. Professor Budge
+thinks that the Assyrian editors substituted the ancient triad of Anu,
+Ea, and Enlil for the pair which would correspond to those found in
+Egypt. Originally the wives of Anu and Ea may have made up the group
+of eight primitive deities.
+
+There can be little doubt but that Ea, as he survives to us, is of
+later characterization than the first pair of primitive deities who
+symbolized the deep. The attributes of this beneficent god reflect the
+progress, and the social and moral ideals of a people well advanced in
+civilization. He rewarded mankind for the services they rendered to
+him; he was their leader and instructor; he achieved for them the
+victories over the destructive forces of nature. In brief, he was the
+dragon slayer, a distinction, by the way, which was attached in later
+times to his son Merodach, the Babylonian god, although Ea was still
+credited with the victory over the dragon's husband.
+
+When Ea was one of the pre-Babylonian group--the triad of Bel-Enlil,
+Anu, and Ea--he resembled the Indian Vishnu, the Preserver, while
+Bel-Enlil resembled Shiva, the Destroyer, and Anu, the father, supreme
+Brahma, the Creator and Father of All, the difference in exact
+adjustment being due, perhaps, to Sumerian political conditions.
+
+Ea, as we have seen, symbolized the beneficence of the waters; their
+destructive force was represented by Tiamat or Tiawath, the dragon,
+and Apsu, her husband, the arch-enemy of the gods. We shall find these
+elder demons figuring in the Babylonian Creation myth, which receives
+treatment in a later chapter.
+
+The ancient Sumerian city of Eridu, which means "on the seashore", was
+invested with great sanctity from the earliest times, and Ea, the
+"great magician of the gods", was invoked by workers of spells, the
+priestly magicians of historic Babylonia. Excavations have shown that
+Eridu was protected by a retaining wall of sandstone, of which
+material many of its houses were made. In its temple tower, built of
+brick, was a marble stairway, and evidences have been forthcoming that
+in the later Sumerian period the structure was lavishly adorned. It is
+referred to in the fragments of early literature which have survived
+as "the splendid house, shady as the forest", that "none may enter".
+The mythological spell exercised by Eridu in later times suggests that
+the civilization of Sumeria owed much to the worshippers of Ea. At the
+sacred city the first man was created: there the souls of the dead
+passed towards the great Deep. Its proximity to the sea--Ea was
+Nin-bubu, "god of the sailor"--may have brought it into contact with
+other peoples and other early civilizations. Like the early Egyptians,
+the early Sumerians may have been in touch with Punt (Somaliland),
+which some regard as the cradle of the Mediterranean race. The
+Egyptians obtained from that sacred land incense-bearing trees which
+had magical potency. In a fragmentary Babylonian charm there is a
+reference to a sacred tree or bush at Eridu. Professor Sayce has
+suggested that it is the Biblical "Tree of Life" in the Garden of
+Eden. His translations of certain vital words, however, is sharply
+questioned by Mr. R. Campbell Thompson of the British Museum, who does
+not accept the theory.[49] It may be that Ea's sacred bush or tree is
+a survival of tree and water worship.
+
+If Eridu was not the "cradle" of the Sumerian race, it was possibly
+the cradle of Sumerian civilization. Here, amidst the shifting rivers
+in early times, the agriculturists may have learned to control and
+distribute the water supply by utilizing dried-up beds of streams to
+irrigate the land. Whatever successes they achieved were credited to
+Ea, their instructor and patron; he was Nadimmud, "god of everything".
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+RIVAL PANTHEONS AND REPRESENTATIVE DEITIES
+
+
+  Why Different Gods were Supreme at Different Centres--Theories
+  regarding Origin of Life--Vital Principle in Water--Creative Tears
+  of Weeping Deities--Significance of widespread Spitting
+  Customs--Divine Water in Blood and Divine Blood in Water--Liver as
+  the Seat of Life--Inspiration derived by Drinking Mead, Blood,
+  &c.--Life Principle in Breath--Babylonian Ghosts as "Evil Wind
+  Gusts"--Fire Deities--Fire and Water in Magical Ceremonies--Moon
+  Gods of Ur and Harran--Moon Goddess and Babylonian "Jack and
+  Jill"--Antiquity of Sun Worship--Tammuz and Ishtar--Solar Gods of
+  War, Pestilence, and Death--Shamash as the "Great Judge"--His Mitra
+  Name--Aryan Mitra or Mithra and linking Babylonian Deities--Varuna
+  and Shamash Hymns compared--The Female Origin of Life--Goddesses of
+  Maternity--The Babylonian Thor--Deities of Good and Evil.
+
+
+In dealing with the city cults of Sumer and Akkad, consideration must
+be given to the problems involved by the rival mythological systems.
+Pantheons not only varied in detail, but were presided over by
+different supreme gods. One city's chief deity might be regarded as a
+secondary deity at another centre. Although Ea, for instance, was
+given first place at Eridu, and was so pronouncedly Sumerian in
+character, the moon god Nannar remained supreme at Ur, while the sun
+god, whose Semitic name was Shamash, presided at Larsa and Sippar.
+Other deities were similarly exalted in other states.
+
+As has been indicated, a mythological system must have been strongly
+influenced by city politics. To hold a community in sway, it was
+necessary to recognize officially the various gods worshipped by
+different sections, so as to secure the constant allegiance of all
+classes to their rulers. Alien deities were therefore associated with
+local and tribal deities, those of the nomads with those of the
+agriculturists, those of the unlettered folks with those of the
+learned people. Reference has been made to the introduction of strange
+deities by conquerors. But these were not always imposed upon a
+community by violent means. Indications are not awanting that the
+worshippers of alien gods were sometimes welcomed and encouraged to
+settle in certain states. When they came as military allies to assist
+a city folk against a fierce enemy, they were naturally much admired
+and praised, honoured by the women and the bards, and rewarded by the
+rulers.
+
+In the epic of Gilgamesh, the Babylonian Hercules, we meet with
+Ea-bani, a Goliath of the wilds, who is entreated to come to the aid
+of the besieged city of Erech when it seemed that its deities were
+unable to help the people against their enemies.
+
+    The gods of walled-round Erech
+    To flies had turned and buzzed in the streets;
+    The winged bulls of walled-round Erech
+    Were turned to mice and departed through the holes.
+
+Ea-bani was attracted to Erech by the gift of a fair woman for wife.
+The poet who lauded him no doubt mirrored public opinion. We can see
+the slim, shaven Sumerians gazing with wonder and admiration on their
+rough heroic ally.
+
+    All his body was covered with hair,
+    His locks were like a woman's,
+    Thick as corn grew his abundant hair.
+    He was a stranger to the people and in that land.
+    Clad in a garment like Gira, the god,
+    He had eaten grass with the gazelles,
+    He had drunk water with savage beasts.
+    His delight was to be among water dwellers.
+
+Like the giant Alban, the eponymous ancestor of a people who invaded
+prehistoric Britain, Ea-bani appears to have represented in Babylonian
+folk legends a certain type of foreign settlers in the land. No doubt
+the city dwellers, who were impressed by the prowess of the hairy and
+powerful warriors, were also ready to acknowledge the greatness of
+their war gods, and to admit them into the pantheon. The fusion of
+beliefs which followed must have stimulated thought and been
+productive of speculative ideas. "Nowhere", remarks Professor Jastrow,
+"does a high form of culture arise without the commingling of diverse
+ethnic elements."
+
+We must also take into account the influence exercised by leaders of
+thought like En-we-dur-an-ki, the famous high priest of Sippar, whose
+piety did much to increase the reputation of the cult of Shamesh, the
+sun god. The teachings and example of Buddha, for instance,
+revolutionized Brahmanic religion in India.
+
+A mythology was an attempt to solve the riddle of the Universe, and to
+adjust the relations of mankind with the various forces represented by
+the deities. The priests systematized existing folk beliefs and
+established an official religion. To secure the prosperity of the
+State, it was considered necessary to render homage unto whom homage
+was due at various seasons and under various circumstances.
+
+The religious attitude of a particular community, therefore, must have
+been largely dependent on its needs and experiences. The food supply
+was a first consideration. At Eridu, as we have seen, it was assured
+by devotion to Ea and obedience to his commands as an instructor.
+Elsewhere it might happen, however, that Ea's gifts were restricted or
+withheld by an obstructing force--the raging storm god, or the
+parching, pestilence-bringing deity of the sun. It was necessary,
+therefore, for the people to win the favour of the god or goddess who
+seemed most powerful, and was accordingly considered to be the
+greatest in a particular district. A rain god presided over the
+destinies of one community, and a god of disease and death over
+another; a third exalted the war god, no doubt because raids were
+frequent and the city owed its strength and prosperity to its battles
+and conquests. The reputation won by a particular god throughout
+Babylonia would depend greatly on the achievements of his worshippers
+and the progress of the city civilization over which he presided.
+Bel-Enlil's fame as a war deity was probably due to the political
+supremacy of his city of Nippur; and there was probably good reason
+for attributing to the sun god a pronounced administrative and legal
+character; he may have controlled the destinies of exceedingly well
+organized communities in which law and order and authority were held
+in high esteem.
+
+In accounting for the rise of distinctive and rival city deities, we
+should also consider the influence of divergent conceptions regarding
+the origin of life in mingled communities. Each foreign element in a
+community had its own intellectual life and immemorial tribal
+traditions, which reflected ancient habits of life and perpetuated the
+doctrines of eponymous ancestors. Among the agricultural classes, the
+folk religion which entered so intimately into their customs and
+labours must have remained essentially Babylonish in character. In
+cities, however, where official religions were formulated, foreign
+ideas were more apt to be imposed, especially when embraced by
+influential teachers. It is not surprising, therefore, to find that in
+Babylonia, as in Egypt, there were differences of opinion regarding
+the origin of life and the particular natural element which
+represented the vital principle.
+
+One section of the people, who were represented by the worshippers of
+Ea, appear to have believed that the essence of life was contained in
+water. The god of Eridu was the source of the "water of life". He
+fertilized parched and sunburnt wastes through rivers and irrigating
+canals, and conferred upon man the sustaining "food of life". When
+life came to an end--
+
+    Food of death will be offered thee...
+    Water of death will be offered thee...
+
+Offerings of water and food were made to the dead so that the ghosts
+might be nourished and prevented from troubling the living. Even the
+gods required water and food; they were immortal because they had
+drunk ambrosia and eaten from the plant of life. When the goddess
+Ishtar was in the Underworld, the land of the dead, the servant of Ea
+exclaimed--
+
+    "Hail! lady, may the well give me of its waters, so that I may
+        drink."
+
+The goddess of the dead commanded her servant to "sprinkle the lady
+Ishtar with the water of life and bid her depart". The sacred water
+might also be found at a confluence of rivers. Ea bade his son,
+Merodach, to "draw water from the mouth of two streams", and "on this
+water to put his pure spell".
+
+The worship of rivers and wells which prevailed in many countries was
+connected with the belief that the principle of life was in moisture.
+In India, water was vitalized by the intoxicating juice of the Soma
+plant, which inspired priests to utter prophecies and filled their
+hearts with religious fervour. Drinking customs had originally a
+religious significance. It was believed in India that the sap of
+plants was influenced by the moon, the source of vitalizing moisture
+and the hiding-place of the mead of the gods. The Teutonic gods also
+drank this mead, and poets were inspired by it. Similar beliefs
+obtained among various peoples. Moon and water worship were therefore
+closely associated; the blood of animals and the sap of plants were
+vitalized by the water of life and under control of the moon.
+
+The body moisture of gods and demons had vitalizing properties. When
+the Indian creator, Prajápati, wept at the beginning, "that (the
+tears) which fell into the water became the air. That which he wiped
+away, upwards, became the sky."[50] The ancient Egyptians believed
+that all men were born from the eyes of Horus except negroes, who came
+from other parts of his body.[51] The creative tears of Ra, the sun
+god, fell as shining rays upon the earth. When this god grew old
+saliva dripped from his mouth, and Isis mixed the vitalizing moisture
+with dust, and thus made the serpent which bit and paralysed the great
+solar deity.[52]
+
+Other Egyptian deities, including Osiris and Isis, wept creative
+tears. Those which fell from the eyes of the evil gods produced
+poisonous plants and various baneful animals. Orion, the Greek giant,
+sprang from the body moisture of deities. The weeping ceremonies in
+connection with agricultural rites were no doubt believed to be of
+magical potency; they encouraged the god to weep creative tears.
+
+Ea, the god of the deep, was also "lord of life" (Enti), "king of the
+river" (Lugal-ida), and god of creation (Nudimmud). His aid was
+invoked by means of magical formulae. As the "great magician of the
+gods" he uttered charms himself, and was the patron of all magicians.
+One spell runs as follows:
+
+    I am the sorcerer priest of Ea...
+    To revive the ... sick man
+    The great lord Ea hath sent me;
+    He hath added his pure spell to mine,
+    He hath added his pure voice to mine,
+    He hath added his pure spittle to mine.
+
+            _R.C. Thompson's Translation._
+
+Saliva, like tears, had creative and therefore curative qualities; it
+also expelled and injured demons and brought good luck. Spitting
+ceremonies are referred to in the religious literature of Ancient
+Egypt. When the Eye of Ra was blinded by Set, Thoth spat in it to
+restore vision. The sun god Tum, who was linked with Ra as Ra-Tum,
+spat on the ground, and his saliva became the gods Shu and Tefnut. In
+the Underworld the devil serpent Apep was spat upon to curse it, as
+was also its waxen image which the priests fashioned.[53]
+
+Several African tribes spit to make compacts, declare friendship, and
+to curse.
+
+Park, the explorer, refers in his _Travels_ to his carriers spitting
+on a flat stone to ensure a good journey. Arabian holy men and
+descendants of Mohammed spit to cure diseases. Mohammed spat in the
+mouth of his grandson Hasen soon after birth. Theocritus, Sophocles,
+and Plutarch testify to the ancient Grecian customs of spitting to
+cure and to curse, and also to bless when children were named. Pliny
+has expressed belief in the efficacy of the fasting spittle for curing
+disease, and referred to the custom of spitting to avert witchcraft.
+In England, Scotland, and Ireland spitting customs are not yet
+obsolete. North of England boys used to talk of "spitting their sauls"
+(souls). When the Newcastle colliers held their earliest strikes they
+made compacts by spitting on a stone. There are still "spitting
+stones" in the north of Scotland. When bargains are made in rural
+districts, hands are spat upon before they are shaken. The first money
+taken each day by fishwives and other dealers is spat upon to ensure
+increased drawings. Brand, who refers to various spitting customs,
+quotes _Scot's Discovery of Witchcraft_ regarding the saliva cure for
+king's evil, which is still, by the way, practised in the Hebrides.
+Like Pliny, Scot recommended ceremonial spitting as a charm against
+witchcraft.[54] In China spitting to expel demons is a common
+practice. We still call a hasty person a "spitfire", and a calumniator
+a "spit-poison".
+
+The life principle in trees, &c., as we have seen, was believed to
+have been derived from the tears of deities. In India sap was called
+the "blood of trees", and references to "bleeding trees" are still
+widespread and common. "Among the ancients", wrote Professor Robertson
+Smith, "blood is generally conceived as the principle or vehicle of
+life, and so the account often given of sacred waters is that the
+blood of the deity flows in them. Thus as Milton writes:
+
+    Smooth Adonis from his native rock
+    Ran purple to the sea, supposed with blood
+    Of Thammuz yearly wounded.
+
+            _Paradise Lost_, i, 450.
+
+The ruddy colour which the swollen river derived from the soil at a
+certain season was ascribed to the blood of the god, who received his
+death wound in Lebanon at that time of the year, and lay buried beside
+the sacred source."[55]
+
+In Babylonia the river was regarded as the source of the life blood
+and the seat of the soul. No doubt this theory was based on the fact
+that the human liver contains about a sixth of the blood in the body,
+the largest proportion required by any single organ. Jeremiah makes
+"Mother Jerusalem" exclaim: "My liver is poured upon the earth for the
+destruction of the daughter of my people", meaning that her life is
+spent with grief.
+
+Inspiration was derived by drinking blood as well as by drinking
+intoxicating liquors--the mead of the gods. Indian magicians who drink
+the blood of the goat sacrificed to the goddess Kali, are believed to
+be temporarily possessed by her spirit, and thus enabled to
+prophesy.[56] Malayan exorcists still expel demons while they suck the
+blood from a decapitated fowl.[57]
+
+Similar customs were prevalent in Ancient Greece. A woman who drank
+the blood of a sacrificed lamb or bull uttered prophetic sayings.[58]
+
+But while most Babylonians appear to have believed that the life
+principle was in blood, some were apparently of opinion that it was in
+breath--the air of life. A man died when he ceased to breathe; his
+spirit, therefore, it was argued, was identical with the
+atmosphere--the moving wind--and was accordingly derived from the
+atmospheric or wind god. When, in the Gilgamesh epic, the hero invokes
+the dead Ea-bani, the ghost rises up like a "breath of wind". A
+Babylonian charm runs:
+
+    The gods which seize on men
+      Came forth from the grave;
+    The evil wind gusts
+      Have come forth from the grave,
+    To demand payment of rites and the pouring out of libations
+      They have come forth from the grave;
+    All that is evil in their hosts, like a whirlwind,
+      Hath come forth from the grave.[59]
+
+The Hebrew "nephesh ruach" and "neshamah" (in Arabic "ruh" and "nefs")
+pass from meaning "breath" to "spirit".[60] In Egypt the god Khnumu
+was "Kneph" in his character as an atmospheric deity. The ascendancy
+of storm and wind gods in some Babylonian cities may have been due to
+the belief that they were the source of the "air of life". It is
+possible that this conception was popularized by the Semites.
+Inspiration was perhaps derived from these deities by burning incense,
+which, if we follow evidence obtained elsewhere, induced a prophetic
+trance. The gods were also invoked by incense. In the Flood legend the
+Babylonian Noah burned incense. "The gods smelled a sweet savour and
+gathered like flies over the sacrificer." In Egypt devotees who
+inhaled the breath of the Apis bull were enabled to prophesy.
+
+In addition to water and atmospheric deities Babylonia had also its
+fire gods, Girru, Gish Bar, Gibil, and Nusku. Their origin is obscure.
+It is doubtful if their worshippers, like those of the Indian Agni,
+believed that fire, the "vital spark", was the principle of life which
+was manifested by bodily heat. The Aryan fire worshippers cremated
+their dead so that the spirits might be transferred by fire to
+Paradise. This practice, however, did not obtain among the fire
+worshippers of Persia, nor, as was once believed, in Sumer or Akkad
+either. Fire was, however, used in Babylonia for magical purposes. It
+destroyed demons, and put to flight the spirits of disease. Possibly
+the fire-purification ceremonies resembled those which were practised
+by the Canaanites, and are referred to in the Bible. Ahaz "made his
+son to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the
+heathen".[61] Ezekiel declared that "when ye offer your gifts, when ye
+make your sons to pass through the fire, ye pollute yourselves with
+all your idols".[62] In _Leviticus_ it is laid down: "Thou shalt not
+let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Moloch".[63] It may be
+that in Babylonia the fire-cleansing ceremony resembled that which
+obtained at Beltane (May Day) in Scotland, Germany, and other
+countries. Human sacrifices might also have been offered up as burnt
+offerings. Abraham, who came from the Sumerian city of Ur, was
+prepared to sacrifice Isaac, Sarah's first-born. The fire gods of
+Babylonia never achieved the ascendancy of the Indian Agni; they
+appear to have resembled him mainly in so far as he was connected with
+the sun. Nusku, like Agni, was also the "messenger of the gods". When
+Merodach or Babylon was exalted as chief god of the pantheon his
+messages were carried to Ea by Nusku. He may have therefore symbolized
+the sun rays, for Merodach had solar attributes. It is possible that
+the belief obtained among even the water worshippers of Eridu that the
+sun and moon, which rose from the primordial deep, had their origin in
+the everlasting fire in Ea's domain at the bottom of the sea. In the
+Indian god Varuna's ocean home an "Asura fire" (demon fire) burned
+constantly; it was "bound and confined", but could not be
+extinguished. Fed by water, this fire, it was believed, would burst
+forth at the last day and consume the universe.[64] A similar belief
+can be traced in Teutonic mythology. The Babylonian incantation cult
+appealed to many gods, but "the most important share in the rites",
+says Jastrow, "are taken by fire and water--suggesting, therefore,
+that the god of water--more particularly Ea--and the god of fire ...
+are the chief deities on which the ritual itself hinges". In some
+temples there was a _bit rimki_, a "house of washing", and a _bit
+nuri_, a "house of light".[65]
+
+It is possible, of course, that fire was regarded as the vital
+principle by some city cults, which were influenced by imported ideas.
+If so, the belief never became prevalent. The most enduring influence
+in Babylonian religion was the early Sumerian; and as Sumerian modes
+of thought were the outcome of habits of life necessitated by the
+character of the country, they were bound, sooner or later, to leave a
+deep impress on the minds of foreign peoples who settled in the Garden
+of Western Asia. It is not surprising, therefore, to find that
+imported deities assumed Babylonian characteristics, and were
+identified or associated with Babylonian gods in the later imperial
+pantheon.
+
+Moon worship appears to have been as ancient as water worship, with
+which, as we have seen, it was closely associated. It was widely
+prevalent throughout Babylonia. The chief seat of the lunar deity,
+Nannar or Sin, was the ancient city of Ur, from which Abraham migrated
+to Harran, where the "Baal" (the lord) was also a moon god. Ur was
+situated in Sumer, in the south, between the west bank of the
+Euphrates and the low hills bordering the Arabian desert, and not far
+distant from sea-washed Eridu. No doubt, like that city, it had its
+origin at an exceedingly remote period. At any rate, the excavations
+conducted there have afforded proof that it flourished in the
+prehistoric period.
+
+As in Arabia, Egypt, and throughout ancient Europe and elsewhere, the
+moon god of Sumeria was regarded as the "friend of man". He controlled
+nature as a fertilizing agency; he caused grass, trees, and crops to
+grow; he increased flocks and herds, and gave human offspring. At Ur
+he was exalted above Ea as "the lord and prince of the gods, supreme
+in heaven, the Father of all"; he was also called "great Anu", an
+indication that Anu, the sky god, had at one time a lunar character.
+The moon god was believed to be the father of the sun god: he was the
+"great steer with mighty horns and perfect limbs".
+
+His name Sin is believed to be a corruption of "Zu-ena", which
+signifies "knowledge lord".[66] Like the lunar Osiris of Egypt, he was
+apparently an instructor of mankind; the moon measured time and
+controlled the seasons; seeds were sown at a certain phase of the
+moon, and crops were ripened by the harvest moon. The mountains of
+Sinai and the desert of Sin are called after this deity.
+
+As Nannar, which Jastrow considers to be a variation of "Narnar", the
+"light producer", the moon god scattered darkness and reduced the
+terrors of night. His spirit inhabited the lunar stone, so that moon
+and stone worship were closely associated; it also entered trees and
+crops, so that moon worship linked with earth worship, as both linked
+with water worship.
+
+The consort of Nannar was Nin-Uruwa, "the lady of Ur", who was also
+called Nin-gala. She links with Ishtar as Nin, as Isis of Egypt linked
+with other mother deities. The twin children of the moon were Mashu
+and Mashtu, a brother and sister, like the lunar girl and boy of
+Teutonic mythology immortalized in nursery rhymes as Jack and Jill.
+
+Sun worship was of great antiquity in Babylonia, but appears to have
+been seasonal in its earliest phases. No doubt the sky god Anu had his
+solar as well as his lunar attributes, which he shared with Ea. The
+spring sun was personified as Tammuz, the youthful shepherd, who was
+loved by the earth goddess Ishtar and her rival Eresh-ki-gal, goddess
+of death, the Babylonian Persephone. During the winter Tammuz dwelt in
+Hades, and at the beginning of spring Ishtar descended to search for
+him among the shades.[67] But the burning summer sun was symbolized as
+a destroyer, a slayer of men, and therefore a war god. As Ninip or
+Nirig, the son of Enlil, who was made in the likeness of Anu, he waged
+war against the earth spirits, and was furiously hostile towards the
+deities of alien peoples, as befitted a god of battle. Even his father
+feared him, and when he was advancing towards Nippur, sent out Nusku,
+messenger of the gods, to soothe the raging deity with soft words.
+Ninip was symbolized as a wild bull, was connected with stone worship,
+like the Indian destroying god Shiva, and was similarly a deity of
+Fate. He had much in common with Nin-Girsu, a god of Lagash, who was
+in turn regarded as a form of Tammuz.
+
+Nergal, another solar deity, brought disease and pestilence, and,
+according to Jensen, all misfortunes due to excessive heat. He was the
+king of death, husband of Eresh-ki-gal, queen of Hades. As a war god
+he thirsted for human blood, and was depicted as a mighty lion. He was
+the chief deity of the city of Cuthah, which, Jastrow suggests, was
+situated beside a burial place of great repute, like the Egyptian
+Abydos.
+
+The two great cities of the sun in ancient Babylonia were the Akkadian
+Sippar and the Sumerian Larsa. In these the sun god, Shamash or
+Babbar, was the patron deity. He was a god of Destiny, the lord of the
+living and the dead, and was exalted as the great Judge, the lawgiver,
+who upheld justice; he was the enemy of wrong, he loved righteousness
+and hated sin, he inspired his worshippers with rectitude and punished
+evildoers. The sun god also illumined the world, and his rays
+penetrated every quarter: he saw all things, and read the thoughts of
+men; nothing could be concealed from Shamash. One of his names was
+Mitra, like the god who was linked with Varuna in the Indian
+_Rigveda_. These twin deities, Mitra and Varuna, measured out the span
+of human life. They were the source of all heavenly gifts: they
+regulated sun and moon, the winds and waters, and the seasons.[68]
+
+These did the gods establish in royal power over themselves, because
+they were wise and the children of wisdom, and because they excelled
+in power.--_Prof. Arnold's trans. of Rigvedic Hymn_.
+
+Mitra and Varuna were protectors of hearth and home, and they
+chastised sinners. "In a striking passage of the _Mahabharata_" says
+Professor Moulton, "one in which Indian thought comes nearest to the
+conception of conscience, a kingly wrongdoer is reminded that the sun
+sees secret sin."[69]
+
+In Persian mythology Mitra, as Mithra, is the patron of Truth, and
+"the Mediator" between heaven and earth[70]. This god was also
+worshipped by the military aristocracy of Mitanni, which held sway for
+a period over Assyria. In Roman times the worship of Mithra spread
+into Europe from Persia. Mithraic sculptures depict the deity as a
+corn god slaying the harvest bull; on one of the monuments "cornstalks
+instead of blood are seen issuing from the wound inflicted with the
+knife".[71] The Assyrian word "metru" signifies rain[70]. As a sky god
+Mitra may have been associated, like Varuna, with the waters above the
+firmament. Rain would therefore be gifted by him as a fertilizing deity.
+In the Babylonian Flood legend it is the sun god Shamash who "appointed
+the time" when the heavens were to "rain destruction" in the night, and
+commanded Pir-napishtim, "Enter into the midst of thy ship and shut thy
+door". The solar deity thus appears as a form of Anu, god of the sky and
+upper atmosphere, who controls the seasons and the various forces of
+nature. Other rival chiefs of city pantheons, whether lunar,
+atmospheric, earth, or water deities, were similarly regarded as the
+supreme deities who ruled the Universe, and decreed when man should
+receive benefits or suffer from their acts of vengeance.
+
+It is possible that the close resemblances between Mithra and Mitra of
+the Aryan-speaking peoples of India and the Iranian plateau, and the
+sun god of the Babylonians--the Semitic Shamash, the Sumerian
+Utu--were due to early contact and cultural influence through the
+medium of Elam. As a solar and corn god, the Persian Mithra links with
+Tammuz, as a sky and atmospheric deity with Anu, and as a god of
+truth, righteousness, and law with Shamash. We seem to trace in the
+sublime Vedic hymns addressed by the Indian Aryans to Mitra and Varuna
+the impress of Babylonian religious thought:
+
+    Whate'er exists within this earth, and all within the sky,
+    Yea, all that is beyond, King Varuna perceives....
+
+            _Rigveda_, iv, 16.[72]
+
+
+    O Varuna, whatever the offence may be
+    That we as men commit against the heavenly folk,
+    When through our want of thought we violate thy laws,
+    Chastise us not, O god, for that iniquity.
+
+            _Rigveda_, vii, 89.[73]
+
+Shamash was similarly exalted in Babylonian hymns:
+
+    The progeny of those who deal unjustly will not prosper.
+    What their mouth utters in thy presence
+    Thou wilt destroy, what issues from their mouth thou wilt
+        dissipate.
+    Thou knowest their transgressions, the plan of the wicked thou
+        rejectest.
+    All, whoever they be, are in thy care....
+    He who takes no bribe, who cares for the oppressed,
+    Is favoured by Shamash,--his life shall be prolonged.[74]
+
+The worshippers of Varuna and Mitra in the Punjab did not cremate
+their dead like those who exalted the rival fire god Agni. The grave
+was the "house of clay", as in Babylonia. Mitra, who was identical
+with Yama, ruled over departed souls in the "Land of the Pitris"
+(Fathers), which was reached by crossing the mountains and the rushing
+stream of death.[75] As we have seen, the Babylonian solar god Nergal
+was also the lord of the dead.
+
+As Ma-banda-anna, "the boat of the sky", Shamash links with the
+Egyptian sun god Ra, whose barque sailed over the heavens by day and
+through the underworld of darkness and death during the night. The
+consort of Shamash was Aa, and his attendants were Kittu and Mesharu,
+"Truth" and "Righteousness".
+
+Like the Hittites, the Babylonians had also a sun goddess: her name
+was Nin-sun, which Jastrow renders "the annihilating lady". At Erech
+she had a shrine in the temple of the sky god Anu.
+
+We can trace in Babylonia, as in Egypt, the early belief that life in
+the Universe had a female origin. Nin-sun links with Ishtar, whose
+Sumerian name is Nana. Ishtar appears to be identical with the
+Egyptian Hathor, who, as Sekhet, slaughtered the enemies of the sun
+god Ra. She was similarly the goddess of maternity, and is depicted in
+this character, like Isis and other goddesses of similar character,
+suckling a babe. Another Babylonian lady of the gods was Ama, Mama, or
+Mami, "the creatress of the seed of mankind", and was "probably so
+called as the 'mother' of all things".[76]
+
+A characteristic atmospheric deity was Ramman, the Rimmon of the
+Bible, the Semitic Addu, Adad, Hadad, or Dadu. He was not a presiding
+deity in any pantheon, but was identified with Enlil at Nippur. As a
+hammer god, he was imported by the Semites from the hills. He was a
+wind and thunder deity, a rain bringer, a corn god, and a god of
+battle like Thor, Jupiter, Tarku, Indra, and others, who were all sons
+of the sky.
+
+In this brief review of the representative deities of early Babylonia,
+it will be seen that most gods link with Anu, Ea, and Enlil, whose
+attributes they symbolized in various forms. The prominence accorded
+to an individual deity depended on local conditions, experiences, and
+influences. Ceremonial practices no doubt varied here and there, but
+although one section might exalt Ea and another Shamash, the religious
+faith of the people as a whole did not differ to any marked extent;
+they served the gods according to their lights, so that life might be
+prolonged and made prosperous, for the land of death and "no return"
+was regarded as a place of gloom and misery.
+
+When the Babylonians appear before us in the early stages of the
+historical period they had reached that stage of development set forth
+so vividly in the _Orations_ of Isocrates: "Those of the gods who are
+the source to us of good things have the title of Olympians; those
+whose department is that of calamities and punishments have harsher
+titles: to the first class both private persons and states erect
+altars and temples; the second is not worshipped either with prayers
+or burnt sacrifices, but in their case we perform ceremonies of
+riddance".[77]
+
+The Sumerians, like the Ancient Egyptians, developed their deities,
+who reflected the growth of culture, from vague spirit groups, which,
+like ghosts, were hostile to mankind. Those spirits who could be
+propitiated were exalted as benevolent deities; those who could not be
+bargained with were regarded as evil gods and goddesses. A better
+understanding of the character of Babylonian deities will therefore be
+obtained by passing the demons and evil spirits under review.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+DEMONS, FAIRIES, AND GHOSTS
+
+
+  Spirits in Everything and Everywhere--The Bringers of Luck and
+  Misfortune--Germ Theory Anticipated--Early Gods indistinguishable
+  from Demons--Repulsive form of Ea--Spirit Groups as Attendants of
+  Deities--Egyptian, Indian, Greek, and Germanic parallels--Elder Gods
+  as Evil Gods--Animal Demons--The Babylonian
+  "Will-o'-the-Wisp"--"Foreign Devils"--Elves and Fairies--Demon
+  Lovers--"Adam's first wife, Lilith"--Children Charmed against Evil
+  Spirits--The Demon of Nightmare--Ghosts as Enemies of the
+  Living--The Vengeful Dead Mother in Babylonia, India, Europe, and
+  Mexico--Burial Contrast--Calling Back the Dead--Fate of Childless
+  Ghosts--Religious Need for Offspring--Hags and Giants and Composite
+  Monsters--Tempest Fiends--Legend of Adapa and the Storm Demon--Wind
+  Hags of Ancient Britain--Tyrolese Storm Maidens--Zu Bird Legend and
+  Indian Garuda Myth--Legend of the Eagle and the Serpent--The Snake
+  Mother Goddess--Demons and the Moon God--Plague
+  Deities--Classification of Spirits, and Egyptian, Arabian, and
+  Scottish parallels--Traces of Progress from Animism to Monotheism.
+
+
+The memorable sermon preached by Paul to the Athenians when he stood
+"in the midst of Mars' hill", could have been addressed with equal
+appropriateness to the ancient Sumerians and Akkadians. "I perceive",
+he declared, "that in all things ye are too superstitious.... God that
+made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of
+heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; neither is
+worshipped with men's hands as though he needed any thing, seeing he
+giveth to all life, and breath, and all things ... for in him we live,
+and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have
+said, For we are also his offspring. Forasmuch then as we are the
+offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto
+gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device."[78]
+
+Babylonian temples were houses of the gods in the literal sense; the
+gods were supposed to dwell in them, their spirits having entered into
+the graven images or blocks of stone. It is probable that like the
+Ancient Egyptians they believed a god had as many spirits as he had
+attributes. The gods, as we have said, appear to have evolved from
+early spirit groups. All the world swarmed with spirits, which
+inhabited stones and trees, mountains and deserts, rivers and ocean,
+the air, the sky, the stars, and the sun and moon. The spirits
+controlled Nature: they brought light and darkness, sunshine and
+storm, summer and winter; they were manifested in the thunderstorm,
+the sandstorm, the glare of sunset, and the wraiths of mist rising
+from the steaming marshes. They controlled also the lives of men and
+women. The good spirits were the source of luck. The bad spirits
+caused misfortunes, and were ever seeking to work evil against the
+Babylonian. Darkness was peopled by demons and ghosts of the dead. The
+spirits of disease were ever lying in wait to clutch him with cruel
+invisible hands.
+
+Some modern writers, who are too prone to regard ancient peoples from
+a twentieth-century point of view, express grave doubts as to whether
+"intelligent Babylonians" really believed that spirits came down in
+the rain and entered the soil to rise up before men's eyes as stalks
+of barley or wheat. There is no reason for supposing that they thought
+otherwise. The early folks based their theories on the accumulated
+knowledge of their age. They knew nothing regarding the composition of
+water or the atmosphere, of the cause of thunder and lightning, or of
+the chemical changes effected in soils by the action of bacteria. They
+attributed all natural phenomena to the operations of spirits or gods.
+In believing that certain demons caused certain diseases, they may be
+said to have achieved distinct progress, for they anticipated the germ
+theory. They made discoveries, too, which have been approved and
+elaborated in later times when they lit sacred fires, bathed in sacred
+waters, and used oils and herbs to charm away spirits of pestilence.
+Indeed, many folk cures, which were originally associated with magical
+ceremonies, are still practised in our own day. They were found to be
+effective by early observers, although they were unable to explain why
+and how cures were accomplished, like modern scientific investigators.
+
+In peopling the Universe with spirits, the Babylonians, like other
+ancient folks, betrayed that tendency to symbolize everything which
+has ever appealed to the human mind. Our painters and poets and
+sculptors are greatest when they symbolize their ideals and ideas and
+impressions, and by so doing make us respond to their moods. Their
+"beauty and their terror are sublime". But what may seem poetic to us,
+was invariably a grim reality to the Babylonians. The statue or
+picture was not merely a work of art but a manifestation of the god or
+demon. As has been said, they believed that the spirit of the god
+inhabited the idol; the frown of the brazen image was the frown of the
+wicked demon. They entertained as much dread of the winged and
+human-headed bulls guarding the entrance to the royal palace as do
+some of the Arab workmen who, in our own day, assist excavators to
+rescue them from sandy mounds in which they have been hidden for long
+centuries.
+
+When an idol was carried away from a city by an invading army, it was
+believed that the god himself had been taken prisoner, and was
+therefore unable any longer to help his people.
+
+In the early stages of Sumerian culture, the gods and goddesses who
+formed groups were indistinguishable from demons. They were vaguely
+defined, and had changing shapes. When attempts were made to depict
+them they were represented in many varying forms. Some were winged
+bulls or lions with human heads; others had even more remarkable
+composite forms. The "dragon of Babylon", for instance, which was
+portrayed on walls of temples, had a serpent's head, a body covered
+with scales, the fore legs of a lion, hind legs of an eagle, and a
+long wriggling serpentine tail. Ea had several monster forms. The
+following description of one of these is repulsive enough:--
+
+    The head is the head of a serpent,
+    From his nostrils mucus trickles,
+    His mouth is beslavered with water;
+    The ears are like those of a basilisk,
+    His horns are twisted into three curls,
+    He wears a veil in his head band,
+    The body is a suh-fish full of stars,
+    The base of his feet are claws,
+    The sole of his foot has no heel,
+    His name is Sassu-wunnu,
+    A sea monster, a form of Ea.
+
+            _R.C. Thompson's Translation._[79]
+
+Even after the gods were given beneficent attributes to reflect the
+growth of culture, and were humanized, they still retained many of
+their savage characteristics. Bel Enlil and his fierce son, Nergal,
+were destroyers of mankind; the storm god desolated the land; the sky
+god deluged it with rain; the sea raged furiously, ever hungering for
+human victims; the burning sun struck down its victims; and the floods
+played havoc with the dykes and houses of human beings. In Egypt the
+sun god Ra was similarly a "producer of calamity", the composite
+monster god Sokar was "the lord of fear".[80] Osiris in prehistoric
+times had been "a dangerous god", and some of the Pharaohs sought
+protection against him in the charms inscribed in their tombs.[81] The
+Indian Shiva, "the Destroyer", in the old religious poems has also
+primitive attributes of like character.
+
+The Sumerian gods never lost their connection with the early spirit
+groups. These continued to be represented by their attendants, who
+executed a deity's stern and vengeful decrees. In one of the
+Babylonian charms the demons are referred to as "the spleen of the
+gods"--the symbols of their wrathful emotions and vengeful desires.
+Bel Enlil, the air and earth god, was served by the demons of disease,
+"the beloved sons of Bel", which issued from the Underworld to attack
+mankind. Nergal, the sulky and ill-tempered lord of death and
+destruction, who never lost his demoniac character, swept over the
+land, followed by the spirits of pestilence, sunstroke, weariness, and
+destruction. Anu, the sky god, had "spawned" at creation the demons of
+cold and rain and darkness. Even Ea and his consort, Damkina, were
+served by groups of devils and giants, which preyed upon mankind in
+bleak and desolate places when night fell. In the ocean home of Ea
+were bred the "seven evil spirits" of tempest--the gaping dragon, the
+leopard which preyed upon children, the great Beast, the terrible
+serpent, &c.
+
+In Indian mythology Indra was similarly followed by the stormy Maruts,
+and fierce Rudra by the tempestuous Rudras. In Teutonic mythology Odin
+is the "Wild Huntsman in the Raging Host". In Greek mythology the
+ocean furies attend upon fickle Poseidon. Other examples of this kind
+could be multiplied.
+
+As we have seen (Chapter II) the earliest group of Babylonian deities
+consisted probably of four pairs of gods and goddesses as in Egypt.
+The first pair was Apsu-Rishtu and Tiamat, who personified the
+primordial deep. Now the elder deities in most mythologies--the
+"grandsires" and "grandmothers" and "fathers" and "mothers"--are ever
+the most powerful and most vengeful. They appear to represent
+primitive "layers" of savage thought. The Greek Cronos devours even
+his own children, and, as the late Andrew Lang has shown, there are
+many parallels to this myth among primitive peoples in various parts
+of the world.
+
+Lang regarded the Greek survival as an example of "the conservatism of
+the religious instinct".[82] The grandmother of the Teutonic deity Tyr
+was a fierce giantess with nine hundred heads; his father was an enemy
+of the gods. In Scotland the hag-mother of winter and storm and
+darkness is the enemy of growth and all life, and she raises storms to
+stop the grass growing, to slay young animals, and prevent the union
+of her son with his fair bride. Similarly the Babylonian chaos
+spirits, Apsu and Tiamat, the father and mother of the gods, resolve
+to destroy their offspring, because they begin to set the Universe in
+order. Tiamat, the female dragon, is more powerful than her husband
+Apsu, who is slain by his son Ea. She summons to her aid the gods of
+evil, and creates also a brood of monsters--serpents, dragons, vipers,
+fish men, raging hounds, &c.--so as to bring about universal and
+enduring confusion and evil. Not until she is destroyed can the
+beneficent gods establish law and order and make the earth habitable
+and beautiful.
+
+But although Tiamat was slain, the everlasting battle between the
+forces of good and evil was ever waged in the Babylonian world.
+Certain evil spirits were let loose at certain periods, and they
+strove to accomplish the destruction of mankind and his works. These
+invisible enemies were either charmed away by performing magical
+ceremonies, or by invoking the gods to thwart them and bind them.
+
+Other spirits inhabited the bodies of animals and were ever hovering
+near. The ghosts of the dead and male and female demons were birds,
+like the birds of Fate which sang to Siegfried. When the owl raised
+its melancholy voice in the darkness the listener heard the spirit of
+a departed mother crying for her child. Ghosts and evil spirits
+wandered through the streets in darkness; they haunted empty houses;
+they fluttered through the evening air as bats; they hastened, moaning
+dismally, across barren wastes searching for food or lay in wait for
+travellers; they came as roaring lions and howling jackals, hungering
+for human flesh. The "shedu" was a destructive bull which might slay
+man wantonly or as a protector of temples. Of like character was the
+"lamassu", depicted as a winged bull with human head, the protector of
+palaces; the "alu" was a bull-like demon of tempest, and there were
+also many composite, distorted, or formless monsters which were
+vaguely termed "seizers" or "overthrowers", the Semitic "labashu" and
+"ach-chazu", the Sumerian "dimmea" and "dimme-kur". A dialectic form
+of "gallu" or devil was "mulla". Professor Pinches thinks it not
+improbable that "mulla" may be connected with the word "mula", meaning
+"star", and suggests that it referred to a "will-o'-the-wisp".[83] In
+these islands, according to an old rhyme,
+
+    Some call him Robin Good-fellow,
+      Hob-goblin, or mad Crisp,
+    And some againe doe tearme him oft
+      By name of Will the Wisp.
+
+Other names are "Kitty", "Peg", and "Jack with a lantern". "Poor
+Robin" sang:
+
+    I should indeed as soon expect
+    That Peg-a-lantern would direct
+    Me straightway home on misty night
+    As wand'ring stars, quite out of sight.
+
+In Shakespeare's _Tempest_[84] a sailor exclaims: "Your fairy, which,
+you say, is a harmless fairy, has done little better than played the
+Jack with us". Dr. Johnson commented that the reference was to "Jack
+with a lantern". Milton wrote also of the "wandering fire",
+
+    Which oft, they say, some evil spirit attends,
+    Hovering and blazing with delusive light,
+    Misleads th' amaz'd night wand'rer from his way
+    To bogs and mires, and oft through pond or pool;
+    There swallowed up and lost from succour far.[85]
+
+"When we stick in the mire", sang Drayton, "he doth with laughter
+leave us." These fires were also "fallen stars", "death fires", and
+"fire drakes":
+
+    So have I seen a fire drake glide along
+    Before a dying man, to point his grave,
+    And in it stick and hide.[86]
+
+Pliny referred to the wandering lights as stars.[87] The Sumerian
+"mulla" was undoubtedly an evil spirit. In some countries the "fire
+drake" is a bird with gleaming breast: in Babylonia it assumed the
+form of a bull, and may have had some connection with the bull of
+lshtar. Like the Indian "Dasyu" and "Dasa",[88] Gallu was applied in
+the sense of "foreign devil" to human and superhuman adversaries of
+certain monarchs. Some of the supernatural beings resemble our elves
+and fairies and the Indian Rakshasas. Occasionally they appear in
+comely human guise; at other times they are vaguely monstrous. The
+best known of this class is Lilith, who, according to Hebrew
+tradition, preserved in the Talmud, was the demon lover of Adam. She
+has been immortalized by Dante Gabriel Rossetti:
+
+    Of Adam's first wife Lilith, it is told
+    (The witch he loved before the gift of Eve)
+    That, ere the snake's, her sweet tongue could deceive,
+    And her enchanted hair was the first gold.
+    And still she sits, young while the earth is old,
+    And, subtly of herself contemplative,
+    Draws men to watch the bright web she can weave,
+    Till heart and body and life are in its hold.
+    The rose and poppy are her flowers; for where
+    Is he not found, O Lilith, whom shed scent
+    And soft shed kisses and soft sleep shall snare?
+    Lo! as that youth's eyes burned at thine, so went
+    Thy spell through him, and left his straight neck bent
+    And round his heart one strangling golden hair.
+
+Lilith is the Babylonian Lilithu, a feminine form of Lilu, the
+Sumerian Lila. She resembles Surpanakha of the _Ramayana_, who made
+love to Rama and Lakshmana, and the sister of the demon Hidimva, who
+became enamoured of Bhima, one of the heroes of the _Mahabharata_,[89]
+and the various fairy lovers of Europe who lured men to eternal
+imprisonment inside mountains, or vanished for ever when they were
+completely under their influence, leaving them demented. The elfin
+Lilu similarly wooed young women, like the Germanic Laurin of the
+"Wonderful Rose Garden",[90] who carried away the fair lady Kunhild to
+his underground dwelling amidst the Tyrolese mountains, or left them
+haunting the place of their meetings, searching for him in vain:
+
+    A savage place! as holy and enchanted
+    As ere beneath the waning moon was haunted
+    By woman wailing for her demon lover...
+    His flashing eyes, his floating hair!
+    Weave a circle round him thrice,
+    And close your eyes with holy dread,
+    For he on honey dew hath fed
+    And drunk the milk of Paradise.
+
+            _Coleridge's Kubla Khan._
+
+Another materializing spirit of this class was Ardat Lili, who appears
+to have wedded human beings like the swan maidens, the mermaids, and
+Nereids of the European folk tales, and the goddess Ganga, who for a
+time was the wife of King Shantanu of the _Mahabharata_.[91]
+
+The Labartu, to whom we have referred, was a female who haunted
+mountains and marshes; like the fairies and hags of Europe, she stole
+or afflicted children, who accordingly had to wear charms round their
+necks for protection. Seven of these supernatural beings were reputed
+to be daughters of Anu, the sky god.
+
+The Alu, a storm deity, was also a spirit which caused nightmare. It
+endeavoured to smother sleepers like the Scandinavian hag Mara, and
+similarly deprived them of power to move. In Babylonia this evil
+spirit might also cause sleeplessness or death by hovering near a bed.
+In shape it might be as horrible and repulsive as the Egyptian ghosts
+which caused children to die from fright or by sucking out the breath
+of life.
+
+As most representatives of the spirit world were enemies of the
+living, so were the ghosts of dead men and women. Death chilled all
+human affections; it turned love to hate; the deeper the love had
+been, the deeper became the enmity fostered by the ghost. Certain
+ghosts might also be regarded as particularly virulent and hostile if
+they happened to have left the body of one who was ceremonially
+impure. The most terrible ghost in Babylonia was that of a woman who
+had died in childbed. She was pitied and dreaded; her grief had
+demented her; she was doomed to wail in the darkness; her impurity
+clung to her like poison. No spirit was more prone to work evil
+against mankind, and her hostility was accompanied by the most tragic
+sorrow. In Northern India the Hindus, like the ancient Babylonians,
+regard as a fearsome demon the ghost of a woman who died while
+pregnant, or on the day of the child's birth.[92] A similar belief
+prevailed in Mexico. In Europe there are many folk tales of dead
+mothers who return to avenge themselves on the cruel fathers of
+neglected children.
+
+A sharp contrast is presented by the Mongolian Buriats, whose outlook
+on the spirit world is less gloomy than was that of the ancient
+Babylonians. According to Mr. Jeremiah Curtin, this interesting people
+are wont to perform a ceremony with purpose to entice the ghost to
+return to the dead body--a proceeding which is dreaded in the Scottish
+Highlands.[93] The Buriats address the ghost, saying: "You shall sleep
+well. Come back to your natural ashes. Take pity on your friends. It
+is necessary to live a real life. Do not wander along the mountains.
+Do not be like bad spirits. Return to your peaceful home.... Come back
+and work for your children. How can you leave the little ones?" If it
+is a mother, these words have great effect; sometimes the spirit moans
+and sobs, and the Buriats tell that there have been instances of it
+returning to the body.[94] In his _Arabia Deserta_[95] Doughty relates
+that Arab women and children mock the cries of the owl. One explained
+to him: "It is a wailful woman seeking her lost child; she has become
+this forlorn bird". So do immemorial beliefs survive to our own day.
+
+The Babylonian ghosts of unmarried men and women and of those without
+offspring were also disconsolate night wanderers. Others who suffered
+similar fates were the ghosts of men who died in battle far from home
+and were left unburied, the ghosts of travellers who perished in the
+desert and were not covered over, the ghosts of drowned men which rose
+from the water, the ghosts of prisoners starved to death or executed,
+the ghosts of people who died violent deaths before their appointed
+time. The dead required to be cared for, to have libations poured out,
+to be fed, so that they might not prowl through the streets or enter
+houses searching for scraps of food and pure water. The duty of giving
+offerings to the dead was imposed apparently on near relatives. As in
+India, it would appear that the eldest son performed the funeral
+ceremony: a dreadful fate therefore awaited the spirit of the dead
+Babylonian man or woman without offspring. In Sanskrit literature
+there is a reference to a priest who was not allowed to enter
+Paradise, although he had performed rigid penances, because he had no
+children.[96]
+
+There were hags and giants of mountain and desert, of river and ocean.
+Demons might possess the pig, the goat, the horse, the lion, or the
+ibis, the raven, or the hawk. The seven spirits of tempest, fire, and
+destruction rose from the depths of ocean, and there were hosts of
+demons which could not be overcome or baffled by man without the
+assistance of the gods to whom they were hostile. Many were sexless;
+having no offspring, they were devoid of mercy and compassion. They
+penetrated everywhere:
+
+    The high enclosures, the broad enclosures, like a flood
+      they pass through,
+    From house to house they dash along.
+    No door can shut them out;
+    No bolt can turn them back.
+    Through the door, like a snake, they glide,
+    Through the hinge, like the wind, they storm,
+    Tearing the wife from the embrace of the man,
+    Driving the freedman from his family home.[97]
+
+These furies did not confine their unwelcomed attentions to mankind
+alone:
+
+    They hunt the doves from their cotes,
+    And drive the birds from their nests,
+    And chase the marten from its hole....
+    Through the gloomy street by night they roam,
+    Smiting sheepfold and cattle pen,
+    Shutting up the land as with door and bolt.
+
+            _R.C. Thompson's Translation._
+
+The Babylonian poet, like Burns, was filled with pity for the animals
+which suffered in the storm:
+
+    List'ning the doors an' winnocks rattle,
+    I thought me o' the ourie cattle,
+    Or silly sheep, wha bide this brattle
+      O' winter war....
+    Ilk happing bird, wee, helpless thing!
+    That in the merry months o' spring
+    Delighted me to hear thee sing,
+      What comes o' thee?
+    Whare wilt thou cow'r thy chittering wing,
+      And close thy e'e?
+
+According to Babylonian belief, "the great storms directed from
+heaven" were caused by demons. Mankind heard them "loudly roaring
+above, gibbering below".[98] The south wind was raised by Shutu, a
+plumed storm demon resembling Hraesvelgur of the Icelandic Eddas:
+
+    Corpse-swallower sits at the end of heaven,
+      A Jötun in eagle form;
+    From his wings, they say, comes the wind which fares
+      Over all the dwellers of earth.[99]
+
+The northern story of Thor's fishing, when he hooked and wounded the
+Midgard serpent, is recalled by the Babylonian legend of Adapa, son of
+the god Ea. This hero was engaged catching fish, when Shutu, the south
+wind, upset his boat. In his wrath Adapa immediately attacked the
+storm demon and shattered her pinions. Anu, the sky god, was moved to
+anger against Ea's son and summoned him to the Celestial Court. Adapa,
+however, appeared in garments of mourning and was forgiven. Anu
+offered him the water of life and the bread of life which would have
+made him immortal, but Ea's son refused to eat or drink, believing, as
+his father had warned him, that the sky god desired him to partake of
+the bread of death and to drink of the water of death.
+
+Another terrible atmospheric demon was the south-west wind, which
+caused destructive storms and floods, and claimed many human victims
+like the Icelandic "corpse swallower". She was depicted with lidless
+staring eyes, broad flat nose, mouth gaping horribly, and showing
+tusk-like teeth, and with high cheek bones, heavy eyebrows, and low
+bulging forehead.
+
+In Scotland the hag of the south-west wind is similarly a bloodthirsty
+and fearsome demon. She is most virulent in the springtime. At
+Cromarty she is quaintly called "Gentle Annie" by the fisher folks,
+who repeat the saying: "When Gentle Annie is skyawlan (yelling) roond
+the heel of Ness (a promontory) wi' a white feather on her hat (the
+foam of big billows) they (the spirits) will be harrying (robbing) the
+crook"--that is, the pot which hangs from the crook is empty during
+the spring storms, which prevent fishermen going to sea. In England
+the wind hag is Black Annis, who dwells in a Leicestershire hill cave.
+She may be identical with the Irish hag Anu, associated with the "Paps
+of Anu". According to Gaelic lore, this wind demon of spring is the
+"Cailleach" (old wife). She gives her name in the Highland calendar to
+the stormy period of late spring; she raises gale after gale to
+prevent the coming of summer. Angerboda, the Icelandic hag, is also a
+storm demon, but represents the east wind. A Tyrolese folk tale tells
+of three magic maidens who dwelt on Jochgrimm mountain, where they
+"brewed the winds". Their demon lovers were Ecke, "he who causes
+fear"; Vasolt, "he who causes dismay"; and the scornful Dietrich in
+his mythical character of Donar or Thunor (Thor), the thunderer.
+
+Another Sumerian storm demon was the Zu bird, which is represented
+among the stars by Pegasus and Taurus. A legend relates that this
+"worker of evil, who raised the head of evil", once aspired to rule
+the gods, and stole from Bel, "the lord" of deities, the Tablets of
+Destiny, which gave him his power over the Universe as controller of
+the fates of all. The Zu bird escaped with the Tablets and found
+shelter on its mountain top in Arabia. Anu called on Ramman, the
+thunderer, to attack the Zu bird, but he was afraid; other gods appear
+to have shrunk from the conflict. How the rebel was overcome is not
+certain, because the legend survives in fragmentary form. There is a
+reference, however, to the moon god setting out towards the mountain
+in Arabia with purpose to outwit the Zu bird and recover the lost
+Tablets. How he fared it is impossible to ascertain. In another
+legend--that of Etana--the mother serpent, addressing the sun god,
+Shamash, says:
+
+    Thy net is like unto the broad earth;
+    Thy snare is like unto the distant heaven!
+    Who hath ever escaped from thy net?
+    Even Zu, the worker of evil, who raised the head
+        of evil [did not escape]!
+
+            _L.W. King's Translation._
+
+In Indian mythology, Garuda, half giant, half eagle, robs the Amrita
+(ambrosia) of the gods which gives them their power and renders them
+immortal. It had assumed a golden body, bright as the sun. Indra, the
+thunderer, flung his bolt in vain; he could not wound Garuda, and only
+displaced a single feather. Afterwards, however, he stole the moon
+goblet containing the Amrita, which Garuda had delivered to his
+enemies, the serpents, to free his mother from bondage. This Indian
+eagle giant became the vehicle of the god Vishnu, and, according to
+the _Mahabharata_, "mocked the wind with his fleetness".
+
+It would appear that the Babylonian Zu bird symbolized the summer
+sandstorms from the Arabian desert. Thunder is associated with the
+rainy season, and it may have been assumed, therefore, that the
+thunder god was powerless against the sandstorm demon, who was chased,
+however, by the moon, and finally overcome by the triumphant sun when
+it broke through the darkening sand drift and brightened heaven and
+earth, "netting" the rebellious demon who desired to establish the
+rule of evil over gods and mankind.
+
+In the "Legend of Etana" the Eagle, another demon which links with the
+Indian Garuda, slayer of serpents, devours the brood of the Mother
+Serpent. For this offence against divine law, Shamash, the sun god,
+pronounces the Eagle's doom. He instructs the Mother Serpent to slay a
+wild ox and conceal herself in its entrails. The Eagle comes to feed
+on the carcass, unheeding the warning of one of his children, who
+says, "The serpent lies in this wild ox":
+
+    He swooped down and stood upon the wild ox,
+    The Eagle ... examined the flesh;
+    He looked about carefully before and behind him;
+    He again examined the flesh;
+    He looked about carefully before and behind him,
+    Then, moving swiftly, he made for the hidden parts.
+    When he entered into the midst,
+    The serpent seized him by his wing.
+
+In vain the Eagle appealed for mercy to the Mother Serpent, who was
+compelled to execute the decree of Shamash; she tore off the Eagle's
+pinions, wings, and claws, and threw him into a pit where he perished
+from hunger and thirst.[100] This myth may refer to the ravages of a
+winged demon of disease who was thwarted by the sacrifice of an ox.
+The Mother Serpent appears to be identical with an ancient goddess of
+maternity resembling the Egyptian Bast, the serpent mother of
+Bubastis. According to Sumerian belief, Nintu, "a form of the goddess
+Ma", was half a serpent. On her head there is a horn; she is "girt
+about the loins"; her left arm holds "a babe suckling her breast":
+
+    From her head to her loins
+    The body is that of a naked woman;
+    From the loins to the sole of the foot
+    Scales like those of a snake are visible.
+
+            _R.C. Thompson's Translation._
+
+The close association of gods and demons is illustrated in an obscure
+myth which may refer to an eclipse of the moon or a night storm at the
+beginning of the rainy season. The demons go to war against the high
+gods, and are assisted by Adad (Ramman) the thunderer, Shamash the
+sun, and Ishtar. They desire to wreck the heavens, the home of Anu:
+
+    They clustered angrily round the crescent of the moon god,
+    And won over to their aid Shamash, the mighty, and Adad, the
+        warrior,
+    And Ishtar, who with Anu, the King,
+    Hath founded a shining dwelling.
+
+The moon god Sin, "the seed of mankind", was darkened by the demons
+who raged, "rushing loose over the land" like to the wind. Bel called
+upon his messenger, whom he sent to Ea in the ocean depths, saying:
+"My son Sin ... hath been grievously bedimmed". Ea lamented, and
+dispatched his son Merodach to net the demons by magic, using "a
+two-coloured cord from the hair of a virgin kid and from the wool of a
+virgin lamb".[101]
+
+As in India, where Shitala, the Bengali goddess of smallpox, for
+instance, is worshipped when the dreaded disease she controls becomes
+epidemic, so in Babylonia the people sought to secure immunity from
+attack by worshipping spirits of disease. A tablet relates that Ura, a
+plague demon, once resolved to destroy all life, but ultimately
+consented to spare those who praised his name and exalted him in
+recognition of his bravery and power. This could be accomplished by
+reciting a formula. Indian serpent worshippers believe that their
+devotions "destroy all danger proceeding from snakes".[102]
+
+Like the Ancient Egyptians, the Babylonians also had their kindly
+spirits who brought luck and the various enjoyments of life. A good
+"labartu" might attend on a human being like a household fairy of
+India or Europe: a friendly "shedu" could protect a household against
+the attacks of fierce demons and human enemies. Even the spirits of
+Fate who served Anu, god of the sky, and that "Norn" of the
+Underworld, Eresh-ki-gal, queen of Hades, might sometimes be
+propitious: if the deities were successfully invoked they could cause
+the Fates to smite spirits of disease and bringers of ill luck. Damu,
+a friendly fairy goddess, was well loved, because she inspired
+pleasant dreams, relieved the sufferings of the afflicted, and
+restored to good health those patients whom she selected to favour.
+
+In the Egyptian _Book of the Dead_ the kindly spirits are overshadowed
+by the evil ones, because the various magical spells which were put on
+record were directed against those supernatural beings who were
+enemies of mankind. Similarly in Babylonia the fragments of this class
+of literature which survive deal mainly with wicked and vengeful
+demons. It appears probable, however, that the highly emotional
+Sumerians and Akkadians were on occasion quite as cheerful a people as
+the inhabitants of ancient Egypt. Although they were surrounded by
+bloodthirsty furies who desired to shorten their days, and their
+nights were filled with vague lowering phantoms which inspired fear,
+they no doubt shared, in their charm-protected houses, a comfortable
+feeling of security after performing magical ceremonies, and were
+happy enough when they gathered round flickering lights to listen to
+ancient song and story and gossip about crops and traders, the members
+of the royal house, and the family affairs of their acquaintances.
+
+The Babylonian spirit world, it will be seen, was of complex
+character. Its inhabitants were numberless, but often vaguely defined,
+and one class of demons linked with another. Like the European fairies
+of folk belief, the Babylonian spirits were extremely hostile and
+irresistible at certain seasonal periods; and they were fickle and
+perverse and difficult to please even when inclined to be friendly.
+They were also similarly manifested from time to time in various
+forms. Sometimes they were comely and beautiful; at other times they
+were apparitions of horror. The Jinn of present-day Arabians are of
+like character; these may be giants, cloudy shapes, comely women,
+serpents or cats, goats or pigs.
+
+Some of the composite monsters of Babylonia may suggest the vague and
+exaggerated recollections of terror-stricken people who have had
+glimpses of unfamiliar wild beasts in the dusk or amidst reedy
+marshes. But they cannot be wholly accounted for in this way. While
+animals were often identified with supernatural beings, and foreigners
+were called "devils", it would be misleading to assert that the spirit
+world reflects confused folk memories of human and bestial enemies.
+Even when a demon was given concrete human form it remained
+essentially non-human: no ordinary weapon could inflict an injury, and
+it was never controlled by natural laws. The spirits of disease and
+tempest and darkness were creations of fancy: they symbolized moods;
+they were the causes which explained effects. A sculptor or
+storyteller who desired to convey an impression of a spirit of storm
+or pestilence created monstrous forms to inspire terror. Sudden and
+unexpected visits of fierce and devastating demons were accounted for
+by asserting that they had wings like eagles, were nimble-footed as
+gazelles, cunning and watchful as serpents; that they had claws to
+clutch, horns to gore, and powerful fore legs like a lion to smite
+down victims. Withal they drank blood like ravens and devoured corpses
+like hyaenas. Monsters were all the more repulsive when they were
+partly human. The human-headed snake or the snake-headed man and the
+man with the horns of a wild bull and the legs of a goat were horrible
+in the extreme. Evil spirits might sometimes achieve success by
+practising deception. They might appear as beautiful girls or handsome
+men and seize unsuspecting victims in deathly embrace or leave them
+demented and full of grief, or come as birds and suddenly assume
+awesome shapes.
+
+Fairies and elves, and other half-human demons, are sometimes regarded
+as degenerate gods. It will be seen, however, that while certain
+spirits developed into deities, others remained something between
+these two classes of supernatural beings: they might attend upon gods
+and goddesses, or operate independently now against mankind and now
+against deities even. The "namtaru", for instance, was a spirit of
+fate, the son of Bel-Enlil and Eresh-ki-gal, queen of Hades.
+"Apparently", writes Professor Pinches, "he executed the instructions
+given him concerning the fate of men, and could also have power over
+certain of the gods."[103] To this middle class belong the evil gods
+who rebelled against the beneficent deities. According to Hebridean
+folk belief, the fallen angels are divided into three classes--the
+fairies, the "nimble men" (aurora borealis), and the "blue men of the
+Minch". In _Beowulf_ the "brood of Cain" includes "monsters and elves
+and sea-devils--giants also, who long time fought with God, for which
+he gave them their reward".[104] Similarly the Babylonian spirit
+groups are liable to division and subdivision. The various classes may
+be regarded as relics of the various stages of development from crude
+animism to sublime monotheism: in the fragmentary legends we trace the
+floating material from which great mythologies have been framed.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+MYTHS OF TAMMUZ AND ISHTAR
+
+
+  Forms of Tammuz--The Weeping Ceremony--Tammuz the Patriarch and the
+  Dying God--Common Origin of Tammuz and other Deities from an Archaic
+  God--The Mediterranean Racial Myth--Animal Forms of Gods of
+  Fertility--Two Legends of the Death of Tammuz--Attis, Adonis, and
+  Diarmid Slain by a Boar--Laments for Tammuz--His Soul in Underworld
+  and the Deep--Myth of the Child God of Ocean--Sargon Myth
+  Version--The Germanic Scyld of the Sheaf--Tammuz Links with Frey,
+  Heimdal, Agni, &c.--Assyrian Legend of "Descent of Ishtar"--Sumerian
+  Version--The Sister Belit-sheri and the Mother Ishtar--The Egyptian
+  Isis and Nepthys--Goddesses as Mothers, Sisters, and Wives--Great
+  Mothers of Babylonia--Immortal Goddesses and Dying Gods--The Various
+  Indras--Celtic Goddess with Seven Periods of Youth--Lovers of
+  Germanic and Classic Goddesses--The Lovers of Ishtar--Racial
+  Significance of Goddess Cult--The Great Fathers and their
+  Worshippers--Process of Racial and Religious Fusion--Ishtar and
+  Tiamat--Mother Worship in Palestine--Women among Goddess
+  Worshippers.
+
+
+Among the gods of Babylonia none achieved wider and more enduring
+fame than Tammuz, who was loved by Ishtar, the amorous Queen of
+Heaven--the beautiful youth who died and was mourned for and came to
+life again. He does not figure by his popular name in any of the city
+pantheons, but from the earliest times of which we have knowledge
+until the passing of Babylonian civilization, he played a prominent
+part in the religious life of the people.
+
+Tammuz, like Osiris of Egypt, was an agricultural deity, and as the
+Babylonian harvest was the gift of the rivers, it is probable that one
+of his several forms was Dumu-zi-abzu, "Tammuz of the Abyss". He was
+also "the child", "the heroic lord", "the sentinel", "the healer", and
+the patriarch who reigned over the early Babylonians for a
+considerable period. "Tammuz of the Abyss" was one of the members of
+the family of Ea, god of the Deep, whose other sons, in addition to
+Merodach, were Nira, an obscure deity; Ki-gulla, "world destroyer",
+Burnunta-sa, "broad ear", and Bara and Baragulla, probably "revealers"
+or "oracles". In addition there was a daughter, Khi-dimme-azaga,
+"child of the renowned spirit". She may have been identical with
+Belit-sheri, who is referred to in the Sumerian hymns as the sister of
+Tammuz. This family group was probably formed by symbolizing the
+attributes of Ea and his spouse Damkina. Tammuz, in his character as a
+patriarch, may have been regarded as a hostage from the gods: the
+human form of Ea, who instructed mankind, like King Osiris, how to
+grow corn and cultivate fruit trees. As the youth who perished
+annually, he was the corn spirit. He is referred to in the Bible by
+his Babylonian name.
+
+When Ezekiel detailed the various idolatrous practices of the
+Israelites, which included the worship of the sun and "every form of
+creeping things and abominable beasts"--a suggestion of the composite
+monsters of Babylonia--he was brought "to the door of the gate of the
+Lord's house, which was towards the north; and, behold, there sat
+women weeping for Tammuz".[105]
+
+The weeping ceremony was connected with agricultural rites. Corn
+deities were weeping deities, they shed fertilizing tears; and the
+sowers simulated the sorrow of divine mourners when they cast seed in
+the soil "to die", so that it might spring up as corn. This ancient
+custom, like many others, contributed to the poetic imagery of the
+Bible. "They that sow in tears", David sang, "shall reap in joy. He
+that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless
+come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him."[106] In
+Egypt the priestesses who acted the parts of Isis and Nepthys, mourned
+for the slain corn god Osiris.
+
+    Gods and men before the face of the gods are weeping for
+      thee at the same time, when they behold me!...
+    All thy sister goddesses are at thy side and behind thy couch,
+    Calling upon thee with weeping--yet thou are prostrate upon
+      thy bed!...
+    Live before us, desiring to behold thee.[107]
+
+It was believed to be essential that human beings should share the
+universal sorrow caused by the death of a god. If they remained
+unsympathetic, the deities would punish them as enemies. Worshippers
+of nature gods, therefore, based their ceremonial practices on natural
+phenomena. "The dread of the worshippers that the neglect of the usual
+ritual would be followed by disaster, is particularly intelligible",
+writes Professor Robertson Smith, "if they regarded the necessary
+operations of agriculture as involving the violent extinction of a
+particle of divine life."[108] By observing their ritual, the
+worshippers won the sympathy and co-operation of deities, or exercised
+a magical control over nature.
+
+The Babylonian myth of Tammuz, the dying god, bears a close
+resemblance to the Greek myth of Adonis. It also links with the myth
+of Osiris. According to Professor Sayce, Tammuz is identical with
+"Daonus or Daos, the shepherd of Pantibibla", referred to by Berosus
+as the ruler of one of the mythical ages of Babylonia. We have
+therefore to deal with Tammuz in his twofold character as a patriarch
+and a god of fertility.
+
+The Adonis version of the myth may be summarized briefly. Ere the god
+was born, his mother, who was pursued by her angry sire, as the river
+goddesses of the folk tales are pursued by the well demons,
+transformed herself into a tree. Adonis sprang from the trunk of this
+tree, and Aphrodite, having placed the child in a chest, committed him
+to the care of Persephone, queen of Hades, who resembles the
+Babylonian Eresh-ki-gal. Persephone desired to retain the young god,
+and Aphrodite (Ishtar) appealed to Zeus (Anu), who decreed that Adonis
+should spend part of the year with one goddess and part of the year
+with the other.
+
+It is suggested that the myth of Adonis was derived in post-Homeric
+times by the Greeks indirectly from Babylonia through the Western
+Semites, the Semitic title "Adon", meaning "lord", having been
+mistaken for a proper name. This theory, however, cannot be accepted
+without qualifications. It does not explain the existence of either
+the Phrygian myth of Attis, which was developed differently from the
+Tammuz myth, or the Celtic story of "Diarmid and the boar", which
+belongs to the archaeological "Hunting Period". There are traces in
+Greek mythology of pre-Hellenic myths about dying harvest deities,
+like Hyakinthos and Erigone, for instance, who appear to have been
+mourned for. There is every possibility, therefore, that the Tammuz
+ritual may have been attached to a harvest god of the pre-Hellenic
+Greeks, who received at the same time the new name of Adonis. Osiris
+of Egypt resembles Tammuz, but his Mesopotamian origin has not been
+proved. It would appear probable that Tammuz, Attis, Osiris, and the
+deities represented by Adonis and Diarmid were all developed from an
+archaic god of fertility and vegetation, the central figure of a myth
+which was not only as ancient as the knowledge and practice of
+agriculture, but had existence even in the "Hunting Period". Traces of
+the Tammuz-Osiris story in various forms are found all over the area
+occupied by the Mediterranean or Brown race from Sumeria to the
+British Isles. Apparently the original myth was connected with tree
+and water worship and the worship of animals. Adonis sprang from a
+tree; the body of Osiris was concealed in a tree which grew round the
+sea-drifted chest in which he was concealed. Diarmid concealed himself
+in a tree when pursued by Finn. The blood of Tammuz, Osiris, and
+Adonis reddened the swollen rivers which fertilized the soil. Various
+animals were associated with the harvest god, who appears to have been
+manifested from time to time in different forms, for his spirit
+pervaded all nature. In Egypt the soul of Osiris entered the Apis bull
+or the ram of Mendes.
+
+Tammuz in the hymns is called "the pre-eminent steer of heaven", and a
+popular sacrifice was "a white kid of the god Tammuz", which, however,
+might be substituted by a sucking pig. Osiris had also associations
+with swine, and the Egyptians, according to Herodotus, sacrificed a
+pig to him annually. When Set at full moon hunted the boar in the
+Delta marshes, he probably hunted the boar form of Osiris, whose human
+body had been recovered from the sacred tree by Isis. As the soul of
+Bata, the hero of the Egyptian folk tale,[109] migrated from the
+blossom to the bull, and the bull to the tree, so apparently did the
+soul of Osiris pass from incarnation to incarnation. Set, the demon
+slayer of the harvest god, had also a boar form; he was the black pig
+who devoured the waning moon and blinded the Eye of Ra.
+
+In his character as a long-lived patriarch, Tammuz, the King Daonus or
+Daos of Berosus, reigned in Babylonia for 36,000 years. When he died,
+he departed to Hades or the Abyss. Osiris, after reigning over the
+Egyptians, became Judge of the Dead.
+
+Tammuz of the Sumerian hymns, however, is the Adonis-like god who
+lived on earth for a part of the year as the shepherd and
+agriculturist so dearly beloved by the goddess Ishtar. Then he died so
+that he might depart to the realm of Eresh-ki-gal (Persephone), queen
+of Hades. According to one account, his death was caused by the fickle
+Ishtar. When that goddess wooed Gilgamesh, the Babylonian Hercules, he
+upbraided her, saying:
+
+    On Tammuz, the spouse of thy youth,
+    Thou didst lay affliction every year.
+
+            _King's Translation_.
+
+References in the Sumerian hymns suggest that there also existed a
+form of the legend which gave an account of the slaying of the young
+god by someone else than Ishtar. The slayer may have been a Set-like
+demon--perhaps Nin-shach, who appears to have symbolized the
+destroying influence of the sun. He was a war deity, and his name,
+Professor Pinches says, "is conjectured to mean 'lord of the wild
+boar'". There is no direct evidence, however, to connect Tammuz's
+slayer with the boar which killed Adonis. Ishtar's innocence is
+emphasized by the fact that she mourned for her youthful lover,
+crying:
+
+    Oh hero, my lord, ah me! I will say;
+    Food I eat not ... water I drink not ...
+    Because of the exalted one of the nether world, him of the
+      radiant face, yea radiant,
+    Of the exalted one of the nether world, him of the dove-like
+      voice, yea dove-like.[110]
+
+The Phrygian Attis met his death, according to one legend, by
+self-mutilation under a sacred tree. Another account sets forth,
+however, that he was slain by a boar. The Greek Adonis was similarly
+killed by a boar. This animal was a form of Ares (Mars), god of war
+and tempest, who also loved Aphrodite (Ishtar). The Celtic Diarmid, in
+his character as a love god, with lunar attributes, was slain by "the
+green boar", which appears to have been one of the animals of a
+ferocious Hag, an earth and air "mother" with various names. In one of
+the many Fingalian stories the animal is
+
+    ... That venomous boar, and he so fierce,
+    That Grey Eyebrows had with her herd of swine.[111]
+
+Diarmid had eloped with the wife of Finn-mac-Coul (Fingal), who, like
+Ares, plotted to bring about his rival's death, and accordingly set
+the young hero to hunt the boar. As a thunder god Finn carried a
+hammer with which he smote his shield; the blows were heard in
+Lochlann (Scandinavia). Diarmid, like Tammuz, the "god of the tender
+voice and shining eyes", had much beauty. When he expired, Finn cried:
+
+    No maiden will raise her eye
+    Since the mould has gone over thy visage fair...
+    Blue without rashness in thine eye!
+    Passion and beauty behind thy curls!...
+    Oh, yesternight it was green the hillock,
+    Red is it this day with Diarmid's blood.[112]
+
+Tammuz died with the dying vegetation, and Diarmid expired when the
+hills apparently were assuming their purple tints.[113] The month of
+Tammuz wailings was from 20th June till 20th July, when the heat and
+dryness brought forth the demons of pestilence. The mourners chanted:
+
+    He has gone, he has gone to the bosom of the earth,
+    And the dead are numerous in the land....
+    Men are filled with sorrow: they stagger by day in gloom ...
+    In the month of thy year which brings not peace hast thou gone.
+    Thou hast gone on a journey that makes an end of thy people.
+
+The following extract contains a reference to the slaying of the god:
+
+    The holy one of Ishtar, in the middle of the year the fields
+        languish...
+    The shepherd, the wise one, the man of sorrows, why have they
+    slain?...
+    In his temple, in his inhabited domain,
+    The child, lord of knowledge, abides no more...
+    In the meadows, verily, verily, the soul of life perishes.
+
+There is wailing for Tammuz "at the sacred cedar, where the mother
+bore thee", a reference which connects the god, like Adonis and
+Osiris, with tree worship:
+
+    The wailing is for the herbs: the first lament is, "they are not
+        produced".
+    The wailing is for the grain, ears are not produced.
+    The wailing is for the habitations, for the flocks which bring
+        forth no more.
+    The wailing is for the perishing wedded ones; for the perishing
+    children; the dark-headed people create no more.
+
+The wailing is also for the shrunken river, the parched meadows, the
+fishpools, the cane brakes, the forests, the plains, the gardens, and
+the palace, which all suffer because the god of fertility has
+departed. The mourner cries:
+
+      How long shall the springing of verdure be restrained?
+      How long shall the putting forth of leaves be held back?
+
+Whither went Tammuz? His destination has already been referred to as
+"the bosom of the earth", and in the Assyrian version of the "Descent
+of Ishtar" he dwells in "the house of darkness" among the dead, "where
+dust is their nourishment and their food mud", and "the light is never
+seen"--the gloomy Babylonian Hades. In one of the Sumerian hymns,
+however, it is stated that Tammuz "upon the flood was cast out". The
+reference may be to the submarine "house of Ea", or the Blessed Island
+to which the Babylonian Noah was carried. In this Hades bloomed the
+nether "garden of Adonis".
+
+The following extract refers to the garden of Damu (Tammuz)[114]:--
+
+    Damu his youth therein slumbers ...
+    Among the garden flowers he slumbers; among the garden flowers
+    he is cast away ...
+    Among the tamarisks he slumbers, with woe he causes us to be
+    satiated.
+
+Although Tammuz of the hymns was slain, he returned again from Hades.
+Apparently he came back as a child. He is wailed for as "child, Lord
+Gishzida", as well as "my hero Damu". In his lunar character the
+Egyptian Osiris appeared each month as "the child surpassingly
+beautiful"; the Osiris bull was also a child of the moon; "it was
+begotten", says Plutarch, "by a ray of generative light falling from
+the moon". When the bull of Attis was sacrificed his worshippers were
+drenched with its blood, and were afterwards ceremonially fed with
+milk, as they were supposed to have "renewed their youth" and become
+children. The ancient Greek god Eros (Cupid) was represented as a
+wanton boy or handsome youth. Another god of fertility, the Irish
+Angus, who resembles Eros, is called "the ever young"; he slumbers
+like Tammuz and awakes in the Spring.
+
+Apparently it was believed that the child god, Tammuz, returned from
+the earlier Sumerian Paradise of the Deep, and grew into full manhood
+in a comparatively brief period, like Vyasa and other super-men of
+Indian mythology. A couplet from a Tammuz hymn says tersely:
+
+    In his infancy in a sunken boat he lay.
+    In his manhood in the submerged grain he lay.[115]
+
+The "boat" may be the "chest" in which Adonis was concealed by
+Aphrodite when she confided him to the care of Persephone, queen of
+Hades, who desired to retain the young god, but was compelled by Zeus
+to send him back to the goddess of love and vegetation. The fact that
+Ishtar descended to Hades in quest of Tammuz may perhaps explain the
+symbolic references in hymns to mother goddesses being in sunken boats
+also when their powers were in abeyance, as were those of the god for
+part of each year. It is possible, too, that the boat had a lunar and
+a solar significance. Khonsu, the Egyptian moon god, for instance, was
+associated with the Spring sun, being a deity of fertility and
+therefore a corn spirit; he was a form of Osiris, the Patriarch, who
+sojourned on earth to teach mankind how to grow corn and cultivate
+fruit trees. In the Egyptian legend Osiris received the corn seeds
+from Isis, which suggests that among Great-Mother-worshipping peoples,
+it was believed that agricultural civilization had a female origin.
+The same myths may have been attached to corn gods and corn goddesses,
+associated with water, sun, moon, and stars.
+
+That there existed in Babylonia at an extremely remote period an
+agricultural myth regarding a Patriarch of divine origin who was
+rescued from a boat in his childhood, is suggested by the legend which
+was attached to the memory of the usurper King Sargon of Akkad. It
+runs as follows:
+
+    "I am Sargon, the mighty King of Akkad. My mother was a
+    vestal (priestess), my father an alien, whose brother inhabited
+        the
+    mountain.... When my mother had conceived me, she bare
+    me in a hidden place. She laid me in a vessel of rushes, stopped
+    the door thereof with pitch, and cast me adrift on the river....
+    The river floated me to Akki, the water drawer, who, in drawing
+    water, drew me forth. Akki, the water drawer, educated me as
+    his son, and made me his gardener. As a gardener, I was beloved
+    by the goddess Ishtar."
+
+It is unlikely that this story was invented by Sargon. Like the many
+variants of it found in other countries, it was probably founded on a
+form of the Tammuz-Adonis myth. Indeed, a new myth would not have
+suited Sargon's purpose so well as the adaptation of an old one, which
+was more likely to make popular appeal when connected with his name.
+The references to the goddess Ishtar, and Sargon's early life as a
+gardener, suggest that the king desired to be remembered as an
+agricultural Patriarch, if not of divine, at any rate of semi-divine
+origin.
+
+What appears to be an early form of the widespread Tammuz myth is the
+Teutonic legend regarding the mysterious child who came over the sea
+to inaugurate a new era of civilization and instruct the people how to
+grow corn and become great warriors. The Northern peoples, as
+archaeological evidence suggests, derived their knowledge of
+agriculture, and therefore their agricultural myths, from the
+Neolithic representatives of the Mediterranean race with whom they
+came into contact. There can be no doubt but that the Teutonic legend
+refers to the introduction of agriculture. The child is called "Scef"
+or "Sceaf", which signifies "Sheaf", or "Scyld, the son of Sceaf".
+Scyld is the patriarch of the Scyldings, the Danes, a people of mixed
+origin. In the Anglo-Saxon _Beowulf_ poem, the reference is to
+"Scyld", but Ethelweard, William of Malmesbury, and others adhered to
+"Sceaf" as the name of the Patriarch of the Western Saxons.
+
+The legend runs that one day a boat was seen approaching the shore; it
+was not propelled by oars or sail. In it lay a child fast asleep, his
+head pillowed upon a sheaf of grain. He was surrounded by armour,
+treasure, and various implements, including the fire-borer. The child
+was reared by the people who found him, and he became a great
+instructor and warrior and ruled over the tribe as king. In _Beowulf_
+Scyld is the father of the elder Beowulf, whose grandson Hrothgar
+built the famous Hall. The poem opens with a reference to the
+patriarch "Scyld of the Sheaf". When he died, his body, according to
+the request he had made, was laid in a ship which was set adrift:
+
+    Upon his breast lay many treasures which were to travel with him
+    into the power of the flood. Certainly they (the mourners)
+    furnished him with no less of gifts, of tribal treasures, than
+    those had done who, in his early days, started him over the sea
+    alone, child as he was. Moreover, they set besides a
+    gold-embroidered standard high above his head, and let the flood
+    bear him--gave him to the sea. Their soul was sad, their spirit
+    sorrowful. Who received that load, men, chiefs of council, heroes
+    under heaven, cannot for certain tell.[116]
+
+Sceaf or Scyld is identical with Yngve, the patriarch of the Ynglings;
+with Frey, the harvest and boar god, son of Njord,[117] the sea god;
+and with Hermod, referred to as follows in the Eddic "Lay of Hyndla":
+
+    To some grants he wealth, to his children war fame,
+    Word skill to many and wisdom to men,
+    Fair winds to sea-farers, song craft to skalds,
+    And might of manhood to many a warrior.
+
+Tammuz is similarly "the heroic lord of the land", the "wise one", the
+"lord of knowledge", and "the sovereign, lord of invocation".
+
+Heimdal, watchman of the Teutonic gods, also dwelt for a time among
+men as "Rig", and had human offspring, his son Thrall being the
+ancestor of the Thralls, his son Churl of churls, and Jarl of
+noblemen.
+
+Tammuz, like Heimdal, is also a guardian. He watches the flocks and
+herds, whom he apparently guards against the Gallu demons as Heimdal
+guards the world and the heavens against attacks by giants and
+monsters. The flocks of Tammuz, Professor Pinches suggests, "recall
+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, Dumuzida, meaning 'true or faithful son'. There is probably some
+legend attached to this which is at present unknown."[118]
+
+So the Sumerian hymn-chanters lamented:
+
+    Like an herdsman the sentinel place of sheep and cattle he
+    (Tammuz) has forsaken...
+    From his home, from his inhabited domain, the son, he of wisdom,
+    pre-eminent steer of heaven,
+    The hero unto the nether herding place has taken his way.[119]
+
+Agni, the Aryo-Indian god, who, as the sky sentinel, has points of
+resemblance to Heimdal, also links with Tammuz, especially in his
+Mitra character:
+
+Agni has been established among the tribes of men, the son of the
+waters, Mitra acting in the right way. _Rigveda_, iii, 5, 3.
+
+Agni, who has been looked and longed for in Heaven, who has been
+looked for on earth--he who has been looked for has entered all herbs.
+_Rigveda_, i, 98.[120]
+
+Tammuz, like the Egyptian lunar and solar god Khonsu, is "the healer",
+and Agni "drives away all disease". Tammuz is the god "of sonorous
+voice"; Agni "roars like a bull"; and Heimdal blows a horn when the
+giants and demons threaten to attack the citadel of the gods. As the
+spring sun god, Tammuz is "a youthful warrior", says Jastrow,
+"triumphing over the storms of winter".[121] The storms, of course,
+were symbolized as demons. Tammuz, "the heroic lord", was therefore a
+demon slayer like Heimdal and Agni. Each of these gods appear to have
+been developed in isolation from an archaic spring god of fertility
+and corn whose attributes were symbolized. In Teutonic mythology, for
+instance, Heimdal was the warrior form of the patriarch Scef, while
+Frey was the deified agriculturist who came over the deep as a child.
+In Saxo's mythical history of Denmark, Frey as Frode is taken prisoner
+by a storm giant, Beli, "the howler", and is loved by his hag sister
+in the Teutonic Hades, as Tammuz is loved by Eresh-ki-gal, spouse of
+the storm god Nergal, in the Babylonian Hades. Frode returns to earth,
+like Tammuz, in due season.
+
+It is evident that there were various versions of the Tammuz myth in
+Ancient Babylonia. In one the goddess Ishtar visited Hades to search
+for the lover of her youth. A part of this form of the legend survives
+in the famous Assyrian hymn known as "The Descent of Ishtar ". It was
+first translated by the late Mr. George Smith, of the British Museum.
+A box containing inscribed tablets had been sent from Assyria to
+London, and Mr. Smith, with characteristic patience and skill,
+arranged and deciphered them, giving to the world a fragment of
+ancient literature infused with much sublimity and imaginative power.
+Ishtar is depicted descending to dismal Hades, where the souls of the
+dead exist in bird forms:
+
+    I spread like a bird my hands.
+    I descend, I descend to the house of darkness, the dwelling of the
+        god Irkalla:
+    To the house out of which there is no exit,
+    To the road from which there is no return:
+    To the house from whose entrance the light is taken,
+    The place where dust is their nourishment and their food mud.
+    Its chiefs also are like birds covered with feathers;
+    The light is never seen, in darkness they dwell....
+    Over the door and bolts is scattered dust.
+
+When the goddess reaches the gate of Hades she cries to the porter:
+
+    Keeper of the waters, open thy gate,
+    Open thy gate that I may enter.
+    If thou openest not the gate that I may enter
+    I will strike the door, the bolts I will shatter,
+    I will strike the threshold and will pass through the doors;
+    I will raise up the dead to devour the living,
+    Above the living the dead shall exceed in numbers.
+
+The porter answers that he must first consult the Queen of Hades, here
+called Allatu, to whom he accordingly announces the arrival of the
+Queen of Heaven. Allatu's heart is filled with anger, and makes
+reference to those whom Ishtar caused to perish:
+
+    Let me weep over the strong who have left their wives,
+    Let me weep over the handmaidens who have lost the embraces of
+        their husbands,
+    Over the only son let me mourn, who ere his days are come is taken
+        away.
+
+Then she issues abruptly the stern decree:
+
+    Go, keeper, open the gate to her,
+    Bewitch her according to the ancient rules;
+
+that is, "Deal with her as you deal with others who come here".
+
+As Ishtar enters through the various gates she is stripped of her
+ornaments and clothing. At the first gate her crown was taken off, at
+the second her ear-rings, at the third her necklace of precious
+stones, at the fourth the ornaments of her breast, at the fifth her
+gemmed waist-girdle,[122] at the sixth the bracelets of her hands and
+feet, and at the seventh the covering robe of her body. Ishtar asks at
+each gate why she is thus dealt with, and the porter answers, "Such is
+the command of Allatu."
+
+After descending for a prolonged period the Queen of Heaven at length
+stands naked before the Queen of Hades. Ishtar is proud and arrogant,
+and Allatu, desiring to punish her rival whom she cannot humble,
+
+commands the plague demon, Namtar, to strike her with disease in all
+parts of her body. The effect of Ishtar's fate was disastrous upon
+earth: growth and fertility came to an end.
+
+Meanwhile Pap-sukal, messenger of the gods, hastened to Shamash, the
+sun deity, to relate what had occurred. The sun god immediately
+consulted his lunar father, Sin, and Ea, god of the deep. Ea then
+created a man lion, named Nadushu-namir, to rescue Ishtar, giving him
+power to pass through the seven gates of Hades. When this being
+delivered his message
+
+    Allatu ... struck her breast; she bit her thumb,
+    She turned again: a request she asked not.
+
+In her anger she cursed the rescuer of the Queen of Heaven.
+
+    May I imprison thee in the great prison,
+    May the garbage of the foundations of the city be thy food,
+    May the drains of the city be thy drink,
+    May the darkness of the dungeon be thy dwelling,
+    May the stake be thy seat,
+    May hunger and thirst strike thy offspring.
+
+She was compelled, however, to obey the high gods, and addressed
+Namtar, saying:
+
+    Unto Ishtar give the waters of life and bring her before me.
+
+Thereafter the Queen of Heaven was conducted through the various
+gates, and at each she received her robe and the ornaments which were
+taken from her on entering. Namtar says:
+
+    Since thou hast not paid a ransom for thy deliverance to her
+      (Allatu), so to her again turn back,
+    For Tammuz the husband of thy youth.
+    The glistening waters (of life) pour over him...
+    In splendid clothing dress him, with a ring of crystal adorn him.
+
+Ishtar mourns for "the wound of Tammuz", smiting her breast, and she
+did not ask for "the precious eye-stones, her amulets", which were
+apparently to ransom Tammuz. The poem concludes with Ishtar's wail:
+
+    O my only brother (Tammuz) thou dost not lament for me.
+    In the day that Tammuz adorned me, with a ring of crystal,
+    With a bracelet of emeralds, together with himself, he adorned
+        me,[123]
+    With himself he adorned me; may men mourners and women
+        mourners
+    On a bier place him, and assemble the wake.[124]
+
+A Sumerian hymn to Tammuz throws light on this narrative. It sets
+forth that Ishtar descended to Hades to entreat him to be glad and to
+resume care of his flocks, but Tammuz refused or was unable to return.
+
+        His spouse unto her abode he sent back.
+
+She then instituted the wailing ceremony:
+
+        The amorous Queen of Heaven sits as one in darkness.[125]
+
+Mr. Langdon also translates a hymn (Tammuz III) which appears to
+contain the narrative on which the Assyrian version was founded. The
+goddess who descends to Hades, however, is not Ishtar, but the
+"sister", Belit-sheri. She is accompanied by various demons--the
+"gallu-demon", the "slayer", &c.--and holds a conversation with Tammuz
+which, however, is "unintelligible and badly broken". Apparently,
+however, he promises to return to earth.
+
+         ... I will go up, as for me I will depart with thee ...
+         ... I will return, unto my mother let us go back.
+
+Probably two goddesses originally lamented for Tammuz, as the Egyptian
+sisters, Isis and Nepthys, lamented for Osiris, their brother. Ishtar
+is referred to as "my mother". Isis figures alternately in the
+Egyptian chants as mother, wife, sister, and daughter of Osiris. She
+cries, "Come thou to thy wife in peace; her heart fluttereth for thy
+love", ... "I am thy wife, made as thou art, the elder sister, soul of
+her brother".... "Come thou to us as a babe".... "Lo, thou art as the
+Bull of the two goddesses--come thou, child growing in peace, our
+lord!"... "Lo! the Bull, begotten of the two cows, Isis and
+Nepthys".... "Come thou to the two widowed goddesses".... "Oh child,
+lord, first maker of the body".... "Father Osiris."[126]
+
+As Ishtar and Belit-sheri weep for Tammuz, so do Isis and Nepthys weep
+for Osiris.
+
+    Calling upon thee with weeping--yet thou art prostrate upon thy
+      bed!
+    Gods and men ... are weeping for thee at the same time, when
+      they behold me (Isis).
+    Lo! I invoke thee with wailing that reacheth high as heaven.
+
+Isis is also identified with Hathor (Ishtar) the Cow.... "The cow
+weepeth for thee with her voice."[127]
+
+There is another phase, however, to the character of the mother
+goddess which explains the references to the desertion and slaying of
+Tammuz by Ishtar. "She is", says Jastrow, "the goddess of the human
+instinct, or passion which accompanies human love. Gilgamesh ...
+reproaches her with abandoning the objects of her passion after a
+brief period of union." At Ishtar's temple "public maidens accepted
+temporary partners, assigned to them by Ishtar".[128] The worship of
+all mother goddesses in ancient times was accompanied by revolting
+unmoral rites which are referred to in condemnatory terms in various
+passages in the Old Testament, especially in connection with the
+worship of Ashtoreth, who was identical with Ishtar and the Egyptian
+Hathor.
+
+Ishtar in the process of time overshadowed all the other female
+deities of Babylonia, as did Isis in Egypt. Her name, indeed, which is
+Semitic, became in the plural, Ishtaráte, a designation for goddesses
+in general. But although she was referred to as the daughter of the
+sky, Anu, or the daughter of the moon, Sin or Nannar, she still
+retained traces of her ancient character. Originally she was a great
+mother goddess, who was worshipped by those who believed that life and
+the universe had a female origin in contrast to those who believed in
+the theory of male origin. Ishtar is identical with Nina, the fish
+goddess, a creature who gave her name to the Sumerian city of Nina and
+the Assyrian city of Nineveh. Other forms of the Creatrix included
+Mama, or Mami, or Ama, "mother", Aruru, Bau, Gula, and Zerpanituᵐ.
+These were all "Preservers" and healers. At the same time they were
+"Destroyers", like Nin-sun and the Queen of Hades, Eresh-ki-gal or
+Allatu. They were accompanied by shadowy male forms ere they became
+wives of strongly individualized gods, or by child gods, their sons,
+who might be regarded as "brothers" or "husbands of their mothers", to
+use the paradoxical Egyptian term. Similarly Great Father deities had
+vaguely defined wives. The "Semitic" Baal, "the lord", was accompanied
+by a female reflection of himself--Beltu, "the lady". Shamash, the sun
+god, had for wife the shadowy Aa.
+
+As has been shown, Ishtar is referred to in a Tammuz hymn as the
+mother of the child god of fertility. In an Egyptian hymn the sky
+goddess Nut, "the mother" of Osiris, is stated to have "built up life
+from her own body".[129] Sri or Lakshmi, the Indian goddess, who
+became the wife of Vishnu, as the mother goddess Saraswati, a tribal
+deity, became the wife of Brahma, was, according to a Purana
+commentator, "the mother of the world ... eternal and
+undecaying".[130]
+
+The gods, on the other hand, might die annually: the goddesses alone
+were immortal. Indra was supposed to perish of old age, but his wife,
+Indrani, remained ever young. There were fourteen Indras in every "day
+of Brahma", a reference apparently to the ancient conception of Indra
+among the Great-Mother-worshipping sections of the Aryo-Indians.[131]
+In the _Mahabharata_ the god Shiva, as Mahadeva, commands Indra on
+"one of the peaks of Himavat", where they met, to lift up a stone and
+join the Indras who had been before him. "And Indra on removing that
+stone beheld a cave on the breast of that king of mountains in which
+were four others resembling himself." Indra exclaimed in his grief,
+"Shall I be even like these?" These five Indras, like the "Seven
+Sleepers", awaited the time when they would be called forth. They were
+ultimately reborn as the five Pandava warriors.[132]
+
+The ferocious, black-faced Scottish mother goddess, Cailleach Bheur,
+who appears to be identical with Mala Lith, "Grey Eyebrows" of
+Fingalian story, and the English "Black Annis", figures in Irish song
+and legend as "The Old Woman of Beare". This "old woman" (Cailleach)
+"had", says Professor Kuno Meyer, "seven periods of youth one after
+another, so that every man who had lived with her came to die of old
+age, and her grandsons and great-grandsons were tribes and races".
+When old age at length came upon her she sang her "swan song", from
+which the following lines are extracted:
+
+    Ebb tide to me as of the sea!
+    Old age causes me reproach ...
+    It is riches
+    Ye love, it is not men:
+    In the time when _we_ lived
+    It was men we loved ...
+    My arms when they are seen
+    Are bony and thin:
+    Once they would fondle,
+    They would be round glorious kings ...
+    I must take my garment even in the sun:
+    The time is at hand that shall renew me.[133]
+
+Freyja, the Germanic mother goddess, whose car was drawn by cats, had
+similarly many lovers. In the Icelandic poem "Lokasenna", Loki taunts
+her, saying:
+
+    Silence, Freyja! Full well I know thee,
+      And faultless art thou not found;
+    Of the gods and elves who here are gathered
+      Each one hast thou made thy mate.
+
+Idun, the keeper of the apples of immortal youth, which prevent the
+gods growing old, is similarly addressed:
+
+    Silence, Idun! I swear, of all women
+      Thou the most wanton art;
+    Who couldst fling those fair-washed arms of thine
+      About thy brother's slayer.
+
+Frigg, wife of Odin, is satirized as well:
+
+    Silence, Frigg! Earth's spouse for a husband,
+      And hast ever yearned after men![134]
+
+The goddesses of classic mythology had similar reputations. Aphrodite
+(Venus) had many divine and mortal lovers. She links closely with
+Astarte and Ashtoreth (Ishtar), and reference has already been made to
+her relations with Adonis (Tammuz). These love deities were all as
+cruel as they were wayward. When Ishtar wooed the Babylonian hero,
+Gilgamesh, he spurned her advances, as has been indicated, saying:
+
+    On Tammuz, the spouse of thy youth,
+    Thou didst lay affliction every year.
+    Thou didst love the brilliant Allalu bird
+    But thou didst smite him and break his wing;
+    He stands in the woods and cries "O my wing".
+
+He likewise charged her with deceiving the lion and the horse, making
+reference to obscure myths:
+
+    Thou didst also love a shepherd of the flock,
+    Who continually poured out for thee the libation,
+    And daily slaughtered kids for thee;
+    But thou didst smite him and didst change him into a leopard,
+    So that his own sheep boy hunted him,
+    And his own hounds tore him to pieces.[135]
+
+These goddesses were ever prone to afflict human beings who might
+offend them or of whom they wearied. Demeter (Ceres) changed
+Ascalaphus into an owl and Stellio into a lizard. Rhea (Ops) resembled
+
+        The tow'red Cybele,
+    Mother of a hundred gods,
+
+the wanton who loved Attis (Adonis). Artemis (Diana) slew her lover
+Orion, changed Actaeon into a stag, which was torn to pieces by his
+own dogs, and caused numerous deaths by sending a boar to ravage the
+fields of Oeneus, king of Calydon. Human sacrifices were frequently
+offered to the bloodthirsty "mothers". The most famous victim of
+Artemis was the daughter of Agamemnon, "divinely tall and most
+divinely fair".[136] Agamemnon had slain a sacred stag, and the
+goddess punished him by sending a calm when the war fleet was about to
+sail for Troy, with the result that his daughter had to be sacrificed.
+Artemis thus sold breezes like the northern wind hags and witches.
+
+It used to be customary to account for the similarities manifested by
+the various mother goddesses by assuming that there was constant
+cultural contact between separate nationalities, and, as a result, a
+not inconsiderable amount of "religious borrowing". Greece was
+supposed to have received its great goddesses from the western
+Semites, who had come under the spell of Babylonian religion.
+Archaeological evidence, however, tends to disprove this theory. "The
+most recent researches into Mesopotamian history", writes Dr. Farnell,
+"establish with certainty the conclusion that there was no direct
+political contact possible between the powers in the valley of the
+Euphrates and the western shores of the Aegean in the second
+millennium B.C. In fact, between the nascent Hellas and the great
+world of Mesopotamia there were powerful and possibly independent
+strata of cultures interposing."[137]
+
+The real connection appears to be the racial one. Among the
+Mediterranean Neolithic tribes of Sumeria, Arabia, and Europe, the
+goddess cult appears to have been influential. Mother worship was the
+predominant characteristic of their religious systems, so that the
+Greek goddesses were probably of pre-Hellenic origin, the Celtic of
+Iberian, the Egyptian of proto-Egyptian, and the Babylonian of
+Sumerian. The northern hillmen, on the other hand, who may be
+identified with the "Aryans" of the philologists, were father
+worshippers. The Vedic Aryo-Indians worshipped father gods,[138] as
+did also the Germanic peoples and certain tribes in the "Hittite
+confederacy". Earth spirits were males, like the Teutonic elves, the
+Aryo-Indian Ribhus, and the Burkans, "masters", of the present-day
+Buriats, a Mongolian people. When the father-worshipping peoples
+invaded the dominions of the mother-worshipping peoples, they
+introduced their strongly individualized gods, but they did not
+displace the mother goddesses. "The Aryan Hellenes", says Dr. Farnell,
+"were able to plant their Zeus and Poseidon on the high hill of
+Athens, but not to overthrow the supremacy of Athena in the central
+shrine and in the aboriginal soul of the Athenian people."[139] As in
+Egypt, the beliefs of the father worshippers, represented by the
+self-created Ptah, were fused with the beliefs of the mother
+worshippers, who adored Isis, Mut, Neith, and others. In Babylonia
+this process of racial and religious fusion was well advanced before
+the dawn of history. Ea, who had already assumed manifold forms, may
+have originally been the son or child lover of Damkina, "Lady of the
+Deep", as was Tammuz of Ishtar. As the fish, Ea was the offspring of
+the mother river.
+
+The mother worshippers recognized male as well as female deities, but
+regarded the great goddess as the First Cause. Although the primeval
+spirits were grouped in four pairs in Egypt, and apparently in
+Babylonia also, the female in the first pair was more strongly
+individualized than the male. The Egyptian Nu is vaguer than his
+consort Nut, and the Babylonian Apsu than his consort Tiamat. Indeed,
+in the narrative of the Creation Tablets of Babylon, which will
+receive full treatment in a later chapter, Tiamat, the great mother,
+is the controlling spirit. She is more powerful and ferocious than
+Apsu, and lives longer. After Apsu's death she elevates one of her
+brood, named Kingu, to be her consort, a fact which suggests that in
+the Ishtar-Tammuz myth survives the influence of exceedingly ancient
+modes of thought. Like Tiamat, Ishtar is also a great battle heroine,
+and in this capacity she was addressed as "the lady of majestic rank
+exalted over all gods". This was no idle flattery on the part of
+worshippers, but a memory of her ancient supremacy.
+
+Reference has been made to the introduction of Tammuz worship into
+Jerusalem. Ishtar, as Queen of Heaven, was also adored by the
+backsliding Israelites as a deity of battle and harvest. When Jeremiah
+censured the people for burning incense and serving gods "whom they
+knew not", he said, "neither they, ye, nor your fathers", they made
+answer: "Since we left off to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and
+to pour out drink offerings unto her, we have wanted all things, and
+have been consumed by the sword and the famine". The women took a
+leading part in these practices, but refused to accept all the blame,
+saying, "When we burned incense to the queen of heaven, and poured out
+drink offerings unto her, did we make our cakes and pour out drink
+offerings unto her without our men?"[140] That the husbands, and the
+children even, assisted at the ceremony is made evident in another
+reference to goddess worship: "The children gather wood, and the
+fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead the dough, to make cakes
+to the queen of heaven".[141]
+
+Jastrow suggests that the women of Israel wept for Tammuz, offered
+cakes to the mother goddess, &c., because "in all religious bodies ...
+women represent the conservative element; among them religious customs
+continue in practice after they have been abandoned by men".[142] The
+evidence of Jeremiah, however, shows that the men certainly
+co-operated at the archaic ceremonials. In lighting the fires with the
+"vital spark", they apparently acted in imitation of the god of
+fertility. The women, on the other hand, represented the reproductive
+harvest goddess in providing the food supply. In recognition of her
+gift, they rewarded the goddess by offering her the cakes prepared
+from the newly ground wheat and barley--the "first fruits of the
+harvest". As the corn god came as a child, the children began the
+ceremony by gathering the wood for the sacred fire. When the women
+mourned for Tammuz, they did so evidently because the death of the god
+was lamented by the goddess Ishtar. It would appear, therefore, that
+the suggestion regarding the "conservative element" should really
+apply to the immemorial practices of folk religion. These differed
+from the refined ceremonies of the official cult in Babylonia, where
+there were suitable temples and organized bands of priests and
+priestesses. But the official cult received no recognition in
+Palestine; the cakes intended for a goddess were not offered up in the
+temple of Abraham's God, but "in the streets of Jerusalem" and those
+of other cities.[143]
+
+The obvious deduction seems to be that in ancient times women
+everywhere played a prominent part in the ceremonial folk worship of
+the Great Mother goddess, while the men took the lesser part of the
+god whom she had brought into being and afterwards received as
+"husband of his mother". This may account for the high social status
+of women among goddess worshippers, like the representatives of the
+Mediterranean race, whose early religion was not confined to temples,
+but closely associated with the acts of everyday life.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+WARS OF THE CITY STATES OF SUMER AND AKKAD
+
+
+  Civilization well advanced--The Patesi--Prominent City
+  States--Surroundings of Babylonia--The Elamites--Biblical References
+  to Susa--The Sumerian Temperament--Fragmentary Records--City States
+  of Kish and Opis--A Shopkeeper who became a Queen--Goddess
+  Worship--Tammuz as Nin-Girsu--Great Dynasty of Lagash--Ur-Nina and
+  his Descendants--A Napoleonic Conqueror--Golden Age of Sumerian
+  Art--The First Reformer in History--His Rise and Fall--The Dynasty
+  of Erech--Sargon of Akkad--The Royal Gardener--Sargon Myth in
+  India--A Great Empire--The King who Purchased Land--Naram Sin the
+  Conqueror--Disastrous Foreign Raid--Lagash again Prominent--Gudea
+  the Temple Builder--Dynasty of Ur--Dynasty of Isin--Another Gardener
+  becomes King--Rise of Babylon--Humanized Deities--Why Sumerian Gods
+  wore Beards.
+
+
+When the curtain rises to reveal the drama of Babylonian civilization
+we find that we have missed the first act and its many fascinating
+scenes. Sumerians and Akkadians come and go, but it is not always
+possible to distinguish between them. Although most Semites are
+recognizable by their flowing beards, prominent noses, and long robes,
+some have so closely imitated the Sumerians as to suffer almost
+complete loss of identity. It is noticeable that in the north the
+Akkadians are more Semitic than their contemporaries in the south, but
+it is difficult at times to say whether a city is controlled by the
+descendants of the indigenous people or those of later settlers.
+Dynasties rise and fall, and, as in Egypt at times, the progress of
+the fragmentary narrative is interrupted by a sudden change of scene
+ere we have properly grasped a situation and realized its
+significance.
+
+What we know for certain is that civilization is well advanced. Both
+in the north and the south there are many organized and independent
+city states, and not unfrequently these wage war one against another.
+Occasionally ambitious rulers tower among their fellows, conduct
+vigorous military campaigns, and become overlords of wide districts.
+As a rule, a subjugated monarch who has perforce to acknowledge the
+suzerainty of a powerful king is allowed to remain in a state of
+semi-independence on condition that he pays a heavy annual tribute of
+grain. His own laws continue in force, and the city deities remain
+supreme, although recognition may also be given to the deities of his
+conqueror. He styles himself a Patesi--a "priest king", or more
+literally, "servant of the chief deity". But as an independent monarch
+may also be a pious Patesi, it does not always follow when a ruler is
+referred to by that title he is necessarily less powerful than his
+neighbours.
+
+When the historical narrative begins Akkad included the cities of
+Babylon, Cutha, Kish, Akkad, and Sippar, and north of Babylonia proper
+is Semitic Opis. Among the cities of Sumer were Eridu, Ur, Lagash,
+Larsa, Erech, Shuruppak, and probably Nippur, which was situated on
+the "border". On the north Assyria was yet "in the making", and
+shrouded in obscurity. A vague but vast area above Hit on the
+Euphrates, and extending to the Syrian coast, was known as the "land
+of the Amorites". The fish-shaped Babylonian valley lying between the
+rivers, where walled towns were surrounded by green fields and
+numerous canals flashed in the sunshine, was bounded on the west by
+the bleak wastes of the Arabian desert, where during the dry season
+"the rocks branded the body" and occasional sandstorms swept in
+blinding folds towards the "plain of Shinar" (Sumer) like demon hosts
+who sought to destroy the world. To the east the skyline was fretted
+by the Persian Highlands, and amidst the southern mountains dwelt the
+fierce Elamites, the hereditary enemies of the Sumerians, although a
+people apparently of the same origin. Like the Nubians and the
+Libyans, who kept watchful eyes on Egypt, the Elamites seemed ever to
+be hovering on the eastern frontier of Sumeria, longing for an
+opportunity to raid and plunder.
+
+The capital of the Elamites was the city of Susa, where excavations
+have revealed traces of an independent civilization which reaches back
+to an early period in the Late Stone Age. Susa is referred to in the
+Old Testament--"The words of Nehemiah.... I was in Shushan the
+palace".[144] An Assyrian plan of the city shows it occupying a
+strategic position at a bend of the Shawur river, which afforded
+protection against Sumerian attacks from the west, while a canal
+curved round its northern and eastern sides, so that Susa was
+completely surrounded by water. Fortifications had been erected on the
+river and canal banks, and between these and the high city walls were
+thick clumps of trees. That the kings of Elam imitated the splendours
+of Babylonian courts in the later days of Esther and Haman and
+Mordecai, is made evident by the Biblical references to the gorgeous
+palace, which had "white, green, and blue hangings, fastened with
+cords of fine linen and purple to silver rings and pillars of marble;
+the beds were of gold and silver, upon a pavement of red, and blue,
+and white, and black marble ".[145] Beyond Elam were the plains,
+plateaus, and grassy steppes occupied by the Medes and other peoples
+of Aryan speech. Cultural influences came and went like spring winds
+between the various ancient communities.
+
+For ten long centuries Sumer and Akkad flourished and prospered ere we
+meet with the great Hammurabi, whose name has now become almost as
+familiar as that of Julius Caesar. But our knowledge of the leading
+historical events of this vast period is exceedingly fragmentary. The
+Sumerians were not like the later Assyrians or their Egyptian
+contemporaries--a people with a passion for history. When inscriptions
+were composed and cut on stone, or impressed upon clay tablets and
+bricks, the kings selected as a general rule to record pious deeds
+rather than to celebrate their victories and conquests. Indeed, the
+average monarch had a temperament resembling that of Keats, who
+declared:
+
+                       The silver flow
+    Of Hero's tears, the swoon of Imogen,
+    Fair Pastorella in the bandits' den,
+    Are things to brood on with more ardency
+    Than the death day of empires.
+
+The Sumerian king was emotionally religious as the great English poet
+was emotionally poetical. The tears of Ishtar for Tammuz, and the
+afflictions endured by the goddess imprisoned in Hades, to which she
+had descended for love of her slain husband, seemed to have concerned
+the royal recorder to a greater degree than the memories of political
+upheavals and the social changes which passed over the land, like the
+seasons which alternately brought greenness and gold, barrenness and
+flood.
+
+City chronicles, as a rule, are but indices of obscure events, to
+which meagre references were sometimes also made on mace heads, vases,
+tablets, stelae, and sculptured monoliths. Consequently, present-day
+excavators and students have often reason to be grateful that the
+habit likewise obtained of inscribing on bricks in buildings and the
+stone sockets of doors the names of kings and others. These records
+render obscure periods faintly articulate, and are indispensable for
+comparative purposes. Historical clues are also obtained from lists of
+year names. Each city king named a year in celebration of a great
+event--his own succession to the throne, the erection of a new temple
+or of a city wall, or, mayhap, the defeat of an invading army from a
+rival state. Sometimes, too, a monarch gave the name of his father in
+an official inscription, or happily mentioned several ancestors.
+Another may be found to have made an illuminating statement regarding
+a predecessor, who centuries previously erected the particular temple
+that he himself has piously restored. A reckoning of this kind,
+however, cannot always be regarded as absolutely correct. It must be
+compared with and tested by other records, for in these ancient days
+calculations were not unfrequently based on doubtful inscriptions, or
+mere oral traditions, perhaps. Nor can implicit trust be placed on
+every reference to historical events, for the memoried deeds of great
+rulers were not always unassociated with persistent and cumulative
+myths. It must be recognized, therefore, that even portions of the
+data which had of late been sifted and systematized by Oriental
+scholars in Europe, may yet have to be subjected to revision. Many
+interesting and important discoveries, which will throw fresh light on
+this fascinating early period, remain to be made in that ancient and
+deserted land, which still lies under the curse of the Hebrew prophet,
+who exclaimed: "Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the
+Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and
+Gomorrah. It shall never be inhabited; neither shall the Arabian pitch
+tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there. But
+wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be
+full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs
+shall dance there. And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in
+their desolate houses and dragons in their pleasant palaces."[146]
+
+The curtain rises, as has been indicated, after civilization had been
+well advanced. To begin with, our interests abide with Akkad, and
+during a period dated approximately between 3000 B.C. and 2800 B.C.,
+when Egypt was already a united kingdom, and the Cretans were at the
+dawn of the first early Minoan period, and beginning to use bronze. In
+Kish Sumerian and Akkadian elements had apparently blended, and the
+city was the centre of a powerful and independent government. After
+years have fluttered past dimly, and with them the shadow-shapes of
+vigorous rulers, it is found that Kish came under the sway of the
+pronouncedly Semitic city of Opis, which was situated "farthest north"
+and on the western bank of the river Tigris. A century elapsed ere
+Kish again threw off the oppressor's yoke and renewed the strength of
+its youth.
+
+The city of Kish was one of the many ancient centres of goddess
+worship. The Great Mother appears to have been the Sumerian Bau, whose
+chief seat was at Lagash. If tradition is to be relied upon, Kish owed
+its existence to that notable lady, Queen Azag-Bau. Although floating
+legends gathered round her memory as they have often gathered round
+the memories of famous men, like Sargon of Akkad, Alexander the Great,
+and Theodoric the Goth, who became Emperor of Rome, it is probable
+that the queen was a prominent historical personage. She was reputed
+to have been of humble origin, and to have first achieved popularity
+and influence as the keeper of a wine shop. Although no reference
+survives to indicate that she was believed to be of miraculous birth,
+the Chronicle of Kish gravely credits her with a prolonged and
+apparently prosperous reign of a hundred years. Her son, who succeeded
+her, sat on the throne for a quarter of a century. These calculations
+are certainly remarkable. If the Queen Azag-Bau founded Kish when she
+was only twenty, and gave birth to the future ruler in her fiftieth
+year, he must have been an elderly gentleman of seventy when he began
+to reign. When it is found, further, that the dynasty in which mother
+and son flourished was supposed to have lasted for 586 years, divided
+between eight rulers, one of whom reigned for only three years, two
+for six, and two for eleven, it becomes evident that the historian of
+Kish cannot be absolutely relied upon in detail. It seems evident that
+the memory of this lady of forceful character, who flourished about
+thirteen hundred years before the rise of Queen Hatshepsut of Egypt,
+has overshadowed the doubtful annals of ancient Kish at a period when
+Sumerian and Semite were striving in the various states to achieve
+political ascendancy.
+
+Meanwhile the purely Sumerian city of Lagash had similarly grown
+powerful and aggressive. For a time it acknowledged the suzerainty of
+Kish, but ultimately it threw off the oppressor's yoke and asserted
+its independence. The cumulative efforts of a succession of energetic
+rulers elevated Lagash to the position of a metropolis in Ancient
+Babylonia.
+
+The goddess Bau, "the mother of Lagash", was worshipped in conjunction
+with other deities, including the god Nin-Girsu, an agricultural
+deity, and therefore a deity of war, who had solar attributes. One of
+the titles of Nin-Girsu was En-Mersi, which, according to Assyrian
+evidence, was another name of Tammuz, the spring god who slew the
+storm and winter demons, and made the land fertile so that man might
+have food. Nin-Girsu was, it would seem, a developed form of Tammuz,
+like the Scandinavian Frey, god of harvest, or Heimdal, the celestial
+warrior. Bau was one of the several goddesses whose attributes were
+absorbed by the Semitic Ishtar. She was a "Great Mother", a creatrix,
+the source of all human and bestial life, and, of course, a harvest
+goddess. She was identified with Gula, "the great one", who cured
+diseases and prolonged life. Evidently the religion of Lagash was
+based on the popular worship of the "Queen of Heaven", and her son,
+the dying god who became "husband of his mother".
+
+The first great and outstanding ruler of Lagash was Ur-Nina, who
+appears to have owed his power to the successful military operations
+of his predecessors. It is uncertain whether or not he himself engaged
+in any great war. His records are silent in that connection, but,
+judging from what we know of him, it may be taken for granted that he
+was able and fully prepared to give a good account of himself in
+battle. He certainly took steps to make secure his position, for he
+caused a strong wall to be erected round Lagash. His inscriptions are
+eloquent of his piety, which took practical shape, for he repaired and
+built temples, dedicated offerings to deities, and increased the
+wealth of religious bodies and the prosperity of the State by cutting
+canals and developing agriculture. In addition to serving local
+deities, he also gave practical recognition to Ea at Eridu and Enlil
+at Nippur. He, however, overlooked Anu at Erech, a fact which suggests
+that he held sway over Eridu and Nippur, but had to recognize Erech as
+an independent city state.
+
+Among the deities of Lagash, Ur-Nina favoured most the goddess Nina,
+whose name he bore. As she was a water deity, and perhaps identical
+with Belit-sheri, sister of "Tammuz of the Abyss" and daughter of Ea,
+one of the canals was dedicated to her. She was also honoured with a
+new temple, in which was probably placed her great statue, constructed
+by special order of her royal worshipper. Like the Egyptian goddess,
+the "Mother of Mendes", Nina received offerings of fish, not only as a
+patroness of fishermen, but also as a corn spirit and a goddess of
+maternity. She was in time identified with Ishtar.
+
+A famous limestone plaque, which is preserved in the Louvre, Paris,
+depicts on its upper half the pious King Ur-Nina engaged in the
+ceremony of laying the foundations of a temple dedicated either to the
+goddess Nina or to the god Nin-Girsu. His face and scalp are clean
+shaven, and he has a prominent nose and firm mouth, eloquent of
+decision. The folds of neck and jaw suggest Bismarckian traits. He is
+bare to the waist, and wears a pleated kilt, with three flounces,
+which reaches almost to his ankles. On his long head he has poised
+deftly a woven basket containing the clay with which he is to make the
+first brick. In front of him stand five figures. The foremost is
+honoured by being sculptured larger than the others, except the
+prominent monarch. Apparently this is a royal princess, for her head
+is unshaven, and her shoulder dress or long hair drops over one of her
+arms. Her name is Lida, and the conspicuous part she took in the
+ceremony suggests that she was the representative of the goddess Nina.
+She is accompanied by her brothers, and at least one official, Anita,
+the cup-bearer, or high priest. The concluding part of this ceremony,
+or another ceremonial act, is illustrated on the lower part of the
+plaque. Ur-Nina is seated on his throne, not, as would seem at first
+sight, raising the wine cup to his lips and toasting to the success of
+the work, but pouring out a libation upon the ground. The princess is
+not present; the place of honour next to the king is taken by the
+crown prince. Possibly in this case it is the god Nin-Girsu who is
+being honoured. Three male figures, perhaps royal sons, accompany the
+prominent crown prince. The cup-bearer is in attendance behind the
+throne.
+
+The inscription on this plaque, which is pierced in the centre so as
+to be nailed to a sacred shrine, refers to the temples erected by
+Ur-Nina, including those of Nina and Nin-Girsu.
+
+After Ur-Nina's prosperous reign came to a close, his son Akurgal
+ascended the throne. He had trouble with Umma, a powerful city, which
+lay to the north-west of Lagash, between the Shatt-el-Kai and
+Shatt-el-Hai canals. An army of raiders invaded his territory and had
+to be driven back.
+
+The next king, whose name was Eannatum, had Napoleonic
+characteristics. He was a military genius with great ambitions, and
+was successful in establishing by conquest a small but brilliant
+empire. Like his grandfather, he strengthened the fortifications of
+Lagash; then he engaged in a series of successful campaigns. Umma had
+been causing anxiety in Lagash, but Eannatum stormed and captured that
+rival city, appropriated one of its fertile plains, and imposed an
+annual tribute to be paid in kind. An army of Elamites swept down from
+the hills, but Ur-Nina's grandson inflicted upon these bold foreigners
+a crushing defeat and pursued them over the frontier. Several cities
+were afterwards forced to come under the sway of triumphant Lagash,
+including Erech and Ur, and as his suzerainty was already acknowledged
+at Eridu, Eannatum's power in Sumeria became as supreme as it was
+firmly established.
+
+Evidently Zuzu, king of the northern city of Opis, considered that the
+occasion was opportune to overcome the powerful Sumerian conqueror,
+and at the same time establish Semitic rule over the subdued and
+war-wasted cities. He marched south with a large army, but the
+tireless and ever-watchful Eannatum hastened to the fray, scattered
+the forces of Opis, and captured the foolhardy Zuzu.
+
+Eannatum's activities, however, were not confined to battlefields. At
+Lagash he carried out great improvements in the interests of
+agriculture; he constructed a large reservoir and developed the canal
+system. He also extended and repaired existing temples in his native
+city and at Erech. Being a patron of the arts, he encouraged sculpture
+work, and the finest Sumerian examples belong to his reign.
+
+Eannatum was succeeded by his brother, Enannatum I. Apparently the new
+monarch did not share the military qualities of his royal predecessor,
+for there were signs of unrest in the loose confederacy of states.
+Indeed, Umma revolted. From that city an army marched forth and took
+forcible possession of the plain which Eannatum had appropriated,
+removing and breaking the landmarks, and otherwise challenging the
+supremacy of the sovran state. A Lagash force defeated the men of
+Umma, but appears to have done little more than hold in check their
+aggressive tendencies.
+
+No sooner had Entemena, the next king, ascended the throne than the
+flame of revolt burst forth again. The Patesi of Umma was evidently
+determined to free, once and for all, his native state from the yoke
+of Lagash. But he had gravely miscalculated the strength of the
+vigorous young ruler. Entemena inflicted upon the rebels a crushing
+defeat, and following up his success, entered the walled city and
+captured and slew the patesi. Then he took steps to stamp out the
+embers of revolt in Umma by appointing as its governor one of his own
+officials, named Ili, who was duly installed with great ceremony.
+Other military successes followed, including the sacking of Opis and
+Kish, which assured the supremacy of Lagash for many years. Entemena,
+with characteristic vigour, engaged himself during periods of peace in
+strengthening his city fortifications and in continuing the work of
+improving and developing the irrigation system. He lived in the golden
+age of Sumerian art, and to his reign belongs the exquisite silver
+vase of Lagash, which was taken from the Tello mound, and is now in
+the Louvre. This votive offering was placed by the king in the temple
+of Nin-Girsu. It is exquisitely shaped, and has a base of copper. The
+symbolic decorations include the lion-headed eagle, which was probably
+a form of the spring god of war and fertility, the lion, beloved by
+the Mother goddess, and deer and ibexes, which recall the mountain
+herds of Astarte. In the dedicatory inscription the king is referred
+to as a patesi, and the fact that the name of the high priest, Dudu,
+is given may be taken as an indication of the growing power of an
+aggressive priesthood. After a brilliant reign of twenty-nine years
+the king died, and was succeeded by his son, Enannatum II, who was the
+last ruler of Ur-Nina's line. An obscure period ensued. Apparently
+there had been a city revolt, which may have given the enemies of
+Lagash the desired opportunity to gather strength for the coming
+conflict. There is a reference to an Elamite raid which, although
+repulsed, may be regarded as proof of disturbed political conditions.
+
+One or two priests sat on the throne of Lagash in brief succession,
+and then arose to power the famous Urukagina, the first reformer in
+history. He began to rule as patesi, but afterwards styled himself
+king. What appears certain is that he was the leader of a great social
+upheaval, which received the support of a section of the priesthood,
+for he recorded that his elevation was due to the intercession of the
+god Nin-Girsu. Other deities, who were sons and daughters of Nin-Girsu
+and Nina, had been given recognition by his predecessors, and it is
+possible that the orthodox section of Lagash, and especially the
+agricultural classes, supported the new ruler in sweeping away
+innovations to which they were hostile.
+
+Like Khufu and his descendants, the Pyramid kings of Egypt's fourth
+dynasty, the vigorous and efficient monarchs of the Ur-Nina dynasty of
+Lagash were apparently remembered and execrated as tyrants and
+oppressors of the people. To maintain many endowed temples and a
+standing army the traders and agriculturists had been heavily taxed.
+Each successive monarch who undertook public works on a large scale
+for the purpose of extending and developing the area under
+cultivation, appears to have done so mainly to increase the revenue of
+the exchequer, so as to conserve the strength of the city and secure
+its pre-eminence as a metropolis. A leisured class had come into
+existence, with the result that culture was fostered and civilization
+advanced. Lagash seems to have been intensely modern in character
+prior to 2800 B.C., but with the passing of the old order of things
+there arose grave social problems which never appear to have been
+seriously dealt with. All indications of social unrest were, it would
+appear, severely repressed by the iron-gloved monarchs of Ur-Nina's
+dynasty.
+
+The people as a whole groaned under an ever-increasing burden of
+taxation. Sumeria was overrun by an army of officials who were
+notoriously corrupt; they do not appear to have been held in check, as
+in Egypt, by royal auditors. "In the domain of Nin-Girsu", one of
+Urukagina's tablets sets forth, "there were tax gatherers down to the
+sea." They not only attended to the needs of the exchequer, but
+enriched themselves by sheer robbery, while the priests followed their
+example by doubling their fees and appropriating temple offerings to
+their own use. The splendid organization of Lagash was crippled by the
+dishonesty of those who should have been its main support.
+
+Reforms were necessary and perhaps overdue, but, unfortunately for
+Lagash, Urukagina's zeal for the people's cause amounted to
+fanaticism. Instead of gradually readjusting the machinery of
+government so as to secure equality of treatment without impairing its
+efficiency as a defensive force in these perilous times, he
+inaugurated sweeping and revolutionary social changes of far-reaching
+character regardless of consequences. Taxes and temple fees were cut
+down, and the number of officials reduced to a minimum. Society was
+thoroughly disorganized. The army, which was recruited mainly from the
+leisured and official classes, went practically out of existence, so
+that traders and agriculturists obtained relief from taxation at the
+expense of their material security.
+
+Urukagina's motives were undoubtedly above reproach, and he showed an
+example to all who occupied positions of trust by living an upright
+life and denying himself luxuries. He was disinterestedly pious, and
+built and restored temples, and acted as the steward of his god with
+desire to promote the welfare and comfort of all true worshippers. His
+laws were similar to those which over two centuries afterwards were
+codified by Hammurabi, and like that monarch he was professedly the
+guardian of the weak and the helper of the needy; he sought to
+establish justice and liberty in the kingdom. But his social Arcadia
+vanished like a dream because he failed to recognize that Right must
+be supported by Might.
+
+In bringing about his sudden social revolution, Urukagina had at the
+same time unwittingly let loose the forces of disorder. Discontented
+and unemployed officials, and many representatives of the despoiled
+leisured and military classes of Lagash, no doubt sought refuge
+elsewhere, and fostered the spirit of revolt which ever smouldered in
+subject states. At any rate, Umma, remembering the oppressions of
+other days, was not slow to recognize that the iron hand of Lagash had
+become unnerved. The zealous and iconoclastic reformer had reigned but
+seven years when he was called upon to defend his people against the
+invader. He appears to have been utterly unprepared to do so. The
+victorious forces of Umma swept against the stately city of Lagash and
+shattered its power in a single day. Echoes of the great disaster
+which ensued rise from a pious tablet inscription left by a priest,
+who was convinced that the conquerors would be called to account for
+the sins they had committed against the great god Nin-Girsu. He
+lamented the butchery and robbery which had taken place. We gather
+from his composition that blood was shed by the raiders of Umma even
+in the sacred precincts of temples, that statues were shattered, that
+silver and precious stones were carried away, that granaries were
+plundered and standing crops destroyed, and that many buildings were
+set on fire. Amidst these horrors of savagery and vengeance, the now
+tragic figure of the great reformer suddenly vanishes from before our
+eyes. Perhaps he perished in a burning temple; perhaps he found a
+nameless grave with the thousands of his subjects whose bodies had
+lain scattered about the blood-stained streets. With Urukagina the
+glory of Lagash departed. Although the city was rebuilt in time, and
+was even made more stately than before, it never again became the
+metropolis of Sumeria.
+
+The vengeful destroyer of Lagash was Lugal-zaggisi, Patesi of Umma, a
+masterful figure in early Sumerian history. We gather from the tablet
+of the unknown scribe, who regarded him as a sinner against the god
+Nin-Girsu, that his city goddess was named Nidaba. He appears also to
+have been a worshipper of Enlil of Nippur, to whose influence he
+credited his military successes. But Enlil was not his highest god, he
+was the interceder who carried the prayers of Lugal-zaggisi to the
+beloved father, Anu, god of the sky. No doubt Nin-Girsu represented a
+school of theology which was associated with unpleasant memories in
+Umma. The sacking and burning of the temples of Lagash suggests as
+much.
+
+Having broken the power of Lagash, Lugal-zaggisi directed his
+attention to the rival city of Kish, where Semitic influence was
+predominating. When Nanizak, the last monarch of the line of the
+famous Queen Azag-Bau, had sat upon the throne for but three years, he
+perished by the sword of the Umma conqueror. Nippur likewise came
+under his sway, and he also subdued the southern cities.
+
+Lugal-zaggisi chose for his capital ancient Erech, the city of Anu,
+and of his daughter, the goddess Nana, who afterwards was identified
+with Ishtar. Anu's spouse was Anatu, and the pair subsequently became
+abstract deities, like Anshar and Kishar, their parents, who figure in
+the Babylonian Creation story. Nana was worshipped as the goddess of
+vegetation, and her relation to Anu was similar to that of Belit-sheri
+to Ea at Eridu. Anu and Ea were originally identical, but it would
+appear that the one was differentiated as the god of the waters above
+the heaven and the other as god of the waters beneath the earth, both
+being forms of Anshar. Elsewhere the chief god of the spring sun or
+the moon, the lover of the goddess, became pre-eminent, displacing the
+elder god, like Nin-Girsu at Lagash. At Sippar the sun god, Babbar,
+whose Semitic name was Shamash, was exalted as the chief deity, while
+the moon god remained supreme at Ur. This specializing process, which
+was due to local theorizing and the influence of alien settlers, has
+been dealt with in a previous chapter.
+
+In referring to himself as the favoured ruler of various city deities,
+Lugal-zaggisi appears as a ruler of all Sumeria. How far his empire
+extended it is impossible to determine with certainty. He appears to
+have overrun Akkad, and even penetrated to the Syrian coast, for in
+one inscription it is stated that he "made straight his path from the
+Lower Sea (the Persian Gulf) over the Euphrates and Tigris to the
+Upper Sea (the Mediterranean)". The allegiance of certain states,
+however, depended on the strength of the central power. One of his
+successors found it necessary to attack Kish, which was ever waiting
+for an opportunity to regain its independence.
+
+According to the Chronicle of Kish, the next ruler of Sumer and Akkad
+after Lugal-zaggisi was the famous Sargon I. It would appear that he
+was an adventurer or usurper, and that he owed his throne indirectly
+to Lugal-zaggisi, who had dethroned the ruler of Akkad. Later
+traditions, which have been partly confirmed by contemporary
+inscriptions, agree that Sargon was of humble birth. In the previous
+chapter reference was made to the Tammuz-like myth attached to his
+memory. His mother was a vestal virgin dedicated to the sun god,
+Shamash, and his father an unknown stranger from the mountains--a
+suggestion of immediate Semitic affinities. Perhaps Sargon owed his
+rise to power to the assistance received by bands of settlers from the
+land of the Amorites, which Lugal-zaggisi had invaded.
+
+According to the legend, Sargon's birth was concealed. He was placed
+in a vessel which was committed to the river. Brought up by a
+commoner, he lived in obscurity until the Semitic goddess, Ishtar,
+gave him her aid.
+
+A similar myth was attached in India to the memory of Karna, the
+Hector of that great Sanskrit epic the _Mahabharata_. Kama's mother,
+the Princess Pritha, who afterwards became a queen, was loved by the
+sun god, Surya. When in secret she gave birth to her son she placed
+him in an ark of wickerwork, which was set adrift on a stream.
+Ultimately it reached the Ganges, and it was borne by that river to
+the country of Anga, where the child was rescued by a woman and
+afterwards reared by her and her husband, a charioteer. In time Karna
+became a great warrior, and was crowned King of Anga by the Kaurava
+warriors.[147]
+
+Before he became king, Sargon of Akkad, the Sharrukin of the texts,
+was, according to tradition, a gardener and watchman attached to the
+temple of the war god Zamama of Kish. This deity was subsequently
+identified with Merodach, son of Ea; Ninip, son of Enlil; and
+Nin-Girsu of Lagash. He was therefore one of the many developed forms
+of Tammuz--a solar, corn, and military deity, and an interceder for
+mankind. The goddess of Kish appears to have been a form of Bau, as is
+testified by the name of Queen Azag-Bau, the legendary founder of the
+city.
+
+Unfortunately our knowledge of Sargon's reign is of meagre character.
+It is undoubted that he was a distinguished general and able ruler. He
+built up an empire which included Sumer and Akkad, and also Amurru,
+"the western land", or "land of the Amorites". The Elamites gave him
+an opportunity to extend his conquests eastward. They appear to have
+attacked Opis, but he drove them back, and on more than one occasion
+penetrated their country, over the western part of which, known as
+Anshan, he ultimately imposed his rule. Thither went many Semitic
+settlers who had absorbed the culture of Sumeria.
+
+During Sargon's reign Akkad attained to a splendour which surpassed
+that of Babylon. In an omen text the monarch is lauded as the "highly
+exalted one without a peer". Tradition relates that when he was an old
+man all the Babylonian states rose in revolt against him and besieged
+Akkad. But the old warrior led forth his army against the combined
+forces and achieved a shattering victory.
+
+Manishtusu, who succeeded Sargon I, had similarly to subdue a great
+confederacy of thirty-two city states, and must therefore have been a
+distinguished general. But he is best known as the monarch who
+purchased several large estates adjoining subject cities, his aim
+having been probably to settle on these Semitic allies who would be
+less liable to rebel against him than the workers they displaced. For
+the latter, however, he found employment elsewhere. These
+transactions, which were recorded on a monument subsequently carried
+off with other spoils by the Elamites and discovered at Susa, show
+that at this early period (about 2600 B.C.) even a conquering monarch
+considered it advisable to observe existing land laws. Urumush,[148]
+the next ruler, also achieved successes in Elam and elsewhere, but his
+life was cut short by a palace revolution.
+
+The prominent figure of Naram Sin, a later king of Akkad, bulks
+largely in history and tradition. According to the Chronicle of Kish,
+he was a son of Sargon. Whether he was or not, it is certain that he
+inherited the military and administrative genius of that famous
+ex-gardener. The arts flourished during his reign. One of the
+memorable products of the period was an exquisitely sculptured
+monument celebrating one of Naram Sin's victories, which was
+discovered at Susa. It is one of the most wonderful examples of
+Babylonian stone work which has come to light.
+
+A successful campaign had been waged against a mountain people. The
+stele shows the warrior king leading his army up a steep incline and
+round the base of a great peak surmounted by stars. His enemies flee
+in confusion before him. One lies on the ground clutching a spear
+which has penetrated his throat, two are falling over a cliff, while
+others apparently sue for mercy. Trees have been depicted to show that
+part of the conquered territory is wooded. Naram Sin is armed with
+battleaxe and bow, and his helmet is decorated with horns. The whole
+composition is spirited and finely grouped; and the military bearing
+of the disciplined troops contrasts sharply with the despairing
+attitudes of the fleeing remnants of the defending army.
+
+During this period the Semitized mountaineers to the north-east of
+Babylonia became the most aggressive opponents of the city states. The
+two most prominent were the Gutium, or men of Kutu, and the Lulubu.
+Naram Sin's great empire included the whole of Sumer and Akkad, Amurru
+and northern Palestine, and part of Elam, and the district to the
+north. He also penetrated Arabia, probably by way of the Persian Gulf,
+and caused diorite to be quarried there. One of his steles, which is
+now in the Imperial Ottoman Museum at Constantinople, depicts him as a
+fully bearded man with Semitic characteristics. During his lifetime he
+was deified--a clear indication of the introduction of foreign ideas,
+for the Sumerians were not worshippers of kings and ancestors.
+
+Naram Sin was the last great king of his line. Soon after his death
+the power of Akkad went to pieces, and the Sumerian city of Erech
+again became the centre of empire. Its triumph, however, was
+shortlived. After a quarter of a century had elapsed, Akkad and Sumer
+were overswept by the fierce Gutium from the north-eastern mountains.
+They sacked and burned many cities, including Babylon, where the
+memory of the horrors perpetrated by these invaders endured until the
+Grecian Age. An obscure period, like the Egyptian Hyksos Age, ensued,
+but it was of comparatively brief duration.
+
+When the mists cleared away, the city Lagash once more came to the
+front, having evidently successfully withstood the onslaughts of the
+Gutium, but it never recovered the place of eminence it occupied under
+the brilliant Ur-Nina dynasty. It is manifest that it must have
+enjoyed under the various overlords, during the interval, a
+considerable degree of independence, for its individuality remained
+unimpaired. Of all its energetic and capable patesis, the most
+celebrated was Gudea, who reigned sometime before 2400 B.C. In
+contrast to the Semitic Naram Sin, he was beardless and pronouncedly
+Sumerian in aspect. His favoured deity, the city god Nin-Girsu, again
+became prominent, having triumphed over his jealous rivals after
+remaining in obscurity for three or four centuries. Trade flourished,
+and the arts were fostered. Gudea had himself depicted, in one of the
+most characteristic sculptures of his age, as an architect, seated
+reverently with folded hands with a temple plan lying on his knees,
+and his head uplifted as if watching the builders engaged in
+materializing the dream of his life. The temple in which his interests
+were centred was erected in honour of Nin-Girsu. Its ruins suggest
+that it was of elaborate structure and great beauty. Like Solomon in
+later days, Gudea procured material for his temple from many distant
+parts--cedar from Lebanon, marble from Amurru, diorite from Arabia,
+copper from Elam, and so forth. Apparently the King of Lagash was
+strong enough or wealthy enough to command respect over a wide area.
+
+Another city which also rose into prominence, amidst the shattered
+Sumerian states, was Ur, the centre of moon worship. After Gudea's
+death, its kings exercised sway over Lagash and Nippur, and, farther
+south, over Erech and Larsa as well. This dynasty endured for nearly a
+hundred and twenty years, during which Ur flourished like Thebes in
+Egypt. Its monarchs styled themselves as "Kings of the Four Regions".
+The worship of Nannar (Sin) became officially recognized at Nippur,
+the seat of Enlil, during the reign of King Dungi of Ur; while at
+Erech, the high priest of Anu, the sky god, became the high priest of
+the moon god. Apparently matriarchal ideas, associated with lunar
+worship, again came into prominence, for the king appointed two of his
+daughters to be rulers of conquered states in Elam and Syria. In the
+latter half of his reign, Dungi, the conqueror, was installed as high
+priest at Eridu. It would thus appear that there was a renascence of
+early Sumerian religious ideas. Ea, the god of the deep, had long been
+overshadowed, but a few years before Dungi's death a temple was
+erected to him at Nippur, where he was worshipped as Dagan. Until the
+very close of his reign, which lasted for fifty-eight years, this
+great monarch of tireless activity waged wars of conquest, built
+temples and palaces, and developed the natural resources of Sumer and
+Akkad. Among his many reforms was the introduction of standards of
+weights, which received divine sanction from the moon god, who, as in
+Egypt, was the measurer and regulator of human transactions and human
+life.
+
+To this age also belongs many of the Sumerian business and legal
+records, which were ultimately carried off to Susa, where they have
+been recovered by French excavators.
+
+About half a century after Dungi's death the Dynasty of Ur came to an
+end, its last king having been captured by an Elamite force.
+
+At some time subsequent to this period, Abraham migrated from Ur to
+the northern city of Harran, where the moon god was also the chief
+city deity--the Baal, or "lord". It is believed by certain
+Egyptologists that Abraham sojourned in Egypt during its Twelfth
+Dynasty, which, according to the Berlin system of minimum dating,
+extended from about 2000 B.C. till 1780 B.C. The Hebrew patriarch may
+therefore have been a contemporary of Hammurabi's, who is identified
+with Amraphel, king of Shinar (Sumer) in the Bible.[149]
+
+But after the decline of Ur's ascendancy, and long before Babylon's
+great monarch came to the throne, the centre of power in Sumeria was
+shifted to Isin, where sixteen kings flourished for two and a quarter
+centuries. Among the royal names, recognition was given to Ea and
+Dagan, Sin, Enlil, and Ishtar, indicating that Sumerian religion in
+its Semitized form was receiving general recognition. The sun god was
+identical with Ninip and Nin-Girsu, a god of fertility, harvest, and
+war, but now more fully developed and resembling Babbar, "the shining
+one", the solar deity of Akkadian Sippar, whose Semitic name was
+Shamash. As Shamash was ultimately developed as the god of justice and
+righteousness, it would appear that his ascendancy occurred during the
+period when well-governed communities systematized their religious
+beliefs to reflect social conditions.
+
+The first great monarch of the Isin dynasty was Ishbi-Urra, who
+reigned for thirty-two years. Like his successors, he called himself
+"King of Sumer and Akkad", and it appears that his sway extended to
+the city of Sippar, where solar worship prevailed. Traces of him have
+also been found at Eridu, Ur, Erech, and Nippur, so that he must have
+given recognition to Ea, Sin, Anu, and Enlil. In this period the early
+national pantheon may have taken shape, Bel Enlil being the chief
+deity. Enlil was afterwards displaced by Merodach of Babylon.
+
+Before 2200 B.C. there occurred a break in the supremacy of Isin.
+Gungunu, King of Ur, combined with Larsa, whose sun temple he
+restored, and declared himself ruler of Sumer and Akkad. But Isin
+again gathered strength under Ur-Ninip, who was not related to his
+predecessor. Perhaps he came from Nippur, where the god Ninip was
+worshipped as the son of Bel Enlil.
+
+According to a Babylonian document, a royal grandson of Ur-Ninip's,
+having no direct heir, selected as his successor his gardener,
+Enlil-bani. He placed the crown on the head of this obscure
+individual, abdicated in his favour, and then died a mysterious death
+within his palace.
+
+It is highly probable that Enlil-bani, whose name signifies "Enlil is
+my creator", was a usurper like Sargon of Akkad, and he may have
+similarly circulated a myth regarding his miraculous origin to justify
+his sudden rise to power. The truth appears to be that he came to the
+throne as the leader of a palace revolution at a time of great unrest.
+But he was not allowed to remain in undisputed possession. A rival
+named Sin-ikisha, evidently a moon worshipper and perhaps connected
+with Ur, displaced the usurper, and proclaimed himself king. After a
+brief reign of six months he was overthrown, however, by Enlil-bani,
+who piously credited his triumph over his enemy to the chief god of
+Nippur, whose name he bore. Although he took steps to secure his
+position by strengthening the fortifications of Isin, and reigned for
+about a quarter of a century, he was not succeeded by his heir, if he
+had one. King Zambia, who was no relation, followed him, but his reign
+lasted for only three years. The names of the next two kings are
+unknown. Then came Sin-magir, who was succeeded by Damik-ilishu, the
+last King of Isin.
+
+Towards the close of Damik-ilishu's reign of twenty-four years he came
+under the suzerainty of Larsa, whose ruler was Rim Sin. Then Isin was
+captured by Sin-muballit, King of Babylon, the father of the great
+Hammurabi. Rim Sin was an Elamite.
+
+Afterwards the old order of things passed away. Babylon became the
+metropolis, the names of Sumer and Akkad dropped out of use, and the
+whole country between the rivers was called Babylonia.[150] The
+various systems of law which obtained in the different states were
+then codified by Hammurabi, who appointed governors in all the cities
+which came under his sway to displace the patesis and kings. A new
+national pantheon of representative character was also formed, over
+which Merodach (Marduk), the city god of Babylon, presided. How this
+younger deity was supposed to rise to power is related in the
+Babylonian legend of Creation, which is dealt with in the next
+chapter.[151] In framing this myth from the fragments of older myths,
+divine sanction was given to the supremacy achieved by Merodach's
+city. The allegiance of future generations was thus secured, not only
+by the strong arm of the law, but also by the combined influence of
+the reorganized priesthoods at the various centres of administration.
+
+An interesting problem, which should be referred to here, arises in
+connection with the sculptured representations of deities before and
+after the rise of Akkad as a great Power. It is found, although the
+Sumerians shaved their scalps and faces at the dawn of the historical
+age, that they worshipped gods who had long hair and also beards,
+which were sometimes square and sometimes pointed.
+
+At what period the Sumerian deities were given human shape it is
+impossible to determine. As has been shown (Chapters II and III) all
+the chief gods and goddesses had animal forms and composite monster
+forms before they became anthropomorphic deities. Ea had evidently a
+fish shape ere he was clad in the skin of a fish, as an Egyptian god
+was simply a bull before he was depicted in human shape wearing a
+bull's skin. The archaic Sumerian animal and composite monster gods of
+animistic and totemic origin survived after the anthropomorphic period
+as mythical figures, which were used for decorative or magical
+purposes and as symbols. A form of divine headdress was a cap enclosed
+in horns, between which appeared the soaring lion-headed eagle, which
+symbolized Nin-Girsu. This god had also lion and antelope forms, which
+probably figured in lost myths--perhaps they were like the animals
+loved by Ishtar and referred to in the Gilgamesh epic. Similarly the
+winged bull was associated with the moon god Nannar, or Sin, of Ur,
+who was "a horned steer". On various cylinder seals appear groups of
+composite monsters and rearing wild beasts, which were evidently
+representations of gods and demons in conflict.
+
+Suggestive data for comparative study is afforded in this connection
+by ancient Egypt. Sokar, the primitive Memphite deity, retained until
+the end his animal and composite monster forms. Other gods were
+depicted with human bodies and the heads of birds, serpents, and
+crocodiles, thus forming links between the archaic demoniac and the
+later anthropomorphic deities. A Sumerian example is the deified
+Ea-bani, who, like Pan, has the legs and hoofs of a goat.
+
+The earliest representations of Sumerian humanized deities appear on
+reliefs from Tello, the site of Lagash. These examples of archaic
+gods, however, are not bearded in Semitic fashion. On the contrary,
+their lips and cheeks are shaved, while an exaggerated chin tuft is
+retained. The explanation suggested is that the Sumerians gave their
+deities human shape before they themselves were clean shaven, and that
+the retention of the characteristic facial hair growth of the
+Mediterranean Race is another example of the conservatism of the
+religious instinct. In Egypt the clean-shaven Pharaohs, who
+represented gods, wore false chin-tuft beards; even Queen Hatshepsut
+considered it necessary to assume a beard on state occasions.
+Ptah-Osiris retained his archaic beard until the Ptolemaic period.
+
+It seems highly probable that in similarly depicting their gods with
+beards, the early Sumerians were not influenced by the practices of
+any alien people or peoples. Not until the period of Gudea, the Patesi
+of Lagash, did they give their gods heavy moustaches, side whiskers,
+and flowing beards of Semitic type. It may be, however, that by then
+they had completely forgotten the significance of an ancient custom.
+Possibly, too, the sculptors of Lagash were working under the
+influence of the Akkadian school of art, which had produced the
+exquisite stele of victory for Naram-Sin, and consequently adopted the
+conventional Semitic treatment of bearded figures. At any rate, they
+were more likely to study and follow the artistic triumphs of Akkad
+than the crude productions of the archaic period. Besides, they lived
+in an age when Semitic kings were deified and the Semitic overlords
+had attained to great distinction and influence.
+
+The Semitic folks were not so highly thought of in the early Sumerian
+period. It is not likely that the agricultural people regarded as
+models of gods the plunderers who descended from the hills, and, after
+achieving successes, returned home with their spoils. More probably
+they regarded them as "foreign devils". Other Semites, however, who
+came as traders, bringing wood, stone, and especially copper, and
+formed communities in cities, may well have influenced Sumerian
+religious thought. The god Ramman, for instance, who was given
+recognition all through Babylonia, was a god of hill folks as far
+north as Asia Minor and throughout Syria. He may have been introduced
+by settlers who adopted Sumerian habits of life and shaved scalp and
+face. But although the old cities could never have existed in a
+complete state of isolation from the outer world, it is unlikely that
+their inhabitants modelled their deities on those worshipped by groups
+of aliens. A severe strain is imposed on our credulity if we are
+expected to believe that it was due to the teachings and example of
+uncultured nomads that the highly civilized Sumerians developed their
+gods from composite monsters to anthropomorphic deities. Such a
+supposition, at any rate, is not supported by the evidence of Ancient
+Egypt.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+CREATION LEGEND: MERODACH THE DRAGON SLAYER
+
+
+  Elder Spirits of the Primordial Deep--Apsu and the Tiamat
+  Dragon--Plot to Destroy the Beneficent Gods--Ea overcomes Apsu and
+  Muminu--The Vengeful Preparations of the Dragon--Anshar's Appeal to
+  Merodach--The Festival of the High Gods--Merodach exalted as Ruler
+  of the Universe--Dragon slain and Host taken captive--Merodach
+  rearranges the Pantheon--Creation of Man--Merodach as Asari--The
+  Babylonian Osiris--The Chief Purpose of Mankind--Tiamat as Source of
+  Good and Evil--The Dragon as the Serpent or Worm--Folk Tale aspect
+  of Creation Myth--British Neolithic Legends--German and Egyptian
+  Contracts--Biblical references to Dragons--The Father and Son
+  theme--Merodach and Tammuz--Monotheistic Tendency--Bi-sexual
+  Deities.
+
+
+In the beginning the whole universe was a sea. Heaven on high had not
+been named, nor the earth beneath. Their begetter was Apsu, the father
+of the primordial Deep, and their mother was Tiamat, the spirit of
+Chaos. No plain was yet formed, no marsh could be seen; the gods had
+no existence, nor had their fates been determined. Then there was a
+movement in the waters, and the deities issued forth. The first who
+had being were the god Lachmu and the goddess Lachamu. Long ages went
+past. Then were created the god Anshar and the goddess Kishar. When
+the days of these deities had increased and extended, they were
+followed by Anu, god of the sky, whose consort was Anatu; and Ea, most
+wise and all-powerful, who was without an equal. Now Ea, god of the
+deep, was also Enki, "lord of earth", and his eternal spouse, Damkina,
+was Gashan-ki, "lady of earth". The son of Ea and Damkina was Bel, the
+lord, who in time created mankind.[152] Thus were the high gods
+established in power and in glory.
+
+Now Apsu and Tiamat remained amidst confusion in the deeps of chaos.
+They were troubled because their offspring, the high gods, aspired to
+control the universe and set it in order.[153] Apsu was still powerful
+and fierce, and Tiamat snarled and raised tempests, smiting herself.
+Their purpose was to work evil amidst eternal confusion.
+
+Then Apsu called upon Mummu, his counsellor, the son who shared his
+desires, and said, "O Mummu, thou who art pleasing unto me, let us go
+forth together unto Tiamat and speak with her."
+
+So the two went forth and prostrated themselves before the Chaos
+Mother to consult with her as to what should be done to prevent the
+accomplishment of the purpose of the high gods.
+
+Apsu opened his mouth and spake, saying, "O Tiamat, thou gleaming one,
+the purpose of the gods troubles me. I cannot rest by day nor can I
+repose by night. I will thwart them and destroy their purpose. I will
+bring sorrow and mourning so that we may lie down undisturbed by
+them."
+
+Tiamat heard these words and snarled. She raised angry and roaring
+tempests; in her furious grief she uttered a curse, and then spake to
+Apsu, saying, "What shall we do so that their purpose may be thwarted
+and we may lie down undisturbed again?"
+
+Mummu, the counsellor, addressing Apsu, made answer, and said,
+"Although the gods are powerful, thou canst overcome them; although
+their purpose is strong, thou canst thwart it. Then thou shalt have
+rest by day and peace by night to lie down."
+
+The face of Apsu grew bright when he heard these words spoken by
+Mummu, yet he trembled to think of the purpose of the high gods, to
+whom he was hostile. With Tiamat he lamented because the gods had
+changed all things; the plans of the gods filled their hearts with
+dread; they sorrowed and spake with Mummu, plotting evil.
+
+Then Ea, who knoweth all, drew near; he beheld the evil ones
+conspiring and muttering together. He uttered a pure incantation and
+accomplished the downfall of Apsu and Mummu, who were taken
+captive.[154]
+
+Kingu, who shared the desires of Tiamat, spake unto her words of
+counsel, saying, "Apsu and Mummu have been overcome and we cannot
+repose. Thou shalt be their Avenger, O Tempestuous One."
+
+Tiamat heard the words of this bright and evil god, and made answer,
+saying, "On my strength thou canst trust. So let war be waged."
+
+Then were the hosts of chaos and the deep gathered together. By day
+and by night they plotted against the high gods, raging furiously,
+making ready for battle, fuming and storming and taking no rest.
+
+Mother Chuber,[155] the creator of all, provided irresistible weapons.
+She also brought into being eleven kinds of fierce monsters--giant
+serpents, sharp of tooth with unsparing fangs, whose bodies were
+filled with poison instead of blood; snarling dragons, clad with
+terror, and of such lofty stature that whoever saw them was
+overwhelmed with fear, nor could any escape their attack when they
+lifted themselves up; vipers and pythons, and the Lachamu, hurricane
+monsters, raging hounds, scorpion men, tempest furies, fish men, and
+mountain rams. These she armed with fierce weapons and they had no
+fear of war.
+
+Then Tiamat, whose commands are unchangeable and mighty, exalted
+Kingu, who had come to her aid, above all the evil gods; she made him
+the leader to direct the army in battle, to go in front, to open the
+attack. Robing Kingu in splendour, she seated him on high and spoke,
+saying:
+
+"I have established thy command over all the gods. Thou shalt rule
+over them. Be mighty, thou my chosen husband, and let thy name be
+exalted over all the spirits of heaven and spirits of earth."
+
+Unto Kingu did Tiamat deliver the tablets of fate; she laid them in
+his bosom, and said, "Thy commands cannot be changed; thy words shall
+remain firm."
+
+Thus was Kingu exalted; he was vested with the divine power of Anu to
+decree the fate of the gods, saying, "Let thy mouth open to thwart the
+fire god; be mighty in battle nor brook resistance."
+
+Then had Ea knowledge of Tiamat's doings, how she had gathered her
+forces together, and how she had prepared to work evil against the
+high gods with purpose to avenge Apsu. The wise god was stricken with
+grief, and he moaned for many days. Thereafter he went and stood
+before his father, Anshar, and spake, saying, "Our mother, Tiamat,
+hath turned against us in her wrath. She hath gathered the gods about
+her, and those thou didst create are with her also."
+
+When Anshar heard all that Ea revealed regarding the preparations made
+by Tiamat, he smote his loins and clenched his teeth, and was ill at
+ease. In sorrow and anger he spoke and said, "Thou didst go forth
+aforetime to battle; thou didst bind Mummu and smite Apsu. Now Kingu
+is exalted, and there is none who can oppose Tiamat."[156]
+
+Anshar called his son, Anu, before him, and spoke, saying: "O mighty
+one without fear, whose attack is irresistible, go now before Tiamat
+and speak so that her anger may subside and her heart be made
+merciful. But if she will not hearken unto thee, speak thou for me, so
+that she may be reconciled."
+
+Anu was obedient to the commands of Anshar. He departed, and descended
+by the path of Tiamat until he beheld her fuming and snarling, but he
+feared to approach her, and turned back.
+
+Then Ea was sent forth, but he was stricken with terror and turned
+back also.[157]
+
+Anshar then called upon Merodach, son of Ea, and addressed him,
+saying, "My son, who softeneth my heart, thou shalt go forth to battle
+and none shall stand against thee."
+
+The heart of Merodach was made glad at these words. He stood before
+Anshar, who kissed him, because that he banished fear. Merodach spake,
+saying: "O lord of the gods, withdraw not thy words; let me go forth
+to do as is thy desire. What man hath challenged thee to battle?"
+
+Anshar made answer and said: "No man hath challenged me. It is Tiamat,
+the woman, who hath resolved to wage war against us. But fear not and
+make merry, for thou shalt bruise the head of Tiamat. O wise god, thou
+shalt overcome her with thy pure incantation. Tarry not but hasten
+forth; she cannot wound thee; thou shalt come back again." The words
+of Anshar delighted the heart of Merodach, who spake, saying: "O lord
+of the gods, O fate of the high gods, if I, the avenger, am to subdue
+Tiamat and save all, then proclaim my greatness among the gods. Let
+all the high gods gather together joyfully in Upshukinaku (the Council
+Hall), so that my words like thine may remain unchanged, and what I do
+may never be altered. Instead of thee I will decree the fates of the
+gods."
+
+Then Anshar called unto his counsellor, Gaga, and addressing him,
+said: "O thou who dost share my desires, thou who dost understand the
+purpose of my heart, go unto Lachmu and Lachamu and summon all the
+high gods to come before me to eat bread and drink wine. Repeat to
+them all I tell you of Tiamat's preparations for war, of my commands
+to Anu and Ea, who turned back, fearing the dragon, of my choice of
+Merodach to be our avenger, and his desire to be equipped with my
+power to decree fate, so that he may be made strong to combat against
+our enemy."
+
+As Anshar commanded so did Gaga do. He went unto Lachmu and Lachamu
+and prostrated himself humbly before them. Then he rose and delivered
+the message of Anshar, their son, adding: "Hasten and speedily decide
+for Merodach your fate. Permit him to depart to meet your powerful
+foe."
+
+When Lachmu and Lachamu heard all that Gaga revealed unto them they
+uttered lamentations, while the Igigi (heavenly spirits) sorrowed
+bitterly, and said: "What change hath happened that Tiamat hath become
+hostile to her own offspring? We cannot understand her deeds."
+
+All the high gods then arose and went unto Anshar, They filled his
+council chamber and kissed one another. Then they sat down to eat
+bread and drink sesame wine. And when they were made drunk and were
+merry and at their ease, they decreed the fate for Merodach.
+
+In the chamber of Anshar they honoured the Avenger. He was exalted as
+a prince over them all, and they said: "Among the high gods thou art
+the highest; thy command is the command of Anu. Henceforth thou wilt
+have power to raise up and to cast down. None of the gods will dispute
+thy authority. O Merodach, our avenger, we give thee sovereignty over
+the entire Universe. Thy weapon will ever be irresistible. Smite down
+the gods who have raised revolt, but spare the lives of those who
+repose their trust in thee."
+
+Then the gods laid down a garment before Merodach, saying: "Open thy
+mouth and speak words of command, so that the garment may be
+destroyed; speak again and it will be brought back."
+
+Merodach spake with his mouth and the garment vanished; he spake again
+and the garment was reproduced.
+
+All the gods rejoiced, and they prostrated themselves and cried out,
+"Merodach is King!"
+
+Thereafter they gave him the sceptre and the throne and the insignia
+of royalty, and also an irresistible weapon[158] with which to
+overcome his enemies, saying: "Now, O Merodach, hasten and slay
+Tiamat. Let the winds carry her blood to hidden places."
+
+So was the fate of Merodach decreed by the gods; so was a path of
+prosperity and peace prepared for him. He made ready for battle; he
+strung his bow and hung his quiver; he slung a dart over his shoulder,
+and he grasped a club in his right hand; before him he set lightning,
+and with flaming fire he filled his body. Anu gave unto him a great
+net with which to snare his enemies and prevent their escape. Then
+Merodach created seven winds--the wind of evil, the uncontrollable
+wind, the sandstorm, and the whirlwind, the fourfold wind, the
+sevenfold wind, and the wind that has no equal--and they went after
+him. Next he seized his mighty weapon, the thunderstone, and leapt
+into his storm chariot, to which were yoked four rushing and
+destructive steeds of rapid flight, with foam-flecked mouths and teeth
+full of venom, trained for battle, to overthrow enemies and trample
+them underfoot. A light burned on the head of Merodach, and he was
+clad in a robe of terror. He drove forth, and the gods, his fathers,
+followed after him: the high gods clustered around and followed him,
+hastening to battle.
+
+Merodach drove on, and at length he drew nigh to the secret lair of
+Tiamat, and he beheld her muttering with Kingu, her consort. For a
+moment he faltered, and when the gods who followed him beheld this,
+their eyes were troubled.
+
+Tiamat snarled nor turned her head. She uttered curses, and said: "O
+Merodach, I fear not thy advance as chief of the gods. My allies are
+assembled here, and are more powerful than thou art."
+
+Merodach uplifted his arm, grasping the dreaded thunderstone, and
+spake unto Tiamat, the rebellious one, saying: "Thou hast exalted
+thyself, and with wrathful heart hath prepared for war against the
+high gods and their fathers, whom thou dost hate in thy heart of evil.
+Unto Kingu thou hast given the power of Anu to decree fate, because
+thou art hostile to what is good and loveth what is sinful. Gather thy
+forces together, and arm thyself and come forth to battle."
+
+When Tiamat heard these mighty words she raved and cried aloud like
+one who is possessed; all her limbs shook, and she muttered a spell.
+The gods seized their weapons.
+
+Tiamat and Merodach advanced to combat against one another. They made
+ready for battle. The lord of the high gods spread out the net which
+Anu had given him. He snared the dragon and she could not escape.
+Tiamat opened her mouth which was seven miles wide, and Merodach
+called upon the evil wind to smite her; he caused the wind to keep her
+mouth agape so that she could not close it. All the tempests and the
+hurricanes entered in, filling her body, and her heart grew weak; she
+gasped, overpowered. Then the lord of the high gods seized his dart
+and cast it through the lower part of her body; it tore her inward
+parts and severed her heart. So was Tiamat slain.
+
+Merodach overturned the body of the dead dragon and stood upon it. All
+the evil gods who had followed her were stricken with terror and broke
+into flight. But they were unable to escape. Merodach caught them in
+his great net, and they stumbled and fell uttering cries of distress,
+and the whole world resounded with their wailing and lamentations. The
+lord of the high gods broke the weapons of the evil gods and put them
+in bondage. Then he fell upon the monsters which Tiamat had created;
+he subdued them, divested them of their powers, and trampled them
+under his feet. Kingu he seized with the others. From this god great
+Merodach took the tablets of fate, and impressing upon them his own
+seal, placed them in his bosom.
+
+So were the enemies of the high gods overthrown by the Avenger.
+Ansar's commands were fulfilled and the desires of Ea fully
+accomplished.
+
+Merodach strengthened the bonds which he had laid upon the evil gods
+and then returned to Tiamat. He leapt upon the dragon's body; he clove
+her skull with his great club; he opened the channels of her blood
+which streamed forth, and caused the north to carry her blood to
+hidden places. The high gods, his fathers, clustered around; they
+raised shouts of triumph and made merry. Then they brought gifts and
+offerings to the great Avenger.
+
+Merodach rested a while, gazing upon the dead body of the dragon. He
+divided the flesh of Ku-pu[159], and devised a cunning plan.
+
+Then the lord of the high gods split the body of the dragon like that
+of a mashde fish into two halves. With one half he enveloped the
+firmament; he fixed it there and set a watchman to prevent the waters
+falling down[160]. With the other half he made the earth[161]. Then he
+made the abode of Ea in the deep, and the abode of Anu in high heaven.
+The abode of Enlil was in the air.
+
+Merodach set all the great gods in their several stations. He also
+created their images, the stars of the Zodiac, and fixed them all. He
+measured the year and divided it into months; for twelve months he
+made three stars each. After he had given starry images of the gods
+separate control of each day of the year, he founded the station of
+Nibiru (Jupiter), his own star, to determine the limits of all stars,
+so that none might err or go astray. He placed beside his own the
+stations of Enlil and Ea, and on each side he opened mighty gates,
+fixing bolts on the left and on the right. He set the zenith in the
+centre.
+
+Merodach decreed that the moon god should rule the night and measure
+the days, and each month he was given a crown. Its various phases the
+great lord determined, and he commanded that on the evening of its
+fullest brilliancy it should stand opposite the sun.[162]
+
+He placed his bow in heaven (as a constellation) and his net also.
+
+We have now reached the sixth tablet, which begins with a reference to
+words spoken to Merodach by the gods. Apparently Ea had conceived in
+his heart that mankind should be created. The lord of the gods read
+his thoughts and said: "I will shed my blood and fashion bone... I
+will create man to dwell on the earth so that the gods may be
+worshipped and shrines erected for them. I will change the pathways of
+the gods...."
+
+The rest of the text is fragmentary, and many lines are missing.
+Berosus states, however, that Belus (Bel Merodach) severed his head
+from his shoulders. His blood flowed forth, and the gods mixed it with
+earth and formed the first man and various animals.
+
+In another version of the creation of man, it is related that Merodach
+"laid a reed upon the face of the waters; he formed dust, and poured
+it out beside the reed.... That he might cause the gods to dwell in
+the habitation of their heart's desire, he formed mankind." The
+goddess Aruru, a deity of Sippar, and one of the forms of "the lady of
+the gods ", is associated with Merodach as the creatrix of the seed of
+mankind. "The beasts of the field and living creatures in the field he
+formed." He also created the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, grass,
+reeds, herbs and trees, lands, marshes and swamps, cows, goats,
+&c.[163]
+
+In the seventh tablet Merodach is praised by the gods--the Igigi
+(spirits of heaven). As he has absorbed all their attributes, he is
+addressed by his fifty-one names; henceforth each deity is a form of
+Merodach. Bel Enlil, for instance, is Merodach of lordship and
+domination; Sin, the moon god, is Merodach as ruler of night; Shamash
+is Merodach as god of law and holiness; Nergal is Merodach of war; and
+so on. The tendency to monotheism appears to have been most marked
+among the priestly theorists of Babylon.
+
+Merodach is hailed to begin with as Asari, the introducer of
+agriculture and horticulture, the creator of grain and plants. He also
+directs the decrees of Anu, Bel, and Ea; but having rescued the gods
+from destruction at the hands of Kingu and Tiamat, he was greater than
+his "fathers", the elder gods. He set the Universe in order, and
+created all things anew. He is therefore Tutu, "the creator", a
+merciful and beneficent god. The following are renderings of lines 25
+to 32:
+
+    Tutu: Aga-azaga (the glorious crown) may he make the crowns
+        glorious--
+    The lord of the glorious incantation bringing the dead to life;
+    He who had mercy on the gods who had been overpowered;
+    Made heavy the yoke which he had laid on the gods who were his
+        enemies,
+    (And) to redeem (?) them created mankind.
+    "The merciful one", "he with whom is salvation",
+    May his word be established, and not forgotten,
+    In the mouth of the black-headed ones whom his hands have made.
+
+            _Pinches' Translation_[164]
+
+
+    Tutu as Aga-azag may mankind fourthly magnify!
+    "The Lord of the Pure Incantation", "the Quickener of the Dead ",
+    "Who had mercy upon the captive gods",
+    "Who removed the yoke from upon the gods his enemies".
+    "For their forgiveness did he create mankind",
+    "The Merciful One, with whom it is to bestow life!"
+    May his deeds endure, may they never be forgotten
+    In the mouth of mankind whom his hands have made.
+
+            _King's Translation._[165]
+
+Apparently the Babylonian doctrine set forth that mankind was created
+not only to worship the gods, but also to bring about the redemption
+of the fallen gods who followed Tiamat.
+
+    Those rebel angels (_ili_ gods) He prohibited return;
+    He stopped their service; He removed them unto the gods (_ili_) who
+        were His enemies.
+    In their room he created mankind.[166]
+
+Tiamat, the chaos dragon, is the Great Mother. She has a dual
+character. As the origin of good she is the creatrix of the gods. Her
+beneficent form survived as the Sumerian goddess Bau, who was
+obviously identical with the Phoenician Baau, mother of the first man.
+Another name of Bau was Ma, and Nintu, "a form of the goddess Ma", was
+half a woman and half a serpent, and was depicted with "a babe
+suckling her breast" (Chapter IV). The Egyptian goddesses Neheb-kau
+and Uazit were serpents, and the goddesses Isis and Nepthys had also
+serpent forms. The serpent was a symbol of fertility, and as a mother
+was a protector. Vishnu, the Preserver of the Hindu Trinity, sleeps on
+the world-serpent's body. Serpent charms are protective and fertility
+charms.
+
+As the origin of evil Tiamat personified the deep and tempests. In
+this character she was the enemy of order and good, and strove to
+destroy the world.
+
+      I have seen
+    The ambitious ocean swell and rage and foam
+    To be exalted with the threatening clouds.[167]
+
+Tiamat was the dragon of the sea, and therefore the serpent or
+leviathan. The word "dragon" is derived from the Greek "drakon", the
+serpent known as "the seeing one" or "looking one", whose glance was
+the lightning. The Anglo-Saxon "fire drake" ("draca", Latin "draco")
+is identical with the "flying dragon".
+
+In various countries the serpent or worm is a destroyer which swallows
+the dead. "The worm shall eat them like wool", exclaimed Isaiah in
+symbolic language.[168] It lies in the ocean which surrounds the world
+in Egyptian, Babylonian, Greek, Teutonic, Indian, and other
+mythologies. The Irish call it "morúach", and give it a mermaid form
+like the Babylonian Nintu. In a Scottish Gaelic poem Tiamat figures as
+"The Yellow Muilearteach", who is slain by Finn-mac-Coul, assisted by
+his warrior band.
+
+    There was seen coming on the top of the waves
+    The crooked, clamouring, shivering brave ...
+    Her face was blue black of the lustre of coal,
+    And her bone-tufted tooth was like rusted bone.[169]
+
+The serpent figures in folk tales. When Alexander the Great, according
+to Ethiopic legend, was lowered in a glass cage to the depths of the
+ocean, he saw a great monster going past, and sat for two days
+"watching for its tail and hinder parts to appear".[170] An
+Argyllshire Highlander had a similar experience. He went to fish one
+morning on a rock. "He was not long there when he saw the head of an
+eel pass. He continued fishing for an hour and the eel was still
+passing. He went home, worked in the field all day, and having
+returned to the same rock in the evening, the eel was still passing,
+and about dusk he saw her tail disappearing."[171] Tiamat's sea-brood
+is referred to in the Anglo-Saxon epic _Beowulf_ as "nickers". The
+hero "slew by night sea monsters on the waves" (line 422).
+
+The well dragon--the French "draco"--also recalls the Babylonian water
+monsters. There was a "dragon well" near Jerusalem.[172] From China to
+Ireland rivers are dragons, or goddesses who flee from the well
+dragons. The demon of the Rhone is called the "drac". Floods are also
+referred to as dragons, and the Hydra, or water serpent, slain by
+Hercules, belongs to this category. Water was the source of evil as
+well as good. To the Sumerians, the ocean especially was the abode of
+monsters. They looked upon it as did Shakespeare's Ferdinand, when,
+leaping into the sea, he cried: "Hell is empty and all the devils are
+here".[173]
+
+There can be little doubt but that in this Babylonian story of
+Creation we have a glorified variation of the widespread Dragon myth.
+Unfortunately, however, no trace can be obtained of the pre-existing
+Sumerian oral version which the theorizing priests infused with such
+sublime symbolism. No doubt it enjoyed as great popularity as the
+immemorial legend of Perseus and Andromeda, which the sages of Greece
+attempted to rationalize, and parts of which the poets made use of and
+developed as these appealed to their imaginations.
+
+The lost Sumerian story may be summarized as follows: There existed in
+the savage wilds, or the ocean, a family of monsters antagonistic to a
+group of warriors represented in the Creation legend by the gods. Ea,
+the heroic king, sets forth to combat with the enemies of man, and
+slays the monster father, Apsu, and his son, Mummu. But the most
+powerful demon remains to be dealt with. This is the mother Tiamat,
+who burns to avenge the deaths of her kindred. To wage war against her
+the hero makes elaborate preparations, and equips himself with special
+weapons. The queen of monsters cannot be overcome by ordinary means,
+for she has great cunning, and is less vulnerable than were her
+husband and son. Although Ea may work spells against her, she is able
+to thwart him by working counter spells. Only a hand-to-hand combat
+can decide the fray. Being strongly protected by her scaly hide, she
+must be wounded either on the under part of her body or through her
+mouth by a weapon which will pierce her liver, the seat of life. It
+will be noted in this connection that Merodach achieved success by
+causing the winds which followed him to distend the monster's jaws, so
+that he might be able to inflict the fatal blow and prevent her at the
+same time from uttering spells to weaken him.
+
+This type of story, in which the mother monster is greater and more
+powerful than her husband or son, is exceedingly common in Scottish
+folklore. In the legend which relates the adventures of "Finn in the
+Kingdom of Big Men", the hero goes forth at night to protect his
+allies against the attacks of devastating sea monsters. Standing on
+the beach, "he saw the sea advancing in fiery kilns and as a darting
+serpent.... A huge monster came up, and looking down below where he
+(Finn) was, exclaimed, 'What little speck do I see here?'" Finn, aided
+by his fairy dog, slew the water monster. On Finn, aided by his fairy
+dog, slew the water monster. On the following night a bigger monster,
+"the father", came ashore, and he also was slain. But the most
+powerful enemy had yet to be dealt with. "The next night a Big Hag
+came ashore, and the tooth in the front of her mouth would make a
+distaff. 'You killed my husband and son,' she said." Finn acknowledged
+that he did, and they began to fight. After a prolonged struggle, in
+which Finn was almost overcome, the Hag fell and her head was cut
+off.[174]
+
+The story of "Finlay the Changeling" has similar features. The hero
+slew first a giant and then the giant's father. Thereafter the Hag
+came against him and exclaimed, "Although with cunning and
+deceitfulness you killed my husband last night and my son on the night
+before last, I shall certainly kill you to-night." A fierce wrestling
+match ensued on the bare rock. The Hag was ultimately thrown down. She
+then offered various treasures to ransom her life, including "a gold
+sword in my cave", regarding which she says, "never was it drawn to
+man or to beast whom it did not overcome".[175] In other Scottish
+stories of like character the hero climbs a tree, and says something
+to induce the hag to open her mouth, so that he may plunge his weapon
+down her throat.
+
+The Grendel story in _Beowulf_,[176] the Anglo-Saxon epic, is of like
+character. A male water monster preys nightly upon the warriors who
+sleep in the great hall of King Hrothgar. Beowulf comes over the sea,
+as did Finn to the "Kingdom of Big Men", to sky Grendel. He wrestles
+with this man-eater and mortally wounds him. Great rejoicings ensue,
+but they have to be brought to an abrupt conclusion, because the
+mother of Grendel has meanwhile resolved "to go a sorry journey and
+avenge the death of her son".
+
+The narrative sets forth that she enters the Hall in the darkness of
+night. "Quickly she grasped one of the nobles tight, and then she went
+towards the fen", towards her submarine cave. Beowulf follows in due
+course, and, fully armoured, dives through the waters and ultimately
+enters the monster's lair. In the combat the "water wife" proves to be
+a more terrible opponent than was her son. Indeed, Beowulf was unable
+to slay her until he possessed himself of a gigantic sword, "adorned
+with treasure", which was hanging in the cave. With this magic weapon
+he slays the mother monster, whose poisonous blood afterwards melts
+the "damasked blade". Like Finn, he subsequently returns with the head
+of one of the monsters.
+
+An interesting point about this story is that it does not appear in
+any form in the North German cycle of Romance. Indeed, the poet who
+included in his epic the fiery dragon story, which links the hero
+Beowulf with Sigurd and Siegfried, appears to be doubtful about the
+mother monster's greatness, as if dealing with unfamiliar material,
+for he says: "The terror (caused by Grendel's mother) was less by just
+so much as woman's strength, woman's war terror, is (measured) by
+fighting men".[177] Yet, in the narrative which follows the Amazon is
+proved to be the stronger monster of the two. Traces of the mother
+monster survive in English folklore, especially in the traditions
+about the mythical "Long Meg of Westminster", referred to by Ben
+Jonson in his masque of the "Fortunate Isles":
+
+    Westminster Meg,
+    With her long leg,
+    As long as a crane;
+    And feet like a plane,
+    With a pair of heels
+    As broad as two wheels.
+
+Meg has various graves. One is supposed to be marked by a huge stone
+in the south side of the cloisters of Westminster Abbey; it probably
+marks the trench in which some plague victims--regarded, perhaps, as
+victims of Meg--were interred. Meg was also reputed to have been
+petrified, like certain Greek and Irish giants and giantesses. At
+Little Salkeld, near Penrith, a stone circle is referred to as "Long
+Meg and her Daughters". Like "Long Tom", the famous giant, "Mons Meg"
+gave her name to big guns in early times, all hags and giants having
+been famous in floating folk tales as throwers of granite boulders,
+balls of hard clay, quoits, and other gigantic missiles.
+
+The stories about Grendel's mother and Long Meg are similar to those
+still repeated in the Scottish Highlands. These contrast sharply with
+characteristic Germanic legends, in which the giant is greater than
+the giantess, and the dragon is a male, like Fafner, who is slain by
+Sigurd, and Regin whom Siegfried overcomes. It is probable, therefore,
+that the British stories of female monsters who were more powerful
+than their husbands and sons, are of Neolithic and Iberian
+origin--immemorial relics of the intellectual life of the western
+branch of the Mediterranean race.
+
+In Egypt the dragon survives in the highly developed mythology of the
+sun cult of Heliopolis, and, as sun worship is believed to have been
+imported, and the sun deity is a male, it is not surprising to find
+that the night demon, Apep, was a personification of Set. This god,
+who is identical with Sutekh, a Syrian and Asia Minor deity, was
+apparently worshipped by a tribe which was overcome in the course of
+early tribal struggles in pre-dynastic times. Being an old and
+discredited god, he became by a familiar process the demon of the
+conquerors. In the eighteenth dynasty, however, his ancient glory was
+revived, for the Sutekh of Rameses II figures as the "dragon
+slayer".[178] It is in accordance with Mediterranean modes of thought,
+however, to find that in Egypt there is a great celestial battle
+heroine. This is the goddess Hathor-Sekhet, the "Eye of Ra".[179]
+Similarly in India, the post-Vedic goddess Kali is a destroyer, while
+as Durga she is a guardian of heroes.[180] Kali, Durga, and
+Hathor-Sekhet link with the classical goddesses of war, and also with
+the Babylonian Ishtar, who, as has been shown, retained the
+outstanding characteristics of Tiamat, the fierce old "Great Mother"
+of primitive Sumerian folk religion.
+
+It is possible that in the Babylonian dragon myth the original hero
+was Ea. As much may be inferred from the symbolic references in the
+Bible to Jah's victory over the monster of the deep: "Art thou not it
+that hath cut Rahab and wounded the dragon?"[181] "Thou brakest the
+heads of the dragons in the waters; thou brakest the heads of
+leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people
+inhabiting the wilderness";[182] "He divideth the sea with his power,
+and by his understanding he smiteth through the proud (Rahab). By his
+spirit he hath garnished the heavens: his hand hath formed (or
+pierced) the crooked serpent";[183] "Thou hast broken Rahab in pieces
+as one that is slain: thou hast scattered thine enemies with thy
+strong arm";[184] "In that day the Lord with his sore and great and
+strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing (or stiff) serpent,
+even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that
+is in the sea".[185]
+
+In the Babylonian Creation legend Ea is supplanted as dragon slayer by
+his son Merodach. Similarly Ninip took the place of his father, Enlil,
+as the champion of the gods. "In other words," writes Dr. Langdon,
+"later theology evolved the notion of the son of the earth god, who
+acquires the attributes of the father, and becomes the god of war. It
+is he who stood forth against the rebellious monsters of darkness, who
+would wrest the dominion of the world from the gods who held their
+conclave on the mountain. The gods offer him the Tablets of Fate; the
+right to utter decrees is given unto him." This development is "of
+extreme importance for studying the growth of the idea of father and
+son, as creative and active principles of the world".[186] In Indian
+mythology Indra similarly takes the place of his bolt-throwing father
+Dyaus, the sky god, who so closely resembles Zeus. Andrew Lang has
+shown that this myth is of widespread character.[187] Were the
+Babylonian theorists guided by the folk-lore clue?
+
+Now Merodach, as the son of Ea whom he consulted and received spells
+from, was a brother of "Tammuz of the Abyss". It seems that in the
+great god of Babylon we should recognize one of the many forms of the
+primeval corn spirit and patriarch--the shepherd youth who was beloved
+by Ishtar. As the deity of the spring sun, Tammuz slew the winter
+demons of rain and tempest, so that he was an appropriate spouse for
+the goddess of harvest and war. Merodach may have been a development
+of Tammuz in his character as a demon slayer. When he was raised to
+the position of Bel, "the Lord" by the Babylonian conquerors, Merodach
+supplanted the older Bel--Enlil of Nippur. Now Enlil, who had absorbed
+all the attributes of rival deities, and become a world god, was the
+
+    Lord of the harvest lands ... lord of the grain fields,
+
+being "lord of the anunnaki", or "earth spirits". As agriculturists in
+early times went to war so as to secure prisoners who could be
+sacrificed to feed the corn spirit, Enlil was a god of war and was
+adored as such:
+
+    The haughty, the hostile land thou dost humiliate ...
+    With thee who ventureth to make war?
+
+He was also "the bull of goring horns ... Enlil the bull", the god of
+fertility as well as of battle.[188]
+
+Asari, one of Merodach's names, links him with Osiris, the Egyptian
+Tammuz, who was supplanted by his son Horus. As the dragon slayer, he
+recalls, among others, Perseus, the Grecian hero, of whom it was
+prophesied that he would slay his grandfather. Perseus, like Tammuz
+and Osiris, was enclosed in a chest which was cast into the sea, to be
+rescued, however, by a fisherman on the island of Seriphos. This hero
+afterwards slew Medusa, one of the three terrible sisters, the
+Gorgons--a demon group which links with Tiamat. In time, Perseus
+returned home, and while an athletic contest was in progress, he
+killed his grandfather with a quoit. There is no evidence, however, to
+show that the displacement of Enlil by Merodach had any legendary
+sanction of like character. The god of Babylon absorbed all other
+deities, apparently for political purposes, and in accordance with the
+tendency of the thought of the times, when raised to supreme rank in
+the national pantheon; and he was depicted fighting the winged dragon,
+flapping his own storm wings, and carrying the thunder weapon
+associated with Ramman.
+
+Merodach's spouse Zer-panituᵐ was significantly called "the lady of
+the Abyss", a title which connects her with Damkina, the mother, and
+Belit-sheri, the sister of Tammuz. Damkina was also a sky goddess like
+Ishtar.
+
+Zer-panituᵐ was no pale reflection of her Celestial husband, but a
+goddess of sharply defined character with independent powers.
+Apparently she was identical with Aruru, creatrix of the seed of
+mankind, who was associated with Merodach when the first man and the
+first woman were brought into being. Originally she was one of the
+mothers in the primitive spirit group, and so identical with Ishtar
+and the other prominent goddesses.
+
+As all goddesses became forms of Ishtar, so did all gods become forms
+of Merodach. Sin was "Merodach as illuminator of night", Nergal was
+"Merodach of war", Addu (Ramman) was "Merodach of rain", and so on. A
+colophon which contains a text in which these identifications are
+detailed, appears to be "a copy", says Professor Pinches, "of an old
+inscription", which, he thinks, "may go back as far as 2000 B.C. This
+is the period at which the name _Yauᵐ-ilu_, 'Jah is god', is found,
+together with references to _ilu_ as the name for the one great god,
+and is also, roughly, the date of Abraham, who, it may be noted, was a
+Babylonian of Ur of the Chaldees."[189]
+
+In one of the hymns Merodach is addressed as follows:--
+
+    Who shall escape from before thy power?
+    Thy will is an eternal mystery!
+    Thou makest it plain in heaven
+    And in the earth,
+    Command the sea
+    And the sea obeyeth thee.
+    Command the tempest
+    And the tempest becometh a calm.
+    Command the winding course
+    Of the Euphrates,
+    And the will of Merodach
+    Shall arrest the floods.
+    Lord, thou art holy!
+    Who is like unto thee?
+    Merodach thou art honoured
+    Among the gods that bear a name.
+
+The monotheistic tendency, which was a marked feature of Merodach
+worship, had previously become pronounced in the worship of Bel Enlil
+of Nippur. Although it did not affect the religion of the masses, it
+serves to show that among the ancient scholars and thinkers of
+Babylonia religious thought had, at an early period, risen far above
+the crude polytheism of those who bargained with their deities and
+propitiated them with offerings and extravagant flattery, or exercised
+over them a magical influence by the performance of seasonal
+ceremonies, like the backsliders in Jerusalem, censured so severely by
+Jeremiah, who baked cakes to reward the Queen of Heaven for an
+abundant harvest, and wept with her for the slain Tammuz when he
+departed to Hades.
+
+Perhaps it was due to the monotheistic tendency, if not to the fusion
+of father-worshipping and mother-worshipping peoples, that bi-sexual
+deities were conceived of. Nannar, the moon god, was sometimes
+addressed as father and mother in one, and Ishtar as a god as well as
+a goddess. In Egypt Isis is referred to in a temple chant as "the
+woman who was made a male by her father Osiris", and the Nile god Hapi
+was depicted as a man with female breasts.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+DEIFIED HEROES: ETANA AND GILGAMESH
+
+
+  God and Heroes and the "Seven Sleepers"--Quests of Etana, Gilgamesh,
+  Hercules, &c.--The Plant of Birth--Eagle carries Etana to
+  Heaven--Indian Parallel--Flights of Nimrod, Alexander the Great, and
+  a Gaelic Hero--Eagle as a God--Indian Eagle identified with Gods of
+  Creation, Fire, Fertility, and Death--Eagle carries Roman Emperor's
+  Soul to Heaven--Fire and Agricultural Ceremonies--Nimrod of the
+  _Koran_ and John Barleycorn--Gilgamesh and the Eagle--Sargon-Tammuz
+  Garden Myth--Ea-bani compared to Pan, Bast, and
+  Nebuchadnezzar--Exploits of Gilgamesh and Ea-bani--Ishtar's
+  Vengeance--Gilgamesh journeys to Otherworld--Song of Sea Maiden and
+  "Lay of the Harper"--Babylonian Noah and the Plant of Life--Teutonic
+  Parallels--Alexander the Great as Gilgamesh--Water of Life in the
+  _Koran_--The Indian Gilgamesh and Hercules--The Mountain Tunnel in
+  various Mythologies--Widespread Cultural Influences.
+
+
+One of the oldest forms of folk stories relates to the wanderings of
+a hero in distant regions. He may set forth in search of a fair lady
+who has been taken captive, or to obtain a magic herb or stone to
+relieve a sufferer, to cure diseases, and to prolong life. Invariably
+he is a slayer of dragons and other monsters. A friendly spirit, or a
+group of spirits, may assist the hero, who acts according to the
+advice given him by a "wise woman", a magician, or a god. The spirits
+are usually wild beasts or birds--the "fates" of immemorial folk
+belief--and they may either carry the hero on their backs, instruct
+him from time to time, or come to his aid when called upon.
+
+When a great national hero appealed by reason of his achievements to
+the imagination of a people, all the floating legends of antiquity
+were attached to his memory, and he became identified with gods and
+giants and knight-errants "old in story". In Scotland, for instance,
+the boulder-throwing giant of Eildon hills bears the name of Wallace,
+the Edinburgh giant of Arthur's Seat is called after an ancient Celtic
+king,[190] and Thomas the Rhymer takes the place, in an Inverness
+fairy mound called Tom-na-hurich, of Finn (Fingal) as chief of the
+"Seven Sleepers". Similarly Napoleon sleeps in France and Skobeleff in
+Russia, as do also other heroes elsewhere. In Germany the myths of
+Thunor (Thor) were mingled with hazy traditions of Theodoric the Goth
+(Dietrich), while in Greece, Egypt, and Arabia, Alexander the Great
+absorbed a mass of legendary matter of great antiquity, and displaced
+in the memories of the people the heroes of other Ages, as those
+heroes had previously displaced the humanized spirits of fertility and
+growth who alternately battled fiercely against the demons of spring,
+made love, gorged and drank deep and went to sleep--the sleep of
+winter. Certain folk tales, and the folk beliefs on which they were
+based, seem to have been of hoary antiquity before the close of the
+Late Stone Age.
+
+There are two great heroes of Babylonian fame who link with Perseus
+and Hercules, Sigurd and Siegfried, Dietrich and Finn-mac-Coul. These
+are Etana and Gilgamesh, two legendary kings who resemble Tammuz the
+Patriarch referred to by Berosus, a form of Tammuz the Sleeper of the
+Sumerian psalms. One journeys to the Nether World to obtain the Plant
+of Birth and the other to obtain the Plant of Life. The floating
+legends with which they were associated were utilized and developed by
+the priests, when engaged in the process of systematizing and
+symbolizing religious beliefs, with purpose to unfold the secrets of
+creation and the Otherworld. Etana secures the assistance or a giant
+eagle who is an enemy of serpents like the Indian Garuda, half giant,
+half eagle. As Vishnu, the Indian god, rides on the back of Garuda, so
+does Etana ride on the back of the Babylonian Eagle. In one
+fragmentary legend which was preserved in the tablet-library of
+Ashur-banipal, the Assyrian monarch, Etana obtained the assistance of
+the Eagle to go in quest of the Plant of Birth. His wife was about to
+become a mother, and was accordingly in need of magical aid. A similar
+belief caused birth girdles of straw or serpent skins, and eagle
+stones found in eagles' nests, to be used in ancient Britain and
+elsewhere throughout Europe apparently from the earliest times.[191]
+
+On this or another occasion Etana desired to ascend to highest heaven.
+He asked the Eagle to assist him, and the bird assented, saying: "Be
+glad, my friend. Let me bear thee to the highest heaven. Lay thy
+breast on mine and thine arms on my wings, and let my body be as thy
+body." Etana did as the great bird requested him, and together they
+ascended towards the firmament. After a flight which extended over two
+hours, the Eagle asked Etana to gaze downwards. He did so, and beheld
+the ocean surrounding the earth, and the earth seemed like a
+mountainous island. The Eagle resumed its flight, and when another two
+hours had elapsed, it again asked Etana to look downwards. Then the
+hero saw that the sea resembled a girdle which clasped the land. Two
+hours later Etana found that he had been raised to a height from which
+the sea appeared to be no larger than a pond. By this time he had
+reached the heaven of Anu, Bel, and Ea, and found there rest and
+shelter.
+
+Here the text becomes fragmentary. Further on it is gathered from the
+narrative that Etana is being carried still higher by the Eagle
+towards the heaven of Ishtar, "Queen of Heaven", the supreme mother
+goddess. Three times, at intervals of two hours, the Eagle asks Etana
+to look downwards towards the shrinking earth. Then some disaster
+happens, for further onwards the broken tablet narrates that the Eagle
+is falling. Down and down eagle and man fall together until they
+strike the earth, and the Eagle's body is shattered.
+
+The Indian Garuda eagle[192] never met with such a fate, but on one
+occasion Vishnu overpowered it with his right arm, which was heavier
+than the whole universe, and caused many feathers to fall _off_. In
+the story of Rama's wanderings, however, as told in the _Ramayana_ and
+the _Mahabharata_, there are interesting references in this connection
+to Garuda's two "sons". One was mortally wounded by Ravana, the demon
+king of Ceylon. The other bird related to Rama, who found it disabled:
+"Once upon a time we two (brothers), with the desire of outstripping
+each other, flew towards the sun. My wings were burnt, but those of my
+brother were not.... I fell down on the top of this great mountain,
+where I still am."[193]
+
+Another version of the Etana story survives among the Arabian Moslems.
+In the "Al Fatihat" chapter of the _Koran_ it is related that a
+Babylonian king held a dispute with Abraham "concerning his Lord".
+Commentators identify the monarch with Nimrod, who afterwards caused
+the Hebrew patriarch to be cast into a fire from which he had
+miraculous deliverance. Nimrod then built a tower so as to ascend to
+heaven "to see Abraham's god", and make war against Him, but the tower
+was overthrown. He, however, persisted in his design. The narrative
+states that he was "carried to heaven in a chest borne by four
+monstrous birds; but after wandering for some time through the air, he
+fell down on a mountain with such a force that he made it shake". A
+reference in the _Koran_ to "contrivances ... which make mountains
+tremble" is believed to allude to Nimrod's vain attempt.[194]
+
+Alexander the Great was also reputed to have ascended on the back of
+an eagle. Among the myths attached to his memory in the Ethiopic
+"history" is one which explains how "he knew and comprehended the
+length and breadth of the earth", and how he obtained knowledge
+regarding the seas and mountains he would have to cross. "He made
+himself small and flew through the air on an eagle, and he arrived in
+the heights of the heavens and he explored them." Another Alexandrian
+version of the Etana myth resembles the Arabic legend of Nimrod. "In
+the Country of Darkness" Alexander fed and tamed great birds which
+were larger than eagles. Then he ordered four of his soldiers to mount
+them. The men were carried to the "Country of the Living", and when
+they returned they told Alexander "all that had happened and all that
+they had seen".[195]
+
+In a Gaelic story a hero is carried off by a Cromhineach, "a vast bird
+like an eagle". He tells that it "sprang to the clouds with me, and I
+was a while that I did not know which was heaven or earth for me". The
+hero died, but, curiously enough, remained conscious of what was
+happening. Apparently exhausted, the eagle flew to an island in the
+midst of the ocean. It laid the hero on the sunny side. The hero
+proceeds: "Sleep came upon herself (the eagle) and she slept. The sun
+was enlivening me pretty well though I was dead." Afterwards the eagle
+bathed in a healing well, and as it splashed in the water, drops fell
+on the hero and he came to life. "I grew stronger and more active", he
+adds, "than I had ever been before."[196]
+
+The eagle figures in various mythologies, and appears to have been at
+one time worshipped as the god or goddess of fertility, and storm and
+lightning, as the bringer of children, and the deity who carried souls
+to Hades. It was also the symbol of royalty, because the earthly ruler
+represented the controlling deity. Nin-Girsu, the god of Lagash, who
+was identified with Tammuz, was depicted as a lion-headed eagle. Zeus,
+the Greek sky and air god, was attended by an eagle, and may, at one
+time, have been simply an eagle. In Egypt the place of the eagle is
+taken by Nekhebit, the vulture goddess whom the Greeks identified with
+"Eileithyia, the goddess of birth; she was usually represented as a
+vulture hovering over the king".[197]
+
+The double-headed eagle of the Hittites, which figures in the royal
+arms of Germany and Russia, appears to have symbolized the deity of
+whom the king was an incarnation or son. In Indian mythology Garuda,
+the eagle giant, which destroyed serpents like the Babylonian Etana
+eagle, issued from its egg like a flame of fire; its eyes flashed the
+lightning and its voice was the thunder. This bird is identified in a
+hymn with Agni, god of fire, who has the attributes of Tammuz and
+Mithra, with Brahma, the creator, with Indra, god of thunder and
+fertility, and with Yama, god of the dead, who carries off souls to
+Hades. It is also called "the steed-necked incarnation of Vishnu", the
+"Preserver" of the Hindu trinity who rode on its back. The hymn
+referred to lauds Garuda as "the bird of life, the presiding spirit of
+the animate and inanimate universe ... destroyer of all, creator of
+all". It burns all "as the sun in his anger burneth all
+creatures".[198]
+
+Birds were not only fates, from whose movements in flight omens were
+drawn, but also spirits of fertility. When the childless Indian sage
+Mandapala of the _Mahabharata_ was refused admittance to heaven until
+a son was born to him, he "pondered deeply" and "came to know that of
+all creatures birds alone were blest with fecundity"; so he became a
+bird.
+
+It is of interest, therefore, to find the Etana eagle figuring as a
+symbol of royalty at Rome. The deified Roman Emperor's waxen image was
+burned on a pyre after his death, and an eagle was let loose from the
+great pile to carry his soul to heaven.[199] This custom was probably
+a relic of seasonal fire worship, which may have been introduced into
+Northern and Western Syria and Asia Minor by the mysterious Mitanni
+rulers, if it was not an archaic Babylonian custom[200] associated
+with fire-and-water magical ceremonies, represented in the British
+Isles by May-Day and Midsummer fire-and-water festivals. Sandan, the
+mythical founder of Tarsus, was honoured each year at that city by
+burning a great bonfire, and he was identified with Hercules. Probably
+he was a form of Moloch and Melkarth.[201] Doves were burned to
+Adonis. The burning of straw figures, representing gods of fertility,
+on May-Day bonfires may have been a fertility rite, and perhaps
+explains the use of straw birth-girdles.
+
+According to the commentators of the _Koran_, Nimrod, the Babylonian
+king, who cast victims in his annual bonfires at Cuthah, died on the
+eighth day of the Tammuz month, which, according to the Syrian
+calendar, fell on 13th July.[202] It is related that gnats entered
+Nimrod's brain, causing the membrane to grow larger. He suffered great
+pain, and to relieve it had his head beaten with a mallet. Although he
+lived for several hundred years, like other agricultural patriarchs,
+including the Tammuz of Berosus, it is possible that he was ultimately
+sacrificed and burned. The beating of Nimrod recalls the beating of
+the corn spirit of the agricultural legend utilized by Burns in his
+ballad of "John Barleycorn", which gives a jocular account of
+widespread ancient customs that are not yet quite extinct even in
+Scotland:[203]
+
+    They laid him down upon his back
+      And cudgelled him full sore;
+    They hung him up before a storm
+      And turned him o'er and o'er.
+
+    They filled up a darksome pit
+      With water to the brim,
+    They heaved in John Barleycorn--
+      There let him sink or swim.
+
+    They wasted o'er a scorching flame
+      The marrow of his bones,
+    But the miller used him worst of all,
+      For he crushed him between two stones.
+
+Hercules, after performing many mythical exploits, had himself burned
+alive on the pyre which he built upon Mount Oeta, and was borne to
+Olympus amidst peals of thunder.
+
+Gilgamesh, the Babylonian Hercules, who links with Etana, Nimrod, and
+Sandan, is associated with the eagle, which in India, as has been
+shown, was identified with the gods of fertility, fire, and death.
+According to a legend related by Aelian,[204] "the guards of the
+citadel of Babylon threw down to the ground a child who had been
+conceived and brought forth in secret, and who afterwards became known
+as Gilgamos". This appears to be another version of the Sargon-Tammuz
+myth, and may also refer to the sacrifice of children to Melkarth and
+Moloch, who were burned or slain "in the valleys under the clefts of
+the rocks"[205] to ensure fertility and feed the corn god. Gilgamesh,
+however, did not perish. "A keen-eyed eagle saw the child falling, and
+before it touched the ground the bird flew under it and received it on
+its back, and carried it away to a garden and laid it down gently."
+Here we have, it would appear, Tammuz among the flowers, and Sargon,
+the gardener, in the "Garden of Adonis". Mimic Adonis gardens were
+cultivated by women. Corn, &c., was forced in pots and baskets, and
+thrown, with an image of the god, into streams. "Ignorant people",
+writes Professor Frazer, "suppose that by mimicking the effect which
+they desire to produce they actually help to produce it: thus by
+sprinkling water they make rain, by lighting a fire they make
+sunshine, and so on."[206] Evidently Gilgamesh was a heroic form of
+the god Tammuz, the slayer of the demons of winter and storm, who
+passed one part of the year in the world and another in Hades (Chapter
+VI).
+
+Like Hercules, Gilgamesh figured chiefly in legendary narrative as a
+mighty hero. He was apparently of great antiquity, so that it is
+impossible to identify him with any forerunner of Sargon of Akkad, or
+Alexander the Great. His exploits were depicted on cylinder seals of
+the Sumerian period, and he is shown wrestling with a lion as Hercules
+wrestled with the monstrous lion in the valley of Nemea. The story of
+his adventures was narrated on twelve clay tablets, which were
+preserved in the library of Ashur-banipal, the Assyrian emperor. In
+the first tablet, which is badly mutilated, Gilgamesh is referred to
+as the man who beheld the world, and had great wisdom because he
+peered into the mysteries. He travelled to distant places, and was
+informed regarding the flood and the primitive race which the gods
+destroyed; he also obtained the plant of life, which his enemy, the
+earth-lion, in the form of a serpent or well demon, afterwards carried
+away.
+
+Gilgamesh was associated with Erech, where he reigned as "the lord".
+There Ishtar had a great temple, but her worldly wealth had decreased.
+The fortifications of the city were crumbling, and for three years the
+Elamites besieged it. The gods had turned to flies and the winged
+bulls had become like mice. Men wailed like wild beasts and maidens
+moaned like doves. Ultimately the people prayed to the goddess Aruru
+to create a liberator. Bel, Shamash, and Ishtar also came to their
+aid.
+
+Aruru heard the cries of her worshippers. She dipped her hands in
+water and then formed a warrior with clay. He was named Ea-bani, which
+signifies "Ea is my creator". It is possible, therefore, that an
+ancient myth of Eridu forms the basis of the narrative.
+
+Ea-bani is depicted on the cylinder seals as a hairy man-monster
+resembling the god Pan. He ate grass with the gazelles and drank water
+with wild beasts, and he is compared to the corn god, which suggests
+that he was an early form of Tammuz, and of character somewhat
+resembling the Egyptian Bast, the half-bestial god of fertility. A
+hunter was sent out from Erech to search for the man-monster, and
+found him beside a stream in a savage place drinking with his
+associates, the wild animals. The description of Ea-bani recalls that
+of Nebuchadnezzar when he was stricken with madness. "He was driven
+from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew
+of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles' feathers, and his
+nails like birds' claws."[207]
+
+The hunter had no desire to combat with Ea-bani, so he had him lured
+from the wilds by a beautiful woman. Love broke the spell which kept
+Ea-bani in his savage state, and the wild beasts fled from him. Then
+the temptress pleaded with him to go with her to Erech, where Anu and
+Ishtar had their temples, and the mighty Gilgamesh lived in his
+palace. Ea-bani, deserted by his bestial companions, felt lonely and
+desired human friendship. So he consented to accompany his bride.
+Having heard of Gilgamesh from the hunter, he proposed to test his
+strength in single combat, but Shamash, god of the sun, warned Ea-bani
+that he was the protector of Gilgamesh, who had been endowed with
+great knowledge by Bel and Anu and Ea. Gilgamesh was also counselled
+in a vision of night to receive Ea-bani as an ally.
+
+Ea-bani was not attracted by city life and desired to return to the
+wilds, but Shamash prevailed upon him to remain as the friend of
+Gilgamesh, promising that he would be greatly honoured and exalted to
+high rank.
+
+The two heroes became close friends, and when the narrative becomes
+clear again, they are found to be setting forth to wage war against
+Chumbaba,[208] the King of Elam. Their journey was long and perilous.
+In time they entered a thick forest, and wondered greatly at the
+numerous and lofty cedars. They saw the great road which the king had
+caused to be made, the high mountain, and the temple of the god.
+Beautiful were the trees about the mountain, and there were many shady
+retreats that were fragrant and alluring.
+
+At this point the narrative breaks off, for the tablet is mutilated.
+When it is resumed a reference is made to "the head of Chumbaba", who
+has apparently been slain by the heroes. Erech was thus freed from the
+oppression of its fierce enemy.
+
+Gilgamesh and Ea-bani appear to have become prosperous and happy. But
+in the hour of triumph a shadow falls. Gilgamesh is robed in royal
+splendour and wears his dazzling crown. He is admired by all men, but
+suddenly it becomes known that the goddess Ishtar has been stricken
+with love for him. She "loved him with that love which was his doom".
+Those who are loved by celestials or demons become, in folk tales,
+melancholy wanderers and "night wailers". The "wretched wight" in
+Keats' "La Belle Dame Sans Merci" is a typical example.
+
+    O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms,
+      Alone and palely loitering?
+    The sedge is withered from the lake
+      And no birds sing.
+
+           *       *       *       *       *
+
+    I met a lady in the meads,
+      Full beautiful--a faery's child;
+    Her hair was long, her foot was light,
+      And her eyes were wild.
+
+           *       *       *       *       *
+
+    She found me roots of relish sweet,
+      And honey wild and manna dew;
+    And sure in language strange she said,
+      "I love thee true".
+
+Having kissed her lover to sleep, the fairy woman vanished. The
+"knight" then saw in a dream the ghosts of knights and warriors, her
+previous victims, who warned him of his fate.
+
+    I saw their starved lips in the gloam,
+      With horrid warning gaped wide;
+    And I awoke and found me here
+      On the cold hill's side.
+
+The goddess Ishtar appeared as "La Belle Dame Sans Merci" before
+Gilgamesh and addressed him tenderly, saying: "Come, O Gilgamesh, and
+be my consort. Gift thy strength unto me. Be thou my husband and I
+will be thy bride. Thou shalt have a chariot of gold and lapis lazuli
+with golden wheels and gem-adorned. Thy steeds shall be fair and white
+and powerful. Into my dwelling thou shalt come amidst the fragrant
+cedars. Every king and every prince will bow down before thee, O
+Gilgamesh, to kiss thy feet, and all people will become subject unto
+thee."
+
+Gilgamesh feared the fate which would attend him as the lover of
+Ishtar, and made answer saying: "To what husband hast thou ever
+remained faithful? Each year Tammuz, the lover of thy youth, is caused
+by thee to weep. Thou didst love the Allala bird and then broke his
+wings, and he moans in the woods crying, 'O my wings!' Thou didst love
+the lion and then snared him. Thou didst love the horse, and then laid
+harness on him and made him gallop half a hundred miles so that he
+suffered great distress, and thou didst oppress his mother Silili.
+Thou didst love a shepherd who sacrificed kids unto thee, and then
+thou didst smite him so that he became a jackal (or leopard); his own
+herd boy drove him away and his dogs rent him in pieces. Thou didst
+love Ishullanu, the gardener of Anu, who made offerings unto thee, and
+then smote him so that he was unable to move. Alas! if thou wouldst
+love me, my fate would be like unto the fates of those on whom thou
+hast laid affliction."
+
+Ishtar's heart was filled with wrath when she heard the words which
+Gilgamesh had spoken, and she prevailed upon her father Anu to create
+a fierce bull which she sent against the lord of Erech.
+
+This monster, however, was slain by Gilgamesh[209] and Ea-bani, but
+their triumph was shortlived. Ishtar cursed Gilgamesh. Ea-bani then
+defied her and threatened to deal with her as he had dealt with the
+bull, with the result that he was cursed by the goddess also.
+
+Gilgamesh dedicated the horns of the bull to Shamash and returned with
+his friend to Erech, where they were received with great rejoicings. A
+festival was held, and afterwards the heroes lay down to sleep. Then
+Ea-bani dreamt a dream of ill omen. He met his death soon afterwards,
+apparently in a battle, and Gilgamesh lamented over him. From the
+surviving fragments of the narrative it would appear that Gilgamesh
+resolved to undertake a journey, for he had been stricken by disease.
+He wept and cried out, "Oh! let me not die like Ea-bani, for death is
+fearful. I will seek the aid of mine ancestor, Pir-napishtim"--the
+Babylonian Noah, who was believed to be dwelling on an island which
+corresponds to the Greek "Island of the Blessed". The Babylonian
+island lay in the ocean of the Nether World.
+
+It seems that Gilgamesh not only hoped to obtain the Water of Life and
+the Plant of Life to cure his own disease, but also to restore to life
+his dead friend, Ea-bani, whom he loved.
+
+Gilgamesh set out on his journey and in time reached a mountain chasm.
+Gazing on the rugged heights, he beheld fierce lions and his heart
+trembled. Then he cried upon the moon god, who took pity upon him, and
+under divine protection the hero pressed onward. He crossed the rocky
+range and then found himself confronted by the tremendous mountain of
+Mashi--"Sunset hill", which divided the land of the living from the
+western land of the dead. The mountain peak rose to heaven, and its
+foundations were in Aralu, the Underworld.[210] A dark tunnel pierced
+it and could be entered through a door, but the door was shut and on
+either side were two monsters of horrible aspect--the gigantic
+"scorpion man" and his wife, whose heads reached to the clouds. When
+Gilgamesh beheld them he swooned with terror. But they did him no
+harm, perceiving that he was a son of a god and had a body like a god.
+
+When Gilgamesh revived, he realized that the monsters regarded him
+with eyes of sympathy. Addressing the scorpion giant, he told that he
+desired to visit his ancestor, Pir-napishtim, who sat in the council
+of the gods and had divine attributes. The giant warned him of the
+dangers which he would encounter, saying that the mountain passage was
+twelve miles long and beamless and black. Gilgamesh, however, resolved
+to encounter any peril, for he was no longer afraid, and he was
+allowed to go forward. So he entered through the monster-guarded
+mountain door and plunged into thick unbroken darkness. For twice
+twelve hours he groped blindly onward, until he saw a ray of light.
+Quickening his steps, he then escaped from the dreadful tunnel and
+once more rejoiced in the rays of the sun. He found himself in an
+enchanted garden, and in the midst of it he saw a divine and beautiful
+tree towards which he hastened. On its gleaming branches hung clusters
+of precious stones and its leaves were of lapis lazuli. His eyes were
+dazzled, but he did not linger there. Passing many other wonderful
+trees, he came to a shoreland, and he knew that he was drawing nigh to
+the Sea of Death. The country which he entered was ruled over by the
+sea lady whose name was Sabitu. When she saw the pilgrim drawing nigh,
+she entered her palace and shut the door.
+
+Gilgamesh called out requesting that he should be allowed to enter,
+and mingled his entreaties with threats to break open the door. In the
+end Sabitu appeared and spoke, saying:
+
+    Gilgamesh, whither hurriest thou?
+    The life that thou seekest thou wilt not find.
+    When the gods created man
+    They fixed death for mankind.
+    Life they took in their own hand.
+    Thou, O Gilgamesh, let thy belly be filled!
+    Day and night be merry,
+    Daily celebrate a feast,
+    Day and night dance and make merry!
+    Clean be thy clothes,
+    Thy head be washed, bathe in water!
+    Look joyfully on the child that grasps thy hand,
+    Be happy with the wife in thine arms![211]
+
+This is the philosophy of the Egyptian "Lay of the Harper". The
+following quotations are from two separate versions:--
+
+    How rests this just prince!
+    The goodly destiny befalls,
+    The bodies pass away
+    Since the time of the god,
+    And generations come into their places.
+
+           *       *       *       *       *
+
+    (Make) it pleasant for thee to follow thy desire
+    While thou livest.
+    Put myrrh upon thy head,
+    And garments on thee of fine linen....
+    Celebrate the glad day,
+    Be not weary therein....
+    Thy sister (wife) who dwells in thy heart.
+    She sits at thy side.
+    Put song and music before thee,
+    Behind thee all evil things,
+    And remember thou (only) joy.[212]
+
+Jastrow contrasts the Babylonian poem with the following quotation
+from Ecclesiastes:--
+
+    Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with
+    a merry heart.... Let thy garments be always white; and
+    let thy head lack no ointment. Live joyfully with the wife whom
+    thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity, which he [God]
+    hath given thee under the sun, all the days of thy vanity: for
+        that
+    is thy portion in this life, and in thy labour which thou takest
+    under the sun.[213]
+
+"The pious Hebrew mind", Jastrow adds, "found the corrective to this
+view of life in the conception of a stern but just God, acting
+according to self-imposed standards of right and wrong, whose rule
+extends beyond the grave." The final words of the Preacher are, "Fear
+God and keep his commandments".[214]
+
+Gilgamesh did not accept the counsel of the fatalistic sea lady. He
+asked her how he could reach Pir-napishtim, his ancestor, saying he
+was prepared to cross the Sea of Death: if he could not cross it he
+would die of grief.
+
+Sabitu answered him, saying: "O Gilgamesh, no mortal is ferried over
+this great sea. Who can pass over it save Shamash alone? The way is
+full of peril. O Gilgamesh, how canst thou battle against the billows
+of death?"
+
+At length, however, the sea lady revealed to the pilgrim that he might
+obtain the aid of the sailor, Arad Ea, who served his ancestor
+Pir-napishtim.
+
+Gilgamesh soon found where Arad Ea dwelt, and after a time prevailed
+upon him to act as ferryman. Arad Ea required a helm for his boat, and
+Gilgamesh hastened to fashion one from a tree. When it was fixed on,
+the boat was launched and the voyage began. Terrible experiences were
+passed through as they crossed the Sea of Death, but at length they
+drew nigh to the "Island of the Blessed" on which dwelt Pir-napishtim
+and his wife. Wearied by his exertions and wasted by disease,
+Gilgamesh sat resting in the boat. He did not go ashore.
+
+Pir-napishtim had perceived the vessel crossing the Sea of Death and
+marvelled greatly.
+
+The story is unfortunately interrupted again, but it appears that
+Gilgamesh poured into the ears of his ancestor the tale of his
+sufferings, adding that he feared death and desired to escape his
+fate.
+
+Pir-napishtim made answer, reminding the pilgrim that all men must
+die. Men built houses, sealed contracts, disputed one with another,
+and sowed seeds in the earth, but as long as they did so and the
+rivers rose in flood, so long would their fate endure. Nor could any
+man tell when his hour would come. The god of destiny measured out the
+span of life: he fixed the day of death, but never revealed his
+secrets.
+
+Gilgamesh then asked Pir-napishtim how it chanced that he was still
+alive. "Thou hast suffered no change," he said, "thou art even as I
+am. Harden not thy heart against me, but reveal how thou hast obtained
+divine life in the company of the gods."
+
+Pir-napishtim thereupon related to his descendant the story of the
+deluge, which is dealt with fully in the next chapter. The gods had
+resolved to destroy the world, and Ea in a dream revealed unto
+Pir-napishtim how he could escape. He built a ship which was tossed
+about on the waters, and when the world had been destroyed, Bel
+discovered him and transported him to that island in the midst of the
+Sea of Death.
+
+Gilgamesh sat in the boat listening to the words of his ancestor. When
+the narrative was ended, Pir-napishtim spoke sympathetically and said:
+"Who among the gods will restore thee to health, O Gilgamesh? Thou
+hast knowledge of my life, and thou shalt be given the life thou dost
+strive after. Take heed, therefore, to what I say unto thee. For six
+days and seven nights thou shalt not lie down, but remain sitting like
+one in the midst of grief."[215]
+
+Gilgamesh sat in the ship, and sleep enveloped him like to a black
+storm cloud.
+
+Pir-napishtim spoke to his wife and said: "Behold the hero who
+desireth to have life. Sleep envelops him like to a black storm
+cloud."
+
+To that lone man his wife made answer: "Lay thine hand upon him so
+that he may have perfect health and be enabled to return to his own
+land. Give him power to pass through the mighty door by which he
+entered."
+
+Then Pir-napishtim addressed his wife, saying: "His sufferings make me
+sad. Prepare thou for him the magic food, and place it near his head."
+
+On the day when Gilgamesh lay down, the food was prepared by seven
+magic processes, and the woman administered it while yet he slept.
+Then Pir-napishtim touched him, and he awoke full of life.
+
+Gilgamesh spake unto Pir-napishtim and said: "I was suddenly overcome
+by sleep.... But thou didst awaken me by touching me, even thou....
+Lo! I am bewitched. What hast thou done unto thy servant?"
+
+Then Pir-napishtim told Gilgamesh that he had been given to eat of the
+magic food. Afterwards he caused Arad Ea to carry Gilgamesh to a
+fountain of healing, where his disease-stricken body was cleansed. The
+blemished skin fell from him, and he was made whole.
+
+Thereafter Gilgamesh prepared to return to his own land. Ere he bade
+farewell, however, Pir-napishtim revealed unto him the secret of a
+magic plant which had power to renew life and give youth and strength
+unto those who were old.
+
+Arad Ea conducted the hero to the island where the plant grew, and
+when Gilgamesh found it he rejoiced, and said that he would carry it
+to Erech, his own city, where he would partake of it and restore his
+youth.
+
+So Gilgamesh and Arad Ea went on their way together, nor paused until
+they came to a well of pure water. The hero stooped down to draw
+water.[216] But while he was thus engaged that demon, the Earth Lion,
+crept forth as a serpent, and, seizing the magic plant of life,
+carried it away. Stricken with terror, Gilgamesh uttered a curse. Then
+he sat down and wept bitterly, and the tears streamed over his face.
+To Arad Ea he spake, saying: "Why has my health been restored to me?
+Why should I rejoice because that I live? The benefit which I should
+have derived for myself has now fallen to the Earth Lion."
+
+The two travellers then resumed their journey, performing religious
+acts from time to time; chanting dirges and holding feasts for the
+dead, and at length Gilgamesh returned to Erech. He found that the
+city walls were crumbling, and he spake regarding the ceremonies which
+had been performed while yet he was in a far-distant country.
+
+During the days which followed Gilgamesh sorrowed for his lost friend
+Ea-bani, whose spirit was in the Underworld, the captive of the
+spirits of death. "Thou canst not draw thy bow now," he cried, "nor
+raise the battle shout. Thou canst not kiss the woman thou hast loved;
+thou canst not kiss the child thou hast loved, nor canst thou smite
+those whom thou hast hated."
+
+In vain Gilgamesh appealed to his mother goddess to restore Ea-bani to
+him. Then he turned to the gods, and Ea heard him. Thereafter Nergal,
+god of death, caused the grave to yawn, and the spirit of Ea-bani
+arose like a wind gust.
+
+Gilgamesh, still dreading death, spoke to the ghost of his friend,
+saying: "Tell me, my friend, O tell me regarding the land in which
+thou dost dwell."
+
+Ea-bani made answer sorrowfully: "Alas! I cannot tell thee, my friend.
+If I were to tell thee all, thou wouldst sit down and weep."
+
+Said Gilgamesh: "Let me sit down and weep, but tell me regarding the
+land of spirits."
+
+The text is mutilated here, but it can be gathered that Ea-bani
+described the land where ill-doers were punished, where the young were
+like the old, where the worm devoured, and dust covered all. But the
+state of the warrior who had been given burial was better than that of
+the man who had not been buried, and had no one to lament or care for
+him. "He who hath been slain in battle," the ghost said, "reposeth on
+a couch drinking pure water--one slain in battle as thou hast seen and
+I have seen. His head is supported by his parents: beside him sits his
+wife. His spirit doth not haunt the earth. But the spirit of that man
+whose corpse has been left unburied and uncared for, rests not, but
+prowls through the streets eating scraps of food, the leavings of the
+feast, and drinking the dregs of vessels."
+
+So ends the story of Gilgamesh in the form which survives to us.
+
+The journey of Gilgamesh to the Island of the Blessed recalls the
+journeys made by Odin, Hermod, Svipdag, Hotherus and others to the
+Germanic Hela. When Hermod went to search for Balder, as the Prose
+Edda relates, he rode through thick darkness for nine days and nine
+nights ere he crossed the mountains. As Gilgamesh met Sabitu, Hermod
+met Modgudur, "the maiden who kept the bridge" over the river Gjõll.
+Svipdag, according to a Norse poem, was guided like the Babylonian
+hero by the moon god, Gevar, who instructed him what way he should
+take to find the irresistible sword. Saxo's Hother, who is instructed
+by "King Gewar", crosses dismal mountains "beset with extraordinary
+cold".[217] Thorkill crosses a stormy ocean to the region of perpetual
+darkness, where the ghosts of the dead are confined in loathsome and
+dusty caves. At the main entrance "the door posts were begrimed with
+the soot of ages".[218] In the _Elder Edda_ Svipdag is charmed against
+the perils he will be confronted by as he fares "o'er seas mightier
+than men do know", or is overtaken by night "wandering on the misty
+way ".[219] When Odin "downward rode into Misty Hel" he sang spells at
+a "witch's grave", and the ghost rose up to answer his questions
+regarding Balder. "Tell me tidings of Hel", he addressed her, as
+Gilgamesh addressed the ghost of Ea-bani.
+
+In the mythical histories of Alexander the Great, the hero searches
+for the Water of Life, and is confronted by a great mountain called
+Musas (Mashti). A demon stops him and says; "O king, thou art not able
+to march through this mountain, for in it dwelleth a mighty god who is
+like unto a monster serpent, and he preventeth everyone who would go
+unto him." In another part of the narrative Alexander and his army
+arrive at a place of darkness "where the blackness is not like the
+darkness of night, but is like unto the mists and clouds which descend
+at the break of day". A servant uses a shining jewel stone, which Adam
+had brought from Paradise, to guide him, and found the well. He drank
+of the "waters of life" and bathed in them, with the result that he
+was strengthened and felt neither hunger nor thirst. When he came out
+of the well "all the flesh of his body became bluish-green and his
+garments likewise bluish-green". Apparently he assumed the colour of
+supernatural beings. Rama of India was blue, and certain of his monkey
+allies were green, like the fairies of England and Scotland. This
+fortunate man kept his secret. His name was Matun, but he was
+afterwards nicknamed "'El-Khidr', that is to say, 'Green'". What
+explanation he offered for his sudden change of appearance has not
+been recorded.[220] It is related that when Matun reached the Well of
+Life a dried fish which he dipped in the water was restored to life
+and swam away. In the _Koran_ a similar story is told regarding Moses
+and Joshua, who travelled "for a long space of time" to a place where
+two seas met. "They forgot their fish which they had taken with them,
+and the fish took its way freely to the sea." The Arabian commentators
+explain that Moses once agreed to the suggestion that he was the
+wisest of men. In a dream he was directed to visit Al Khedr, who was
+"more knowing than he", and to take a fish with him in a basket. On
+the seashore Moses fell asleep, and the fish, which had been roasted,
+leapt out of the basket into the sea. Another version sets forth that
+Joshua, "making the ablution at the fountain of life", some of the
+water happened to be sprinkled on the fish, which immediately leapt
+up.[221]
+
+The Well of Life is found in Fingalian legends. When Diarmid was
+mortally wounded by the boar, he called upon Finn to carry water to
+him from the well:
+
+    Give me a draught from thy palms, O Finn,
+    Son of my king for my succour,
+    For my life and my dwelling.
+
+            _Campbell's West Highland Tales_, vol. iii, 80.
+
+The quest of the plant, flower, or fruit of life is referred to in
+many folk tales. In the _Mahabharata_, Bhima, the Indian Gilgamesh or
+Hercules, journeys to north-eastern Celestial regions to find the lake
+of the god Kuvera (Kubera), on which grow the "most beautiful and
+unearthly lotuses", which restore health and give strength to the
+weary. As Gilgamesh meets with Pir-napishtim, who relates the story of
+the Deluge which destroyed the "elder race", Bhima meets with Hanuman,
+who informs him regarding the Ages of the Universe and the races which
+were periodically destroyed by deluges. When Bhima reaches the lotus
+lake he fights with demons. To heal his wounds and recover strength he
+plunges into the lake. "As he drank of the waters, like unto nectar,
+his energy and strength were again fully restored."[222]
+
+Hercules similarly sets out to search for the golden apples which grow
+in
+
+      those Hesperian gardens famed of old,
+    Fortunate fields, and groves and flowery vales.
+
+As Bhima slew Yakshas which guarded the lotuses, Hercules slew Ladon,
+the guardian of the apples. Other heroes kill treasure-protecting
+dragons of various kinds.
+
+There is a remarkable resemblance between the Babylonian account of
+Gilgamesh's journey through the mountain tunnel to the garden and
+seashore, and the Indian story of the demigod Hanuman passing through
+the long cavern to the shoreland palace of the female ascetic, when he
+was engaged searching for Sita, the wife of Rama, who had been carried
+away by Ravana, the demon king of Ceylon. In the version of the latter
+narrative which is given in the _Mahabharata_, Hanuman says: "I bring
+thee good news, O Rama; for Janaka's daughter hath been seen by me.
+Having searched the southern region with all its hills, forests, and
+mines for some time, we became very weary. At length we beheld a great
+cavern. And having beheld it, we entered that cavern which extended
+over many _yojanas_. It was dark and deep, and overgrown with trees
+and infested by worms. And having gone a great way through it, we came
+upon sunshine and beheld a beautiful palace. It was the abode of the
+Daitya (sea demon) Maya. And there we beheld a female ascetic named
+Parbhàvati engaged in ascetic austerities. And she gave us food and
+drink of various kinds. And having refreshed ourselves therewith and
+regained our strength, we proceeded along the way shown by her. At
+last we came out of the cavern and beheld the briny sea, and on its
+shores, the _Sahya_, the _Malaya_, and the great _Dardura_ mountains.
+And ascending the mountains of _Malaya_, we beheld before us the vast
+ocean (or, "the abode of Varuna"). And beholding it, we felt sorely
+grieved in mind.... We despaired of returning with our lives.... We
+then sat together, resolved to die there of starvation."
+
+Hanuman and his friends, having had, so far, experiences similar to
+those of Gilgamesh, next discovered the eagle giant which had burned
+its wings when endeavouring to soar to the sun. This great bird, which
+resembles the Etana eagle, expressed the opinion that Sita was in
+Lanka (Ceylon), whither she must have been carried by Ravana. But no
+one dared to cross the dangerous ocean. Hanuman at length, however,
+obtained the assistance of Vayu, the wind god, his divine father, and
+leapt over the sea, slaying monsters as he went. He discovered where
+the fair lady was concealed by the king of demons.[223]
+
+The dark tunnel is met with in many British stories of daring heroes
+who set out to explore it, but never return. In the Scottish versions
+the adventurers are invariably pipers who are accompanied by dogs. The
+sound of the pipes is heard for a time; then the music ceases
+suddenly, and shortly afterwards the dog returns without a hair upon
+its body. It has evidently been in conflict with demons.
+
+The tunnel may run from a castle to the seashore, from a cave on one
+side of a hill to a cave on the other, or from a seashore cave to a
+distant island.
+
+It is possible that these widespread tunnel stories had origin among
+the cave dwellers of the Palaeolithic Age, who believed that deep
+caverns were the doors of the underground retreats of dragons and
+giants and other supernatural enemies of mankind.
+
+In Babylonia, as elsewhere, the priests utilized the floating material
+from which all mythologies were framed, and impressed upon it the
+stamp of their doctrines. The symbolized stories were afterwards
+distributed far and wide, as were those attached to the memory of
+Alexander the Great at a later period. Thus in many countries may be
+found at the present day different versions of immemorial folk tales,
+which represent various stages of culture, and direct and indirect
+contact at different periods with civilizations that have stirred the
+ocean of human thought, and sent their ideas rippling in widening
+circles to far-distant shores.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+DELUGE LEGEND, THE ISLAND OF THE BLESSED, AND HADES
+
+
+  Babylonian Story of the Flood--The Two Immortals on the Island of
+  the Blessed--Deluge Legends in the Old and New Worlds--How
+  Babylonian Culture reached India--Theory of Cosmic
+  Periods--Gilgamesh resembles the Indian Yama and Persian
+  Yimeh--Links with Varuna and Mitra--The Great Winter in Persian and
+  Teutonic Mythologies--Babylonian Hades compared with the Egyptian,
+  Greek, Indian, Teutonic, and Celtic Otherworlds--Legend of Nergal
+  and the Queen of Death--Underworld originally the Grave--Why
+  Weapons, &c., were Buried with the Dead--Japanese and Roman
+  Beliefs--Palaeolithic Burial Customs--"Our Graves are our
+  Houses"--Importance of Babylonian Funerary Ceremonies--Doctrine of
+  Eternal Bliss in Egypt and India--Why Suppressed in Babylonia--Heavy
+  Burial Fees--Various Burial Customs.
+
+
+The story of the Deluge which was related to Gilgamesh by
+Pir-napishtim runs as follows:--
+
+"Hear me, O Gilgamesh, and I will make revelation regarding the hidden
+doings of the high gods. As thou knowest, the city of Shurippak is
+situated upon the bank of the Euphrates. The gods were within it:
+there they assembled together in council. Anu, the father, was there,
+and Bel the counsellor and warrior, Ninip the messenger, and Ennugi
+the governor. Ea, the wise lord, sat also with them. In their hearts
+the gods agreed together to send a great deluge.
+
+"Thereafter Ea made known the purpose of the divine rulers in the hut
+of reeds, saying:[224] 'O hut of reeds, hear; O wall, understand ... O
+man of Shurippak, son of Umbara Tutu, tear down thy house and build a
+ship; leave all thou dost possess and save thy life, and preserve in
+the ship the living seed of every kind. The ship that thou wilt build
+must be of goodly proportions in length and height. It must be floated
+on the great deep.'
+
+"I heard the command of Ea and understood, and I made answer, saying,
+'O wise lord, as thou hast said so will I do, for thy counsel is most
+excellent. But how shall I give reason for my doings to the young men
+and the elders?'
+
+"Ea opened his mouth and said unto me, his servant: 'What thou shalt
+say unto them is this.... _It hath been revealed unto me that Bel doth
+hate me, therefore I cannot remain any longer in his domain, this city
+of Shurippak, so I must depart unto the domain of Ea and dwell with
+him.... Unto you will Bel send abundance of rain, so that you may
+obtain birds and fishes in plenty and have a rich harvest. But Shamash
+hath appointed a time for Ramman to pour down destruction from the
+heavens._'"[225]
+
+Ea then gave instructions to Pir-napishtim how to build the ship in
+which he should find refuge. So far as can be gathered from the
+fragmentary text, it appears that this vessel was to have a deck house
+six stories high, with nine apartments in each story. According to
+another account, Ea drew a plan of the great ship upon the sand.
+
+Pir-napishtim set to work and made a flat-bottomed vessel, which was
+120 cubits wide and 120 cubits in height. He smeared it with bitumen
+inside and pitch outside; and on the seventh day it was ready. Then he
+carried out Ea's further instructions. Continuing his narrative to
+Gilgamesh, he said:
+
+"I gathered together all that I possessed, my silver and gold and
+seeds of every kind, and my goods also. These I placed in the ship.
+Then I caused to go aboard all my family and house servants, the
+animals of the field and the beasts of the field and the
+workers--every one of them I sent up.
+
+"The god Shamash appointed the time, saying: 'I will cause the Night
+Lord to send much rain and bring destruction. Then enter thou the ship
+and shut thy door.'
+
+"At the appointed time the Night Lord sent at even-time much rain. I
+saw the beginning of the deluge and I was afraid to look up. I entered
+the ship and shut the door. I appointed Buzur-Kurgala, the sailor, to
+be captain, and put under his command the great vessel and all that it
+contained.
+
+"At the dawn of day I saw rising athwart the heavens a dark cloud, and
+in the midst of it Ramman thundered. Nebo and Merodach went in front,
+speeding like emissaries over hills and plains. The cables of the ship
+were let loose.
+
+"Then Ninip, the tempest god, came nigh, and the storm broke in fury
+before him. All the earth spirits leapt up with flaming torches and
+the whole land was aflare. The thunder god swept over the heavens,
+blotting out the sunlight and bringing thick darkness. Rain poured
+down the whole day long, and the earth was covered with water; the
+rivers were swollen; the land was in confusion; men stumbled about in
+the darkness, battling with the elements. Brothers were unable to see
+brothers; no man could recognize his friends.... The spirits above
+looked down and beheld the rising flood and were afraid: they fled
+away, and in the heaven of Anu they crouched like to hounds in the
+protecting enclosures.
+
+"In time Ishtar, the lady of the gods, cried out distressfully,
+saying: 'The elder race hath perished and turned to clay because that
+I have consented to evil counsel in the assembly of the gods. Alas! I
+have allowed my people to be destroyed. I gave being to man, but where
+is he? Like the offspring of fish he cumbers the deep.'
+
+"The earth spirits were weeping with Ishtar: they sat down cowering
+with tightened lips and spake not; they mourned in silence.
+
+"Six days and six nights went past, and the tempest raged over the
+waters which gradually covered the land. But when the seventh day
+came, the wind fell, the whirling waters grew peaceful, and the sea
+retreated. The storm was over and the rain of destruction had ceased.
+I looked forth. I called aloud over the waters. But all mankind had
+perished and turned to clay. Where fields had been I saw marshes only.
+
+"Then I opened wide the window of the ship, and the sunlight suffused
+my countenance. I was dazzled and sank down weeping and the tears
+streamed over my face. Everywhere I looked I saw water.
+
+"At length, land began to appear. The ship drifted towards the country
+of Nitsir, and then it was held fast by the mountain of Nitsir. Six
+days went past and the ship remained stedfast. On the seventh day I
+sent forth a dove, and she flew away and searched this way and that,
+but found no resting place, so she returned. I then sent forth a
+swallow, and she returned likewise. Next I sent forth a raven, and she
+flew away. She saw that the waters were shrinking, and gorged and
+croaked and waded, but did not come back. Then I brought forth all the
+animals into the air of heaven.
+
+"An offering I made on the mountain. I poured out a libation. I set up
+incense vessels seven by seven on heaped-up reeds and used cedar wood
+with incense. The gods smelt the sweet savour, and they clustered like
+flies about the sacrificer.
+
+"Thereafter Ishtar (Sirtu) drew nigh. Lifting up the jewels, which the
+god Anu had fashioned for her according to her desire, she spake,
+saying: 'Oh! these gods! I vow by the lapis lazuli gems upon my neck
+that I will never forget! I will remember these days for ever and
+ever. Let all the gods come hither to the offering, save Bel (Enlil)
+alone, because that he ignored my counsel, and sent a great deluge
+which destroyed my people.'
+
+"But Bel Enlil came also, and when he beheld the ship he paused. His
+heart was filled with wrath against the gods and the spirits of
+heaven. Angrily he spake and said: 'Hath one escaped? It was decreed
+that no human being should survive the deluge.'
+
+"Ninip, son of Bel, spoke, saying: 'Who hath done this save Ea alone?
+He knoweth all things.'
+
+"Ea, god of the deep, opened his mouth and said unto the warrior Bel:
+'Thou art the lord of the gods, O warrior. But thou wouldst not
+hearken to my counsel and caused the deluge to be. Now punish the
+sinner for his sins and the evil doer for his evil deed, but be
+merciful and do not destroy all mankind. May there never again be a
+flood. Let the lion come and men will decrease. May there never again
+be a flood. Let the leopard come and men will decrease. May there
+never again be a flood. Let famine come upon the land; let Ura, god of
+pestilence, come and snatch off mankind.... I did not reveal the
+secret purpose of the mighty gods, but I caused Atra-chasis
+(Pir-napishtim) to dream a dream in which he had knowledge of what the
+gods had decreed.'
+
+"Having pondered a time over these words, Bel entered the ship alone.
+He grasped my hand and led me forth, even me, and he led forth my wife
+also, and caused her to kneel down beside me. Then he stood between us
+and gave his blessing. He spoke, saying: 'In time past Pir-napishtim
+was a man. Henceforth Pir-napishtim and his wife will be like unto
+deities, even us. Let them dwell apart beyond the river mouths.'
+
+"Thereafter Bel carried me hither beyond the mouths of rivers."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Flood myths are found in many mythologies both in the Old World and
+the New.
+
+The violent and deceitful men of the mythical Bronze Age of Greece
+were destroyed by a flood. It is related that Zeus said on one
+occasion to Hermes: "I will send a great rain, such as hath not been
+since the making of the world, and the whole race of men shall perish.
+I am weary of their iniquity."
+
+For receiving with hospitable warmth these two gods in human guise,
+Deucalion, an old man, and his wife Pyrrha were spared, however. Zeus
+instructed his host to build an ark of oak, and store it well with
+food. When this was done, the couple entered the vessel and shut the
+door. Then Zeus "broke up all the fountains of the deep, and opened
+the well springs of heaven, and it rained for forty days and forty
+nights continually". The Bronze folk perished: not even those who fled
+to the hilltops could escape. The ark rested on Parnassus, and when
+the waters ebbed the old couple descended the mountain and took up
+their abode in a cave.[226]
+
+In Indian mythology the world is destroyed by a flood at the end of
+each Age of the Universe. There are four ages: the Krita or Perfect
+Age, the Treta Age, the Dwapara Age, and the Kali or Wicked Age. These
+correspond closely to the Greek and Celtic ages.[227] There are also
+references in Sanskrit literature to the destruction of the world
+because too many human beings lived upon it. "When the increase of
+population had been so frightful," a sage related, "the Earth,
+oppressed with the excessive burden, sank down for a hundred Yojanas.
+Suffering pain in all her limbs, and being deprived of her senses by
+excessive pressure, the Earth in distress sought the protection of
+Narayana, the foremost of the gods."[228]
+
+Manu's account of the flood has been already referred to (Chapter II).
+The god in fish shape informed him: "The time is ripe for purging the
+world.... Build a strong and massive ark, and furnish it with a long
+rope...." When the waters rose the horned fish towed the ark over the
+roaring sea, until it grounded on the highest peak of the Himavat,
+which is still called Naubandha (the harbour). Manu was accompanied by
+seven rishis.[229]
+
+In the Celtic (Irish) account of the flood, Cessair, granddaughter of
+Noah, was refused a chamber for herself in the ark, and fled to the
+western borders of the world as advised by her idol.[230] Her fleet
+consisted of three ships, but two foundered before Ireland was
+reached. The survivors in addition to Cessair were, her father Bith,
+two other men, Fintan and Ladru, and fifty women. All of these
+perished on the hills except Fintan, who slept on the crest of a great
+billow, and lived to see Partholon, the giant, arriving from Greece.
+
+There is a deluge also in Egyptian mythology. When Ra, the sun god,
+grew old as an earthly king, men began to mutter words against him. He
+called the gods together and said: "I will not slay them (his
+subjects) until I have heard what ye say concerning them." Nu, his
+father, who was the god of primeval waters, advised the wholesale
+destruction of mankind.
+
+Said Ra: "Behold men flee unto the hills; their heart is full of fear
+because of that which they said."
+
+The goddess Hathor-Sekhet, the Eye of Ra, then went forth and slew
+mankind on the hills. Thereafter Ra, desiring to protect the remnant
+of humanity, caused a great offering to be made to the goddess,
+consisting of corn beer mixed with herbs and human blood. This drink
+was poured out during the night. "And the goddess came in the morning;
+she found the fields inundated, she rejoiced thereat, she drank
+thereof, her heart was rejoiced, she went about drunken and took no
+more cognizance of men."[231]
+
+It is obvious that the Egyptian myth refers to the annual inundation
+of the Nile, the "human blood" in the "beer" being the blood of the
+slain corn god, or of his earthly representative. It is probable that
+the flood legends of North and South America similarly reflected local
+phenomena, although the possibility that they were of Asiatic origin,
+like the American Mongoloid tribes, cannot be overlooked. Whether or
+not Mexican civilization, which was flourishing about the time of the
+battle of Hastings, received any cultural stimulus from Asia is a
+question regarding which it would be unsafe to dogmatize, owing to the
+meagre character of the available data.
+
+The Mexican deluge was caused by the "water sun", which suddenly
+discharged the moisture it had been drawing from the earth in the form
+of vapour through long ages. All life was destroyed.
+
+A flood legend among the Nahua tribes resembles closely the Babylonian
+story as told by Pir-napishtim. The god Titlacahuan instructed a man
+named Nata to make a boat by hollowing out a cypress tree, so as to
+escape the coming deluge with his wife Nena. This pair escaped
+destruction. They offered up a fish sacrifice in the boat and enraged
+the deity who visited them, displaying as much indignation as did Bel
+when he discovered that Pir-napishtim had survived the great disaster.
+Nata and Nena had been instructed to take with them one ear of maize
+only, which suggests that they were harvest spirits.
+
+In Brazil, Monan, the chief god, sent a great fire to burn up the
+world and its wicked inhabitants. To extinguish the flames a magician
+caused so much rain to fall that the earth was flooded.
+
+The Californian Indians had a flood legend, and believed that the
+early race was diminutive; and the Athapascan Indians of the
+north-west professed to be descendants of a family who escaped the
+deluge. Indeed, deluge myths were widespread in the "New World".
+
+The American belief that the first beings who were created were unable
+to live on earth was shared by the Babylonians. According to Berosus
+the first creation was a failure, because the animals could not bear
+the light and they all died.[232] Here we meet with the germs of the
+Doctrine of the World's Ages, which reached its highest development in
+Indian, Greek, and Celtic (Irish) mythologies.
+
+The Biblical account of the flood is familiar to readers. "It forms",
+says Professor Pinches, "a good subject for comparison with the
+Babylonian account, with which it agrees so closely in all the main
+points, and from which it differs so much in many essential
+details."[233]
+
+The drift of Babylonian culture was not only directed westward towards
+the coast of Palestine, and from thence to Greece during the
+Phoenician period, but also eastward through Elam to the Iranian
+plateau and India. Reference has already been made to the resemblances
+between early Vedic and Sumerian mythologies. When the "new songs" of
+the Aryan invaders of India were being composed, the sky and ocean
+god, Varuna, who resembles Ea-Oannes, and Mitra, who links with
+Shamash, were already declining in splendour. Other cultural
+influences were at work. Certain of the Aryan tribes, for instance,
+buried their dead in Varuna's "house of clay", while a growing
+proportion cremated their dead and worshipped Agni, the fire god. At
+the close of the Vedic period there were fresh invasions into middle
+India, and the "late comers" introduced new beliefs, including the
+doctrines of the Transmigration of Souls and of the Ages of the
+Universe. Goddesses also rose into prominence, and the Vedic gods
+became minor deities, and subject to Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. These
+"late comers" had undoubtedly been influenced by Babylonian ideas
+before they entered India. In their Doctrine of the World's Ages or
+Yugas, for instance, we are forcibly reminded of the Euphratean ideas
+regarding space and time. Mr. Robert Brown, junr., who is an authority
+in this connection, shows that the system by which the "Day of Brahma"
+was calculated in India resembles closely an astronomical system which
+obtained in Babylonia, where apparently the theory of cosmic periods
+had origin.[234]
+
+The various alien peoples, however, who came under the spell of
+Babylonian modes of thought did not remain in a state of intellectual
+bondage. Thought was stimulated rather than arrested by religious
+borrowing, and the development of ideas regarding the mysteries of
+life and death proceeded apace in areas over which the ritualistic and
+restraining priesthood of Babylonia exercised no sway. As much may be
+inferred from the contrasting conceptions of the Patriarchs of Vedic
+and Sumerian mythologies. Pir-napishtim, the Babylonian Noah, and the
+semi-divine Gilgamesh appear to be represented in Vedic mythology by
+Yama, god of the dead. Yama was "the first man", and, like Gilgamesh,
+he set out on a journey over mountains and across water to discover
+Paradise. He is lauded in the Vedic hymns as the explorer of "the
+path" or "way" to the "Land of the Pitris" (Fathers), the Paradise to
+which the Indian uncremated dead walked on foot. Yama never lost his
+original character. He is a traveller in the Epics as in the
+Vedas.[235]
+
+    Him who along the mighty heights departed, Him who searched and
+    spied the path for many, Son of Vivasvat, gatherer of the people,
+    Yama, the King, with sacrifices worship. _Rigveda_, x, 14, 1.[236]
+    To Yama, mighty King, be gifts and homage paid, He was the first
+    of men that died, the first to brave Death's rapid rushing stream,
+    the first to point the road To heaven, and welcome others to that
+    bright abode. _Sir M. Monier Williams' Translation_.[237]
+
+Yama and his sister Yami were the first human pair. They are identical
+with the Persian Celestial twins, Yima and Yimeh. Yima resembles Mitra
+(Mithra); Varuna, the twin brother of Mitra, in fact, carries the
+noose associated with the god of death.[238]
+
+The Indian Yama, who was also called Pitripati, "lord of the fathers",
+takes Mitra's place in the Paradise of Ancestors beside Varuna, god of
+the sky and the deep. He sits below a tree, playing on a flute and
+drinking the Soma drink which gives immortality. When the descendants
+of Yama reached Paradise they assumed shining forms "refined and from
+all taint set free".[239]
+
+In Persian mythology "Yima", says Professor Moulton, "reigns over a
+community which may well have been composed of his own descendants,
+for he lived yet longer than Adam. To render them immortal, he gives
+them to eat forbidden food, being deceived by the Daevas (demons).
+What was this forbidden food? May we connect it with another legend
+whereby, at the Regeneration, Mithra is to make men immortal by giving
+them to eat the fat of the _Ur-Kuh_, the primeval cow from whose slain
+body, according to the Aryan legends adopted by Mithraism, mankind was
+first created?"
+
+Yima is punished for "presumptuously grasping at immortality for
+himself and mankind, on the suggestion of an evil power, instead of
+waiting Ahura's good time". Professor Moulton wonders if this story,
+which he endeavours to reconstruct, "owed anything to Babylon?"
+
+Yima, like the Babylonian Pir-napishtim, is also a revealer of the
+secrets of creation. He was appointed to be "Guardian, Overseer,
+Watcher over my Creation" by Ahura, the supreme god. Three hundred
+years went past--
+
+    Then the earth became abounding,
+    Full of flocks and full of cattle,
+    Full of men, of birds, dogs likewise,
+    Full of fires all bright and blazing,
+    Nor did men, flocks, herds of cattle,
+    Longer find them places in it.
+
+            _Jackson's Translation_.
+
+The earth was thereafter cloven with a golden arrow. Yima then built a
+refuge in which mankind and the domesticated animals might find
+shelter during a terrible winter. "The picture", says Professor
+Moulton, "strongly tempts us to recognize the influence of the
+Babylonian Flood-Legend."[240] The "Fimbul winter" of Germanic
+mythology is also recalled. Odin asks in one of the Icelandic Eddie
+poems:
+
+    What beings shall live when the long dread winter
+      Comes o'er the people of earth?[241]
+
+In another Eddie poem, the Voluspa, the Vala tells of a Sword Age, an
+Axe Age, a Wind Age, and a Wolf Age which is to come "ere the world
+sinks". After the battle of the gods and demons,
+
+    The sun is darkened, earth sinks in the sea.
+
+In time, however, a new world appears.
+
+    I see uprising a second time
+    Earth from the Ocean, green anew;
+    The waters fall, on high the eagle
+    Flies o'er the fell and catches fish.
+
+When the surviving gods return, they will talk, according to the Vala
+(prophetess), of "the great world serpent" (Tiamat). The fields will
+be sown and "Balder will come"[242]--apparently as Tammuz came. The
+association of Balder with corn suggests that, like Nata of the Nahua
+tribes, he was a harvest spirit, among other things.
+
+Leaving, meantime, the many problems which arise from consideration of
+the Deluge legends and their connection with primitive agricultural
+myths, the attention of readers may be directed to the Babylonian
+conception of the Otherworld.
+
+Pir-napishtim, who escaped destruction at the Flood, resides in an
+Island Paradise, which resembles the Greek "Islands of the Blessed",
+and the Irish "Tir nan og" or "Land of the Young", situated in the
+western ocean, and identical with the British[243]
+
+      island-valley of Avilion,
+    Where falls not hail, or rain, or any snow,
+    Nor ever wind blows loudly, but it lies
+    Deep meadow'd, happy, fair with orchard lawns
+    And bowery hollows crowned with summer sea.[244]
+
+Only two human beings were permitted to reside on the Babylonian
+island paradise, however. These were Pir-napishtim and his wife.
+Apparently Gilgamesh could not join them there. His gods did not
+transport heroes and other favoured individuals to a happy isle or
+isles like those of the Greeks and Celts and Aryo-Indians. There was
+no Heaven for the Babylonian dead. All mankind were doomed to enter
+the gloomy Hades of the Underworld, "the land of darkness and the
+shadow of death; a land of darkness, as darkness itself; and of the
+shadow of death, without any order, and where the light is darkness",
+as Job exclaimed in the hour of despair, lamenting his fate.[245]
+
+This gloomy habitation of the dead resembles the Greek Hades, the
+Teutonic Nifelhel, and the Indian "Put". No detailed description of it
+has been found. The references, however, in the "Descent of Ishtar"
+and the Gilgamesh epic suggest that it resembled the hidden regions of
+the Egyptians, in which souls were tortured by demons who stabbed
+them, plunged them in pools of fire, and thrust them into cold outer
+darkness where they gnashed their teeth, or into places of horror
+swarming with poisonous reptiles.
+
+Ishtar was similarly tortured by the plague demon, Namtar, when she
+boldly entered the Babylonian Underworld to search for Tammuz. Other
+sufferings were, no doubt, in store for her, resembling those,
+perhaps, with which the giant maid in the Eddic poem "Skirnismal" was
+threatened when she refused to marry Frey, the god of fertility and
+harvest:
+
+    Trolls shall torment thee from morn till eve
+      In the realms of the Jotun race,
+    Each day to the dwellings of Frost giants must thou
+      Creep helpless, creep hopeless of love;
+    Thou shalt weeping have in the stead of joy,
+      And sore burden bear with tears....
+    May madness and shrieking, bondage and yearning
+      Burden thee with bondage and tears.[246]
+
+In like manner, too, the inhabitants of the Indian Hell suffered
+endless and complicated tortures.[247]
+
+The Persephone of the Babylonian Underworld was Eresh-ki-gal, who was
+also called Allatu. A myth, which was found among the Egyptian
+Tel-el-Amarna "Letters", sets forth that on one occasion the
+Babylonian gods held a feast. All the deities attended it, except
+Eresh-ki-gal. She was unable to leave her gloomy Underworld, and sent
+her messenger, the plague demon Namtar, to obtain her share. The
+various deities honoured Namtar, except Nergal, by standing up to
+receive him. When Eresh-ki-gal was informed of this slight she became
+very angry, and demanded that Nergal should be delivered up to her so
+that he might be put to death. The storm god at once hastened to the
+Underworld, accompanied by his own group of fierce demons, whom he
+placed as guardians at the various doors so as to prevent the escape
+of Eresh-ki-gal. Then he went boldly towards the goddess, clutched her
+by the hair, and dragged her from her throne. After a brief struggle,
+she found herself overpowered. Nergal made ready to cut off her head,
+but she cried for mercy and said: "Do not kill me, my brother! Let me
+speak to thee."
+
+This appeal indicated that she desired to ransom her life--like the
+hags in the European folk tales--so Nergal unloosed his hold.
+
+Then Eresh-ki-gal continued: "Be thou my husband and I will be thy
+wife. On thee I confer sovereignty over the wide earth, giving thee
+the tablet of wisdom. Thou shalt be my lord and I will be thy lady."
+
+Nergal accepted these terms by kissing the goddess. Affectionately
+drying her tears, he spoke, saying: "Thou shalt now have from me what
+thou hast demanded during these past months."
+
+In other words, Nergal promises to honour her as she desired, after
+becoming her husband and equal.
+
+In the "Descent of Ishtar" the Babylonian Underworld is called Cuthah.
+This city had a famous cemetery, like Abydos in Egypt, where many
+pious and orthodox worshippers sought sepulture. The local god was
+Nergal, who symbolized the destructive power of the sun and the sand
+storm; he was a gloomy, vengeful deity, attended by the spirits of
+tempest, weariness, pestilence, and disease, and was propitiated
+because he was dreaded.
+
+In Nether Cuthah, as Ea-bani informed Gilgamesh, the worm devoured the
+dead amidst the dust and thick darkness.
+
+It is evident that this Underworld was modelled on the grave. In early
+times men believed that the spirits of the dead hovered in or about
+the place of sepulture. They were therefore provided with "houses" to
+protect them, in the same manner as the living were protected in their
+houses above the ground.
+
+The enemies of the human ghosts were the earth spirits. Weapons were
+laid beside the dead in their graves so that they might wage war
+against demons when necessary. The corpse was also charmed, against
+attack, by the magical and protecting ornaments which were worn by the
+living--necklaces, armlets, ear-rings, &c. Even face paint was
+provided, probably as a charm against the evil eye and other subtle
+influences.
+
+So long as corpses were left in their graves, the spirits of the dead
+were, it would appear, believed to be safe. But they required food and
+refreshment. Food vessels and drinking urns were therefore included in
+the funerary furniture, and the dead were given food offerings at
+regular intervals. Once a year the living held feasts in the burial
+ground, and invited the ghosts to share in the repast. This custom was
+observed in Babylonia, and is not yet obsolete in Egypt; Moslems and
+Coptic Christians alike hold annual all-night feasts in their
+cemeteries.
+
+The Japanese "Land of Yomi" is similarly an underworld, or great
+grave, where ghosts mingle with the demons of disease and destruction.
+Souls reach it by "the pass of Yomi". The Mikado, however, may be
+privileged to ascend to heaven and join the gods in the "Eternal
+Land".
+
+Among the ancient Romans the primitive belief survived that the spirit
+of the dead "just sank into the earth where it rested, and returned
+from time to time to the upper world through certain openings in the
+ground (mundi), whose solemn uncovering was one of the regular
+observances of the festal calendar".[248]
+
+According to Babylonian belief, the dead who were not properly buried
+roamed through the streets searching for food, eating refuse and
+drinking impure water.
+
+Prior to the period of ceremonial burials, the dead were interred in
+the houses in which they had lived--a custom which has made it
+possible for present-day scientists to accumulate much valuable data
+regarding primitive races and their habits of life. The Palaeolithic
+cave-dwellers of Europe were buried in their caves. These were then
+deserted and became the haunts of wild animals. After a long interval
+a deserted cave was occupied by strangers. In certain characteristic
+caves the various layers containing human remains represent distinct
+periods of the vast Pleistocene Age.
+
+When Mediterranean man moved northward through Europe, he utilized
+some of these caves, and constructed in them well-built graves for his
+dead, digging down through older layers. In thus making a "house"
+within a "house", he has provided us with a link between an old custom
+and a new. Apparently he was influenced by local practices and
+beliefs, for he met and mingled in certain localities with the men of
+the Late Palaeolithic Age.
+
+The primitive house-burial rite is referred to in the Ethiopic version
+of the life of Alexander the Great. The "Two-horned", as the hero was
+called, conversed with Brahmans when he reached India. He spoke to one
+of them, "saying: 'Have ye no tombs wherein to bury any man among ye
+who may die?' And an interpreter made answer to him, saying: 'Man and
+woman and child grow up, and arrive at maturity, and become old, and
+when any one of them dieth we bury him in the place wherein he lived;
+thus our graves are our houses. And our God knoweth that we desire
+this more than the lust for food and meat which all men have: this is
+our life and manner of living in the darkness of our tombs.'" When
+Alexander desired to make a gift to these Brahmans, and asked them
+what they desired most, their answer was, "Give us immortality".[249]
+
+In the Gilgamesh epic the only ray of hope which relieves the gloomy
+closing passages is Ea-bani's suggestion that the sufferings endured
+by the dead may be alleviated by the performance of strict burial
+rites. Commenting on this point Professor Jastrow says: "A proper
+burial with an affectionate care of the corpse ensures at least a
+quiet repose.
+
+    Such a one rests on a couch and drinks pure water;
+    But he whose shade has no rest in the earth, as I have seen and
+        you will see,
+    His shade has no rest in the earth
+    Whose shade no one cares for ...
+    What is left over in the pot, remains of food
+    That are thrown in the street, he eats."[250]
+
+            _Gilgamesh Epic_.
+
+By disseminating the belief that the dead must be buried with much
+ceremony, the priests secured great power over the people, and
+extracted large fees.
+
+In Egypt, on the other hand, the teachers of the sun cult sold charms
+and received rewards to perform ceremonies so that chosen worshippers
+might enter the sun-barque of Ra; while the Osirian priests promised
+the just and righteous that they would reach an agricultural Paradise
+where they could live and work as on earth, but receive a greater
+return for their labour, the harvests of the Otherworld being of
+unequalled abundance.
+
+In the sacred books of India a number of Paradises are referred to. No
+human beings, however, entered the Paradise of Varuna, who resembles
+the Sumerian Ea-Oannes. The souls of the dead found rest and enjoyment
+in the Paradise of Yama, while "those kings that yield up their lives,
+without turning their backs on the field of battle, attain", as the
+sage told a hero, "to the mansion of Indra", which recalls the Valhal
+of Odin. It will thus be seen that belief in immortality was a tenet
+of the Indian cults of Indra and Yama.
+
+It is possible that the Gilgamesh epic in one of its forms concluded
+when the hero reached the island of Pir-napishtim, like the Indian
+Yama who "searched and spied the path for many". The Indian "Land of
+the Pitris" (Ancestors), over which Yama presided, may be compared to
+the Egyptian heaven of Osiris. It contains, we are told, "all kinds of
+enjoyable articles", and also "sweet, juicy, agreeable and delicious
+edibles ... floral wreaths of the most delicious fragrance, and trees
+that yield fruits that are desired of them". Thither go "all sinners
+among human beings, as also (those) that have died during the winter
+solstice"[251]--a suggestion that this Paradise was not unconnected
+with the Tammuz-like deity who took up his abode in the spirit land
+during the barren season.
+
+The view may be urged that in the Gilgamesh epic we have a development
+of the Tammuz legend in its heroic form. Like Ishtar, when she
+descended to Hades, the King of Erech could not return to earth until
+he had been sprinkled by the water of life. No doubt, an incident of
+this character occurred also in the original Tammuz legend. The life
+of the god had to be renewed before he could return. Did he slumber,
+like one of the Seven Sleepers, in Ea's house, and not awake again
+until he arrived as a child in his crescent moon boat--"the sunken
+boat" of the hymns--like Scef, who came over the waves to the land of
+the Scyldings?
+
+It seems remarkable that the doctrine of Eternal Bliss, which obtained
+in Egypt on the one hand and in India on the other, should never have
+been developed among the Babylonians. Of course, our knowledge in this
+connection is derived from the orthodox religious texts. Perhaps the
+great thinkers, whose influence can be traced in the tendencies
+towards monotheism which became marked at various periods, believed in
+a Heaven for the just and good. If they did, their teachings must have
+been suppressed by the mercenary priests. It was extremely profitable
+for these priests to perpetuate the belief that the spirits of the
+dead were consigned to a gloomy Hades, where the degree of suffering
+which they endured depended on the manner in which their bodies were
+disposed of upon earth. An orthodox funeral ceremony was costly at all
+times. This is made evident by the inscriptions which record the
+social reforms of Urukagina, the ill-fated patesi of Lagash. When he
+came to the throne he cut down the burial fees by more than a half.
+"In the case of an ordinary burial," writes Mr. King, "when a corpse
+was laid in a grave, it had been the custom for the presiding priest
+to demand as a fee for himself seven urns of wine or strong drink,
+four hundred and twenty loaves of bread, one hundred and twenty
+measures of corn, a garment, a kid, a bed, and a seat." The reformer
+reduced the perquisites to "three urns of wine, eighty loaves of
+bread, a bed, and a kid, while the fee of his (the priest's) assistant
+was cut down from sixty to thirty measures of corn".[252]
+
+The conservative element in Babylonian religion is reflected by the
+burial customs. These did not change greatly after the Neolithic
+period. Prehistoric Sumerian graves resemble closely those of
+pre-Dynastic Egypt. The bodies of the dead were laid on their sides in
+crouching posture, with a "beaker", or "drinking cup" urn, beside the
+right hand. Other vessels were placed near the head. In this
+connection it may be noted that the magic food prepared for Gilgamesh
+by Pir-napishtim's wife, when he lay asleep, was also placed near his
+head.
+
+The corpse was always decked with various ornaments, including rings,
+necklaces, and armlets. As has been indicated, these were worn by the
+living as charms, and, no doubt, they served the same purpose for the
+dead. This charm-wearing custom was condemned by the Hebrew teachers.
+On one occasion Jacob commanded his household to "put away the strange
+gods which were in their hand, and all the ear-rings which were in
+their ears; and Jacob buried them under the oak which was by
+Shechem".[253] To Jacob, personal ornaments had quite evidently an
+idolatrous significance.
+
+"A very typical class of grave furniture", writes Mr. King, "consisted
+of palettes, or colour dishes, made of alabaster, often of graceful
+shape, and sometimes standing on four feet.... There is no doubt as to
+their use, for colour still remains in many of them, generally black
+and yellow, but sometimes a light rose and light green." Palettes for
+face paint have also been found in many early Egyptian graves.
+
+The gods had their faces painted like the living and the dead and were
+similarly adorned with charms. In the course of the daily service in
+the Egyptian temples an important ceremony was "dressing the god with
+white, green, bright-red, and dark-red sashes, and supplying two kinds
+of ointment and black and green eye paint".[254] In the word-picture
+of the Aryo-Indian Varuna's heaven in the _Mahabharata_ the deity is
+depicted "attired in celestial robes and decked with celestial
+ornaments and jewels". His attendants, the Adityas, appear "adorned
+with celestial garlands and perfumed with celestial scents and
+besmeared with paste of celestial fragrance".[255] Apparently the
+"paste", like the face paint of the Babylonians and Egyptians, had
+protective qualities. The Picts of Scotland may have similarly painted
+themselves to charm their bodies against magical influences and the
+weapons of their enemies. A painted man was probably regarded as one
+who was likely to have good luck, being guarded against bad luck.
+
+Weapons and implements were also laid in the Sumerian graves,
+indicating a belief that the spirits of the dead could not only
+protect themselves against their enemies but also provide themselves
+with food. The funerary gifts of fish-hooks suggests that spirits were
+expected to catch fish and thus obtain clean food, instead of
+returning to disturb the living as they searched for the remnants of
+the feast, like the Scottish Gunna,
+
+                 perched alone
+    On a chilly old grey stone,
+    Nibbling, nibbling at a bone
+      That we'll maybe throw away.
+
+Some bodies which were laid in Sumerian graves were wrapped up in reed
+matting, a custom which suggests that the reeds afforded protection or
+imparted magical powers. Magical ceremonies were performed in
+Babylonian reed huts. As we have seen, Ea revealed the "purpose" of
+the gods, when they resolved to send a flood, by addressing the reed
+hut in which Pir-napishtim lay asleep. Possibly it was believed that
+the dead might also have visions in their dreams which would reveal
+the "purpose" of demons who were preparing to attack them. In Syria it
+was customary to wrap the dead in a sheep skin.[256] As priests and
+gods were clad in the skins of animals from which their powers were
+derived, it is probable that the dead were similarly supposed to
+receive inspiration in their skin coverings. The Highland seer was
+wrapped in a bull's skin and left all night beside a stream so as to
+obtain knowledge of the future. This was a form of the Taghairm
+ceremony, which is referred to by Scott in his "Lady of the
+Lake".[257] The belief in the magical influence of sacred clothing
+gave origin to the priestly robes. When David desired to ascertain
+what Saul intended to do he said, "Bring hither the ephod". Then he
+came to know that his enemy had resolved to attack Keilah.[258] Elisha
+became a prophet when he received Elijah's mantle.[259]
+
+Sometimes the bodies of the Sumerians were placed in sarcophagi of
+clay. The earlier type was of "bath-tub" shape, round and
+flat-bottomed, with a rounded lid, while the later was the
+"slipper-shaped coffin", which was ornamented with charms. There is a
+close resemblance between the "bath-tub" coffins of Sumeria and the
+Egyptian pottery coffins of oval shape found in Third and Fourth
+Dynasty tombs in rock chambers near Nuerat. Certain designs on wooden
+coffins, and tombs as early as the First Dynasty, have direct
+analogies in Babylonia.[260]
+
+No great tombs were erected in Sumeria. The coffins were usually laid
+in brick vaults below dwellings, or below temples, or in trenches
+outside the city walls. On the "stele of victory", which belongs to
+the period of Eannatum, patesi of Lagash, the dead bodies on the
+battlefield are piled up in pairs quite naked, and earth is being
+heaped over them; this is a specimen of mound burial.
+
+According to Herodotus the Babylonians "buried their dead in honey,
+and had funeral lamentations like the Egyptians".[261] The custom of
+preserving the body in this manner does not appear to have been an
+ancient one, and may have resulted from cultural contact with the Nile
+valley during the late Assyrian period. So long as the bones were
+undisturbed, the spirit was supposed to be assured of rest in the
+Underworld. This archaic belief was widespread, and finds an echo in
+the quaint lines over Shakespeare's grave in Stratford church:--
+
+    Good friend, for Jesus' sake forbeare
+    To dig the dust enclosed heare;
+    Blest be the man that spares these stones,
+    And curst be he that moves my bones.
+
+In Babylonia the return of the spirits of the dead was greatly
+dreaded. Ishtar once uttered the terrible threat: "I will cause the
+dead to rise; they will then eat and live. The dead will be more
+numerous than the living." When a foreign country was invaded, it was
+a common custom to break open the tombs and scatter the bones they
+contained. Probably it was believed, when such acts of vandalism were
+committed, that the offended spirits would plague their kinsfolk.
+Ghosts always haunted the homes they once lived in, and were as
+malignant as demons. It is significant to find in this connection that
+the bodies of enemies who were slain in battle were not given decent
+burial, but mutilated and left for birds and beasts of prey to devour.
+
+The demons that plagued the dead might also attack the living. A
+fragmentary narrative, which used to be referred to as the "Cuthean
+Legend of Creation",[262] and has been shown by Mr. L.W. King to have
+no connection with the struggle between Merodach and the dragon,[263]
+deals with a war waged by an ancient king against a horde of evil
+spirits, led by "the lord of heights, lord of the Anunaki (earth
+spirits)". Some of the supernatural warriors had bodies like birds;
+others had "raven faces", and all had been "suckled by Tiamat".
+
+For three years the king sent out great armies to attack the demons,
+but "none returned alive". Then he decided to go forth himself to save
+his country from destruction. So he prepared for the conflict, and
+took the precaution of performing elaborate and therefore costly
+religious rites so as to secure the co-operation of the gods. His
+expedition was successful, for he routed the supernatural army. On his
+return home, he recorded his great victory on tablets which were
+placed in the shrine of Nergal at Cuthah.
+
+This myth may be an echo of Nergal's raid against Eresh-ki-gal. Or,
+being associated with Cuthah, it may have been composed to encourage
+burial in that city's sacred cemetery, which had been cleared by the
+famous old king of the evil demons which tormented the dead and made
+seasonal attacks against the living.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+BUILDINGS AND LAWS AND CUSTOMS OF BABYLON
+
+
+  Decline and Fall of Sumerian Kingdoms--Elamites and Semites strive
+  for Supremacy--Babylon's Walls, Gates, Streets, and Canals--The
+  Hanging Gardens--Merodach's Great Temple--The Legal Code of
+  Hammurabi--The Marriage Market--Position of Women--Marriage brought
+  Freedom--Vestal Virgins--Breach of Promise and Divorce--Rights of
+  Children--Female Publicans--The Land Laws--Doctors legislated out of
+  Existence--Folk Cures--Spirits of Disease expelled by Magical
+  Charms--The Legend of the Worm--"Touch Iron"--Curative
+  Water--Magical Origin of Poetry and Music.
+
+
+The rise of Babylon inaugurated a new era in the history of Western
+Asia. Coincidentally the political power of the Sumerians came to an
+end. It had been paralysed by the Elamites, who, towards the close of
+the Dynasty of Isin, successfully overran the southern district and
+endeavoured to extend their sway over the whole valley. Two Elamite
+kings, Warad-Sin and his brother Rim-Sin, struggled with the rulers of
+Babylon for supremacy, and for a time it appeared as if the intruders
+from the East were to establish themselves permanently as a military
+aristocracy over Sumer and Akkad. But the Semites were strongly
+reinforced by new settlers of the same blended stock who swarmed from
+the land of the Amorites. Once again Arabia was pouring into Syria
+vast hordes of its surplus population, with the result that ethnic
+disturbances were constant and widespread. This migration is termed
+the Canaanitic or Amorite: it flowed into Mesopotamia and across
+Assyria, while it supplied the "driving power" which secured the
+ascendancy of the Hammurabi Dynasty at Babylon. Indeed, the ruling
+family which came into prominence there is believed to have been of
+Canaanitic origin.
+
+Once Babylon became the metropolis it retained its pre-eminence until
+the end. Many political changes took place during its long and
+chequered history, but no rival city in the south ever attained to its
+splendour and greatness. Whether its throne was occupied by Amorite or
+Kassite, Assyrian or Chaldean, it was invariably found to be the most
+effective centre of administration for the lower Tigro-Euphrates
+valley. Some of the Kassite monarchs, however, showed a preference for
+Nippur.
+
+Of its early history little is known. It was overshadowed in turn by
+Kish and Umma, Lagash and Erech, and may have been little better than
+a great village when Akkad rose into prominence. Sargon I, the royal
+gardener, appears to have interested himself in its development, for
+it was recorded that he cleared its trenches and strengthened its
+fortifications. The city occupied a strategic position, and probably
+assumed importance on that account as well as a trading and industrial
+centre. Considerable wealth had accumulated at Babylon when the
+Dynasty of Ur reached the zenith of its power. It is recorded that
+King Dungi plundered its famous "Temple of the High Head", E-sagila,
+which some identify with the Tower of Babel, so as to secure treasure
+for Ea's temple at Eridu, which he specially favoured. His vandalistic
+raid, like that of the Gutium, or men of Kutu, was remembered for long
+centuries afterwards, and the city god was invoked at the time to cut
+short his days.
+
+No doubt, Hammurabi's Babylon closely resembled the later city so
+vividly described by Greek writers, although it was probably not of
+such great dimensions. According to Herodotus, it occupied an exact
+square on the broad plain, and had a circumference of sixty of our
+miles. "While such is its size," the historian wrote, "in magnificence
+there is no other city that approaches to it." Its walls were
+eighty-seven feet thick and three hundred and fifty feet high, and
+each side of the square was fifteen miles in length. The whole city
+was surrounded by a deep, broad canal or moat, and the river Euphrates
+ran through it.
+
+"Here", continued Herodotus, "I may not omit to tell the use to which
+the mould dug out of the great moat was turned, nor the manner in
+which the wall was wrought. As fast as they dug the moat the soil
+which they got from the cutting was made into bricks, and when a
+sufficient number were completed they baked the bricks in kilns. Then
+they set to building, and began with bricking the borders of the moat,
+after which they proceeded to construct the wall itself, using
+throughout for their cement hot bitumen, and interposing a layer of
+wattled reeds at every thirtieth course of the bricks. On the top,
+along the edges of the wall, they constructed buildings of a single
+chamber facing one another, leaving between them room for a four-horse
+chariot to turn. In the circuit of the wall are a hundred gates, all
+of brass, with brazen lintels and side posts."[264] These were the
+gates referred to by Isaiah when God called Cyrus:
+
+    I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two
+    leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut: I will go before
+    thee, and make the crooked places straight; I will break in pieces
+    the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron.[265]
+
+The outer wall was the main defence of the city, but there was also an
+inner wall less thick but not much inferior in strength. In addition,
+a fortress stood in each division of the city. The king's palace and
+the temple of Bel Merodach were surrounded by walls.
+
+All the main streets were perfectly straight, and each crossed the
+city from gate to gate, a distance of fifteen miles, half of them
+being interrupted by the river, which had to be ferried. As there were
+twenty-five gates on each side of the outer wall, the great
+thoroughfares numbered fifty in all, and there were six hundred and
+seventy-six squares, each over two miles in circumference. From
+Herodotus we gather that the houses were three or four stories high,
+suggesting that the tenement system was not unknown, and according to
+Q. Curtius, nearly half of the area occupied by the city was taken up
+by gardens within the squares.
+
+In Greek times Babylon was famous for the hanging or terraced gardens
+of the "new palace", which had been erected by Nebuchadnezzar II.
+These occupied a square which was more than a quarter of a mile in
+circumference. Great stone terraces, resting on arches, rose up like a
+giant stairway to a height of about three hundred and fifty feet, and
+the whole structure was strengthened by a surrounding wall over twenty
+feet in thickness. So deep were the layers of mould on each terrace
+that fruit trees were grown amidst the plants of luxuriant foliage and
+the brilliant Asian flowers. Water for irrigating the gardens was
+raised from the river by a mechanical contrivance to a great cistern
+situated on the highest terrace, and it was prevented from leaking out
+of the soil by layers of reeds and bitumen and sheets of lead.
+Spacious apartments, luxuriously furnished and decorated, were
+constructed in the spaces between the arches and were festooned by
+flowering creepers. A broad stairway ascended from terrace to terrace.
+
+The old palace stood in a square nearly four miles in circumference,
+and was strongly protected by three walls, which were decorated by
+sculptures in low relief, representing battle scenes and scenes of the
+chase and royal ceremonies. Winged bulls with human heads guarded the
+main entrance.
+
+Another architectural feature of the city was E-sagila, the temple of
+Bel Merodach, known to the Greeks as "Jupiter-Belus". The high wall
+which enclosed it had gates of solid brass. "In the middle of the
+precinct", wrote Herodotus, "there was a tower of solid masonry, a
+furlong in length and breadth, upon which was raised a second tower,
+and on that a third, and so on up to eight. The ascent to the top is
+on the outside, by a path which winds round all the towers. When one
+is about halfway up, one finds a resting-place and seats, where
+persons are wont to sit some time on their way to the summit. On the
+topmost tower there is a spacious temple, and inside the temple stands
+a couch of unusual size, richly adorned, with a golden table by its
+side. There is no statue of any kind set up in the place, nor is the
+chamber occupied of nights by anyone but a single native woman, who,
+as the Chaldaeans, the priests of this god, affirm, is chosen for
+himself by the deity out of all the women of the land."
+
+A woman who was the "wife of Amon" also slept in that god's temple at
+Thebes in Egypt. A similar custom was observed in Lycia.
+
+"Below, in the same precinct," continued Herodotus, "there is a second
+temple, in which is a sitting figure of Jupiter, all of gold. Before
+the figure stands a large golden table, and the throne whereon it
+sits, and the base on which the throne is placed, are likewise of pure
+gold.... Outside the temple are two altars, one of solid gold, on
+which it is only lawful to offer sucklings; the other, a common altar,
+but of great size, on which the full-grown animals are sacrificed. It
+is also on the great altar that the Chaldaeans burn the frankincense,
+which is offered to the amount of a thousand talents' weight, every
+year, at the festival of the god. In the time of Cyrus there was
+likewise in this temple a figure of a man, twelve cubits high,
+entirely of solid gold.... Besides the ornaments which I have
+mentioned, there are a large number of private offerings in this holy
+precinct."[266]
+
+The city wall and river gates were closed every night, and when
+Babylon was besieged the people were able to feed themselves. The
+gardens and small farms were irrigated by canals, and canals also
+controlled the flow of the river Euphrates. A great dam had been
+formed above the town to store the surplus water during inundation and
+increase the supply when the river sank to its lowest.
+
+In Hammurabi's time the river was crossed by ferry boats, but long ere
+the Greeks visited the city a great bridge had been constructed. So
+completely did the fierce Sennacherib destroy the city, that most of
+the existing ruins date from the period of Nebuchadnezzar II.[267]
+
+Our knowledge of the social life of Babylon and the territory under
+its control is derived chiefly from the Hammurabi Code of laws, of
+which an almost complete copy was discovered at Susa, towards the end
+of 1901, by the De Morgan expedition. The laws were inscribed on a
+stele of black diorite 7 ft. 3 in. high, with a circumference at the
+base of 6 ft. 2 in. and at the top of 5 ft. 4 in. This important relic
+of an ancient law-abiding people had been broken in three pieces, but
+when these were joined together it was found that the text was not
+much impaired. On one side are twenty-eight columns and on the other
+sixteen. Originally there were in all nearly 4000 lines of
+inscriptions, but five columns, comprising about 300 lines, had been
+erased to give space, it is conjectured, for the name of the invader
+who carried the stele away, but unfortunately the record was never
+made.
+
+On the upper part of the stele, which is now one of the treasures of
+the Louvre, Paris, King Hammurabi salutes, with his right hand
+reverently upraised, the sun god Shamash, seated on his throne, at the
+summit of E-sagila, by whom he is being presented with the stylus with
+which to inscribe the legal code. Both figures are heavily bearded,
+but have shaven lips and chins. The god wears a conical headdress and
+a flounced robe suspended from his left shoulder, while the king has
+assumed a round dome-shaped hat and a flowing garment which almost
+sweeps the ground.
+
+It is gathered from the Code that there were three chief social
+grades--the aristocracy, which included landowners, high officials and
+administrators; the freemen, who might be wealthy merchants or small
+landholders; and the slaves. The fines imposed for a given offence
+upon wealthy men were much heavier than those imposed upon the poor.
+Lawsuits were heard in courts. Witnesses were required to tell the
+truth, "affirming before the god what they knew", and perjurers were
+severely dealt with; a man who gave false evidence in connection with
+a capital charge was put to death. A strict watch was also kept over
+the judges, and if one was found to have willingly convicted a
+prisoner on insufficient evidence he was fined and degraded.
+
+Theft was regarded as a heinous crime, and was invariably punished by
+death. Thieves included those who made purchases from minors or slaves
+without the sanction of elders or trustees. Sometimes the accused was
+given the alternative of paying a fine, which might exceed by ten or
+even thirty fold the value of the article or animal he had
+appropriated. It was imperative that lost property should be restored.
+If the owner of an article of which he had been wrongfully deprived
+found it in possession of a man who declared that he had purchased it
+from another, evidence was taken in court. When it happened that the
+seller was proved to have been the thief, the capital penalty was
+imposed. On the other hand, the alleged purchaser was dealt with in
+like manner if he failed to prove his case. Compensation for property
+stolen by a brigand was paid by the temple, and the heirs of a man
+slain by a brigand within the city had to be compensated by the local
+authority.
+
+Of special interest are the laws which relate to the position of
+women. In this connection reference may first be made to the
+marriage-by-auction custom, which Herodotus described as follows:
+"Once a year in each village the maidens of age to marry were
+collected all together into one place, while the men stood round them
+in a circle. Then a herald called up the damsels one by one, and
+offered them for sale. He began with the most beautiful. When she was
+sold for no small sum of money, he offered for sale the one who came
+next to her in beauty. All of them were sold to be wives. The richest
+of the Babylonians who wished to wed bid against each other for the
+loveliest maidens, while the humbler wife-seekers, who were
+indifferent about beauty, took the more homely damsels with marriage
+portions. For the custom was that when the herald had gone through the
+whole number of the beautiful damsels, he should then call up the
+ugliest--a cripple, if there chanced to be one--and offer her to the
+men, asking who would agree to take her with the smallest marriage
+portion. And the man who offered to take the smallest sum had her
+assigned to him. The marriage portions were furnished by the money
+paid for the beautiful damsels, and thus the fairer maidens portioned
+out the uglier. No one was allowed to give his daughter in marriage to
+the man of his choice, nor might anyone carry away the damsel whom he
+had purchased without finding bail really and truly to make her his
+wife; if, however, it turned out that they did not agree, the money
+might be paid back. All who liked might come, even from distant
+villages, and bid for the women."[268]
+
+This custom is mentioned by other writers, but it is impossible to
+ascertain at what period it became prevalent in Babylonia and by whom
+it was introduced. Herodotus understood that it obtained also in "the
+Illyrian tribe of the Eneti", which was reputed to have entered Italy
+with Antenor after the fall of Troy, and has been identified with the
+Venetians of later times. But the ethnic clue thus afforded is
+exceedingly vague. There is no direct reference to the custom in the
+Hammurabi Code, which reveals a curious blending of the principles of
+"Father right" and "Mother right". A girl was subject to her father's
+will; he could dispose of her as he thought best, and she always
+remained a member of his family; after marriage she was known as the
+daughter of so and so rather than the wife of so and so. But marriage
+brought her freedom and the rights of citizenship. The power vested in
+her father was never transferred to her husband.
+
+A father had the right to select a suitable spouse for his daughter,
+and she could not marry without his consent. That this law did not
+prevent "love matches" is made evident by the fact that provision was
+made in the Code for the marriage of a free woman with a male slave,
+part of whose estate in the event of his wife's death could be claimed
+by his master.
+
+When a betrothal was arranged, the father fixed the "bride price",
+which was paid over before the contract could be concluded, and he
+also provided a dowry. The amount of the "bride price" might, however,
+be refunded to the young couple to give them a start in life. If,
+during the interval between betrothal and marriage, the man "looked
+upon another woman", and said to his father-in-law, "I will not marry
+your daughter", he forfeited the "bride price" for breach of promise
+of marriage.
+
+A girl might also obtain a limited degree of freedom by taking vows of
+celibacy and becoming one of the vestal virgins, or nuns, who were
+attached to the temple of the sun god. She did not, however, live a
+life of entire seclusion. If she received her due proportion of her
+father's estate, she could make business investments within certain
+limits. She was not, for instance, allowed to own a wineshop, and if
+she even entered one she was burned at the stake. Once she took these
+vows she had to observe them until the end of her days. If she
+married, as she might do to obtain the legal status of a married woman
+and enjoy the privileges of that position, she denied her husband
+conjugal rites, but provided him with a concubine who might bear him
+children, as Sarah did to Abraham. These nuns must not be confused
+with the unmoral women who were associated with the temples of Ishtar
+and other love goddesses of shady repute.
+
+The freedom secured by a married woman had its legal limitations. If
+she became a widow, for instance, she could not remarry without the
+consent of a judge, to whom she was expected to show good cause for
+the step she proposed to take. Punishments for breaches of the
+marriage law were severe. Adultery was a capital crime; the guilty
+parties were bound together and thrown into the river. If it happened,
+however, that the wife of a prisoner went to reside with another man
+on account of poverty, she was acquitted and allowed to return to her
+husband after his release. In cases where no plea of poverty could be
+urged the erring women were drowned. The wife of a soldier who had
+been taken prisoner by an enemy was entitled to a third part of her
+husband's estate if her son was a minor, the remainder was held in
+trust. The husband could enter into possession of all his property
+again if he happened to return home.
+
+Divorce was easily obtained. A husband might send his wife away either
+because she was childless or because he fell in love with another
+woman. Incompatibility of temperament was also recognized as
+sufficient reason for separation. A woman might hate her husband and
+wish to leave him. "If", the Code sets forth, "she is careful and is
+without blame, and is neglected by her husband who has deserted her",
+she can claim release from the marriage contract. But if she is found
+to have another lover, and is guilty of neglecting her duties, she is
+liable to be put to death.
+
+A married woman possessed her own property. Indeed, the value of her
+marriage dowry was always vested in her. When, therefore, she divorced
+her husband, or was divorced by him, she was entitled to have her
+dowry refunded and to return to her father's house. Apparently she
+could claim maintenance from her father.
+
+A woman could have only one husband, but a man could have more than
+one wife. He might marry a secondary wife, or concubine, because he
+was without offspring, but "the concubine", the Code lays down, "shall
+not rank with the wife". Another reason for second marriage recognized
+by law was a wife's state of health. In such circumstances a man could
+not divorce his sickly wife. He had to support her in his house as
+long as she lived.
+
+Children were the heirs of their parents, but if a man during his
+lifetime gifted his property to his wife, and confirmed it on "a
+sealed tablet", the children could have no claim, and the widow was
+entitled to leave her estate to those of her children she preferred;
+but she could not will any portion of it to her brothers. In ordinary
+cases the children of a first marriage shared equally the estate of a
+father with those of a second marriage. If a slave bore children to
+her employer, their right to inheritance depended on whether or not
+the father had recognized them as his offspring during his lifetime. A
+father might legally disown his son if the young man was guilty of
+criminal practices.
+
+The legal rights of a vestal virgin were set forth in detail. If she
+had received no dowry from her father when she took vows of celibacy,
+she could claim after his death one-third of the portion of a son. She
+could will her estate to anyone she favoured, but if she died
+intestate her brothers were her heirs. When, however, her estate
+consisted of fields or gardens allotted to her by her father, she
+could not disinherit her legal heirs. The fields or gardens might be
+worked during her lifetime by her brothers if they paid rent, or she
+might employ a manager on the "share system".
+
+Vestal virgins and married women were protected against the slanderer.
+Any man who "pointed the finger" against them unjustifiably was
+charged with the offence before a judge, who could sentence him to
+have his forehead branded. It was not difficult, therefore, in ancient
+Babylonia to discover the men who made malicious and unfounded
+statements regarding an innocent woman. Assaults on women were
+punished according to the victim's rank; even slaves were protected.
+
+Women appear to have monopolized the drink traffic. At any rate, there
+is no reference to male wine sellers. A female publican had to conduct
+her business honestly, and was bound to accept a legal tender. If she
+refused corn and demanded silver, when the value of the silver by
+"grand weight" was below the price of corn, she was prosecuted and
+punished by being thrown into the water. Perhaps she was simply
+ducked. As much may be inferred from the fact that when she was found
+guilty of allowing rebels to meet in her house, she was put to death.
+
+The land laws were strict and exacting. A tenant could be penalized
+for not cultivating his holding properly. The rent paid was a
+proportion of the crop, but the proportion could be fixed according to
+the average yield of a district, so that a careless or inefficient
+tenant had to bear the brunt of his neglect or want of skill. The
+punishment for allowing a field to lie fallow was to make a man hoe
+and sow it and then hand it over to his landlord, and this applied
+even to a man who leased unreclaimed land which he had contracted to
+cultivate. Damage done to fields by floods after the rent was paid was
+borne by the cultivator; but if it occurred before the corn was reaped
+the landlord's share was calculated in proportion to the amount of the
+yield which was recovered. Allowance was also made for poor harvests,
+when the shortage was not due to the neglect of the tenant, but to
+other causes, and no interest was paid for borrowed money even if the
+farm suffered from the depredations of the tempest god; the
+moneylender had to share risks with borrowers. Tenants who neglected
+their dykes, however, were not exempted from their legal liabilities,
+and their whole estates could be sold to reimburse their creditors.
+
+The industrious were protected against the careless. Men who were
+negligent about controlling the water supply, and caused floods by
+opening irrigation ditches which damaged the crops of their
+neighbours, had to pay for the losses sustained, the damages being
+estimated according to the average yield of a district. A tenant who
+allowed his sheep to stray on to a neighbour's pasture had to pay a
+heavy fine in corn at the harvest season, much in excess of the value
+of the grass cropped by his sheep. Gardeners were similarly subject to
+strict laws. All business contracts had to be conducted according to
+the provisions of the Code, and in every case it was necessary that a
+proper record should be made on clay tablets. As a rule a dishonest
+tenant or trader had to pay sixfold the value of the sum under dispute
+if the judge decided in court against his claim.
+
+The law of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth was strictly
+observed in Babylonia. A freeman who destroyed an eye of a freeman had
+one of his own destroyed; if he broke a bone, he had a bone broken.
+Fines were imposed, however, when a slave was injured. For striking a
+gentleman, a commoner received sixty lashes, and the son who smote his
+father had his hands cut off. A slave might have his ears cut off for
+assaulting his master's son.
+
+Doctors must have found their profession an extremely risky one. No
+allowance was made for what is nowadays known as a "professional
+error". A doctor's hands were cut off if he opened a wound with a
+metal knife and his patient afterwards died, or if a man lost his eye
+as the result of an operation. A slave who died under a doctor's hands
+had to be replaced by a slave, and if a slave lost his eye, the doctor
+had to pay half the man's market value to the owner. Professional fees
+were fixed according to a patient's rank. Gentlemen had to pay five
+shekels of silver to a doctor who set a bone or restored diseased
+flesh, commoners three shekels, and masters for their slaves two
+shekels. There was also a scale of fees for treating domesticated
+animals, and it was not over-generous. An unfortunate surgeon who
+undertook to treat an ox or ass suffering from a severe wound had to
+pay a quarter of its price to its owner if it happened to die. A
+shrewd farmer who was threatened with the loss of an animal must have
+been extremely anxious to engage the services of a surgeon.
+
+It is not surprising, after reviewing this part of the Hammurabi Code,
+to find Herodotus stating bluntly that the Babylonians had no
+physicians. "When a man is ill", he wrote, "they lay him in the public
+square, and the passers-by come up to him, and if they have ever had
+his disease themselves, or have known anyone who has suffered from it,
+they give him advice, recommending him to do whatever they found good
+in their own case, or in the case known to them; and no one is allowed
+to pass the sick man in silence without asking him what his ailment
+is." One might imagine that Hammurabi had legislated the medical
+profession out of existence, were it not that letters have been found
+in the Assyrian library of Ashur-banipal which indicate that skilled
+physicians were held in high repute. It is improbable, however, that
+they were numerous. The risks they ran in Babylonia may account for
+their ultimate disappearance in that country.
+
+No doubt patients received some benefit from exposure in the streets
+in the sunlight and fresh air, and perhaps, too, from some of the old
+wives' remedies which were gratuitously prescribed by passers-by. In
+Egypt, where certain of the folk cures were recorded on papyri, quite
+effective treatment was occasionally given, although the "medicines"
+were exceedingly repugnant as a rule; ammonia, for instance, was taken
+with the organic substances found in farmyards. Elsewhere some
+wonderful instances of excellent folk cures have come to light,
+especially among isolated peoples, who have received them interwoven
+in their immemorial traditions. A medical man who has investigated
+this interesting subject in the Scottish Highlands has shown that "the
+simple observation of the people was the starting-point of our fuller
+knowledge, however complete we may esteem it to be". For dropsy and
+heart troubles, foxglove, broom tops, and juniper berries, which have
+reputations "as old as the hills", are "the most reliable medicines in
+our scientific armoury at the present time". These discoveries of the
+ancient folks have been "merely elaborated in later days". Ancient
+cures for indigestion are still in use. "Tar water, which was a remedy
+for chest troubles, especially for those of a consumptive nature, has
+endless imitations in our day"; it was also "the favourite remedy for
+skin diseases". No doubt the present inhabitants of Babylonia, who
+utilize bitumen as a germicide, are perpetuating an ancient folk
+custom.
+
+This medical man who is being quoted adds: "The whole matter may be
+summed up, that we owe infinitely more to the simple nature study of
+our people in the great affair of health than we owe to all the later
+science."[269]
+
+Herodotus, commenting on the custom of patients taking a census of
+folk cures in the streets, said it was one of the wisest institutions
+of the Babylonian people. It is to be regretted that he did not enter
+into details regarding the remedies which were in greatest favour in
+his day. His data would have been useful for comparative purposes.
+
+So far as can be gathered from the clay tablets, faith cures were not
+unknown, and there was a good deal of quackery. If surgery declined,
+as a result of the severe restrictions which hampered progress in an
+honourable profession, magic flourished like tropical fungi. Indeed,
+the worker of spells was held in high repute, and his operations were
+in most cases allowed free play. There are only two paragraphs in the
+Hammurabi Code which deal with magical practices. It is set forth that
+if one man cursed another and the curse could not be justified, the
+perpetrator of it must suffer the death penalty. Provision was also
+made for discovering whether a spell had been legally imposed or not.
+The victim was expected to plunge himself in a holy river. If the
+river carried him away it was held as proved that he deserved his
+punishment, and "the layer of the spell" was given possession of the
+victim's house. A man who could swim was deemed to be innocent; he
+claimed the residence of "the layer of the spell", who was promptly
+put to death. With this interesting glimpse of ancient superstition
+the famous Code opens, and then strikes a modern note by detailing the
+punishments for perjury and the unjust administration of law in the
+courts.
+
+The poor sufferers who gathered at street corners in Babylon to make
+mute appeal for cures believed that they were possessed by evil
+spirits. Germs of disease were depicted by lively imaginations as
+invisible demons, who derived nourishment from the human body. When a
+patient was wasted with disease, growing thinner and weaker and more
+bloodless day by day, it was believed that a merciless vampire was
+sucking his veins and devouring his flesh. It had therefore to be
+expelled by performing a magical ceremony and repeating a magical
+formula. The demon was either driven or enticed away.
+
+A magician had to decide in the first place what particular demon was
+working evil. He then compelled its attention and obedience by
+detailing its attributes and methods of attack, and perhaps by naming
+it. Thereafter he suggested how it should next act by releasing a
+raven, so that it might soar towards the clouds like that bird, or by
+offering up a sacrifice which it received for nourishment and as
+compensation. Another popular method was to fashion a waxen figure of
+the patient and prevail upon the disease demon to enter it. The figure
+was then carried away to be thrown in the river or burned in a fire.
+
+Occasionally a quite effective cure was included in the ceremony. As
+much is suggested by the magical treatment of toothache. First of all
+the magician identified the toothache demon as "the worm ". Then he
+recited its history, which is as follows: After Anu created the
+heavens, the heavens created the earth, the earth created the rivers,
+the rivers created the canals, the canals created the marshes, and
+last of all the marshes created "the worm".
+
+This display of knowledge compelled the worm to listen, and no doubt
+the patient was able to indicate to what degree it gave evidence of
+its agitated mind. The magician continued:
+
+    Came the worm and wept before Shamash,
+    Before Ea came her tears:
+    "What wilt thou give me for my food,
+    What wilt thou give me to devour?"
+
+One of the deities answered: "I will give thee dried bones and scented
+... wood"; but the hungry worm protested:
+
+    "Nay, what are these dried bones of thine to me?
+    Let me drink among the teeth;
+    And set me on the gums
+    That I may devour the blood of the teeth,
+    And of their gums destroy their strength--
+    Then shall I hold the bolt of the door."
+
+The magician provided food for "the worm", and the following is his
+recipe: "Mix beer, the plant sa-kil-bir, and oil together; put it on
+the tooth and repeat Incantation." No doubt this mixture soothed the
+pain, and the sufferer must have smiled gladly when the magician
+finished his incantation by exclaiming:
+
+    "So must thou say this, O Worm!
+    May Ea smite thee with the might of his fist."[270]
+
+Headaches were no doubt much relieved when damp cloths were wrapped
+round a patient's head and scented wood was burned beside him, while
+the magician, in whom so much faith was reposed, droned out a mystical
+incantation. The curative water was drawn from the confluence of two
+streams and was sprinkled with much ceremony. In like manner the
+evil-eye curers, who still operate in isolated districts in these
+islands, draw water from under bridges "over which the dead and the
+living pass",[271] and mutter charms and lustrate victims.
+
+Headaches were much dreaded by the Babylonians. They were usually the
+first symptoms of fevers, and the demons who caused them were supposed
+to be bloodthirsty and exceedingly awesome. According to the charms,
+these invisible enemies of man were of the brood of Nergal. No house
+could be protected against them. They entered through keyholes and
+chinks of doors and windows; they crept like serpents and stank like
+mice; they had lolling tongues like hungry dogs.
+
+Magicians baffled the demons by providing a charm. If a patient
+"touched iron"--meteoric iron, which was the "metal of heaven"--relief
+could be obtained. Or, perhaps, the sacred water would dispel the evil
+one; as the drops trickled from the patient's face, so would the fever
+spirit trickle away. When a pig was offered up in sacrifice as a
+substitute for a patient, the wicked spirit was commanded to depart
+and allow a kindly spirit to take its place--an indication that the
+Babylonians, like the Germanic peoples, believed that they were
+guarded by spirits who brought good luck.
+
+The numerous incantations which were inscribed on clay tablets and
+treasured in libraries, do not throw much light on the progress of
+medical knowledge, for the genuine folk cures were regarded as of
+secondary importance, and were not as a rule recorded. But these
+metrical compositions are of special interest, in so far as they
+indicate how poetry originated and achieved widespread popularity
+among ancient peoples. Like the religious dance, the earliest poems
+were used for magical purposes. They were composed in the first place
+by men and women who were supposed to be inspired in the literal
+sense; that is, possessed by spirits. Primitive man associated
+"spirit" with "breath", which was the "air of life", and identical
+with wind. The poetical magician drew in a "spirit", and thus received
+inspiration, as he stood on some sacred spot on the mountain summit,
+amidst forest solitudes, beside a' whispering stream, or on the
+sounding shore. As Burns has sung:
+
+    The muse, nae poet ever fand her,
+    Till by himsel' he learn'd to wander,
+    Adown some trottin' burn's meander,
+      An' no think lang:
+    O sweet to stray, an' pensive ponder
+      A heart-felt sang!
+
+Or, perhaps, the bard received inspiration by drinking magic water
+from the fountain called Hippocrene, or the skaldic mead which dripped
+from the moon.
+
+The ancient poet did not sing for the mere love of singing: he knew
+nothing about "Art for Art's sake". His object in singing appears to
+have been intensely practical. The world was inhabited by countless
+hordes of spirits, which were believed to be ever exercising
+themselves to influence mankind. The spirits caused suffering; they
+slew victims; they brought misfortune; they were also the source of
+good or "luck ". Man regarded spirits emotionally; he conjured them
+with emotion; he warded off their attacks with emotion; and his
+emotions were given rhythmical expression by means of metrical magical
+charms.
+
+Poetic imagery had originally a magical significance; if the ocean was
+compared to a dragon, it was because it was supposed to be inhabited
+by a storm-causing dragon; the wind whispered because a spirit
+whispered in it. Love lyrics were charms to compel the love god to
+wound or possess a maiden's heart--to fill it, as an Indian charm sets
+forth, with "the yearning of the Apsaras (fairies)"; satires conjured
+up evil spirits to injure a victim; and heroic narratives chanted at
+graves were statements made to the god of battle, so that he might
+award the mighty dead by transporting him to the Valhal of Odin or
+Swarga of Indra.
+
+Similarly, music had magical origin as an imitation of the voices of
+spirits--of the piping birds who were "Fates", of the wind high and
+low, of the thunder roll, of the bellowing sea. So the god Pan piped
+on his reed bird-like notes, Indra blew his thunder horn, Thor used
+his hammer like a drumstick, Neptune imitated on his "wreathed horn"
+the voice of the deep, the Celtic oak god Dagda twanged his windy
+wooden harp, and Angus, the Celtic god of spring and love, came
+through budding forest ways with a silvern harp which had strings of
+gold, echoing the tuneful birds, the purling streams, the whispering
+winds, and the rustling of scented fir and blossoming thorn.
+
+Modern-day poets and singers, who voice their moods and cast the spell
+of their moods over readers and audiences, are the representatives of
+ancient magicians who believed that moods were caused by the spirits
+which possessed them--the rhythmical wind spirits, those harpers of
+the forest and songsters of ocean.
+
+The following quotations from Mr. R.C. Thompson's translations of
+Babylonian charms will serve to illustrate their poetic qualities:--
+
+      Fever like frost hath come upon the land.
+
+    Fever hath blown upon the man as the wind blast,
+    It hath smitten the man and humbled his pride.
+
+    Headache lieth like the stars of heaven in the desert and hath no
+        praise;
+    Pain in the head and shivering like a scudding cloud turn unto the
+        form of man.
+
+        Headache whose course like the dread windstorm none knoweth.
+
+        Headache roareth over the desert, blowing like the wind,
+        Flashing like lightning, it is loosed above and below,
+        It cutteth off him, who feareth not his god, like a reed ...
+        From amid mountains it hath descended upon the land.
+
+            Headache ... a rushing hag-demon,
+            Granting no rest, nor giving kindly sleep ...
+            Whose shape is as the whirlwind.
+            Its appearance is as the darkening heavens,
+            And its face as the deep shadow of the forest.
+
+        Sickness ... breaking the fingers as a rope of wind ...
+        Flashing like a heavenly star, it cometh like the dew.
+
+These early poets had no canons of Art, and there were no critics to
+disturb their meditations. Many singers had to sing and die ere a
+critic could find much to say. In ancient times, therefore, poets had
+their Golden Age--they were a law unto themselves. Even the "minors"
+were influential members of society.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+THE GOLDEN AGE OF BABYLONIA
+
+
+  Rise of the Sun God--Amorites and Elamites struggle for
+  Ascendancy--The Conquering Ancestors of Hammurabi--Sumerian Cities
+  Destroyed--Widespread Race Movements--Phoenician Migration from
+  Persian Gulf--Wanderings of Abraham and Lot--Biblical References to
+  Hittites and Amorites--Battles of Four Kings with Five--Amraphel,
+  Arioch, and Tidal--Hammurabi's Brilliant Reign--Elamite Power
+  Stamped Out--Babylon's Great General and Statesman--The Growth of
+  Commerce, Agriculture, and Education--An Ancient School--Business
+  and Private Correspondence--A Love Letter--Postal
+  System--Hammurabi's Successors--The Earliest Kassites--The Sealand
+  Dynasty--Hittite Raid on Babylon and Hyksos Invasion of Egypt.
+
+
+Sun worship came into prominence in its most fully developed form
+during the obscure period which followed the decline of the Dynasty of
+Isin. This was probably due to the changed political conditions which
+brought about the ascendancy for a time of Larsa, the seat of the
+Sumerian sun cult, and of Sippar, the seat of the Akkadian sun cult.
+Larsa was selected as the capital of the Elamite conquerors, while
+their rivals, the Amorites, appear to have first established their
+power at Sippar.
+
+Babbar, the sun god of Sippar, whose Semitic name was Shamash, must
+have been credited with the early successes of the Amorites, who
+became domiciled under his care, and it was possibly on that account
+that the ruling family subsequently devoted so much attention to his
+worship in Merodach's city of Babylon, where a sun temple was erected,
+and Shamash received devout recognition as an abstract deity of
+righteousness and law, who reflected the ideals of well organized and
+firmly governed communities.
+
+The first Amoritic king was Sumu-abum, but little is known regarding
+him except that he reigned at Sippar. He was succeeded by Sumu-la-ilu,
+a deified monarch, who moved from Sippar to Babylon, the great wall of
+which he either repaired or entirely reconstructed in his fifth year.
+With these two monarchs began the brilliant Hammurabi, or First
+Dynasty of Babylonia, which endured for three centuries. Except
+Sumu-abum, who seems to stand alone, all its kings belonged to the
+same family, and son succeeded father in unbroken succession.
+
+Sumu-la-ilu was evidently a great general and conqueror of the type of
+Thothmes III of Egypt. His empire, it is believed, included the rising
+city states of Assyria, and extended southward as far as ancient
+Lagash.
+
+Of special interest on religious as well as political grounds was his
+association with Kish. That city had become the stronghold of a rival
+family of Amoritic kings, some of whom were powerful enough to assert
+their independence. They formed the Third Dynasty of Kish. The local
+god was Zamama, the Tammuz-like deity, who, like Nin-Girsu of Lagash,
+was subsequently identified with Merodach of Babylon. But prominence
+was also given to the moon god Nannar, to whom a temple had been
+erected, a fact which suggests that sun worship was not more
+pronounced among the Semites than the Arabians, and may not, indeed,
+have been of Semitic origin at all. Perhaps the lunar temple was a
+relic of the influential Dynasty of Ur.
+
+Sumu-la-ilu attacked and captured Kish, but did not slay
+Bunutakhtunila, its king, who became his vassal. Under the
+overlordship of Sumu-la-ilu, the next ruler of Kish, whose name was
+Immerum, gave prominence to the public worship of Shamash. Politics
+and religion went evidently hand in hand.
+
+Sumu-la-ilu strengthened the defences of Sippar, restored the wall and
+temple of Cuthah, and promoted the worship of Merodach and his consort
+Zerpanituᵐ at Babylon. He was undoubtedly one of the forceful
+personalities of his dynasty. His son, Zabium, had a short but
+successful reign, and appears to have continued the policy of his
+father in consolidating the power of Babylon and securing the
+allegiance of subject cities. He enlarged Merodach's temple, E-sagila,
+restored the Kish temple of Zamama, and placed a golden image of
+himself in the temple of the sun god at Sippar. Apil-Sin, his son,
+surrounded Babylon with a new wall, erected a temple to Ishtar, and
+presented a throne of gold and silver to Shamash in that city, while
+he also strengthened Borsippa, renewed Nergal's temple at Cuthah, and
+dug canals.
+
+The next monarch was Sin-muballit, son of Apil-Sin and father of
+Hammurabi. He engaged himself in extending and strengthening the area
+controlled by Babylon by building city fortifications and improving
+the irrigation system. It is recorded that he honoured Shamash with
+the gift of a shrine and a golden altar adorned with jewels. Like
+Sumu-la-ilu, he was a great battle lord, and was specially concerned
+in challenging the supremacy of Elam in Sumeria and in the western
+land of the Amorites.
+
+For a brief period a great conqueror, named Rim-Anum, had established
+an empire which extended from Kish to Larsa, but little is known
+regarding him. Then several kings flourished at Larsa who claimed to
+have ruled over Ur. The first monarch with an Elamite name who became
+connected with Larsa was Kudur-Mabug, son of Shimti-Shilkhak, the
+father of Warad-Sin and Rim-Sin.
+
+It was from one of these Elamite monarchs that Sin-muballit captured
+Isin, and probably the Elamites were also the leaders of the army of
+Ur which he had routed before that event took place. He was not
+successful, however, in driving the Elamites from the land, and
+possibly he arranged with them a treaty of peace or perhaps of
+alliance.
+
+Much controversy has been waged over the historical problems connected
+with this disturbed age. The records are exceedingly scanty, because
+the kings were not in the habit of commemorating battles which proved
+disastrous to them, and their fragmentary references to successes are
+not sufficient to indicate what permanent results accrued from their
+various campaigns. All we know for certain is that for a considerable
+period, extending perhaps over a century, a tremendous and disastrous
+struggle was waged at intervals, which desolated middle Babylonia. At
+least five great cities were destroyed by fire, as is testified by the
+evidence accumulated by excavators. These were Lagash, Umma,
+Shurruppak, Kisurra, and Adab. The ancient metropolis of Lagash, whose
+glory had been revived by Gudea and his kinsmen, fell soon after the
+rise of Larsa, and lay in ruins until the second century B.C., when,
+during the Seleucid Period, it was again occupied for a time. From its
+mound at Tello, and the buried ruins of the other cities, most of the
+relics of ancient Sumerian civilization have been recovered.
+
+It was probably during one of the intervals of this stormy period that
+the rival kings in Babylonia joined forces against a common enemy and
+invaded the Western Land. Probably there was much unrest there. Great
+ethnic disturbances were in progress which were changing the political
+complexion of Western Asia. In addition to the outpourings of Arabian
+peoples into Palestine and Syria, which propelled other tribes to
+invade Mesopotamia, northern Babylonia, and Assyria, there was also
+much unrest all over the wide area to north and west of Elam. Indeed,
+the Elamite migration into southern Babylonia may not have been
+unconnected with the southward drift of roving bands from Media and
+the Iranian plateau.
+
+It is believed that these migrations were primarily due to changing
+climatic conditions, a prolonged "Dry Cycle" having caused a shortage
+of herbage, with the result that pastoral peoples were compelled to go
+farther and farther afield in quest of "fresh woods and pastures new".
+Innumerable currents and cross currents were set in motion once these
+race movements swept towards settled districts either to flood them
+with human waves, or surround them like islands in the midst of
+tempest-lashed seas, fretting the frontiers with restless fury, and
+ever groping for an inlet through which to flow with irresistible
+force.
+
+The Elamite occupation of Southern Babylonia appears to have propelled
+migrations of not inconsiderable numbers of its inhabitants. No doubt
+the various sections moved towards districts which were suitable for
+their habits of life. Agriculturists, for instance, must have shown
+preference for those areas which were capable of agricultural
+development, while pastoral folks sought grassy steppes and valleys,
+and seafarers the shores of alien seas.
+
+Northern Babylonia and Assyria probably attracted the tillers of the
+soil. But the movements of seafarers must have followed a different
+route. It is possible that about this time the Phoenicians began to
+migrate towards the "Upper Sea". According to their own traditions
+their racial cradle was on the northern shore of the Persian Gulf. So
+far as we know, they first made their appearance on the Mediterranean
+coast about 2000 B.C., where they subsequently entered into
+competition as sea traders with the mariners of ancient Crete.
+Apparently the pastoral nomads pressed northward through Mesopotamia
+and towards Canaan. As much is suggested by the Biblical narrative
+which deals with the wanderings of Terah, Abraham, and Lot. Taking
+with them their "flocks and herds and tents ", and accompanied by
+wives, and families, and servants, they migrated, it is stated, from
+the Sumerian city of Ur northwards to Haran "and dwelt there". After
+Terah's death the tribe wandered through Canaan and kept moving
+southward, unable, it would seem, to settle permanently in any
+particular district. At length "there was a famine in the land"--an
+interesting reference to the "Dry Cycle"--and the wanderers found it
+necessary to take refuge for a time in Egypt. There they appear to
+have prospered. Indeed, so greatly did their flocks and herds increase
+that when they returned to Canaan they found that "the land was not
+able to bear them", although the conditions had improved somewhat
+during the interval. "There was", as a result, "strife between the
+herdmen of Abram's cattle and the herdmen of Lot's cattle."
+
+It is evident that the area which these pastoral flocks were allowed
+to occupy must have been strictly circumscribed, for more than once it
+is stated significantly that "the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled
+in the land". The two kinsmen found it necessary, therefore, to part
+company. Lot elected to go towards Sodom in the plain of Jordan, and
+Abraham then moved towards the plain of Mamre, the Amorite, in the
+Hebron district.[272] With Mamre, and his brothers, Eshcol and Aner,
+the Hebrew patriarch formed a confederacy for mutual protection.[273]
+
+Other tribes which were in Palestine at this period included the
+Horites, the Rephaims, the Zuzims, the Zamzummims, and the Emims.
+These were probably representatives of the older stocks. Like the
+Amorites, the Hittites or "children of Heth" were evidently "late
+comers", and conquerors. When Abraham purchased the burial cave at
+Hebron, the landowner with whom he had to deal was one Ephron, son of
+Zohar, the Hittite.[274] This illuminating statement agrees with what
+we know regarding Hittite expansion about 2000 B.C. The "Hatti" or
+"Khatti" had constituted military aristocracies throughout Syria and
+extended their influence by forming alliances. Many of their settlers
+were owners of estates, and traders who intermarried with the
+indigenous peoples and the Arabian invaders. As has been indicated
+(Chapter I), the large-nosed Armenoid section of the Hittite
+confederacy appear to have contributed to the racial blend known
+vaguely as the Semitic. Probably the particular group of Amorites with
+whom Abraham became associated had those pronounced Armenoid traits
+which can still be traced in representatives of the Hebrew people. Of
+special interest in this connection is Ezekiel's declaration regarding
+the ethnics of Jerusalem: "Thy birth and thy nativity", he said, "is
+of the land of Canaan; thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother an
+Hittite."[275]
+
+It was during Abraham's residence in Hebron that the Western Land was
+raided by a confederacy of Babylonian and Elamite battle lords. The
+Biblical narrative which deals with this episode is of particular
+interest and has long engaged the attention of European scholars:
+
+"And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel (Hammurabi) king of
+Shinar (Sumer), Arioch (Eri-aku or Warad-Sin) king of Ellasar (Larsa),
+Chedor-laomer (Kudur-Mabug) king of Elam, and Tidal (Tudhula) king of
+nations; that these made war with Bera king of Sodom, and with Birsha
+king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, and Shemeber king of Zeboiim,
+and the king of Bela, which is Zoar. All these joined together in the
+vale of Siddim, which is the salt sea. Twelve years they served
+Chedor-laomer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled."[276]
+Apparently the Elamites had conquered part of Syria after entering
+southern Babylonia.
+
+Chedor-laomer and his allies routed the Rephaims, the Zuzims, the
+Emims, the Horites and others, and having sacked Sodom and Gomorrah,
+carried away Lot and "his goods". On hearing of this disaster, Abraham
+collected a force of three hundred and eighteen men, all of whom were
+no doubt accustomed to guerrilla warfare, and delivered a night attack
+on the tail of the victorious army which was withdrawing through the
+area afterwards allotted to the Hebrew tribe of Dan. The surprise was
+complete; Abraham "smote" the enemy and "pursued them unto Hobah,
+which is on the left hand of Damascus. And he brought back all the
+goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the
+women also, and the people."[277]
+
+The identification of Hammurabi with Amraphel is now generally
+accepted. At first the guttural "h", which gives the English rendering
+"Khammurabi", presented a serious difficulty, but in time the form
+"Ammurapi" which appears on a tablet became known, and the conclusion
+was reached that the softer "h" sound was used and not the guttural.
+The "l" in the Biblical Amraphel has suggested "Ammurapi-ilu",
+"Hammurabi, the god", but it has been argued, on the other hand, that
+the change may have been due to western habitual phonetic conditions,
+or perhaps the slight alteration of an alphabetical sign.
+Chedor-laomer, identified with Kudur-Mabug, may have had several local
+names. One of his sons, either Warad-Sin or Rim-Sin, but probably the
+former, had his name Semitized as Eri-Aku, and this variant appears in
+inscriptions. "Tidal, king of nations", has not been identified. The
+suggestion that he was "King of the Gutium" remains in the realm of
+suggestion. Two late tablets have fragmentary inscriptions which read
+like legends with some historical basis. One mentions Kudur-lahmal
+(?Chedor-laomer) and the other gives the form "Kudur-lahgumal", and
+calls him "King of the land of Elam". Eri-Eaku (?Eri-aku) and Tudhula
+(?Tidal) are also mentioned. Attacks had been delivered on Babylon,
+and the city and its great temple E-sagila were flooded. It is
+asserted that the Elamites "exercised sovereignty in Babylon" for a
+period. These interesting tablets have been published by Professor
+Pinches.
+
+The fact that the four leaders of the expedition to Canaan are all
+referred to as "kings" in the Biblical narrative need not present any
+difficulty. Princes and other subject rulers who governed under an
+overlord might be and, as a matter of fact, were referred to as kings.
+"I am a king, son of a king", an unidentified monarch recorded on one
+of the two tablets just referred to. Kudur-Mabug, King of Elam, during
+his lifetime called his son Warad-Sin (Eri-Aku = Arioch) "King of
+Larsa". It is of interest to note, too, in connection with the
+Biblical narrative regarding the invasion of Syria and Palestine, that
+he styled himself "overseer of the Amurru (Amorites)".
+
+No traces have yet been found in Palestine of its conquest by the
+Elamites, nor have the excavators been able to substantiate the claim
+of Lugal-zaggizi of a previous age to have extended his empire to the
+shores of the Mediterranean. Any relics which these and other eastern
+conquerors may have left were possibly destroyed by the Egyptians and
+Hittites.
+
+When Hammurabi came to the throne he had apparently to recognize the
+overlordship of the Elamite king or his royal son at Larsa. Although
+Sin-muballit had captured Isin, it was retaken, probably after the
+death of the Babylonian war-lord, by Rim-Sin, who succeeded his
+brother Warad-Sin, and for a time held sway in Lagash, Nippur, and
+Erech, as well as Larsa.
+
+It was not until the thirty-first year of his reign that Hammurabi
+achieved ascendancy over his powerful rival. Having repulsed an
+Elamite raid, which was probably intended to destroy the growing power
+of Babylon, he "smote down Rim-Sin", whose power he reduced almost to
+vanishing point. For about twenty years afterwards that subdued
+monarch lived in comparative obscurity; then he led a force of allies
+against Hammurabi's son and successor, Samsu-iluna, who defeated him
+and put him to death, capturing, in the course of his campaign, the
+revolting cities of Emutbalum, Erech, and Isin. So was the last
+smouldering ember of Elamite power stamped out in Babylonia.
+
+Hammurabi, statesman and general, is one of the great personalities of
+the ancient world. No more celebrated monarch ever held sway in
+Western Asia. He was proud of his military achievements, but preferred
+to be remembered as a servant of the gods, a just ruler, a father of
+his people, and "the shepherd that gives peace". In the epilogue to
+his code of laws he refers to "the burden of royalty", and declares
+that he "cut off the enemy" and "lorded it over the conquered" so that
+his subjects might have security. Indeed, his anxiety for their
+welfare was the most pronounced feature of his character. "I carried
+all the people of Sumer and Akkad in my bosom", he declared in his
+epilogue. "By my protection, I guided in peace its brothers. By my
+wisdom I provided for them." He set up his stele, on which the legal
+code was inscribed, so "that the great should not oppress the weak"
+and "to counsel the widow and orphan", and "to succour the injured....
+The king that is gentle, king of the city, exalted am I."[278]
+
+Hammurabi was no mere framer of laws but a practical administrator as
+well. He acted as supreme judge, and his subjects could appeal to him
+as the Romans could to Caesar. Nor was any case too trivial for his
+attention. The humblest man was assured that justice would be done if
+his grievance were laid before the king. Hammurabi was no respecter of
+persons, and treated alike all his subjects high and low. He punished
+corrupt judges, protected citizens against unjust governors, reviewed
+the transactions of moneylenders with determination to curb
+extortionate demands, and kept a watchful eye on the operations of
+taxgatherers.
+
+There can be little doubt but that he won the hearts of his subjects,
+who enjoyed the blessings of just administration under a well-ordained
+political system. He must also have endeared himself to them as an
+exemplary exponent of religious tolerance. He respected the various
+deities in whom the various groups of people reposed their faith,
+restored despoiled temples, and re-endowed them with characteristic
+generosity. By so doing he not only afforded the pious full freedom
+and opportunity to perform their religious ordinances, but also
+promoted the material welfare of his subjects, for the temples were
+centres of culture and the priests were the teachers of the young.
+Excavators have discovered at Sippar traces of a school which dates
+from the Hammurabi Dynasty. Pupils learned to read and write, and
+received instruction in arithmetic and mensuration. They copied
+historical tablets, practised the art of composition, and studied
+geography.
+
+Although there were many professional scribes, a not inconsiderable
+proportion of the people of both sexes were able to write private and
+business letters. Sons wrote from a distance to their fathers when in
+need of money then as now, and with the same air of undeserved
+martyrdom and subdued but confident appeal. One son indited a long
+complaint regarding the quality of the food he was given in his
+lodgings. Lovers appealed to forgetful ladies, showing great concern
+regarding their health. "Inform me how it fares with thee," one wrote
+four thousand years ago. "I went up to Babylon so that I might meet
+thee, but did not, and was much depressed. Let me know why thou didst
+go away so that I may be made glad. And do come hither. Ever have care
+of thy health, remembering me." Even begging-letter writers were not
+unknown. An ancient representative of this class once wrote to his
+employer from prison. He expressed astonishment that he had been
+arrested, and, having protested his innocence, he made touching appeal
+for little luxuries which were denied to him, adding that the last
+consignment which had been forwarded had never reached him.
+
+Letters were often sent by messengers who were named, but there also
+appears to have been some sort of postal system. Letter carriers,
+however, could not have performed their duties without the assistance
+of beasts of burden. Papyri were not used as in Egypt. Nor was ink
+required. Babylonian letters were shapely little bricks resembling
+cushions. The angular alphabetical characters, bristling with
+thorn-like projections, were impressed with a wedge-shaped stylus on
+tablets of soft clay which were afterwards carefully baked in an oven.
+Then the letters were placed in baked clay envelopes, sealed and
+addressed, or wrapped in pieces of sacking transfixed by seals. If the
+ancient people had a festive season which was regarded, like the
+European Yuletide or the Indian Durga fortnight, as an occasion
+suitable for the general exchange of expressions of goodwill, the
+Babylonian streets and highways must have been greatly congested by
+the postal traffic, while muscular postmen worked overtime
+distributing the contents of heavy and bulky letter sacks. Door to
+door deliveries would certainly have presented difficulties. Wood
+being dear, everyone could not afford doors, and some houses were
+entered by stairways leading to the flat and partly open roofs.
+
+King Hammurabi had to deal daily with a voluminous correspondence. He
+received reports from governors in all parts of his realm, legal
+documents containing appeals, and private communications from
+relatives and others. He paid minute attention to details, and was
+probably one of the busiest men in Babylonia. Every day while at home,
+after worshipping Merodach at E-sagila, he dictated letters to his
+scribes, gave audiences to officials, heard legal appeals and issued
+interlocutors, and dealt with the reports regarding his private
+estates. He looks a typical man of affairs in sculptured
+representations--shrewd, resolute, and unassuming, feeling "the
+burden of royalty", but ever ready and well qualified to discharge his
+duties with thoroughness and insight. His grasp of detail was equalled
+only by his power to conceive of great enterprises which appealed to
+his imagination. It was a work of genius on his part to weld together
+that great empire of miscellaneous states extending from southern
+Babylonia to Assyria, and from the borders of Elam to the
+Mediterranean coast, by a universal legal Code which secured
+tranquillity and equal rights to all, promoted business, and set
+before his subjects the ideals of right thinking and right living.
+
+Hammurabi recognized that conquest was of little avail unless followed
+by the establishment of a just and well-arranged political system, and
+the inauguration of practical measures to secure the domestic,
+industrial, and commercial welfare of the people as a whole. He
+engaged himself greatly, therefore, in developing the natural
+resources of each particular district. The network of irrigating
+canals was extended in the homeland so that agriculture might prosper:
+these canals also promoted trade, for they were utilized for
+travelling by boat and for the distribution of commodities. As a
+result of his activities Babylon became not only the administrative,
+but also the commercial centre of his Empire--the London of Western
+Asia--and it enjoyed a spell of prosperity which was never surpassed
+in subsequent times. Yet it never lost its pre-eminent position
+despite the attempts of rival states, jealous of its glory and
+influence, to suspend its activities. It had been too firmly
+established during the Hammurabi Age, which was the Golden Age of
+Babylonia, as the heartlike distributor and controller of business
+life through a vast network of veins and arteries, to be displaced by
+any other Mesopotamian city to pleasure even a mighty monarch. For two
+thousand years, from the time of Hammurabi until the dawn of the
+Christian era, the city of Babylon remained amidst many political
+changes the metropolis of Western Asiatic commerce and culture, and
+none was more eloquent in its praises than the scholarly pilgrim from
+Greece who wondered at its magnificence and reverenced its
+antiquities.
+
+Hammurabi's reign was long as it was prosperous. There is no general
+agreement as to when he ascended the throne--some say in 2123 B.C.,
+others hold that it was after 2000 B.C.--but it is certain that he
+presided over the destinies of Babylon for the long period of
+forty-three years.
+
+There are interesting references to the military successes of his
+reign in the prologue to the legal Code. It is related that when he
+"avenged Larsa", the seat of Rim-Sin, he restored there the temple of
+the sun god. Other temples were built up at various ancient centres,
+so that these cultural organizations might contribute to the welfare
+of the localities over which they held sway. At Nippur he thus
+honoured Enlil, at Eridu the god Ea, at Ur the god Sin, at Erech the
+god Anu and the goddess Nana (Ishtar), at Kish the god Zamama and the
+goddess Ma-ma, at Cuthah the god Nergal, at Lagash the god Nin-Girsu,
+while at Adab and Akkad, "celebrated for its wide squares", and other
+centres he carried out religious and public works. In Assyria he
+restored the colossus of Ashur, which had evidently been carried away
+by a conqueror, and he developed the canal system of Nineveh.
+
+Apparently Lagash and Adab had not been completely deserted during his
+reign, although their ruins have not yielded evidence that they
+flourished after their fall during the long struggle with the
+aggressive and plundering Elamites.
+
+Hammurabi referred to himself in the Prologue as "a king who commanded
+obedience in all the four quarters". He was the sort of benevolent
+despot whom Carlyle on one occasion clamoured vainly for--not an
+Oriental despot in the commonly accepted sense of the term. As a
+German writer puts it, his despotism was a form of Patriarchal
+Absolutism. "When Marduk (Merodach)", as the great king recorded,
+"brought me to direct all people, and commissioned me to give
+judgment, I laid down justice and right in the provinces, I made all
+flesh to prosper."[279] That was the keynote of his long life; he
+regarded himself as the earthly representative of the Ruler of
+all--Merodach, "the lord god of right", who carried out the decrees of
+Anu, the sky god of Destiny.
+
+The next king, Samsu-iluna, reigned nearly as long as his illustrious
+father, and similarly lived a strenuous and pious life. Soon after he
+came to the throne the forces of disorder were let loose, but, as has
+been stated, he crushed and slew his most formidable opponent,
+Rim-Sin, the Elamite king, who had gathered together an army of
+allies. During his reign a Kassite invasion was repulsed. The earliest
+Kassites, a people of uncertain racial affinities, began to settle in
+the land during Hammurabi's lifetime. Some writers connect them with
+the Hittites, and others with the Iranians, vaguely termed as
+Indo-European or Indo-Germanic folk. Ethnologists as a rule regard
+them as identical with the Cossaei, whom the Greeks found settled
+between Babylon and Media, east of the Tigris and north of Elam. The
+Hittites came south as raiders about a century later. It is possible
+that the invading Kassites had overrun Elam and composed part of
+Rim-Sin's army. After settled conditions were secured many of them
+remained in Babylonia, where they engaged like their pioneers in
+agricultural pursuits. No doubt they were welcomed in that capacity,
+for owing to the continuous spread of culture and the development of
+commerce, rural labour had become scarce and dear. Farmers had a
+long-standing complaint, "The harvest truly is plenteous, but the
+labourers are few".[280] "Despite the existence of slaves, who were
+for the most part domestic servants, there was", writes Mr. Johns,
+"considerable demand for free labour in ancient Babylonia. This is
+clear from the large number of contracts relating to hire which have
+come down to us.... As a rule, the man was hired for the harvest and
+was free directly after. But there are many examples in which the term
+of service was different--one month, half a year, or a whole year....
+Harvest labour was probably far dearer than any other, because of its
+importance, the skill and exertion demanded, and the fact that so many
+were seeking for it at once." When a farm worker was engaged he
+received a shekel for "earnest money" or arles, and was penalized for
+non-appearance or late arrival.[281]
+
+So great was the political upheaval caused by Rim-Sin and his allies
+and imitators in southern Babylonia, that it was not until the
+seventeenth year of his reign that Samsu-iluna had recaptured Erech
+and Ur and restored their walls. Among other cities which had to be
+chastised was ancient Akkad, where a rival monarch endeavoured to
+establish himself. Several years were afterwards spent in building new
+fortifications, setting up memorials in temples, and cutting and
+clearing canals. On more than one occasion during the latter part of
+his reign he had to deal with aggressive bands of Amorites.
+
+The greatest danger to the Empire, however, was threatened by a new
+kingdom which had been formed in Bit-Jakin, a part of Sealand which
+was afterwards controlled by the mysterious Chaldeans. Here may have
+collected evicted and rebel bands of Elamites and Sumerians and
+various "gentlemen of fortune" who were opposed to the Hammurabi
+regime. After the fall of Rim-Sin it became powerful under a king
+called Ilu-ma-ilu. Samsu-iluna conducted at least two campaigns
+against his rival, but without much success. Indeed, he was in the end
+compelled to retreat with considerable loss owing to the difficult
+character of that marshy country.
+
+Abeshu, the next Babylonian king, endeavoured to shatter the cause of
+the Sealanders, and made it possible for himself to strike at them by
+damming up the Tigris canal. He achieved a victory, but the wily
+Ilu-ma-ilu eluded him, and after a reign of sixty years was succeeded
+by his son, Kiannib. The Sealand Dynasty, of which little is known,
+lasted for over three and a half centuries, and certain of its later
+monarchs were able to extend their sway over part of Babylonia, but
+its power was strictly circumscribed so long as Hammurabi's
+descendants held sway.
+
+During Abeshu's reign of twenty-eight years, of which but scanty
+records survive, he appears to have proved an able statesman and
+general. He founded a new city called Lukhaia, and appears to have
+repulsed a Kassite raid.
+
+His son, Ammiditana, who succeeded him, apparently inherited a
+prosperous and well-organized Empire, for during the first fifteen
+years of his reign he attended chiefly to the adornment of temples and
+other pious undertakings. He was a patron of the arts with
+archaeological leanings, and displayed traits which suggest that he
+inclined, like Sumu-la-ilu, to ancestor worship. Entemena, the pious
+patesi of Lagash, whose memory is associated with the famous silver
+vase decorated with the lion-headed eagle form of Nin-Girsu, had been
+raised to the dignity of a god, and Ammiditana caused his statue to be
+erected so that offerings might be made to it. He set up several
+images of himself also, and celebrated the centenary of the accession
+to the throne of his grandfather, Samsu-iluna, "the warrior lord", by
+unveiling his statue with much ceremony at Kish. About the middle of
+his reign he put down a Sumerian rising, and towards its close had to
+capture a city which is believed to be Isin, but the reference is too
+obscure to indicate what political significance attached to this
+incident. His son, Ammizaduga, reigned for over twenty years quite
+peacefully so far as is known, and was succeeded by Samsuditana, whose
+rule extended over a quarter of a century. Like Ammiditana, these two
+monarchs set up images of themselves as well as of the gods, so that
+they might be worshipped, no doubt. They also promoted the interests
+of agriculture and commerce, and incidentally increased the revenue
+from taxation by paying much attention to the canals and extending the
+cultivatable areas.
+
+But the days of the brilliant Hammurabi Dynasty were drawing to a
+close. It endured for about a century longer than the Twelfth Dynasty
+of Egypt, which came to an end, according to the Berlin calculations,
+in 1788 B.C. Apparently some of the Hammurabi and Amenemhet kings were
+contemporaries, but there is no evidence that they came into direct
+touch with one another. It was not until at about two centuries after
+Hammurabi's day that Egypt first invaded Syria, with which, however,
+it had for a long period previously conducted a brisk trade. Evidently
+the influence of the Hittites and their Amoritic allies predominated
+between Mesopotamia and the Delta frontier of Egypt, and it is
+significant to find in this connection that the "Khatti" or "Hatti"
+were referred to for the first time in Egypt during the Twelfth
+Dynasty, and in Babylonia during the Hammurabi Dynasty, sometime
+shortly before or after 2000 B.C. About 1800 B.C. a Hittite raid
+resulted in the overthrow of the last king of the Hammurabi family at
+Babylon. The Hyksos invasion of Egypt took place after 1788 B.C.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+RISE OF THE HITTITES, MITANNIANS, KASSITES, HYKSOS, AND ASSYRIANS
+
+
+  The War God of Mountaineers--Antiquity of Hittite
+  Civilization--Prehistoric Movements of "Broad Heads"--Evidence of
+  Babylon and Egypt--Hittites and Mongolians--Biblical References to
+  Hittites in Canaan--Jacob's Mother and her Daughters-in-law--Great
+  Father and Great Mother Cults--History in Mythology--The Kingdom of
+  Mitanni--Its Aryan Aristocracy--The Hyksos Problem--The Horse in
+  Warfare--Hittites and Mitannians--Kassites and Mitannians--Hyksos
+  Empire in Asia--Kassites overthrow Sealand Dynasty--Egyptian
+  Campaigns in Syria--Assyria in the Making--Ethnics of
+  Genesis--Nimrod as Merodach--Early Conquerors of Assyria--Mitannian
+  Overlords--Tell-el-Amarna Letters--Fall of Mitanni--Rise of Hittite
+  and Assyrian Empires--Egypt in Eclipse--Assyrian and Babylonian
+  Rivalries.
+
+
+When the Hammurabi Dynasty, like the Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt, is
+found to be suffering languid decline, the gaps in the dulled
+historical records are filled with the echoes of the thunder god,
+whose hammer beating resounds among the northern mountains. As this
+deity comes each year in Western Asia when vegetation has withered and
+after fruits have dropped from trees, bringing tempests and black
+rainclouds to issue in a new season of growth and fresh activity, so
+he descended from the hills in the second millennium before the
+Christian era as the battle lord of invaders and the stormy herald of
+a new age which was to dawn upon the ancient world.
+
+He was the war god of the Hittites as well as of the northern
+Amorites, the Mitannians, and the Kassites; and he led the Aryans from
+the Iranian steppes towards the verdurous valley of the Punjab. His
+worshippers engraved his image with grateful hands on the beetling
+cliffs of Cappadocian chasms in Asia Minor, where his sway was
+steadfast and pre-eminent for long centuries. In one locality he
+appears mounted on a bull wearing a fringed and belted tunic with
+short sleeves, a conical helmet, and upturned shoes, while he grasps
+in one hand the lightning symbol, and in the other a triangular bow
+resting on his right shoulder. In another locality he is the bringer
+of grapes and barley sheaves. But his most familiar form is the
+bearded and thick-set mountaineer, armed with a ponderous thunder
+hammer, a flashing trident, and a long two-edged sword with a
+hemispherical knob on the hilt, which dangles from his belt, while an
+antelope or goat wearing a pointed tiara prances beside him. This
+deity is identical with bluff, impetuous Thor of northern Europe,
+Indra of the Himalayas, Tarku of Phrygia, and Teshup or Teshub of
+Armenia and northern Mesopotamia, Sandan, the Hercules of Cilicia,
+Adad or Hadad of Amurru and Assyria, and Ramman, who at an early
+period penetrated Akkad and Sumer in various forms. His Hittite name
+is uncertain, but in the time of Rameses II he was identified with
+Sutekh (Set). He passed into southern Europe as Zeus, and became "the
+lord" of the deities of the Aegean and Crete.
+
+The Hittites who entered Babylon about 1800 B.C., and overthrew the
+last king of the Hammurabi Dynasty, may have been plundering raiders,
+like the European Gauls of a later age, or a well-organized force of a
+strong, consolidated power, which endured for a period of uncertain
+duration. They were probably the latter, for although they carried off
+Merodach and Zerpanituᵐ, these idols were not thrust into the melting
+pot, but retained apparently for political reasons.
+
+These early Hittites are "a people of the mist". More than once in
+ancient history casual reference is made to them; but on most of these
+occasions they soon vanish suddenly behind their northern mountains.
+The explanation appears to be that at various periods great leaders
+arose who were able to weld together the various tribes, and make
+their presence felt in Western Asia. But when once the organization
+broke down, either on account of internal rivalries or the influence
+of an outside power, they lapsed back again into a state of political
+insignificance in the affairs of the ancient world. It is possible
+that about 1800 B.C. the Hittite confederacy was controlled by an
+ambitious king who had dreams of a great empire, and was accordingly
+pursuing a career of conquest.
+
+Judging from what we know of the northern worshippers of the hammer
+god in later times, it would appear that when they were referred to as
+the Hatti or Khatti, the tribe of that name was the dominating power
+in Asia Minor and north Syria. The Hatti are usually identified with
+the broad-headed mountaineers of Alpine or Armenoid type--the
+ancestors of the modern Armenians. Their ancient capital was at
+Boghaz-Köi, the site of Pteria, which was destroyed, according to the
+Greeks, by Croesus, the last King of Lydia, in the sixth century B.C.
+It was strongly situated in an excellent pastoral district on the
+high, breezy plateau of Cappadocia, surrounded by high mountains, and
+approached through narrow river gorges, which in winter were blocked
+with snow.
+
+Hittite civilization was of great antiquity. Excavations which have
+been conducted at an undisturbed artificial mound at Sakje-Geuzi have
+revealed evidences of a continuous culture which began to flourish
+before 3000 B.C.[282] In one of the lower layers occurred that
+particular type of Neolithic yellow-painted pottery, with black
+geometric designs, which resembles other specimens of painted fabrics
+found in Turkestan by the Pumpelly expedition; in Susa, the capital of
+Elam, and its vicinity, by De Morgan; in the Balkan peninsula by
+Schliemann; in a First Dynasty tomb at Abydos in Egypt by Petrie; and
+in the late Neolithic and early Bronze Age (Minoan) strata of Crete by
+Evans. It may be that these interesting relics were connected with the
+prehistoric drift westward of the broad-headed pastoral peoples who
+ultimately formed the Hittite military aristocracy.
+
+According to Professor Elliot Smith, broad-headed aliens from Asia
+Minor first reached Egypt at the dawn of history. There they blended
+with the indigenous tribes of the Mediterranean or Brown Race. A
+mesocephalic skull then became common. It is referred to as the Giza
+type, and has been traced by Professor Elliot Smith from Egypt to the
+Punjab, but not farther into India.[283]
+
+During the early dynasties this skull with alien traits was confined
+chiefly to the Delta region and the vicinity of Memphis, the city of
+the pyramid builders. It is not improbable that the Memphite god Ptah
+may have been introduced into Egypt by the invading broad heads. This
+deity is a world artisan like Indra, and is similarly associated with
+dwarfish artisans; he hammers out the copper sky, and therefore links
+with the various thunder gods--Tarku, Teshup, Adad, Ramman, &c, of the
+Asian mountaineers. Thunderstorms were of too rare occurrence in Egypt
+to be connected with the food supply, which has always depended on the
+river Nile. Ptah's purely Egyptian characteristics appear to have been
+acquired after fusion with Osiris-Seb, the Nilotic gods of inundation,
+earth, and vegetation. The ancient god Set (Sutekh), who became a
+demon, and was ultimately re-exalted as a great deity during the
+Nineteenth Dynasty, may also have had some connection with the
+prehistoric Hatti.
+
+Professor Elliot Smith, who has found alien traits in the mummies of
+the Rameses kings, is convinced that the broad-headed folks who
+entered Europe by way of Asia Minor, and Egypt through the Delta, at
+the close of the Neolithic Age, represent "two streams of the same
+Asiatic folk".[284] The opinion of such an authority cannot be lightly
+set aside.
+
+The earliest Egyptian reference to the Kheta, as the Hittites were
+called, was made in the reign of the first Amenemhet of the Twelfth
+Dynasty, who began to reign about 2000 B.C. Some authorities,
+including Maspero,[285] are of opinion that the allusion to the Hatti
+which is found in the Babylonian _Book of Omens_ belongs to the
+earlier age of Sargon of Akkad and Naram-Sin, but Sayce favours the
+age of Hammurabi. Others would connect the Gutium, or men of Kutu,
+with the Kheta or Hatti. Sayce has expressed the opinion that the
+Biblical Tidal, identified with Tudkhul or Tudhula, "king of nations",
+the ally of Arioch, Amraphel, and Chedor-laomer, was a Hittite king,
+the "nations" being the confederacy of Asia Minor tribes controlled by
+the Hatti. "In the fragments of the Babylonian story of Chedor-laomer
+published by Dr. Pinches", says Professor Sayce, "the name of
+Tid^{c}al is written Tudkhul, and he is described as King of the
+_Umman Manda_, or Nations of the North, of which the Hebrew _Goyyim_
+is a literal translation. Now the name is Hittite. In the account of
+the campaign of Rameses II against the Hittites it appears as
+Tid^{c}al, and one of the Hittite kings of Boghaz-Köi bears the same
+name, which is written as Dud-khaliya in cuneiform."[286]
+
+One of the racial types among the Hittites wore pigtails. These head
+adornments appear on figures in certain Cappadocian sculptures and on
+Hittite warriors in the pictorial records of a north Syrian campaign
+of Rameses II at Thebes. It is suggestive, therefore, to find that on
+the stele of Naram-Sin of Akkad, the mountaineers who are conquered by
+that battle lord wear pigtails also. Their split robes are unlike the
+short fringed tunics of the Hittite gods, but resemble the long split
+mantles worn over their tunics by high dignitaries like King
+Tarku-dimme, who figures on a famous silver boss of an ancient Hittite
+dagger. Naram-Sin inherited the Empire of Sargon of Akkad, which
+extended to the Mediterranean Sea. If his enemies were not natives of
+Cappadocia, they may have been the congeners of the Hittite pigtailed
+type in another wooded and mountainous country.
+
+It has been suggested that these wearers of pigtails were Mongolians.
+But although high cheek bones and oblique eyes occurred in ancient
+times, and still occur, in parts of Asia Minor, suggesting occasional
+Mongolian admixture with Ural-Altaic broad heads, the Hittite
+pigtailed warriors must not be confused with the true small-nosed
+Mongols of north-eastern Asia. The Egyptian sculptors depicted them
+with long and prominent noses, which emphasize their strong Armenoid
+affinities.
+
+Other tribes in the Hittite confederacy included the representatives
+of the earliest settlers from North Africa of Mediterranean racial
+stock. These have been identified with the Canaanites, and especially
+the agriculturists among them, for the Palestinian Hittites are also
+referred to as Canaanites in the Bible, and in one particular
+connection under circumstances which afford an interesting glimpse of
+domestic life in those far-off times. When Esau, Isaac's eldest son,
+was forty years of age, "he took to wife Judith the daughter of Beeri
+the Hittite, and Bashemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite"[287].
+Apparently the Hittite ladies considered themselves to be of higher
+caste than the indigenous peoples and the settlers from other
+countries, for when Ezekiel declared that the mother of Jerusalem was
+a Hittite he said: "Thou art thy mother's daughter, that lotheth her
+husband and her children."[288] Esau's marriage was "a grief of mind
+unto Isaac and to Rebekah".[287] The Hebrew mother seems to
+have entertained fears that her favourite son Jacob would
+fall a victim to the allurements of other representatives of
+the same stock as her superior and troublesome daughters-in-law,
+for she said to Isaac: "I am weary of my life
+because of the daughters of Heth; if Jacob take a wife
+of the daughters of Heth, such as these which are of the
+daughters of the land, what good shall my life do me?"[289]
+Isaac sent for Jacob, "and charged him, and said unto
+him, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of
+Canaan. Arise, go to Padan-aram, to the house of
+Bethuel, thy mother's father; and take thee a wife from
+thence of the daughters of Laban, thy mother's brother."[290]
+From these quotations two obvious deductions may be
+drawn: the Hebrews regarded the Hittites "of the land"
+as one with the Canaanites, the stocks having probably
+been so well fused, and the worried Rebekah had the
+choosing of Jacob's wife or wives from among her own
+relations in Mesopotamia who were of Sumerian stock
+and kindred of Abraham.[291] It is not surprising to find
+traces of Sumerian pride among the descendants of the
+evicted citizens of ancient Ur, especially when brought
+into association with the pretentious Hittites.
+
+Evidence of racial blending in Asia Minor is also afforded by Hittite
+mythology. In the fertile agricultural valleys and round the shores of
+that great Eur-Asian "land bridge" the indigenous stock was also of
+the Mediterranean race, as Sergi and other ethnologists have
+demonstrated. The Great Mother goddess was worshipped from the
+earliest times, and she bore various local names. At Comana in Pontus
+she was known to the Greeks as Ma, a name which may have been as old
+as that of the Sumerian Mama (the creatrix), or Mamituᵐ (goddess of
+destiny); in Armenia she was Anaitis; in Cilicia she was Ate ('Atheh
+of Tarsus); while in Phrygia she was best known as Cybele, mother of
+Attis, who links with Ishtar as mother and wife of Tammuz, Aphrodite
+as mother and wife of Adonis, and Isis as mother and wife of Osiris.
+The Great Mother was in Phoenicia called Astarte; she was a form of
+Ishtar, and identical with the Biblical Ashtoreth. In the Syrian city
+of Hierapolis she bore the name of Atargatis, which Meyer, with whom
+Frazer agrees, considers to be the Greek rendering of the Aramaic
+'Athar-'Atheh--the god 'Athar and the goddess 'Atheh. Like the
+"bearded Aphrodite", Atargatis may have been regarded as a bisexual
+deity. Some of the specialized mother goddesses, whose outstanding
+attributes reflected the history and politics of the states they
+represented, were imported into Egypt--the land of ancient mother
+deities--during the Empire period, by the half-foreign Rameses kings;
+these included the voluptuous Kadesh and the warlike Anthat. In every
+district colonized by the early representatives of the Mediterranean
+race, the goddess cult came into prominence, and the gods and the
+people were reputed to be descendants of the great Creatrix. This rule
+obtained as far distant as Ireland, where the Danann folk and the
+Danann gods were the children of the goddess Danu.
+
+Among the Hatti proper--that is, the broad-headed military
+aristocracy--the chief deity of the pantheon was the Great Father, the
+creator, "the lord of Heaven", the Baal. As Sutekh, Tarku, Adad, or
+Ramman, he was the god of thunder, rain, fertility, and war, and he
+ultimately acquired solar attributes. A famous rock sculpture at
+Boghaz-Köi depicts a mythological scene which is believed to represent
+the Spring marriage of the Great Father and the Great Mother,
+suggesting a local fusion of beliefs which resulted from the union of
+tribes of the god cult with tribes of the goddess cult. So long as the
+Hatti tribe remained the predominant partner in the Hittite
+confederacy, the supremacy was assured of the Great Father who
+symbolized their sway. But when, in the process of time, the power of
+the Hatti declined, their chief god "fell... from his predominant
+place in the religion of the interior", writes Dr. Garstang. "But the
+Great Mother lived on, being the goddess of the land."[292]
+
+In addition to the Hittite confederacy of Asia Minor and North Syria,
+another great power arose in northern Mesopotamia. This was the
+Mitanni Kingdom. Little is known regarding it, except what is derived
+from indirect sources. Winckler believes that it was first established
+by early "waves" of Hatti people who migrated from the east.
+
+The Hittite connection is based chiefly on the following evidence. One
+of the gods of the Mitanni rulers was Teshup, who is identical with
+Tarku, the Thor of Asia Minor. The raiders who in 1800 B.C. entered
+Babylon, set fire to E-sagila, and carried off Merodach and his
+consort Zerpanituᵐ, were called the Hatti. The images of these deities
+were afterwards obtained from Khani (Mitanni).
+
+At a later period, when we come to know more about Mitanni from the
+letters of one of its kings to two Egyptian Pharaohs, and the Winckler
+tablets from Bog-haz-Köi, it is found that its military aristocracy
+spoke an Indo-European language, as is shown by the names of their
+kings--Saushatar, Artatama, Sutarna, Artashshumara, Tushratta, and
+Mattiuza. They worshipped the following deities:
+
+    Mi-it-ra, Uru-w-na, In-da-ra, and Na-sa-at-ti-ia--
+
+Mitra, Varuna, Indra, and Nasatyau (the "Twin Aswins" = Castor and
+Pollux)--whose names have been deciphered by Winckler. These gods were
+also imported into India by the Vedic Aryans. The Mitanni tribe (the
+military aristocracy probably) was called "Kharri", and some
+philologists are of opinion that it is identical with "Arya", which
+was "the normal designation in Vedic literature from the Rigveda
+onwards of an Aryan of the three upper classes".[293] Mitanni
+signifies "the river lands", and the descendants of its inhabitants,
+who lived in Cappadocia, were called by the Greeks "Mattienoi". "They
+are possibly", says Dr. Haddon, "the ancestors of the modern
+Kurds",[294] a conspicuously long-headed people, proverbial, like the
+ancient Aryo-Indians and the Gauls, for their hospitality and their
+raiding propensities.
+
+It would appear that the Mitannian invasion of northern Mesopotamia
+and the Aryan invasion of India represented two streams of diverging
+migrations from a common cultural centre, and that the separate groups
+of wanderers mingled with other stocks with whom they came into
+contact. Tribes of Aryan speech were associated with the Kassite
+invaders of Babylon, who took possession of northern Babylonia soon
+after the disastrous Hittite raid. It is believed that they came from
+the east through the highlands of Elam.
+
+For a period, the dating of which is uncertain, the Mitannians were
+overlords of part of Assyria, including Nineveh and even Asshur, as
+well as the district called "Musri" by the Assyrians, and part of
+Cappadocia. They also occupied the cities of Harran and Kadesh.
+Probably they owed their great military successes to their cavalry.
+The horse became common in Babylon during the Kassite Dynasty, which
+followed the Hammurabi, and was there called "the ass of the east", a
+name which suggests whence the Kassites and Mitannians came.
+
+The westward movement of the Mitannians in the second millennium B.C.
+may have been in progress prior to the Kassite conquest of Babylon and
+the Hyksos invasion of Egypt. Their relations in Mesopotamia and Syria
+with the Hittites and the Amorites are obscure. Perhaps they were for
+a time the overlords of the Hittites. At any rate it is of interest to
+note that when Thothmes III struck at the last Hyksos stronghold
+during his long Syrian campaign of about twenty years' duration, his
+operations were directly against Kadesh on the Orontes, which was then
+held by his fierce enemies the Mitannians of Naharina.[295]
+
+During the Hyksos Age the horse was introduced into Egypt. Indeed the
+Hyksos conquest was probably due to the use of the horse, which was
+domesticated, as the Pumpelly expedition has ascertained, at a remote
+period in Turkestan, whence it may have been obtained by the
+horse-sacrificing Aryo-Indians and the horse-sacrificing ancestors of
+the Siberian Buriats.
+
+If the Mitanni rulers were not overlords of the Hittites about 1800
+B.C., the two peoples may have been military allies of the Kassites.
+Some writers suggest, indeed, that the Kassites came from Mitanni.
+Another view is that the Mitannians were the Aryan allies of the
+Kassites who entered Babylon from the Elamite highlands, and that they
+afterwards conquered Mesopotamia and part of Cappadocia prior to the
+Hyksos conquest of Egypt. A third solution of the problem is that the
+Aryan rulers of the Mitannian Hittites were the overlords of northern
+Babylonia, which they included in their Mesopotamian empire for a
+century before the Kassites achieved political supremacy in the
+Tigro-Euphrates valley, and that they were also the leaders of the
+Hyksos invasion of Egypt, which they accomplished with the assistance
+of their Hittite and Amoritic allies.
+
+The first Kassite king of Babylonia of whom we have knowledge was
+Gandash. He adopted the old Akkadian title, "king of the four
+quarters", as well as the title "king of Sumer and Akkad", first used
+by the rulers of the Dynasty of Ur. Nippur appears to have been
+selected by Gandash as his capital, which suggests that his war and
+storm god, Shuqamuna, was identified with Bel Enlil, who as a "world
+giant" has much in common with the northern hammer gods. After
+reigning for sixteen years, Gandash was succeeded by his son, Agum the
+Great, who sat on the throne for twenty-two years. The great-grandson
+of Agum the Great was Agum II, and not until his reign were the
+statues of Merodach and his consort Zerpanituᵐ brought back to the
+city of Babylon. This monarch recorded that, in response to the oracle
+of Shamash, the sun god, he sent to the distant land of Khani
+(Mitanni) for the great deity and his consort. Babylon would therefore
+appear to have been deprived of Merodach for about two centuries. The
+Hittite-Mitanni raid is dated about 1800 B.C., and the rise of
+Gandash, the Kassite, about 1700 B.C. At least a century elapsed
+between the reigns of Gandash and Agum II. These calculations do not
+coincide, it will be noted, with the statement in a Babylonian hymn,
+that Merodach remained in the land of the Hatti for twenty-four years,
+which, however, may be either a priestly fiction or a reference to a
+later conquest. The period which followed the fall of the Hammurabi
+Dynasty of Babylonia is as obscure as the Hyksos Age of Egypt.
+
+Agum II, the Kassite king, does not state whether or not he waged war
+against Mitanni to recover Babylon's god Merodach. If, however, he was
+an ally of the Mitanni ruler, the transference of the deity may have
+been an ordinary diplomatic transaction. The possibility may also be
+suggested that the Hittites of Mitanni were not displaced by the Aryan
+military aristocracy until after the Kassites were firmly established
+in northern Babylonia between 1700 B.C. and 1600 B.C. This may account
+for the statements that Merodach was carried off by the Hatti and
+returned from the land of Khani.
+
+The evidence afforded by Egypt is suggestive in this connection. There
+was a second Hyksos Dynasty in that country. The later rulers became
+"Egyptianized" as the Kassites became "Babylonianized", but they were
+all referred to by the exclusive and sullen-Egyptians as "barbarians"
+and "Asiatics". They recognized the sun god of Heliopolis, but were
+also concerned in promoting the worship of Sutekh, a deity of sky and
+thunder, with solar attributes, whom Rameses II identified with the
+"Baal" of the Hittites. The Mitannians, as has been stated, recognized
+a Baal called Teshup, who was identical with Tarku of the Western
+Hittites and with their own tribal Indra also. One of the Hyksos
+kings, named Ian or Khian, the Ianias of Manetho, was either an
+overlord or the ally of an overlord, who swayed a great empire in
+Asia. His name has been deciphered on relics found as far apart as
+Knossos in Crete and Baghdad on the Tigris, which at the time was
+situated within the area of Kassite control. Apparently peaceful
+conditions prevailed during his reign over a wide extent of Asia and
+trade was brisk between far-distant centres of civilization. The very
+term Hyksos is suggestive in this connection. According to Breasted it
+signifies "rulers of countries", which compares with the Biblical
+"Tidal king of nations", whom Sayce, as has been indicated, regards as
+a Hittite monarch. When the Hittite hieroglyphics have been read and
+Mesopotamia thoroughly explored, light may be thrown on the relations
+of the Mitannians, the Hittites, the Hyksos, and the Kassites between
+1800 B.C. and 1500 B.C. It is evident that a fascinating volume of
+ancient history has yet to be written.
+
+The Kassites formed the military aristocracy of Babylonia, which was
+called Karduniash, for nearly six centuries. Agum II was the first of
+their kings who became thoroughly Babylonianized, and although he
+still gave recognition to Shuqamuna, the Kassite god of battle, he
+re-exalted Merodach, whose statue he had taken back from "Khani", and
+decorated E-sagila with gifts of gold, jewels, rare woods, frescoes,
+and pictorial tiles; he also re-endowed the priesthood. During the
+reign of his successor, Burnaburiash I, the Dynasty of Sealand came to
+an end.
+
+Little is known regarding the relations between Elam and Babylonia
+during the Kassite period. If the Kassite invaders crossed the Tigris
+soon after the raid of the Mitannian Hittites they must have
+previously overrun a great part of Elam, but strongly situated Susa
+may have for a time withstood their attacks. At first the Kassites
+held northern Babylonia only, while the ancient Sumerian area was
+dominated by the Sealand power, which had gradually regained strength
+during the closing years of the Hammurabi Dynasty. No doubt many
+northern Babylonian refugees reinforced its army.
+
+The Elamites, or perhaps the Kassites of Elam, appear to have made
+frequent attacks on southern Babylonia. At length Ea-gamil, king of
+Sealand, invaded Elam with purpose, no doubt, to shatter the power of
+his restless enemies. He was either met there, however, by an army
+from Babylon, or his country was invaded during his absence. Prince
+Ulamburiash, son of Burnaburiash I, defeated Ea-gamil and brought to
+an end the Sealand Dynasty which had been founded by Ilu-ma-ilu, the
+contemporary and enemy of Samsu-la-ilu, son of Hammurabi. Ulamburiash
+is referred to on a mace-head which was discovered at Babylon as "king
+of Sealand", and he probably succeeded his father at the capital. The
+whole of Babylonia thus came under Kassite sway.
+
+Agum III, a grandson of Ulamburiash, found it necessary, however, to
+invade Sealand, which must therefore have revolted. It was probably a
+centre of discontent during the whole period of Kassite ascendancy.
+
+After a long obscure interval we reach the period when the Hyksos
+power was broken in Egypt, that is, after 1580 B.C. The great Western
+Asiatic kingdoms at the time were the Hittite, the Mitannian, the
+Assyrian, and the Babylonian (Kassite). Between 1557 B.C. and 1501
+B.C. Thothmes I of Egypt was asserting his sway over part of Syria.
+Many years elapsed, however, before Thothmes III, who died in 1447
+B.C., established firmly, after waging a long war of conquest, the
+supremacy of Egypt between the Euphrates and the Mediterranean coast
+as far north as the borders of Asia Minor.
+
+"At this period", as Professor Flinders Petrie emphasizes, "the
+civilization of Syria was equal or superior to that of Egypt." Not
+only was there in the cities "luxury beyond that of the Egyptians",
+but also "technical work which could teach them". The Syrian soldiers
+had suits of scale armour, which afterwards were manufactured in
+Egypt, and they had chariots adorned with gold and silver and highly
+decorated, which were greatly prized by the Egyptians when they
+captured them, and reserved for royalty. "In the rich wealth of gold
+and silver vases", obtained from captured cities by the Nilotic
+warriors, "we see also", adds Petrie, "the sign of a people who were
+their (the Egyptians') equals, if not their superiors in taste and
+skill."[296] It is not to be wondered at, therefore, when the Pharaohs
+received tribute from Syria that they preferred it to be carried into
+Egypt by skilled workmen. "The keenness with which the Egyptians
+record all the beautiful and luxurious products of the Syrians shows
+that the workmen would probably be more in demand than other kinds or
+slave tribute."[297]
+
+One of the monarchs with whom Thothmes III corresponded was the king
+of Assyria. The enemies of Egypt in northern Mesopotamia were the
+Hittites and Mitannians, and their allies, and these were also the
+enemies of Assyria. But to enable us to deal with the new situation
+which was created by Egypt in Mesopotamia, it is necessary in the
+first place to trace the rise of Assyria, which was destined to become
+for a period the dominating power in Western Asia, and ultimately in
+the Nile valley also.
+
+The Assyrian group of cities grew up on the banks of the Tigris to the
+north of Babylonia, the mother country. The following Biblical
+references regarding the origins of the two states are of special
+interest:--
+
+    Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and
+    Japheth.... The sons of Ham: Cush, and Mizraim, and Phut, and
+    Canaan.... And Cush begat Nimrod; he began to be a mighty one in
+    the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the Lord; wherefore it is
+    said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord. And the
+    beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and
+    Calneh, in the land of Shinar. Out of that land went forth Asshur
+    and builded Nineveh, and the city Rehoboth, and Calah, and Resen
+    between Nineveh and Calah: the same is a great city. The children
+    of Shem: Elam and Asshur ... (_Genesis_, x, 1-22). The land of
+    Assyria ... and the land of Nimrod in the entrances thereof
+    (_Micah_, v, 6).
+
+It will be observed that the Sumero-Babylonians are Cushites or
+Hamites, and therefore regarded as racially akin to the
+proto-Egyptians of the Mediterranean race--an interesting confirmation
+of recent ethnological conclusions.
+
+Nimrod, the king of Babel (Babylon), in Shinar (Sumer), was, it would
+appear, a deified monarch who became ultimately identified with the
+national god of Babylonia. Professor Pinches has shown[298] that his
+name is a rendering of that of Merodach. In Sumerian Merodach was
+called Amaruduk or Amarudu, and in the Assyro-Babylonian language
+Marduk. By a process familiar to philologists the suffix "uk" was
+dropped and the rendering became Marad. The Hebrews added "ni" =
+"ni-marad", assimilating the name "to a certain extent to the 'niphal
+forms' of the Hebrew verbs and making a change", says Pinches, "in
+conformity with the genius of the Hebrew language".
+
+Asshur, who went out of Nimrod's country to build Nineveh, was a son
+of Shem--a Semite, and so far as is known it was after the Semites
+achieved political supremacy in Akkad that the Assyrian colonies were
+formed. Asshur may have been a subject ruler who was deified and
+became the god of the city of Asshur, which probably gave its name to
+Assyria.
+
+According to Herodotus, Nineveh was founded by King Ninus and Queen
+Semiramis. This lady was reputed to be the daughter of Derceto, the
+fish goddess, whom Pliny identified with Atargatis. Semiramis was
+actually an Assyrian queen of revered memory. She was deified and took
+the place of a goddess, apparently Nina, the prototype of Derceto.
+This Nina, perhaps a form of Damkina, wife of Ea, was the great mother
+of the Sumerian city of Nina, and there, and also at Lagash, received
+offerings of fish. She was one of the many goddesses of maternity
+absorbed by Ishtar. The Greek Ninus is regarded as a male form of her
+name; like Atargatis, she may have become a bisexual deity, if she was
+not always accompanied by a shadowy male form. Nineveh (Ninua) was
+probably founded or conquered by colonists from Nina or Lagash, and
+called after the fish goddess.
+
+All the deities of Assyria were imported from Babylonia except, as
+some hold, Ashur, the national god.[299] The theory that Ashur was
+identical with the Aryo-Indian Asura and the Persian Ahura is not
+generally accepted. One theory is that he was an eponymous hero who
+became the city god of Asshur, although the early form of his name,
+Ashir, presents a difficulty in this connection. Asshur was the first
+capital of Assyria. Its city god may have become the national god on
+that account.
+
+At an early period, perhaps a thousand years before Thothmes III
+battled with the Mitannians in northern Syria, an early wave of one of
+the peoples of Aryan speech may have occupied the Assyrian cities. Mr.
+Johns points out in this connection that the names of Ushpia, Kikia,
+and Adasi, who, according to Assyrian records, were early rulers in
+Asshur, "are neither Semitic nor Sumerian". An ancient name of the
+goddess of Nineveh was Shaushka, which compares with Shaushkash, the
+consort of Teshup, the Hittite-Mitanni hammer god. As many of the
+Mitannian names "are", according to Mr. Johns, "really Elamitic", he
+suggests an ethnic connection between the early conquerors of Assyria
+and the people of Elam.[300] Were the pre-Semitic Elamites originally
+speakers of an agglutinative language, like the Sumerians and
+present-day Basques, who were conquered in prehistoric times by a
+people of Aryan speech?
+
+The possibility is urged by Mr. Johns's suggestion that Assyria may
+have been dominated in pre-Semitic times by the congeners of the Aryan
+military aristocracy of Mitanni. As has been shown, it was Semitized
+by the Amoritic migration which, about 2000 B.C., brought into
+prominence the Hammurabi Dynasty of Babylon.
+
+A long list of kings with Semitic names held sway in the Assyrian
+cities during and after the Hammurabi Age. But not until well on in
+the Kassite period did any of them attain prominence in Western Asia.
+Then Ashur-bel-nish-eshu, King of Asshur, was strong enough to deal on
+equal terms with the Kassite ruler Kara-indash I, with whom he
+arranged a boundary treaty. He was a contemporary of Thothmes III of
+Egypt.
+
+After Thothmes III had secured the predominance of Egypt in Syria and
+Palestine he recognized Assyria as an independent power, and supplied
+its king with Egyptian gold to assist him, no doubt, in strengthening
+his territory against their common enemy. Gifts were also sent from
+Assyria to Egypt to fan the flame of cordial relations.
+
+The situation was full of peril for Saushatar, king of Mitanni.
+Deprived by Egypt of tribute-paying cities in Syria, his exchequer
+must have been sadly depleted. A standing army had to be maintained,
+for although Egypt made no attempt to encroach further on his
+territory, the Hittites were ever hovering on his north-western
+frontier, ready when opportunity offered to win back Cappadocia.
+Eastward, Assyria was threatening to become a dangerous rival. He had
+himself to pay tribute to Egypt, and Egypt was subsidizing his enemy.
+It was imperative on his part, therefore, to take action without
+delay. The power of Assyria had to be crippled; its revenues were
+required for the Mitannian exchequer. So Saushatar raided Assyria
+during the closing years of the reign of Thothmes III, or soon after
+his successor, Amenhotep II, ascended the Egyptian throne.
+
+Nothing is known from contemporary records regarding this campaign;
+but it can be gathered from the references of a later period that the
+city of Asshur was captured and plundered; its king, Ashur-nadin-akhe,
+ceased corresponding and exchanging gifts with Egypt. That Nineveh
+also fell is made clear by the fact that a descendant of Saushatar
+(Tushratta) was able to send to a descendant of Thothmes III at Thebes
+(Amenhotep III) the image of Ishtar (Shaushka) of Nineveh. Apparently
+five successive Mitannian kings were overlords of Assyria during a
+period which cannot be estimated at much less than a hundred years.
+
+Our knowledge regarding these events is derived chiefly from the
+Tell-el-Amarna letters, and the tablets found by Professor Hugo
+Winckler at Boghaz-Köi in Cappadocia, Asia Minor.
+
+The Tell-el-Amarna letters were discovered among the ruins of the
+palace of the famous Egyptian Pharaoh, Akhenaton, of the Eighteenth
+Dynasty, who died about 1358 B.C. During the winter of 1887-8 an
+Egyptian woman was excavating soil for her garden, when she happened
+upon the cellar of Akhenaton's foreign office in which the official
+correspondence had been stored. The "letters" were baked clay tablets
+inscribed with cuneiform alphabetical signs in the Babylonian-Assyrian
+language, which, like French in modern times, was the language of
+international diplomacy for many centuries in Western Asia after the
+Hyksos period.
+
+The Egyptian natives, ever so eager to sell antiquities so as to make
+a fortune and retire for life, offered some specimens of the tablets
+for sale. One or two were sent to Paris, where they were promptly
+declared to be forgeries, with the result that for a time the
+inscribed bricks were not a marketable commodity. Ere their value was
+discovered, the natives had packed them into sacks, with the result
+that many were damaged and some completely destroyed. At length,
+however, the majority of them reached the British Museum and the
+Berlin Museum, while others drifted into the museums at Cairo, St.
+Petersburg, and Paris. When they were deciphered, Mitanni was
+discovered, and a flood of light thrown on the internal affairs of
+Egypt and its relations with various kingdoms in Asia, while glimpses
+were also afforded of the life and manners of the times.
+
+The letters covered the reigns of Amenhotep III, the great-grandson of
+Thothmes III, and of his son Akhenaton, "the dreamer king", and
+included communications from the kings of Babylonia, Assyria, Mitanni,
+Cyprus, the Hittites, and the princes of Phoenicia and Canaan. The
+copies of two letters from Amenhotep III to Kallima-Sin, King of
+Babylonia, had also been preserved. One deals with statements made by
+Babylonian ambassadors, whom the Pharaoh stigmatizes as liars.
+Kallima-Sin had sent his daughter to the royal harem of Egypt, and
+desired to know if she was alive and well. He also asked for "much
+gold" to enable him to carry on the work of extending his temple. When
+twenty minas of gold was sent to him, he complained in due course that
+the quantity received was not only short but that the gold was not
+pure; it had been melted in the furnace, and less than five minas came
+out. In return he sent to Akhenaton two minas of enamel, and some
+jewels for his daughter, who was in the Egyptian royal harem.
+
+Ashur-uballit, king of Ashur, once wrote intimating to Akhenaton that
+he was gifting him horses and chariots and a jewel seal. He asked for
+gold to assist in building his palace. "In your country", he added,
+"gold is as plentiful as dust." He also made an illuminating statement
+to the effect that no ambassador had gone from Assyria to Egypt since
+the days of his ancestor Ashur-nadin-akhe. It would therefore appear
+that Ashur-uballit had freed part of Assyria from the yoke of Mitanni.
+
+The contemporary king of Mitanni was Tushratta. He corresponded both
+with his cousin Amenhotep III and his son-in-law Akhenaton. In his
+correspondence with Amenhotep III Tushratta tells that his kingdom had
+been invaded by the Hittites, but his god Teshup had delivered them
+into his hand, and he destroyed them; "not one of them", he declared,
+"returned to his own country". Out of the booty captured he sent
+Amenhotep several chariots and horses, and a boy and a girl. To his
+sister Gilu-khipa, who was one of the Egyptian Pharaoh's wives, he
+gifted golden ornaments and a jar of oil. In another letter Tushratta
+asked for a large quantity of gold "without measure". He complained
+that he did not receive enough on previous occasions, and hinted that
+some of the Egyptian gold looked as if it were alloyed with copper.
+Like the Assyrian king, he hinted that gold was as plentiful as dust
+in Egypt. His own presents to the Pharaoh included precious stones,
+gold ornaments, chariots and horses, and women (probably slaves). This
+may have been tribute. It was during the third Amenhotep's illness
+that Tushratta forwarded the Nineveh image of Ishtar to Egypt, and he
+made reference to its having been previously sent thither by his
+father, Sutarna.
+
+When Akhenaton came to the throne Tushratta wrote to him, desiring to
+continue the friendship which had existed for two or three generations
+between the kings of Mitanni and Egypt, and made complimentary
+references to "the distinguished Queen Tiy", Akhenaton's mother, who
+evidently exercised considerable influence in shaping Egypt's foreign
+policy. In the course of his long correspondence with the Pharaohs,
+Tushratta made those statements regarding his ancestors which have
+provided so much important data for modern historians of his kingdom.
+
+During the early part of the Tell-el-Amarna period, Mitanni was the
+most powerful kingdom in Western Asia. It was chiefly on that account
+that the daughters of its rulers were selected to be the wives and
+mothers of great Egyptian Pharaohs. But its numerous enemies were ever
+plotting to accomplish its downfall. Among these the foremost and most
+dangerous were the Hittites and the Assyrians.
+
+The ascendancy of the Hittites was achieved in northern Syria with
+dramatic suddenness. There arose in Asia Minor a great conqueror,
+named Subbi-luliuma, the successor of Hattusil I, who established a
+strong Hittite empire which endured for about two centuries. His
+capital was at Boghaz-Köi. Sweeping through Cappadocia, at the head of
+a finely organized army, remarkable for its mobility, he attacked the
+buffer states which owed allegiance to Mitanni and Egypt. City after
+city fell before him, until at length he invaded Mitanni; but it is
+uncertain whether or not Tushratta met him in battle. Large numbers of
+the Mitannians were, however, evicted and transferred to the land of
+the Hittites, where the Greeks subsequently found them, and where they
+are believed to be represented by the modern Kurds, the hereditary
+enemies of the Armenians.
+
+In the confusion which ensued, Tushratta was murdered by Sutarna II,
+who was recognized by Subbi-luliuma. The crown prince, Mattiuza, fled
+to Babylon, where he found protection, but was unable to receive any
+assistance. Ultimately, when the Hittite emperor had secured his sway
+over northern Syria, he deposed Sutarna II and set Mattiuza as his
+vassal on the throne of the shrunken Mitanni kingdom.
+
+Meanwhile the Egyptian empire in Asia had gone to pieces. When
+Akhenaton, the dreamer king, died in his palace at Tell-el-Amarna, the
+Khabiri were conquering the Canaanite cities which had paid him
+tribute, and the Hittite ruler was the acknowledged overlord of the
+Amorites.
+
+The star of Assyria was also in the ascendant. Its king,
+Ashur-uballit, who had corresponded with Akhenaton, was, like the
+Hittite king, Subbi-luliuma, a distinguished statesman and general,
+and similarly laid the foundations of a great empire. Before or after
+Subbi-luliuma invaded Tushratta's domains, he drove the Mitannians out
+of Nineveh, and afterwards overcame the Shubari tribes of Mitanni on
+the north-west, with the result that he added a wide extent of
+territory to his growing empire.
+
+He had previously thrust southward the Assyro-Babylonian frontier. In
+fact, he had become so formidable an opponent of Babylonia that his
+daughter had been accepted as the wife of Karakhardash, the Kassite
+king of that country. In time his grandson, Kadashman-Kharbe, ascended
+the Babylonian throne. This young monarch co-operated with his
+grandfather in suppressing the Suti, who infested the trade routes
+towards the west, and plundered the caravans of merchants and the
+messengers of great monarchs with persistent impunity.
+
+A reference to these bandits appears in one of the Tell-el-Amarna
+letters. Writing to Akhenaton, Ashur-uballit said: "The lands (of
+Assyria and Egypt) are remote, therefore let our messengers come and
+go. That your messengers were late in reaching you, (the reason is
+that) if the Suti had waylaid them, they would have been dead men. For
+if I had sent them, the Suti would have sent bands to waylay them;
+therefore I have retained them. My messengers (however), may they not
+(for this reason) be delayed."[301]
+
+Ashur-uballit's grandson extended his Babylonian frontier into Amurru,
+where he dug wells and erected forts to protect traders. The Kassite
+aristocracy, however, appear to have entertained towards him a strong
+dislike, perhaps because he was so closely associated with their
+hereditary enemies the Assyrians. He had not reigned for long when the
+embers of rebellion burst into flame and he was murdered in his
+palace. The Kassites then selected as their king a man of humble
+origin, named Nazibugash, who was afterwards referred to as "the son
+of nobody". Ashur-uballit deemed the occasion a fitting one to
+interfere in the affairs of Babylonia. He suddenly appeared at the
+capital with a strong army, overawed the Kassites, and seized and slew
+Nazibugash. Then he set on the throne his great grandson the infant
+Kurigalzu II, who lived to reign for fifty-five years.
+
+Ashur-uballit appears to have died soon after this event. He was
+succeeded by his son Bel-nirari, who carried on the policy of
+strengthening and extending the Assyrian empire. For many years he
+maintained excellent relations with his kinsman Kurigalzu II, but
+ultimately they came into conflict apparently over disputed territory.
+A sanguinary battle was fought, in which the Babylonians suffered
+heavily and were put to rout. A treaty of peace was afterwards
+arranged, which secured for the Assyrians a further extension of their
+frontier "from the borders of Mitanni as far as Babylonia". The
+struggle of the future was to be for the possession of Mesopotamia, so
+as to secure control over the trade routes.
+
+Thus Assyria rose from a petty state in a comparatively brief period
+to become the rival of Babylonia, at a time when Egypt at the
+beginning of its Nineteenth Dynasty was endeavouring to win back its
+lost empire in Syria, and the Hittite empire was being consolidated in
+the north.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+ASTROLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
+
+
+  Culture and Superstition--Primitive Star Myths--Naturalism,
+  Totemism, and Animism--Stars as Ghosts of Men, Giants, and Wild
+  Animals--Gods as Constellations and Planets--Babylonian and Egyptian
+  Mysticism--Osiris, Tammuz, and Merodach--Ishtar and Isis as Bisexual
+  Deities--The Babylonian Planetary Deities--Planets as Forms of
+  Tammuz and Ghosts of Gods--The Signs of the Zodiac--The "Four
+  Quarters"--Cosmic Periods in Babylonia, India, Greece, and
+  Ireland--Babylonian System of Calculation--Traced in Indian Yuga
+  System--Astrology--Beliefs of the Masses--Rise of
+  Astronomy--Conflicting Views of Authorities--Greece and
+  Babylonia--Eclipses Foretold--The Dial of Ahaz--Omens of Heaven and
+  Air--Biblical References to Constellations--The Past in the Present.
+
+
+The empire builders of old who enriched themselves with the spoils of
+war and the tribute of subject States, not only satisfied personal
+ambition and afforded protection for industrious traders and workers,
+but also incidentally promoted culture and endowed research. When a
+conqueror returned to his capital laden with treasure, he made
+generous gifts to the temples. He believed that his successes were
+rewards for his piety, that his battles were won for him by his god or
+goddess of war. It was necessary, therefore, that he should continue
+to find favour in the eyes of the deity who had been proved to be more
+powerful than the god of his enemies. Besides, he had to make
+provision during his absence on long campaigns, or while absorbed in
+administrative work, for the constant performance of religious rites,
+so that the various deities of water, earth, weather, and corn might
+be sustained or propitiated with sacrificial offerings, or held in
+magical control by the performance of ceremonial rites. Consequently
+an endowed priesthood became a necessity in all powerful and
+well-organized states.
+
+Thus came into existence in Babylonia, as elsewhere, as a result of
+the accumulation of wealth, a leisured official class, whose duties
+tended to promote intellectual activity, although they were primarily
+directed to perpetuate gross superstitious practices. Culture was
+really a by-product of temple activities; it flowed forth like pure
+gold from furnaces of thought which were walled up by the crude ores
+of magic and immemorial tradition.
+
+No doubt in ancient Babylonia, as in Europe during the Middle Ages,
+the men of refinement and intellect among the upper classes were
+attracted to the temples, while the more robust types preferred the
+outdoor life, and especially the life of the soldier.[302] The
+permanent triumphs of Babylonian civilization were achieved either by
+the priests, or in consequence of the influence they exercised. They
+were the grammarians and the scribes, the mathematicians and the
+philosophers of that ancient country, the teachers of the young, and
+the patrons of the arts and crafts. It was because the temples were
+centres of intellectual activity that the Sumerian language remained
+the language of culture for long centuries after it ceased to be the
+everyday speech of the people.
+
+Reference has already been made to the growth of art, and the
+probability that all the arts had their origin in magical practices,
+and to the growth of popular education necessitated by the
+centralization of business in the temples. It remains with us to deal
+now with priestly contributions to the more abstruse sciences. In
+India the ritualists among the Brahmans, who concerned themselves
+greatly regarding the exact construction and measurements of altars,
+gave the world algebra; the pyramid builders of Egypt, who erected
+vast tombs to protect royal mummies, had perforce to lay the
+groundwork of the science of geometry; and the Babylonian priests who
+elaborated the study of astrology became great astronomers because
+they found it necessary to observe and record accurately the movements
+of the heavenly bodies.
+
+From the earliest times of which we have knowledge, the religious
+beliefs of the Sumerians had vague stellar associations. But it does
+not follow that their myths were star myths to begin with. A people
+who called constellations "the ram", "the bull", "the lion", or "the
+scorpion", did not do so because astral groups suggested the forms of
+animals, but rather because the animals had an earlier connection with
+their religious life.
+
+At the same time it should be recognized that the mystery of the stars
+must ever have haunted the minds of primitive men. Night with all its
+terrors appealed more strongly to their imaginations than refulgent
+day when they felt more secure; they were concerned most regarding
+what they feared most. Brooding in darkness regarding their fate, they
+evidently associated the stars with the forces which influenced their
+lives--the ghosts of ancestors, of totems, the spirits that brought
+food or famine and controlled the seasons. As children see images in a
+fire, so they saw human life reflected in the starry sky. To the
+simple minds of early folks the great moon seemed to be the parent of
+the numerous twinkling and moving orbs. In Babylon, indeed, the moon
+was regarded as the father not only of the stars but of the sun also;
+there, as elsewhere, lunar worship was older than solar worship.
+
+Primitive beliefs regarding the stars were of similar character in
+various parts of the world. But the importance which they assumed in
+local mythologies depended in the first place on local phenomena. On
+the northern Eur-Asian steppes, for instance, where stars vanished
+during summer's blue nights, and were often obscured by clouds in
+winter, they did not impress men's minds so persistently and deeply as
+in Babylonia, where for the greater part of the year they gleamed in
+darkness through a dry transparent atmosphere with awesome intensity.
+The development of an elaborate system of astral myths, besides, was
+only possible in a country where the people had attained to a high
+degree of civilization, and men enjoyed leisure and security to make
+observations and compile records. It is not surprising, therefore, to
+find that Babylonia was the cradle of astronomy. But before this
+science had destroyed the theory which it was fostered to prove, it
+lay smothered for long ages in the debris of immemorial beliefs. It is
+necessary, therefore, in dealing with Babylonian astral myths to
+endeavour to approach within reasonable distance of the point of view,
+or points of view, of the people who framed them.
+
+Babylonian religious thought was of highly complex character. Its
+progress was ever hampered by blended traditions. The earliest
+settlers in the Tigro-Euphrates valley no doubt imported many crude
+beliefs which they had inherited from their Palaeolithic
+ancestors--the modes of thought which were the moulds of new theories
+arising from new experiences. When consideration is given to the
+existing religious beliefs of various peoples throughout the world, in
+low stages of culture, it is found that the highly developed creeds of
+Babylonia, Egypt and other countries where civilization flourished
+were never divested wholly of their primitive traits.
+
+Among savage peoples two grades of religious ideas have been
+identified, and classified as Naturalism and Animism. In the plane of
+Naturalism the belief obtains that a vague impersonal force, which may
+have more than one manifestation and is yet manifested in everything,
+controls the world and the lives of human beings. An illustration of
+this stage of religious consciousness is afforded by Mr. Risley, who,
+in dealing with the religion of the jungle dwellers of Chota Nagpur,
+India, says that "in most cases the indefinite something which they
+fear and attempt to propitiate is not a person at all in any sense of
+the word; if one must state the case in positive terms, I should say
+that the idea which lies at the root of their religion is that of a
+power rather than many powers".[303]
+
+Traces of Naturalism appear to have survived in Sumeria in the belief
+that "the spiritual, the Zi, was that which manifested life.... The
+test of the manifestation of life was movement."[304] All things that
+moved, it was conceived in the plane of Naturalism, possessed "self
+power"; the river was a living thing, as was also the fountain; a
+stone that fell from a hill fell of its own accord; a tree groaned
+because the wind caused it to suffer pain. This idea that inanimate
+objects had conscious existence survived in the religion of the
+Aryo-Indians. In the Nala story of the Indian epic, the _Mahabharata_,
+the disconsolate wife Damayanti addresses a mountain when searching
+for her lost husband:
+
+    "This, the monarch of all mountains, ask I of the king of men;
+    O all-honoured Prince of Mountains, with thy heavenward soaring
+        peaks ...
+    Hast thou seen the kingly Nala in this dark and awful wood....
+    Why repliest thou not, O Mountain?"
+
+She similarly addresses the Asoka tree:
+
+    "Hast thou seen Nishadha's monarch, hast thou seen my only
+        love?...
+    That I may depart ungrieving, fair Asoka, answer me...."
+    Many a tree she stood and gazed on....[305]
+
+It will be recognized that when primitive men gave names to mountains,
+rivers, or the ocean, these possessed for them a deeper significance
+than they do for us at the present day. The earliest peoples of
+Indo-European speech who called the sky "dyeus", and those of Sumerian
+speech who called it "ana", regarded it not as the sky "and nothing
+more", but as something which had conscious existence and "self
+power". Our remote ancestors resembled, in this respect, those
+imaginative children who hold conversations with articles of
+furniture, and administer punishment to stones which, they believe,
+have tripped them up voluntarily and with desire to commit an offence.
+
+In this early stage of development the widespread totemic beliefs
+appear to have had origin. Families or tribes believed that they were
+descended from mountains, trees, or wild animals.
+
+Aesop's fable about the mountain which gave birth to a mouse may be a
+relic of Totemism; so also may be the mountain symbols on the
+standards of Egyptian ships which appear on pre-dynastic pottery; the
+black dwarfs of Teutonic mythology were earth children.[306]
+
+Adonis sprang from a tree; his mother may have, according to primitive
+belief, been simply a tree; Dagda, the patriarchal Irish corn god, was
+an oak; indeed, the idea of a "world tree", which occurs in Sumerian,
+Vedic-Indian, Teutonic, and other mythologies, was probably a product
+of Totemism.
+
+Wild animals were considered to be other forms of human beings who
+could marry princes and princesses as they do in so many fairy tales.
+Damayanti addressed the tiger, as well as the mountain and tree,
+saying:
+
+    I approach him without fear.
+    "Of the beasts art thou the monarch, all this forest thy
+        domain;...
+    Thou, O king of beasts, console me, if my Nala thou hast
+        seen."[307]
+
+A tribal totem exercised sway over a tribal district. In Egypt, as
+Herodotus recorded, the crocodile was worshipped in one district and
+hunted down in another. Tribes fought against tribes when totemic
+animals were slain. The Babylonian and Indian myths about the
+conflicts between eagles and serpents may have originated as records
+of battles between eagle clans and serpent clans. Totemic animals were
+tabooed. The Set pig of Egypt and the devil pig of Ireland, Scotland,
+and Wales were not eaten except sacrificially. Families were supposed
+to be descended from swans and were named Swans, or from seals and
+were named Seals, like the Gaelic "Mac Codrums", whose surname
+signifies "son of the seal"; the nickname of the Campbells, "sons of
+the pig", may refer to their totemic boar's head crest, which
+commemorated the slaying, perhaps the sacrificial slaying, of the boar
+by their ancestor Diarmid. Mr. Garstang, in _The Syrian Goddess_,
+thinks it possible that the boar which killed Adonis was of totemic
+origin. So may have been the fish form of the Sumerian god Ea. When an
+animal totem was sacrificed once a year, and eaten sacrificially so
+that the strength of the clan might be maintained, the priest who
+wrapped himself in its skin was supposed to have transmitted to him
+certain magical powers; he became identified with the totem and
+prophesied and gave instruction as the totem. Ea was depicted clad in
+the fish's skin.
+
+Animism, the other early stage of human development, also produced
+distinctive modes of thought. Men conceived that the world swarmed
+with spirits, that a spirit groaned in the wind-shaken tree, that the
+howling wind was an invisible spirit, that there were spirits in
+fountains, rivers, valleys, hills, and in ocean, and in all animals;
+and that a hostile spirit might possess an individual and change his
+nature. The sun and the moon were the abodes of spirits, or the
+vessels in which great spirits sailed over the sea of the sky; the
+stars were all spirits, the "host of heaven". These spirits existed in
+groups of seven, or groups of three, and the multiple of three, or in
+pairs, or operated as single individuals.
+
+Although certain spirits might confer gifts upon mankind, they were at
+certain seasons and in certain localities hostile and vengeful, like
+the grass-green fairies in winter, or the earth-black elves when their
+gold was sought for in forbidden and secret places. These spirits were
+the artisans of creation and vegetation, like the Egyptian Khnumu and
+the Indian Rhibus; they fashioned the grass blades and the stalks of
+corn, but at times of seasonal change they might ride on their tempest
+steeds, or issue forth from flooding rivers and lakes. Man was greatly
+concerned about striking bargains with them to secure their services,
+and about propitiating them, or warding off their attacks with
+protective charms, and by performing "ceremonies of riddance". The
+ghosts of the dead, being spirits, were similarly propitious or
+harmful on occasion; as emissaries of Fate they could injure the
+living.
+
+Ancestor worship, the worship of ghosts, had origin in the stage of
+Animism. But ancestor worship was not developed in Babylonia as in
+China, for instance, although traces of it survived in the worship of
+stars as ghosts, in the deification of kings, and the worship of
+patriarchs, who might be exalted as gods or identified with a supreme
+god. The Egyptian Pharaoh Unas became the sun god and the
+constellation of Orion by devouring his predecessors[308]. He ate his
+god as a tribe ate its animal totem; he became the "bull of heaven".
+
+There were star totems as well as mountain totems. A St. Andrew's
+cross sign, on one of the Egyptian ship standards referred to, may
+represent a star. The Babylonian goddess Ishtar was symbolized as a
+star, and she was the "world mother". Many primitive currents of
+thought shaped the fretted rocks of ancient mythologies.
+
+In various countries all round the globe the belief prevailed that the
+stars were ghosts of the mighty dead--of giants, kings, or princes, or
+princesses, or of pious people whom the gods loved, or of animals
+which were worshipped. A few instances may be selected at random. When
+the Teutonic gods slew the giant Thjasse, he appeared in the heavens
+as Sirius. In India the ghosts of the "seven Rishis", who were
+semi-divine Patriarchs, formed the constellation of the Great Bear,
+which in Vedic times was called the "seven bears". The wives of the
+seven Rishis were the stars of the Pleiades. In Greece the Pleiades
+were the ghosts of the seven daughters of Atlas and Pleione, and in
+Australia they were and are a queen and six handmaidens. In these
+countries, as elsewhere, stories were told to account for the "lost
+Pleiad", a fact which suggests that primitive men were more constant
+observers of the heavenly bodies than might otherwise be supposed. The
+Arcadians believed that they were descended, as Hesiod recorded, from
+a princess who was transformed by Zeus into a bear; in this form
+Artemis slew her and she became the "Great Bear" of the sky. The
+Egyptian Isis was the star Sirius, whose rising coincided with the
+beginning of the Nile inundation. Her first tear for the dead Osiris
+fell into the river on "the night of the drop". The flood which ensued
+brought the food supply. Thus the star was not only the Great Mother
+of all, but the sustainer of all.
+
+The brightest stars were regarded as being the greatest and most
+influential. In Babylonia all the planets were identified with great
+deities. Jupiter, for instance, was Merodach, and one of the astral
+forms of Ishtar was Venus. Merodach was also connected with "the fish
+of Ea" (Pisces), so that it is not improbable that Ea worship had
+stellar associations. Constellations were given recognition before the
+planets were identified.
+
+A strange blending of primitive beliefs occurred when the deities were
+given astral forms. As has been shown (Chapter III) gods were supposed
+to die annually. The Egyptian priests pointed out to Herodotus the
+grave of Osiris and also his star. There are "giants' graves" also in
+those countries in which the gods were simply ferocious giants. A god
+might assume various forms; he might take the form of an insect, like
+Indra, and hide in a plant, or become a mouse, or a serpent, like the
+gods of Erech in the Gilgamesh epic. The further theory that a god
+could exist in various forms at one and the same time suggests that it
+had its origin among a people who accepted the idea of a personal god
+while yet in the stage of Naturalism. In Egypt Osiris, for instance,
+was the moon, which came as a beautiful child each month and was
+devoured as the wasting "old moon" by the demon Set; he was the young
+god who was slain in his prime each year; he was at once the father,
+husband, and son of Isis; he was the Patriarch who reigned over men
+and became the Judge of the Dead; he was the earth spirit, he was the
+bisexual Nile spirit, he was the spring sun; he was the Apis bull of
+Memphis, and the ram of Mendes; he was the reigning Pharaoh. In his
+fusion with Ra, who was threefold--Khepera, Ra, and Tum--he died each
+day as an old man; he appeared in heaven at night as the constellation
+Orion, which was his ghost, or was, perhaps, rather the Sumerian Zi,
+the spiritual essence of life. Osiris, who resembled Tammuz, a god of
+many forms also, was addressed as follows in one of the Isis chants:
+
+    There proceedeth from thee the strong Orion in heaven at evening,
+        at the resting of every day!
+    Lo it is I (Isis), at the approach of the Sothis (Sirius) period,
+        who doth watch for him (the child Osiris),
+    Nor will I leave off watching for him; for that which proceedeth
+        from thee (the living Osiris) is revered.
+    An emanation from thee causeth life to gods and men, reptiles and
+        animals, and they live by means thereof.
+    Come thou to us from thy chamber, in the day when thy soul
+        begetteth emanations,--
+    The day when offerings upon offerings are made to thy spirit,
+        which causeth the gods and men likewise to live.[309]
+
+This extract emphasizes how unsafe it is to confine certain deities
+within narrow limits by terming them simply "solar gods", "lunar
+gods", "astral gods", or "earth gods". One deity may have been
+simultaneously a sun god and moon god, an air god and an earth god,
+one who was dead and also alive, unborn and also old. The priests of
+Babylonia and Egypt were less accustomed to concrete and logical
+definitions than their critics and expositors of the twentieth
+century. Simple explanations of ancient beliefs are often by reason of
+their very simplicity highly improbable. Recognition must ever be
+given to the puzzling complexity of religious thought in Babylonia and
+Egypt, and to the possibility that even to the priests the doctrines
+of a particular cult, which embraced the accumulated ideas of
+centuries, were invariably confusing and vague, and full of
+inconsistencies; they were mystical in the sense that the
+understanding could not grasp them although it permitted their
+acceptance. A god, for instance, might be addressed at once in the
+singular and plural, perhaps because he had developed from an
+animistic group of spirits, or, perhaps, for reasons we cannot
+discover. This is shown clearly by the following pregnant extract from
+a Babylonian tablet: "_Powerful, O Sevenfold, one are ye_". Mr. L.W.
+King, the translator, comments upon it as follows: "There is no doubt
+that the name was applied to a group of gods who were so closely
+connected that, though addressed in the plural, they could in the same
+sentence be regarded as forming a single personality".[310]
+
+Like the Egyptian Osiris, the Babylonian Merodach was a highly complex
+deity. He was the son of Ea, god of the deep; he died to give origin
+to human life when he commanded that his head should be cut off so
+that the first human beings might be fashioned by mixing his blood
+with the earth; he was the wind god, who gave "the air of life"; he
+was the deity of thunder and the sky; he was the sun of spring in his
+Tammuz character; he was the daily sun, and the planets Jupiter and
+Mercury as well as Sharru (Regulus); he had various astral
+associations at various seasons. Ishtar, the goddess, was Iku
+(Capella), the water channel star, in January-February, and Merodach
+was Iku in May-June. This strange system of identifying the chief
+deity with different stars at different periods, or simultaneously,
+must not be confused with the monotheistic identification of him with
+other gods. Merodach changed his forms with Ishtar, and had similarly
+many forms. This goddess, for instance, was, even when connected with
+one particular heavenly body, liable to change. According to a tablet
+fragment she was, as the planet Venus, "a female at sunset and a male
+at sunrise[311]"--that is, a bisexual deity like Nannar of Ur, the
+father and mother deity combined, and Isis of Egypt. Nannar is
+addressed in a famous hymn:
+
+    Father Nannar, Lord, God Sin, ruler among the gods....
+    _Mother body which produceth all things_....
+    Merciful, gracious Father, in whose hand the life of the whole
+        land is contained.
+
+One of the Isis chants of Egypt sets forth, addressing Osiris:
+
+    There cometh unto thee Isis, lady of the horizon, who hath
+        begotten herself alone in the image of the gods....
+    She hath taken vengeance before Horus, _the woman who was made a
+        male by her father Osiris_.[312]
+
+Merodach, like Osiris-Sokar, was a "lord of many existences", and
+likewise "the mysterious one, he who is unknown to mankind[313]". It
+was impossible for the human mind "a greater than itself to know".
+
+Evidence has not yet been forthcoming to enable us to determine the
+period at which the chief Babylonian deities were identified with the
+planets, but it is clear that Merodach's ascendancy in astral form
+could not have occurred prior to the rise of that city god of Babylon
+as chief of the pantheon by displacing Enlil. At the same time it must
+be recognized that long before the Hammurabi age the star-gazers of
+the Tigro-Euphrates valley must have been acquainted with the
+movements of the chief planets and stars, and, no doubt, they
+connected them with seasonal changes as in Egypt, where Isis was
+identified with Sirius long before the Ptolemaic age, when Babylonian
+astronomy was imported. Horus was identified not only with the sun but
+also with Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars.[314] Even the primitive
+Australians, as has been indicated, have their star myths; they refer
+to the stars Castor and Pollux as two young men, like the ancient
+Greeks, while the African Bushmen assert that these stars are two
+girls. It would be a mistake, however, to assume that the prehistoric
+Sumerians were exact astronomers. Probably they were, like the
+Aryo-Indians of the Vedic period, "not very accurate observers".[315]
+
+It is of special interest to find that the stars were grouped by the
+Babylonians at the earliest period in companies of seven. The
+importance of this magical number is emphasized by the group of seven
+demons which rose from the deep to rage over the land (p. 71). Perhaps
+the sanctity of Seven was suggested by Orion, the Bears, and the
+Pleiad, one of which constellations may have been the "Sevenfold"
+deity addressed as "one". At any rate arbitrary groupings of other
+stars into companies of seven took place, for references are made to
+the seven Tikshi, the seven Lumashi, and the seven Mashi, which are
+older than the signs of the Zodiac; so far as can be ascertained these
+groups were selected from various constellations. When the five
+planets were identified, they were associated with the sun and moon
+and connected with the chief gods of the Hammurabi pantheon. A
+bilingual list in the British Museum arranges the sevenfold planetary
+group in the following order:--
+
+    The moon, Sin.
+    The sun, Shamash.
+    Jupiter, Merodach.
+    Venus, Ishtar.
+    Saturn, Ninip (Nirig).
+    Mercury, Nebo.
+    Mars, Nergal.
+
+An ancient name of the moon was Aa, Â, or Ai, which recalls the
+Egyptian Aâh or Ah. The Sumerian moon was Aku, "the measurer", like
+Thoth of Egypt, who in his lunar character as a Fate measured out the
+lives of men, and was a god of architects, mathematicians, and
+scribes. The moon was the parent of the sun or its spouse; and might
+be male, or female, or both as a bisexual deity.
+
+As the "bull of light" Jupiter had solar associations; he was also the
+shepherd of the stars, a title shared by Tammuz as Orion; Nin-Girsu, a
+developed form of Tammuz, was identified with both Orion and Jupiter.
+
+Ishtar's identification with Venus is of special interest. When that
+planet was at its brightest phase, its rays were referred to as "the
+beard" of the goddess; she was the "bearded Aphrodite"--a bisexual
+deity evidently. The astrologers regarded the bright Venus as lucky
+and the rayless Venus as unlucky.
+
+Saturn was Nirig, who is best known as Ninip, a deity who was
+displaced by Enlil, the elder Bel, and afterwards regarded as his son.
+His story has not been recovered, but from the references made to it
+there is little doubt that it was a version of the widespread myth
+about the elder deity who was slain by his son, as Saturn was by
+Jupiter and Dyaus by Indra. It may have resembled the lost Egyptian
+myth which explained the existence of the two Horuses--Horus the
+elder, and Horus, the posthumous son of Osiris. At any rate, it is of
+interest to find in this connection that in Egypt the planet Saturn
+was Her-Ka, "Horus the Bull". Ninip was also identified with the bull.
+Both deities were also connected with the spring sun, like Tammuz, and
+were terrible slayers of their enemies. Ninip raged through Babylonia
+like a storm flood, and Horus swept down the Nile, slaying the
+followers of Set. As the divine sower of seed, Ninip may have
+developed from Tammuz as Horus did from Osiris. Each were at once the
+father and the son, different forms of the same deity at various
+seasons of the year. The elder god was displaced by the son (spring),
+and when the son grew old his son slew him in turn. As the planet
+Saturn, Ninip was the ghost of the elder god, and as the son of Bel he
+was the solar war god of spring, the great wild bull, the god of
+fertility. He was also as Ber "lord of the wild boar", an animal
+associated with Rimmon[316].
+
+Nebo (Nabu), who was identified with Mercury, was a god of Borsippa.
+He was a messenger and "announcer" of the gods, as the Egyptian Horus
+in his connection with Jupiter was Her-ap-sheta, "Horus the opener of
+that which is secret[317]". Nebo's original character is obscure. He
+appears to have been a highly developed deity of a people well
+advanced in civilization when he was exalted as the divine patron of
+Borsippa. Although Hammurabi ignored him, he was subsequently invoked
+with Merodach, and had probably much in common with Merodach. Indeed,
+Merodach was also identified with the planet Mercury. Like the Greek
+Hermes, Nebo was a messenger of the gods and an instructor of mankind.
+Jastrow regards him as "a counterpart of Ea", and says: "Like Ea, he
+is the embodiment and source of wisdom. The art of writing--and
+therefore of all literature--is more particularly associated with him.
+A common form of his name designates him as the 'god of the
+stylus'."[318] He appears also to have been a developed form of
+Tammuz, who was an incarnation of Ea. Professor Pinches shows that one
+of his names, Mermer, was also a non-Semitic name of Ramman.[319]
+Tammuz resembled Ramman in his character as a spring god of war. It
+would seem that Merodach as Jupiter displaced at Babylon Nebo as
+Saturn, the elder god, as Bel Enlil displaced the elder Ninip at
+Nippur.
+
+The god of Mars was Nergal, the patron deity of Cuthah,[320] who
+descended into the Underworld and forced into submission Eresh-ki-gal
+(Persephone), with whom he was afterwards associated. His "name", says
+Professor Pinches, "is supposed to mean 'lord of the great
+habitation', which would be a parallel to that of his spouse,
+Eresh-ki-gal".[321] At Erech he symbolized the destroying influence of
+the sun, and was accompanied by the demons of pestilence. Mars was a
+planet of evil, plague, and death; its animal form was the wolf. In
+Egypt it was called Herdesher, "the Red Horus", and in Greece it was
+associated with Ares (the Roman Mars), the war god, who assumed his
+boar form to slay Adonis (Tammuz).
+
+Nergal was also a fire god like the Aryo-Indian Agni, who, as has been
+shown, links with Tammuz as a demon slayer and a god of fertility. It
+may be that Nergal was a specialized form of Tammuz, who, in a version
+of the myth, was reputed to have entered the Underworld as a conqueror
+when claimed by Eresh-ki-gal, and to have become, like Osiris, the
+lord of the dead. If so, Nergal was at once the slayer and the slain.
+
+The various Babylonian deities who were identified with the planets
+had their characters sharply defined as members of an organized
+pantheon. But before this development took place certain of the
+prominent heavenly bodies, perhaps all the planets, were evidently
+regarded as manifestations of one deity, the primeval Tammuz, who was
+a form of Ea, or of the twin deities Ea and Anu. Tammuz may have been
+the "sevenfold one" of the hymns. At a still earlier period the stars
+were manifestations of the Power whom the jungle dwellers of Chota
+Nagpur attempt to propitiate--the "world soul" of the cultured
+Brahmans of the post-Vedic Indian Age. As much is suggested by the
+resemblances which the conventionalized planetary deities bear to
+Tammuz, whose attributes they symbolized, and by the Egyptian
+conception that the sun, Jupiter, Saturn, and Mars were manifestations
+of Horus. Tammuz and Horus may have been personifications of the Power
+or World Soul vaguely recognized in the stage of Naturalism.
+
+The influence of animistic modes of thought may be traced in the idea
+that the planets and stars were the ghosts of gods who were superseded
+by their sons. These sons were identical with their fathers; they
+became, as in Egypt, "husbands of their mothers". This idea was
+perpetuated in the Aryo-Indian _Laws of Manu_, in which it is set
+forth that "the husband, after conception by his wife, becomes an
+embryo and is born again of her[322]". The deities died every year,
+but death was simply change. Yet they remained in the separate forms
+they assumed in their progress round "the wide circle of necessity".
+Horus was remembered as various planets--as the falcon, as the elder
+sun god, and as the son of Osiris; and Tammuz was the spring sun, the
+child, youth, warrior, the deity of fertility, and the lord of death
+(Orion-Nergal), and, as has been suggested, all the planets.
+
+The stars were also the ghosts of deities who died daily. When the sun
+perished as an old man at evening, it rose in the heavens as Orion, or
+went out and in among the stars as the shepherd of the flock, Jupiter,
+the planet of Merodach in Babylonia, and Attis in Asia Minor. The
+flock was the group of heavenly spirits invisible by day, the "host of
+heaven"--manifestations or ghosts of the emissaries of the controlling
+power or powers.
+
+The planets presided over various months of the year. Sin (the moon)
+was associated with the third month; it also controlled the calendar;
+Ninip (Saturn) was associated with the fourth month, Ishtar (Venus)
+with the sixth, Shamash (the sun) with the seventh, Merodach (Jupiter)
+with the eighth, Nergal (Mars) with the ninth, and a messenger of the
+gods, probably Nebo (Mercury), with the tenth.
+
+Each month was also controlled by a zodiacal constellation. In the
+Creation myth of Babylon it is stated that when Merodach engaged in
+the work of setting the Universe in order he "set all the great gods
+in their several stations", and "also created their images, the stars
+of the Zodiac,[323] and fixed them all" (p. 147).
+
+Our signs of the Zodiac are of Babylonian origin. They were passed on
+to the Greeks by the Phoenicians and Hittites. "There was a time ",
+says Professor Sayce, "when the Hittites were profoundly affected by
+Babylonian civilization, religion, and art...." They "carried the
+time-worn civilizations of Babylonia and Egypt to the furthest
+boundary of Egypt, and there handed them over to the West in the grey
+dawn of European history.... Greek traditions affirmed that the rulers
+of Mykenae had come from Lydia, bringing with them the civilization
+and treasures of Asia Minor. The tradition has been confirmed by
+modern research. While certain elements belonging to the prehistoric
+culture of Greece, as revealed at Mykenae and elsewhere, were derived
+from Egypt and Phoenicia, there are others which point to Asia Minor
+as their source. And the culture of Asia Minor was Hittite."[324]
+
+The early Babylonian astronomers did not know, of course, that the
+earth revolved round the sun. They believed that the sun travelled
+across the heavens flying like a bird or sailing like a boat.[325] In
+studying its movements they observed that it always travelled from
+west to east along a broad path, swinging from side to side of it in
+the course of the year. This path is the Zodiac--the celestial "circle
+of necessity". The middle line of the sun's path is the Ecliptic. The
+Babylonian scientists divided the Ecliptic into twelve equal parts,
+and grouped in each part the stars which formed their constellations;
+these are also called "Signs of the Zodiac". Each month had thus its
+sign or constellation.
+
+The names borne at the present day by the signs of the Zodiac are
+easily remembered even by children, who are encouraged to repeat the
+following familiar lines:
+
+    The _Ram_, the _Bull_, the heavenly _Twins_,
+    And next the _Crab_, the _Lion_ shines.
+        The _Virgin_ and the _Scales_;
+    The _Scorpion, Archer_, and _Sea goat_,
+    The man that holds the _water pot_,
+        And _Fish_ with glitt'ring[326] tails.
+
+The table on p. 308 shows that our signs are derived from ancient
+Babylonia.
+
+The celestial regions were also divided into three or more parts.
+Three "fields" were allotted to the ancient triad formed by Ea, Anu,
+and Bel. The zodiacal "path" ran through these "fields". Ea's field
+was in the west, and was associated with Amurru, the land of the
+Amorites; Anu's field was in the south, and was associated with Elam;
+and Bel's central "field" was associated with the land of Akkad. When
+the rulers of Akkad called themselves "kings of the four quarters",
+the reference was to the countries associated with the three divine
+fields and to Gutium[327](east = our north-east). Was Gutium
+associated with demons, as in Scandinavia the north-east was
+associated with the giants against whom Thor waged war?
+
+
++---------------------------------------------------------------------+
+|               | Date of Sun's Entry |                               |
+|Constellations.|(Babylonian Month in |    Babylonian Equivalent.     |
+|               |     brackets).      |                               |
+|---------------+---------------------+-------------------------------|
+|Aries (the     |20th March (Nisan =  |The Labourer or Messenger.     |
+|Ram).          |March-April)         |                               |
+|---------------+---------------------+-------------------------------|
+|Taurus (the    |20th April (Iyyar =  |A divine figure and the "bull  |
+|Bull).         |April-May)           |of heaven".                    |
+|---------------+---------------------+-------------------------------|
+|Gemini (the    |21st May (Sivan =    |The Faithful Shepherd and Twins|
+|Twins).        |May-June).           |side by side, or head to head  |
+|               |                     |and feet to teet.              |
+|---------------+---------------------+-------------------------------|
+|Cancer (the    |21st June (Tammuz =  |Crab or Scorpion.              |
+|Crab).         |June-July).          |                               |
+|---------------+---------------------+-------------------------------|
+|Leo (the Lion).|22nd July (Ab =      |The big dog (Lion).            |
+|               |July-August).        |                               |
+|---------------+---------------------+-------------------------------|
+|Virgo (the     |23rd August (Elul =  |Ishtar, the Virgin's ear of    |
+|Virgin).       |August-Sept.).       |corn.                          |
+|---------------+---------------------+-------------------------------|
+|Libra (the     |23rd September (Tisri|The Balance.                   |
+|Balance).      |= Sept.-Oct.).       |                               |
+|---------------+---------------------+-------------------------------|
+|Scorpio (the   |23rd October         |                               |
+|Scorpion).     |(Marcheswan =        |Scorpion of darkness.          |
+|               |Oct.-Nov.).          |                               |
+|---------------+---------------------+-------------------------------|
+|Sagittarius    |22nd November        |Man or man-horse with bow, or  |
+|(the Archer).  |(Chisleu =           |an arrow symbol.               |
+|               |Nov.-Dec.).          |                               |
+|---------------+---------------------+-------------------------------|
+|Capricornus    |21st December (Tebet |Ea's goat-fish.                |
+|(the Goat).    |= Dec.-Jan.).        |                               |
+|---------------+---------------------+-------------------------------|
+|Aquarius (the  |19th January (Sebat =|God with water urn.            |
+|Water Carrier).|Jan.-Feb.).          |                               |
+|---------------+---------------------+-------------------------------|
+|Pisces (the    |18th February (Adar =|Fish tails in canal.           |
+|Fishes).       |Feb.-March).         |                               |
++---------------------------------------------------------------------+
+
+
+The Babylonian Creation myth states that Merodach, having fixed the
+stars of the Zodiac, made three stars for each month (p. 147). Mr.
+Robert Brown, jun., who has dealt as exhaustively with the
+astronomical problems of Babylonia as the available data permitted
+him, is of opinion that the leading stars of three constellations are
+referred to, viz.: (1) the central or zodiacal constellations, (2) the
+northern constellations, and (3) the southern constellations. We have
+thus a scheme of thirty-six constellations. The "twelve zodiacal stars
+were flanked on either side by twelve non-zodiacal stars". Mr. Brown
+quotes Diodorus, who gave a résumé of Babylonian
+astronomico-astrology, in this connection. He said that "the five
+planets were called 'Interpreters'; and in subjection to these were
+marshalled 'Thirty Stars', which were styled 'Divinities of the
+Council'.... The chiefs of the Divinities are twelve in number, to
+each of whom they assign a month and one of the twelve signs of the
+Zodiac." Through these twelve signs sun, moon, and planets run their
+courses. "And with the zodiacal circle they mark out twenty-four
+stars, half of which they say are arranged in the north and half in
+the south."[328] Mr. Brown shows that the thirty stars referred to
+"constituted the original Euphratean Lunar Zodiac, the parent of the
+seven ancient lunar zodiacs which have come down to us, namely, the
+Persian, Sogdian, Khorasmian, Chinese, Indian, Arab, and Coptic
+schemes".
+
+The three constellations associated with each month had each a
+symbolic significance: they reflected the characters of their months.
+At the height of the rainy season, for instance, the month of Ramman,
+the thunder god, was presided over by the zodiacal constellation of
+the water urn, the northern constellation "Fish of the Canal", and the
+southern "the Horse". In India the black horse was sacrificed at
+rain-getting and fertility ceremonies. The months of growth,
+pestilence, and scorching sun heat were in turn symbolized. The "Great
+Bear" was the "chariot" = "Charles's Wain", and the "Milky Way" the
+"river of the high cloud", the Celestial Euphrates, as in Egypt it was
+the Celestial Nile.
+
+Of special interest among the many problems presented by Babylonian
+astronomical lore is the theory of Cosmic periods or Ages of the
+Universe. In the Indian, Greek, and Irish mythologies there are four
+Ages--the Silvern (white), Golden (yellow), the Bronze (red), and the
+Iron (black). As has been already indicated, Mr. R. Brown, jun., shows
+that "the Indian system of Yugas, or ages of the world, presents many
+features which forcibly remind us of the Euphratean scheme". The
+Babylonians had ten antediluvian kings, who were reputed to have
+reigned for vast periods, the total of which amounted to 120 saroi, or
+432,000 years. These figures at once recall the Indian Maha-yuga of
+4,320,000 years = 432,000 x 10. Apparently the Babylonian and Indian
+systems of calculation were of common origin. In both countries the
+measurements of time and space were arrived at by utilizing the
+numerals 10 and 6.
+
+When primitive man began to count he adopted a method which comes
+naturally to every schoolboy; he utilized his fingers. Twice five gave
+him ten, and from ten he progressed to twenty, and then on to a
+hundred and beyond. In making measurements his hands, arms, and feet
+were at his service. We are still measuring by feet and yards
+(standardized strides) in this country, while those who engage in the
+immemorial art of knitting, and, in doing so, repeat designs found on
+neolithic pottery, continue to measure in finger breadths, finger
+lengths, and hand breadths as did the ancient folks who called an arm
+length a cubit. Nor has the span been forgotten, especially by boys in
+their games with marbles; the space from the end of the thumb to the
+end of the little finger when the hand is extended must have been an
+important measurement from the earliest times.
+
+As he made progress in calculations, the primitive Babylonian appears
+to have been struck by other details in his anatomy besides his sets
+of five fingers and five toes. He observed, for instance, that his
+fingers were divided into three parts and his thumb into two parts
+only;[329] four fingers multiplied by three gave him twelve, and
+multiplying 12 by 3 he reached 36. Apparently the figure 6 attracted
+him. His body was divided into 6 parts--2 arms, 2 legs, the head, and
+the trunk; his 2 ears, 2 eyes, and mouth, and nose also gave him 6.
+The basal 6, multiplied by his 10 fingers, gave him 60, and 60 x 2
+(for his 2 hands) gave him 120. In Babylonian arithmetic 6 and 60 are
+important numbers, and it is not surprising to find that in the system
+of numerals the signs for 1 and 10 combined represent 60.
+
+In fixing the length of a mythical period his first great calculation
+of 120 came naturally to the Babylonian, and when he undertook to
+measure the Zodiac he equated time and space by fixing on 120 degrees.
+His first zodiac was the Sumerian lunar zodiac, which contained thirty
+moon chambers associated with the "Thirty Stars" of the tablets, and
+referred to by Diodorus as "Divinities of the Council". The chiefs of
+the Thirty numbered twelve. In this system the year began in the
+winter solstice. Mr. Hewitt has shown that the chief annual festival
+of the Indian Dravidians begins with the first full moon after the
+winter festival, and Mr. Brown emphasizes the fact that the list of
+Tamil (Dravidian) lunar and solar months are named like the Babylonian
+constellations.[330] "Lunar chronology", wrote Professor Max Mailer,
+"seems everywhere to have preceded solar chronology."[331] The later
+Semitic Babylonian system had twelve solar chambers and the thirty-six
+constellations.
+
+Each degree was divided into sixty minutes, and each minute into sixty
+seconds. The hours of the day and night each numbered twelve.
+
+Multiplying 6 by 10 (pur), the Babylonian arrived at 60 (soss); 60x10
+gave him 600 (ner), and 600x6, 3600 (sar), while 3600x10 gave him
+36,000, and 36,000x12, 432,000 years, or 120 saroi, which is equal to
+the "sar" multiplied by the "soss"x2. "Pur" signifies "heap"--the ten
+fingers closed after being counted; and "ner" signifies "foot". Mr.
+George Bertin suggests that when 6x10 fingers gave 60 this number was
+multiplied by the ten toes, with the result that 600 was afterwards
+associated with the feet (ner). The Babylonian sign for 10 resembles
+the impression of two feet with heels closed and toes apart. This
+suggests a primitive record of the first round of finger counting.
+
+In India this Babylonian system of calculation was developed during
+the Brahmanical period. The four Yugas or Ages, representing the four
+fingers used by the primitive mathematicians, totalled 12,000 divine
+years, a period which was called a Maha-yuga; it equalled the
+Babylonian 120 saroi, multiplied by 100. Ten times a hundred of these
+periods gave a "Day of Brahma".
+
+Each day of the gods, it was explained by the Brahmans, was a year to
+mortals. Multiplied by 360 days, 12,000 divine years equalled
+4,320,000 human years. This Maha-yuga, multiplied by 1000, gave the
+"Day of Brahma" as 4,320,000,000 human years.
+
+The shortest Indian Yuga is the Babylonian 120 saroi multiplied by
+10=1200 divine years for the Kali Yuga; twice that number gives the
+Dvapara Yuga of 2400 divine years; then the Treta Yuga is 2400 + 1200
+= 3600 divine years, and Krita Yuga 3600 + 1200 = 4800 divine years.
+
+The influence of Babylonia is apparent in these calculations. During
+the Vedic period "Yuga" usually signified a "generation", and there
+are no certain references to the four Ages as such. The names "Kali",
+"Dvapara", "Treta", and "Krita" "occur as the designations of throws
+of dice".[332] It was after the arrival of the "late comers", the
+post-Vedic Aryans, that the Yuga system was developed in India.[333]
+
+In _Indian Myth and Legend[334] it is shown that the Indian and Irish
+Ages have the same colour sequence: (1) White or Silvern, (2) Red or
+Bronze, (3) Yellow or Golden, and (4) Black or Iron. The Greek order
+is: (1) Golden, (2) Silvern, (3) Bronze, and (4) Iron.
+
+The Babylonians coloured the seven planets as follows: the moon,
+silvern; the sun, golden; Mars, red; Saturn, black; Jupiter, orange;
+Venus, yellow; and Mercury, blue.
+
+As the ten antediluvian kings who reigned for 120 saroi had an astral
+significance, their long reigns corresponding "with the distances
+separating certain of the principal stars in or near the
+ecliptic",[335] it seems highly probable that the planets were
+similarly connected with mythical ages which were equated with the
+"four quarters" of the celestial regions and the four regions of the
+earth, which in Gaelic story are called "the four red divisions of the
+world".
+
+Three of the planets may have been heralds of change. Venus, as
+"Dilbat", was the "Proclaimer", and both Jupiter and Mercury were
+called "Face voices of light", and "Heroes of the rising sun" among
+other names. Jupiter may have been the herald of the "Golden Age" as a
+morning star. This planet was also associated with bronze, as "Kakkub
+Urud", "the star of bronze", while Mars was "Kakkub Aban Kha-urud,"
+"the star of the bronze fish stone". Mercury, the lapis lazuli planet,
+may have been connected with the black Saturn, the ghost of the dead
+sun, the demoniac elder god; in Egypt lapis lazuli was the hair colour
+of Ra when he grew old, and Egyptologists translate it as black.[336]
+The rare and regular appearances of Mercury may have suggested the
+planet's connection with a recurring Age. Venus as an evening star
+might be regarded as the herald of the lunar or silver age; she was
+propitious as a bearded deity and interchanged with Merodach as a
+seasonal herald.
+
+Connecting Jupiter with the sun as a propitious planet, and with Mars
+as a destroying planet, Venus with the moon, and Mercury with Saturn,
+we have left four colour schemes which suggest the Golden, Silvern,
+Bronze, and Iron Ages. The Greek order of mythical ages may have had a
+solar significance, beginning as it does with the "golden" period. On
+the other hand the Indian and Irish systems begin with the Silvern or
+white lunar period. In India the White Age (Treta Yuga) was the age of
+perfect men, and in Greece the Golden Age was the age of men who lived
+like gods. Thus the first ages in both cases were "Perfect" Ages. The
+Bronze Age of Greece was the age of notorious fighters and takers of
+life; in Babylonia the bronze planet Mars was the symbol of the
+destroying Nergal, god of war and pestilence, while Jupiter was also a
+destroyer as Merodach, the slayer of Tiamat. In India the Black Age is
+the age of wickedness. The Babylonian Saturn, as we have seen, is
+black, and its god, Ninip, was the destroying boar, which recalls the
+black boar of the Egyptian demon (or elder god) Set. The Greek Cronos
+was a destroyer even of his own children. All the elder gods had
+demoniac traits like the ghosts of human beings.
+
+As the Babylonian lunar zodiac was imported into India before solar
+worship and the solar zodiac were developed, so too may have been the
+germs of the Yuga doctrine, which appears to have a long history.
+Greece, on the other hand, came under the influence of Babylon at a
+much later period. In Egypt Ra, the sun god, was an antediluvian king,
+and he was followed by Osiris. Osiris was slain by Set, who was
+depicted sometimes red and sometimes black. There was also a Horus
+Age.
+
+The Irish system of ages suggests an early cultural drift into Europe,
+through Asia Minor, and along the uplands occupied by the
+representatives of the Alpine or Armenoid peoples who have been traced
+from Hindu Kush to Brittany. The culture of Gaul resembles that of
+India in certain particulars; both the Gauls and the post-Vedic
+Aryans, for instance, believed in the doctrine of Transmigration of
+Souls, and practised "suttee". After the Roman occupation of Gaul,
+Ireland appears to have been the refuge of Gaulish scholars, who
+imported their beliefs and traditions and laid the foundations of that
+brilliant culture which shed lustre on the Green Isle in late Pagan
+and early Christian times.
+
+The part played by the Mitanni people of Aryan speech in distributing
+Asiatic culture throughout Europe may have been considerable, but we
+know little or nothing regarding their movements and influence, nor
+has sufficient evidence been forthcoming to connect them with the
+cremating invaders of the Bronze Age, who penetrated as far as
+northern Scotland and Scandinavia. On the other hand it is certain
+that the Hittites adopted the planetary system of Babylonia and passed
+it on to Europeans, including the Greeks. The five planets Ninip,
+Merodach, Nergal, Ishtar, and Nebo were called by the Greeks after
+their gods Kronos, Zeus, Ares, Aphrodite, and Hermes, and by the
+Romans Saturnus, Jupiter, Mars, Venus, and Mercurius. It must be
+recognized, however, that these equations were somewhat arbitrary.
+Ninip resembled Kronos and Saturnus as a father, but he was also at
+the same time a son; he was the Egyptian Horus the elder and Horus the
+younger in one. Merodach was similarly of complex character--a
+combination of Ea, Anu, Enlil, and Tammuz, who acquired, when exalted
+by the Amoritic Dynasty of Babylon, the attributes of the thunder god
+Adad-Ramman in the form of Amurru, "lord of the mountains". During the
+Hammurabi Age Amurru was significantly popular in personal names. It
+is as Amurru-Ramman that Merodach bears comparison with Zeus. He also
+links with Hercules. Too much must not be made, therefore, of the
+Greek and Roman identifications of alien deities with their own.
+Mulla, the Gaulish mule god, may have resembled Mars somewhat, but it
+is a "far cry" from Mars-Mulla to Mars-Nergal, as it is also from the
+Gaulish Moccus, the boar, called "Mercury", to Nebo, the god of
+culture, who was the "Mercury" of the Tigro-Euphrates valley.
+Similarly the differences between "Jupiter-Amon" of Egypt and
+"Jupiter-Merodach" of Babylon were more pronounced than the
+resemblances.
+
+The basal idea in Babylonian astrology appears to be the recognition
+of the astral bodies as spirits or fates, who exercised an influence
+over the gods, the world, and mankind. These were worshipped in groups
+when they were yet nameless. The group addressed, "Powerful, O
+sevenfold, one are ye", may have been a constellation consisting of
+seven stars.[337] The worship of stars and planets, which were
+identified and named, "seems never to have spread", says Professor
+Sayce, "beyond the learned classes, and to have remained to the last
+an artificial system. The mass of the people worshipped the stars as a
+whole, but it was only as a whole and not individually."[338] The
+masses perpetuated ancient animistic beliefs, like the pre-Hellenic
+inhabitants of Greece. "The Pelasgians, as I was informed at Dodona,"
+wrote Herodotus, "formerly offered all things indiscriminately to the
+gods. They distinguished them by no name or surname, for they were
+hitherto unacquainted with either; but they called them gods, which by
+its etymology means disposers, from observing the orderly disposition
+and distribution of the various parts of the universe."[339] The
+oldest deities are those which bore no individual names. They were
+simply "Fates" or groups called "Sevenfold". The crude giant gods of
+Scotland are "Fomhairean" (Fomorians), and do not have individual
+names as in Ireland. Families and tribes were controlled by the Fates
+or nameless gods, which might appear as beasts or birds, or be heard
+knocking or screaming.
+
+In the Babylonian astral hymns, the star spirits are associated with
+the gods, and are revealers of the decrees of Fate. "Ye brilliant
+stars... ye bright ones... to destroy evil did Anu create you.... At
+thy command mankind was named (created)! Give thou the Word, and with
+thee let the great gods stand! Give thou my judgment, make my
+decision!"[340]
+
+The Indian evidence shows that the constellations, and especially the
+bright stars, were identified before the planets. Indeed, in Vedic
+literature there is no certain reference to a single planet, although
+constellations are named. It seems highly probable that before the
+Babylonian gods were associated with the astral bodies, the belief
+obtained that the stars exercised an influence over human lives. In
+one of the Indian "Forest Books", for instance, reference is made to a
+man who was "born under the Nakshatra Rohini ".[341] "Nakshatras" are
+stars in the _Rigveda_ and later, and "lunar mansions" in Brahmanical
+compositions.[342] "Rohini, 'ruddy', is the name of a conspicuously
+reddish star, ɑ Tauri or Aldebaran, and denotes the group of the
+Hyades."[343] This reference may be dated before 600 B.C., perhaps 800
+B.C.
+
+From Greece comes the evidence of Plutarch regarding the principles of
+Babylonian astrology. "Respecting the planets, which they call _the
+birth-ruling divinities_, the Chaldeans", he wrote, "lay down that two
+(Venus and Jupiter) are propitious, and two (Mars and Saturn) malign,
+and three (Sun, Moon, and Mercury) of a middle nature, and one
+common." "That is," Mr. Brown comments, "an astrologer would say,
+these three are propitious with the good, and may be malign with the
+bad."[344]
+
+Jastrow's views in this connection seem highly controversial. He holds
+that Babylonian astrology dealt simply with national affairs, and had
+no concern with "the conditions under which the individual was born";
+it did not predict "the fate in store for him". He believes that the
+Greeks transformed Babylonian astrology and infused it with the spirit
+of individualism which is a characteristic of their religion, and that
+they were the first to give astrology a personal significance.
+
+Jastrow also perpetuates the idea that astronomy began with the
+Greeks. "Several centuries before the days of Alexander the Great," he
+says, "the Greeks had begun to cultivate the study of the heavens, not
+for purposes of divination, but prompted by a scientific spirit as an
+intellectual discipline that might help them to solve the mysteries of
+the universe." It is possible, however, to overrate the "scientific
+spirit" of the Greeks, who, like the Japanese in our own day, were
+accomplished borrowers from other civilizations. That astronomy had
+humble beginnings in Greece as elsewhere is highly probable. The late
+Mr. Andrew Lang wrote in this connection: "The very oddest example of
+the survival of the notion that the stars are men and women is found
+in the _Pax_ of Aristophanes. Trygaeus in that comedy has just made an
+expedition to heaven. A slave meets him, and asks him: 'Is not the
+story true, then, that we become stars when we die?' The answer is,
+'Certainly'; and Trygaeus points out the star into which Ion of Chios
+has just been metamorphosed." Mr. Lang added: "Aristophanes is making
+fun of some popular Greek superstition". The Eskimos, Persians,
+Aryo-Indians, Germans, New Zealanders, and others had a similar
+superstition.[345]
+
+Jastrow goes on to say that the Greeks "imparted their scientific view
+of the Universe to the East. They became the teachers of the East in
+astronomy as in medicine and other sciences, and the credit of having
+discovered the law of the precession of the equinoxes belongs to
+Hipparchus, the Greek astronomer, who announced this important theory
+about the year 130 B.C."[346] Undoubtedly the Greeks contributed to
+the advancement of the science of astronomy, with which, as other
+authorities believe, they became acquainted after it had become well
+developed as a science by the Assyrians and Babylonians.
+
+"In return for improved methods of astronomical calculation which,"
+Jastrow says, "_it may be assumed_ (the italics are ours), contact
+with Greek science gave to the Babylonian astronomers, the Greeks
+accepted from the Babylonians the names of the constellations of the
+ecliptic."[347] This is a grudging admission; they evidently accepted
+more than the mere names.
+
+Jastrow's hypothesis is certainly interesting, especially as he is an
+Oriental linguist of high repute. But it is not generally accepted.
+The sudden advance made by the Tigro-Euphratean astronomers when
+Assyria was at the height of its glory, may have been due to the
+discoveries made by great native scientists, the Newtons and the
+Herschels of past ages, who had studied the data accumulated by
+generations of astrologers, the earliest recorders of the movements of
+the heavenly bodies. It is hard to believe that the Greeks made much
+progress as scientists before they had identified the planets, and
+become familiar with the Babylonian constellations through the medium
+of the Hittites or the Phoenicians. What is known for certain is that
+long centuries before the Greek science was heard of, there were
+scientists in Babylonia. During the Sumerian period "the forms and
+relations of geometry", says Professor Goodspeed, "were employed for
+purposes of augury. The heavens were mapped out, and the courses of
+the heavenly bodies traced to determine the bearing of their movements
+upon human destinies."[348]
+
+Several centuries before Hipparchus was born, the Assyrian kings had
+in their palaces official astronomers who were able to foretell, with
+varying degrees of accuracy, when eclipses would take place.
+Instructions were sent to various observatories, in the king's name,
+to send in reports of forthcoming eclipses. A translation of one of
+these official documents sent from the observatory of Babylon to
+Nineveh, has been published by Professor Harper. The following are
+extracts from it: "As for the eclipse of the moon about which the king
+my lord has written to me, a watch was kept for it in the cities of
+Akkad, Borsippa, and Nippur. We observed it ourselves in the city of
+Akkad.... And whereas the king my lord ordered me to observe also the
+eclipse of the sun, I watched to see whether it took place or not, and
+what passed before my eyes I now report to the king my lord. It was an
+eclipse of the moon that took place.... It was total over Syria, and
+the shadow fell on the land of the Amorites, the land of the Hittites,
+and in part on the land of the Chaldees." Professor Sayce comments:
+"We gather from this letter that there were no less than three
+observatories in Northern Babylonia: one at Akkad, near Sippara; one
+at Nippur, now Niffer; and one at Borsippa, within sight of Babylon.
+As Borsippa possessed a university, it was natural that one of the
+three observatories should be established there."[349]
+
+It is evident that before the astronomers at Nineveh could foretell
+eclipses, they had achieved considerable progress as scientists. The
+data at their disposal probably covered nearly two thousand years. Mr.
+Brown, junior, calculates that the signs of the Zodiac were fixed in
+the year 2084 B.C.[350] These star groups do not now occupy the
+positions in which they were observed by the early astronomers,
+because the revolving earth is rocking like a top, with the result
+that the pole does not always keep pointing at the same spot in the
+heavens. Each year the meeting-place of the imaginary lines of the
+ecliptic and equator is moving westward at the rate of about fifty
+seconds. In time--ages hence--the pole will circle round to the point
+it spun at when the constellations were named by the Babylonians. It
+is by calculating the period occupied by this world-curve that the
+date 2084 B.C. has been arrived at.
+
+As a result of the world-rocking process, the present-day "signs of
+the Zodiac" do not correspond with the constellations. In March, for
+instance, when the sun crosses the equator it enters the sign of the
+Ram (Aries), but does not reach the constellation till the 20th, as
+the comparative table shows on p. 308.
+
+When "the ecliptic was marked off into the twelve regions" and the
+signs of the Zodiac were designated, "the year of three hundred
+sixty-five and one-fourth days was known", says Goodspeed, "though the
+common year was reckoned according to twelve months of thirty days
+each[351], and equated with the solar year by intercalating a month at
+the proper times.... The month was divided into weeks of seven
+days.... The clepsydra and the sundial were Babylonian inventions for
+measuring time."[352]
+
+The sundial of Ahaz was probably of Babylonian design. When the shadow
+went "ten degrees backward" (_2 Kings_, xx, II) ambassadors were sent
+from Babylon "to enquire of the wonder that was done in the land" (_2
+Chron._ xxxii, 31). It was believed that the king's illness was
+connected with the incident. According to astronomical calculation
+there was a partial eclipse of the sun which was visible at Jerusalem
+on 11th January, 689 B.C, about 11.30 a.m. When the upper part of the
+solar disc was obscured, the shadow on the dial was strangely
+affected.
+
+The Babylonian astrologers in their official documents were more
+concerned regarding international omens than those which affected
+individuals. They made observations not only of the stars, but also
+the moon, which, as has been shown, was one of their planets, and took
+note of the clouds and the wind likewise.
+
+As portions of the heavens were assigned to various countries, so was
+the moon divided into four quarters for the same purpose--the upper
+part for the north, Gutium, the lower for the south, Akkad or
+Babylonia, the eastern part for Elam, and the western for Amurru. The
+crescent was also divided in like manner; looking southward the
+astrologers assigned the right horn to the west and the left to the
+east. In addition, certain days and certain months were connected with
+the different regions. Lunar astrology was therefore of complicated
+character. When the moon was dim at the particular phase which was
+connected with Amurru, it was believed that the fortunes of that
+region were in decline, and if it happened to shine brightly in the
+Babylonian phase the time was considered auspicious to wage war in the
+west. Great importance was attached to eclipses, which were
+fortunately recorded, with the result that the ancient astronomers
+were ultimately enabled to forecast them.
+
+The destinies of the various states in the four quarters were
+similarly influenced by the planets. When Venus, for instance, rose
+brightly in the field of Anu, it was a "prosperor" for Elam; if it
+were dim it foretold misfortune. Much importance was also attached to
+the positions occupied by the constellations when the planets were
+propitious or otherwise; no king would venture forth on an expedition
+under a "yoke of inauspicious stars".
+
+Biblical references to the stars make mention of well-known Babylonian
+constellations:
+
+    Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the
+    bands of Orion? Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth (? the Zodiac) in
+    his season? or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons? Knowest
+    thou the ordinances of heaven? canst thou set the dominion thereof
+    in the earth? _Job_, xxxviii, 31-33. Which maketh Arcturus, Orion,
+    and Pleiades, and the chambers of the south. _Job_, ix, 9. Seek
+    him that maketh the seven stars and Orion, and turneth the shadow
+    of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night.
+    _Amos_, v, 8.
+
+The so-called science of astrology, which had origin in ancient
+Babylonia and spread eastward and west, is not yet extinct, and has
+its believers even in our own country at the present day, although
+they are not nearly so numerous as when Shakespeare made Malvolio
+read:
+
+    In my stars I am above thee; but be not afraid of greatness: some
+    are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness
+    thrust upon 'em. Thy Fates open their hands....[353]
+
+or when Byron wrote:
+
+    Ye stars! which are the poetry of heaven!
+    If in your bright leaves we would read the fate
+    Of men and empires--'t is to be forgiven
+    That in our aspirations to be great,
+    Our destinies o'erleap their mortal state
+    And claim a kindred with you....[354]
+
+Our grave astronomers are no longer astrologers, but they still call
+certain constellations by the names given them in Babylonia. Every
+time we look at our watches we are reminded of the ancient
+mathematicians who counted on their fingers and multiplied 10 by 6, to
+give us minutes and seconds, and divided the day and the night into
+twelve hours by multiplying six by the two leaden feet of Time. The
+past lives in the present.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+ASHUR THE NATIONAL GOD OF ASSYRIA
+
+
+  Derivation of Ashur--Ashur as Anshar and Anu--Animal forms of Sky
+  God--Anshar as Star God on the Celestial Mount--Isaiah's
+  Parable--Symbols of World God and World Hill--Dance of the
+  Constellations and Dance of Satyrs--Goat Gods and Bull Gods--Symbols
+  of Gods as "High Heads"--The Winged Disc--Human Figure as Soul of
+  the Sun--Ashur as Hercules and Gilgamesh--Gods differentiated by
+  Cults--Fertility Gods as War Gods--Ashur's Tree and Animal
+  forms--Ashur as Nisroch--Lightning Symbol in Disc--Ezekiel's
+  Reference to Life Wheel--Indian Wheel and Discus--Wheels of Shamash
+  and Ahura-Mazda--Hittite Winged Disc--Solar Wheel causes Seasonal
+  Changes--Bonfires to stimulate Solar Deity--Burning of Gods and
+  Kings--Magical Ring and other Symbols of Scotland--Ashur's Wheel of
+  Life and Eagle Wings--King and Ashur--Ashur associated with Lunar,
+  Fire, and Star Gods--The Osirian Clue--Hittite and Persian
+  Influences.
+
+
+The rise of Assyria brings into prominence the national god Ashur,
+who had been the city god of Asshur, the ancient capital. When first
+met with, he is found to be a complex and mystical deity, and the
+problem of his origin is consequently rendered exceedingly difficult.
+Philologists are not agreed as to the derivation of his name, and
+present as varied views as they do when dealing with the name of
+Osiris. Some give Ashur a geographical significance, urging that its
+original form was Aushar, "water field"; others prefer the renderings
+"Holy", "the Beneficent One", or "the Merciful One"; while not a few
+regard Ashur as simply a dialectic form of the name of Anshar, the god
+who, in the Assyrian version, or copy, of the Babylonian Creation
+myth, is chief of the "host of heaven", and the father of Anu, Ea, and
+Enlil.
+
+If Ashur is to be regarded as an abstract solar deity, who was
+developed from a descriptive place name, it follows that he had a
+history, like Anu or Ea, rooted in Naturalism or Animism. We cannot
+assume that his strictly local character was produced by modes of
+thought which did not obtain elsewhere. The colonists who settled at
+Asshur no doubt imported beliefs from some cultural area; they must
+have either given recognition to a god, or group of gods, or regarded
+the trees, hills, rivers, sun, moon, and stars, and the animals as
+manifestations of the "self power" of the Universe, before they
+undertook the work of draining and cultivating the "water field" and
+erecting permanent homes. Those who settled at Nineveh, for instance,
+believed that they were protected by the goddess Nina, the patron
+deity of the Sumerian city of Nina. As this goddess was also
+worshipped at Lagash, and was one of the many forms of the Great
+Mother, it would appear that in ancient times deities had a tribal
+rather than a geographical significance.
+
+If the view is accepted that Ashur is Anshar, it can be urged that he
+was imported from Sumeria. "Out of that land (Shinar)", according to
+the Biblical reference, "went forth Asshur, and builded Nineveh."[355]
+Asshur, or Ashur (identical, Delitzsch and Jastrow believe, with
+Ashir),[356] may have been an eponymous hero--a deified king like
+Etana, or Gilgamesh, who was regarded as an incarnation of an ancient
+god. As Anshar was an astral or early form of Anu, the Sumerian city
+of origin may have been Erech, where the worship of the mother goddess
+was also given prominence.
+
+Damascius rendered Anshar's name as "Assōros", a fact usually cited to
+establish Ashur's connection with that deity. This writer stated that
+the Babylonians passed over "Sige,[357] the mother, that has begotten
+heaven and earth", and made two--Apason (Apsu), the husband, and
+Tauthe (Tiawath or Tiamat), whose son was Moymis (Mummu). From these
+another progeny came forth--Lache and Lachos (Lachmu and Lachamu).
+These were followed by the progeny Kissare and Assōros (Kishar and
+Anshar), "from which were produced Anos (Anu), Illillos (Enlil) and
+Aos (Ea). And of Aos and Dauke (Dawkina or Damkina) was born Belos
+(Bel Merodach), whom they say is the Demiurge"[358] (the world artisan
+who carried out the decrees of a higher being).
+
+Lachmu and Lachamu, like the second pair of the ancient group of
+Egyptian deities, probably symbolized darkness as a reproducing and
+sustaining power. Anshar was apparently an impersonation of the night
+sky, as his son Anu was of the day sky. It may have been believed that
+the soul of Anshar was in the moon as Nannar (Sin), or in a star, or
+that the moon and the stars were manifestations of him, and that the
+soul of Anu was in the sun or the firmament, or that the sun,
+firmament, and the wind were forms of this "self power".
+
+If Ashur combined the attributes of Anshar and Anu, his early mystical
+character may be accounted for. Like the Indian Brahma, he may have
+been in his highest form an impersonation, or symbol, of the "self
+power" or "world soul" of developed Naturalism--the "creator",
+"preserver", and "destroyer" in one, a god of water, earth, air, and
+sky, of sun, moon, and stars, fire and lightning, a god of the grove,
+whose essence was in the fig, or the fir cone, as it was in all
+animals. The Egyptian god Amon of Thebes, who was associated with
+water, earth, air, sky, sun and moon, had a ram form, and was "the
+hidden one", was developed from one of the elder eight gods; in the
+Pyramid Texts he and his consort are the fourth pair. When Amon was
+fused with the specialized sun god Ra, he was placed at the head of
+the Ennead as the Creator. "We have traces", says Jastrow, "of an
+Assyrian myth of Creation in which the sphere of creator is given to
+Ashur."[359]
+
+Before a single act of creation was conceived of, however, the early
+peoples recognized the eternity of matter, which was permeated by the
+"self power" of which the elder deities were vague phases. These were
+too vague, indeed, to be worshipped individually. The forms of the
+"self power" which were propitiated were trees, rivers, hills, or
+animals. As indicated in the previous chapter, a tribe worshipped an
+animal or natural object which dominated its environment. The animal
+might be the source of the food supply, or might have to be
+propitiated to ensure the food supply. Consequently they identified
+the self power of the Universe with the particular animal with which
+they were most concerned. One section identified the spirit of the
+heavens with the bull and another with the goat. In India Dyaus was a
+bull, and his spouse, the earth mother, Prithivi, was a cow. The
+Egyptian sky goddess Hathor was a cow, and other goddesses were
+identified with the hippopotamus, the serpent, the cat, or the
+vulture. Ra, the sun god, was identified in turn with the cat, the
+ass, the bull, the ram, and the crocodile, the various animal forms of
+the local deities he had absorbed. The eagle in Babylonia and India,
+and the vulture, falcon, and mysterious Phoenix in Egypt, were
+identified with the sun, fire, wind, and lightning. The animals
+associated with the god Ashur were the bull, the eagle, and the lion.
+He either absorbed the attributes of other gods, or symbolized the
+"Self Power" of which the animals were manifestations.
+
+The earliest germ of the Creation myth was the idea that night was the
+parent of day, and water of the earth. Out of darkness and death came
+light and life. Life was also motion. When the primordial waters
+became troubled, life began to be. Out of the confusion came order and
+organization. This process involved the idea of a stable and
+controlling power, and the succession of a group of deities--passive
+deities and active deities. When the Babylonian astrologers assisted
+in developing the Creation myth, they appear to have identified with
+the stable and controlling spirit of the night heaven that steadfast
+orb the Polar Star. Anshar, like Shakespeare's Caesar, seemed to say:
+
+    I am constant as the northern star, Of whose true-fixed and
+    resting quality There is no fellow in the firmament. The skies are
+    painted with unnumbered sparks; They are all fire, and every one
+    doth shine; But there's but one in all doth hold his place.[360]
+
+Associated with the Polar Star was the constellation Ursa Minor, "the
+Little Bear", called by the Babylonian astronomers, "the Lesser
+Chariot". There were chariots before horses were introduced. A patesi
+of Lagash had a chariot which was drawn by asses.
+
+The seemingly steadfast Polar Star was called "Ilu Sar", "the god
+Shar", or Anshar, "star of the height", or "Shar the most high". It
+seemed to be situated at the summit of the vault of heaven. The god
+Shar, therefore, stood upon the Celestial mountain, the Babylonian
+Olympus. He was the ghost of the elder god, who in Babylonia was
+displaced by the younger god, Merodach, as Mercury, the morning star,
+or as the sun, the planet of day; and in Assyria by Ashur, as the sun,
+or Regulus, or Arcturus, or Orion. Yet father and son were identical.
+They were phases of the One, the "self power".
+
+A deified reigning king was an incarnation of the god; after death he
+merged in the god, as did the Egyptian Unas. The eponymous hero Asshur
+may have similarly merged in the universal Ashur, who, like Horus, an
+incarnation of Osiris, had many phases or forms.
+
+Isaiah appears to have been familiar with the Tigro-Euphratean myths
+about the divinity of kings and the displacement of the elder god by
+the younger god, of whom the ruling monarch was an incarnation, and
+with the idea that the summit of the Celestial mountain was crowned by
+the "north star", the symbol of Anshar. "Thou shalt take up this
+parable", he exclaimed, making use of Babylonian symbolism, "against
+the king of Babylon and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden
+city ceased!... How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the
+morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the
+nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend unto heaven,
+I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will sit also upon
+the mount of the congregation, _in the sides of the north_; I will
+ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most
+High."[361] The king is identified with Lucifer as the deity of fire
+and the morning star; he is the younger god who aspired to occupy the
+mountain throne of his father, the god Shar--the Polar or North Star.
+
+It is possible that the Babylonian idea of a Celestial mountain gave
+origin to the belief that the earth was a mountain surrounded by the
+outer ocean, beheld by Etana when he flew towards heaven on the
+eagle's back. In India this hill is Mount Meru, the "world spine",
+which "sustains the earth"; it is surmounted by Indra's Valhal, or
+"the great city of Brahma". In Teutonic mythology the heavens revolve
+round the Polar Star, which is called "Veraldar nagli",[362] the
+"world spike"; while the earth is sustained by the "world tree". The
+"ded" amulet of Egypt symbolized the backbone of Osiris as a world
+god: "ded" means "firm", "established";[363] while at burial
+ceremonies the coffin was set up on end, inside the tomb, "on a small
+sandhill intended to represent the Mountain of the West--the realm of
+the dead".[364] The Babylonian temple towers were apparently symbols
+of the "world hill". At Babylon, the Du-azaga, "holy mound", was
+Merodach's temple E-sagila, "the Temple of the High Head". E-kur,
+rendered "the house or temple of the Mountain", was the temple of Bel
+Enlil at Nippur. At Erech, the temple of the goddess Ishtar was
+E-anna, which connects her, as Nina or Ninni, with Anu, derived from
+"ana", "heaven". Ishtar was "Queen of heaven".
+
+Now Polaris, situated at the summit of the celestial mountain, was
+identified with the sacred goat, "the highest of the flock of
+night".[365] Ursa Minor (the "Little Bear" constellation) may have
+been "the goat with six heads", referred to by Professor Sayce.[366]
+The six astral goats or goat-men were supposed to be dancing round the
+chief goat-man or Satyr (Anshar). Even in the dialogues of Plato the
+immemorial belief was perpetuated that the constellations were "moving
+as in a dance". Dancing began as a magical or religious practice, and
+the earliest astronomers saw their dancing customs reflected in the
+heavens by the constellations, whose movements were rhythmical. No
+doubt, Isaiah had in mind the belief of the Babylonians regarding the
+dance of their goat-gods when he foretold: "Their houses shall be full
+of doleful creatures; and owls (ghosts) shall dwell there, and _satyrs
+shall dance there_".[367] In other words, there would be no people
+left to perform religious dances beside the "desolate houses"; the
+stars only would be seen dancing round Polaris.
+
+Tammuz, like Anshar, as sentinel of the night heaven, was a goat, as
+was also Nin-Girsu of Lagash. A Sumerian reference to "a white kid of
+En Mersi (Nin-Girsu)" was translated into Semitic, "a white kid of
+Tammuz". The goat was also associated with Merodach. Babylonians,
+having prayed to that god to take away their diseases or their sins,
+released a goat, which was driven into the desert. The present Polar
+Star, which was not, of course, the Polar star of the earliest
+astronomers, the world having rocked westward, is called in Arabic
+Al-Jedy, "the kid". In India, the goat was connected with Agni and
+Varuna; it was slain at funeral ceremonies to inform the gods that a
+soul was about to enter heaven. Ea, the Sumerian lord of water, earth,
+and heaven, was symbolized as a "goat fish". Thor, the Teutonic
+fertility and thunder god, had a chariot drawn by goats. It is of
+interest to note that the sacred Sumerian goat bore on its forehead
+the same triangular symbol as the Apis bull of Egypt.
+
+Ashur was not a "goat of heaven", but a "bull of heaven", like the
+Sumerian Nannar (Sin), the moon god of Ur, Ninip of Saturn, and Bel
+Enlil. As the bull, however, he was, like Anshar, the ruling animal of
+the heavens; and like Anshar he had associated with him "six
+divinities of council".
+
+Other deities who were similarly exalted as "high heads" at various
+centres and at various periods, included Anu, Bel Enlil, and Ea,
+Merodach, Nergal, and Shamash. A symbol of the first three was a
+turban on a seat, or altar, which may have represented the "world
+mountain". Ea, as "the world spine", was symbolized as a column, with
+ram's head, standing on a throne, beside which crouched a "goat fish".
+Merodach's column terminated in a lance head, and the head of a lion
+crowned that of Nergal. These columns were probably connected with
+pillar worship, and therefore with tree worship, the pillar being the
+trunk of the "world tree". The symbol of the sun god Shamash was a
+disc, from which flowed streams of water; his rays apparently were
+"fertilizing tears", like the rays of the Egyptian sun god Ra. Horus,
+the Egyptian falcon god, was symbolized as the winged solar disc.
+
+It is necessary to accumulate these details regarding other deities
+and their symbols before dealing with Ashur. The symbols of Ashur must
+be studied, because they are one of the sources of our knowledge
+regarding the god's origin and character. These include (1) a winged
+disc with horns, enclosing four circles revolving round a middle
+circle; rippling rays fall down from either side of the disc; (2) a
+circle or wheel, suspended from wings, and enclosing a warrior drawing
+his bow to discharge an arrow; and (3) the same circle; the warrior's
+bow, however, is carried in his left hand, while the right hand is
+uplifted as if to bless his worshippers. These symbols are taken from
+seal cylinders.
+
+An Assyrian standard, which probably represented the "world column",
+has the disc mounted on a bull's head with horns. The upper part of
+the disc is occupied by a warrior, whose head, part of his bow, and
+the point of his arrow protrude from the circle. The rippling water
+rays are V-shaped, and two bulls, treading river-like rays, occupy the
+divisions thus formed. There are also two heads--a lion's and a
+man's--with gaping mouths, which may symbolize tempests, the
+destroying power of the sun, or the sources of the Tigris and
+Euphrates.
+
+Jastrow regards the winged disc as "the purer and more genuine symbol
+of Ashur as a solar deity". He calls it "a sun disc with protruding
+rays", and says: "To this symbol the warrior with the bow and arrow
+was added--a despiritualization that reflects the martial spirit of
+the Assyrian empire".[368]
+
+The sun symbol on the sun boat of Ra encloses similarly a human
+figure, which was apparently regarded as the soul of the sun: the life
+of the god was in the "sun egg". In an Indian prose treatise it is set
+forth: "Now that man in yonder orb (the sun) and that man in the right
+eye truly are no other than Death (the soul). His feet have stuck fast
+in the heart, and having pulled them out he comes forth; and when he
+comes forth then that man dies; whence they say of him who has passed
+away, 'he has been cut off (his life or life string has been
+severed)'."[369] The human figure did not indicate a process of
+"despiritualization" either in Egypt or in India. The Horus "winged
+disc" was besides a symbol of destruction and battle, as well as of
+light and fertility. Horus assumed that form in one legend to destroy
+Set and his followers.[370] But, of course, the same symbols may not
+have conveyed the same ideas to all peoples. As Blake put it:
+
+    What to others a trifle appears Fills me full of smiles and
+    tears.... With my inward Eye, 't is an old Man grey, With my
+    outward, a Thistle across my way.
+
+Indeed, it is possible that the winged disc meant one thing to an
+Assyrian priest, and another thing to a man not gifted with what Blake
+called "double vision".
+
+What seems certain, however, is that the archer was as truly solar as
+the "wings" or "rays". In Babylonia and Assyria the sun was, among
+other things, a destroyer from the earliest times. It is not
+surprising, therefore, to find that Ashur, like Merodach, resembled,
+in one of his phases, Hercules, or rather his prototype Gilgamesh. One
+of Gilgamesh's mythical feats was the slaying of three demon birds.
+These may be identical with the birds of prey which Hercules, in
+performing his sixth labour, hunted out of Stymphalus.[371] In the
+Greek Hipparcho-Ptolemy star list Hercules was the constellation of
+the "Kneeler", and in Babylonian-Assyrian astronomy he was (as
+Gilgamesh or Merodach) "Sarru", "the king". The astral "Arrow"
+(constellation of Sagitta) was pointed against the constellations of
+the "Eagle", "Vulture", and "Swan". In Phoenician astronomy the
+Vulture was "Zither" (Lyra), a weapon with which Hercules (identified
+with Melkarth) slew Linos, the musician. Hercules used a solar arrow,
+which he received from Apollo. In various mythologies the arrow is
+associated with the sun, the moon, and the atmospheric deities, and is
+a symbol of lightning, rain, and fertility, as well as of famine,
+disease, war, and death. The green-faced goddess Neith of Libya,
+compared by the Greeks to Minerva, carries in one hand two arrows and
+a bow.[372] If we knew as little of Athena (Minerva), who was armed
+with a lance, a breastplate made of the skin of a goat, a shield, and
+helmet, as we do of Ashur, it might be held that she was simply a
+goddess of war. The archer in the sun disc of the Assyrian standard
+probably represented Ashur as the god of the people--a deity closely
+akin to Merodach, with pronounced Tammuz traits, and therefore linking
+with other local deities like Ninip, Nergal, and Shamash, and
+partaking also like these of the attributes of the elder gods Anu, Bel
+Enlil, and Ea.
+
+All the other deities worshipped by the Assyrians were of Babylonian
+origin. Ashur appears to have differed from them just as one local
+Babylonian deity differed from another. He reflected Assyrian
+experiences and aspirations, but it is difficult to decide whether the
+sublime spiritual aspect of his character was due to the beliefs of
+alien peoples, by whom the early Assyrians were influenced, or to the
+teachings of advanced Babylonian thinkers, whose doctrines found
+readier acceptance in a "new country" than among the conservative
+ritualists of ancient Sumerian and Akkadian cities. New cults were
+formed from time to time in Babylonia, and when they achieved
+political power they gave a distinctive character to the religion of
+their city states. Others which did not find political support and
+remained in obscurity at home, may have yet extended their influence
+far and wide. Buddhism, for instance, originated in India, but now
+flourishes in other countries, to which it was introduced by
+missionaries. In the homeland it was submerged by the revival of
+Brahmanism, from which it sprung, and which it was intended
+permanently to displace. An instance of an advanced cult suddenly
+achieving prominence as a result of political influence is afforded by
+Egypt, where the fully developed Aton religion was embraced and
+established as a national religion by Akhenaton, the so-called
+"dreamer". That migrations were sometimes propelled by cults, which
+sought new areas in which to exercise religious freedom and propagate
+their beliefs, is suggested by the invasion of India at the close of
+the Vedic period by the "later comers", who laid the foundations of
+Brahmanism. They established themselves in Madhyadesa, "the Middle
+Country", "the land where the Brahmanas and the later Samhitas were
+produced". From this centre went forth missionaries, who accomplished
+the Brahmanization of the rest of India.[373]
+
+It may be, therefore, that the cult of Ashur was influenced in its
+development by the doctrines of advanced teachers from Babylonia, and
+that Persian Mithraism was also the product of missionary efforts
+extended from that great and ancient cultural area. Mitra, as has been
+stated, was one of the names of the Babylonian sun god, who was also a
+god of fertility. But Ashur could not have been to begin with merely a
+battle and solar deity. As the god of a city state he must have been
+worshipped by agriculturists, artisans, and traders; he must have been
+recognized as a deity of fertility, culture, commerce, and law. Even
+as a national god he must have made wider appeal than to the cultured
+and ruling classes. Bel Enlil of Nippur was a "world god" and war god,
+but still remained a local corn god.
+
+Assyria's greatness was reflected by Ashur, but he also reflected the
+origin and growth of that greatness. The civilization of which he was
+a product had an agricultural basis. It began with the development of
+the natural resources of Assyria, as was recognized by the Hebrew
+prophet, who said: "Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with
+fair branches.... The waters made him great, the deep set him up on
+high with her rivers running round about his plants, and sent out her
+little rivers unto all the trees of the field. Therefore his height
+was exalted above all the trees of the field, and his boughs were
+multiplied, and his branches became long because of the multitude of
+waters when he shot forth. All the fowls of heaven made their nests in
+his boughs, and under his branches did all the beasts of the field
+bring forth their young, and under his shadow dwelt all great nations.
+Thus was he fair in his greatness, in the length of his branches; for
+his root was by great waters. The cedars in the garden of God could
+not hide him: the fir trees were not like his boughs, and the chestnut
+trees were not like his branches; nor any tree in the garden of God
+was like unto him in his beauty."[374]
+
+Asshur, the ancient capital, was famous for its merchants. It is
+referred to in the Bible as one of the cities which traded with Tyre
+"in all sorts of things, in blue clothes, and broidered work, and in
+chests of rich apparel, bound with cords, and made of cedar".[375]
+
+As a military power, Assyria's name was dreaded. "Behold," Isaiah
+said, addressing King Hezekiah, "thou hast heard what the kings of
+Assyria have done to all lands by destroying them utterly."[376] The
+same prophet, when foretelling how Israel would suffer, exclaimed: "O
+Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine
+indignation. I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and
+against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the
+spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of
+the streets."[377]
+
+We expect to find Ashur reflected in these three phases of Assyrian
+civilization. If we recognize him in the first place as a god of
+fertility, his other attributes are at once included. A god of
+fertility is a corn god and a water god. The river as a river was a
+"creator" (p. 29), and Ashur was therefore closely associated with the
+"watery place", with the canals or "rivers running round about his
+plants". The rippling water-rays, or fertilizing tears, appear on the
+solar discs. As a corn god, he was a god of war. Tammuz's first act
+was to slay the demons of winter and storm, as Indra's in India was to
+slay the demons of drought, and Thor's in Scandinavia was to
+exterminate the frost giants. The corn god had to be fed with human
+sacrifices, and the people therefore waged war against foreigners to
+obtain victims. As the god made a contract with his people, he was a
+deity of commerce; he provided them with food and they in turn fed him
+with offerings.
+
+In Ezekiel's comparison of Assyria to a mighty tree, there is no doubt
+a mythological reference. The Hebrew prophets invariably utilized for
+their poetic imagery the characteristic beliefs of the peoples to whom
+they made direct reference. The "owls", "satyrs", and "dragons" of
+Babylon, mentioned by Isaiah, were taken from Babylonian mythology, as
+has been indicated. When, therefore, Assyria is compared to a cedar,
+which is greater than fir or chestnut, and it is stated that there are
+nesting birds in the branches, and under them reproducing beasts of
+the field, and that the greatness of the tree is due to "the multitude
+of waters", the conclusion is suggested that Assyrian religion, which
+Ashur's symbols reflect, included the worship of trees, birds, beasts,
+and water. The symbol of the Assyrian tree--probably the "world tree"
+of its religion--appears to be "the rod of mine anger ... the staff in
+their hand"; that is, the battle standard which was a symbol of Ashur.
+Tammuz and Osiris were tree gods as well as corn gods.
+
+Now, as Ashur was evidently a complex deity, it is futile to attempt
+to read his symbols without giving consideration to the remnants of
+Assyrian mythology which are found in the ruins of the ancient cities.
+These either reflect the attributes of Ashur, or constitute the
+material from which he evolved.
+
+As Layard pointed out many years ago, the Assyrians had a sacred tree
+which became conventionalized. It was "an elegant device, in which
+curved branches, springing from a kind of scroll work, terminated in
+flowers of graceful form. As one of the figures last described[378]
+was turned, as if in act of adoration, towards this device, it was
+evidently a sacred emblem; and I recognized in it the holy tree, or
+tree of life, so universally adored at the remotest period in the
+East, and which was preserved in the religious systems of the Persians
+to the final overthrow of their Empire.... The flowers were formed by
+seven petals."[379]
+
+This tree looks like a pillar, and is thrice crossed by
+conventionalized bull's horns tipped with ring symbols which may be
+stars, the highest pair of horns having a larger ring between them,
+but only partly shown as if it were a crescent. The tree with its many
+"sevenfold" designs may have been a symbol of the
+"Sevenfold-one-are-ye" deity. This is evidently the Assyrian tree
+which was called "the rod" or "staff".
+
+What mythical animals did this tree shelter? Layard found that "the
+four creatures continually introduced on the sculptured walls", were
+"a man, a lion, an ox, and an eagle".[380]
+
+In Sumeria the gods were given human form, but before this stage was
+reached the bull symbolized Nannar (Sin), the moon god, Ninip (Saturn,
+the old sun), and Enlil, while Nergal was a lion, as a tribal sun god.
+The eagle is represented by the Zu bird, which symbolized the storm
+and a phase of the sun, and was also a deity of fertility. On the
+silver vase of Lagash the lion and eagle were combined as the
+lion-headed eagle, a form of Nin-Girsu (Tammuz), and it was associated
+with wild goats, stags, lions, and bulls. On a mace head dedicated to
+Nin-Girsu, a lion slays a bull as the Zu bird slays serpents in the
+folk tale, suggesting the wars of totemic deities, according to one
+"school", and the battle of the sun with the storm clouds according to
+another. Whatever the explanation may be of one animal deity of
+fertility slaying another, it seems certain that the conflict was
+associated with the idea of sacrifice to procure the food supply.
+
+In Assyria the various primitive gods were combined as a winged bull,
+a winged bull with human head (the king's), a winged lion with human
+head, a winged man, a deity with lion's head, human body, and eagle's
+legs with claws, and also as a deity with eagle's head and feather
+headdress, a human body, wings, and feather-fringed robe, carrying in
+one hand a metal basket on which two winged men adored the holy tree,
+and in the other a fir cone.[381]
+
+Layard suggested that the latter deity, with eagle's head, was
+Nisroch, "the word Nisr signifying, in all Semitic languages, an eagle
+".[382] This deity is referred to in the Bible: "Sennacherib, king of
+Assyria, ... was worshipping in the house of Nisroch, his god".[383]
+Professor Pinches is certain that Nisroch is Ashur, but considers that
+the "ni" was attached to "Ashur" (Ashuraku or Ashurachu), as it was to
+"Marad" (Merodach) to give the reading Ni-Marad = Nimrod. The names of
+heathen deities were thus made "unrecognizable, and in all probability
+ridiculous as well.... Pious and orthodox lips could pronounce them
+without fear of defilement."[384] At the same time the "Nisr" theory
+is probable: it may represent another phase of this process. The names
+of heathen gods were not all treated in like manner by the Hebrew
+teachers. Abed-_nebo_, for instance, became Abed-_nego_, _Daniel_, i,
+7, as Professor Pinches shows.
+
+Seeing that the eagle received prominence in the mythologies of
+Sumeria and Assyria, as a deity of fertility with solar and
+atmospheric attributes, it is highly probable that the Ashur symbol,
+like the Egyptian Horus solar disk, is a winged symbol of life,
+fertility, and destruction. The idea that it represents the sun in
+eclipse, with protruding rays, seems rather far-fetched, because
+eclipses were disasters and indications of divine wrath;[385] it
+certainly does not explain why the "rays" should only stretch out
+sideways, like wings, and downward like a tail, why the "rays" should
+be double, like the double wings of cherubs, bulls, &c, and divided
+into sections suggesting feathers, or why the disk is surmounted by
+conventionalized horns, tipped with star-like ring symbols, identical
+with those depicted in the holy tree. What particular connection the
+five small rings within the disk were supposed to have with the
+eclipse of the sun is difficult to discover.
+
+In one of the other symbols in which appears a feather-robed archer,
+it is significant to find that the arrow he is about to discharge has
+a head shaped like a trident; it is evidently a lightning symbol.
+
+When Ezekiel prophesied to the Israelitish captives at Tel-abib, "by
+the river of Chebar" in Chaldea (Kheber, near Nippur), he appears to
+have utilized Assyrian symbolism. Probably he came into contact in
+Babylonia with fugitive priests from Assyrian cities.
+
+This great prophet makes interesting references to "four living
+creatures", with "four faces "--the face of a man, the face of a lion,
+the face of an ox, and the face of an eagle; "they had the hands of a
+man under their wings, ... their wings were joined one to another; ...
+their wings were stretched upward: two wings of every one were joined
+one to another.... Their appearance was like burning coals of fire and
+like the appearance of lamps.... The living creatures ran and returned
+as the appearance of a flash of lightning."[386]
+
+Elsewhere, referring to the sisters, Aholah and Aholibah, who had been
+in Egypt and had adopted unmoral ways of life Ezekiel tells that when
+Aholibah "doted upon the Assyrians" she "saw men pourtrayed upon the
+wall, the images of the Chaldeans pourtrayed with vermilion, girded
+with girdles upon their loins".[387] Traces of the red colour on the
+walls of Assyrian temples and palaces have been observed by
+excavators. The winged gods "like burning coals" were probably painted
+in vermilion.
+
+Ezekiel makes reference to "ring" and "wheel" symbols. In his vision
+he saw "one wheel upon the earth by the living creatures, with his
+four faces. The appearance of the wheels and their work was like unto
+the colour of beryl; and they four had one likeness; and their
+appearance and their work was as it were a wheel in the middle of a
+wheel.... As for their rings, they were so high that they were
+dreadful; and their rings were full of eyes round about them four. And
+when the living creatures went, the wheels went by them; and when the
+living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted
+up. Whithersoever the spirit was to go, they went, thither was their
+spirit to go; and the wheels were lifted up over against them; _for
+the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels_....[388] And the
+likeness of the firmament upon the heads of the living creature was as
+the colour of terrible crystal, stretched forth over their heads
+above.... And when they went I heard the noise of their wings, like
+the noise of great waters, as the voice of the Almighty, the voice of
+speech, as the noise of an host; when they stood they let down their
+wings...."[389]
+
+Another description of the cherubs states: "Their whole body, and
+their backs, and their hands, and their wings, and the wheels, were
+full of eyes (? stars) round about, even the wheels that they four
+had. As for the wheels, it was cried unto them in my hearing, O
+wheel!"--or, according to a marginal rendering, "they were called in
+my hearing, wheel, or Gilgal," i.e. move round.... "And the cherubims
+were lifted up."[390]
+
+It would appear that the wheel (or hoop, a variant rendering) was a
+symbol of life, and that the Assyrian feather-robed figure which it
+enclosed was a god, not of war only, but also of fertility. His
+trident-headed arrow resembles, as has been suggested, a lightning
+symbol. Ezekiel's references are suggestive in this connection. When
+the cherubs "ran and returned" they had "the appearance of a flash of
+lightning", and "the noise of their wings" resembled "the noise of
+great waters". Their bodies were "like burning coals of fire".
+Fertility gods were associated with fire, lightning, and water. Agni
+of India, Sandan of Asia Minor, and Melkarth of Phoenicia were highly
+developed fire gods of fertility. The fire cult was also represented
+in Sumeria (pp. 49-51).
+
+In the Indian epic, the _Mahabharata_, the revolving ring or wheel
+protects the Soma[391] (ambrosia) of the gods, on which their
+existence depends. The eagle giant Garuda sets forth to steal it. The
+gods, fully armed, gather round to protect the life-giving drink.
+Garuda approaches "darkening the worlds by the dust raised by the
+hurricane of his wings". The celestials, "overwhelmed by that dust",
+swoon away. Garuda afterwards assumes a fiery shape, then looks "like
+masses of black clouds", and in the end its body becomes golden and
+bright "as the rays of the sun". The Soma is protected by fire, which
+the bird quenches after "drinking in many rivers" with the numerous
+mouths it has assumed. Then Garuda finds that right above the Soma is
+"a wheel of steel, keen edged, and sharp as a razor, revolving
+incessantly. That fierce instrument, of the lustre of the blazing sun
+and of terrible form, was devised by the gods for cutting to pieces
+all robbers of the Soma." Garuda passes "through the spokes of the
+wheel", and has then to contend against "two great snakes of the
+lustre of blazing fire, of tongues bright as the lightning flash, of
+great energy, of mouth emitting fire, of blazing eyes". He slays the
+snakes.... The gods afterwards recover the stolen Soma.
+
+Garuda becomes the vehicle of the god Vishnu, who carries the discus,
+another fiery wheel which revolves and returns to the thrower like
+lightning. "And he (Vishnu) made the bird sit on the flagstaff of his
+car, saying: 'Even thus thou shalt stay above me'."[392]
+
+The Persian god Ahura Mazda hovers above the king in sculptured
+representations of that high dignitary, enclosed in a winged wheel, or
+disk, like Ashur, grasping a ring in one hand, the other being lifted
+up as if blessing those who adore him.
+
+Shamash, the Babylonian sun god; Ishtar, the goddess of heaven; and
+other Babylonian deities carried rings as the Egyptian gods carried
+the ankh, the symbol of life. Shamash was also depicted sitting on his
+throne in a pillar-supported pavilion, in front of which is a sun
+wheel. The spokes of the wheel are formed by a star symbol and
+threefold rippling "water rays".
+
+In Hittite inscriptions there are interesting winged emblems; "the
+central portion" of one "seems to be composed of two crescents
+underneath a disk (which is also divided like a crescent). Above the
+emblem there appear the symbol of sanctity (the divided oval) and the
+hieroglyph which Professor Sayce interprets as the name of the god
+Sandes." In another instance "the centre of the winged emblem may be
+seen to be a rosette, with a curious spreading object below. Above,
+two dots follow the name of Sandes, and a human arm bent 'in
+adoration' is by the side...." Professor Garstang is here dealing with
+sacred places "on rocky points or hilltops, bearing out the suggestion
+of the sculptures near Boghaz-Keui[393], in which there may be
+reasonably suspected the surviving traces of mountain cults, or cults
+of mountain deities, underlying the newer religious symbolism". Who
+the deity is it is impossible to say, but "he was identified at some
+time or other with Sandes".[394] It would appear, too, that the god
+may have been "called by a name which was that used also by the
+priest". Perhaps the priest king was believed to be an incarnation of
+the deity.
+
+Sandes or Sandan was identical with Sandon of Tarsus, "the prototype
+of Attis",[395] who links with the Babylonian Tammuz. Sandon's animal
+symbol was the lion, and he carried the "double axe" symbol of the god
+of fertility and thunder. As Professor Frazer has shown in _The Golden
+Bough_, he links with Hercules and Melkarth.[396]
+
+All the younger gods, who displaced the elder gods as one year
+displaces another, were deities of fertility, battle, lightning, fire,
+and the sun; it is possible, therefore, that Ashur was like Merodach,
+son of Ea, god of the deep, a form of Tammuz in origin. His spirit was
+in the solar wheel which revolved at times of seasonal change. In
+Scotland it was believed that on the morning of May Day (Beltaine) the
+rising sun revolved three times. The younger god was a spring sun god
+and fire god. Great bonfires were lit to strengthen him, or as a
+ceremony of riddance; the old year was burned out. Indeed the god
+himself might be burned (that is, the old god), so that he might renew
+his youth. Melkarth was burned at Tyre. Hercules burned himself on a
+mountain top, and his soul ascended to heaven as an eagle.
+
+These fiery rites were evidently not unknown in Babylonia and Assyria.
+When, according to Biblical narrative, Nebuchadnezzar "made an image
+of gold" which he set up "in the plain of Dura, in the province of
+Babylon", he commanded: "O people, nations, and languages... at the
+time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery,
+dulcimer, and all kinds of musick... fall down and worship the golden
+image". Certain Jews who had been "set over the affairs of the
+province of Babylonia", namely, "Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego",
+refused to adore the idol. They were punished by being thrown into "a
+burning fiery furnace", which was heated "seven times more than it was
+wont to be heated". They came forth uninjured.[397]
+
+In the Koran it is related that Abraham destroyed the images of
+Chaldean gods; he "brake them all in pieces except the biggest of
+them; that they might lay the blame on that".[398] According to the
+commentators the Chaldaeans were at the time "abroad in the fields,
+celebrating a great festival". To punish the offender Nimrod had a
+great pyre erected at Cuthah. "Then they bound Abraham, and putting
+him into an engine, shot him into the midst of the fire, from which he
+was preserved by the angel Gabriel, who was sent to his assistance."
+Eastern Christians were wont to set apart in the Syrian calendar the
+25th of January to commemorate Abraham's escape from Nimrod's
+pyre.[399]
+
+It is evident that the Babylonian fire ceremony was observed in the
+spring season, and that human beings were sacrificed to the sun god. A
+mock king may have been burned to perpetuate the ancient sacrifice of
+real kings, who were incarnations of the god.
+
+Isaiah makes reference to the sacrificial burning of kings in Assyria:
+"For through the voice of the Lord shall the Assyrian be beaten down,
+which smote with a rod. And in every place where the grounded staff
+shall pass, which the Lord shall lay upon him, it shall be with
+tabrets and harps: and in battles of shaking will he fight with it.
+For Tophet is ordained of old; yea, for the king it is prepared: he
+hath made it deep and large: the pile thereof is fire and much wood:
+the breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle
+it."[400] When Nineveh was about to fall, and with it the Assyrian
+Empire, the legendary king, Sardanapalus, who was reputed to have
+founded Tarsus, burned himself, with his wives, concubines, and
+eunuchs, on a pyre in his palace. Zimri, who reigned over Israel for
+seven days, "burnt the king's house over him with fire"[401]. Saul,
+another fallen king, was burned after death, and his bones were buried
+"under the oak in Jabesh".[402] In Europe the oak was associated with
+gods of fertility and lightning, including Jupiter and Thor. The
+ceremony of burning Saul is of special interest. Asa, the orthodox
+king of Judah, was, after death, "laid in the bed which was filled
+with sweet odours and divers kinds of spices prepared by the
+apothecaries' art: and they made a very great burning for him" (_2
+Chronicles_, xvi, 14). Jehoram, the heretic king of Judah, who "walked
+in the way of the kings of Israel", died of "an incurable disease. And
+his people made no burning for him like the burning of his fathers"
+(_2 Chronicles_, xxi, 18, 19).
+
+The conclusion suggested by the comparative study of the beliefs of
+neighbouring peoples, and the evidence afforded by Assyrian
+sculptures, is that Ashur was a highly developed form of the god of
+fertility, who was sustained, or aided in his conflicts with demons,
+by the fires and sacrifices of his worshippers.
+
+It is possible to read too much into his symbols. These are not more
+complicated and vague than are the symbols on the standing stones of
+Scotland--the crescent with the "broken" arrow; the trident with the
+double rings, or wheels, connected by two crescents; the circle with
+the dot in its centre; the triangle with the dot; the large disk with
+two small rings on either side crossed by double straight lines; the
+so-called "mirror", and so on. Highly developed symbolism may not
+indicate a process of spiritualization so much, perhaps, as the
+persistence of magical beliefs and practices. There is really no
+direct evidence to support the theory that the Assyrian winged disk,
+or disk "with protruding rays", was of more spiritual character than
+the wheel which encloses the feather-robed archer with his
+trident-shaped arrow.
+
+The various symbols may have represented phases of the god. When the
+spring fires were lit, and the god "renewed his life like the eagle",
+his symbol was possibly the solar wheel or disk with eagle's wings,
+which became regarded as a symbol of life. The god brought life and
+light to the world; he caused the crops to grow; he gave increase; he
+sustained his worshippers. But he was also the god who slew the demons
+of darkness and storm. The Hittite winged disk was Sandes or Sandon,
+the god of lightning, who stood on the back of a bull. As the
+lightning god was a war god, it was in keeping with his character to
+find him represented in Assyria as "Ashur the archer" with the bow and
+lightning arrow. On the disk of the Assyrian standard the lion and the
+bull appear with "the archer" as symbols of the war god Ashur, but
+they were also symbols of Ashur the god of fertility.
+
+The life or spirit of the god was in the ring or wheel, as the life of
+the Egyptian and Indian gods, and of the giants of folk tales, was in
+"the egg". The "dot within the circle", a widespread symbol, may have
+represented the seed within "the egg" of more than one mythology, or
+the thorn within the egg of more than one legendary story. It may be
+that in Assyria, as in India, the crude beliefs and symbols of the
+masses were spiritualized by the speculative thinkers in the
+priesthood, but no literary evidence has survived to justify us in
+placing the Assyrian teachers on the same level as the Brahmans who
+composed the Upanishads.
+
+Temples were erected to Ashur, but he might be worshipped anywhere,
+like the Queen of Heaven, who received offerings in the streets of
+Jerusalem, for "he needed no temple", as Professor Pinches says.
+Whether this was because he was a highly developed deity or a product
+of folk religion it is difficult to decide. One important fact is that
+the ruling king of Assyria was more closely connected with the worship
+of Ashur than the king of Babylonia was with the worship of Merodach.
+This may be because the Assyrian king was regarded as an incarnation
+of his god, like the Egyptian Pharaoh. Ashur accompanied the monarch
+on his campaigns: he was their conquering war god. Where the king was,
+there was Ashur also. No images were made of him, but his symbols were
+carried aloft, as were the symbols of Indian gods in the great war of
+the _Mahabharata_ epic.
+
+It would appear that Ashur was sometimes worshipped in the temples of
+other gods. In an interesting inscription he is associated with the
+moon god Nannar (Sin) of Haran. Esarhaddon, the Assyrian king, is
+believed to have been crowned in that city. "The writer", says
+Professor Pinches, "is apparently addressing Assur-bani-apli, 'the
+great and noble Asnapper':
+
+"When the father of my king my lord went to Egypt, he was crowned (?)
+in the _ganni_ of Harran, the temple (lit. 'Bethel') of cedar. The god
+Sin remained over the (sacred) standard, two crowns upon his head,
+(and) the god Nusku stood beside him. The father of the king my lord
+entered, (and) he (the priest of Sin) placed (the crown?) upon his
+head, (saying) thus: 'Thou shalt go and capture the lands in the
+midst'. (He we)nt, he captured the land of Egypt. The rest of the
+lands not submitting (?) to Assur (Ashur) and Sin, the king, the lord
+of kings, shall capture (them)."[403]
+
+Ashur and Sin are here linked as equals. Associated with them is
+Nusku, the messenger of the gods, who was given prominence in Assyria.
+The kings frequently invoked him. As the son of Ea he acted as the
+messenger between Merodach and the god of the deep. He was also a son
+of Bel Enlil, and like Anu was guardian or chief of the Igigi, the
+"host of heaven". Professor Pinches suggests that he may have been
+either identical with the Sumerian fire god Gibil, or a brother of the
+fire god, and an impersonation of the light of fire and sun. In Haran
+he accompanied the moon god, and may, therefore, have symbolized the
+light of the moon also. Professor Pinches adds that in one inscription
+"he is identified with Nirig or En-reshtu" (Nin-Girsu = Tammuz).[404]
+The Babylonians and Assyrians associated fire and light with moisture
+and fertility.
+
+The astral phase of the character of Ashur is highly probable. As has
+been indicated, the Greek rendering of Anshar as "Assoros", is
+suggestive in this connection. Jastrow, however, points out that the
+use of the characters Anshar for Ashur did not obtain until the eighth
+century B.C. "Linguistically", he says, "the change of Ashir to Ashur
+can be accounted for, but not the transformation of An-shar to Ashur
+or Ashir; so that we must assume the 'etymology' of Ashur, proposed by
+some learned scribe, to be the nature of a play upon the name."[405]
+On the other hand, it is possible that what appears arbitrary to us
+may have been justified in ancient Assyria on perfectly reasonable, or
+at any rate traditional, grounds. Professor Pinches points out that as
+a sun god, and "at the same time not Shamash", Ashur resembled
+Merodach. "His identification with Merodach, if that was ever
+accepted, may have been due to the likeness of the word to Asari, one
+of the deities' names."[406] As Asari, Merodach has been compared to
+the Egyptian Osiris, who, as the Nile god, was Asar-Hapi. Osiris
+resembles Tammuz and was similarly a corn deity and a ruler of the
+living and the dead, associated with sun, moon, stars, water, and
+vegetation. We may consistently connect Ashur with Aushar, "water
+field", Anshar, "god of the height", or "most high", and with the
+eponymous King Asshur who went out on the land of Nimrod and "builded
+Nineveh", if we regard him as of common origin with Tammuz, Osiris,
+and Attis--a developed and localized form of the ancient deity of
+fertility and corn.
+
+Ashur had a spouse who is referred to as Ashuritu, or Beltu, "the
+lady". Her name, however, is not given, but it is possible that she
+was identified with the Ishtar of Nineveh. In the historical texts
+Ashur, as the royal god, stands alone. Like the Hittite Great Father,
+he was perhaps regarded as the origin of life. Indeed, it may have
+been due to the influence of the northern hillmen in the early
+Assyrian period, that Ashur was developed as a father god--a Baal.
+When the Hittite inscriptions are read, more light may be thrown on
+the Ashur problem. Another possible source of cultural influence is
+Persia. The supreme god Ahura-Mazda (Ormuzd) was, as has been
+indicated, represented, like Ashur, hovering over the king's head,
+enclosed in a winged disk or wheel, and the sacred tree figured in
+Persian mythology. The early Assyrian kings had non-Semitic and
+non-Sumerian names. It seems reasonable to assume that the religious
+culture of the ethnic elements they represented must have contributed
+to the development of the city god of Asshur.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+CONFLICTS FOR TRADE AND SUPREMACY
+
+
+  Modern Babylonia--History repeating itself--Babylonian Trade Route
+  in Mesopotamia--Egyptian Supremacy in Syria--Mitanni and
+  Babylonia--Bandits who plundered Caravans--Arabian Desert Trade
+  Route opened--Assyrian and Elamite Struggles with Babylonia--Rapid
+  Extension of Assyrian Empire--Hittites control Western Trade
+  Routes--Egypt's Nineteenth Dynasty Conquests--Campaigns of Rameses
+  II--Egyptians and Hittites become Allies--Babylonian Fears of
+  Assyria--Shalmaneser's Triumphs--Assyria Supreme in
+  Mesopotamia--Conquest of Babylonia--Fall of a Great King--Civil War
+  in Assyria--Its Empire goes to pieces--Babylonian Wars with
+  Elam--Revival of Babylonian Power--Invasions of Assyrians and
+  Elamites--End of the Kassite Dynasty--Babylonia contrasted with
+  Assyria.
+
+
+It is possible that during the present century Babylonia may once
+again become one of the great wheat-producing countries of the world.
+A scheme of land reclamation has already been inaugurated by the
+construction of a great dam to control the distribution of the waters
+of the Euphrates, and, if it is energetically promoted on a generous
+scale in the years to come, the ancient canals, which are used at
+present as caravan roads, may yet be utilized to make the whole
+country as fertile and prosperous as it was in ancient days. When that
+happy consummation is reached, new cities may grow up and flourish
+beside the ruins of the old centres of Babylonian culture.
+
+With the revival of agriculture will come the revival of commerce.
+Ancient trade routes will then be reopened, and the slow-travelling
+caravans supplanted by speedy trains. A beginning has already been
+made in this direction. The first modern commercial highway which is
+crossing the threshold of Babylonia's new Age is the German railway
+through Asia Minor, North Syria, and Mesopotamia to Baghdad.[407] It
+brings the land of Hammurabi into close touch with Europe, and will
+solve problems which engaged the attention of many rival monarchs for
+long centuries before the world knew aught of "the glory that was
+Greece and the grandeur that was Rome".
+
+These sudden and dramatic changes are causing history to repeat
+itself. Once again the great World Powers are evincing much concern
+regarding their respective "spheres of influence" in Western Asia, and
+pressing together around the ancient land of Babylon. On the east,
+where the aggressive Elamites and Kassites were followed by the
+triumphant Persians and Medes, Russia and Britain have asserted
+themselves as protectors of Persian territory, and the influence of
+Britain is supreme in the Persian Gulf. Turkey controls the land of
+the Hittites, while Russia looms like a giant across the Armenian
+highlands; Turkey is also the governing power in Syria and
+Mesopotamia, which are being crossed by Germany's Baghdad railway.
+France is constructing railways in Syria, and will control the ancient
+"way of the Philistines". Britain occupies Cyprus on the Mediterranean
+coast, and presides over the destinies of the ancient land of Egypt,
+which, during the brilliant Eighteenth Dynasty, extended its sphere of
+influence to the borders of Asia Minor. Once again, after the lapse of
+many centuries, international politics is being strongly influenced by
+the problems connected with the development of trade in Babylonia and
+its vicinity.
+
+The history of the ancient rival States, which is being pieced
+together by modern excavators, is, in view of present-day political
+developments, invested with special interest to us. We have seen
+Assyria rising into prominence. It began to be a great Power when
+Egypt was supreme in the "Western Land" (the land of the Amorites) as
+far north as the frontiers of Cappadocia. Under the Kassite regime
+Babylonia's political influence had declined in Mesopotamia, but its
+cultural influence remained, for its language and script continued in
+use among traders and diplomatists.
+
+At the beginning of the Pharaoh Akhenaton period, the supreme power in
+Mesopotamia was Mitanni. As the ally of Egypt it constituted a buffer
+state on the borders of North Syria, which prevented the southern
+expansion from Asia Minor of the Hittite confederacy and the western
+expansion of aggressive Assyria, while it also held in check the
+ambitions of Babylonia, which still claimed the "land of the
+Amorites". So long as Mitanni was maintained as a powerful kingdom the
+Syrian possessions of Egypt were easily held in control, and the
+Egyptian merchants enjoyed preferential treatment compared with those
+of Babylonia. But when Mitanni was overcome, and its territories were
+divided between the Assyrians and the Hittites, the North Syrian
+Empire of Egypt went to pieces. A great struggle then ensued between
+the nations of western Asia for political supremacy in the "land of
+the Amorites".
+
+Babylonia had been seriously handicapped by losing control of its
+western caravan road. Prior to the Kassite period its influence was
+supreme in Mesopotamia and middle Syria; from the days of Sargon of
+Akkad and of Naram-Sin until the close of the Hammurabi Age its
+merchants had naught to fear from bandits or petty kings between the
+banks of the Euphrates and the Mediterranean coast. The city of
+Babylon had grown rich and powerful as the commercial metropolis of
+Western Asia.
+
+Separated from the Delta frontier by the broad and perilous wastes of
+the Arabian desert, Babylonia traded with Egypt by an indirect route.
+Its caravan road ran northward along the west bank of the Euphrates
+towards Haran, and then southward through Palestine. This was a long
+detour, but it was the only possible way.
+
+During the early Kassite Age the caravans from Babylon had to pass
+through the area controlled by Mitanni, which was therefore able to
+impose heavy duties and fill its coffers with Babylonian gold. Nor did
+the situation improve when the influence of Mitanni suffered decline
+in southern Mesopotamia. Indeed the difficulties under which traders
+operated were then still further increased, for the caravan roads were
+infested by plundering bands of "Suti", to whom references are made in
+the Tell-el-Amarna letters. These bandits defied all the great powers,
+and became so powerful that even the messengers sent from one king to
+another were liable to be robbed and murdered without discrimination.
+When war broke out between powerful States they harried live stock and
+sacked towns in those areas which were left unprotected.
+
+The "Suti" were Arabians of Aramaean stock. What is known as the
+"Third Semitic Migration" was in progress during this period. The
+nomads gave trouble to Babylonia and Assyria, and, penetrating
+Mesopotamia and Syria, sapped the power of Mitanni, until it was
+unable to resist the onslaughts of the Assyrians and the Hittites.
+
+The Aramaean tribes are referred to, at various periods and by various
+peoples, not only as the "Suti", but also as the "Achlame", the
+"Arimi", and the "Khabiri". Ultimately they were designated simply as
+"Syrians", and under that name became the hereditary enemies of the
+Hebrews, although Jacob was regarded as being of their stock: "A
+Syrian ready to perish", runs a Biblical reference, "was my father
+(ancestor), and he went down into Egypt and sojourned there with a
+few, and became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous".[408]
+
+An heroic attempt was made by one of the Kassite kings of Babylonia to
+afford protection to traders by stamping out brigandage between Arabia
+and Mesopotamia, and opening up a new and direct caravan road to Egypt
+across the Arabian desert. The monarch in question was
+Kadashman-Kharbe, the grandson of Ashur-uballit of Assyria. As we have
+seen, he combined forces with his distinguished and powerful kinsman,
+and laid a heavy hand on the "Suti". Then he dug wells and erected a
+chain of fortifications, like "block-houses", so that caravans might
+come and go without interruption, and merchants be freed from the
+imposts of petty kings whose territory they had to penetrate when
+travelling by the Haran route.
+
+This bold scheme, however, was foredoomed to failure. It was shown
+scant favour by the Babylonian Kassites. No record survives to
+indicate the character of the agreement between Kadashman-Kharbe and
+Ashur-uballit, but there can be little doubt that it involved the
+abandonment by Babylonia of its historic claim upon Mesopotamia, or
+part of it, and the recognition of an Assyrian sphere of influence in
+that region. It was probably on account of his pronounced pro-Assyrian
+tendencies that the Kassites murdered Kadashman-Kharbe, and set the
+pretender, known as "the son of nobody", on the throne for a brief
+period.
+
+Kadashman-Kharbe's immediate successors recognized in Assyria a
+dangerous and unscrupulous rival, and resumed the struggle for the
+possession of Mesopotamia. The trade route across the Arabian desert
+had to be abandoned. Probably it required too great a force to keep it
+open. Then almost every fresh conquest achieved by Assyria involved it
+in war with Babylonia, which appears to have been ever waiting for a
+suitable opportunity to cripple its northern rival.
+
+But Assyria was not the only power which Babylonia had to guard itself
+against. On its eastern frontier Elam was also panting for expansion.
+Its chief caravan roads ran from Susa through Assyria towards Asia
+Minor, and through Babylonia towards the Phoenician coast. It was
+probably because its commerce was hampered by the growth of Assyrian
+power in the north, as Servia's commerce in our own day has been
+hampered by Austria, that it cherished dreams of conquering Babylonia.
+In fact, as Kassite influence suffered decline, one of the great
+problems of international politics was whether Elam or Assyria would
+enter into possession of the ancient lands of Sumer and Akkad.
+
+Ashur-uballit's vigorous policy of Assyrian expansion was continued,
+as has been shown, by his son Bel-nirari. His grandson, Arik-den-ilu,
+conducted several successful campaigns, and penetrated westward as far
+as Haran, thus crossing the Babylonian caravan road. He captured great
+herds of cattle and flocks of sheep, which were transported to Asshur,
+and on one occasion carried away 250,000 prisoners.
+
+Meanwhile Babylonia waged war with Elam. It is related that
+Khur-batila, King of Elam, sent a challenge to Kurigalzu III, a
+descendant of Kadashman-Kharbe, saying: "Come hither; I will fight
+with thee". The Babylonian monarch accepted the challenge, invaded the
+territory of his rival, and won a great victory. Deserted by his
+troops, the Elamite king was taken prisoner, and did not secure
+release until he had ceded a portion of his territory and consented to
+pay annual tribute to Babylonia.
+
+Flushed with his success, the Kassite king invaded Assyria when
+Adad-nirari I died and his son Arik-den-ilu came to the throne. He
+found, however, that the Assyrians were more powerful than the
+Elamites, and suffered defeat. His son, Na´zi-mar-ut´tash[409], also
+made an unsuccessful attempt to curb the growing power of the northern
+Power.
+
+These recurring conflicts were intimately associated with the
+Mesopotamian question. Assyria was gradually expanding westward and
+shattering the dreams of the Babylonian statesmen and traders who
+hoped to recover control of the caravan routes and restore the
+prestige of their nation in the west.
+
+Like his father, Adad-nirari I of Assyria had attacked the Aramaean
+"Suti" who were settling about Haran. He also acquired a further
+portion of the ancient kingdom of Mitanni, with the result that he
+exercised sway over part of northern Mesopotamia. After defeating
+Na´zi-mar-ut´tash, he fixed the boundaries of the Assyrian and
+Babylonian spheres of influence much to the advantage of his own
+country.
+
+At home Adad-nirari conducted a vigorous policy. He developed the
+resources of the city state of Asshur by constructing a great dam and
+quay wall, while he contributed to the prosperity of the priesthood
+and the growth of Assyrian culture by extending the temple of the god
+Ashur. Ere he died, he assumed the proud title of "Shar Kishshate",
+"king of the world", which was also used by his son Shalmaneser I. His
+reign extended over a period of thirty years and terminated about 1300
+B.C.
+
+Soon after Shalmaneser came to the throne his country suffered greatly
+from an earthquake, which threw down Ishtar's temple at Nineveh and
+Ashur's temple at Asshur. Fire broke out in the latter building and
+destroyed it completely.
+
+These disasters did not dismay the young monarch. Indeed, they appear
+to have stimulated him to set out on a career of conquest, to secure
+treasure and slaves, so as to carry out the work of reconstructing the
+temples without delay. He became as great a builder, and as tireless a
+campaigner as Thothmes III of Egypt, and under his guidance Assyria
+became the most powerful nation in Western Asia. Ere he died his
+armies were so greatly dreaded that the Egyptians and Assyrians drew
+their long struggle for supremacy in Syria to a close, and formed an
+alliance for mutual protection against their common enemy.
+
+It is necessary at this point to review briefly the history of
+Palestine and north Syria after the period of Hittite expansion under
+King Subbi-luliuma and the decline of Egyptian power under Akhenaton.
+The western part of Mitanni and the most of northern Syria had been
+colonized by the Hittites.[410] Farther south, their allies, the
+Amorites, formed a buffer State on the borders of Egypt's limited
+sphere of influence in southern Palestine, and of Babylonia's sphere
+in southern Mesopotamia. Mitanni was governed by a subject king who
+was expected to prevent the acquisition by Assyria of territory in the
+north-west.
+
+Subbi-luliuma was succeeded on the Hittite throne by his son, King
+Mursil, who was known to the Egyptians as "Meraser", or "Maurasar".
+The greater part of this monarch's reign appears to have been peaceful
+and prosperous. His allies protected his frontiers, and he was able to
+devote himself to the work of consolidating his empire in Asia Minor
+and North Syria. He erected a great palace at Boghaz Köi, and appears
+to have had dreams of imitating the splendours of the royal Courts of
+Egypt, Assyria, and Babylon.
+
+At this period the Hittite Empire was approaching the zenith of its
+power. It controlled the caravan roads of Babylonia and Egypt, and its
+rulers appear not only to have had intimate diplomatic relations with
+both these countries, but even to have concerned themselves regarding
+their internal affairs. When Rameses I came to the Egyptian throne, at
+the beginning of the Nineteenth Dynasty, he sealed an agreement with
+the Hittites, and at a later date the Hittite ambassador at Babylon,
+who represented Hattusil II, the second son of King Mursil, actually
+intervened in a dispute regarding the selection of a successor to the
+throne.
+
+The closing years of King Mursil's reign were disturbed by the
+military conquests of Egypt, which had renewed its strength under
+Rameses I. Seti I, the son of Rameses I, and the third Pharaoh of the
+powerful Nineteenth Dynasty, took advantage of the inactivity of the
+Hittite ruler by invading southern Syria. He had first to grapple with
+the Amorites, whom he successfully defeated. Then he pressed northward
+as far as Tunip, and won a decisive victory over a Hittite army, which
+secured to Egypt for a period the control of Palestine as far north as
+Phoenicia.
+
+When Mursil died he was succeeded on the Hittite throne by his son
+Mutallu, whom the Egyptians referred to as "Metella" or "Mautinel". He
+was a vigorous and aggressive monarch, and appears to have lost no
+time in compelling the Amorites to throw off their allegiance to Egypt
+and recognize him as their overlord. As a result, when Rameses II
+ascended the Egyptian throne he had to undertake the task of winning
+back the Asiatic possessions of his father.
+
+The preliminary operations conducted by Rameses on the Palestinian
+coast were attended with much success. Then, in his fifth year, he
+marched northward with a great army, with purpose, it would appear, to
+emulate the achievements of Thothmes III and win fame as a mighty
+conqueror. But he underestimated the strength of his rival and
+narrowly escaped disaster. Advancing impetuously, with but two of his
+four divisions, he suddenly found himself surrounded by the army of
+the wily Hittite, King Mutallu, in the vicinity of the city of Kadesh,
+on the Orontes. His first division remained intact, but his second was
+put to flight by an intervening force of the enemy. From this perilous
+position Rameses extricated himself by leading a daring charge against
+the Hittite lines on the river bank, which proved successful. Thrown
+into confusion, his enemies sought refuge in the city, but the Pharaoh
+refrained from attacking them there.
+
+Although Rameses boasted on his return home of having achieved a great
+victory, there is nothing more certain than that this campaign proved
+a dismal failure. He was unable to win back for Egypt the northern
+territories which had acknowledged the suzerainty of Egypt during the
+Eighteenth Dynasty. Subsequently he was kept fully engaged in
+maintaining his prestige in northern Palestine and the vicinity of
+Phoenicia. Then his Asiatic military operations, which extended
+altogether over a period of about twenty years, were brought to a
+close in a dramatic and unexpected manner. The Hittite king Mutallu
+had died in battle, or by the hand of an assassin, and was succeeded
+by his brother Hattusil II (Khetasar), who sealed a treaty of peace
+with the great Rameses.
+
+An Egyptian copy of this interesting document can still be read on the
+walls of a Theban temple, but it is lacking in certain details which
+interest present-day historians. No reference, for instance, is made
+to the boundaries of the Egyptian Empire in Syria, so that it is
+impossible to estimate the degree of success which attended the
+campaigns of Rameses. An interesting light, however, is thrown on the
+purport of the treaty by a tablet letter which has been discovered by
+Professor Hugo Winckler at Boghaz Köi. It is a copy of a communication
+addressed by Hattusil II to the King of Babylonia, who had made an
+enquiry regarding it. "I will inform my brother," wrote the Hittite
+monarch; "the King of Egypt and I have made an alliance, and made
+ourselves brothers. Brothers we are and will [unite against] a common
+foe, and with friends in common."[411] The common foe could have been
+no other than Assyria, and the Hittite king's letter appears to convey
+a hint to Kadashman-turgu of Babylon that he should make common cause
+with Rameses II and Hattusil.
+
+Shalmaneser I of Assyria was pursuing a determined policy of western
+and northern expansion. He struck boldly at the eastern Hittite States
+and conquered Malatia, where he secured great treasure for the god
+Ashur. He even founded colonies within the Hittite sphere of influence
+on the borders of Armenia. Shalmaneser's second campaign was conducted
+against the portion of ancient Mitanni which was under Hittite
+control. The vassal king, Sattuari, apparently a descendant of
+Tushratta's, endeavoured to resist the Assyrians with the aid of
+Hittites and Aramaeans, but his army of allies was put to flight. The
+victorious Shalmaneser was afterwards able to penetrate as far
+westward as Carchemish on the Euphrates.
+
+Having thus secured the whole of Mitanni, the Assyrian conqueror
+attacked the Aramaean hordes which were keeping the territory round
+Haran in a continuous state of unrest, and forced them to recognize
+him as their overlord.
+
+Shalmaneser thus, it would appear, gained control of northern
+Mesopotamia and consequently of the Babylonian caravan route to Haran.
+As a result Hittite prestige must have suffered decline in Babylon.
+For a generation the Hittites had had the Babylonian merchants at
+their mercy, and apparently compelled them to pay heavy duties.
+Winckler has found among the Boghaz Köi tablets several letters from
+the king of Babylon, who made complaints regarding robberies committed
+by Amoritic bandits, and requested that they should be punished and
+kept in control. Such a communication is a clear indication that he
+was entitled, in lieu of payment, to have an existing agreement
+fulfilled.
+
+Shalmaneser found that Asshur, the ancient capital, was unsuitable for
+the administration of his extended empire, so he built a great city at
+Kalkhi (Nimrud), the Biblical Calah, which was strategically situated
+amidst fertile meadows on the angle of land formed by the Tigris and
+the Upper Zab. Thither to a new palace he transferred his brilliant
+Court.
+
+He was succeeded by his son, Tukulti-Ninip I, who was the most
+powerful of the Assyrian monarchs of the Old Empire. He made great
+conquests in the north and east, extended and strengthened Assyrian
+influence in Mesopotamia, and penetrated into Hittite territory,
+bringing into subjection no fewer than forty kings, whom he compelled
+to pay annual tribute. It was inevitable that he should be drawn into
+conflict with the Babylonian king, who was plotting with the Hittites
+against him. One of the tablet letters found by Winckler at Boghaz Köi
+is of special interest in this connection. Hattusil advises the young
+monarch of Babylonia to "go and plunder the land of the foe".
+Apparently he sought to be freed from the harassing attention of the
+Assyrian conqueror by prevailing on his Babylonian royal friend to act
+as a "cat's paw".
+
+It is uncertain whether or not Kashtiliash II of Babylonia invaded
+Assyria with purpose to cripple his rival. At any rate war broke out
+between the two countries, and Tukulti-Ninip proved irresistible in
+battle. He marched into Babylonia, and not only defeated Kashtiliash,
+but captured him and carried him off to Asshur, where he was presented
+in chains to the god Ashur.
+
+The city of Babylon was captured, its wall was demolished, and many of
+its inhabitants were put to the sword. Tukulti-Ninip was evidently
+waging a war of conquest, for he pillaged E-sagila, "the temple of the
+high head", and removed the golden statue of the god Merodach to
+Assyria, where it remained for about sixteen years. He subdued the
+whole of Babylonia as far south as the Persian Gulf, and ruled it
+through viceroys.
+
+Tukulti-Ninip, however, was not a popular emperor even in his own
+country. He offended national susceptibilities by showing preference
+for Babylonia, and founding a new city which has not been located.
+There he built a great palace and a temple for Ashur and his pantheon.
+He called the city after himself, Kar-Tukulti-Ninip[412].
+
+Seven years after the conquest of Babylonia revolts broke out against
+the emperor in Assyria and Babylonia, and he was murdered in his
+palace, which had been besieged and captured by an army headed by his
+own son, Ashur-natsir-pal I, who succeeded him. The Babylonian nobles
+meantime drove the Assyrian garrisons from their cities, and set on
+the throne the Kassite prince Adad-shum-utsur.
+
+Thus in a brief space went to pieces the old Assyrian Empire, which,
+at the close of Tukulti-Ninip's thirty years' reign, embraced the
+whole Tigro-Euphrates valley from the borders of Armenia to the
+Persian Gulf. An obscure century followed, during which Assyria was
+raided by its enemies and broken up into petty States.
+
+The Elamites were not slow to take advantage of the state of anarchy
+which prevailed in Babylonia during the closing years of Assyrian
+rule. They overran a part of ancient Sumer, and captured Nippur, where
+they slew a large number of inhabitants and captured many prisoners.
+On a subsequent occasion they pillaged Isin. When, however, the
+Babylonian king had cleared his country of the Assyrians, he attacked
+the Elamites and drove them across the frontier.
+
+Nothing is known regarding the reign of the parricide Ashur-natsir-pal
+I of Assyria. He was succeeded by Ninip-Tukulti-Ashur and
+Adad-shum-lishir, who either reigned concurrently or were father and
+son. After a brief period these were displaced by another two rulers,
+Ashur-nirari III and Nabu-dan.
+
+It is not clear why Ninip-Tukulti-Ashur was deposed. Perhaps he was an
+ally of Adad-shum-utsur, the Babylonian king, and was unpopular on
+that account. He journeyed to Babylon on one occasion, carrying with
+him the statue of Merodach, but did not return. Perhaps he fled from
+the rebels. At any rate Adad-shum-utsur was asked to send him back, by
+an Assyrian dignitary who was probably Ashur-nirari III. The king of
+Babylon refused this request, nor would he give official recognition
+to the new ruler or rulers.
+
+Soon afterwards another usurper, Bel-kudur-utsur, led an Assyrian army
+against the Babylonians, but was slain in battle. He was succeeded by
+Ninip-apil-esharia, who led his forces back to Asshur, followed by
+Adad-shum-utsur. The city was besieged but not captured by the
+Babylonian army.
+
+Under Adad-shum-utsur, who reigned for thirty years, Babylonia
+recovered much of its ancient splendour. It held Elam in check and
+laid a heavy hand on Assyria, which had been paralysed by civil war.
+Once again it possessed Mesopotamia and controlled its caravan road to
+Haran and Phoenicia, and apparently its relations with the Hittites
+and Syrians were of a cordial character. The next king, Meli-shipak,
+assumed the Assyrian title "Shar Kishshati", "king of the world", and
+had a prosperous reign of fifteen years. He was succeeded by
+Marduk-aplu-iddin I, who presided over the destinies of Babylonia for
+about thirteen years. Thereafter the glory of the Kassite Dynasty
+passed away. King Zamama-shum-iddin followed with a twelvemonth's
+reign, during which his kingdom was successfully invaded from the
+north by the Assyrians under King Ashur-dan I, and from the east by
+the Elamites under a king whose name has not been traced. Several
+towns were captured and pillaged, and rich booty was carried off to
+Asshur and Susa.
+
+Bel-shum-iddin succeeded Zamama-shum-iddin, but three years afterwards
+he was deposed by a king of Isin. So ended the Kassite Dynasty of
+Babylonia, which had endured for a period of 576 years and nine
+months.
+
+Babylonia was called Karduniash during the Kassite Dynasty. This name
+was originally applied to the district at the river mouths, where the
+alien rulers appear to have first achieved ascendancy. Apparently they
+were strongly supported by the non-Semitic elements in the population,
+and represented a popular revolt against the political supremacy of
+the city of Babylon and its god Merodach. It is significant to find in
+this connection that the early Kassite kings showed a preference for
+Nippur as their capital and promoted the worship of Enlil, the elder
+Bel, who was probably identified with their own god of fertility and
+battle. Their sun god, Sachi, appears to have been merged in Shamash.
+In time, however, the kings followed the example of Hammurabi by
+exalting Merodach.
+
+The Kassite language added to the "Babel of tongues" among the common
+people, but was never used in inscriptions. At an early period the
+alien rulers became thoroughly Babylonianized, and as they held sway
+for nearly six centuries it cannot be assumed that they were
+unpopular. They allowed their mountain homeland, or earliest area of
+settlement in the east, to be seized and governed by Assyria, and
+probably maintained as slight a connection with it after settlement in
+Babylonia as did the Saxons of England with their Continental area of
+origin.
+
+Although Babylonia was not so great a world power under the Kassites
+as it had been during the Hammurabi Dynasty, it prospered greatly as
+an industrial, agricultural, and trading country. The Babylonian
+language was used throughout western Asia as the language of diplomacy
+and commerce, and the city of Babylon was the most important
+commercial metropolis of the ancient world. Its merchants traded
+directly and indirectly with far-distant countries. They imported
+cobalt--which was used for colouring glass a vivid blue--from China,
+and may have occasionally met Chinese traders who came westward with
+their caravans, while a brisk trade in marble and limestone was
+conducted with and through Elam. Egypt was the chief source of the
+gold supply, which was obtained from the Nubian mines; and in exchange
+for this precious metal the Babylonians supplied the Nilotic merchants
+with lapis-lazuli from Bactria, enamel, and their own wonderful
+coloured glass, which was not unlike the later Venetian, as well as
+chariots and horses. The Kassites were great horse breeders, and the
+battle steeds from the Babylonian province of Namar were everywhere in
+great demand. They also promoted the cattle trade. Cattle rearing was
+confined chiefly to the marshy districts at the head of the Persian
+Gulf, and the extensive steppes on the borders of the Arabian desert,
+so well known to Abraham and his ancestors, which provided excellent
+grazing. Agriculture also flourished; as in Egypt it constituted the
+basis of national and commercial prosperity.
+
+It is evident that great wealth accumulated in Karduniash during the
+Kassite period. When the images of Merodach and Zerpanituᵐ were taken
+back to Babylon, from Assyria, they were clad, as has been recorded,
+in garments embroidered with gold and sparkling with gems, while
+E-sagila was redecorated on a lavish scale with priceless works of
+art.
+
+Assyria presented a sharp contrast to Babylonia, the mother land, from
+which its culture was derived. As a separate kingdom it had to develop
+along different lines. In fact, it was unable to exist as a world
+power without the enforced co-operation of neighbouring States.
+Babylonia, on the other hand, could have flourished in comparative
+isolation, like Egypt during the Old Kingdom period, because it was
+able to feed itself and maintain a large population so long as its
+rich alluvial plain was irrigated during its dry season, which
+extended over about eight months in the year.
+
+The region north of Baghdad was of different geographical formation to
+the southern plain, and therefore less suitable for the birth and
+growth of a great independent civilization. Assyria embraced a chalk
+plateau of the later Mesozoic period, with tertiary deposits, and had
+an extremely limited area suitable for agricultural pursuits. Its
+original inhabitants were nomadic pastoral and hunting tribes, and
+there appears to be little doubt that agriculture was introduced along
+the banks of the Tigris by colonists from Babylonia, who formed city
+States which owed allegiance to the kings of Sumer and Akkad.
+
+After the Hammurabi period Assyria rose into prominence as a predatory
+power, which depended for its stability upon those productive
+countries which it was able to conquer and hold in sway. It never had
+a numerous peasantry, and such as it had ultimately vanished, for the
+kings pursued the short-sighted policy of colonizing districts on the
+borders of their empire with their loyal subjects, and settling aliens
+in the heart of the homeland, where they were controlled by the
+military. In this manner they built up an artificial empire, which
+suffered at critical periods in its history because it lacked the
+great driving and sustaining force of a population welded together by
+immemorial native traditions and the love of country which is the
+essence of true patriotism. National sentiment was chiefly confined to
+the military aristocracy and the priests; the enslaved and uncultured
+masses of aliens were concerned mainly with their daily duties, and no
+doubt included communities, like the Israelites in captivity, who
+longed to return to their native lands.
+
+Assyria had to maintain a standing army, which grew from an alliance
+of brigands who first enslaved the native population, and ultimately
+extended their sway over neighbouring States. The successes of the
+army made Assyria powerful. Conquering kings accumulated rich booty by
+pillaging alien cities, and grew more and more wealthy as they were
+able to impose annual tribute on those States which came under their
+sway. They even regarded Babylonia with avaricious eyes. It was to
+achieve the conquest of the fertile and prosperous mother State that
+the early Assyrian emperors conducted military operations in the
+north-west and laid hands on Mesopotamia. There was no surer way of
+strangling it than by securing control of its trade routes. What the
+command of the sea is to Great Britain at the present day, the command
+of the caravan roads was to ancient Babylonia.
+
+Babylonia suffered less than Assyria by defeat in battle; its natural
+resources gave it great recuperative powers, and the native population
+was ever so intensely patriotic that centuries of alien sway could not
+obliterate their national aspirations. A conqueror of Babylon had to
+become a Babylonian. The Amorites and Kassites had in turn to adopt
+the modes of life and modes of thought of the native population. Like
+the Egyptians, the Babylonians ever achieved the intellectual conquest
+of their conquerors.
+
+The Assyrian Empire, on the other hand, collapsed like a house of
+cards when its army of mercenaries suffered a succession of disasters.
+The kings, as we have indicated, depended on the tribute of subject
+States to pay their soldiers and maintain the priesthood; they were
+faced with national bankruptcy when their vassals successfully
+revolted against them.
+
+The history of Assyria as a world power is divided into three periods:
+(1) the Old Empire; (2) the Middle Empire; (3) the New or Last Empire.
+
+We have followed the rise and growth of the Old Empire from the days
+of Ashur-uballit until the reign of Tukulti-Ninip, when it flourished
+in great splendour and suddenly went to pieces. Thereafter, until the
+second period of the Old Empire, Assyria comprised but a few city
+States which had agricultural resources and were trading centres. Of
+these the most enterprising was Asshur. When a ruler of Asshur was
+able, by conserving his revenues, to command sufficient capital with
+purpose to raise a strong army of mercenaries as a business
+speculation, he set forth to build up a new empire on the ruins of the
+old. In its early stages, of course, this process was slow and
+difficult. It necessitated the adoption of a military career by native
+Assyrians, who officered the troops, and these troops had to be
+trained and disciplined by engaging in brigandage, which also brought
+them rich rewards for their services. Babylonia became powerful by
+developing the arts of peace; Assyria became powerful by developing
+the science of warfare.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+RACE MOVEMENTS THAT SHATTERED EMPIRES
+
+
+  The Third Semitic Migration--Achaean Conquest of Greece--Fall of
+  Crete--Tribes of Raiders--European Settlers in Asia Minor--The Muski
+  overthrow the Hittites--Sea Raids on Egypt--The Homeric
+  Age--Israelites and Philistines in Palestine--Culture of
+  Philistines--Nebuchadrezzar I of Babylonia--Wars against Elamites
+  and Hittites--Conquests in Mesopotamia and Syria--Assyrians and
+  Babylonians at War--Tiglath-pileser I of Assyria--His Sweeping
+  Conquests--Muski Power broken--Big-game Hunting in
+  Mesopotamia--Slaying of a Sea Monster--Decline of Assyria and
+  Babylonia--Revival of Hittite Civilization--An Important Period in
+  History--Philistines as Overlords of Hebrews--Kingdom of David and
+  Saul--Solomon's Relations with Egypt and Phoenicia--Sea Trade with
+  India--Aramaean Conquests--The Chaldaeans--Egyptian King plunders
+  Judah and Israel--Historical Importance of Race Movements.
+
+
+Great changes were taking place in the ancient world during the
+period in which Assyria rose into prominence and suddenly suffered
+decline. These were primarily due to widespread migrations of pastoral
+peoples from the steppe lands of Asia and Europe, and the resulting
+displacement of settled tribes. The military operations of the great
+Powers were also a disturbing factor, for they not only propelled
+fresh movements beyond their spheres of influence, but caused the
+petty States to combine against a common enemy and foster ambitions to
+achieve conquests on a large scale.
+
+Towards the close of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, of which
+Amenhotep III and Akhenaton were the last great kings, two
+well-defined migrations were in progress. The Aramaean folk-waves had
+already begun to pour in increasing volume into Syria from Arabia, and
+in Europe the pastoral fighting folk from the mountains were
+establishing themselves along the south-eastern coast and crossing the
+Hellespont to overrun the land of the Hittites. These race movements
+were destined to exercise considerable influence in shaping the
+history of the ancient world.
+
+The Aramaean, or Third Semitic migration, in time swamped various
+decaying States. Despite the successive efforts of the great Powers to
+hold it in check, it ultimately submerged the whole of Syria and part
+of Mesopotamia. Aramaean speech then came into common use among the
+mingled peoples over a wide area, and was not displaced until the time
+of the Fourth Semitic or Moslem migration from Arabia, which began in
+the seventh century of the Christian era, and swept northward through
+Syria to Asia Minor, eastward across Mesopotamia into Persia and
+India, and westward through Egypt along the north African coast to
+Morocco, and then into Spain.
+
+When Syria was sustaining the first shocks of Aramaean invasion, the
+last wave of Achaeans, "the tamers of horses" and "shepherds of the
+people", had achieved the conquest of Greece, and contributed to the
+overthrow of the dynasty of King Minos of Crete. Professor Ridgeway
+identifies this stock, which had been filtering southward for several
+centuries, with the tall, fair-haired, and grey-eyed "Keltoi"
+(Celts),[413] who, Dr. Haddon believes, were representatives of "the
+mixed peoples of northern and Alpine descent".[414] Mr. Hawes,
+following Professor Sergi, holds, on the other hand, that the Achaeans
+were "fair in comparison with the native (Pelasgian-Mediterranean)
+stock, but not necessarily blonde".[415] The earliest Achaeans were
+rude, uncultured barbarians, but the last wave came from some unknown
+centre of civilization, and probably used iron as well as bronze
+weapons.
+
+The old Cretans were known to the Egyptians as the "Keftiu", and
+traded on the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. It is significant to
+find, however, that no mention is made of them in the inscriptions of
+the Pharaohs after the reign of Amenhotep III. In their place appear
+the Shardana, the Mykenaean people who gave their name to Sardinia,
+the Danauna, believed to be identical with the Danaoi of Homer, the
+Akhaivasha, perhaps the Achaeans, and the Tursha and Shakalsha, who
+may have been of the same stock as the piratical Lycians.
+
+When Rameses II fought his famous battle at Kadesh the Hittite king
+included among his allies the Aramaeans from Arabia, and other
+mercenaries like the Dardanui and Masa, who represented the
+Thraco-Phrygian peoples who had overrun the Balkans, occupied Thrace
+and Macedonia, and crossed into Asia Minor. In time the Hittite
+confederacy was broken up by the migrating Europeans, and their
+dominant tribe, the Muski[416]--the Moschoi of the Greeks and the
+Meshech of the Old Testament--came into conflict with the Assyrians.
+The Muski were forerunners of the Phrygians, and were probably of
+allied stock.
+
+Pharaoh Meneptah, the son of Rameses II, did not benefit much by the
+alliance with the Hittites, to whom he had to send a supply of grain
+during a time of famine. He found it necessary, indeed, to invade
+Syria, where their influence had declined, and had to beat back from
+the Delta region the piratical invaders of the same tribes as were
+securing a footing in Asia Minor. In Syria, Meneptah fought with the
+Israelites, who apparently had begun their conquest of Canaan during
+his reign.
+
+Before the Kassite Dynasty had come to an end, Rameses III of Egypt
+(1198-1167 B.C.) freed his country from the perils of a great invasion
+of Europeans by land and sea. He scattered a fleet on the Delta coast,
+and then arrested the progress of a strong force which was pressing
+southward through Phoenicia towards the Egyptian frontier. These
+events occurred at the beginning of the Homeric Age, and were followed
+by the siege of Troy, which, according to the Greeks, began about 1194
+B.C.
+
+The land raiders who were thwarted by Rameses III were the
+Philistines, a people from Crete.[417] When the prestige of Egypt
+suffered decline they overran the coastline of Canaan, and that
+country was then called Palestine, "the land of the Philistines",
+while the Egyptian overland trade route to Phoenicia became known as
+"the way of the Philistines". Their conflicts with the Hebrews are
+familiar to readers of the Old Testament. "The only contributions the
+Hebrews made to the culture of the country", writes Professor
+Macalister, "were their simple desert customs and their religious
+organization. On the other hand, the Philistines, sprung from one of
+the great homes of art of the ancient world, had brought with them the
+artistic instincts of their race: decayed no doubt, but still superior
+to anything they met with in the land itself. Tombs to be ascribed to
+them, found in Gezer, contained beautiful jewellery and ornaments. The
+Philistines, in fact, were the only cultured or artistic race who ever
+occupied the soil of Palestine, at least until the time when the
+influence of classical Greece asserted itself too strongly to be
+withstood. Whatsoever things raised life in the country above the dull
+animal existence of fellahin were due to this people.... The peasantry
+of the modern villages ... still tell of the great days of old when it
+(Palestine) was inhabited by the mighty race of the 'Fenish'."[418]
+
+When the Kassite Dynasty of Babylonia was extinguished, about 1140
+B.C., the Amorites were being displaced in Palestine by the
+Philistines and the Israelitish tribes; the Aramaeans were extending
+their conquests in Syria and Mesopotamia; the Muski were the overlords
+of the Hittites; Assyrian power was being revived at the beginning of
+the second period of the Old Empire; and Egypt was governed by a
+weakly king, Rameses VIII, a puppet in the hands of the priesthood,
+who was unable to protect the rich tombs of the Eighteenth Dynasty
+Pharaohs against the bands of professional robbers who were plundering
+them.
+
+A new dynasty--the Dynasty of Pashe--had arisen at the ancient
+Sumerian city of Isin. Its early kings were contemporary with some of
+the last Kassite monarchs, and they engaged in conflicts with the
+Elamites, who were encroaching steadily upon Babylonian territory, and
+were ultimately able to seize the province of Namar, famous for its
+horses, which was situated to the east of Akkad. The Assyrians, under
+Ashur-dan I, were not only reconquering lost territory, but invading
+Babylonia and carrying off rich plunder. Ashur-dan inflicted a
+crushing defeat upon the second-last Kassite ruler.
+
+There years later Nebuchadrezzar I, of the Dynasty of Pashe, seized
+the Babylonian throne. He was the most powerful and distinguished
+monarch of his line--an accomplished general and a wise statesman. His
+name signifies: "May the god Nebo protect my boundary". His first duty
+was to drive the Elamites from the land, and win back from them the
+statue of Merodach which they had carried off from E-sagila. At first
+he suffered a reverse, but although the season was midsummer, and the
+heat overpowering, he persisted in his campaign. The Elamites were
+forced to retreat, and following up their main force he inflicted upon
+them a shattering defeat on the banks of the Ula, a tributary of the
+Tigris. He then invaded Elam and returned with rich booty. The
+province of Namar was recovered, and its governor, Ritti Merodach, who
+was Nebuchadrezzar's battle companion, was restored to his family
+possessions and exempted from taxation. A second raid to Elam resulted
+in the recovery of the statue of Merodach. The Kassite and Lullume
+mountaineers also received attention, and were taught to respect the
+power of the new monarch.
+
+Having freed his country from the yoke of the Elamites, and driven the
+Assyrians over the frontier, Nebuchadrezzar came into conflict with
+the Hittites, who appear to have overrun Mesopotamia. Probably the
+invaders were operating in conjunction with the Muski, who were
+extending their sway over part of northern Assyria. They were not
+content with securing control of the trade route, but endeavoured also
+to establish themselves permanently in Babylon, the commercial
+metropolis, which they besieged and captured. This happened in the
+third year of Nebuchadrezzar, when he was still reigning at Isin.
+Assembling a strong force, he hastened northward and defeated the
+Hittites, and apparently followed up his victory. Probably it was at
+this time that he conquered the "West Land" (the land of the Amorites)
+and penetrated to the Mediterranean coast. Egyptian power had been
+long extinguished in that region.
+
+The possession of Mesopotamia was a signal triumph for Babylonia. As
+was inevitable, however, it brought Nebuchadrezzar into conflict some
+years later with the Assyrian king, Ashur-resh-ishi I, grandson of
+Ashur-dan, and father of the famous Tiglath-pileser I. The northern
+monarch had engaged himself in subduing the Lullume and Akhlami hill
+tribes in the south-east, whose territory had been conquered by
+Nebuchadrezzar. Thereafter he crossed the Babylonian frontier.
+Nebuchadrezzar drove him back and then laid siege to the border
+fortress of Zanki, but the Assyrian king conducted a sudden and
+successful reconnaissance in force which rendered perilous the
+position of the attacking force. By setting fire to his siege train
+the Babylonian war lord was able, however, to retreat in good order.
+
+Some time later Nebuchadrezzar dispatched another army northward, but
+it suffered a serious defeat, and its general, Karashtu, fell into the
+hands of the enemy.
+
+Nebuchadrezzar reigned less than twenty years, and appears to have
+secured the allegiance of the nobility by restoring the feudal system
+which had been abolished by the Kassites. He boasted that he was "the
+sun of his country, who restored ancient landmarks and boundaries",
+and promoted the worship of Ishtar, the ancient goddess of the people.
+By restoring the image of Merodach he secured the support of Babylon,
+to which city he transferred his Court.
+
+Nebuchadrezzar was succeeded by his son Ellil-nadin-apil, who reigned
+a few years; but little or nothing is known regarding him. His
+grandson, Marduk-nadin-akhe, came into conflict with Tiglath-pileser I
+of Assyria, and suffered serious reverses, from the effects of which
+his country did not recover for over a century.
+
+Tiglath-pileser I, in one of his inscriptions, recorded significantly:
+"The feet of the enemy I kept from my country". When he came to the
+throne, northern Assyria was menaced by the Muski and their allies,
+the Hittites and the Shubari of old Mitanni. The Kashiari hill tribes
+to the north of Nineveh, whom Shalmaneser I subdued, had half a
+century before thrown off the yoke of Assyria, and their kings were
+apparently vassals of the Muski.
+
+Tiglath-pileser first invaded Mitanni, where he routed a combined
+force of Shubari hillmen and Hittites. Thereafter a great army of the
+Muski and their allies pressed southward with purpose to deal a
+shattering blow against the Assyrian power. The very existence of
+Assyria as a separate power was threatened by this movement.
+Tiglath-pileser, however, was equal to the occasion. He surprised the
+invaders among the Kashiari mountains and inflicted a crushing defeat,
+slaying about 14,000 and capturing 6000 prisoners, who were
+transported to Asshur. In fact, he wiped the invading army out of
+existence and possessed himself of all its baggage. Thereafter he
+captured several cities, and extended his empire beyond the Kashiari
+hills and into the heart of Mitanni.
+
+His second campaign was also directed towards the Mitanni district,
+which had been invaded during his absence by a force of Hittites,
+about 4000 strong. The invaders submitted to him as soon as he drew
+near, and he added them to his standing army.
+
+Subsequent operations towards the north restored the pre-eminence of
+Assyria in the Nairi country, on the shores of Lake Van, in Armenia,
+where Tiglath-pileser captured no fewer than twenty-three petty kings.
+These he liberated after they had taken the oath of allegiance and
+consented to pay annual tribute.
+
+In his fourth year the conqueror learned that the Aramaeans were
+crossing the Euphrates and possessing themselves of Mitanni, which he
+had cleared of the Hittites. By a series of forced marches he caught
+them unawares, scattered them in confusion, and entered Carchemish,
+which he pillaged. Thereafter his army crossed the Euphrates in boats
+of skin, and plundered and destroyed six cities round the base of the
+mountain of Bishru.
+
+While operating in this district, Tiglath-pileser engaged in big-game
+hunting. He recorded: "Ten powerful bull elephants in the land of
+Haran and on the banks of the Khabour I killed; four elephants alive I
+took. Their skins, their teeth, with the living elephants, I brought
+to my city of Asshur."[419] He also claimed to have slain 920 lions,
+as well as a number of wild oxen, apparently including in his record
+the "bags" of his officers and men. A later king credited him with
+having penetrated to the Phoenician coast, where he put to sea and
+slew a sea monster called the "nakhiru". While at Arvad, the narrative
+continues, the King of Egypt, who is not named, sent him a
+hippopotamus (pagutu). This story, however, is of doubtful
+authenticity. About this time the prestige of Egypt was at so low an
+ebb that its messengers were subjected to indignities by the
+Phoenician kings.
+
+The conquests of Tiglath-pileser once more raised the Mesopotamian
+question in Babylonia, whose sphere of influence in that region had
+been invaded. Marduk-nadin-akhe, the grandson of Nebuchadrezzar I,
+"arrayed his chariots" against Tiglath-pileser, and in the first
+conflict achieved some success, but subsequently he was defeated in
+the land of Akkad. The Assyrian army afterwards captured several
+cities, including Babylon and Sippar.
+
+Thus once again the Assyrian Empire came into being as the predominant
+world Power, extending from the land of the Hittites into the heart of
+Babylonia. Its cities were enriched by the immense quantities of booty
+captured by its warrior king, while the coffers of state were glutted
+with the tribute of subject States. Fortifications were renewed,
+temples were built, and great gifts were lavished on the priesthood.
+Artists and artisans were kept fully employed restoring the faded
+splendours of the Old Empire, and everywhere thousands of slaves
+laboured to make the neglected land prosperous as of old. Canals were
+repaired and reopened; the earthworks and quay wall of Ashur were
+strengthened, and its great wall was entirely rebuilt, faced with a
+rampart of earth, and protected once again by a deep moat. The royal
+palace was enlarged and redecorated.
+
+Meanwhile Babylonia was wasted by civil war and invasions. It was
+entered more than once by the Aramaeans, who pillaged several cities
+in the north and the south. Then the throne was seized by
+Adad-aplu-iddina, the grandson of "a nobody", who reigned for about
+ten years. He was given recognition, however, by the Assyrian king,
+Ashur-bel-kala, son of Tiglath-pileser I, who married his daughter,
+and apparently restored to him Sippar and Babylon after receiving a
+handsome dowry. Ashur-bel-kala died without issue, and was succeeded
+by his brother, Shamshi-Adad.
+
+An obscure period followed. In Babylonia there were two weak dynasties
+in less than half a century, and thereafter an Elamite Dynasty which
+lasted about six years. An Eighth Dynasty ensued, and lasted between
+fifty and sixty years. The records of its early kings are exceedingly
+meagre and their order uncertain. During the reign of Nabu-mukin-apli,
+who was perhaps the fourth monarch, the Aramaeans constantly raided
+the land and hovered about Babylon. The names of two or three kings
+who succeeded Nabu-mukin-apli are unknown.
+
+A century and a half after Tiglath-pileser I conquered the north
+Syrian possessions of the Hittites, the Old Assyrian Empire reached
+the close of its second and last period. It had suffered gradual
+decline, under a series of inert and luxury-loving kings, until it was
+unable to withstand the gradual encroachment on every side of the
+restless hill tribes, who were ever ready to revolt when the authority
+of Ashur was not asserted at the point of the sword.
+
+After 950 B.C. the Hittites of North Syria, having shaken off the last
+semblance of Assyrian authority, revived their power, and enjoyed a
+full century of independence and prosperity. In Cappadocia their
+kinsmen had freed themselves at an earlier period from the yoke of the
+Muski, who had suffered so severely at the hands of Tiglath-pileser I.
+The Hittite buildings and rock sculptures of this period testify to
+the enduring character of the ancient civilization of the "Hatti".
+Until the hieroglyphics can be read, however, we must wait patiently
+for the detailed story of the pre-Phrygian period, which was of great
+historical importance, because the tide of cultural influence was then
+flowing at its greatest volume from the old to the new world, where
+Greece was emerging in virgin splendour out of the ruins of the
+ancient Mykenaean and Cretan civilizations.
+
+It is possible that the conquest of a considerable part of Palestine
+by the Philistines was not unconnected with the revival of Hittite
+power in the north. They may have moved southward as the allies of the
+Cilician State which was rising into prominence. For a period they
+were the overlords of the Hebrews, who had been displacing the older
+inhabitants of the "Promised Land", and appear to have been armed with
+weapons of iron. In fact, as is indicated by a passage in the Book of
+Samuel, they had made a "corner" in that metal and restricted its use
+among their vassals. "Now", the Biblical narrative sets forth, "there
+was no smith found throughout all the land of Israel; for the
+Philistines said, Lest the Hebrews make them swords and spears; but
+all the Israelites went down to the Philistines, to sharpen every man
+his share, and his coulter, and his axe, and his mattock".[420] "We
+are inclined", says Professor Macalister, "to picture the West as a
+thing of yesterday, new fangled with its inventions and its
+progressive civilization, and the East as an embodiment of hoary and
+unchanging traditions. But when West first met East on the shores of
+the Holy Land, it was the former which represented the magnificent
+traditions of the past, and the latter which looked forward to the
+future. The Philistines were of the remnant of the dying glories of
+Crete; the Hebrews had no past to speak of, but were entering on the
+heritage they regarded as theirs, by right of a recently ratified
+divine covenant."[421]
+
+Saul was the leader of a revolt against the Philistines in northern
+Palestine, and became the ruler of the kingdom of Israel. Then David,
+having liberated Judah from the yoke of the Philistines, succeeded
+Saul as ruler of Israel, and selected Jerusalem as his capital. He
+also conquered Edom and Moab, but was unsuccessful in his attempt to
+subjugate Ammon. The Philistines were then confined to a restricted
+area on the seacoast, where they fused with the Semites and ultimately
+suffered loss of identity. Under the famous Solomon the united kingdom
+of the Hebrews reached its highest splendour and importance among the
+nations.
+
+If the Philistines received the support of the Hittites, the Hebrews
+were strengthened by an alliance with Egypt. For a period of two and a
+half centuries no Egyptian army had crossed the Delta frontier into
+Syria. The ancient land of the Pharaohs had been overshadowed meantime
+by a cloud of anarchy, and piratical and robber bands settled freely
+on its coast line. At length a Libyan general named Sheshonk (Shishak)
+seized the throne from the Tanite Dynasty. He was the Pharaoh with
+whom Solomon "made affinity",[422] and from whom he received the city
+of Gezer, which an Egyptian army had captured.[423] Solomon had
+previously married a daughter of Sheshonk's.
+
+Phoenicia was also flourishing. Freed from Egyptian, Hittite, and
+Assyrian interference, Tyre and Sidon attained to a high degree of
+power as independent city States. During the reigns of David and
+Solomon, Tyre was the predominant Phoenician power. Its kings, Abibaal
+and his son Hiram, had become "Kings of the Sidonians", and are
+believed to have extended their sway over part of Cyprus. The
+relations between the Hebrews and the Phoenicians were of a cordial
+character, indeed the two powers became allies.
+
+    And Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants unto Solomon; for he had
+    heard that they had anointed him king in the room of his father:
+    for Hiram was ever a lover of David. And Solomon sent to Hiram,
+    saying, Thou knowest how that David my father could not build an
+    house unto the name of the Lord His God for the wars which were
+    about him on every side, until the Lord put them under the soles
+    of his feet. But now the Lord my God hath given me rest on every
+    side, so that there is neither adversary nor evil occurrent. And,
+    behold, I purpose to build an house unto the name of the Lord my
+    God, as the Lord spake unto David my father, saying, Thy son, whom
+    I will set upon thy throne in thy room, he shall build an house
+    unto my name. Now therefore command thou that they hew me cedar
+    trees out of Lebanon; and my servants shall be with thy servants:
+    and unto thee will I give hire for thy servants according to all
+    that thou shalt appoint: for thou knowest that there is not among
+    us any that can skill to hew timber like unto the Sidonians. And
+    it came to pass, when Hiram heard the words of Solomon, that he
+    rejoiced greatly, and said, Blessed be the Lord this day, which
+    hath given unto David a wise son over this great people. And Hiram
+    sent to Solomon, saying, I have considered the things which thou
+    sentest to me for: and I will do all thy desire concerning timber
+    of cedar, and concerning timber of fir. My servants shall bring
+    them down from Lebanon unto the sea: and I will convey them by sea
+    in floats unto the place that thou shalt appoint me, and will
+    cause them to be discharged there, and thou shalt receive them:
+    and thou shalt accomplish my desire, in giving food for my
+    household. So Hiram gave Solomon cedar trees and fir trees
+    according to all his desire. And Solomon gave Hiram twenty
+    thousand measures of wheat for food to his household, and twenty
+    measures of pure oil: thus gave Solomon to Hiram year by year. And
+    the Lord gave Solomon wisdom, as he promised him: and there was
+    peace between Hiram and Solomon; and they two made a league
+    together.[424]
+
+Hiram also sent skilled workers to Jerusalem to assist in the work of
+building the temple and Solomon's palace, including his famous
+namesake, "a widow's son of the (Hebrew) tribe of Naphtali", who, like
+his father, "a man of Tyre", had "understanding and cunning to work
+all works in brass".[425]
+
+Solomon must have cultivated good relations with the Chaldaeans, for
+he had a fleet of trading ships on the Persian Gulf which was manned
+by Phoenician sailors. "Once in three years", the narrative runs,
+"came the navy of Tharshish, bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and
+apes, and peacocks."[426] Apparently he traded with India, the land of
+peacocks, during the Brahmanical period, when the Sanskrit name
+"Samudra", which formerly signified the "collected waters" of the
+broadening Indus, was applied to the Indian Ocean.[427]
+
+The Aramaeans of the Third Semitic migration were not slow to take
+advantage of the weakness of Assyria and Babylon. They overran the
+whole of Syria, and entered into the possession of Mesopotamia, thus
+acquiring full control of the trade routes towards the west. From time
+to time they ravaged Babylonia from the north to the south. Large
+numbers of them acquired permanent settlement in that country, like
+the Amorites of the Second Semitic migration in the pre-Hammurabi Age.
+
+In Syria the Aramaeans established several petty States, and were
+beginning to grow powerful at Damascus, an important trading centre,
+which assumed considerable political importance after the collapse of
+Assyria's Old Empire.
+
+At this period, too, the Chaldaeans came into prominence in Babylonia.
+Their kingdom of Chaldaea (Kaldu, which signifies Sealand) embraces a
+wide stretch of the coast land at the head of the Persian Gulf between
+Arabia and Elam. As we have seen, an important dynasty flourished in
+this region in the time of Hammurabi. Although more than one king of
+Babylon recorded that he had extinguished the Sealand Power, it
+continued to exist all through the Kassite period. It is possible that
+this obscure kingdom embraced diverse ethnic elements, and that it was
+controlled in turn by military aristocracies of Sumerians, Elamites,
+Kassites, and Arabians. After the downfall of the Kassites it had
+become thoroughly Semitized, perhaps as a result of the Aramaean
+migration, which may have found one of its outlets around the head of
+the Persian Gulf. The ancient Sumerian city of Ur, which dominated a
+considerable area of steppe land to the west of the Euphrates, was
+included in the Sealand kingdom, and was consequently referred to in
+after-time as "Ur of the Chaldees".
+
+When Solomon reigned over Judah and Israel, Babylonia was broken up
+into a number of petty States, as in early Sumerian times. The feudal
+revival of Nebuchadrezzar I had weakened the central power, with the
+result that the nominal high kings were less able to resist the
+inroads of invaders. Military aristocracies of Aramaeans, Elamites,
+and Chaldaeans held sway in various parts of the valley, and struggled
+for supremacy.
+
+When Assyria began to assert itself again, it laid claim on Babylonia,
+ostensibly as the protector of its independence, and the Chaldaeans
+for a time made common cause with the Elamites against it. The future,
+however, lay with the Chaldaeans, who, like the Kassites, became the
+liberators of the ancient inhabitants. When Assyria was finally
+extinguished as a world power they revived the ancient glory of
+Babylonia, and supplanted the Sumerians as the scholars and teachers
+of Western Asia. The Chaldaeans became famous in Syria, and even in
+Greece, as "the wise men from the east", and were renowned as
+astrologers.
+
+The prestige of the Hebrew kingdom suffered sharp and serious decline
+after Solomon's death. Pharaoh Sheshonk fostered the elements of
+revolt which ultimately separated Israel from Judah, and, when a
+favourable opportunity arose, invaded Palestine and Syria and
+reestablished Egypt's suzerainty over part of the area which had been
+swayed by Rameses II, replenishing his exhausted treasury with rich
+booty and the tribute he imposed. Phoenicia was able, however, to
+maintain its independence, but before the Assyrians moved westward
+again, Sidon had shaken off the yoke of Tyre and become an independent
+State.
+
+It will be seen from the events outlined in this chapter how greatly
+the history of the ancient world was affected by the periodic
+migrations of pastoral folks from the steppe lands. These human tides
+were irresistible. The direction of their flow might be diverted for a
+time, but they ultimately overcame every obstacle by sheer persistency
+and overpowering volume. Great emperors in Assyria and Egypt
+endeavoured to protect their countries from the "Bedouin peril" by
+strengthening their frontiers and extending their spheres of
+influence, but the dammed-up floods of humanity only gathered strength
+in the interval for the struggle which might be postponed but could
+not be averted.
+
+These migrations, as has been indicated, were due to natural causes.
+They were propelled by climatic changes which caused a shortage of the
+food supply, and by the rapid increase of population under peaceful
+conditions. Once a migration began to flow, it set in motion many
+currents and cross currents, but all these converged towards the
+districts which offered the most attractions to mankind. Prosperous
+and well-governed States were ever in peril of invasion by barbarous
+peoples. The fruits of civilization tempted them; the reward of
+conquest was quickly obtained in Babylon and Egypt with their
+flourishing farms and prosperous cities. Waste land was reclaimed then
+as now by colonists from centres of civilization; the migrating
+pastoral folks lacked the initiative and experience necessary to
+establish new communities in undeveloped districts. Highly civilized
+men sowed the harvest and the barbarians reaped it.
+
+It must not be concluded, however, that the migrations were historical
+disasters, or that they retarded the general advancement of the human
+race. In time the barbarians became civilized and fused with the
+peoples whom they conquered. They introduced, too, into communities
+which had grown stagnant and weakly, a fresh and invigorating
+atmosphere that acted as a stimulant in every sphere of human
+activity. The Kassite, for instance, was a unifying and therefore a
+strengthening influence in Babylonia. He shook off the manacles of the
+past which bound the Sumerian and the Akkadian alike to traditional
+lines of policy based on unforgotten ancient rivalries. His concern
+was chiefly with the future. The nomads with their experience of
+desert wandering promoted trade, and the revival of trade inaugurated
+new eras of prosperity in ancient centres of culture, and brought them
+into closer touch than ever before with one another. The rise of
+Greece was due to the blending of the Achaeans and other pastoral
+fighting folks with the indigenous Pelasgians. Into the early States
+which fostered the elements of ancient Mykenaean civilization, poured
+the cultural influences of the East through Asia Minor and Phoenicia
+and from the Egyptian coast. The conquerors from the steppes meanwhile
+contributed their genius for organization, their simple and frugal
+habits of life, and their sterling virtues; they left a deep impress
+on the moral, physical, and intellectual life of Greece.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+THE HEBREWS IN ASSYRIAN HISTORY
+
+
+  Revival of Assyrian Power--The Syro-Cappadocian Hittites--The
+  Aramaean State of Damascus--Reign of Terror in
+  Mesopotamia--Barbarities of Ashur-natsir-pal III--Babylonia and
+  Chaldaea subdued--Glimpse of the Kalkhi Valley--The Hebrew Kingdoms
+  of Judah and Israel--Rival Monarchs and their Wars--How Judah became
+  subject to Damascus--Ahab and the Phoenician Jezebel--Persecution of
+  Elijah and other Prophets--Israelites fight against
+  Assyrians--Shalmaneser as Overlord of Babylonia--Revolts of Jehu in
+  Israel and Hazael in Damascus--Shalmaneser defeats Hazael--Jehu
+  sends Tribute to Shalmaneser--Baal Worship Supplanted by Golden Calf
+  Worship in Israel--Queen Athaliah of Judah--Crowning of the Boy King
+  Joash--Damascus supreme in Syria and Palestine--Civil War in
+  Assyria--Triumphs of Shamshi-Adad VII--Babylonia becomes an Assyrian
+  Province.
+
+
+In one of the Scottish versions of the Seven Sleepers legend a
+shepherd enters a cave, in which the great heroes of other days lie
+wrapped in magic slumber, and blows two blasts on the horn which hangs
+suspended from the roof. The sleepers open their eyes and raise
+themselves on their elbows. Then the shepherd hears a warning voice
+which comes and goes like the wind, saying: "If the horn is blown once
+again, the world will be upset altogether". Terrified by the Voice and
+the ferocious appearance of the heroes, the shepherd retreats
+hurriedly, locking the door behind him; he casts the key into the sea.
+The story proceeds: "If anyone should find the key and open the door,
+and blow but a single blast on the horn, Finn and all the Feans would
+come forth. And that would be a great day in Alban."[428]
+
+After the lapse of an obscure century the national heroes of Assyria
+were awakened as if from sleep by the repeated blasts from the horn of
+the triumphant thunder god amidst the northern and western
+mountains--Adad or Rimmon of Syria, Teshup of Armenia, Tarku of the
+western Hittites. The great kings who came forth to "upset the world"
+bore the familiar names, Ashur-natsir-pal, Shalmaneser, Shamash-Adad,
+Ashur-dan, Adad-nirari, and Ashur-nirari. They revived and increased
+the ancient glory of Assyria during its Middle Empire period.
+
+The Syro-Cappadocian Hittites had grown once again powerful and
+prosperous, but no great leader like Subbiluliuma arose to weld the
+various States into an Empire, so as to ensure the protection of the
+mingled peoples from the operations of the aggressive and ambitious
+war-lords of Assyria. One kingdom had its capital at Hamath and
+another at Carchemish on the Euphrates. The kingdom of Tabal
+flourished in Cilicia (Khilakku); it included several city States like
+Tarsus, Tiana, and Comana (Kammanu). Farther west was the dominion of
+the Thraco-Phrygian Muski. The tribes round the shores of Lake Van had
+asserted themselves and extended their sphere of influence. The State
+of Urartu was of growing importance, and the Nairi tribes had spread
+round the south-eastern shores of Lake Van. The northern frontier of
+Assyria was continually menaced by groups of independent hill States
+which would have been irresistible had they operated together against
+a common enemy, but were liable to be extinguished when attacked in
+detail.
+
+A number of Aramaean kingdoms had come into existence in Mesopotamia
+and throughout Syria. The most influential of these was the State of
+Damascus, the king of which was the overlord of the Hebrew kingdoms of
+Israel and Judah when Ashur-natsir-pal III ascended the Assyrian
+throne about 885 B.C. Groups of the Aramaeans had acquired a high
+degree of culture and become traders and artisans. Large numbers had
+filtered, as well, not only into Babylonia but also Assyria and the
+north Syrian area of Hittite control. Accustomed for generations to
+desert warfare, they were fearless warriors. Their armies had great
+mobility, being composed mostly of mounted infantry, and were not
+easily overpowered by the Assyrian forces of footmen and charioteers.
+Indeed, it was not until cavalry was included in the standing army of
+Assyria that operations against the Aramaeans were attended with
+permanent success.
+
+Ashur-natsir-pal III[429] was preceded by two vigorous Assyrian
+rulers, Adad-nirari III (911-890 B.C.) and Tukulti-Ninip II (890-885
+B.C). The former had raided North Syria and apparently penetrated as
+far as the Mediterranean coast. In consequence he came into conflict
+with Babylonia, but he ultimately formed an alliance with that
+kingdom. His son, Tukulti-Ninip, operated in southern Mesopotamia, and
+apparently captured Sippar. In the north he had to drive back invading
+bands of the Muski. Although, like his father, he carried out great
+works at Asshur, he appears to have transferred his Court to Nineveh,
+a sure indication that Assyria was once again becoming powerful in
+northern Mesopotamia and the regions towards Armenia.
+
+Ashur-natsir-pal III, son of Tukulti-Ninip II, inaugurated a veritable
+reign of terror in Mesopotamia and northern Syria. His methods of
+dealing with revolting tribes were of a most savage character. Chiefs
+were skinned alive, and when he sacked their cities, not only
+fighting-men but women and children were either slaughtered or burned
+at the stake. It is not surprising to find therefore that, on more
+than one occasion, the kings of petty States made submission to him
+without resistance as soon as he invaded their domains.
+
+In his first year he overran the mountainous district between Lake Van
+and the upper sources of the Tigris. Bubu, the rebel son of the
+governor of Nishtun, who had been taken prisoner, was transported to
+Arbela, where he was skinned alive. Like his father, Ashur-natsir-pal
+fought against the Muski, whose power was declining. Then he turned
+southward from the borders of Asia Minor and dealt with a rebellion in
+northern Mesopotamia.
+
+An Aramaean pretender named Akhiababa had established himself at Suru
+in the region to the east of the Euphrates, enclosed by its
+tributaries the Khabar and the Balikh. He had come from the
+neighbouring Aramaean State of Bit-Adini, and was preparing, it would
+appear, to form a powerful confederacy against the Assyrians.
+
+When Ashur-natsir-pal approached Suru, a part of its population
+welcomed him. He entered the city, seized the pretender and many of
+his followers. These he disposed of with characteristic barbarity.
+Some were skinned alive and some impaled on stakes, while others were
+enclosed in a pillar which the king had erected to remind the
+Aramaeans of his determination to brook no opposition. Akhiababa the
+pretender was sent to Nineveh with a few supporters; and when they had
+been flayed their skins were nailed upon the city walls.
+
+Another revolt broke out in the Kirkhi district between the upper
+reaches of the Tigris and the southwestern shores of Lake Van. It was
+promoted by the Nairi tribes, and even supported by some Assyrian
+officials. Terrible reprisals were meted out to the rebels. When the
+city of Kinabu was captured, no fewer than 3000 prisoners were burned
+alive, the unfaithful governor being flayed. The city of Damdamusa was
+set on fire. Then Tela was attacked. Ashur-natsir-pal's own account of
+the operations runs as follows:--
+
+    The city (of Tello) was very strong; three walls surrounded it.
+    The inhabitants trusted to their strong walls and numerous
+    soldiers; they did not come down or embrace my feet. With battle
+    and slaughter I assaulted and took the city. Three thousand
+    warriors I slew in battle. Their booty and possessions, cattle,
+    sheep, I carried away; many captives I burned with fire. Many of
+    their soldiers I took alive; of some I cut off hands and limbs; of
+    others the noses, ears, and arms; of many soldiers I put out the
+    eyes. I reared a column of the living and a column of heads. I
+    hung on high their heads on trees in the vicinity of their city.
+    Their boys and girls I burned up in flames. I devastated the city,
+    dug it up, in fire burned it; I annihilated it.[430]
+
+The Assyrian war-lord afterwards forced several Nairi kings to
+acknowledge him as their overlord. He was so greatly feared by the
+Syro-Cappadocian Hittites that when he approached their territory they
+sent him tribute, yielding without a struggle.
+
+For several years the great conqueror engaged himself in thus subduing
+rebellious tribes and extending his territory. His military
+headquarters were at Kalkhi, to which city the Court had been
+transferred. Thither he drafted thousands of prisoners, the great
+majority of whom he incorporated in the Assyrian army. Assyrian
+colonies were established in various districts for strategical
+purposes, and officials supplanted the petty kings in certain of the
+northern city States.
+
+The Aramaeans of Mesopotamia gave much trouble to Ashur-natsir-pal.
+Although he had laid a heavy hand on Suru, the southern tribes, the
+Sukhi, stirred up revolts in Mesopotamia as the allies of the
+Babylonians. On one occasion Ashur-natsir-pal swept southward through
+this region, and attacked a combined force of Sukhi Aramaeans and
+Babylonians. The Babylonians were commanded by Zabdanu, brother of
+Nabu-aplu-iddin, king of Babylonia, who was evidently anxious to
+regain control of the western trade route. The Assyrian war-lord,
+however, proved to be too powerful a rival. He achieved so complete a
+victory that he captured the Babylonian general and 3000 of his
+followers. The people of Kashshi (Babylonia) and Kaldu (Chaldaea) were
+"stricken with terror", and had to agree to pay increased tribute.
+
+Ashur-natsir-pal reigned for about a quarter of a century, but his
+wars occupied less than half of that period. Having accumulated great
+booty, he engaged himself, as soon as peace was secured throughout his
+empire, in rebuilding the city of Kalkhi, where he erected a great
+palace and made records of his achievements. He also extended and
+redecorated the royal palace at Nineveh, and devoted much attention to
+the temples.
+
+Tribute poured in from the subject States. The mountain and valley
+tribes in the north furnished in abundance wine and corn, sheep and
+cattle and horses, and from the Aramaeans of Mesopotamia and the
+Syro-Cappadocian Hittites came much silver and gold, copper and lead,
+jewels and ivory, as well as richly decorated furniture, armour and
+weapons. Artists and artisans were also provided by the vassals of
+Assyria. There are traces of Phoenician influence in the art of this
+period.
+
+Ashur-natsir-pal's great palace at Kalkhi was excavated by Layard, who
+has given a vivid description of the verdant plain on which the
+ancient city was situated, as it appeared in spring. "Its pasture
+lands, known as the 'Jaif', are renowned", he wrote, "for their rich
+and luxuriant herbage. In times of quiet, the studs of the Pasha and
+of the Turkish authorities, with the horses of the cavalry and of the
+inhabitants of Mosul, are sent here to graze.... Flowers of every hue
+enamelled the meadows; not thinly scattered over the grass as in
+northern climes, but in such thick and gathering clusters that the
+whole plain seemed a patchwork of many colours. The dogs, as they
+returned from hunting, issued from the long grass dyed red, yellow, or
+blue, according to the flowers through which they had last forced
+their way.... In the evening, after the labour of the day, I often sat
+at the door of my tent, giving myself up to the full enjoyment of that
+calm and repose which are imparted to the senses by such scenes as
+these.... As the sun went down behind the low hills which separate the
+river from the desert--even their rocky sides had struggled to emulate
+the verdant clothing of the plain--its receding rays were gradually
+withdrawn, like a transparent veil of light from the landscape. Over
+the pure cloudless sky was the glow of the last light. In the distance
+and beyond the Zab, Keshaf, another venerable ruin, rose indistinctly
+into the evening mist. Still more distant, and still more indistinct,
+was a solitary hill overlooking the ancient city of Arbela. The
+Kurdish mountains, whose snowy summits cherished the dying sunbeams,
+yet struggled with the twilight. The bleating of sheep and lowing of
+cattle, at first faint, became louder as the flocks returned from
+their pastures and wandered amongst the tents. Girls hurried over the
+greensward to seek their fathers' cattle, or crouched down to milk
+those which had returned alone to their well-remembered folds. Some
+were coming from the river bearing the replenished pitcher on their
+heads or shoulders; others, no less graceful in their form, and erect
+in their carriage, were carrying the heavy loads of long grass which
+they had cut in the meadows."[431]
+
+Across the meadows so beautiful in March the great armies of
+Ashur-natsir-pal returned with the booty of great campaigns--horses
+and cattle and sheep, bales of embroidered cloth, ivory and jewels,
+silver and gold, the products of many countries; while thousands of
+prisoners were assembled there to rear stately buildings which
+ultimately fell into decay and were buried by drifting sands.
+
+Layard excavated the emperor's palace and dispatched to London, among
+other treasures of antiquity, the sublime winged human-headed lions
+which guarded the entrance, and many bas reliefs.
+
+The Assyrian sculptures of this period lack the technical skill, the
+delicacy and imagination of Sumerian and Akkadian art, but they are
+full of energy, dignified and massive, and strong and lifelike. They
+reflect the spirit of Assyria's greatness, which, however, had a
+materialistic basis. Assyrian art found expression in delineating the
+outward form rather than in striving to create a "thing of beauty"
+which is "a joy for ever".
+
+When Ashur-natsir-pal died, he was succeeded by his son Shalmaneser
+III (860-825 B.C.), whose military activities extended over his whole
+reign. No fewer than thirty-two expeditions were recorded on his
+famous black obelisk.
+
+As Shalmaneser was the first Assyrian king who came into direct touch
+with the Hebrews, it will be of interest here to review the history of
+the divided kingdoms of Israel and Judah, as recorded in the Bible,
+because of the light it throws on international politics and the
+situation which confronted Shalmaneser in Mesopotamia and Syria in the
+early part of his reign.
+
+After Solomon died, the kingdom of his son Rehoboam was restricted to
+Judah, Benjamin, Moab, and Edom. The "ten tribes" of Israel had
+revolted and were ruled over by Jeroboam, whose capital was at
+Tirzah.[432] "There were wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam
+continually."[433]
+
+The religious organization which had united the Hebrews under David
+and Solomon was thus broken up. Jeroboam established the religion of
+the Canaanites and made "gods and molten images". He was condemned for
+his idolatry by the prophet Ahijah, who declared, "The Lord shall
+smite Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water; and he shall root up
+Israel out of this good land, which he gave to their fathers, and
+shall scatter them beyond the river, because they have made their
+groves, provoking the Lord to anger. And he shall give Israel up
+because of the sins of Jeroboam, who did sin, and who made Israel to
+sin."[434]
+
+In Judah Rehoboam similarly "did evil in the sight of the Lord"; his
+subjects "also built them high places and images and groves, on every
+high hill, and under every green tree".[435] After the raid of the
+Egyptian Pharaoh Shishak (Sheshonk) Rehoboam repented, however. "And
+when he humbled himself, the wrath of the Lord turned from him, that
+he would not destroy him altogether: and also in Judah things went
+well."[436]
+
+Rehoboam was succeeded by his son Abijah, who shattered the power of
+Jeroboam, defeating that monarch in battle after he was surrounded as
+Rameses II had been by the Hittite army. "The children of Israel fled
+before Judah: and God delivered them into their hand. And Abijah and
+his people slew them with a great slaughter: so there fell down slain
+in Israel five hundred thousand chosen men. Thus the children of
+Israel were brought under at that time, and the children of Judah
+prevailed, because they relied upon the Lord God of their fathers. And
+Abijah pursued after Jeroboam, and took cities from him, Bethel with
+the towns thereof, and Jeshanah with the towns thereof, and Ephraim
+with the towns thereof. Neither did Jeroboam recover strength again in
+the days of Abijah, and the Lord struck him and he died."[437]
+
+Ere Jeroboam died, however, "Abijah slept with his fathers, and they
+buried him in the city of David: and Asa his son reigned in his stead.
+In his days the land was quiet ten years. And Asa did that which was
+good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God. For he took away the
+altars of the strange gods, and the high places, and brake down the
+images, and cut down the groves. And commanded Judah to seek the Lord
+God of their fathers and to do the law and the commandment. Also he
+took away out of all the cities of Judah the high places and the
+images: and the kingdom was quiet before him. And he built fenced
+cities in Judah: for the land had rest, and he had no war in those
+years; because the Lord had given him rest."[438]
+
+Jeroboam died in the second year of Asa's reign, and was succeeded by
+his son Nadab, who "did evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in
+the way of his father, and in his sin wherewith he made Israel to
+sin".[439] Nadab waged war against the Philistines, and was besieging
+Gibbethon when Baasha revolted and slew him. Thus ended the First
+Dynasty of the Kingdom of Israel.
+
+Baasha was declared king, and proceeded to operate against Judah.
+Having successfully waged war against Asa, he proceeded to fortify
+Ramah, a few miles to the north of Jerusalem, "that he might not
+suffer any to go out or come in to Asa king of Judah".[440]
+
+Now Israel was at this time one of the allies of the powerful Aramaean
+State of Damascus, which had resisted the advance of the Assyrian
+armies during the reign of Ashur-natsir-pal I, and apparently
+supported the rebellions of the northern Mesopotamian kings. Judah was
+nominally subject to Egypt, which, however, was weakened by internal
+troubles, and therefore unable either to assert its authority in Judah
+or help its king to resist the advance of the Israelites.
+
+In the hour of peril Judah sought the aid of the king of Damascus.
+"Asa took all the silver and the gold that were left in the treasures
+of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king's house, and
+delivered them into the hand of his servants: and King Asa sent them
+to Ben-hadad, the son of Tabrimon, the son of Hezion, king of Syria,
+that dwelt at Damascus, saying, There is a league between me and thee,
+and between my father and thy father: behold, I have sent unto thee a
+present of silver and gold: _come and break thy league with Baasha
+king of Israel, that he may depart from me_".[441]
+
+Ben-hadad accepted the invitation readily. He waged war against
+Israel, and Baasha was compelled to abandon the building of the
+fortifications at Ramah. "Then king Asa made a proclamation throughout
+all Judah; none was exempted: and they took away the stones of Ramah,
+and the timber thereof, wherewith Baasha had builded; and king Asa
+built with them Geba of Benjamin, and Mizpah."[442]
+
+Judah and Israel thus became subject to Damascus, and had to recognize
+the king of that city as arbiter in all their disputes.
+
+After reigning about twenty-four years, Baasha of Israel died in 886
+B.C. and was succeeded by his son Elah who came to the throne "in the
+twenty and sixth year of Asa". He had ruled a little over a year when
+he was murdered by "his servant Zimri, captain of half his chariots",
+while he was "drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza steward of
+his house in Tirzah".[443] Thus ended the Second Dynasty of the
+Kingdom of Israel.
+
+Zimri's revolt was shortlived. He reigned only "seven days in Tirzah".
+The army was "encamped against Gibbethon, which belonged to the
+Philistines. And the people that were encamped heard say, Zimri hath
+conspired and hath also slain the king; wherefore all Israel made
+Omri, the captain of the host, king over Israel that day in the camp.
+And Omri went up from Gibbethon and all Israel with him, and they
+besieged Tirzah. And it came to pass when Zimri saw that the city was
+taken, that he went into the palace of the king's house, and burnt the
+king's house over him with fire, and died."[444]
+
+Omri's claim to the throne was disputed by a rival named Tibni. "But
+the people that followed Omri prevailed against the people that
+followed Tibni, son of Ginath: so Tibni died, and Omri reigned."[445]
+
+Omri was the builder of Samaria, whither his Court was transferred
+from Tirzah towards the close of his six years reign. He was followed
+by his son Ahab, who ascended the throne "in the thirty and eighth
+year of Asa king of Judah.... And Ahab ... did evil in the sight of
+the Lord above all that were before him." So notorious indeed were
+father and son that the prophet Micah declared to the backsliders of
+his day, "For the statutes of Omri are kept, and all the works of the
+house of Ahab, and ye walk in their counsel; that I should make thee a
+desolation, and the inhabitants thereof an hissing: therefore ye shall
+bear the reproach of my people".[446]
+
+Ahab was evidently an ally of Sidon as well as a vassal of Damascus,
+for he married the notorious princess Jezebel, the daughter of the
+king of that city State. He also became a worshipper of the Phoenician
+god Baal, to whom a temple had been erected in Samaria. "And Ahab made
+a grove; and Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger
+than all the kings of Israel that were before him."[447] Obadiah, who
+"feared the Lord greatly", was the governor of Ahab's house, but the
+outspoken prophet Elijah, whose arch enemy was the notorious Queen
+Jezebel, was an outcast like the hundred prophets concealed by Obadiah
+in two mountain caves.[448]
+
+Ahab became so powerful a king that Ben-hadad II of Damascus picked a
+quarrel with him, and marched against Samaria. It was on this occasion
+that Ahab sent the famous message to Ben-hadad: "Let not him that
+girdeth on his harness (armour) boast himself as he that putteth it
+off". The Israelites issued forth from Samaria and scattered the
+attacking force. "And Israel pursued them: and Ben-hadad the king of
+Syria escaped on a horse with the horseman. And the king of Israel
+went out, and smote the horses and chariots, and slew the Syrians with
+a great slaughter." Ben-hadad was made to believe afterwards by his
+counsellors that he owed his defeat to the fact that the gods of
+Israel were "gods of the hills; therefore they are stronger than we".
+They added: "Let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we
+shall be stronger than they". In the following year Ben-hadad fought
+against the Israelites at Aphek, but was again defeated. He then found
+it necessary to make "a covenant" with Ahab.[449]
+
+In 854 B.C. Shalmaneser III of Assyria was engaged in military
+operations against the Aramaean Syrians. Two years previously he had
+broken the power of Akhuni, king of Bit-Adini in northern Mesopotamia,
+the leader of a strong confederacy of petty States. Thereafter the
+Assyrian monarch turned towards the south-west and attacked the
+Hittite State of Hamath and the Aramaean State of Damascus. The
+various rival kingdoms of Syria united against him, and an army of
+70,000 allies attempted to thwart his progress at Qarqar on the
+Orontes. Although Shalmaneser claimed a victory on this occasion, it
+was of no great advantage to him, for he was unable to follow it up.
+Among the Syrian allies were Bir-idri (Ben-hadad II) of Damascus, and
+Ahab of Israel ("Akhabbu of the land of the Sir'ilites"). The latter
+had a force of 10,000 men under his command.
+
+Four years after Ahab began to reign, Asa died at Jerusalem and his
+son Jehoshaphat was proclaimed king of Judah. "And he walked in all
+the ways of Asa his father; he turned not aside from it, doing that
+which was right in the eyes of the Lord: nevertheless the high places
+were not taken away; for the people offered and burnt incense yet in
+the high places."[450]
+
+There is no record of any wars between Israel and Judah during this
+period, but it is evident that the two kingdoms had been drawn
+together and that Israel was the predominating power. Jehoshaphat
+"joined affinity with Ahab", and some years afterwards visited
+Samaria, where he was hospitably entertained.[451] The two monarchs
+plotted together. Apparently Israel and Judah desired to throw off the
+yoke of Damascus, which was being kept constantly on the defence by
+Assyria. It is recorded in the Bible that they joined forces and set
+out on an expedition to attack Ramoth in Gilead, which Israel claimed,
+and take it "out of the hand of the king of Syria".[452] In the battle
+which ensued (in 853 B.C.) Ahab was mortally wounded, "and about the
+time of the sun going down he died". He was succeeded by his son
+Ahaziah, who acknowledged the suzerainty of Damascus. After a reign of
+two years Ahaziah was succeeded by Joram.
+
+Jehoshaphat did not again come into conflict with Damascus. He devoted
+himself to the development of his kingdom, and attempted to revive the
+sea trade on the Persian gulf which had flourished under Solomon. "He
+made ships of Tharshish to go to Ophir for gold; but they went not;
+for the ships were broken (wrecked) at Ezion-geber." Ahaziah offered
+him sailors--probably Phoenicians--but they were refused.[453]
+Apparently Jehoshaphat had close trading relations with the
+Chaldaeans, who were encroaching on the territory of the king of
+Babylon, and menacing the power of that monarch. Jehoram succeeded
+Jehoshaphat and reigned eight years.
+
+After repulsing the Syrian allies at Qarqar on the Orontes in 854
+B.C., Shalmaneser III of Assyria found it necessary to invade
+Babylonia. Soon after he came to the throne he had formed an alliance
+with Nabu-aplu-iddin of that kingdom, and was thus able to operate in
+the north-west without fear of complications with the rival claimant
+of Mesopotamia. When Nabu-aplu-iddin died, his two sons
+Marduk-zakir-shum and Marduk-bel-usate were rivals for the throne. The
+former, the rightful heir, appealed for help to Shalmaneser, and that
+monarch at once hastened to assert his authority in the southern
+kingdom. In 851 B.C. Marduk-bel-usate, who was supported by an Aramæan
+army, was defeated and put to death.
+
+Marduk-zakir-shum afterwards reigned over Babylonia as the vassal of
+Assyria, and Shalmaneser, his overlord, made offerings to the gods at
+Babylon, Borsippa, and Cuthah. The Chaldæans were afterwards subdued,
+and compelled to pay annual tribute.
+
+In the following year Shalmaneser had to lead an expedition into
+northern Mesopotamia and suppress a fresh revolt in that troubled
+region. But the western allies soon gathered strength again, and in
+846 B.C. he found it necessary to return with a great army, but was
+not successful in achieving any permanent success, although he put his
+enemies to flight. The various western kingdoms, including Damascus,
+Israel, and Tyre and Sidon, remained unconquered, and continued to
+conspire against him.
+
+The resisting power of the Syrian allies, however, was being greatly
+weakened by internal revolts, which may have been stirred up by
+Assyrian emissaries. Edom threw off the yoke of Judah and became
+independent. Jehoram, who had married Athaliah, a royal princess of
+Israel, was dead. His son Ahaziah, who succeeded him, joined forces
+with his cousin and overlord, King Joram of Israel, to assist him in
+capturing Ramoth-gilead from the king of Damascus. Joram took
+possession of the city, but was wounded, and returned to Jezreel to be
+healed.[454] He was the last king of the Omri Dynasty of Israel. The
+prophet Elisha sent a messenger to Jehu, a military leader, who was at
+Ramoth-gilead, with a box of oil and the ominous message, "Thus saith
+the Lord, I have anointed thee king over Israel. And thou shalt smite
+the house of Ahab thy master, that I may avenge the blood of my
+servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the Lord,
+at the hand of Jezebel.... And the dogs shall eat Jezebel in the
+portion of Jezreel, and there shall be none to bury her."
+
+Jehu "conspired against Joram", and then, accompanied by an escort,
+"rode in a chariot and went to Jezreel", so that he might be the first
+to announce the revolt to the king whom he was to depose.
+
+The watchman on the tower of Jezreel saw Jehu and his company
+approaching and informed Joram, who twice sent out a messenger to
+enquire, "Is it peace?" Neither messenger returned, and the watchman
+informed the wounded monarch of Israel, "He came even unto them, and
+cometh not again; and the driving is like the driving of Jehu the son
+of Nimshi; for he driveth furiously".
+
+King Joram went out himself to meet the famous charioteer, but turned
+to flee when he discovered that he came as an enemy. Then Jehu drew
+his bow and shot Joram through the heart. Ahaziah endeavoured to
+conceal himself in Samaria, but was slain also. Jezebel was thrown
+down from a window of the royal harem and trodden under foot by the
+horsemen of Jehu; her body was devoured by dogs.[455]
+
+The Syrian king against whom Joram fought at Ramoth-gilead was Hazael.
+He had murdered Ben-hadad II as he lay on a bed of sickness by
+smothering him with a thick cloth soaked in water. Then he had himself
+proclaimed the ruler of the Aramaean State of Damascus. The prophet
+Elisha had previously wept before him, saying, "I know the evil that
+thou wilt do unto the children of Israel; their strongholds wilt thou
+set on fire, and their young men wilt thou slay with the sword, and
+wilt dash their children and rip up their women with child".[456]
+
+The time seemed ripe for Assyrian conquest. In 843 B.C. Shalmaneser
+III crossed the Euphrates into Syria for the sixteenth time. His first
+objective was Aleppo, where he was welcomed. He made offerings there
+to Hadad, the local Thor, and then suddenly marched southward. Hazael
+went out to oppose the advancing Assyrians, and came into conflict
+with them in the vicinity of Mount Hermon. "I fought with him",
+Shalmaneser recorded, "and accomplished his defeat; I slew with the
+sword 1600 of his warriors and captured 1121 chariots and 470 horses.
+He fled to save his life."
+
+Hazael took refuge within the walls of Damascus, which the Assyrians
+besieged, but failed, however, to capture. Shalmaneser's soldiers
+meanwhile wasted and burned cities without number, and carried away
+great booty. "In those days", Shalmaneser recorded, "I received
+tribute from the Tyrians and Sidonians and from Yaua (Jehu) son
+(successor) of Khumri (Omri)." The following is a translation from a
+bas relief by Professor Pinches of a passage detailing Jehu's tribute:
+
+    The tribute of Yaua, son of Khumri: silver, gold, a golden cup,
+    golden vases, golden vessels, golden buckets, lead, a staff for
+    the hand of the king (and) sceptres, I received.[457]
+
+The scholarly translator adds, "It is noteworthy that the Assyrian
+form of the name, Yaua, shows that the unpronounced aleph at the end
+was at that time sounded, so that the Hebrews must have called him
+Yahua (Jehua)".
+
+Shalmaneser did not again attack Damascus. His sphere of influence was
+therefore confined to North Syria. He found it more profitable,
+indeed, to extend his territories into Asia Minor. For several years
+he engaged himself in securing control of the north-western caravan
+road, and did not rest until he had subdued Cilicia and overrun the
+Hittite kingdoms of Tabal and Malatia.
+
+Hazael of Damascus avenged himself meanwhile on his unfaithful allies
+who had so readily acknowledged the shadowy suzerainty of Assyria. "In
+those days the Lord began to cut Israel short: and Hazael smote them
+in all the coasts of Israel; from Jordan eastward, all the land of
+Gilead, the Gadites, and the Reubenites, and the Manassites, from
+Aroer, which is by the river Arnon, even Gilead and Bashan."[458]
+Israel thus came completely under the sway of Damascus.
+
+Jehu appears to have cherished the ambition of uniting Israel and
+Judah under one crown. His revolt received the support of the orthodox
+Hebrews, and he began well by inaugurating reforms in the northern
+kingdom with purpose apparently to re-establish the worship of David's
+God. He persecuted the prophets of Baal, but soon became a backslider,
+for although he stamped out the Phoenician religion he began to
+worship "the golden calves that were in Bethel and that were in
+Dan.... He departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, which made Israel
+to sin."[459] Apparently he found it necessary to secure the support
+of the idolators of the ancient cult of the "Queen of Heaven".
+
+The crown of Judah had been seized by the Israelitish Queen mother
+Athaliah after the death of her son Ahaziah at the hands of Jehu.[460]
+She endeavoured to destroy "all the seed royal of the house of Judah".
+But another woman thwarted the completion of her monstrous design.
+This was Jehoshabeath, sister of Ahaziah and wife of the priest
+Jehoiada, who concealed the young prince Joash "and put him and his
+nurse in a bedchamber", in "the house of God". There Joash was
+strictly guarded for six years.[461]
+
+In time Jehoiada stirred up a revolt against the Baal-worshipping
+queen of Judah. Having secured the support of the captains of the
+royal guard and a portion of the army, he brought out from the temple
+the seven years old prince Joash, "the king's son, and put upon him
+the crown, and gave him the testimony, and made him king. And Jehoiada
+and his sons anointed him, and said, God save the king.
+
+"Now when Athaliah heard the noise of the people running and praising
+the king, she came to the people into the house of the Lord: and she
+looked, and, behold the king stood at his pillar at the entering in,
+and the princes and the trumpets by the king: and all the people of
+the land rejoiced, and sounded with trumpets, also the singers with
+instruments of musick, and such as taught to sing praise. Then
+Athaliah rent her clothes, and said, Treason, Treason.
+
+"Then Jehoiada the priest brought out the captains of hundreds that
+were set over the host, and said unto them, Have her forth of the
+ranges: and whoso followeth her, let him be slain by the sword. For
+the priest said, Slay her not in the house of the Lord. So they laid
+hands on her; and when she was come to the entering of the horse gate
+by the king's house, they slew her there.
+
+"And Jehoiada made a covenant between him, and between all the people,
+and between the king, that they should be the Lord's people. Then all
+the people went to the house of Baal, and brake it down, and brake his
+altars and his images in pieces, and slew Mattan the priest of Baal
+before the altars."[462]
+
+When Jehu of Israel died, he was succeeded by Jehoahaz. "The Lord was
+kindled against Israel, and he delivered them into the hand of
+Ben-hadad the son of Hazael all their days." Then Jehoahaz repented.
+He "besought the Lord, and the Lord hearkened unto him: for he saw the
+oppression of Israel, because the king of Syria oppressed them. And
+the Lord gave Israel a saviour, so that they went out from under the
+hands of the Syrians."[463] The "saviour", as will be shown, was
+Assyria. Not only Israel, but Judah, under King Joash, Edom, the
+Philistines and the Ammonites were compelled to acknowledge the
+suzerainty of Damascus.
+
+Shalmaneser III swayed an extensive and powerful empire, and kept his
+generals continually employed suppressing revolts on his frontiers.
+After he subdued the Hittites, Kati, king of Tabal, sent him his
+daughter, who was received into the royal harem. Tribes of the Medes
+came under his power: the Nairi and Urartian tribes continued battling
+with his soldiers on his northern borders like the frontier tribes of
+India against the British troops. The kingdom of Urartu was growing
+more and more powerful.
+
+In 829 B.C. the great empire was suddenly shaken to its foundations by
+the outbreak of civil war. The party of rebellion was led by
+Shalmaneser's son Ashur-danin-apli, who evidently desired to supplant
+the crown prince Shamshi-Adad. He was a popular hero and received the
+support of most of the important Assyrian cities, including Nineveh,
+Asshur, Arbela, Imgurbel, and Dur-balat, as well as some of the
+dependencies. Shalmaneser retained Kalkhi and the provinces of
+northern Mesopotamia, and it appears that the greater part of the army
+also remained loyal to him.
+
+After four years of civil war Shalmaneser died. His chosen heir,
+Shamshi-Adad VII, had to continue the struggle for the throne for two
+more years.
+
+When at length the new king had stamped out the last embers of revolt
+within the kingdom, he had to undertake the reconquest of those
+provinces which in the interval had thrown off their allegiance to
+Assyria. Urartu in the north had grown more aggressive, the Syrians
+were openly defiant, the Medes were conducting bold raids, and the
+Babylonians were plotting with the Chaldaeans, Elamites, and Aramaeans
+to oppose the new ruler. Shamshi-Adad, however, proved to be as great
+a general as his father. He subdued the Medes and the Nairi tribes,
+burned many cities and collected enormous tribute, while thousands of
+prisoners were taken and forced to serve the conqueror.
+
+Having established his power in the north, Shamshi-Adad then turned
+attention to Babylonia. On his way southward he subdued many villages.
+He fell upon the first strong force of Babylonian allies at
+Dur-papsukal in Akkad, and achieved a great victory, killing 13,000
+and taking 3000 captives. Then the Babylonian king,
+Marduk-balatsu-ikbi, advanced to meet him with his mixed force of
+Babylonians, Chaldaeans, Elamites, and Aramaeans, but was defeated in
+a fierce battle on the banks of the Daban canal. The Babylonian camp
+was captured, and the prisoners taken by the Assyrians included 5000
+footmen, 200 horsemen, and 100 chariots.
+
+Shamshi-Adad conducted in all five campaigns in Babylonia and
+Chaldaea, which he completely subdued, penetrating as far as the
+shores of the Persian Gulf. In the end he took prisoner the new king,
+Bau-akh-iddina, the successor of Marduk-balatsu-ikbi, and transported
+him to Assyria, and offered up sacrifices as the overlord of the
+ancient land at Babylon, Borsippa, and Cuthah. For over half a century
+after this disaster Babylonia was a province of Assyria. During that
+period, however, the influence which it exercised over the Assyrian
+Court was so great that it contributed to the downfall of the royal
+line of the Second Empire.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+THE AGE OF SEMIRAMIS
+
+
+  Queen Sammu-rammat the original of Semiramis--"Mother-right" among
+  "Mother Worshippers"--Sammu-rammat compared to Queen Tiy--Popularity
+  of Goddess Cults--Temple Worship and Domestic Worship--Babylonian
+  Cultural Influence in Assyria--Ethical Tendency in Shamash
+  Worship--The Nebo Religious Revolt--Aton Revolt in Egypt--The Royal
+  Assyrian Library--Fish Goddess of Babylonia in Assyria--The
+  Semiramis and Shakuntala Stories--The Mock King and Queen--Dove
+  Goddesses of Assyria, Phoenicia, and Cyprus--Ishtar's Dove Form--St.
+  Valentine's Day beliefs--Sacred Doves of Cretans, Hittites, and
+  Egyptians--Pigeon Lore in Great Britain and Ireland--Deities
+  associated with various Animals--The Totemic Theory--Common Element
+  in Ancient Goddess Cults--Influence of Agricultural Beliefs--Nebo a
+  form of Ea--His Spouse Tashmit a Love Goddess and
+  Interceder--Traditions of Famous Mother Deities--Adad-nirari IV the
+  "Saviour" of Israel--Expansion of the Urartian Empire--Its Famous
+  Kings--Decline and Fall of Assyria's Middle Empire Dynasty.
+
+
+One of the most interesting figures in Mesopotamian history came into
+prominence during the Assyrian Middle Empire period. This was the
+famous Sammu-rammat, the Babylonian wife of an Assyrian ruler. Like
+Sargon of Akkad, Alexander the Great, and Dietrich von Bern, she made,
+by reason of her achievements and influence, a deep impression on the
+popular imagination, and as these monarchs became identified in
+tradition with gods of war and fertility, she had attached to her
+memory the myths associated with the mother goddess of love and battle
+who presided over the destinies of mankind. In her character as the
+legendary Semiramis of Greek literature, the Assyrian queen was
+reputed to have been the daughter of Derceto, the dove and fish
+goddess of Askalon, and to have departed from earth in bird form.
+
+It is not quite certain whether Sammu-rammat was the wife of
+Shamshi-Adad VII or of his son, Adad-nirari IV. Before the former
+monarch reduced Babylonia to the status of an Assyrian province, he
+had signed a treaty of peace with its king, and it is suggested that
+it was confirmed by a matrimonial alliance. This treaty was repudiated
+by King Bau-akh-iddina, who was transported with his palace treasures
+to Assyria.
+
+As Sammu-rammat was evidently a royal princess of Babylonia, it seems
+probable that her marriage was arranged with purpose to legitimatize
+the succession of the Assyrian overlords to the Babylonian throne. The
+principle of "mother right" was ever popular in those countries where
+the worship of the Great Mother was perpetuated if not in official at
+any rate in domestic religion. Not a few Egyptian Pharaohs reigned as
+husbands or as sons of royal ladies. Succession by the female line was
+also observed among the Hittites. When Hattusil II gave his daughter
+in marriage to Putakhi, king of the Amorites, he inserted a clause in
+the treaty of alliance "to the effect that the sovereignty over the
+Amorite should belong to the son and descendants of his daughter for
+evermore".[464]
+
+As queen or queen-mother, Sammu-rammat occupied as prominent a
+position in Assyria as did Queen Tiy of Egypt during the lifetime of
+her husband, Amenhotep III, and the early part of the reign of her
+son, Amenhotep IV (Akhenaton). The Tell-el-Amarna letters testify to
+Tiy's influence in the Egyptian "Foreign Office", and we know that at
+home she was joint ruler with her husband and took part with him in
+public ceremonials. During their reign a temple was erected to the
+mother goddess Mut, and beside it was formed a great lake on which
+sailed the "barque of Aton" in connection with mysterious religious
+ceremonials. After Akhenaton's religious revolt was inaugurated, the
+worship of Mut was discontinued and Tiy went into retirement. In
+Akhenaton's time the vulture symbol of the goddess Mut did not appear
+above the sculptured figures of royalty.
+
+What connection the god Aton had with Mut during the period of the Tiy
+regime remains obscure. There is no evidence that Aton was first
+exalted as the son of the Great Mother goddess, although this is not
+improbable.
+
+Queen Sammu-rammat of Assyria, like Tiy of Egypt, is associated with
+social and religious innovations. She was the first, and, indeed, the
+only Assyrian royal lady, to be referred to on equal terms with her
+royal husband in official inscriptions. In a dedication to the god
+Nebo, that deity is reputed to be the protector of "the life of
+Adad-nirari, king of the land of Ashur, his lord, and the life of
+Sammu-rammat, she of the palace, his lady".[465]
+
+During the reign of Adad-nirari IV the Assyrian Court radiated
+Babylonian culture and traditions. The king not only recorded his
+descent from the first Shalmaneser, but also claimed to be a
+descendant of Bel-kap-kapu, an earlier, but, to us, unknown,
+Babylonian monarch than "Sulili", i.e. Sumu-la-ilu, the
+great-great-grandfather of Hammurabi. Bel-kap-kapu was reputed to have
+been an overlord of Assyria.
+
+Apparently Adad-nirari desired to be regarded as the legitimate heir
+to the thrones of Assyria and Babylonia. His claim upon the latter
+country must have had a substantial basis. It is not too much to
+assume that he was a son of a princess of its ancient royal family.
+Sammurammat may therefore have been his mother. She could have been
+called his "wife" in the mythological sense, the king having become
+"husband of his mother". If such was the case, the royal pair probably
+posed as the high priest and high priestess of the ancient goddess
+cult--the incarnations of the Great Mother and the son who displaced
+his sire.
+
+The worship of the Great Mother was the popular religion of the
+indigenous peoples of western Asia, including parts of Asia Minor,
+Egypt, and southern and western Europe. It appears to have been
+closely associated with agricultural rites practised among
+representative communities of the Mediterranean race. In Babylonia and
+Assyria the peoples of the goddess cult fused with the peoples of the
+god cult, but the prominence maintained by Ishtar, who absorbed many
+of the old mother deities, testifies to the persistence of immemorial
+habits of thought and antique religious ceremonials among the
+descendants of the earliest settlers in the Tigro-Euphrates valley.
+Merodach's spouse Zerpanituᵐ was not a shadowy deity but a goddess who
+exercised as much influence as her divine husband. As Aruru she took
+part with him in the creation of mankind. In Asia Minor the mother
+goddess was overshadowed by the father god during the period of Hatti
+predominance, but her worship was revived after the early people along
+the coast and in the agricultural valleys were freed from the yoke of
+the father-god worshippers.
+
+It must be recognized, in this connection, that an official religion
+was not always a full reflection of popular beliefs. In all the great
+civilizations of antiquity it was invariably a compromise between the
+beliefs of the military aristocracy and the masses of mingled peoples
+over whom they held sway. Temple worship had therefore a political
+aspect; it was intended, among other things, to strengthen the
+position of the ruling classes. But ancient deities could still be
+worshipped, and were worshipped, in homes and fields, in groves and on
+mountain tops, as the case might be. Jeremiah has testified to the
+persistence of the folk practices in connection with the worship of
+the mother goddess among the inhabitants of Palestine. Sacrificial
+fires were lit and cakes were baked and offered to the "Queen of
+Heaven" in the streets of Jerusalem and other cities. In Babylonia and
+Egypt domestic religious practices were never completely supplanted by
+temple ceremonies in which rulers took a prominent part. It was always
+possible, therefore, for usurpers to make popular appeal by reviving
+ancient and persistent forms of worship. As we have seen, Jehu of
+Israel, after stamping out Phoenician Baal worship, secured a strong
+following by giving official recognition to the cult of the golden
+calf.
+
+It is not possible to set forth in detail, or with intimate knowledge,
+the various innovations which Sammu-rammat introduced, or with which
+she was credited, during the reigns of Adad-nirari IV (810-782 B.C.)
+and his father. No discovery has been made of documents like the
+Tell-el-Amarna "letters", which would shed light on the social and
+political life of this interesting period. But evidence is not
+awanting that Assyria was being suffused with Babylonian culture.
+Royal inscriptions record the triumphs of the army, but suppress the
+details of barbarities such as those which sully the annals of
+Ashur-natsir-pal, who had boys and girls burned on pyres and the
+heroes of small nations flayed alive. An ethical tendency becomes
+apparent in the exaltation of the Babylonian Shamash as an abstract
+deity who loved law and order, inspired the king with wisdom and
+ordained the destinies of mankind. He is invoked on equal terms with
+Ashur.
+
+The prominence given to Nebo, the god of Borsippa, during the reign of
+Adad-nirari IV is highly significant. He appears in his later
+character as a god of culture and wisdom, the patron of scribes and
+artists, and the wise counsellor of the deities. He symbolized the
+intellectual life of the southern kingdom, which was more closely
+associated with religious ethics than that of war-loving Assyria.
+
+A great temple was erected to Nebo at Kalkhi, and four statues of him
+were placed within it, two of which are now in the British Museum. On
+one of these was cut the inscription, from which we have quoted,
+lauding the exalted and wise deity and invoking him to protect
+Adad-nirari and the lady of the palace, Sammu-rammat, and closing with
+the exhortation, "Whoso cometh in after time, let him trust in Nebo
+and trust in no other god".
+
+The priests of Ashur in the city of Asshur must have been as deeply
+stirred by this religious revolt at Kalkhi as were the priests of Amon
+when Akhenaton turned his back on Thebes and the national god to
+worship Aton in his new capital at Tell-el-Amarna.
+
+It would appear that this sudden stream of Babylonian culture had
+begun to flow into Assyria as early as the reign of Shalmaneser III,
+and it may be that it was on account of that monarch's pro-Babylonian
+tendencies that his nobles and priests revolted against him.
+Shalmaneser established at Kalkhi a royal library which was stocked
+with the literature of the southern kingdom. During the reign of
+Adad-nirari IV this collection was greatly increased, and subsequent
+additions were made to it by his successors, and especially
+Ashur-nirari IV, the last monarch of the Middle Empire. The
+inscriptions of Shamshi-Adad, son of Shalmaneser III, have literary
+qualities which distinguish them from those of his predecessors, and
+may be accounted for by the influence exercised by Babylonian scholars
+who migrated northward.
+
+To the reign of Adad-nirari belongs also that important compilation
+the "Synchronistic History of Assyria and Babylonia", which deals with
+the relations of the two kingdoms and refers to contemporary events
+and rulers.
+
+The legends of Semiramis indicate that Sammu-rammat was associated
+like Queen Tiy with the revival of mother worship. As we have said,
+she went down to tradition as the daughter of the fish goddess,
+Derceto. Pliny identified that deity with Atargatis of
+Hierapolis.[466]
+
+In Babylonia the fish goddess was Nina, a developed form of Damkina,
+spouse of Ea of Eridu. In the inscription on the Nebo statue, that god
+is referred to as the "son of Nudimmud" (Ea). Nina was the goddess who
+gave her name to Nineveh, and it is possible that Nebo may have been
+regarded as her son during the Semiramis period.
+
+The story of Semiramis's birth is evidently of great antiquity. It
+seems to survive throughout Europe in the nursery tale of the "Babes
+in the Wood". A striking Indian parallel is afforded by the legend of
+Shakuntala, which may be first referred to for the purpose of
+comparative study. Shakuntala was the daughter of the rishi,
+Viswamitra, and Menaka, the Apsara (celestial fairy). Menaka gave
+birth to her child beside the sacred river Malini. "And she cast the
+new-born infant on the bank of that river and went away. And beholding
+the newborn infant lying in that forest destitute of human beings but
+abounding with lions and tigers, a number of vultures sat around to
+protect it from harm." A sage discovered the child and adopted her.
+"Because", he said, "she was surrounded by _Shakuntas_ (birds),
+therefore hath she been named by me _Shakuntala_ (bird
+protected)."[467]
+
+Semiramis was similarly deserted at birth by her Celestial mother. She
+was protected by doves, and her Assyrian name, Sammu-rammat, is
+believed to be derived from "Summat"--"dove", and to signify "the dove
+goddess loveth her". Simmas, the chief of royal shepherds, found the
+child and adopted her. She was of great beauty like Shakuntala, the
+maiden of "perfect symmetry", "sweet smiles", and "faultless
+features", with whom King Dushyanta fell in love and married in
+Gandharva fashion.[468]
+
+Semiramis became the wife of Onnes, governor of Nineveh, and one of
+the generals of its alleged founder, King Ninus. She accompanied her
+husband to Bactria on a military campaign, and is said to have
+instructed the king how that city should be taken. Ninus fell in love
+with Semiramis, and Onnes, who refused to give her up, went and hanged
+himself. The fair courtesan then became the wife of the king.
+
+The story proceeds that Semiramis exercised so great an influence over
+the impressionable King Ninus, that she persuaded him to proclaim her
+Queen of Assyria for five days. She then ascended the throne decked in
+royal robes. On the first day she gave a great banquet, and on the
+second thrust Ninus into prison, or had him put to death. In this
+manner she secured the empire for herself. She reigned for over forty
+years.
+
+Professor Frazer inclines to the view that the legend is a
+reminiscence of the custom of appointing a mock king and queen to whom
+the kingdom was yielded up for five days. Semiramis played the part of
+the mother goddess, and the priestly king died a violent death in the
+character of her divine lover. "The mounds of Semiramis which were
+pointed out all over Western Asia were said to have been the graves of
+her lovers whom she buried alive.... This tradition is one of the
+surest indications of the identity of the mythical Semiramis with the
+Babylonian goddess Ishtar or Astarte."[469] As we have seen, Ishtar
+and other mother goddesses had many lovers whom they deserted like La
+Belle Dame sans Merci (pp. 174-175).
+
+As Queen of Assyria, Semiramis was said to have cut roads through
+mountainous districts and erected many buildings. According to one
+version of the legend she founded the city of Babylon. Herodotus,
+however, says in this connection: "Semiramis held the throne for five
+generations before the later princess (Nitocris).... She raised
+certain embankments, well worthy of inspection, in the plain near
+Babylon, to control the river (Euphrates), which, till then, used to
+overflow and flood the whole country round about."[470] Lucian, who
+associates the famous queen with "mighty works in Asia", states that
+she was reputed by some to be the builder of the ancient temple of
+Aphrodite in the Libanus, although others credited it to Cinyras, or
+Deukalion.[471] Several Median places bear her name, and according to
+ancient Armenian tradition she was the founder of Van, which was
+formerly called "Shamiramagerd". Strabo tells that unidentified
+mountains in Western Asia were named after Semiramis.[472] Indeed,
+many of the great works in the Tigro-Euphrates valley, not excepting
+the famous inscription of Darius, were credited to the legendary queen
+of Babylonia and Assyria.[473] She was the rival in tradition of the
+famous Sesostris of Egypt as a ruler, builder, and conqueror.
+
+All the military expeditions of Semiramis were attended with success,
+except her invasion of India. She was supposed to have been defeated
+in the Punjab. After suffering this disaster she died, or abdicated
+the throne in favour of her son Ninyas. The most archaic form of the
+legend appears to be that she was turned into a dove and took flight
+to heaven in that form. After her death she was worshipped as a dove
+goddess like "Our Lady of Trees and Doves" in Cyprus, whose shrine at
+old Paphos was founded, Herodotus says, by Phoenician colonists from
+Askalon.[474] Fish and doves were sacred to Derceto (Attar),[475] who
+had a mermaid form. "I have beheld", says Lucian, "the image of
+Derceto in Phoenicia. A marvellous spectacle it is. One half is a
+woman, but the part which extends from thighs to feet terminates with
+the tail of a fish."[476]
+
+Derceto was supposed to have been a woman who threw herself in despair
+into a lake. After death she was adored as a goddess and her
+worshippers abstained from eating fish, except sacrificially. A golden
+image of a fish was suspended in her temple. Atargatis, who was
+identical with Derceto, was reputed in another form of the legend to
+have been born of an egg which the sacred fishes found in the
+Euphrates and thrust ashore (p. 28). The Greek Aphrodite was born of
+the froth of the sea and floated in a sea-shell. According to Hesiod,
+
+          The wafting waves
+    First bore her to Cythera the divine:
+    To wave-encircled Cyprus came she then,
+    And forth emerged, a goddess, in the charms
+    Of awful beauty. Where her delicate feet
+    Had pressed the sands, green herbage flowering sprang.
+    Her Aphrodite gods and mortals name,
+    The foam-born goddess; and her name is known
+    As Cytherea with the blooming wreath,
+    For that she touched Cythera's flowery coast;
+    And Cypris, for that on the Cyprian shore
+    She rose, amid the multitude of waves. _Elton's translation_.
+
+The animals sacred to Aphrodite included the sparrow, the dove, the
+swan, the swallow, and the wryneck.[477] She presided over the month
+of April, and the myrtle, rose, poppy, and apple were sacred to her.
+
+Some writers connect Semiramis, in her character as a dove goddess,
+with Media and the old Persian mother goddess Anaitis, and regard as
+arbitrary her identification with the fish goddess Derceto or
+Atargatis. The dove was certainly not a popular bird in the religious
+art of Babylonia and Assyria, but in one of the hymns translated by
+Professor Pinches Ishtar says, "Like a lonely dove I rest". In another
+the worshipper tries to touch Ishtar's heart by crying, "Like the dove
+I moan". A Sumerian psalmist makes a goddess (Gula, who presided over
+Larak, a part of Isin) lament over the city after it was captured by
+the enemy:
+
+    My temple E-aste, temple of Larak,
+    Larak the city which Bel Enlil gave,
+    Beneath are turned to strangeness, above are turned to
+        strangeness,
+    With wailings on the lyre my dwelling-place is surrendered to the
+        stranger,
+    _The dove cots they wickedly seized, the doves they entrapped_....
+    The ravens he (Enlil) caused to fly.[478]
+
+Apparently there were temple and household doves in Babylonia. The
+Egyptians had their household dovecots in ancient as in modern times.
+Lane makes reference to the large pigeon houses in many villages. They
+are of archaic pattern, "with the walls slightly inclining inwards
+(like many of the ancient Egyptian buildings)", and are "constructed
+upon the roofs of the huts with crude brick, pottery, and mud.... Each
+pair of pigeons occupies a separate (earthen) pot."[479] It may be
+that the dove bulked more prominently in domestic than in official
+religion, and had a special seasonal significance. Ishtar appears to
+have had a dove form. In the Gilgamesh epic she is said to have loved
+the "brilliant Allalu bird" (the "bright-coloured wood pigeon",
+according to Sayce), and to have afterwards wounded it by breaking its
+wings.[480] She also loved the lion and the horse, and must therefore
+have assumed the forms of these animals. The goddess Bau, "she whose
+city is destroyed", laments in a Sumerian psalm:
+
+    Like a dove to its dwelling-place, how long to my dwelling-place
+        will they pursue me,
+    To my sanctuary ... the sacred place they pursue me....
+    My resting place, the brick walls of my city Isin, thou art
+        destroyed;
+    My sanctuary, shrine of my temple Galmah, thou art destroyed.
+
+            _Langdon's translation._
+
+Here the goddess appears to be identified with the doves which rest on
+the walls and make their nests in the shrine. The Sumerian poets did
+not adorn their poems with meaningless picturesque imagery; their
+images were stern facts; they had a magical or religious significance
+like the imagery of magical incantations; the worshipper invoked the
+deity by naming his or her various attributes, forms, &c.
+
+Of special interest are the references in Sumerian psalms to the
+ravens as well as the doves of goddesses. Throughout Asia and Europe
+ravens are birds of ill omen. In Scotland there still linger curious
+folk beliefs regarding the appearance of ravens and doves after death.
+Michael Scott, the great magician, when on his deathbed told his
+friends to place his body on a hillock. "Three ravens and three doves
+would be seen flying towards it. If the ravens were first the body was
+to be burned, but if the doves were first it was to receive Christian
+burial. The ravens were foremost, but in their hurry flew beyond their
+mark. So the devil, who had long been preparing a bed for Michael, was
+disappointed."[481]
+
+In Indian mythology Purusha, the chaos giant, first divided himself.
+"Hence were husband and wife produced." This couple then assumed
+various animal forms and thus "created every living pair whatsoever
+down to the ants".[482] Goddesses and fairies in the folk tales of
+many countries sometimes assume bird forms. The "Fates" appear to
+Damayanti in the Nala story as swans which carry love messages.[483]
+
+According to Aryo-Indian belief, birds were "blessed with fecundity".
+The Babylonian Etana eagle and the Egyptian vulture, as has been
+indicated, were deities of fertility. Throughout Europe birds, which
+were "Fates", mated, according to popular belief, on St. Valentine's
+Day in February, when lots were drawn for wives by rural folks.
+Another form of the old custom is referred to by the poet Gay:--
+
+    Last Valentine, the day when birds of kind
+    Their paramours with mutual chirpings find,
+    I early rose....
+    Thee first I spied, and the first swain we see,
+    In spite of fortune, shall our true love be.
+
+The dove appears to have been a sacred bird in various areas occupied
+by tribes of the Mediterranean race. Models of a shrine found in two
+royal graves at Mycenae are surmounted by a pair of doves, suggesting
+twin goddesses like Isis and Nepthys of Egypt and Ishtar and
+Belitsheri of Babylonia. Doves and snakes were associated with the
+mother goddess of Crete, "typifying", according to one view, "her
+connection with air and earth. Although her character was distinctly
+beneficent and pacific, yet as Lady of the Wild Creatures she had a
+more fearful aspect, one that was often depicted on carved gems, where
+lions are her companions."[484] Discussing the attributes and symbols
+of this mother goddess, Professor Burrows says: "As the serpent,
+coming from the crevices of the earth, shows the possession of the
+tree or pillar from the underworld, so the dove, with which this
+goddess is also associated, shows its possession from the world of the
+sky".[485] Professor Robertson Smith has demonstrated that the dove
+was of great sanctity among the Semites.[486] It figures in Hittite
+sculptures and was probably connected with the goddess cult in Asia
+Minor. Although Egypt had no dove goddess, the bird was addressed by
+lovers--
+
+    I hear thy voice, O turtle dove--
+      The dawn is all aglow--
+    Weary am I with love, with love,
+      Oh, whither shall I go?[487]
+
+Pigeons, as indicated, are in Egypt still regarded as sacred birds,
+and a few years ago British soldiers created a riot by shooting them.
+Doves were connected with the ancient Greek oracle at Dodona. In many
+countries the dove is closely associated with love, and also
+symbolizes innocence, gentleness, and holiness.
+
+The pigeon was anciently, it would appear, a sacred bird in these
+islands, and Brand has recorded curious folk beliefs connected with
+it. In some districts the idea prevailed that no person could die on a
+bed which contained pigeon feathers: "If anybody be sick and lye a
+dying, if they lye upon pigeon feathers they will be languishing and
+never die, but be in pain and torment," wrote a correspondent. A
+similar superstition about the feathers of different varieties of wild
+fowl[488] obtained in other districts. Brand traced this interesting
+traditional belief in Yorkshire, Lancashire, Derbyshire, and some of
+the Welsh and Irish counties.[489] It still lingers in parts of the
+Scottish Highlands. In the old ballad of "The Bloody Gardener" the
+white dove appears to a young man as the soul of his lady love who was
+murdered by his mother. He first saw the bird perched on his breast
+and then "sitting on a myrtle tree".[490]
+
+The dove was not only a symbol of Semiramis, but also of her mother
+Derceto, the Phoenician fish goddess. The connection between bird and
+fish may have been given an astral significance. In "Poor Robin's
+Almanack" for 1757 a St. Valentine rhyme begins:--
+
+    This month bright Phoebus enters Pisces,
+    The maids will have good store of kisses,
+    For always when the sun comes there,
+    Valentine's day is drawing near,
+    And both the men and maids incline
+    To choose them each a Valentine.
+
+As we have seen, the example was set by the mating birds. The
+"Almanack" poet no doubt versified an old astrological belief: when
+the spring sun entered the sign of the Fishes, the love goddess in
+bird form returned to earth.
+
+Advocates of the Totemic theory, on the other hand, may hold that the
+association of doves with snake goddesses and fish goddesses of
+fertility was due to the fusion of tribes who had various animal
+totems. "The Pelew Islanders believed", says Professor Frazer, "that
+the souls of their forefathers lived in certain species of animals,
+which accordingly they held sacred and would not injure. For this
+reason one man would not kill snakes, another would not harm pigeons,
+and so on; but everyone was quite ready to kill and eat the sacred
+animals of his neighbours."[491] That the Egyptians had similar
+customs is suggested by what Herodotus tells us regarding their sacred
+animals: "Those who live near Thebes and the lake Moeris hold the
+crocodile in religious veneration.... Those who live in or near
+Elephantine, so far from considering these beasts as sacred, make them
+an article of food.... The hippopotamus is esteemed sacred in the
+district of Papremis, but in no other part of Egypt.... They roast and
+boil ... birds and fishes ... excepting those which are preserved for
+sacred purposes."[492] Totemic animals controlled the destinies of
+tribes and families. "Grose tells us", says Brand, "that, besides
+general notices of death, many families have particular warnings or
+notices: some by the appearance of a bird, and others by the figure of
+a tall woman, dressed all in white.... Pennant says that many of the
+great families in Scotland had their demon or genius, who gave them
+monitions of future events."[493] Members of tribes which venerated
+the pigeon therefore invoked it like the Egyptian love poet and drew
+omens from its notes, or saw one appearing as the soul of the dead
+like the lover in the ballad of "The Bloody Gardener". They refrained
+also from killing the pigeon except sacrificially, and suffered
+agonies on a deathbed which contained pigeon feathers, the "taboo"
+having been broken.
+
+Some such explanation is necessary to account for the specialization
+of certain goddesses as fish, snake, cat, or bird deities. Aphrodite,
+who like Ishtar absorbed the attributes of several goddesses of
+fertility and fate, had attached to her the various animal symbols
+which were prominent in districts or among tribes brought into close
+contact, while the poppy, rose, myrtle, &c., which were used as love
+charms, or for making love potions, were also consecrated to her.
+Anthropomorphic deities were decorated with the symbols and flowers of
+folk religion.
+
+From the comparative evidence accumulated here, it will be seen that
+the theory of the mythical Semiramis's Median or Persian origin is
+somewhat narrow. It is possible that the dove was venerated in Cyprus,
+as it certainly was in Crete, long centuries before Assyrian and
+Babylonian influence filtered westward through Phoenician and Hittite
+channels. In another connection Sir Arthur Evans shows that the
+resemblance between Cretan and early Semitic beliefs "points rather to
+some remote common element, the nature of which is at present obscure,
+than to any definite borrowing by one side or another".[494]
+
+From the evidence afforded by the Semiramis legends and the
+inscriptions of the latter half of the Assyrian Middle Empire period,
+it may be inferred that a renascence of "mother worship" was favoured
+by the social and political changes which were taking place. In the
+first place the influence of Babylon must have been strongly felt in
+this connection. The fact that Adadnirari found it necessary to win
+the support of the Babylonians by proclaiming his descent from one of
+their ancient royal families, suggests that he was not only concerned
+about the attitude assumed by the scholars of the southern kingdom,
+but also that of the masses of old Sumerian and Akkadian stocks who
+continued to bake cakes to the Queen of Heaven so as to ensure good
+harvests. In the second place it is not improbable that even in
+Assyria the introduction of Nebo and his spouse made widespread
+appeal. That country had become largely peopled by an alien
+population; many of these aliens came from districts where "mother
+worship" prevailed, and had no traditional respect for Ashur, while
+they regarded with hostility the military aristocracy who conquered
+and ruled in the name of that dreaded deity. Perhaps, too, the
+influence of the Aramaeans, who in Babylonia wrecked the temples of
+the sun god, tended to revive the ancient religion of the
+Mediterranean race. Jehu's religious revolt in Israel, which
+established once again the cult of Ashtoreth, occurred after he came
+under the sway of Damascus, and may have not been unconnected with the
+political ascendancy elsewhere of the goddess cult.
+
+Nebo, whom Adad-nirari exalted at Kalkhi, was more than a local god of
+Borsippa. "The most satisfactory view", says Jastrow, "is to regard
+him as a counterpart of Ea. Like Ea, he is the embodiment and source
+of wisdom.... The study of the heavens formed part of the wisdom which
+is traced back to Nebo, and the temple school at Borsippa became one
+of the chief centres for the astrological, and, subsequently, for the
+astronomical lore of Babylonia.... Like Nebo, Ea is also associated
+with the irrigation of the fields and with their consequent fertility.
+A hymn praises him as the one who fills the canals and the dikes, who
+protects the fields and brings the crops to maturity." Nebo links with
+Merodach (Marduk), who is sometimes referred to as his father. Jastrow
+assumes that the close partnership between Nebo and Merodach "had as a
+consequence a transfer of some of the father Marduk's attributes as a
+solar deity to Nebo,[495] his son, just as Ea passed his traits on to
+his son, Marduk".[496]
+
+As the "recorder" or "scribe" among the gods, Nebo resembles the
+Egyptian god Thoth, who links with Khonsu, the lunar and spring sun
+god of love and fertility, and with Osiris. In Borsippa he had, like
+Merodach in Babylon, pronounced Tammuz traits. Nebo, in fact, appears
+to be the Tammuz of the new age, the son of the ancient goddess, who
+became "Husband of his Mother". If Nebo had no connection with Great
+Mother worship, it is unlikely that his statue would have borne an
+inscription referring to King Adad-nirari and Queen Sammu-rammat on
+equal terms. The Assyrian spouse of Nebo was called Tashmit. This
+"goddess of supplication and love" had a lunar significance. A prayer
+addressed to her in association with Nannar (Sin) and Ishtar,
+proceeds:
+
+    In the evil of the eclipse of the moon which ... has taken place,
+    In the evil of the powers, of the portents, evil and not good,
+        which are in my palace and my land,
+    (I) have turned towards thee!...
+    Before Nabu (Nebo) thy spouse, thy lord, the prince, the
+        first-born of E-sagila, intercede for me!
+    May he hearken to my cry at the word of thy mouth; may he remove
+        my sighing, may he learn my supplication!
+
+Damkina is similarly addressed in another prayer:
+
+    O Damkina, mighty queen of all the gods,
+    O wife of Ea, valiant art thou,
+    O Ir-nina, mighty queen of all the gods ...
+    Thou that dwellest in the Abyss, O lady of heaven and earth!...
+    In the evil of the eclipse of the moon, etc.
+
+Bau is also prayed in a similar connection as "mighty lady that
+dwellest in the bright heavens", i.e. "Queen of heaven".[497]
+
+Tashmit, whose name signifies "Obedience", according to Jastrow, or
+"Hearing", according to Sayce, carried the prayers of worshippers to
+Nebo, her spouse. As Isis interceded with Osiris, she interceded with
+Nebo, on behalf of mankind. But this did not signify that she was the
+least influential of the divine pair. A goddess played many parts: she
+was at once mother, daughter, and wife of the god; the servant of one
+god or the "mighty queen of all the gods". The Great Mother was, as
+has been indicated, regarded as the eternal and undecaying one; the
+gods passed away, son succeeding father; she alone remained. Thus,
+too, did Semiramis survive in the popular memory, as the queen-goddess
+of widespread legends, after kings and gods had been forgotten. To her
+was ascribed all the mighty works of other days in the lands where the
+indigenous peoples first worshipped the Great Mother as Damkina, Nina,
+Bau, Ishtar, or Tashmit, because the goddess was anciently believed to
+be the First Cause, the creatrix, the mighty one who invested the
+ruling god with the powers he possessed--the god who held sway because
+he was her husband, as did Nergal as the husband of Eresh-ki-gal,
+queen of Hades.
+
+The multiplication of well-defined goddesses was partly due to the
+tendency to symbolize the attributes of the Great Mother, and partly
+due to the development of the great "Lady" in a particular district
+where she reflected local phenomena and where the political influence
+achieved by her worshippers emphasized her greatness. Legends
+regarding a famous goddess were in time attached to other goddesses,
+and in Aphrodite and Derceto we appear to have mother deities who
+absorbed the traditions of more than one local "lady" of river and
+plain, forest and mountain. Semiramis, on the other hand, survived as
+a link between the old world and the new, between the country from
+which emanated the stream of ancient culture and the regions which
+received it. As the high priestess of the cult, she became identified
+with the goddess whose bird name she bore, as Gilgamesh and Etana
+became identified with the primitive culture-hero or patriarch of the
+ancient Sumerians, and Sargon became identified with Tammuz. No doubt
+the fame of Semiramis was specially emphasized because of her close
+association, as Queen Sammu-rammat, with the religious innovations
+which disturbed the land of the god Ashur during the Middle Empire
+period.
+
+Adad-nirari IV, the son or husband of Sammu-rammat, was a vigorous and
+successful campaigner. He was the Assyrian king who became the
+"saviour" of Israel. Although it is not possible to give a detailed
+account of his various expeditions, we find from the list of these
+which survives in the Eponym Chronicle that he included in the
+Assyrian Empire a larger extent of territory than any of his
+predecessors. In the north-east he overcame the Median and other
+tribes, and acquired a large portion of the Iranian plateau; he
+compelled Edom to pay tribute, and established his hold in Babylonia
+by restricting the power of the Chaldaeans in Sealand. In the north he
+swayed--at least, so he claimed--the wide domains of the Nairi people.
+He also confirmed his supremacy over the Hittites.
+
+The Aramaean state of Damascus, which had withstood the attack of the
+great Shalmaneser and afterwards oppressed, as we have seen, the
+kingdoms of Israel and Judah, was completely overpowered by
+Adad-nirari. The old king, Hazael, died when Assyria's power was being
+strengthened and increased along his frontiers. He was succeeded by
+his son Mari, who is believed to be identical with the Biblical
+Ben-Hadad III.[498]
+
+Shortly after this new monarch came to the throne, Adad-nirari IV led
+a great army against him. The Syrian ruler appears to have been taken
+by surprise; probably his kingdom was suffering from the three defeats
+which had been previously administered by the revolting
+Israelites.[499] At any rate Mari was unable to gather together an
+army of allies to resist the Assyrian advance, and took refuge behind
+the walls of Damascus. This strongly fortified city was closely
+invested, and Mari had at length to submit and acknowledge Adad-nirari
+as his overlord. The price of peace included 23,000 talents of silver,
+20 of gold, 3000 of copper, and 5000 of iron, as well as ivory
+ornaments and furniture, embroidered materials, and other goods "to a
+countless amount". Thus "the Lord gave Israel a saviour, so that they
+went out from under the hand of the Syrians: and the children of
+Israel dwelt in their tents, as beforetime". This significant
+reference to the conquest of Damascus by the Assyrian king is followed
+by another which throws light on the religious phenomena of the
+period: "Nevertheless they departed not from the sins of the house of
+Jeroboam, who made Israel sin, but walked therein: and there remained
+the grove also in Samaria".[500] Ashtoreth and her golden calf
+continued to be venerated, and doves were sacrificed to the local
+Adonis.
+
+It is not certain whether Adad-nirari penetrated farther than
+Damascus. Possibly all the states which owed allegiance to the king of
+that city became at once the willing vassals of Assyria, their
+protector. The tribute received by Adad-nirari from Tyre, Sidon, the
+land of Omri (Israel), Edom, and Palastu (Philistia) may have been
+gifted as a formal acknowledgment of his suzerainty and with purpose
+to bring them directly under Assyrian control, so that Damascus might
+be prevented from taking vengeance against them.
+
+Meagre details survive regarding the reign of the next king,
+Shalmaneser IV (781-772 B.C). These are, however, supplemented by the
+Urartian inscriptions. Although Adad-nirari boasted that he had
+subdued the kingdom of Urartu in the north, he appears to have done no
+more than limit its southern expansion for a time.
+
+The Urarti were, like the Mitanni, a military aristocracy[501] who
+welded together by conquest the tribes of the eastern and northern
+Highlands which several Assyrian monarchs included in their Empire.
+They acquired the elements of Assyrian culture, and used the Assyrian
+script for their own language. Their god was named Khaldis, and they
+called their nation Khaldia. During the reign of Ashur-natsir-pal
+their area of control was confined to the banks of the river Araxes,
+but it was gradually extended under a succession of vigorous kings
+towards the south-west until they became supreme round the shores of
+Lake Van. Three of their early kings were Lutipris, Sharduris I, and
+Arame.
+
+During the reign of Shamshi-Adad the Assyrians came into conflict with
+the Urarti, who were governed at the time by "Ushpina of Nairi"
+(Ishpuinis, son of Sharduris II). The Urartian kingdom had extended
+rapidly and bordered on Assyrian territory. To the west were the
+tribes known as the Mannai, the northern enemies of the Medes, a
+people of Indo-European speech.
+
+When Adad-nirari IV waged war against the Urarti, their king was
+Menuas, the son of Ishpuinis. Menuas was a great war-lord, and was
+able to measure his strength against Assyria on equal terms. He had
+nearly doubled by conquest the area controlled by his predecessors.
+Adad-nirari endeavoured to drive his rival northward, but all along
+the Assyrian frontier from the Euphrates to the Lower Zab, Menuas
+forced the outposts of Adad-nirari to retreat southward. The
+Assyrians, in short, were unable to hold their own.
+
+Having extended his kingdom towards the south, Menuas invaded Hittite
+territory, subdued Malatia and compelled its king to pay tribute. He
+also conquered the Mannai and other tribes. Towards the north and
+north-west he added a considerable area to his kingdom, which became
+as large as Assyria.
+
+Menuas's capital was the city of Turushpa or Dhuspas (Van), which was
+called Khaldinas[502] after the national god. For a century it was the
+seat of Urartian administration. The buildings erected there by Menuas
+and his successors became associated in after-time with the traditions
+of Semiramis, who, as Queen Sammu-rammat of Assyria, was a
+contemporary of the great Urartian conqueror. Similarly a sculptured
+representation of the Hittite god was referred to by Herodotus as a
+memorial of the Egyptian king Sesostris.
+
+The strongest fortification at Dhuspas was the citadel, which was
+erected on a rocky promontory jutting into Lake Van. A small garrison
+could there resist a prolonged siege. The water supply of the city was
+assured by the construction of subterranean aqueducts. Menuas erected
+a magnificent palace, which rivalled that of the Assyrian monarch at
+Kalkhi, and furnished it with the rich booty brought back from
+victorious campaigns. He was a lover of trees and planted many, and he
+laid out gardens which bloomed with brilliant Asian flowers. The
+palace commanded a noble prospect of hill and valley scenery on the
+south-western shore of beautiful Lake Van.
+
+Menuas was succeeded by his son Argistis, who ascended the throne
+during the lifetime of Adad-nirari of Assyria. During the early part
+of his reign he conducted military expeditions to the north beyond the
+river Araxes. He afterwards came into conflict with Assyria, and
+acquired more territory on its northern frontier. He also subdued the
+Mannai, who had risen in revolt.
+
+For three years (781-778 B.C.) the general of Shalmaneser IV waged war
+constantly with Urartu, and again in 776 B.C. and 774 B.C. attempts
+were made to prevent the southern expansion of that Power. On more
+than one occasion the Assyrians were defeated and compelled to
+retreat.
+
+Assyria suffered serious loss of prestige on account of its inability
+to hold in check its northern rival. Damascus rose in revolt and had
+to be subdued, and northern Syria was greatly disturbed. Hadrach was
+visited in the last year of the king's reign.
+
+Ashur-dan III (771-763 B.C.) occupied the Assyrian throne during a
+period of great unrest. He was unable to attack Urartu. His army had
+to operate instead on his eastern and southern frontiers. A great
+plague broke out in 765 B.C., the year in which Hadrach had again to
+be dealt with. On June 15, 763 B.C., there was a total eclipse of the
+sun, and that dread event was followed by a revolt at Asshur which was
+no doubt of priestly origin. The king's son Adad-nirari was involved
+in it, but it is not certain whether or not he displaced his father
+for a time. In 758 B.C. Ashur-dan again showed signs of activity by
+endeavouring to suppress the revolts which during the period of civil
+war had broken out in Syria.
+
+Adad-nirari V came to the throne in 763 B.C. He had to deal with
+revolts in Asshur in other cities. Indeed for the greater part of his
+reign he seems to have been kept fully engaged endeavouring to
+establish his authority within the Assyrian borders. The Syrian
+provinces regained their independence.
+
+During the first four years of his successor Ashurnirari IV (753-746
+B.C.) the army never left Assyria. Namri was visited in 749-748 B.C.,
+but it is not certain whether he fought against the Urartians, or the
+Aramaeans who had become active during this period of Assyrian
+decline. In 746 B.C. a revolt broke out in the city of Kalkhi and the
+king had to leave it. Soon afterwards he died--perhaps he was
+assassinated--and none of his sons came to the throne. A year
+previously Nabu-natsir, known to the Greeks as Nabonassar, was crowned
+king of Babylonia.
+
+Ashur-nirari IV appears to have been a monarch of somewhat like
+character to the famous Akhenaton of Egypt--an idealist for whom war
+had no attractions. He kept his army at home while his foreign
+possessions rose in revolt one after another. Apparently he had dreams
+of guarding Assyria against attack by means of treaties of peace. He
+arranged one with a Mesopotamian king, Mati-ilu of Agusi, who pledged
+himself not to go to war without the consent of his Assyrian overlord,
+and it is possible that there were other documents of like character
+which have not survived to us. During his leisure hours the king
+engaged himself in studious pursuits and made additions to the royal
+library. In the end his disappointed soldiers found a worthy leader in
+one of its generals who seized the throne and assumed the royal name
+of Tiglath-pileser.
+
+Ashur-nirari IV was the last king of the Middle Empire of Assyria. He
+may have been a man of high character and refinement and worthy of our
+esteem, although an unsuitable ruler for a predatory State.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+ASSYRIA'S AGE OF SPLENDOUR
+
+
+  Tiglath-pileser IV, the Biblical Pul--Babylonian Campaign--Urartian
+  Ambitions in North Syria--Battle of Two Kings and Flight of
+  Sharduris--Conquest of Syro-Cappadocian States--Hebrew History from
+  Jehu to Menahem--Israel subject to Assyria--Urartu's Power
+  broken--Ahaz's Appeal to Assyria--Damascus and Israel
+  subdued--Babylonia united to Assyria--Shalmaneser and Hoshea--Sargon
+  deports the "Lost Ten Tribes"--Merodach Baladan King of
+  Babylonia--Egyptian Army of Allies routed--Ahaz and Isaiah--Frontier
+  Campaigns--Merodach Baladan overthrown--Sennacherib and the Hittite
+  States--Merodach Baladan's second and brief Reign--Hezekiah and
+  Sennacherib--Destruction of Assyrian Army--Sack of Babylon--
+  Esarhaddon--A Second Semiramis--Raids of Elamites, Cimmerians,
+  Scythians, and Medes--Sack of Sidon--Manasseh and Isaiah's
+  Fate--Esarhaddon conquers Lower Egypt--Revolt of Assyrian
+  Nobles--Ashurbanipal.
+
+
+We now enter upon the last and most brilliant phase of Assyrian
+civilization--the period of the Third or New Empire during which
+flourished Tiglath-pileser IV, the mighty conqueror; the Shalmaneser
+of the Bible; "Sargon the Later", who transported the "lost ten
+tribes" of Israel; Sennacherib, the destroyer of Babylon, and
+Esarhaddon, who made Lower Egypt an Assyrian province. We also meet
+with notable figures of Biblical fame, including Ahaz, Hezekiah,
+Isaiah, and the idolatrous Manasseh.
+
+Tiglath-pileser IV, who deposed Ashur-nirari IV, was known to the
+Babylonians as Pulu, which, some think, was a term of contempt
+signifying "wild animal". In the Bible he is referred to as Pul,
+Tiglath-pilneser, and Tiglath-pileser.[503] He came to the Assyrian
+throne towards the end of April in 745 B.C. and reigned until 727 B.C.
+We know nothing regarding his origin, but it seems clear that he was
+not of royal descent. He appears to have been a popular leader of the
+revolt against Ashur-nirari, who, like certain of his predecessors,
+had pronounced pro-Babylonian tendencies. It is significant to note in
+this connection that the new king was an unswerving adherent of the
+cult of Ashur, by the adherents of which he was probably strongly
+supported.
+
+Tiglath-pileser combined in equal measure those qualities of
+generalship and statesmanship which were necessary for the
+reorganization of the Assyrian state and the revival of its military
+prestige. At the beginning of his reign there was much social
+discontent and suffering. The national exchequer had been exhausted by
+the loss of tribute from revolting provinces, trade was paralysed, and
+the industries were in a languishing condition. Plundering bands of
+Aramaeans were menacing the western frontiers and had overrun part of
+northern Babylonia. New political confederacies in Syria kept the
+north-west regions in a constant state of unrest, and the now powerful
+Urartian kingdom was threatening the Syro-Cappadocian states as if its
+rulers had dreams of building up a great world empire on the ruins of
+that of Assyria.
+
+Tiglath-pileser first paid attention to Babylonia, and extinguished
+the resistance of the Aramaeans in Akkad. He appears to have been
+welcomed by Nabonassar, who became his vassal, and he offered
+sacrifices in the cities of Babylon, Sippar, Cuthah, and Nippur.
+Sippar had been occupied by Aramaeans, as on a previous occasion when
+they destroyed the temple of the sun god Shamash which was restored by
+Nabu-aplu-iddina of Babylon.
+
+Tiglath-pileser did not overrun Chaldaea, but he destroyed its
+capital, Sarrabanu, and impaled King Nabu-ushabshi. He proclaimed
+himself "King of Sumer and Akkad" and "King of the Four Quarters". The
+frontier states of Elam and Media were visited and subdued.
+
+Having disposed of the Aramaeans and other raiders, the Assyrian
+monarch had next to deal with his most powerful rival, Urartu.
+Argistis I had been succeeded by Sharduris III, who had formed an
+alliance with the north Mesopotamian king, Mati-ilu of Agusi, on whom
+Ashur-nirari had reposed his faith. Ere long Sharduris pressed
+southward from Malatia and compelled the north Syrian Hittite states,
+including Carchemish, to acknowledge his suzerainty. A struggle then
+ensued between Urartu and Assyria for the possession of the
+Syro-Cappadocian states.
+
+At this time the reputation of Tiglath-pileser hung in the balance. If
+he failed in his attack on Urartu, his prestige would vanish at home
+and abroad and Sharduris might, after establishing himself in northern
+Syria, invade Assyria and compel its allegiance.
+
+Two courses lay before Tiglath-pileser. He could either cross the
+mountains and invade Urartu, or strike at his rival in north Syria,
+where the influence of Assyria had been completely extinguished. The
+latter appeared to him to be the most feasible and judicious
+procedure, for if he succeeded in expelling the invaders he would at
+the same time compel the allegiance of the rebellious Hittite states.
+
+In the spring of 743 B.C. Tiglath-pileser led his army across the
+Euphrates and reached Arpad without meeting with any resistance. The
+city appears to have opened its gates to him although it was in the
+kingdom of Mati-ilu, who acknowledged Urartian sway. Its foreign
+garrison was slaughtered. Well might Sharduris exclaim, in the words
+of the prophet, "Where is the king of Arpad? where are the gods of
+Arpad?"[504]
+
+Leaving Arpad, Tiglath-pileser advanced to meet Sharduris, who was
+apparently hastening southward to attack the Assyrians in the rear.
+Tiglath-pileser, however, crossed the Euphrates and, moving northward,
+delivered an unexpected attack on the Urartian army in Qummukh. A
+fierce battle ensued, and one of its dramatic incidents was a single
+combat between the rival kings. The tide of battle flowed in Assyria's
+favour, and when evening was falling the chariots and cavalry of
+Urartu were thrown into confusion. An attempt was made to capture King
+Sharduris, who leapt from his chariot and made hasty escape on
+horseback, hotly pursued in the gathering darkness by an Assyrian
+contingent of cavalry. Not until "the bridge of the Euphrates" was
+reached was the exciting night chase abandoned.
+
+Tiglath-pileser had achieved an overwhelming victory against an army
+superior to his own in numbers. Over 70,000 of the enemy were slain or
+taken captive, while the Urartian camp with its stores and horses and
+followers fell into the hands of the triumphant Assyrians.
+Tiglath-pileser burned the royal tent and throne as an offering to
+Ashur, and carried Sharduris's bed to the temple of the goddess of
+Nineveh, whither he returned to prepare a new plan of campaign against
+his northern rival.
+
+Despite the blow dealt against Urartu, Assyria did not immediately
+regain possession of north Syria. The shifty Mati-ilu either cherished
+the hope that Sharduris would recover strength and again invade north
+Syria, or that he might himself establish an empire in that region.
+Tiglath-pileser had therefore to march westward again. For three years
+he conducted vigorous campaigns in "the western land", where he met
+with vigorous resistance. In 740 B.C. Arpad was captured and Mati-ilu
+deposed and probably put to death. Two years later Kullani and Hamath
+fell, and the districts which they controlled were included in the
+Assyrian empire and governed by Crown officials.
+
+Once again the Hebrews came into contact with Assyria. The Dynasty of
+Jehu had come to an end by this time. Its fall may not have been
+unconnected with the trend of events in Assyria during the closing
+years of the Middle Empire.
+
+Supported by Assyria, the kings of Israel had become powerful and
+haughty. Jehoash, the grandson of Jehu, had achieved successes in
+conflict with Damascus. In Judah the unstable Amaziah, son of Joash,
+was strong enough to lay a heavy hand on Edom, and flushed with
+triumph then resolved to readjust his relations with his overlord, the
+king of Israel. Accordingly he sent a communication to Jehoash which
+contained some proposal regarding their political relations,
+concluding with the offer or challenge, "Come, let us look one another
+in the face". A contemptuous answer was returned.
+
+    Jehoash the king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying,
+    The thistle that was in Lebanon sent to the cedar that was in
+    Lebanon, saying, Give thy daughter to my son to wife: and there
+    passed by a wild beast that was in Lebanon, and trode down the
+    thistle. Thou hast indeed smitten Edom, and thine heart hath
+    lifted thee up: glory of this, and tarry at home, for why
+    shouldest thou meddle to thy hurt, that thou shouldest fall, even
+    thou, and Judah with thee? But Amaziah would not hear. Therefore
+    Jehoash king of Israel went up; and he and Amaziah king of Judah
+    looked one another in the face at Beth-shemesh [city of Shamash,
+    the sun god], which belongeth to Judah. And Judah was put to the
+    worse before Israel; and they fled every man to their tents.
+
+Jehoash afterwards destroyed a large portion of the wall of Jerusalem
+and plundered the temple and palace, returning home to Samaria with
+rich booty and hostages.[505] Judah thus remained a vassal state of
+Israel's.
+
+Jeroboam, son of Jehoash, had a long and prosperous reign. About 773
+B.C. he appears to have co-operated with Assyria and conquered
+Damascus and Hamath. His son Zachariah, the last king of the Jehu
+Dynasty of Israel, came to the throne in 740 B.C. towards the close of
+the reign of Azariah, son of Amaziah, king of Judah. Six months
+afterwards he was assassinated by Shallum. This usurper held sway at
+Samaria for only a month. "For Menahem the son of Gadi went up from
+Tirzah, and came to Samaria, and smote Shallum the son of Jabesh in
+Samaria, and slew him, and reigned in his stead."[506]
+
+Tiglath-pileser was operating successfully in middle Syria when he had
+dealings with, among others, "Menihimme (Menahem) of the city of the
+Samarians", who paid tribute. No resistance was possible on the part
+of Menahem, the usurper, who was probably ready to welcome the
+Assyrian conqueror, so that, by arranging an alliance, he might secure
+his own position. The Biblical reference is as follows: "And Pul the
+king of Assyria came against the land: and Menahem gave Pul a thousand
+talents of silver, that his hand might be with him to confirm the
+kingdom in his hand. And Menahem exacted the money of Israel, even of
+all the mighty men of wealth, of each man fifty shekels of silver, to
+give to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria turned back, and
+stayed not there in the land."[507] Rezin of Damascus, Hiram of Tyre,
+and Zabibi, queen of the Arabians, also sent gifts to Tiglath-pileser
+at this time (738 B.C.). Aramaean revolts on the borders of Elam were
+suppressed by Assyrian governors, and large numbers of the inhabitants
+were transported to various places in Syria.
+
+Tiglath-pileser next operated against the Median and other hill tribes
+in the north-east. In 735 B.C. he invaded Urartu, the great Armenian
+state which had threatened the supremacy of Assyria in north Syria and
+Cappadocia. King Sharduris was unable to protect his frontier or
+hamper the progress of the advancing army, which penetrated to his
+capital. Dhuspas was soon captured, but Sharduris took refuge in his
+rocky citadel which he and his predecessors had laboured to render
+impregnable. There he was able to defy the might of Assyria, for the
+fortress could be approached on the western side alone by a narrow
+path between high walls and towers, so that only a small force could
+find room to operate against the numerous garrison.
+
+Tiglath-pileser had to content himself by devastating the city on the
+plain and the neighbouring villages. He overthrew buildings, destroyed
+orchards, and transported to Nineveh those of the inhabitants he had
+not put to the sword, with all the live stock he could lay hands on.
+Thus was Urartu crippled and humiliated: it never regained its former
+prestige among the northern states.
+
+In the following year Tiglath-pileser returned to Syria. The
+circumstances which made this expedition necessary are of special
+interest on account of its Biblical associations. Menahem, king of
+Israel, had died, and was succeeded by his son Pekahiah. "But Pekah
+the son of Remaliah, a captain of his, conspired against him and smote
+him in Samaria, in the palace of the king's house, ... and he killed
+him, and reigned in his room."[508] When Pekah was on the throne, Ahaz
+began to reign over Judah.
+
+Judah had taken advantage of the disturbed conditions in Israel to
+assert its independence. The walls of Jerusalem were repaired by
+Jotham, father of Ahaz, and a tunnel constructed to supply it with
+water. Isaiah refers to this tunnel: "Go forth and meet Ahaz ... at
+the end of the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the
+fuller's field" (_Isaiah,_ vii, 3).
+
+Pekah had to deal with a powerful party in Israel which favoured the
+re-establishment of David's kingdom in Palestine. Their most prominent
+leader was the prophet Amos, whose eloquent exhortations were couched
+in no uncertain terms. He condemned Israel for its idolatries, and
+cried:
+
+    For thus saith the Lord unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me and
+    ye shall live.... Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and offerings
+    in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel? But ye have
+    borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the
+    star of your god, which ye made to yourselves.[509]
+
+Pekah sought to extinguish the orthodox party's movement by subduing
+Judah. So he plotted with Rezin, king of Damascus. Amos prophesied,
+
+    Thus saith the Lord.... I will send a fire into the house of
+    Hazael, which will devour the palaces of Ben-hadad. I will break
+    also the bar of Damascus ... and the people of Syria shall go into
+    captivity unto Kir.... The remnant of the Philistines shall
+    perish.
+
+Tyre, Edom, and Ammon would also be punished.[510] Judah was
+completely isolated by the allies who acknowledged the suzerainty of
+Damascus. Soon after Ahaz came to the throne he found himself hemmed
+in on every side by adversaries who desired to accomplish his fall.
+"At that time Rezin, king of Syria, and Pekah ...came up to Jerusalem
+to war: and they besieged Ahaz, but could not overcome him."[511]
+Judah, however, was overrun; the city of Elath was captured and
+restored to Edom, while the Philistines were liberated from the
+control of Jerusalem.
+
+Isaiah visited Ahaz and said,
+
+    Take heed, and be quiet; fear not, neither be faint-hearted for
+    the two tails of these smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of
+    Rezin with Syria, and of the son of Remaliah. Because Syria,
+    Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah, have taken evil counsel against
+    thee, saying, Let us go up against Judah, and vex it, and let us
+    make a breach therein for us, and set a king in the midst of it,
+    even the son of Tabeal: Thus saith the Lord God, It shall not
+    stand, neither shall it come to pass.[512]
+
+The unstable Ahaz had sought assistance from the Baal, and "made his
+son to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the
+heathen".[513] Then he resolved to purchase the sympathy of one of the
+great Powers. There was no hope of assistance from "the fly that is in
+the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt", for the Ethiopian Pharaohs
+had not yet conquered the Delta region, so he turned to "the bee that
+is in the land of Assyria ".[514] Assyria was the last resource of the
+king of Judah.
+
+    So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria,
+    saying, I am thy servant and thy son: come up and save me out of
+    the hand of Syria and out of the hand of the king of Israel, which
+    rise up against me. And Ahaz took the silver and gold that was
+    found in the house of the Lord, and in the treasures of the king's
+    house, and sent it for a present to the king of Assyria. And the
+    king of Assyria hearkened unto him: for the king of Assyria went
+    up against Damascus, and took it, and carried the people of it
+    captive to Kir[515] and slew Rezin.[516]
+
+Tiglath-pileser recorded that Rezin took refuge in his city like "a
+mouse". Israel was also dealt with.
+
+    In the days of Pekah king of Israel came Tiglath-pileser king of
+    Assyria, and took Ijon and Abel-beth-maachah, and Janoah and
+    Kedesh, and Hazor, and Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of
+    Naphtali, and carried them captive to Assyria. And Hoshea the son
+    of Elah made a conspiracy against Pekah the son of Remaliah, and
+    smote him, and slew him, and reigned in his stead.[517]
+
+Tiglath-pileser recorded: "They overthrew Paqaha (Pekah), their king,
+and placed Ausi'a (Hoshea) over them". He swept through Israel "like a
+hurricane". The Philistines and the Arabians of the desert were also
+subdued. Tribute was sent to the Assyrian monarch by Phoenicia, Moab,
+Ammon, and Edom. It was a proud day for Ahaz when he paid a visit to
+Tiglath-pileser at Damascus.[518] An Assyrian governor was appointed
+to rule over Syria and its subject states.
+
+Babylon next claimed the attention of Tiglath-pileser. Nabonassar had
+died and was succeeded by his son Nabu-nadin-zeri, who, after reigning
+for two years, was slain in a rebellion. The throne was then seized by
+Nabu-shum-ukin, but in less than two months this usurper was
+assassinated and the Chaldaeans had one of their chiefs, Ukinzer,
+proclaimed king (732 B.C.).
+
+When the Assyrian king returned from Syria in 731 B.C. he invaded
+Babylonia. He was met with a stubborn resistance. Ukinzer took refuge
+in his capital, Shapia, which held out successfully, although the
+surrounding country was ravaged and despoiled. Two years afterwards
+Tiglath-pileser returned, captured Shapia, and restored peace
+throughout Babylonia. He was welcomed in Babylon, which opened its
+gates to him, and he had himself proclaimed king of Sumer and Akkad.
+The Chaldaeans paid tribute.
+
+Tiglath-pileser had now reached the height of his ambition. He had not
+only extended his empire in the west from Cappadocia to the river of
+Egypt, crippled Urartu and pacified his eastern frontier, but brought
+Assyria into close union with Babylonia, the mother land, the home of
+culture and the land of the ancient gods. He did not live long,
+however, to enjoy his final triumph, for he died a little over twelve
+months after he "took the hands of Bel (Merodach)" at Babylon.
+
+He was succeeded by Shalmaneser V (727-722 B.C.), who may have been
+his son, but this is not quite certain. Little is known regarding his
+brief reign. In 725 B.C. he led an expedition to Syria and Phoenicia.
+Several of the vassal peoples had revolted when they heard of the
+death of Tiglath-pileser. These included the Phoenicians, the
+Philistines, and the Israelites who were intriguing with either Egypt
+or Mutsri.
+
+Apparently Hoshea, king of Israel, pretended when the Assyrians
+entered his country that he remained friendly. Shalmaneser, however,
+was well informed, and made Hoshea a prisoner. Samaria closed its
+gates against him although their king had been dispatched to Assyria.
+
+The Biblical account of the campaign is as follows: "Against him
+(Hoshea) came up Shalmaneser king of Assyria; and Hoshea became his
+servant, and gave him presents. And the king of Assyria found
+conspiracy in Hoshea: for he had sent messengers to So king of
+Egypt,[519] and brought no present to the king of Assyria, as he had
+done year by year; therefore the king of Assyria shut him up and bound
+him in prison.
+
+"Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, and went up
+to Samaria, and besieged it three years."[520]
+
+Shalmaneser died before Samaria was captured, and may have been
+assassinated. The next Assyrian monarch, Sargon II (722-705 B.C.), was
+not related to either of his two predecessors. He is referred to by
+Isaiah,[521] and is the Arkeanos of Ptolemy. He was the Assyrian
+monarch who deported the "Lost Ten Tribes".
+
+"In the ninth year of Hoshea" (and the first of Sargon) "the king of
+Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed
+them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of
+the Medes."[522] In all, according to Sargon's record, "27,290 people
+dwelling in the midst of it (Samaria) I carried off".
+
+    They (the Israelites) left all the commandments of the Lord their
+    God, and made them molten images, even two calves, and made a
+    grove, and worshipped all the host of heaven (the stars), and
+    served Baal. And they caused their sons and their daughters to
+    pass through the fire, and used divination and enchantments, and
+    sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke
+    him to anger. Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel, and
+    removed them out of his sight: there was none left but the tribe
+    of Judah only. And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon,
+    and from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from
+    Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of
+    the children of Israel: and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in
+    the cities thereof.... And the men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth,
+    and the men of Cuth (Cuthah) made Nergal, and the men of Hamath
+    made Ashima, and the Avites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the
+    Sepharites burnt their children in fire to Adram-melech and
+    Anam-melech, the gods of Sepharvaim.
+
+A number of the new settlers were slain by lions, and the king of
+Assyria ordered that a Samaritan priest should be sent to "teach them
+the manner of the God of the land". This man was evidently an orthodox
+Hebrew, for he taught them "how they should fear the Lord.... So they
+feared the Lord", but also "served their own gods ... their graven
+images".[523]
+
+There is no evidence to suggest that the "Ten Lost Tribes", "regarding
+whom so many nonsensical theories have been formed", were not
+ultimately absorbed by the peoples among whom they settled between
+Mesopotamia and the Median Highlands.[524] The various sections must
+have soon lost touch with one another. They were not united like the
+Jews (the people of Judah), who were transported to Babylonia a
+century and a half later, by a common religious bond, for although a
+few remained faithful to Abraham's God, the majority of the Israelites
+worshipped either the Baal or the Queen of Heaven.
+
+The Assyrian policy of transporting the rebellious inhabitants of one
+part of their empire to another was intended to break their national
+spirit and compel them to become good and faithful subjects amongst
+the aliens, who must have disliked them. "The colonists," says
+Professor Maspero, "exposed to the same hatred as the original
+Assyrian conquerors, soon forgot to look upon the latter as the
+oppressors of all, and, allowing their present grudge to efface the
+memory of past injuries, did not hesitate to make common cause with
+them. In time of peace the (Assyrian) governor did his best to protect
+them against molestation on the part of the natives, and in return for
+this they rallied round him whenever the latter threatened to get out
+of hand, and helped him to stifle the revolt, or hold it in check
+until the arrival of reinforcements. Thanks to their help, the empire
+was consolidated and maintained without too many violent outbreaks in
+regions far removed from the capital, and beyond the immediate reach
+of the sovereign."[525]
+
+While Sargon was absent in the west, a revolt broke out in Babylonia.
+A Chaldaean king, Merodach Baladan III, had allied himself with the
+Elamites, and occupied Babylon. A battle was fought at Dur-ilu and the
+Elamites retreated. Although Sargon swept triumphantly through the
+land, he had to leave his rival, the tyrannous Chaldaean, in
+possession of the capital, and he reigned there for over eleven years.
+
+Trouble was brewing in Syria. It was apparently fostered by an
+Egyptian king--probably Bocchoris of Sais, the sole Pharaoh so far as
+can be ascertained of the Twenty-fourth Dynasty, who had allied
+himself with the local dynasts of Lower Egypt and apparently sought to
+extend his sway into Asia, the Ethiopians being supreme in Upper
+Egypt. An alliance had been formed to cast off the yoke of Assyria.
+The city states involved Arpad, Simirra, Damascus, Samaria, and Gaza.
+Hanno of Gaza had fled to Egypt after Tiglath-pileser came to the
+relief of Judah and broke up the league of conspirators by capturing
+Damascus, and punishing Samaria, Gaza, and other cities. His return in
+Sargon's reign was evidently connected with the new rising in which he
+took part. The throne of Hamath had been seized by an adventurer,
+named Ilu-bi´di, a smith. The Philistines of Ashdod and the Arabians
+being strongly pro-Egyptian in tendency, were willing sympathizers and
+helpers against the hated Assyrians.
+
+Sargon appeared in the west with a strong army before the allies had
+matured their plans. He met the smith king of Hamath in battle at
+Qarqar, and, having defeated him, had him skinned alive. Then he
+marched southward. At Rapiki (Raphia) he routed an army of allies.
+Shabi (?So), the Tartan (commander-in-chief) of Pi´ru[526] (Pharaoh),
+King of Mutsri (an Arabian state confused, perhaps, with Misraim =
+Egypt), escaped "like to a shepherd whose sheep have been taken". Piru
+and other two southern kings, Samsi and Itamara, afterwards paid
+tribute to Sargon. Hanno of Gaza was transported to Asshur.
+
+In 715 B.C. Sargon, according to his records, appeared with his army
+in Arabia, and received gifts in token of homage from Piru of Mutsri,
+Samsi of Aribi, and Itamara of Saba.
+
+Four years later a revolt broke out in Ashdod which was, it would
+appear, directly due to the influence of Shabaka, the Ethiopian
+Pharaoh, who had deposed Bocchoris of Sais. Another league was about
+to be formed against Assyria. King Azuri of Ashdod had been deposed
+because of his Egyptian sympathies by the Assyrian governor, and his
+brother Akhimiti was placed on the throne. The citizens, however,
+overthrew Akhimiti, and an adventurer from Cyprus was proclaimed king
+(711 B.C).
+
+It would appear that advances were made by the anti-Assyrians to Ahaz
+of Judah. That monarch was placed in a difficult position. He knew
+that if the allies succeeded in stamping out Assyrian authority in
+Syria and Palestine they would certainly depose him, but if on the
+other hand he joined them and Assyria triumphed, its emperor would
+show him small mercy. As Babylon defied Sargon and received the active
+support of Elam, and there were rumours of risings in the north, it
+must have seemed to the western kings as if the Assyrian empire was
+likely once again to go to pieces.
+
+Fortunately for Ahaz he had a wise counsellor at this time in the
+great statesman and prophet, the scholarly Isaiah. The Lord spake by
+Isaiah saying, "Go and loose the sackcloth from off thy loins, and put
+off thy shoe from thy foot. And he did so, walking naked and barefoot.
+And the Lord said, Like as my servant Isaiah hath walked naked and
+barefoot three years for a sign and wonder upon Egypt and upon
+Ethiopia; so shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians
+prisoners.... And they (the allies) shall be afraid and ashamed of
+Ethiopia their expectation, and of Egypt their glory."[527]
+
+Isaiah warned Ahaz against joining the league, "in the year that
+Tartan[528] came unto Ashdod (when Sargon the king of Assyria sent
+him)". The Tartan "fought against Ashdod and took it".[529] According
+to Sargon's record the Pretender of Ashdod fled to Arabia, where he
+was seized by an Arabian chief and delivered up to Assyria. The
+pro-Egyptian party in Palestine went under a cloud for a period
+thereafter.
+
+Before Sargon could deal with Merodach Baladan of Babylon, he found it
+necessary to pursue the arduous task of breaking up a powerful league
+which had been formed against him in the north. The Syro-Cappadocian
+Hittite states, including Tabal in Asia Minor and Carchemish in north
+Syria, were combining for the last time against Assyria, supported by
+Mita (Midas), king of the Muski-Phrygians, and Rusas, son of Sharduris
+III, king of Urartu.
+
+Urartu had recovered somewhat from the disasters which it had suffered
+at the hands of Tiglath-pileser, and was winning back portions of its
+lost territory on the north-east frontier of Assyria. A buffer state
+had been formed in that area by Tiglath-pileser, who had assisted the
+king of the Mannai to weld together the hill tribesmen between Lake
+Van and Lake Urmia into an organized nation. Iranzu, its ruler,
+remained faithful to Assyria and consequently became involved in war
+with Rusas of Urartu, who either captured or won over several cities
+of the Mannai. Iranzu was succeeded by his son Aza, and this king was
+so pronounced a pro-Assyrian that his pro-Urartian subjects
+assassinated him and set on the throne Bagdatti of Umildish.
+
+Soon after Sargon began his operations in the north he captured
+Bagdatti and had him skinned alive. The flag of revolt, however, was
+kept flying by his brother, Ullusunu, but ere long this ambitious man
+found it prudent to submit to Sargon on condition that he would retain
+the throne as a faithful Assyrian vassal. His sudden change of policy
+appears to have been due to the steady advance of the Median tribes
+into the territory of the Mannai. Sargon conducted a vigorous and
+successful campaign against the raiders, and extended Ullusunu's area
+of control.
+
+The way was now clear to Urartu. In 714 B.C. Sargon attacked the
+revolting king of Zikirtu, who was supported by an army led by Rusas,
+his overlord. A fierce battle was fought in which the Assyrians
+achieved a great victory. King Rusas fled, and when he found that the
+Assyrians pressed home their triumph by laying waste the country
+before them, he committed suicide, according to the Assyrian records,
+although those of Urartu indicate that he subsequently took part in
+the struggle against Sargon. The Armenian peoples were compelled to
+acknowledge the suzerainty of Assyria, and the conqueror received
+gifts from various tribes between Lake Van and the Caspian Sea, and
+along the frontiers from Lake Van towards the south-east as far as the
+borders of Elam.
+
+Rusas of Urartu was succeeded by Argistes II, who reigned over a
+shrunken kingdom. He intrigued with neighbouring states against
+Assyria, but was closely watched. Ere long he found himself caught
+between two fires. During his reign the notorious Cimmerians and
+Scythians displayed much activity in the north and raided his
+territory.
+
+The pressure of fresh infusions of Thraco-Phrygian tribes into western
+Asia Minor had stirred Midas of the Muski to co-operate with the
+Urartian power in an attempt to stamp out Assyrian influence in
+Cilicia, Cappadocia, and north Syria. A revolt in Tabal in 718 B.C.
+was extinguished by Sargon, but in the following year evidences were
+forthcoming of a more serious and widespread rising. Pisiris, king of
+Carchemish, threw off the Assyrian yoke. Before, however, his allies
+could hasten to his assistance he was overcome by the vigilant Sargon,
+who deported a large proportion of the city's inhabitants and
+incorporated it in an Assyrian province. Tabal revolted in 713 B.C.
+and was similarly dealt with. In 712 B.C. Milid had to be overcome.
+The inhabitants were transported, and "Suti" Aramaean peoples settled
+in their homes. The king of Commagene, having remained faithful,
+received large extensions of territory. Finally in 709 B.C. Midas of
+the Muski-Phrygians was compelled to acknowledge the suzerainty of
+Assyria. The northern confederacy was thus completely worsted and
+broken up. Tribute was paid by many peoples, including the rulers of
+Cyprus.
+
+Sargon was now able to deal with Babylonia, which for about twelve
+years had been ruled by Merodach Baladan, who oppressed the people and
+set at defiance ancient laws by seizing private estates and
+transferring them to his Chaldaean kinsmen. He still received the
+active support of Elam.
+
+Sargon's first move was to interpose his army between those of the
+Babylonians and Elamites. Pushing southward, he subdued the Aramaeans
+on the eastern banks of the Tigris, and drove the Elamites into the
+mountains. Then he invaded middle Babylonia from the east. Merodach
+Baladan hastily evacuated Babylon, and, moving southward, succeeded in
+evading Sargon's army. Finding Elam was unable to help him, he took
+refuge in the Chaldaean capital, Bit Jakin, in southern Babylonia.
+
+Sargon was visited by the priests of Babylon and Borsippa, and hailed
+as the saviour of the ancient kingdom. He was afterwards proclaimed
+king at E-sagila, where he "took the hands of Bel". Then having
+expelled the Aramaeans from Sippar, he hastened southward, attacked
+Bit Jakin and captured it. Merodach Baladan escaped into Elam. The
+whole of Chaldaea was subdued.
+
+Thus "Sargon the Later" entered at length into full possession of the
+empire of Sargon of Akkad. In Babylonia he posed as an incarnation of
+his ancient namesake, and had similarly Messianic pretensions which
+were no doubt inspired by the Babylonian priesthood. Under him Assyria
+attained its highest degree of splendour.
+
+He recorded proudly not only his great conquests but also his works of
+public utility: he restored ancient cities, irrigated vast tracts of
+country, fostered trade, and promoted the industries. Like the pious
+Pharaohs of Egypt he boasted that he fed the hungry and protected the
+weak against the strong.
+
+Sargon found time during his strenuous career as a conqueror to lay
+out and build a new city, called Dur-Sharrukin, "the burgh of Sargon",
+to the north of Nineveh. It was completed before he undertook the
+Babylonian campaign. The new palace was occupied in 708 B.C. Previous
+to that period he had resided principally at Kalkhi, in the restored
+palace of Ashur-natsir-pal III.
+
+He was a worshipper of many gods. Although he claimed to have restored
+the supremacy of Asshur "which had come to an end", he not only adored
+Ashur but also revived the ancient triad of Anu, Bel, and Ea, and
+fostered the growth of the immemorial "mother-cult" of Ishtar. Before
+he died he appointed one of his sons, Sennacherib, viceroy of the
+northern portion of the empire. He was either assassinated at a
+military review or in some frontier war. As much is suggested by the
+following entry in an eponym list.
+
+    Eponymy of Upahhir-belu, prefect of the city of Amedu ...
+    According to the oracle of the Kulummite(s).... A soldier
+    (entered) the camp of the king of Assyria (and killed him?), month
+    Ab, day 12th, Sennacherib (sat on the throne).[530]
+
+The fact that Sennacherib lamented his father's sins suggests that the
+old king had in some manner offended the priesthood. Perhaps, like
+some of the Middle Empire monarchs, he succumbed to the influence of
+Babylon during the closing years of his life. It is stated that "he
+was not buried in his house", which suggests that the customary
+religious rites were denied him, and that his lost soul was supposed
+to be a wanderer which had to eat offal and drink impure water like
+the ghost of a pauper or a criminal.
+
+The task which lay before Sennacherib (705-680 B.C.) was to maintain
+the unity of the great empire of his distinguished father. He waged
+minor wars against the Kassite and Illipi tribes on the Elamite
+border, and the Muski and Hittite tribes in Cappadocia and Cilicia.
+The Kassites, however, were no longer of any importance, and the
+Hittite power had been extinguished, for ere the states could recover
+from the blows dealt by the Assyrians the Cimmerian hordes ravaged
+their territory. Urartu was also overrun by the fierce barbarians from
+the north. It was one of these last visits of the Assyrians to Tabal
+of the Hittites and the land of the Muski (Meshech) which the Hebrew
+prophet referred to in after-time when he exclaimed:
+
+    Asshur is there and all her company: his graves are about him:
+    all of them slain, fallen by the sword.... There is Meshech,
+    Tubal, and all her multitude: her graves are round about him: all
+    of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword, though they caused
+    their terror in the land of the living.... (_Ezekiel_, xxxii.)
+
+Sennacherib found that Ionians had settled in Cilicia, and he deported
+large numbers of them to Nineveh. The metal and ivory work at Nineveh
+show traces of Greek influence after this period.
+
+A great conspiracy was fomented in several states against Sennacherib
+when the intelligence of Sargon's death was bruited abroad. Egypt was
+concerned in it. Taharka (the Biblical Tirhakah[531]), the last
+Pharaoh of the Ethiopian Dynasty, had dreams of re-establishing
+Egyptian supremacy in Palestine and Syria, and leagued himself with
+Luli, king of Tyre, Hezekiah, king of Judah, and others. Merodach
+Baladan, the Chaldaean king, whom Sargon had deposed, supported by
+Elamites and Aramaeans, was also a party to the conspiracy. "At that
+time Merodach Baladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent
+letters and a present to Hezekiah.... And Hezekiah was glad of
+them."[532]
+
+Merodach Baladan again seized the throne of Babylon. Sargon's son, who
+had been appointed governor, was murdered and a pretender sat on the
+throne for a brief period, but Merodach Baladan thrust him aside and
+reigned for nine months, during which period he busied himself by
+encouraging the kings of Judah and Tyre to revolt. Sennacherib invaded
+Babylonia with a strong army, deposed Merodach Baladan, routed the
+Chaldaeans and Aramaeans, and appointed as vassal king Bel-ibni, a
+native prince, who remained faithful to Assyria for about three years.
+
+In 707 B.C. Sennacherib appeared in the west. When he approached Tyre,
+Luli, the king, fled to Cyprus. The city was not captured, but much of
+its territory was ceded to the king of Sidon. Askalon was afterwards
+reduced. At Eltekeh Sennacherib came into conflict with an army of
+allies, including Ethiopian, Egyptian, and Arabian Mutsri forces,
+which he routed. Then he captured a number of cities in Judah and
+transported 200,150 people. He was unable, however, to enter
+Jerusalem, in which Hezekiah was compelled to remain "like a bird in a
+cage". It appears that Hezekiah "bought off" the Assyrians on this
+occasion with gifts of gold and silver and jewels, costly furniture,
+musicians, and female slaves.
+
+In 689 B.C. Sennacherib found it necessary to penetrate Arabia.
+Apparently another conspiracy was brewing, for Hezekiah again
+revolted. On his return from the south--according to Berosus he had
+been in Egypt--the Assyrian king marched against the king of Judah.
+
+    And when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib was come, and that he was
+    purposed to fight against Jerusalem, he took counsel with the
+    princes and his mighty men to stop the waters of the fountains
+    which were without the city: and they did help him.... Why should
+    the kings of Assyria come and find much water?
+
+Sennacherib sent messengers to Jerusalem to attempt to stir up the
+people against Hezekiah. "He wrote also letters to rail on the Lord
+God of Israel, and to speak against him, saying, As the gods of the
+nations of other lands have not delivered their people out of mine
+hand, so shall not the God of Hezekiah deliver his people out of mine
+hand."[533]
+
+Hezekiah sent his servants to Isaiah, who was in Jerusalem at the
+time, and the prophet said to them:
+
+    Thus shall ye say to your master. Thus saith the Lord, Be not
+    afraid of the words which thou hast heard, with which the servants
+    of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. Behold, I will send a
+    blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, and shall return to
+    his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own
+    land.[534]
+
+According to Berosus, the Babylonian priestly historian, the camp of
+Sennacherib was visited in the night by swarms of field mice which ate
+up the quivers and bows and the (leather) handles of shields. Next
+morning the army fled.
+
+The Biblical account of the disaster is as follows:
+
+    And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the Lord went
+    out, and smote the camp of the Assyrians an hundred and four score
+    and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning,
+    behold, they were all dead corpses. So Sennacherib king of Assyria
+    departed, and went and returned and dwelt at Nineveh.[535]
+
+A pestilence may have broken out in the camp, the infection, perhaps,
+having been carried by field mice. Byron's imagination was stirred by
+the vision of the broken army of Assyria.
+
+    The Assyrian came down like a wolf on the fold,
+    And his cohorts were gleaming with purple and gold;
+    And the sheen of their spears was like stars of the sea,
+    When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee.
+
+    Like the leaves of the forest when summer is green,
+    That host with their banners at sunset were seen;
+    Like the leaves of the forest when autumn hath blown,
+    That host on the morrow lay withered and strown.
+
+    For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast,
+    And breathed on the face of the foe as he passed;
+    And the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill,
+    And their hearts but once heaved--and forever grew still!
+
+    And there lay the steed with his nostril all wide,
+    But through it there rolled not the breath of his pride;
+    And the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf,
+    And cold as the spray of the rock-beating surf.
+
+    And there lay the rider distorted and pale,
+    With the dew on his brow, and the rust on his mail;
+    And the tents were all silent--the banners alone--
+    Thelances uplifted--the trumpet unblown.
+
+    And the widows of Asshur are loud in their wail,
+    And the idols are broke in the temple of Baal;
+    And the might of the Gentile, unsmote by the sword,
+    Hath melted like snow in the glance of the Lord.
+
+Before this disaster occurred Sennacherib had to invade Babylonia
+again, for the vassal king, Bel-ibni, had allied himself with the
+Chaldaeans and raised the standard of revolt. The city of Babylon was
+besieged and captured, and its unfaithful king deported with a number
+of nobles to Assyria. Old Merodach Baladan was concerned in the plot
+and took refuge on the Elamite coast, where the Chaldaeans had formed
+a colony. He died soon afterwards.
+
+Sennacherib operated in southern Babylonia and invaded Elam. But ere
+he could return to Assyria he was opposed by a strong army of allies,
+including Babylonians, Chaldaeans, Aramaeans, Elamites, and Persians,
+led by Samunu, son of Merodach Baladan. A desperate battle was fought.
+Although Sennacherib claimed a victory, he was unable to follow it up.
+This was in 692 B.C. A Chaldaean named Mushezib-Merodach seized the
+Babylonian throne.
+
+In 691 B.C. Sennacherib again struck a blow for Babylonia, but was
+unable to depose Mushezib-Merodach. His opportunity came, however, in
+689 B.C. Elam had been crippled by raids of the men of Parsua
+(Persia), and was unable to co-operate with the Chaldaean king of
+Babylon. Sennacherib captured the great commercial metropolis, took
+Mushezib-Merodach prisoner, and dispatched him to Nineveh. Then he
+wreaked his vengeance on Babylon. For several days the Assyrian
+soldiers looted the houses and temples, and slaughtered the
+inhabitants without mercy. E-sagila was robbed of its treasures,
+images of deities were either broken in pieces or sent to Nineveh: the
+statue of Bel-Merodach was dispatched to Asshur so that he might take
+his place among the gods who were vassals of Ashur. "The city and its
+houses," Sennacherib recorded, "from foundation to roof, I destroyed
+them, I demolished them, I burned them with fire; walls, gateways,
+sacred chapels, and the towers of earth and tiles, I laid them low and
+cast them into the Arakhtu."[536]
+
+"So thorough was Sennacherib's destruction of the city in 689 B.C.,"
+writes Mr. King, "that after several years of work, Dr. Koldewey
+concluded that all traces of earlier buildings had been destroyed on
+that occasion. More recently some remains of earlier strata have been
+recognized, and contract-tablets have been found which date from the
+period of the First Dynasty. Moreover, a number of earlier pot-burials
+have been unearthed, but a careful examination of the greater part of
+the ruins has added little to our knowledge of this most famous city
+before the Neo-Babylonian period."[537]
+
+It is possible that Sennacherib desired to supplant Babylon as a
+commercial metropolis by Nineveh. He extended and fortified that city,
+surrounding it with two walls protected by moats. According to
+Diodorus, the walls were a hundred feet high and about fifty feet
+wide. Excavators have found that at the gates they were about a
+hundred feet in breadth. The water supply of the city was ensured by
+the construction of dams and canals, and strong quays were erected to
+prevent flooding. Sennacherib repaired a lofty platform which was
+isolated by a canal, and erected upon it his great palace. On another
+platform he had an arsenal built.
+
+Sennacherib's palace was the most magnificent building of its kind
+ever erected by an Assyrian emperor. It was lavishly decorated, and
+its bas-reliefs display native art at its highest pitch of excellence.
+The literary remains of the time also give indication of the growth of
+culture: the inscriptions are distinguished by their prose style. It
+is evident that men of culture and refinement were numerous in
+Assyria. The royal library of Kalkhi received many additions during
+the reign of the destroyer of Babylon.
+
+Like his father, Sennacherib died a violent death. According to the
+Babylonian Chronicle he was slain in a revolt by his son "on the
+twentieth day of Tebet" (680 B.C). The revolt continued from the "20th
+of Tebet" (early in January) until the 2nd day of Adar (the middle of
+February). On the 18th of Adar, Esarhaddon, son of Sennacherib, was
+proclaimed king.
+
+Berosus states that Sennacherib was murdered by two of his sons, but
+Esarhaddon was not one of the conspirators. The Biblical reference is
+as follows: "Sennacherib ... dwelt at Nineveh. And it came to pass, as
+he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch (?Ashur) his god, that
+Adrammelech and Sharezer (Ashur-shar-etir) his sons smote him with the
+sword: and they escaped into the land of Armenia (Urartu). And
+Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead." Ashur-shar-etir appears to
+have been the claimant to the throne.
+
+Esarhaddon (680-668 B.C.) was a man of different type from his father.
+He adopted towards vassal states a policy of conciliation, and did
+much to secure peace within the empire by his magnanimous treatment of
+rebel kings who had been intimidated by their neighbours and forced to
+entwine themselves in the meshes of intrigue. His wars were directed
+mainly to secure the protection of outlying provinces against
+aggressive raiders.
+
+The monarch was strongly influenced by his mother, Naki'a, a
+Babylonian princess who appears to have been as distinguished a lady
+as the famous Sammu-rammat. Indeed, it is possible that traditions
+regarding her contributed to the Semiramis legends. But it was not
+only due to her that Esarhaddon espoused the cause of the
+pro-Babylonian party. He appears to be identical with the Axerdes of
+Berosus, who ruled over the southern kingdom for eight years.
+Apparently he had been appointed governor by Sennacherib after the
+destruction of Babylon, and it may be that during his term of office
+in Babylonia he was attracted by its ethical ideals, and developed
+those traits of character which distinguished him from his father and
+grandfather. He married a Babylonian princess, and one of his sons,
+Shamash-shum-ukin, was born in a Babylonian palace, probably at
+Sippar. He was a worshipper of the mother goddess Ishtar of Nineveh
+and Ishtar of Arbela, and of Shamash, as well as of the national god
+Ashur.
+
+As soon as Esarhaddon came to the throne he undertook the restoration
+of Babylon, to which many of the inhabitants were drifting back. In
+three years the city resumed its pre-eminent position as a trading and
+industrial centre. Withal, he won the hearts of the natives by
+expelling Chaldaeans from the private estates which they had seized
+during the Merodach-Baladan regime, and restoring them to the rightful
+heirs.
+
+A Chaldaean revolt was inevitable. Two of Merodach Baladan's sons gave
+trouble in the south, but were routed in battle. One fled to Elam,
+where he was assassinated; the other sued for peace, and was accepted
+by the diplomatic Esarhaddon as a vassal king.
+
+Egypt was intriguing in the west. Its Ethiopian king, Taharka (the
+Biblical Tirhakah) had stirred up Hezekiah to revolt during
+Sennacherib's reign. An Assyrian ambassador who had visited Jerusalem
+"heard say concerning Tirhakah.... He sent messengers to Hezekiah
+saying.... Let not thy God, in whom thou trustest, deceive thee
+saying, Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of
+Assyria. Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done
+to all lands by destroying them utterly; and shalt thou be delivered?
+Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have
+destroyed, as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden
+which were in Telassar? Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of
+Arphad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah?"[538]
+Sidon was a party to the pro-Egyptian league which had been formed in
+Palestine and Syria.
+
+Early in his reign Esarhaddon conducted military operations in the
+west, and during his absence the queen-mother Naki'a held the reins of
+government. The Elamites regarded this innovation as a sign of
+weakness, and invaded Babylon. Sippar was plundered, and its gods
+carried away. The Assyrian governors, however, ultimately repulsed the
+Elamite king, who was deposed soon after he returned home. His son,
+who succeeded him, restored the stolen gods, and cultivated good
+relations with Esarhaddon. There was great unrest in Elam at this
+period: it suffered greatly from the inroads of Median and Persian
+pastoral fighting folk.
+
+In the north the Cimmerians and Scythians, who were constantly warring
+against Urartu, and against each other, had spread themselves westward
+and east. Esarhaddon drove Cimmerian invaders out of Cappadocia, and
+they swamped Phrygia.
+
+The Scythian peril on the north-east frontier was, however, of more
+pronounced character. The fierce mountaineers had allied themselves
+with Median tribes and overrun the buffer State of the Mannai. Both
+Urartu and Assyria were sufferers from the brigandage of these allies.
+Esarhaddon's generals, however, were able to deal with the situation,
+and one of the notable results of the pacification of the
+north-eastern area was the conclusion of an alliance with Urartu.
+
+The most serious situation with which the emperor had to deal was in
+the west. The King of Sidon, who had been so greatly favoured by
+Sennacherib, had espoused the Egyptian cause. He allied himself with
+the King of Cilicia, who, however, was unable to help him much. Sidon
+was besieged and captured; the royal allies escaped, but a few years
+later were caught and beheaded. The famous seaport was destroyed, and
+its vast treasures deported to Assyria (about 676 B.C). Esarhaddon
+replaced it by a new city called Kar-Esarhaddon, which formed the
+nucleus of the new Sidon.
+
+It is believed that Judah and other disaffected States were dealt with
+about this time. Manasseh had succeeded Hezekiah at Jerusalem when but
+a boy of twelve years. He appears to have come under the influence of
+heathen teachers.
+
+    For he built up again the high places which Hezekiah his father
+    had destroyed; and he reared up altars for Baal, and made a grove,
+    as did Ahab king of Israel; and worshipped all the host of heaven,
+    and served them.... And he built altars for all the host of heaven
+    in the two courts of the house of the Lord. And he made his son
+    pass through the fire, and observed times, and used enchantments,
+    and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards: he wrought much
+    wickedness in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger. And
+    he set a graven image of the grove that he had made in the house,
+    of which the Lord said to David, and to Solomon his son, In this
+    house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all tribes of
+    Israel, will I put my name for ever.[539]
+
+Isaiah ceased to prophesy after Manasseh came to the throne. According
+to Rabbinic traditions he was seized by his enemies and enclosed in
+the hollow trunk of a tree, which was sawn through. Other orthodox
+teachers appear to have been slain also. "Manasseh shed innocent blood
+very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another."[540]
+It is possible that there is a reference to Isaiah's fate in an early
+Christian lament regarding the persecutions of the faithful: "Others
+had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and
+imprisonment: they were stoned, _they were sawn asunder_, were
+tempted, were slain with the sword".[541] There is no Assyrian
+evidence regarding the captivity of Manasseh. "Wherefore the Lord
+brought upon them (the people of Judah) the captains of the host of
+the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh among the thorns, and bound
+him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon. And when he was in
+affliction, he besought the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly
+before the God of his fathers, and prayed unto him: and he was
+intreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to
+Jerusalem into his kingdom."[542] It was, however, in keeping with the
+policy of Esarhaddon to deal in this manner with an erring vassal. The
+Assyrian records include Manasseh of Judah (Menasê of the city of
+Yaudu) with the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, Ashdod, Gaza,
+Byblos, &c, and "twenty-two kings of Khatti" as payers of tribute to
+Esarhaddon, their overlord. Hazael of Arabia was conciliated by having
+restored to him his gods which Sennacherib had carried away.
+
+Egypt continued to intrigue against Assyria, and Esarhaddon resolved
+to deal effectively with Taharka, the last Ethiopian Pharaoh. In 674
+B.C. he invaded Egypt, but suffered a reverse and had to retreat. Tyre
+revolted soon afterwards (673 B.C).
+
+Esarhaddon, however, made elaborate preparations for his next
+campaign. In 671 B.C. he went westward with a much more powerful army.
+A detachment advanced to Tyre and invested it. The main force
+meanwhile pushed on, crossed the Delta frontier, and swept
+victoriously as far south as Memphis, where Taharka suffered a
+crushing defeat. That great Egyptian metropolis was then occupied and
+plundered by the soldiers of Esarhaddon. Lower Egypt became an
+Assyrian province; the various petty kings, including Necho of Sais,
+had set over them Assyrian governors. Tyre was also captured.
+
+When he returned home Esarhaddon erected at the Syro-Cappadocian city
+of Singirli[543] a statue of victory, which is now in the Berlin
+museum. On this memorial the Assyrian "King of the kings of Egypt" is
+depicted as a giant. With one hand he pours out an oblation to a god;
+in the other he grasps his sceptre and two cords attached to rings,
+which pierce the lips of dwarfish figures representing the Pharaoh
+Taharka of Egypt and the unfaithful King of Tyre.
+
+In 668 B.C. Taharka, who had fled to Napata in Ethiopia, returned to
+Upper Egypt, and began to stir up revolts. Esarhaddon planned out
+another expedition, so that he might shatter the last vestige of power
+possessed by his rival. But before he left home he found it necessary
+to set his kingdom in order.
+
+During his absence from home the old Assyrian party, who disliked the
+emperor because of Babylonian sympathies, had been intriguing
+regarding the succession to the throne. According to the Babylonian
+Chronicle, "the king remained in Assyria" during 669 B.C., "and he
+slew with the sword many noble men". Ashur-bani-pal was evidently
+concerned in the conspiracy, and it is significant to find that he
+pleaded on behalf of certain of the conspirators. The crown prince
+Sinidinabal was dead: perhaps he had been assassinated.
+
+At the feast of the goddess Gula (identical with Bau, consort of
+Ninip), towards the end of April in 668 B.C., Esarhaddon divided his
+empire between two of his sons. Ashur-bani-pal was selected to be King
+of Assyria, and Shamash-shum-ukin to be King of Babylon and the vassal
+of Ashur-banipal. Other sons received important priestly appointments.
+
+Soon after these arrangements were completed Esarhaddon, who was
+suffering from bad health, set out for Egypt. He died towards the end
+of October, and the early incidents of his campaign were included in
+the records of Ashur-bani-pal's reign. Taharka was defeated at
+Memphis, and retreated southward to Thebes.
+
+So passed away the man who has been eulogized as "the noblest and most
+sympathetic figure among the Assyrian kings". There was certainly much
+which was attractive in his character. He inaugurated many social
+reforms, and appears to have held in check his overbearing nobles.
+Trade flourished during his reign. He did not undertake the erection
+of a new city, like his father, but won the gratitude of the
+priesthood by his activities as a builder and restorer of temples. He
+founded a new "house of Ashur" at Nineveh, and reconstructed several
+temples in Babylonia. His son Ashur-bani-pal was the last great
+Assyrian ruler.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+THE LAST DAYS OF ASSYRIA AND BABYLONIA
+
+
+  Doom of Nineveh and Babylon--Babylonian Monotheism--Ashur-banipal
+  and his Brother, King of Babylon--Ceremony of "Taking the Hands of
+  Bel"--Merodach restored to E-sagila--Assyrian Invasion of Egypt and
+  Sack of Thebes--Lydia's Appeal to Assyria--Elam subdued--Revolt of
+  Babylon--Death of Babylonian King--Sack of Susa--Psamtik of
+  Egypt--Cimmerians crushed--Ashur-bani-pal's Literary Activities--The
+  Sardanapalus Legend--Last Kings of Assyria--Fall of Nineveh--The New
+  Babylonian Empire--Necho of Egypt expelled from Syria--King
+  Jehoaikin of Judah deposed--Zedekiah's Revolt and Punishment--Fall
+  of Jerusalem and Hebrew Captivity--Jeremiah laments over
+  Jerusalem--Babylonia's Last Independent King--Rise of Cyrus the
+  Conqueror--The Persian Patriarch and Eagle Legend--Cyrus conquers
+  Lydia--Fall of Babylon--Jews return to Judah--Babylon from Cyrus to
+  Alexander the Great.
+
+
+The burden of Nineveh.... The Lord is slow to anger, and great in
+power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the Lord hath his way in
+the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his
+feet. He rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry, and drieth up all the
+rivers: Bashan languisheth, and Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon
+languisheth.... He that dasheth in pieces is come up before thy
+face.... The gates of the rivers shall be opened, and the palace shall
+be dissolved. And Huzzab shall be led away captive, she shall be
+brought up, and her maids shall lead her as with the voice of doves,
+tabering upon their breasts.... Draw thee waters for the siege,
+fortify thy strong holds: go into clay, and tread the morter, make
+strong the brick-kiln. There shall the fire devour thee; the sword
+shall cut thee off.... Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria: thy
+nobles shall dwell in the dust: thy people is scattered upon the
+mountains, and no man gathereth them. There is no healing of thy
+bruise; thy wound is grievous: all that hear the bruit of thee shall
+clap the hands over thee: for upon whom hath not thy wickedness passed
+continually?[544]
+
+The doom of Babylon was also foretold:
+
+    Bel boweth down, Nebo stoopeth.... Come down, and sit in the
+    dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon, sit on the ground: there is no
+    throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans.... Stand now with thine
+    enchantments, and with the multitude of thy sorceries, wherein
+    thou hast laboured from thy youth; if so be thou shalt be able to
+    profit, if so be thou mayest prevail. Thou art wearied in the
+    multitude of thy counsels. Let now the astrologers, the
+    star-gazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee
+    from these things that shall come upon thee. Behold, they shall be
+    as stubble; the fire shall burn them.... Thus shall they be unto
+    thee with whom thou hast laboured, even thy merchants, from thy
+    youth: they shall wander every one to his quarter; none shall save
+    thee.[545]
+
+Against a gloomy background, dark and ominous as a thundercloud, we
+have revealed in the last century of Mesopotamian glory the splendour
+of Assyria and the beauty of Babylon. The ancient civilizations
+ripened quickly before the end came. Kings still revelled in pomp and
+luxury. Cities resounded with "the noise of a whip, and the noise of
+the rattling of the wheels, and of the prancing horses, and of the
+jumping chariots. The horseman lifteth up both the bright sword and
+the glittering spear.... The valiant men are in scarlet."[546] But the
+minds of cultured men were more deeply occupied than ever with the
+mysteries of life and creation. In the libraries, the temples, and
+observatories, philosophers and scientists were shattering the
+unsubstantial fabric of immemorial superstition; they attained to
+higher conceptions of the duties and responsibilities of mankind; they
+conceived of divine love and divine guidance; they discovered, like
+Wordsworth, that the soul has--
+
+                 An obscure sense
+    Of possible sublimity, whereto
+    With growing faculties she doth aspire.
+
+One of the last kings of Babylon, Nebuchadrezzar, recorded a prayer
+which reveals the loftiness of religious thought and feeling attained
+by men to whom graven images were no longer worthy of adoration and
+reverence--men whose god was not made by human hands--
+
+    O eternal prince! Lord of all being!
+    As for the king whom thou lovest, and
+    Whose name thou hast proclaimed
+    As was pleasing to thee,
+    Do thou lead aright his life,
+    Guide him in a straight path.
+    I am the prince, obedient to thee,
+    The creature of thy hand;
+    Thou hast created me, and
+    With dominion over all people
+    Thou hast entrusted me.
+    According to thy grace, O Lord,
+    Which thou dost bestow on
+    All people,
+    Cause me to love thy supreme dominion,
+    And create in my heart
+    The worship of thy godhead
+    And grant whatever is pleasing to thee,
+    Because thou hast fashioned my life.[547]
+
+The "star-gazers" had become scientists, and foretold eclipses: in
+every sphere of intellectual activity great men were sifting out truth
+from the debris of superstition. It seemed as if Babylon and Assyria
+were about to cross the threshold of a new age, when their doom was
+sounded and their power was shattered for ever. Nineveh perished with
+dramatic suddenness: Babylon died of "senile decay".
+
+When, in 668 B.C., intelligence reached Nineveh that Esarhaddon had
+passed away, on the march through Egypt, the arrangements which he had
+made for the succession were carried out smoothly and quickly. Naki'a,
+the queen mother, was acting as regent, and completed her lifework by
+issuing a proclamation exhorting all loyal subjects and vassals to
+obey the new rulers, her grandsons, Ashur-bani-pal, Emperor of
+Assyria, and Shamash-shum-ukin, King of Babylon. Peace prevailed in
+the capital, and there was little or no friction throughout the
+provinces: new rulers were appointed to administer the States of Arvad
+and Ammon, but there were no changes elsewhere.
+
+Babylon welcomed its new king--a Babylonian by birth and the son of a
+Babylonian princess. The ancient kingdom rejoiced that it was no
+longer to be ruled as a province; its ancient dignities and privileges
+were being partially restored. But one great and deep-seated grievance
+remained. The god Merodach was still a captive in the temple of Ashur.
+No king could reign aright if Merodach were not restored to E-sagila.
+Indeed he could not be regarded as the lord of the land until he had
+"taken the hands of Bel".
+
+The ceremony of taking the god's hands was an act of homage. When it
+was consummated the king became the steward or vassal of Merodach, and
+every day he appeared before the divine one to receive instructions
+and worship him. The welfare of the whole kingdom depended on the
+manner in which the king acted towards the god. If Merodach was
+satisfied with the king he sent blessings to the land; if he was angry
+he sent calamities. A pious and faithful monarch was therefore the
+protector of the people.
+
+This close association of the king with the god gave the priests great
+influence in Babylon. They were the power behind the throne. The
+destinies of the royal house were placed in their hands; they could
+strengthen the position of a royal monarch, or cause him to be deposed
+if he did not satisfy their demands. A king who reigned over Babylon
+without the priestly party on his side occupied an insecure position.
+Nor could he secure the co-operation of the priests unless the image
+of the god was placed in the temple. Where king was, there Merodach
+had to be also.
+
+Shamash-shum-ukin pleaded with his royal brother and overlord to
+restore Bel Merodach to Babylon. Ashur-bani-pal hesitated for a time;
+he was unwilling to occupy a less dignified position, as the
+representative of Ashur, than his distinguished predecessor, in his
+relation to the southern kingdom. At length, however, he was prevailed
+upon to consult the oracle of Shamash, the solar lawgiver, the
+revealer of destiny. The god was accordingly asked if
+Shamash-shum-ukin could "take the hands of Bel" in Ashur's temple, and
+then proceed to Babylon as his representative. In response, the
+priests of Shamash informed the emperor that Bel Merodach could not
+exercise sway as sovereign lord so long as he remained a prisoner in a
+city which was not his own.
+
+Ashur-bani-pal accepted the verdict, and then visited Ashur's temple
+to plead with Bel Merodach to return to Babylon. "Let thy thoughts",
+he cried, "dwell in Babylon, which in thy wrath thou didst bring to
+naught. Let thy face be turned towards E-sagila, thy lofty and divine
+temple. Return to the city thou hast deserted for a house unworthy of
+thee. O Merodach! lord of the gods, issue thou the command to return
+again to Babylon."
+
+Thus did Ashur-bani-pal make pious and dignified submission to the
+will of the priests. A favourable response was, of course, received
+from Merodach when addressed by the emperor, and the god's image was
+carried back to E-sagila, accompanied by a strong force.
+Ashur-bani-pal and Shamash-shum-ukin led the procession of priests and
+soldiers, and elaborate ceremonials were observed at each city they
+passed, the local gods being carried forth to do homage to Merodach.
+
+Babylon welcomed the deity who was thus restored to his temple after
+the lapse of about a quarter of a century, and the priests celebrated
+with unconcealed satisfaction and pride the ceremony at which
+Shamash-shum-ukin "took the hands of Bel". The public rejoicings were
+conducted on an elaborate scale. Babylon believed that a new era of
+prosperity had been inaugurated, and the priests and nobles looked
+forward to the day when the kingdom would once again become free and
+independent and powerful.
+
+Ashur-bani-pal (668-626 B.C.) made arrangements to complete his
+father's designs regarding Egypt. His Tartan continued the campaign,
+and Taharka, as has been stated, was driven from Memphis. The beaten
+Pharaoh returned to Ethiopia and did not again attempt to expel the
+Assyrians. He died in 666 B.C. It was found that some of the petty
+kings of Lower Egypt had been intriguing with Taharka, and their
+cities were severely dealt with. Necho of Sais had to be arrested,
+among others, but was pardoned after he appeared before
+Ashur-bani-pal, and sent back to Egypt as the Assyrian governor.
+
+Tanutamon, a son of Pharaoh Shabaka, succeeded Taharka, and in 663
+B.C. marched northward from Thebes with a strong army. He captured
+Memphis. It is believed Necho was slain, and Herodotus relates that
+his son Psamtik took refuge in Syria. In 661 B.C. Ashur-bani-pal's
+army swept through Lower Egypt and expelled the Ethiopians. Tanutamon
+fled southward, but on this occasion the Assyrians followed up their
+success, and besieged and captured Thebes, which they sacked. Its
+nobles were slain or taken captive. According to the prophet Nahum,
+who refers to Thebes as No (Nu-Amon = city of Amon), "her young
+children also were dashed in pieces at the top of all the streets: and
+they (the Assyrians) cast lots for her honourable men, and all her
+great men were bound in chains".[548] Thebes never again recovered its
+prestige. Its treasures were transported to Nineveh. The Ethiopian
+supremacy in Egypt was finally extinguished, and Psamtik, son of
+Necho, who was appointed the Pharaoh, began to reign as the vassal of
+Assyria.
+
+When the kings on the seacoasts of Palestine and Asia Minor found that
+they could no longer look to Egypt for help, they resigned themselves
+to the inevitable, and ceased to intrigue against Assyria. Gifts were
+sent to Ashur-bani-pal by the kings of Arvad, Tyre, Tarsus, and Tabal.
+The Arvad ruler, however, was displaced, and his son set on his
+throne. But the most extraordinary development was the visit to
+Nineveh of emissaries from Gyges, king of Lydia, who figures in the
+legends of Greece. This monarch had been harassed by the Cimmerians
+after they accomplished the fall of Midas of Phrygia in 676 B.C., and
+he sought the help of Ashur-bani-pal. It is not known whether the
+Assyrians operated against the Cimmerians in Tabal, but, as Gyges did
+not send tribute, it would appear that he held his own with the aid of
+mercenaries from the State of Caria in southwestern Asia Minor. The
+Greeks of Cilicia, and the Achaeans and Phoenicians of Cyprus remained
+faithful to Assyria.
+
+Elam gave trouble in 665 B.C. by raiding Akkad, but the Assyrian army
+repulsed the invaders at Dur-ilu and pushed on to Susa. The Elamites
+received a crushing defeat in a battle on the banks of the River Ula.
+King Teumman was slain, and a son of the King of Urtagu was placed on
+his throne. Elam thus came under Assyrian sway.
+
+The most surprising and sensational conspiracy against Ashur-bani-pal
+was fomented by his brother Shamash-shum-ukin of Babylon, after the
+two had co-operated peacefully for fifteen years. No doubt the
+priestly party at E-sagila were deeply concerned in the movement, and
+the king may have been strongly influenced by the fact that Babylonia
+was at the time suffering from severe depression caused by a series of
+poor harvests. Merodach, according to the priests, was angry; it was
+probably argued that he was punishing the people because they had not
+thrown off the yoke of Assyria.
+
+The temple treasures of Babylon were freely drawn upon to purchase the
+allegiance of allies. Ere Ashur-bani-pal had any knowledge of the
+conspiracy his brother had won over several governors in Babylonia,
+the Chaldaeans, Aramaeans and Elamites, and many petty kings in
+Palestine and Syria: even Egypt and Libya were prepared to help him.
+When, however, the faithful governor of Ur was approached, he
+communicated with his superior at Erech, who promptly informed
+Ashur-bani-pal of the great conspiracy. The intelligence reached
+Nineveh like a bolt from the blue. The emperor's heart was filled with
+sorrow and anguish. In after-time he lamented in an inscription that
+his "faithless brother" forgot the favours he had shown him.
+"Outwardly with his lips he spoke friendly things, while inwardly his
+heart plotted murder."
+
+In 652 B.C. Shamash-shum-ukin precipitated the crisis by forbidding
+Ashur-bani-pal to make offerings to the gods in the cities of
+Babylonia. He thus declared his independence.
+
+War broke out simultaneously. Ur and Erech were besieged and captured
+by the Chaldaeans, and an Elamite army marched to the aid of the King
+of Babylon, but it was withdrawn before long on account of the
+unsettled political conditions at home. The Assyrian armies swept
+through Babylonia, and the Chaldeans in the south were completely
+subjugated before Babylon was captured. That great commercial
+metropolis was closely besieged for three years, and was starved into
+submission. When the Assyrians were entering the city gates a
+sensational happening occurred. Shamash-shum-ukin, the rebel king,
+shut himself up in his palace and set fire to it, and perished there
+amidst the flames with his wife and children, his slaves and all his
+treasures. Ashur-bani-pal was in 647 B.C. proclaimed King
+Kandalanu[549] of Babylon, and reigned over it until his death in 626
+B.C.
+
+Elam was severely dealt with. That unhappy country was terribly
+devastated by Assyrian troops, who besieged and captured Susa, which
+was pillaged and wrecked. It was recorded afterwards as a great
+triumph of this campaign that the statue of Nana of Erech, which had
+been carried off by Elamites 1635 years previously, was recovered and
+restored to the ancient Sumerian city. Elam's power of resistance was
+finally extinguished, and the country fell a ready prey to the Medes
+and Persians, who soon entered into possession of it. Thus, by
+destroying a buffer State, Ashur-bani-pal strengthened the hands of
+the people who were destined twenty years after his death to destroy
+the Empire of Assyria.
+
+The western allies of Babylon were also dealt with, and it may be that
+at this time Manasseh of Judah was taken to Babylon (_2 Chronicles_,
+xxxiii, II), where, however, he was forgiven. The Medes and the Mannai
+in the north-west were visited and subdued, and a new alliance was
+formed with the dying State of Urartu.
+
+Psamtik of Egypt had thrown off the yoke of Assyria, and with the
+assistance of Carian mercenaries received from his ally, Gyges, king
+of Lydia, extended his sway southward. He made peace with Ethiopia by
+marrying a princess of its royal line. Gyges must have weakened his
+army by thus assisting Psamtik, for he was severely defeated and slain
+by the Cimmerians. His son, Ardys, appealed to Assyria for help.
+Ashur-bani-pal dispatched an army to Cilicia. The joint operations of
+Assyria and Lydia resulted in the extinction of the kingdom of the
+Cimmerians about 645 B.C.
+
+The records of Ashur-bani-pal cease after 640 B.C., so that we are
+unable to follow the events of his reign during its last fourteen
+years. Apparently peace prevailed everywhere. The great monarch, who
+was a pronounced adherent of the goddess cults, appears to have given
+himself up to a life of indulgence and inactivity. Under the name
+Sardanapalus he went down to tradition as a sensual Oriental monarch
+who lived in great pomp and luxury, and perished in his burning palace
+when the Medes revolted against him. It is evident, however, that the
+memory of more than one monarch contributed to the Sardanapalus
+legend, for Ashur-bani-pal had lain nearly twenty years in his grave
+before the siege of Nineveh took place.
+
+In the Bible he is referred to as "the great and noble Asnapper", and
+he appears to have been the emperor who settled the Babylonian,
+Elamite, and other colonists "in the cities of Samaria".[550]
+
+He erected at Nineveh a magnificent palace, which was decorated on a
+lavish scale. The sculptures are the finest productions of Assyrian
+art, and embrace a wide variety of subjects--battle scenes, hunting
+scenes, and elaborate Court and temple ceremonies. Realism is combined
+with a delicacy of touch and a degree of originality which raises the
+artistic productions of the period to the front rank among the
+artistic triumphs of antiquity.
+
+Ashur-bani-pal boasted of the thorough education which he had received
+from the tutors of his illustrious father, Esarhaddon. In his palace
+he kept a magnificent library. It contained thousands of clay tablets
+on which were inscribed and translated the classics of Babylonia. To
+the scholarly zeal of this cultured monarch is due the preservation of
+the Babylonian story of creation, the Gilgamesh and Etana legends, and
+other literary and religious products of remote antiquity. Most of the
+literary tablets in the British Museum were taken from
+Ashur-bani-pal's library.
+
+There are no Assyrian records of the reigns of Ashur-bani-pal's two
+sons, Ashur-etil-ilani--who erected a small palace and reconstructed
+the temple to Nebo at Kalkhi--and Sin-shar-ishkun, who is supposed to
+have perished in Nineveh. Apparently Ashur-etil-ilani reigned for at
+least six years, and was succeeded by his brother.
+
+A year after Ashur-bani-pal died, Nabopolassar, who was probably a
+Chaldaean, was proclaimed king at Babylon. According to Babylonian
+legend he was an Assyrian general who had been sent southward with an
+army to oppose the advance of invaders from the sea. Nabopolassar's
+sway at first was confined to Babylon and Borsippa, but he
+strengthened himself by forming an offensive and defensive alliance
+with the Median king, whose daughter he had married to his son
+Nebuchadrezzar. He strengthened the fortifications of Babylon, rebuilt
+the temple of Merodach, which had been destroyed by Ashur-bani-pal,
+and waged war successfully against the Assyrians and their allies in
+Mesopotamia.
+
+About 606 B.C. Nineveh fell, and Sin-shar-ishkun may have burned
+himself there in his palace, like his uncle, Shamash-shum-ukin of
+Babylon, and the legendary Sardanapalus. It is not certain, however,
+whether the Scythians or the Medes were the successful besiegers of
+the great Assyrian capital. "Woe to the bloody city! it is all full of
+lies and robbery", Nahum had cried. "... The gates of the rivers shall
+be opened, and the palace shall be dissolved.... Take ye the spoil of
+silver, take the spoil of gold.... Behold, I am against thee, saith
+the Lord of hosts[551]."
+
+According to Herodotus, an army of Medes under Cyaxares had defeated
+the Assyrians and were besieging Nineveh when the Scythians overran
+Media. Cyaxares raised the siege and went against them, but was
+defeated. Then the Scythians swept across Assyria and Mesopotamia, and
+penetrated to the Delta frontier of Egypt. Psamtik ransomed his
+kingdom with handsome gifts. At length, however, Cyaxares had the
+Scythian leaders slain at a banquet, and then besieged and captured
+Nineveh.
+
+Assyria was completely overthrown. Those of its nobles and priests who
+escaped the sword no doubt escaped to Babylonia. Some may have found
+refuge also in Palestine and Egypt.
+
+Necho, the second Pharaoh of the Twenty-sixth Egyptian Dynasty, did
+not hesitate to take advantage of Assyria's fall. In 609 B.C. he
+proceeded to recover the long-lost Asiatic possessions of Egypt, and
+operated with an army and fleet. Gaza and Askalon were captured.
+Josiah, the grandson of Manasseh, was King of Judah. "In his days
+Pharaoh-nechoh king of Egypt went up against the king of Assyria to
+the river Euphrates: and king Josiah went against him; and he (Necho)
+slew him at Megiddo."[552] His son, Jehoahaz, succeeded him, but was
+deposed three months later by Necho, who placed another son of Josiah,
+named Eliakim, on the throne, "and turned his name to Jehoiakim".[553]
+The people were heavily taxed to pay tribute to the Pharaoh.
+
+When Necho pushed northward towards the Euphrates he was met by a
+Babylonian army under command of Prince Nebuchadrezzar.[554] The
+Egyptians were routed at Carchemish in 605 B.C. (_Jeremiah,_ xvi, 2).
+
+In 604 B.C. Nabopolassar died, and the famous Nebuchadrezzar II
+ascended the throne of Babylon. He lived to be one of its greatest
+kings, and reigned for over forty years. It was he who built the city
+described by Herodotus (pp. 219 _et seq._), and constructed its outer
+wall, which enclosed so large an area that no army could invest it.
+Merodach's temple was decorated with greater magnificence than ever
+before. The great palace and hanging gardens were erected by this
+mighty monarch, who no doubt attracted to the city large numbers of
+the skilled artisans who had fled from Nineveh. He also restored
+temples at other cities, and made generous gifts to the priests.
+Captives were drafted into Babylonia from various lands, and employed
+cleaning out the canals and as farm labourers.
+
+The trade and industries of Babylon flourished greatly, and
+Nebuchadrezzar's soldiers took speedy vengeance on roving bands which
+infested the caravan roads. "The king of Egypt", after his crushing
+defeat at Carchemish, "came not again any more out of his land: for
+the king of Babylon had taken from the river of Egypt unto the river
+Euphrates all that pertained to the king of Egypt."[555] Jehoiakim of
+Judah remained faithful to Necho until he was made a prisoner by
+Nebuchadrezzar, who "bound him in fetters to carry him to
+Babylon".[556] He was afterwards sent back to Jerusalem. "And
+Jehoiakim became his (Nebuchadrezzar's) servant three years: then he
+turned and rebelled against him."[557]
+
+Bands of Chaldaeans, Syrians, Moabites, and Ammonites were harassing
+the frontiers of Judah, and it seemed to the king as if the Babylonian
+power had collapsed. Nebuchadrezzar hastened westward and scattered
+the raiders before him. Jehoiakim died, and his son Jehoiachan, a
+youth of eighteen years, succeeded him. Nebuchadrezzar laid siege to
+Jerusalem, and the young king submitted to him and was carried off to
+Babylon, with "all the princes, and all the mighty men of valour, even
+ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths: none remained
+save the poorest sort of the people of the land".[558] Nebuchadrezzar
+had need of warriors and workmen.
+
+Zedekiah was placed on the throne of Judah as an Assyrian vassal. He
+remained faithful for a few years, but at length began to conspire
+with Tyre and Sidon, Moab, Edom, and Ammon in favour of Egyptian
+suzerainty. Pharaoh Hophra (Apries), the fourth king of the
+Twenty-sixth Dynasty, took active steps to assist the conspirators,
+and "Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon[559]".
+
+Nebuchadrezzar led a strong army through Mesopotamia, and divided it
+at Riblah, on the Orontes River. One part of it descended upon Judah
+and captured Lachish and Azekah. Jerusalem was able to hold out for
+about eighteen months. Then "the famine was sore in the city, so that
+there was no bread for the people of the land. Then the city was
+broken up, and all the men of war fled, and went forth out of the city
+by night by way of the gate between the two walls, which was by the
+king's garden." Zedekiah attempted to escape, but was captured and
+carried before Nebuchadrezzar, who was at Riblah, in the land of
+Hamath.
+
+    And the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah before his
+    eyes.... Then he put out the eyes of Zedekiah; and the king of
+    Babylon bound him in chains and carried him to Babylon and put him
+    in prison till the day of his death[560].
+
+The majority of the Jews were deported to Babylonia, where they were
+employed as farm labourers. Some rose to occupy important official
+positions. A remnant escaped to Egypt with Jeremiah.
+
+Jerusalem was plundered and desolated. The Assyrians "burned the house
+of the Lord and the king's house, and all the houses of Jerusalem",
+and "brake down all the walls of Jerusalem round about". Jeremiah
+lamented:
+
+    How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people! how is
+    she become as a widow! she that was great among the nations, and
+    princess among the provinces, how is she become tributary! She
+    weepeth sore in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks: among
+    all her lovers she hath none to comfort her: all her friends have
+    dealt treacherously with her, they are become her enemies. Judah
+    is gone into captivity because of affliction, and because of great
+    servitude: she dwelleth among the heathen, she findeth no rest:
+    all her persecutors overtook her between the straits.... Jerusalem
+    remembered in the days of her affliction and of her miseries all
+    her pleasant things that she had in the days of old....[561]
+
+Tyre was besieged, but was not captured. Its king, however, arranged
+terms of peace with Nebuchadrezzar.
+
+Amel-Marduk, the "Evil Merodach" of the Bible, the next king of
+Babylon, reigned for a little over two years. He released Jehoiachin
+from prison, and allowed him to live in the royal palace.[562] Berosus
+relates that Amel-Marduk lived a dissipated life, and was slain by his
+brother-in-law, Nergal-shar-utsur, who reigned two years (559-6 B.C.).
+Labashi-Marduk, son of Nergal-shar-utsur, followed with a reign of
+nine months. He was deposed by the priests. Then a Babylonian prince
+named Nabu-na´id (Nabonidus) was set on the throne. He was the last
+independent king of Babylonia. His son Belshazzar appears to have
+acted as regent during the latter part of the reign.
+
+Nabonidus engaged himself actively during his reign (556-540 B.C.) in
+restoring temples. He entirely reconstructed the house of Shamash, the
+sun god, at Sippar, and, towards the end of his reign, the house of
+Sin, the moon god, at Haran. The latter building had been destroyed by
+the Medes.
+
+The religious innovations of Nabonidus made him exceedingly unpopular
+throughout Babylonia, for he carried away the gods of Ur, Erech,
+Larsa, and Eridu, and had them placed in E-sagila. Merodach and his
+priests were displeased: the prestige of the great god was threatened
+by the policy adopted by Nabonidus. As an inscription composed after
+the fall of Babylon sets forth; Merodach "gazed over the surrounding
+lands ... looking for a righteous prince, one after his own heart, who
+should take his hands.... He called by name Cyrus."
+
+Cyrus was a petty king of the shrunken Elamite province of Anshan,
+which had been conquered by the Persians. He claimed to be an
+Achaemenian--that is a descendant of the semi-mythical Akhamanish (the
+Achaemenes of the Greeks), a Persian patriarch who resembled the
+Aryo-Indian Manu and the Germanic Mannus. Akhamanish was reputed to
+have been fed and protected in childhood by an eagle--the sacred eagle
+which cast its shadow on born rulers. Probably this eagle was remotely
+Totemic, and the Achaemenians were descendants of an ancient eagle
+tribe. Gilgamesh was protected by an eagle, as we have seen, as the
+Aryo-Indian Shakuntala was by vultures and Semiramis by doves. The
+legends regarding the birth and boyhood of Cyrus resemble those
+related regarding Sargon of Akkad and the Indian Karna and Krishna.
+
+Cyrus acknowledged as his overlord Astyages, king of the Medes. He
+revolted against Astyages, whom he defeated and took prisoner.
+Thereafter he was proclaimed King of the Medes and Persians, who were
+kindred peoples of Indo-European speech. The father of Astyages was
+Cyaxares, the ally of Nabopolassar of Babylon. When this powerful king
+captured Nineveh he entered into possession of the northern part of
+the Assyrian Empire, which extended westward into Asia Minor to the
+frontier of the Lydian kingdom; he also possessed himself of Urartu
+(Armenia). Lydia had, after the collapse of the Cimmerian power,
+absorbed Phrygia, and its ambitious king, Alyattes, waged war against
+the Medes. At length, owing to the good offices of Nebuchadrezzar of
+Babylon and Syennesis of Cilicia, the Medes and Lydians made peace in
+585 B.C. Astyages then married a daughter of the Lydian ruler.
+
+When Cyrus overthrew Cyaxares, king of the Medes, Croesus, king of
+Lydia, formed an alliance against him with Amasis, king of Egypt, and
+Nabonidus, king of Babylon. The latter was at first friendly to Cyrus,
+who had attacked Cyaxares when he was advancing on Babylon to dispute
+Nabonidus's claim to the throne, and perhaps to win it for a
+descendant of Nebuchadrezzar, his father's ally. It was after the fall
+of the Median Dynasty that Nabonidus undertook the restoration of the
+moon god's temple at Haran.
+
+Cyrus advanced westward against Croesus of Lydia before that monarch
+could receive assistance from the intriguing but pleasure-loving
+Amasis of Egypt; he defeated and overthrew him, and seized his kingdom
+(547-546 B.C.). Then, having established himself as supreme ruler in
+Asia Minor, he began to operate against Babylonia. In 539 B.C.
+Belshazzar was defeated near Opis. Sippar fell soon afterwards.
+Cyrus's general, Gobryas, then advanced upon Babylon, where Belshazzar
+deemed himself safe. One night, in the month of Tammuz--
+
+    Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his
+    lords, and drank wine before the thousand. Belshazzar, whiles he
+    tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels
+    which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which
+    was in Jerusalem; that the king, and his princes, his wives, and
+    his concubines, might drink therein.... They drank wine, and
+    praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of
+    wood, and of stone.... In that night was Belshazzar the king of
+    the Chaldeans slain.[563]
+
+On the 16th of Tammuz the investing army under Gobryas entered
+Babylon, the gates having been opened by friends within the city. Some
+think that the Jews favoured the cause of Cyrus. It is quite as
+possible, however, that the priests of Merodach had a secret
+understanding with the great Achaemenian, the "King of kings".
+
+A few days afterwards Cyrus arrived at Babylon. Belshazzar had been
+slain, but Nabonidus still lived, and he was deported to Carmania.
+Perfect order prevailed throughout the city, which was firmly policed
+by the Persian soldiers, and there was no looting. Cyrus was welcomed
+as a deliverer by the priesthood. He "took the hands" of Bel Merodach
+at E-sagila, and was proclaimed "King of the world, King of Babylon,
+King of Sumer and Akkad, and King of the Four Quarters".
+
+Cyrus appointed his son Cambyses as governor of Babylon. Although a
+worshipper of Ahura-Mazda and Mithra, Cambyses appears to have
+conciliated the priesthood. When he became king, and swept through
+Egypt, he was remembered as the madman who in a fit of passion slew a
+sacred Apis bull. It is possible, however, that he performed what he
+considered to be a pious act: he may have sacrificed the bull to
+Mithra.
+
+The Jews also welcomed Cyrus. They yearned for their native land.
+
+    By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when
+    we remembered Zion. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the
+    midst thereof. For there they that carried us away captive
+    required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us
+    mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. How shall we sing
+    the Lord's song in a strange land? If I forget thee, O Jerusalem,
+    let my right hand forget her cunning. If I do not remember thee,
+    let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not
+    Jerusalem above my chief joy.[564]
+
+Cyrus heard with compassion the cry of the captives.
+
+    Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of
+    the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord
+    stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a
+    proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in
+    writing, saying, Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The Lord God of
+    heaven hath given me all kingdoms of the earth; and he hath
+    charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.
+    Who is there among you of all his people? his God be with him, and
+    let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house
+    of the Lord God of Israel (he is the God) which is in
+    Jerusalem.[565]
+
+In 538 B.C. the first party of Jews who were set free saw through
+tears the hills of home, and hastened their steps to reach Mount Zion.
+Fifty years later Ezra led back another party of the faithful. The
+work of restoring Jerusalem was undertaken by Nehemiah in 445 B.C.
+
+The trade of Babylon flourished under the Persians, and the influence
+of its culture spread far and wide. Persian religion was infused with
+new doctrines, and their deities were given stellar attributes.
+Ahura-Mazda became identified with Bel Merodach, as, perhaps, he had
+previously been with Ashur, and the goddess Anahita absorbed the
+attributes of Nina, Ishtar, Zerpanituᵐ, and other Babylonian "mother
+deities".
+
+Another "Semiramis" came into prominence. This was the wife and sister
+of Cambyses. After Cambyses died she married Darius I, who, like
+Cyrus, claimed to be an Achaemenian. He had to overthrow a pretender,
+but submitted to the demands of the orthodox Persian party to purify
+the Ahura-Mazda religion of its Babylonian innovations. Frequent
+revolts in Babylon had afterwards to be suppressed. The Merodach
+priesthood apparently suffered loss of prestige at Court. According to
+Herodotus, Darius plotted to carry away from E-sagila a great statue
+of Bel "twelve cubits high and entirely of solid gold". He, however,
+was afraid "to lay his hands upon it". Xerxes, son of Darius (485-465
+B.C.), punished Babylon for revolting, when intelligence reached them
+of his disasters in Greece, by pillaging and partly destroying the
+temple. "He killed the priest who forbade him to move the statue, and
+took it away."[566] The city lost its vassal king, and was put under
+the control of a governor. It, however, regained some of its ancient
+glory after the burning of Susa palace, for the later Persian monarchs
+resided in it. Darius II died at Babylon, and Artaxerxes II promoted
+in the city the worship of Anaitis.
+
+When Darius III, the last Persian emperor, was overthrown by Alexander
+the Great in 331 B.C., Babylon welcomed the Macedonian conqueror as it
+had welcomed Cyrus. Alexander was impressed by the wisdom and
+accomplishments of the astrologers and priests, who had become known
+as "Chaldaeans", and added Bel Merodach to his extraordinary pantheon,
+which already included Amon of Egypt, Melkarth, and Jehovah. Impressed
+by the antiquity and magnificence of Babylon, he resolved to make it
+the capital of his world-wide empire, and there he received
+ambassadors from countries as far east as India and as far west as
+Gaul.
+
+The canals of Babylonia were surveyed, and building operations on a
+vast scale planned out. No fewer than ten thousand men were engaged
+working for two months reconstructing and decorating the temple of
+Merodach, which towered to a height of 607 feet. It looked as if
+Babylon were about to rise to a position of splendour unequalled in
+its history, when Alexander fell sick, after attending a banquet, and
+died on an evening of golden splendour sometime in June of 323 B.C.
+
+One can imagine the feelings of the Babylonian priests and astrologers
+as they spent the last few nights of the emperor's life reading "the
+omens of the air"--taking note of wind and shadow, moon and stars and
+planets, seeking for a sign, but unable to discover one favourable.
+Their hopes of Babylonian glory were suspended in the balance, and
+they perished completely when the young emperor passed away in the
+thirty-third year of his life. For four days and four nights the
+citizens mourned in silence for Alexander and for Babylon.
+
+The ancient city fell into decay under the empire of the Seleucidae.
+Seleucus I had been governor of Babylon, and after the break-up of
+Alexander's empire he returned to the ancient metropolis as a
+conqueror. "None of the persons who succeeded Alexander", Strabo
+wrote, "attended to the undertaking at Babylon"--the reconstruction of
+Merodach's temple. "Other works were neglected, and the city was
+dilapidated partly by the Persians and partly by time and through the
+indifference of the Greeks, particularly after Seleucus Nicator
+fortified Seleukeia on the Tigris."[567]
+
+Seleucus drafted to the city which bore his name the great bulk of the
+inhabitants of Babylon. The remnant which was left behind continued to
+worship Merodach and other gods after the walls had crumbled and the
+great temple began to tumble down. Babylon died slowly, but at length
+the words of the Hebrew prophet were fulfilled:
+
+    The cormorant and the bittern shall possess it; the owl also and
+    the raven shall dwell in it.... They shall call the nobles thereof
+    to the kingdom, but none shall be there, and all her princes shall
+    be nothing. And thorns shall come up in her palaces, nettles and
+    brambles in the fortresses thereof: and it shall be an habitation
+    of dragons, and a court for owls. The wild beasts of the desert
+    shall also meet with the wild beasts of the island, and the satyr
+    shall cry to his fellow: the screech owl also shall rest there,
+    and find for herself a place of rest.[568]
+
+
+
+
+FOOTNOTES
+
+
+[1] _Life of Apollonius of Tyana_, i, 20.
+
+[2] _Egyptian Tales_ (Second Series), W.M. Flinders Petrie, pp. 98 _et
+seq._
+
+[3] _Revelation_, xviii. The Babylon of the Apocalypse is generally
+believed to symbolize or be a mystic designation of Rome.
+
+[4] _Nineveh and Its Remains_, vol. i, p. 17.
+
+[5] _Ezra_, iv, 10.
+
+[6] The culture god.
+
+[7] Langdon's _Sumerian and Babylonian Psalms_, p. 179.
+
+[8] _Crete the Forerunner of Greece_, p. 18.
+
+[9] _The Scapegoat vol._, p. 409 (3rd edition).
+
+[10] _The Seven Tablets of Creation_, L. W. King, p. 129.
+
+[11] _Ibid_, pp. 133-4.
+
+[12] _The Races of Europe_, W.Z. Ripley, p. 203.
+
+[13] _The Ancient Egyptians_, by Elliot Smith, p. 41 _et seq._
+
+[14] _The Ancient Egyptians_, p. 140.
+
+[15] _Crete the Forerunner of Greece_, C. H. and H. B. Hawes, 1911, p.
+23 _et seq._
+
+[16] _The Races of Europe_, W. Z. Ripley, p. 443 _et seq._
+
+[17] _The Ancient Egyptians_, pp. 144-5.
+
+[18] _The Ancient Egyptians_, p. 114.
+
+[19] _The Ancient Egyptians_, p. 136.
+
+[20] _A History of Palestine_, R.A.S. Macalister, pp. 8-16.
+
+[21] _The Mediterranean Race_ (1901 trans.), G. Sergi, p. 146 _et seq._
+
+[22] _The Ancient Egyptians_, p. 130.
+
+[23] _A History of Civilization in Palestine, p. 20 et seq._
+
+[24] _Joshua_, xi. 21.
+
+[25] _Genesis_, xxiii.
+
+[26] _Genesis_, xvi. 8, 9.
+
+[27] _1 Kings_, xvi. 16.
+
+[28] _2 Kings_, xviii, 32.
+
+[29] _Herodotus_, i, 193.
+
+[30] Peter's _Nippur_, i, p. 160.
+
+[31] A Babylonian priest of Bel Merodach. In the third century a.c. he
+composed in Greek a history of his native land, which has perished.
+Extracts from it are given by Eusebius, Josephus, Apollodorus, and
+others.
+
+[32] _Indian Myth and Legend_, pp. 140, 141.
+
+[33] _The Religion of the Semites_, pp. 159, 160.
+
+[34] _Religion of Babylonia and Assyria_, M. Jastrow, p. 88.
+
+[35] _The Seven Tablets of Creation_, L.W. King, vol. i, p. 129.
+
+[36] _Religious Belief in Babylonia and Assyria_, M. Jastrow, p. 88.
+
+[37] _Cosmology of the Rigveda,_ Wallis, and _Indian Myth and Legend_,
+p. 10.
+
+[38] _The Old Testament in the Light of the Historical Records and
+Legends of Assyria and Babylonia_, T.G. Pinches, pp. 59-61.
+
+[39] _The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria_, T.G. Pinches, pp. 91, 92.
+
+[40] _Joshua_, xv, 41; xix, 27.
+
+[41] _Judges_, xvi, 14.
+
+[42] _I Sam_., v, 1-9.
+
+[43] _I Sam_., vi, 5.
+
+[44] _The Devils and Evil Spirits of Babylonia_, R. Campbell Thompson,
+London, 1903, vol. i, p. xlii.
+
+[45] _The Devils and Evil Spirits of Babylonia_, R. C. Thompson, vol. i,
+p. xliii.
+
+[46] _A History of Sumer and Akkad_, L. W. King, p. 54.
+
+[47] _The Gods of the Egyptians_, E. Wallis Budge, vol. i, p. 290.
+
+[48] _The Gods of the Egyptians_, vol. i, p. 287.
+
+[49] _The Devils and Evil Spirits of Babylonia_, vol. i, _Intro_. See
+also Sayce's _The Religion of Ancient Egypt and Babylonia_ (Gifford
+Lectures, 1902), p. 385, and Pinches' _The Old Testament in the Light of
+Historical Records_, &c., p. 71.
+
+[50] _Indian Myth and Legend_, p. 100.
+
+[51] Maspero's _Dawn of Civilization_, p. 156 _et seq._
+
+[52] _Egyptian Myth and Legend_, p. I _et seq._ The saliva of the frail
+and elderly was injurious.
+
+[53] _Osiris and the Egyptian Resurrection_, E. Wallis Budge, vol. ii,
+p. 203 _et seq._
+
+[54] _Brana's Popular Antiquities_, vol. iii, pp. 259-263 (1889 ed.).
+
+[55] _The Religion of the Semites_, pp. 158, 159.
+
+[56] _Castes and Tribes of Southern India_, E. Thurston, iv, 187.
+
+[57] _Omens and Superstitions of Southern India_, E. Thurston (1912),
+pp. 245, 246.
+
+[58] Pausanias, ii, 24, 1.
+
+[59] _Devils and Evil Spirits of Babylonia_, R.C. Thompson, vol. ii,
+tablet Y.
+
+[60] _Animism_, E. Clodd, p. 37.
+
+[61] _2 Kings_, xvi, 3.
+
+[62] _Ezekiel_, xx, 31.
+
+[63] _Leviticus_, xviii, 21.
+
+[64] _Indian Myth and Legend_, p. 65.
+
+[65] _Religious Belief in Babylonia and Assyria_, M. Jastrow, pp. 312,
+313.
+
+[66] _The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria_, T.G. Pinches, p. 81.
+
+[67] In early times two goddesses searched for Tammuz at different
+periods.
+
+[68] _Indian Myth and Legend_, p. 30.
+
+[69] _Early Religious Poetry of Persia_, p. 35.
+
+[70] _Early Religious Poetry of Persia_, p. 37.
+
+[71] _The Golden Bough_ (Spirits of the Corn and Wild, vol. ii, p. 10),
+3rd edition.
+
+[72] _Indian Wisdom_, Sir Monier Monier-Williams.
+
+[73] _A History of Sanskrit Literature_, Professor Macdonell.
+
+[74] _Religious Belief and Practice in Babylonia and Assyria_, M.
+Jastrow, pp. 111, 112.
+
+[75] _Indian Myth and Legend_, pp. xxxii, and 38 _et seq._
+
+[76] _The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria_, T.G. Pinches, p. 94.
+
+[77] _The Religion of Ancient Greece_, J.E. Harrison, p. 46, and Isoc.
+_Orat._, v, 117
+
+[78] _The Acts_, xvii, 22-31.
+
+[79] _Devils and Evil Spirits of Babylonia_, vol. ii, p. 149 _et seq._
+
+[80] _Egyptian Myth and Legend_, xxxix, _n._
+
+[81] _Development of Religion and Thought in Ancient Egypt_, J.H.
+Breasted, pp. 38, 74.
+
+[82] _Custom and Myth_, p. 45 _et seq._
+
+[83] _The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria_, p. 108.
+
+[84] Act iv, scene 1.
+
+[85] _Paradise Lost_, book ix.
+
+[86] Chapman's _Caesar and Pompey_.
+
+[87] _Natural History_, 2nd book.
+
+[88] _Indian Myth and Legend_, 70, n.
+
+[89] _Indian Myth and Legend_, pp. 202-5, 400, 401.
+
+[90] _Teutonic Myth and Legend_, p. 424 et seq.
+
+[91] _Indian Myth and Legend_, p. 164 et seq.
+
+[92] _Popular Religion and Folk Lore of Northern India_, W. Crooke, vol.
+i, p. 254.
+
+[93] When a person, young or old, is dying, near relatives must not call
+out their names in case the soul may come back from the spirit world. A
+similar belief still lingers, especially among women, in the Lowlands.
+The writer was once present in a room when a child was supposed to be
+dying. Suddenly the mother called out the child's name in agonized
+voice. It revived soon afterwards. Two old women who had attempted to
+prevent "the calling" shook their heads and remarked: "She has done it!
+The child will never do any good in this world after being called back."
+In England and Ireland, as well as in Scotland, the belief also prevails
+in certain localities that if a dying person is "called back" the soul
+will tarry for another twenty-four hours, during which the individual
+will suffer great agony.
+
+[94] _A Journey in Southern Siberia_, Jeremiah Curtin, pp. 103, 104.
+
+[95] Vol. i, p. 305.
+
+[96] _Adi Parva_ section of _Mahàbhàrata_, Roy's trans., p. 635.
+
+[97] Jastrow's _Aspects of Religious Belief in Babylonia_, &c., p. 312.
+
+[98] R.C. Thompson's trans.
+
+[99] _The Elder or Poetic Edda_, Olive Bray, part i, p. 53.
+
+[100] _Babylonian Religion_, L.W. King, pp. 186-8.
+
+[101] _The Devils and Evil Spirits of Babylonia_, R. Campbell Thompson,
+vol. i, p. 53 et seq.
+
+[102] _Omens and Superstitions of Southern India_, E. Thurston, p. 124.
+
+[103] _The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria_, p. 110.
+
+[104] _Beowulf_, Clark Hall, p. 14.
+
+[105] _Ezekiel_, viii.
+
+[106] _Psalms_, cxxvi.
+
+[107] _The Burden of Isis_, J.T. Dennis _(Wisdom of the East_ series),
+pp. 21, 22.
+
+[108] _Religion of the Semites_, pp. 412, 414.
+
+[109] _Egyptian Myth and Legend_, pp. 45 et seq.
+
+[110] Langdon's _Sumerian and Babylonian Psalms_, pp. 319-321.
+
+[111] Campbell's _West Highland Tales_, vol. iii, p. 74.
+
+[112] _West Highland Tales_, vol. iii, pp. 85, 86.
+
+[113] If Finn and his band were really militiamen--the original
+Fenians--as is believed in Ireland, they may have had attached to their
+memories the legends of archaic Iberian deities who differed from the
+Celtic Danann deities. Theodoric the Goth, as Dietrich von Bern, was
+identified, for instance, with Donar or Thunor (Thor), the thunder god.
+In Scotland Finn and his followers are all giants. Diarmid is the
+patriarch of the Campbell clan, the MacDiarmids being "sons of Diarmid".
+
+[114] Isaiah condemns a magical custom connected with the worship of
+Tammuz in the garden, _Isaiah_, xvii, 9, 11. This "Garden of Adonis" is
+dealt with in the next chapter.
+
+[115] Quotations are from _Sumerian and Babylonian Psalms_, translated
+by Stephen Langdon, Ph.D. (Paris and London, 1909), pp. 299-341.
+
+[116] _Beowulf_, translated by J.R. Clark Hall (London, 1911), pp. 9-11.
+
+[117] For Frey's connection with the Ynglings see Morris and Magnusson's
+_Heimskringla_ (_Saga Library_, vol. iii, pp. 23-71.
+
+[118] _The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria_, p. 72.
+
+[119] Langdon's _Sumerian and Babylonian Psalms_, pp. 325, 339.
+
+[120] Professor Oldenberg's translation.
+
+[121] Osiris is also invoked to "remove storms and rain and give
+fecundity in the nighttime". As a spring sun god he slays demons; as a
+lunar god he brings fertility.
+
+[122] Like the love-compelling girdle of Aphrodite.
+
+[123] A wedding bracelet of crystal is worn by Hindu women; they break
+it when the husband dies.
+
+[124] Quotations from the translation in _The Chaldean Account of
+Genesis_, by George Smith.
+
+[125] Langdon's _Sumerian and Babylonian Psalms_, p. 329 _et seq._
+
+[126] _The Burden of Isis_, translated by J.T. Dennis (_Wisdom of the
+East_ series), pp. 24, 31, 32, 39, 45, 46, 49.
+
+[127] _The Burden of Isis_, pp. 22, 46.
+
+[128] _Aspects of Religious Belief and Practice in Babylonia and
+Assyria_, p. 137, and _Herodotus_, book i, 199.
+
+[129] _The Burden of Isis_, p. 47.
+
+[130] _Original Sanskrit Texts_, J. Muir, London, 1890, vol. i, p. 67.
+
+[131] _Original Sanskrit Texts_, vol. i, p. 44.
+
+[132] _Adi Parva_ section of _Mahàbhàrata_ (Roy's translation), pp. 553,
+555.
+
+[133] _Ancient Irish Poetry_, Kuno Meyer (London, 1911), pp. 88-90.
+
+[134] Translations from _The Elder Edda_, by O. Bray (part i), London,
+1908.
+
+[135] _Babylonian Religion_, L.W. King, pp. 160, 161.
+
+[136] Tennyson's _A Dream of Fair Women._
+
+[137] _Greece and Babylon_, L.R. Farnell (Edinburgh, 1911), p. 35.
+
+[138] The goddesses did not become prominent until the "late invasion"
+of the post-Vedic Aryans.
+
+[139] _Greece and Babylon_, p. 96.
+
+[140] _Jeremiah_, xliv.
+
+[141] _Jeremiah, vii, 18._
+
+[142] _Aspects of Religious Belief and Practice in Babylonia and
+Assyria_, pp. 348, 349.
+
+[143] _Jeremiah, vii, 17._
+
+[144] _Nehemiah_, i, 1.
+
+[145] _Esther_, i, 6.
+
+[146] _Isaiah_, xiii, 19-22.
+
+[147] _Indian Myth and Legend_, pp. 173-175 and 192-194.
+
+[148] Or Rimush.
+
+[149] _Genesis_, xiv.
+
+[150] That is, the equivalent of Babylonia. During the Kassite period
+the name was Karduniash.
+
+[151] The narrative follows _The Seven Tablets of Creation_ and other
+fragments, while the account given by Berosus is also drawn upon.
+
+[152] The elder Bel was Enlil of Nippur and the younger Merodach of
+Babylon. According to Damascius the elder Bel came into existence before
+Ea, who as Enki shared his attributes.
+
+[153] This is the inference drawn from fragmentary texts.
+
+[154] A large portion of the narrative is awaiting here.
+
+[155] A title of Tiamat; pron. _ch_ guttural.
+
+[156] There is another gap here which interrupts the narrative.
+
+[157] This may refer to Ea's first visit when he overcame Kingu, but did
+not attack Tiamat.
+
+[158] The lightning trident or thunderstone.
+
+[159] The authorities are not agreed as to the meaning of "Ku-pu."
+Jensen suggests "trunk, body". In European dragon stories the heroes of
+the Siegfried order roast and eat the dragon's heart. Then they are
+inspired with the dragon's wisdom and cunning. Sigurd and Siegfried
+immediately acquire the language of birds. The birds are the "Fates",
+and direct the heroes what next they should do. Apparently Merodach's
+"cunning plan" was inspired after he had eaten a part of the body of
+Tiamat.
+
+[160] The waters above the firmament.
+
+[161] According to Berosus.
+
+[162] This portion is fragmentary and seems to indicate that the
+Babylonians had made considerable progress in the science of astronomy.
+It is suggested that they knew that the moon derived its light from the
+sun.
+
+[163] _The Seven Tablets of Creation_, L.W. King, pp. 134, 135.
+
+[164] _The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria_, T.G. Pinches, p. 43.
+
+[165] _The Seven Tablets of Creation_, L. W. King, vol. i, pp. 98, 99.
+
+[166] _Trans. Soc. Bib. Arch_., iv, 251-2.
+
+[167] Shakespeare's _Julius Caesar_, i, 3, 8.
+
+[168] _Isaiah_, li, 8.
+
+[169] Campbell's _West Highland Tales_, pp. 136 _et seq._
+
+[170] _The Life and Exploits of Alexander the Great_, E. A. Wallis
+Budge, pp. 284, 285.
+
+[171] Campbell's _West Highland Tales_.
+
+[172] _Nehemiah_, ii, 13.
+
+[173] _The Tempest_, i, 2, 212.
+
+[174] _Waifs and Strays of Celtic Tradition_, vol. iv, p. 176 et seq.
+
+[175] From unpublished folk tale.
+
+[176] _Beowulf_, translated by Clark Hall, London, 1911, p. 18 et seq.
+
+[177] _Beowulf_, translated by Clark Hall, London, 1911, p. 69, lines
+1280-1287.
+
+[178] _Egyptian Myth and Legend_, pp. 260, 261.
+
+[179] _Egyptian Myth and Legend_, pp. 8, 9.
+
+[180] _Indian Myth and Legend_, pp. xli, 149, 150.
+
+[181] _Isaiah_, li, 9.
+
+[182] _Psalms_, lxxiv, 13, 14. It will be noted that the Semitic dragon,
+like the Egyptian, is a male.
+
+[183] _Job_, xxvi, 12, 13.
+
+[184] _Psalms_, lxxxix, 10.
+
+[185] _Isaiah_, xxvii, I.
+
+[186] _Sumerian and Babylonian Psalms_, p. 204.
+
+[187] _Custom and Myth_, pp. 45 et seq.
+
+[188] Translation by Dr. Langdon, pp. 199 _et seq._
+
+[189] _The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria_, T.G. Pinches, pp. 118,
+119.
+
+[190] It is suggested that Arthur is derived from the Celtic word for
+"bear". If so, the bear may have been the "totem" of the Arthur tribe
+represented by the Scottish clan of MacArthurs.
+
+[191] See "Lady in the Straw" beliefs in _Brand's Popular Antiquities_,
+vol. ii, 66 _et seq._ (1899 ed.).
+
+[192] Like the Etana "mother eagle" Garuda was a slayer of serpents
+(Chapter III).
+
+[193] _Vana Parva_ section of the _Mahábhárata_ (Roy's trans.), p. 818
+_et seq._, and _Indian Myth and Legend_, p. 413.
+
+[194] _The Koran_ (with notes from approved commentators), trans. by
+George Sale, P-246, _n_.
+
+[195] _The Life and Exploits of Alexander the Great_, E. Wallis Budge
+(London, 1896), pp. 277-8, 474-5.
+
+[196] Campbell's _West Highland Tales_, vol. iii, pp. 251-4 (1892 ed.).
+
+[197] _Religion of the Ancient Egyptians_, A. Wiedemann, p. 141.
+
+[198] _Adi Parva_ section of the _Mahàbhàrata_ (Hymn to Garuda), Roy's
+trans., p. 88, 89.
+
+[199] Herodian, iv, 2.
+
+[200] The image made by Nebuchadnezzar is of interest in this
+connection. He decreed that "whoso falleth not down and worshippeth"
+should be burned in the "fiery furnace". The Hebrews, Shadrach, Meshach,
+and Abed-nego, were accordingly thrown into the fire, but were delivered
+by God. _Daniel_, iii, 1-30.
+
+[201] The Assyrian and Phoenician Hercules is discussed by Raoul
+Rochette in _Mémoires de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres_
+(Paris, 1848), pp. 178 et seq.
+
+[202] G. Sale's _Koran_, p. 246, n.
+
+[203] In the Eddic poem "Lokasenna" the god Byggvir (Barley) is
+addressed by Loki, "Silence, Barleycorn!" _The Elder Edda_, translation
+by Olive Bray, pp. 262, 263.
+
+[204] _De Nat. Animal_., xii, 21, ed. Didot, p. 210, quoted by Professor
+Budge in _The Life and Exploits of Alexander the Great_, p. 278, n.
+
+[205] _Isaiah_, lvii, 4 and 5.
+
+[206] _The Golden Bough (Adonis, Attis, Osiris_ vol.), "The Gardens of
+Adonis", pp. 194 _et seq._ (3rd ed.).
+
+[207] _Daniel_, iv, 33. It is possible that Nebuchadnezzar, as the human
+representative of the god of corn and fertility, imitated the god by
+living a time in the wilds like Ea-bani.
+
+[208] Pronounce _ch_ guttural.
+
+[209] On a cylinder seal the heroes each wrestle with a bull.
+
+[210] Alexander the Great in the course of his mythical travels reached
+a mountain at the world-end. "Its peak reached to the first heaven and
+its base to the seventh earth."--_Budge_.
+
+[211] Jastrow's trans., _Aspects of Religious Belief and Practice in
+Babylonia and Assyria_, p. 374.
+
+[212] _Development of Religion and Thought in Ancient Egypt_ (1912),
+J.H. Breasted, pp. 183-5.
+
+[213] _Ecclesiastes_, ix, 7-9.
+
+[214] Ibid., xii, 13.
+
+[215] Perhaps brooding and undergoing penance like an Indian Rishi with
+purpose to obtain spiritual power.
+
+[216] Probably to perform the ceremony of pouring out a libation.
+
+[217] _Saxo_, iii, 71.
+
+[218] Ibid., viii, 291.
+
+[219] _The Elder Edda_, O. Bray, pp. 157 et seq. See also _Teutonic Myth
+and Legend_.
+
+[220] _The Life and Exploits of Alexander the Great_, E. Wallis Budge,
+pp. xl et seq., 167 et seq.
+
+[221] _The Koran_, trans, by G. Sale, pp. 222, 223 (chap. xviii).
+
+[222] _Vana Parva_ section of the _Mahàbhàrata_ (Roy's trans.), pp.
+435-60, and _Indian Myth and Legend_, pp. 105-9.
+
+[223] _Vana Parva_ section of the _Mahàbhàrata_ (Roy's translation), pp.
+832, 833.
+
+[224] Ea addresses the hut in which his human favourite, Pir-napishtim,
+slept. His message was conveyed to this man in a dream.
+
+[225] The second sentence of Ea's speech is conjectural, as the lines
+are mutilated.
+
+[226] _The Muses' Pageant_, W.M.L. Hutchinson, pp. 5 _et seq._
+
+[227] _Indian Myth and Legend_, pp. 107 _et seq._
+
+[228] _Vana Parva_ section of the _Mahábhárata_ (Roy's trans.), p. 425.
+
+[229] _Indian Myth and Legend_, p. 141.
+
+[230] _Book of Leinster_, and Keating's _History of Ireland_, p. 150
+(1811 ed.).
+
+[231] _Religion of the Ancient Egyptians_, A. Wiedemann, pp. 58 _et
+seq._
+
+[232] Pinches' _The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria_, p. 42.
+
+[233] The problems involved are discussed from different points of view
+by Mr. L.W. King in _Babylonian Religion_ (Books on Egypt and Chaldaea,
+vol. iv), Professor Pinches in _The Old Testament in the Light of the
+Historical Records and Legends of Assyria and Babylonia,_ and other
+vols.
+
+[234] _Primitive Constellations_, vol. i, pp. 334-5.
+
+[235] _Indian Myth and Legend_, chap. iii.
+
+[236] Professor Macdonell's translation.
+
+[237] _Indian Wisdom_.
+
+[238] "Varuna, the deity bearing the noose as his weapon", _Sabha Parva_
+section of the _Mahábhárata_ (Roy's trans.), p. 29.
+
+[239] _Indian Myth and Legend_, pp. 38-42.
+
+[240] _Early Religious Poetry of Persia_, J.H. Moulton, pp. 41 _et seq._
+and 154 _et seq._
+
+[241] _The Elder Edda_, O. Bray, p. 55.
+
+[242] _The Elder Edda_, O. Bray, pp. 291 _et seq._
+
+[243] _Celtic Myth and Legend_, pp. 133 _et seq._
+
+[244] Tennyson's _The Passing of Arthur_.
+
+[245] _Job_, x, 1-22.
+
+[246] _The Elder Edda_, O. Bray, pp. 150-1.
+
+[247] _Indian Myth and Legend_, p. 326.
+
+[248] _The Religion of Ancient Rome_, Cyril Bailey, p. 50.
+
+[249] _The Life and Exploits of Alexander the Great (Ethiopic version of
+the Pseudo Callisthenes)_, pp. 133-4. The conversation possibly never
+took place, but it is of interest in so far as it reflects beliefs which
+were familiar to the author of this ancient work. His Brahmans evidently
+believed that immortality was denied to ordinary men, and reserved only
+for the king, who was the representative of the deity, of course.
+
+[250] _Aspects of Religious Belief and Practice in Babylonia and
+Assyria_, Morris Jastrow, pp. 358-9.
+
+[251] The _Mahàbhàrata_ (_Sabha Parva_ section), Roy's translation, pp.
+25-7.
+
+[252] _A History of Sumer and Akkad_, L.W. King, pp. 181-2.
+
+[253] _Genesis_, xxxv, 2-4.
+
+[254] _The Religion of Ancient Egypt_, W.M. Flinders Petrie, p. 72.
+
+[255] _Sabha Parva_ section of the _Mahàbhàrata_ (Roy's trans.), p. 29.
+
+[256] _Egyptian Myth and Legend_, p. 214.
+
+[257] Canto iv:--
+
+[258] _1 Samuel_, xxiii, 9-11.
+
+[259] _1 Kings_, xix, 19 and _2 Kings_, ii, 13-15.
+
+[260] _The Burial Customs of Ancient Egypt_, John Garstang, pp. 28, 29
+(London, 1907).
+
+[261] _Herod._, book i, 198.
+
+[262] _Records of the Past_ (old series), xi, pp. 109 et seq., and (new
+series), vol. i, pp. 149 et seq.
+
+[263] L.W. King's _The Seven Tablets of Creation_.
+
+[264] _Herodotus_, book i, 179 (Rawlinson's translation).
+
+[265] _Isaiah_, xlv, 1, 2.
+
+[266] _Herodotus_, book i, 181-3 (Rawlinson's translation).
+
+[267] _History of Sumer and Akkad_, L.W. King, p. 37.
+
+[268] _Herodotus_, book i, 196 (Rawlinson's translation).
+
+[269] _Home Life of the Highlanders_ (Dr. Cameron Gillies on _Medical
+Knowledge_,) pp. 85 _et seq._ Glasgow, 1911.
+
+[270] Translations by R.C. Thompson in _The Devils and Spirits of
+Babylon_, vol. i, pp. lxiii _et seq._
+
+[271] Bridges which lead to graveyards.
+
+[272] _Genesis_, xii and xiii.
+
+[273] _Genesis_, xiv, 13.
+
+[274] _Ibid_., xxiii.
+
+[275] _Ezekiel_, xvi, 3.
+
+[276] _Genesis_, xiv, 1-4.
+
+[277] _Ibid_., 5-24.
+
+[278] _Babylonian and Assyrian Laws, Contracts, and Letters_, C.H.W.
+Johns, pp. 392 _et seq._
+
+[279] Translation by Johns in _Babylonian and Assyrian Laws, Contracts,
+and Letters_, pp. 390 _et seq._
+
+[280] _Matthew_, ix, 37.
+
+[281] Johns's _Babylonian and Assyrian Laws, &c._, pp. 371-2.
+
+[282] _The Land of the Hittites_, John Garstang, pp. 312 _et seq._ and
+315 _et seq._
+
+[283] _The Ancient Egyptian_, pp. 106 _et seq._
+
+[284] _The Ancient Egyptians_, p. 130.
+
+[285] _Struggle of the Nations_ (1896), p. 19.
+
+[286] Note contributed to _The Land of the Hittites_, J. Garstang, p.
+324.
+
+[287] _Genesis_, xxvi, 34, 35.
+
+[288] _Ezekiel_, xvi, 45.
+
+[289] _Genesis_, xxvii, 46.
+
+[290] _Genesis_, xxviii, 1, 2.
+
+[291] _Genesis_, xxiv.
+
+[292] _The Syrian Goddess_, John Garstang (London, 1913), pp. 17-8.
+
+[293] _Vedic Index of Names and Subjects_, Macdonald & Keith, vol. i,
+pp. 64-5 (London, 1912).
+
+[294] _The Wanderings of Peoples_, p. 21.
+
+[295] Breasted's _History of Egypt_, pp. 219-20.
+
+[296] _A History of Egypt_, W.M. Flinders Petrie, vol. ii, p. 146 _et
+seq._ (1904 ed.).
+
+[297] _A History of Egypt_, W.M. Flinders Petrie, vol. ii, p. 147 (1904
+ed.).
+
+[298] _The Old Testament in the Light of the Historical Records and
+Legends of Assyria and Babylonia,_ pp. 126 _et seq._
+
+[299] His connection with Anu is discussed in chapter xiv.
+
+[300] _Ancient Assyria_, C.H.W. Johns, p. 11 (London, 1912).
+
+[301] _The Tell-el-Amarna Letters_, Hugo Winckler, p. 31.
+
+[302] "It may be worth while to note again", says Beddoe, "how often
+finely developed skulls are discovered in the graveyards of old
+monasteries, and how likely seems Galton's conjecture, that progress was
+arrested in the Middle Ages, because the celibacy of the clergy brought
+about the extinction of the best strains of blood." _The Anthropological
+History of Europe_, p. 161 (1912).
+
+[303] _Census of India_, vol. I, part i, pp. 352 et seq.
+
+[304] _Hibbert Lectures_, Professor Sayce, p. 328.
+
+[305] _The Story of Nala_, Monier Williams, pp. 68-9 and 77.
+
+[306] "In Ymer's flesh (the earth) the dwarfs were engendered and began
+to move and live.... The dwarfs had been bred in the mould of the earth,
+just as worms are in a dead body." _The Prose Edda_. "The gods ... took
+counsel whom they should make the lord of dwarfs out of Ymer's blood
+(the sea) and his swarthy limbs (the earth)." _The Elder Edda (Voluspa_,
+stanza 9).
+
+[307] _The Story of Nala_, Monier Williams, p. 67.
+
+[308] _Egyptian Myth and Legend_, pp. 168 _it seq._
+
+[309] _The Burden of Isis_, Dennis, p. 24.
+
+[310] _Babylonian Magic and Sorcery_, p. 117.
+
+[311] _Babylonian and Assyrian Religion_, T.G. Pinches, p. l00.
+
+[312] _The Burden of Isis_, J.T. Dennis, p. 49.
+
+[313] _Ibid_., p. 52.
+
+[314] _Religion of the Ancient Egyptians_, A. Wiedemann, p. 30.
+
+[315] _Vedic Index_, Macdonell & Keith, vol. i, pp. 423 _et seq._
+
+[316] _Religion of the Ancient Babylonians_, Sayce, p. 153, n. 6.
+
+[317] _Religion of the Ancient Egyptians_, A. Wiedemann, p. 30.
+
+[318] _Aspects of Religious Belief and Practice in Babylonia and
+Assyria_, p. 95.
+
+[319] _Babylonian and Assyrian Religion_, pp. 63 and 83.
+
+[320] When the King of Assyria transported the Babylonians, &c., to
+Samaria "the men of Cuth made Nergal", _2 Kings_, xvii, 30.
+
+[321] _Babylonian and Assyrian Religion_, p. 80.
+
+[322] _Indian Myth and Legend_, p. 13.
+
+[323] Derived from the Greek zōon, an animal.
+
+[324] _The Hittites_, pp. 116, 119, 120, 272.
+
+[325] "The sun... is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and
+rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race." (_Psalm_ xix, 4 _et seq._) The
+marriage of the sun bridegroom with the moon bride appears to occur in
+Hittite mythology. In Aryo-Indian Vedic mythology the bride of the sun
+(Surya) is Ushas, the Dawn. The sun maiden also married the moon god.
+The Vedic gods ran a race and Indra and Agni were the winners. The sun
+was "of the nature of Agni". _Indian Myth and Legend_, pp. 14, 36, 37.
+
+[326] Or golden.
+
+[327] The later reference is to Assyria. There was no Assyrian kingdom
+when these early beliefs were developed.
+
+[328] _Primitive Constellations_, R. Brown, jun., vol. ii, p. 1 _et
+seq._
+
+[329] In India "finger counting" (Kaur guna) is associated with prayer
+or the repeating of mantras. The counting is performed by the thumb,
+which, when the hand is drawn up, touches the upper part of the third
+finger. The two upper "chambers" of the third finger are counted, then
+the two upper "chambers" of the little finger; the thumb then touches
+the tip of each finger from the little finger to the first; when it
+comes down into the upper chamber of the first finger 9 is counted. By a
+similar process each round of 9 on the right hand is recorded by the
+left up to 12; 12 X 9 = 108 repetitions of a mantra. The upper
+"chambers" of the fingers are the "best" or "highest" (uttama), the
+lower (adhama) chambers are not utilized in the prayer-counting process.
+When Hindus sit cross-legged at prayers, with closed eyes, the right
+hand is raised from the elbow in front of the body, and the thumb moves
+each time a mantra is repeated; the left hand lies palm upward on the
+left knee, and the thumb moves each time nine mantras have been counted.
+
+[330] _Primitive Constellations_, R. Brown, jun., vol. ii, p. 61; and
+_Early History of Northern India,_ J.F. Hewitt, pp. 551-2.
+
+[331] _Rigveda-Samhita,_ vol. iv (1892), p. 67.
+
+[332] _Vedic Index_, Macdonell & Keith, vol. ii, pp. 192 _et seq._
+
+[333] _Indian Myth and Legend_
+
+[334] Pp. 107 _et seq._
+
+[335] _Primitive Constellation_, R. Brown, jun., vol. i, 1. 333. A table
+is given showing how 120 saroi equals 360 degrees, each king being
+identified with a star.
+
+[336] "Behold, his majesty the god Ra is grown old; his bones are become
+silver, his limbs gold, and his hair pure lapis lazuli." _Religion of
+the Ancient Egyptians,_ A. Wiedemann, p. 58. Ra became a destroyer after
+completing his reign as an earthly king.
+
+[337] As Nin-Girau, Tammuz was associated with "sevenfold" Orion.
+
+[338] _Babylonian and Assyrian Life_, pp. 61, 62.
+
+[339] Herodotus (ii, 52) as quoted in _Egypt and Scythia_ (London,
+1886), p. 49.
+
+[340] _Babylonian Magic and Sorcery_, L.W. King (London, 1896), pp. 43
+and 115.
+
+[341] _Vedic Index_, Macdonell & Keith, vol. ii, p. 229.
+
+[342] _Ibid_ vol. i, pp. 409, 410.
+
+[343] _Ibid_ vol. i, p. 415.
+
+[344] _Primitive Constellations_, vol. i, p. 343.
+
+[345] _Custom and Myth_, pp. 133 _et seq._
+
+[346] Dr. Alfred Jeremias gives very forcible reasons for believing that
+the ancient Babylonians were acquainted with the precession of the
+equinoxes. _Das Alter der Babylonischen Astronomie_ (Hinrichs, Leipzig,
+1908), pp. 47 _et seq._
+
+[347] _Aspects of Religious Belief and Practice in Babylonia and
+Assyria_, pp. 207 _et seq._
+
+[348] _A History of the Babylonians and Assyrians_, p. 93.
+
+[349] _Babylonians and Assyrians: Life and Customs_, pp. 219, 220.
+
+[350] _Primitive Constellations_, vol. ii, pp. 147 et seq.
+
+[351] The Aryo-Indians had a lunar year of 360 days (_Vedic Index_, ii,
+158).
+
+[352] _A History of the Babylonians and Assyrians_, p. 94.
+
+[353] _Twelfth Night_, act ii, scene 5.
+
+[354] _Childe Harold_, canto iii, v, 88.
+
+[355] _Genesis_, x, 11.
+
+[356] "A number of tablets have been found in Cappadocia of the time of
+the Second Dynasty of Ur which show marked affinities with Assyria. The
+divine name Ashir, as in early Assyrian texts, the institution of
+eponyms and many personal names which occur in Assyria, are so
+characteristic that we must assume kinship of peoples. But whether they
+witness to a settlement in Cappadocia from Assyria, or vice versa, is
+not yet clear." _Ancient Assyria_, C.H.W. Johns (Cambridge, 1912), pp.
+12-13.
+
+[357] Sumerian Ziku, apparently derived from Zi, the spiritual essence
+of life, the "self power" of the Universe.
+
+[358] _Peri Archon_, cxxv.
+
+[359] _Religion of Babylonia and Assyria_, p. 197 et seq.
+
+[360] _Julius Caesar_, act iii, scene I.
+
+[361] _Isaiah_, xiv, 4-14.
+
+[362] _Eddubrott_, ii.
+
+[363] _Religion of the Ancient Egyptians_, A. Wiedemann, pp. 289-90.
+
+[364] _Ibid_., p. 236. Atlas was also believed to be in the west.
+
+[365] _Primitive Constellations_, vol. ii, p. 184.
+
+[366] _Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia,_ xxx, II.
+
+[367] _Isaiah_, xiii, 21. For "Satyrs" the Revised Version gives the
+alternative translation, "or he-goats".
+
+[368] _Aspects of Religious Belief and Practice in Babylonia and
+Assyria_, p. 120, plate 18 and note.
+
+[369] _Satapatha Brahmana_, translated by Professor Eggeling, part iv,
+1897, p. 371. _(Sacred Books of the East_.)
+
+[370] _Egyptian Myth and Legend_, pp. 165 et seq.
+
+[371] _Classic Myth and Legend_, p. 105. The birds were called
+"Stymphalides".
+
+[372] The so-called "shuttle" of Neith may be a thunderbolt. Scotland's
+archaic thunder deity is a goddess. The bow and arrows suggest a
+lightning goddess who was a deity of war because she was a deity of
+fertility.
+
+[373] _Vedic Index_, Macdonell & Keith, vol. ii, pp. 125-6, and vol. i,
+168-9.
+
+[374] _Ezekiel_, xxxi, 3-8.
+
+[375] _Ezekiel_, xxvii, 23, 24.
+
+[376] _Isaiah_, xxxvii, 11.
+
+[377] _Ibid_., x, 5, 6.
+
+[378] A winged human figure, carrying in one hand a basket and in
+another a fir cone.
+
+[379] Layard's _Nineveh_ (1856), p. 44.
+
+[380] _Ibid_., p. 309.
+
+[381] The fir cone was offered to Attis and Mithra. Its association with
+Ashur suggests that the great Assyrian deity resembled the gods of corn
+and trees and fertility.
+
+[382] _Nineveh_, p. 47.
+
+[383] _Isaiah_, xxxvii, 37-8.
+
+[384] _The Old Testament in the Light of the Historical Records and
+Legends of Assyria and Babylonia,_ pp. 129-30.
+
+[385] An eclipse of the sun in Assyria on June 15, 763 B.C., was
+followed by an outbreak of civil war.
+
+[386] _Ezekiel_, i, 4-14.
+
+[387] _Ezekiel,_ xxiii, 1-15.
+
+[388] As the soul of the Egyptian god was in the sun disk or sun egg.
+
+[389] _Ezekiel,_, i, 15-28.
+
+[390] _Ezekiel_, x, 11-5.
+
+[391] Also called "Amrita".
+
+[392] The _Mahabharata_ (_Adi Parva_), Sections xxxiii-iv.
+
+[393] Another way of spelling the Turkish name which signifies "village
+of the pass". The deep "gh" guttural is not usually attempted by English
+speakers. A common rendering is "Bog-haz' Kay-ee", a slight "oo" sound
+being given to the "a" in "Kay"; the "z" sound is hard and hissing.
+
+[394] _The Land of the Hittites_, J. Garstang, pp. 178 _et seq._
+
+[395] _Ibid_., p. 173.
+
+[396] _Adonis, Attis, Osiris_, chaps. v and vi.
+
+[397] _Daniel_, iii, 1-26.
+
+[398] The story that Abraham hung an axe round the neck of Baal after
+destroying the other idols is of Jewish origin.
+
+[399] _The Koran_, George Sale, pp. 245-6.
+
+[400] _Isaiah_, xxx, 31-3. See also for Tophet customs _2 Kings_, xxiii,
+10; _Jeremiah_, vii, 31, 32 and xix, 5-12.
+
+[401] _1 Kings_, xvi, 18.
+
+[402] _1 Samuel_, xxxi, 12, 13 and _1 Chronicles_, x, 11, 12.
+
+[403] _The Old Testament in the Light of the Historical Records and
+Legends of Assyria and Babylonia,_ pp. 201-2.
+
+[404] _Babylonian and Assyrian Religion_, pp. 57-8.
+
+[405] _Aspects of Religious Belief and Practice in Babylonia and
+Assyria_, p. 121.
+
+[406] _Babylonian and Assyrian Religion_, p. 86.
+
+[407] At Carchemish a railway bridge spans the mile-wide river ferry
+which Assyria's soldiers were wont to cross with the aid of skin floats.
+The engineers have found it possible to utilize a Hittite river wall
+about 3000 years old--the oldest engineering structure in the world. The
+ferry was on the old trade route.
+
+[408] _Deuteronomy_, xxvi, 5
+
+[409] Pr. _u_ as _oo_.
+
+[410] The chief cities of North Syria were prior to this period Hittite.
+This expansion did not change the civilization but extended the area of
+occupation and control.
+
+[411] Garstang's _The Land of the Hittites,_ p. 349.
+
+[412] "Burgh of Tukulti-Ninip."
+
+[413] Article "Celts" in _Encyclopaedia Britannica_, eleventh ed.
+
+[414] _The Wanderings of Peoples_, p. 41.
+
+[415] _Crete, the Forerunner of Greece_, p. 146.
+
+[416] Pr. Moosh´kee.
+
+[417] "Have I not brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt and the
+Philistines from Caphtor (Crete)?" _Amos_, viii, 7.
+
+[418] _A History of Civilization in Palestine_, p. 58.
+
+[419] Pinches' translation.
+
+[420] _I Samuel_, xiii, 19.
+
+[421] _A History of Civilization in Palestine_, p. 54.
+
+[422] _1 Kings_, iii, 1.
+
+[423] _Ibid_., ix, 16.
+
+[424] _1 Kings_, v, 1-12.
+
+[425] _Ibid_., vii, 14 _et seq._
+
+[426] _Ibid_., x, 22-3.
+
+[427] _Indian Myth and Legend_, pp. 83-4.
+
+[428] _Finn and His Warrior Band_, pp. 245 _et seq._ (London, 1911).
+
+[429] Also rendered Ashur-na'sir-pal.
+
+[430] _A History of the Babylonians and Assyrians_, G.S. Goodspeed, p.
+197.
+
+[431] _Discoveries at Nineveh_, Sir A.H. Layard (London, 1856), pp. 55,
+56.
+
+[432] "Thou art beautiful, O my love, as Tirzah, comely as Jerusalem."
+_Solomon's Song_, vi, 4.
+
+[433] _2 Chronicles_, xii, 15.
+
+[434] _1 Kings_, xiv, 1-20.
+
+[435] _Ibid._, 21-3.
+
+[436] _2 Chronicles_, xii, 1-12.
+
+[437] _2 Chronicles_, xiii, 1-20.
+
+[438] _Ibid._, xiv, 1-6.
+
+[439] _1 Kings_, xv, 25-6.
+
+[440] _1 Kings_, xv, 16-7.
+
+[441] _Ibid._, 18-9.
+
+[442] _Ibid._, 20-2.
+
+[443] _1 Kings_, xvi, 9-10.
+
+[444] _Ibid._, 15-8.
+
+[445] _Ibid._, 21-2.
+
+[446] _Micah_, vi, 16.
+
+[447] _1 Kings_, xvi, 29-33.
+
+[448] _Ibid._, xviii, 1-4.
+
+[449] _1 Kings_, xx.
+
+[450] _Ibid._, xxii, 43.
+
+[451] _2 Chronicles_, xviii, 1-2.
+
+[452] _1 Kings_, xxii and _2 Chronicles_, xviii.
+
+[453] _1 Kings_, xxii, 48-9.
+
+[454] _1 Kings_, viii.
+
+[455] _2 Kings_, ix and _2 Chronicles_, xxii.
+
+[456] _2 Kings_, viii, 1-15.
+
+[457] _The Old Testament in the Light of the Historical Records and
+Legends of Assyria and Babylonia_, pp. 337 _et seq._
+
+[458] _2 Kings_, x, 32-3.
+
+[459] _Ibid._, 1-31.
+
+[460] _2 Kings_, xi, 1-3.
+
+[461] _2 Chronicles_, xxii, 10-12.
+
+[462] _2 Chronicles_, xxiii, 1-17.
+
+[463] _2 Kings_, xiii, 1-5.
+
+[464] _The Land of the Hittites_, J. Garstang, p. 354.
+
+[465] _The Old Testament in the Light of the Historical Records and
+Legends of Assyria and Babylonia,_ T.G. Pinches, p. 343.
+
+[466] _Nat. Hist_., v, 19 and _Strabo_ xvi, 1-27.
+
+[467] _The Mahabharata: Adi Parva_, sections lxxi and lxxii (Roy's
+translation), pp. 213 216, and _Indian Myth and Legend_, pp. 157 _et
+seq._
+
+[468] That is, without ceremony but with consent.
+
+[469] _The Golden Bough_ (_The Scapegoat_), pp. 369 _et seq._, (3rd
+edition). Perhaps the mythic Semiramis and legends connected were in
+existence long before the historic Sammu-rammat, though the two got
+mixed up.
+
+[470] _Herodotus_, i, 184.
+
+[471] _De dea Syria_, 9-14.
+
+[472] _Strabo_, xvi, 1, 2.
+
+[473] _Diodorus Siculus_, ii, 3.
+
+[474] _Herodotus_, i, 105.
+
+[475] _Diodorus Siculus_, ii, 4.
+
+[476] _De dea Syria_, 14.
+
+[477] This little bird allied to the woodpecker twists its neck
+strangely when alarmed. It may have symbolized the coquettishness of
+fair maidens. As love goddesses were "Fates", however, the wryneck may
+have been connected with the belief that the perpetrator of a murder, or
+a death spell, could be detected when he approached his victim's corpse.
+If there was no wound to "bleed afresh", the "death thraw" (the
+contortions of death) might indicate who the criminal was. In a Scottish
+ballad regarding a lady, who was murdered by her lover, the verse
+occurs:
+
+[478] Langdon's _Sumerian and Babylonian Psalms_, pp. 133, 135.
+
+[479] Introduction to Lane's _Manners and Customs of the Modern
+Egyptians._
+
+[480] Tammuz is referred to in a Sumerian psalm as "him of the dovelike
+voice, yea, dovelike". He may have had a dove form. Angus, the Celtic
+god of spring, love, and fertility, had a swan form; he also had his
+seasonal period of sleep like Tammuz.
+
+[481] Campbell's _Superstitions of the Scottish Highlands_, p. 288.
+
+[482] _Indian Myth and Legend_, p. 95.
+
+[483] _Ibid_., pp. 329-30.
+
+[484] _Crete, the Forerunner of Greece_, C.H. and H.B. Hawes, p. 139
+
+[485] _The Discoveries in Crete_, pp. 137-8.
+
+[486] _Religion of the Semites_, p. 294.
+
+[487] _Egyptian Myth and Legend_, p. 59.
+
+[488] Including the goose, one of the forms of the harvest goddess.
+
+[489] _Brand's Popular Antiquities_, vol. ii, 230-1 and vol. iii, 232
+(1899 ed.).
+
+[490] _Ibid_., vol. iii, 217. The myrtle was used for love charms.
+
+[491] _The Golden Bough_ (_Spirits of the Corn and of the Wild_), vol.
+ii, p. 293 (3rd ed.).
+
+[492] _Herodotus_, ii, 69, 71, and 77.
+
+[493] _Brand's Popular Antiquities_, vol. iii, p. 227.
+
+[494] Cited by Professor Burrows in _The Discoveries in Crete_, p. 134.
+
+[495] Like the Egyptian Horus, Nebo had many phases: he was connected
+with the sun and moon, the planet Mercury, water and crops; he was young
+and yet old--a mystical god.
+
+[496] _Aspects of Religious Belief and Practice in Babylonia and
+Assyria_, pp. 94 _et seq._
+
+[497] _Babylonian Magic and Sorcery_, L.W. King, pp. 6-7 and 26-7.
+
+[498] _2 Kings_, xiii, 3.
+
+[499] _2 Kings_, xiii, 14-25.
+
+[500] _3 Kings_, xiii, 5, 6.
+
+[501] The masses of the Urartian folk appear to have been of Hatti
+stock--"broad heads", like their descendants, the modern Armenians.
+
+[502] It is uncertain whether this city or Kullani in north Syria it the
+Biblical Calno. _Isaiah_, x, 9.
+
+[503] _2 Kings_, xv, 19 and 29; _2 Chronicles_, xxviii, 20.
+
+[504] _2 Kings_, xviii, 34 and xix, 13.
+
+[505] _2 Kings_, xiv, 1-14.
+
+[506] _2 Kings_, xv, 1-14.
+
+[507] _2 Kings_, xv, 19, 20.
+
+[508] _2 Kings_, xv, 25.
+
+[509] _Amos_, v.
+
+[510] _Amos_, i.
+
+[511] _2 Kings_, xvi, 5.
+
+[512] _Isaiah_, vii, 3-7.
+
+[513] _2 Kings_, xv, 3.
+
+[514] _Isaiah_, vii, 18.
+
+[515] Kir was probably on the borders of Elam.
+
+[516] _2 Kings_, xvi, 7-9.
+
+[517] _2 Kings_, xv, 29, 30.
+
+[518] _2 Kings_, xvi, 10.
+
+[519] In the Hebrew text this monarch is called Sua, Seveh, and So, says
+Maspero. The Assyrian texts refer to him as Sebek, Shibahi, Shabè, &c.
+He has been identified with Pharaoh Shabaka of the Twenty-fifth Egyptian
+Dynasty; that monarch may have been a petty king before he founded his
+Dynasty. Another theory is that he was Seve, king of Mutsri, and still
+another that he was a petty king of an Egyptian state in the Delta and
+not Shabaka.
+
+[520] _2 Kings_, xvii, 3-5.
+
+[521] _Isaiah_, xx, 1.
+
+[522] _2 Kings_, xvii, 6.
+
+[523] _2 Kings_, xvii, 16-41.
+
+[524] The people carried away would not be the whole of the
+inhabitants--only, one would suppose, the more important personages,
+enough to make up the number 27,290 given above.
+
+[525] _Passing of the Empires_, pp. 200-1.
+
+[526] Those who, like Breasted, identify "Piru of Mutsri" with "Pharaoh
+of Egypt" adopt the view that Bocchoris of Sais paid tribute to Sargon.
+Piru, however, is subsequently referred to with two Arabian kings as
+tribute payers to Sargon apparently after Lower Egypt had come under the
+sway of Shabaka, the first king of the Ethiopian or Twenty-fifth
+Dynasty.
+
+[527] _Isaiah_, xx, 2-5.
+
+[528] Commander-in-chief.
+
+[529] _Isaiah_, xx, 1.
+
+[530] _The Old Testament in the Light of the Historical Records and
+Legends of Assyria and Babylonia,_ T.G. Pinches, p. 372.
+
+[531] _Isaiah_, xxxvii, 9.
+
+[532] _Isaiah_, xxix, 1, 2.
+
+[533] _2 Chronicles_, xxxii, 9-17.
+
+[534] _2 Kings_, xix, 6, 7.
+
+[535] _2 Kings_, xix, 35, 36.
+
+[536] Smith-Sayce, _History of Sennacherib_, pp. 132-5.
+
+[537] _A History of Sumer and Akkad_, p. 37.
+
+[538] _Isaiah_, xxxvii, 8-13.
+
+[539] _2 Kings_, xxi, 3-7.
+
+[540] _2 Kings_, xxi, 16.
+
+[541] _Hebrews_, xi, 36, 37.
+
+[542] _2 Chronicles_, xxxiii, 11-3. It may be that Manasseh was taken to
+Babylon during Ashur-bani-pal's reign. See next chapter.
+
+[543] Pronounce _g_ as in _gem_.
+
+[544] _Nahum_, i, ii, and iii.
+
+[545] _Isaiah_, xlvi, 1; xlvii, 1-15.
+
+[546] _Nahum_, iii, 2, 3; ii, 3.
+
+[547] Goodspeed's _A History of the Babylonians and Assyrians_, p. 348.
+
+[548] _Nahum_, iii, 8-11.
+
+[549] Ptolemy's Kineladanus.
+
+[550] _Ezra_, iv, 10.
+
+[551] _Nahum_, iii and ii.
+
+[552] 2 _Kings_, xxiii, 29.
+
+[553] _Ibid._, 33-5.
+
+[554] Nebuchadrezzar is more correct than Nebuchadnezzar.
+
+[555] _2 Kings_, xxiv, 7.
+
+[556] _2 Chronicles_, xxxvi, 6.
+
+[557] _2 Kings_, xxiv, 1.
+
+[558] _2 Kings_, xxiv, 8-15.
+
+[559] _Jeremiah_, lii, 3.
+
+[560] _Jeremiah_, lii, 4-11.
+
+[561] _The Laminations of Jeremiah_, i, 1-7.
+
+[562] _Jeremiah_, lii, 31-4.
+
+[563] _Daniel_, v, I et seq.
+
+[564] _Psalms_, cxxxvii, 1-6.
+
+[565] _Ezra_, i, 1-3.
+
+[566] _Herodotus_, i, 183; _Strabo_, xvi, 1, 5; and _Arrian_, vii, 17.
+
+[567] _Strabo_, xvi, 1-5.
+
+[568] _Isaiah_, xxiiv, 11-4.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Myths of Babylonia and Assyria
+by Donald A. Mackenzie
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+Project Gutenberg's Myths of Babylonia and Assyria, by Donald A. Mackenzie
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Myths of Babylonia and Assyria
+
+Author: Donald A. Mackenzie
+
+Release Date: September 5, 2005 [EBook #16653]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MYTHS OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Sami Sieranoja, Tapio Riikonen and PG
+Distributed Proofreaders
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+MYTHS OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA
+
+Donald A. Mackenzie
+
+
+
+TABLE OF CONTENTS
+
+                Preface
+                Introduction
+I.              The Races and Early Civilization of Babylonia
+II.             The Land of Rivers and the God of the Deep
+III.            Rival Pantheons and Representative Deities
+IV.             Demons, Fairies, and Ghosts
+V.              Myths of Tammuz and Ishtar
+VI.             Wars of the City States of Sumer and Akkad
+VII.            Creation Legend: Merodach the Dragon Slayer
+VIII.           Deified Heroes: Etana and Gilgamesh
+IX.             Deluge Legend, the Island of the Blessed, and Hades
+X.              Buildings and Laws and Customs of Babylon
+XI.             The Golden Age of Babylonia
+XII.            Rise of the Hittites, Mitannians, Kassites, Hyksos, and
+                Assyrians
+XIII.           Astrology and Astronomy
+XIV.            Ashur the National God of Assyria
+XV.             Conflicts for Trade and Supremacy
+XVI.            Race Movements that Shattered Empires
+XVII.           The Hebrews in Assyrian History
+XVIII.          The Age of Semiramis
+XIX.            Assyria's Age of Splendour
+XX.             The Last Days of Assyria and Babylonia
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+
+This volume deals with the myths and legends of Babylonia and Assyria,
+and as these reflect the civilization in which they developed, a
+historical narrative has been provided, beginning with the early
+Sumerian Age and concluding with the periods of the Persian and
+Grecian Empires. Over thirty centuries of human progress are thus
+passed under review.
+
+During this vast interval of time the cultural influences emanating
+from the Tigro-Euphrates valley reached far-distant shores along the
+intersecting avenues of trade, and in consequence of the periodic and
+widespread migrations of peoples who had acquired directly or
+indirectly the leavening elements of Mesopotamian civilization. Even
+at the present day traces survive in Europe of the early cultural
+impress of the East; our "Signs of the Zodiac", for instance, as well
+as the system of measuring time and space by using 60 as a basic
+numeral for calculation, are inheritances from ancient Babylonia.
+
+As in the Nile Valley, however, it is impossible to trace in
+Mesopotamia the initiatory stages of prehistoric culture based on the
+agricultural mode of life. What is generally called the "Dawn of
+History" is really the beginning of a later age of progress; it is
+necessary to account for the degree of civilization attained at the
+earliest period of which we have knowledge by postulating a remoter
+age of culture of much longer duration than that which separates the
+"Dawn" from the age in which we now live. Although Sumerian (early
+Babylonian) civilization presents distinctively local features which
+justify the application of the term "indigenous" in the broad sense,
+it is found, like that of Egypt, to be possessed of certain elements
+which suggest exceedingly remote influences and connections at present
+obscure. Of special interest in this regard is Professor Budge's
+mature and well-deliberated conclusion that "both the Sumerians and
+early Egyptians derived their primeval gods from some common but
+exceedingly ancient source". The prehistoric burial customs of these
+separate peoples are also remarkably similar and they resemble closely
+in turn those of the Neolithic Europeans. The cumulative effect of
+such evidence forces us to regard as not wholly satisfactory and
+conclusive the hypothesis of cultural influence. A remote racial
+connection is possible, and is certainly worthy of consideration when
+so high an authority as Professor Frazer, author of _The Golden
+Bough_, is found prepared to admit that the widespread "homogeneity of
+beliefs" may have been due to "homogeneity of race". It is shown
+(Chapter 1) that certain ethnologists have accumulated data which
+establish a racial kinship between the Neolithic Europeans, the
+proto-Egyptians, the Sumerians, the southern Persians, and the
+Aryo-Indians.
+
+Throughout this volume comparative notes have been compiled in dealing
+with Mesopotamian beliefs with purpose to assist the reader towards
+the study of linking myths and legends. Interesting parallels have
+been gleaned from various religious literatures in Europe, Egypt,
+India, and elsewhere. It will be found that certain relics of
+Babylonian intellectual life, which have a distinctive geographical
+significance, were shared by peoples in other cultural areas where
+they were similarly overlaid with local colour. Modes of thought were
+the products of modes of life and were influenced in their development
+by human experiences. The influence of environment on the growth of
+culture has long been recognized, but consideration must also be given
+to the choice of environment by peoples who had adopted distinctive
+habits of life. Racial units migrated from cultural areas to districts
+suitable for colonization and carried with them a heritage of
+immemorial beliefs and customs which were regarded as being quite as
+indispensable for their welfare as their implements and domesticated
+animals.
+
+When consideration is given in this connection to the conservative
+element in primitive religion, it is not surprising to find that the
+growth of religious myths was not so spontaneous in early
+civilizations of the highest order as has hitherto been assumed. It
+seems clear that in each great local mythology we have to deal, in the
+first place, not with symbolized ideas so much as symbolized folk
+beliefs of remote antiquity and, to a certain degree, of common
+inheritance. It may not be found possible to arrive at a conclusive
+solution of the most widespread, and therefore the most ancient folk
+myths, such as, for instance, the Dragon Myth, or the myth of the
+culture hero. Nor, perhaps, is it necessary that we should concern
+ourselves greatly regarding the origin of the idea of the dragon,
+which in one country symbolized fiery drought and in another
+overwhelming river floods.
+
+The student will find footing on surer ground by following the process
+which exalts the dragon of the folk tale into the symbol of evil and
+primordial chaos. The Babylonian Creation Myth, for instance, can be
+shown to be a localized and glorified legend in which the hero and his
+tribe are displaced by the war god and his fellow deities whose
+welfare depends on his prowess. Merodach kills the dragon, Tiamat, as
+the heroes of Eur-Asian folk stories kill grisly hags, by casting his
+weapon down her throat.
+
+    He severed her inward parts, he pierced her heart,
+    He overcame her and cut off her life;
+    He cast down her body and stood upon it ...
+    And with merciless club he smashed her skull.
+    He cut through the channels of her blood,
+    And he made the north wind to bear it away into secret places.
+
+Afterwards
+
+    He divided the flesh of the _Ku-pu_ and devised a cunning plan.
+
+Mr. L.W. King, from whose scholarly _Seven Tablets of Creation_ these
+lines are quoted, notes that "Ku-pu" is a word of uncertain meaning.
+Jensen suggests "trunk, body". Apparently Merodach obtained special
+knowledge after dividing, and perhaps eating, the "Ku-pu". His
+"cunning plan" is set forth in detail: he cut up the dragon's body:
+
+    He split her up like a flat fish into two halves.
+
+He formed the heavens with one half and the earth with the other, and
+then set the universe in order. His power and wisdom as the Demiurge
+were derived from the fierce and powerful Great Mother, Tiamat.
+
+In other dragon stories the heroes devise their plans after eating the
+dragon's heart. According to Philostratus,[1] Apollonius of Tyana was
+worthy of being remembered for two things--his bravery in travelling
+among fierce robber tribes, not then subject to Rome, and his wisdom
+in learning the language of birds and other animals as the Arabs do.
+This accomplishment the Arabs acquired, Philostratus explains, by
+eating the hearts of dragons. The "animals" who utter magic words are,
+of course, the Fates. Siegfried of the _Nibelungenlied_, after slaying
+the Regin dragon, makes himself invulnerable by bathing in its blood.
+He obtains wisdom by eating the heart: as soon as he tastes it he can
+understand the language of birds, and the birds reveal to him that
+Mimer is waiting to slay him. Sigurd similarly makes his plans after
+eating the heart of the Fafner dragon. In Scottish legend
+Finn-mac-Coul obtains the power to divine secrets by partaking of a
+small portion of the seventh salmon associated with the "well dragon",
+and Michael Scott and other folk heroes become great physicians after
+tasting the juices of the middle part of the body of the white snake.
+The hero of an Egyptian folk tale slays a "deathless snake" by cutting
+it in two parts and putting sand between the parts. He then obtains
+from the box, of which it is the guardian, the book of spells; when he
+reads a page of the spells he knows what the birds of the sky, the
+fish of the deep, and the beasts of the hill say; the book gives him
+power to enchant "the heaven and the earth, the abyss, the mountains
+and the sea".[2]
+
+Magic and religion were never separated in Babylonia; not only the
+priests but also the gods performed magical ceremonies. Ea, Merodach's
+father, overcame Apsu, the husband of the dragon Tiamat, by means of
+spells: he was "the great magician of the gods". Merodach's division
+of the "Ku-pu" was evidently an act of contagious magic; by eating or
+otherwise disposing of the vital part of the fierce and wise mother
+dragon, he became endowed with her attributes, and was able to proceed
+with the work of creation. Primitive peoples in our own day, like the
+Abipones of Paraguay, eat the flesh of fierce and cunning animals so
+that their strength, courage, and wisdom may be increased.
+
+The direct influence exercised by cultural contact, on the other hand,
+may be traced when myths with an alien geographical setting are found
+among peoples whose experiences could never have given them origin. In
+India, where the dragon symbolizes drought and the western river
+deities are female, the Manu fish and flood legend resembles closely
+the Babylonian, and seems to throw light upon it. Indeed, the Manu
+myth appears to have been derived from the lost flood story in which
+Ea figured prominently in fish form as the Preserver. The Babylonian
+Ea cult and the Indian Varuna cult had apparently much in common, as
+is shown.
+
+Throughout this volume special attention has been paid to the various
+peoples who were in immediate contact with, and were influenced by,
+Mesopotamian civilization. The histories are traced in outline of the
+Kingdoms of Elam, Urartu (Ancient Armenia), Mitanni, and the Hittites,
+while the story of the rise and decline of the Hebrew civilization, as
+narrated in the Bible and referred to in Mesopotamian inscriptions, is
+related from the earliest times until the captivity in the
+Neo-Babylonian period and the restoration during the age of the
+Persian Empire. The struggles waged between the great Powers for the
+control of trade routes, and the periodic migrations of pastoral
+warrior folks who determined the fate of empires, are also dealt with,
+so that light may be thrown on the various processes and influences
+associated with the developments of local religions and mythologies.
+Special chapters, with comparative notes, are devoted to the
+Ishtar-Tammuz myths, the Semiramis legends, Ashur and his symbols, and
+the origin and growth of astrology and astronomy.
+
+The ethnic disturbances which occurred at various well-defined periods
+in the Tigro-Euphrates valley were not always favourable to the
+advancement of knowledge and the growth of culture. The invaders who
+absorbed Sumerian civilization may have secured more settled
+conditions by welding together political units, but seem to have
+exercised a retrogressive influence on the growth of local culture.
+"Babylonian religion", writes Dr. Langdon, "appears to have reached
+its highest level in the Sumerian period, or at least not later than
+2000 B.C. From that period onward to the first century B.C. popular
+religion maintained with great difficulty the sacred standards of the
+past." Although it has been customary to characterize Mesopotamian
+civilization as Semitic, modern research tends to show that the
+indigenous inhabitants, who were non-Semitic, were its originators.
+Like the proto-Egyptians, the early Cretans, and the Pelasgians in
+southern Europe and Asia Minor, they invariably achieved the
+intellectual conquest of their conquerors, as in the earliest times
+they had won victories over the antagonistic forces of nature. If the
+modern view is accepted that these ancient agriculturists of the
+goddess cult were of common racial origin, it is to the most
+representative communities of the widespread Mediterranean race that
+the credit belongs of laying the foundations of the brilliant
+civilizations of the ancient world in southern Europe, and Egypt, and
+the valley of the Tigris and Euphrates.
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+
+Ancient Babylonia has made stronger appeal to the imagination of
+Christendom than even Ancient Egypt, because of its association with
+the captivity of the Hebrews, whose sorrows are enshrined in the
+familiar psalm:
+
+    By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down;
+    Yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.
+    We hanged our harps upon the willows....
+
+In sacred literature proud Babylon became the city of the anti-Christ,
+the symbol of wickedness and cruelty and human vanity. Early
+Christians who suffered persecution compared their worldly state to
+that of the oppressed and disconsolate Hebrews, and, like them, they
+sighed for Jerusalem--the new Jerusalem. When St. John the Divine had
+visions of the ultimate triumph of Christianity, he referred to its
+enemies--the unbelievers and persecutors--as the citizens of the
+earthly Babylon, the doom of which he pronounced in stately and
+memorable phrases:
+
+    Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen,
+    And is become the habitation of devils,
+    And the hold of every foul spirit,
+    And a cage of every unclean and hateful bird....
+
+    For her sins have reached unto heaven
+    And God hath remembered her iniquities....
+    The merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her,
+    For no man buyeth their merchandise any more.
+
+"At the noise of the taking of Babylon", cried Jeremiah, referring to
+the original Babylon, "the earth is moved, and the cry is heard among
+the nations.... It shall be no more inhabited forever; neither shall
+it be dwelt in from generation to generation." The Christian Saint
+rendered more profound the brooding silence of the desolated city of
+his vision by voicing memories of its beauty and gaiety and bustling
+trade:
+
+    The voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers and trumpeters
+        shall be heard no more at all in thee;
+    And no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any
+        more in thee;
+    And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee;
+    And the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no
+        more at all in thee:
+    For thy merchants were the great men of the earth;
+    For by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.
+    _And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints,
+    And of all that were slain upon the earth_.[3]
+
+So for nearly two thousand years has the haunting memory of the
+once-powerful city pervaded Christian literature, while its broken
+walls and ruined temples and palaces lay buried deep in desert sand.
+The history of the ancient land of which it was the capital survived
+in but meagre and fragmentary form, mingled with accumulated myths and
+legends. A slim volume contained all that could be derived from
+references in the Old Testament and the compilations of classical
+writers.
+
+It is only within the past half-century that the wonderful story of
+early Eastern civilization has been gradually pieced together by
+excavators and linguists, who have thrust open the door of the past
+and probed the hidden secrets of long ages. We now know more about
+"the land of Babel" than did not only the Greeks and Romans, but even
+the Hebrew writers who foretold its destruction. Glimpses are being
+afforded us of its life and manners and customs for some thirty
+centuries before the captives of Judah uttered lamentations on the
+banks of its reedy canals. The sites of some of the ancient cities of
+Babylonia and Assyria were identified by European officials and
+travellers in the East early in the nineteenth century, and a few
+relics found their way to Europe. But before Sir A.H. Layard set to
+work as an excavator in the "forties", "a case scarcely three feet
+square", as he himself wrote, "enclosed all that remained not only of
+the great city of Nineveh, but of Babylon itself".[4]
+
+Layard, the distinguished pioneer Assyriologist, was an Englishman of
+Huguenot descent, who was born in Paris. Through his mother he
+inherited a strain of Spanish blood. During his early boyhood he
+resided in Italy, and his education, which began there, was continued
+in schools in France, Switzerland, and England. He was a man of
+scholarly habits and fearless and independent character, a charming
+writer, and an accomplished fine-art critic; withal he was a great
+traveller, a strenuous politician, and an able diplomatist. In 1845,
+while sojourning in the East, he undertook the exploration of ancient
+Assyrian cities. He first set to work at Kalkhi, the Biblical Calah.
+Three years previously M.P.C. Botta, the French consul at Mosul, had
+begun to investigate the Nineveh mounds; but these he abandoned for a
+mound near Khorsabad which proved to be the site of the city erected
+by "Sargon the Later", who is referred to by Isaiah. The relics
+discovered by Botta and his successor, Victor Place, are preserved in
+the Louvre.
+
+At Kalkhi and Nineveh Layard uncovered the palaces of some of the most
+famous Assyrian Emperors, including the Biblical Shalmaneser and
+Esarhaddon, and obtained the colossi, bas reliefs, and other treasures
+of antiquity which formed the nucleus of the British Museum's
+unrivalled Assyrian collection. He also conducted diggings at Babylon
+and Niffer (Nippur). His work was continued by his assistant, Hormuzd
+Rassam, a native Christian of Mosul, near Nineveh. Rassam studied for
+a time at Oxford.
+
+The discoveries made by Layard and Botta stimulated others to follow
+their example. In the "fifties" Mr. W.K. Loftus engaged in excavations
+at Larsa and Erech, where important discoveries were made of ancient
+buildings, ornaments, tablets, sarcophagus graves, and pot burials,
+while Mr. J.E. Taylor operated at Ur, the seat of the moon cult and
+the birthplace of Abraham, and at Eridu, which is generally regarded
+as the cradle of early Babylonian (Sumerian) civilization.
+
+In 1854 Sir Henry Rawlinson superintended diggings at Birs Nimrud
+(Borsippa, near Babylon), and excavated relics of the Biblical
+Nebuchadrezzar. This notable archaeologist began his career in the
+East as an officer in the Bombay army. He distinguished himself as a
+political agent and diplomatist. While resident at Baghdad, he devoted
+his leisure time to cuneiform studies. One of his remarkable feats was
+the copying of the famous trilingual rock inscription of Darius the
+Great on a mountain cliff at Behistun, in Persian Kurdistan. This work
+was carried out at great personal risk, for the cliff is 1700 feet
+high and the sculptures and inscriptions are situated about 300 feet
+from the ground.
+
+Darius was the first monarch of his line to make use of the Persian
+cuneiform script, which in this case he utilized in conjunction with
+the older and more complicated Assyro-Babylonian alphabetic and
+syllabic characters to record a portion of the history of his reign.
+Rawlinson's translation of the famous inscription was an important
+contribution towards the decipherment of the cuneiform writings of
+Assyria and Babylonia.
+
+Twelve years of brilliant Mesopotamian discovery concluded in 1854,
+and further excavations had to be suspended until the "seventies" on
+account of the unsettled political conditions of the ancient land and
+the difficulties experienced in dealing with Turkish officials. During
+the interval, however, archaeologists and philologists were kept fully
+engaged studying the large amount of material which had been
+accumulated. Sir Henry Rawlinson began the issue of his monumental
+work _The Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia_ on behalf of the
+British Museum.
+
+Goodspeed refers to the early archaeological work as the "Heroic
+Period" of research, and says that the "Modern Scientific Period"
+began with Mr. George Smith's expedition to Nineveh in 1873.
+
+George Smith, like Henry Schliemann, the pioneer investigator of
+pre-Hellenic culture, was a self-educated man of humble origin. He was
+born at Chelsea in 1840. At fourteen he was apprenticed to an
+engraver. He was a youth of studious habits and great originality, and
+interested himself intensely in the discoveries which had been made by
+Layard and other explorers. At the British Museum, which he visited
+regularly to pore over the Assyrian inscriptions, he attracted the
+attention of Sir Henry Rawlinson. So greatly impressed was Sir Henry
+by the young man's enthusiasm and remarkable intelligence that he
+allowed him the use of his private room and provided casts and
+squeezes of inscriptions to assist him in his studies. Smith made
+rapid progress. His earliest discovery was the date of the payment of
+tribute by Jehu, King of Israel, to the Assyrian Emperor Shalmaneser.
+Sir Henry availed himself of the young investigator's assistance in
+producing the third volume of _The Cuneiform Inscriptions_.
+
+In 1867 Smith received an appointment in the Assyriology Department of
+the British Museum, and a few years later became famous throughout
+Christendom as the translator of fragments of the Babylonian Deluge
+Legend from tablets sent to London by Rassam. Sir Edwin Arnold, the
+poet and Orientalist, was at the time editor of the _Daily Telegraph_,
+and performed a memorable service to modern scholarship by dispatching
+Smith, on behalf of his paper, to Nineveh to search for other
+fragments of the Ancient Babylonian epic. Rassam had obtained the
+tablets from the great library of the cultured Emperor Ashur-bani-pal,
+"the great and noble Asnapper" of the Bible,[5] who took delight, as
+he himself recorded, in
+
+    The wisdom of Ea,[6] the art of song, the treasures of science.
+
+This royal patron of learning included in his library collection,
+copies and translations of tablets from Babylonia. Some of these were
+then over 2000 years old. The Babylonian literary relics were, indeed,
+of as great antiquity to Ashur-bani-pal as that monarch's relics are
+to us.
+
+The Emperor invoked Nebo, god of wisdom and learning, to bless his
+"books", praying:
+
+    Forever, O Nebo, King of all heaven and earth,
+    Look gladly upon this Library
+    Of Ashur-bani-pal, his (thy) shepherd, reverencer of thy
+        divinity.[7]
+
+Mr. George Smith's expedition to Nineveh in 1873 was exceedingly
+fruitful of results. More tablets were discovered and translated. In
+the following year he returned to the ancient Assyrian city on behalf
+of the British Museum, and added further by his scholarly achievements
+to his own reputation and the world's knowledge of antiquity. His last
+expedition was made early in 1876; on his homeward journey he was
+stricken down with fever, and on 19th August he died at Aleppo in his
+thirty-sixth year. So was a brilliant career brought to an untimely
+end.
+
+Rassam was engaged to continue Smith's great work, and between 1877
+and 1882 made many notable discoveries in Assyria and Babylonia,
+including the bronze doors of a Shalmaneser temple, the sun temple at
+Sippar; the palace of the Biblical Nebuchadrezzar, which was famous
+for its "hanging gardens"; a cylinder of Nabonidus, King of Babylon;
+and about fifty thousand tablets.
+
+M. de Sarzec, the French consul at Bassorah, began in 1877 excavations
+at the ancient Sumerian city of Lagash (Shirpula), and continued them
+until 1900. He found thousands of tablets, many has reliefs, votive
+statuettes, which worshippers apparently pinned on sacred shrines, the
+famous silver vase of King Entemena, statues of King Gudea, and
+various other treasures which are now in the Louvre.
+
+The pioneer work achieved by British and French excavators stimulated
+interest all over the world. An expedition was sent out from the
+United States by the University of Pennsylvania, and began to operate
+at Nippur in 1888. The Germans, who have displayed great activity in
+the domain of philological research, are at present represented by an
+exploring party which is conducting the systematic exploration of the
+ruins of Babylon. Even the Turkish Government has encouraged research
+work, and its excavators have accumulated a fine collection of
+antiquities at Constantinople. Among the archaeologists and linguists
+of various nationalities who are devoting themselves to the study of
+ancient Assyrian and Babylonian records and literature, and gradually
+unfolding the story of ancient Eastern civilization, those of our own
+country occupy a prominent position. One of the most interesting
+discoveries of recent years has been new fragments of the Creation
+Legend by L.W. King of the British Museum, whose scholarly work, _The
+Seven Tablets of Creation_, is the standard work on the subject.
+
+The archaeological work conducted in Persia, Asia Minor, Palestine,
+Cyprus, Crete, the Aegean, and Egypt has thrown, and is throwing, much
+light on the relations between the various civilizations of antiquity.
+In addition to the Hittite discoveries, with which the name of
+Professor Sayce will ever be associated as a pioneer, we now hear much
+of the hitherto unknown civilizations of Mitanni and Urartu (ancient
+Armenia), which contributed to the shaping of ancient history. The
+Biblical narratives of the rise and decline of the Hebrew kingdoms
+have also been greatly elucidated.
+
+In this volume, which deals mainly with the intellectual life of the
+Mesopotamian peoples, a historical narrative has been provided as an
+appropriate setting for the myths and legends. In this connection the
+reader must be reminded that the chronology of the early period is
+still uncertain. The approximate dates which are given, however, are
+those now generally adopted by most European and American authorities.
+Early Babylonian history of the Sumerian period begins some time prior
+to 3000 B.C; Sargon of Akkad flourished about 2650 B.C., and Hammurabi
+not long before or after 2000 B.C. The inflated system of dating which
+places Mena of Egypt as far back as 5500 B.C. and Sargon at about 3800
+B.C. has been abandoned by the majority of prominent archaeologists,
+the exceptions including Professor Flinders Petrie. Recent discoveries
+appear to support the new chronological system. "There is a growing
+conviction", writes Mr. Hawes, "that Cretan evidence, especially in
+the eastern part of the island, favours the minimum (Berlin) system of
+Egyptian chronology, according to which the Sixth (Egyptian) Dynasty
+began at _c_. 2540 B.C. and the Twelfth at _c_. 2000 B.C.[8] Petrie
+dates the beginning of the Twelfth Dynasty at _c_. 3400 B.C.
+
+To students of comparative folklore and mythology the myths and
+legends of Babylonia present many features of engrossing interest.
+They are of great antiquity, yet not a few seem curiously familiar. We
+must not conclude, however, that because a European legend may bear
+resemblances to one translated from a cuneiform tablet it is
+necessarily of Babylonian origin. Certain beliefs, and the myths which
+were based upon them, are older than even the civilization of the
+Tigro-Euphrates valley. They belong, it would appear, to a stock of
+common inheritance from an uncertain cultural centre of immense
+antiquity. The problem involved has been referred to by Professor
+Frazer in the _Golden Bough_. Commenting on the similarities presented
+by certain ancient festivals in various countries, he suggests that
+they may be due to "a remarkable homogeneity of civilization
+throughout Southern Europe and Western Asia in prehistoric times. How
+far", he adds, "such homogeneity of civilization may be taken as
+evidence of homogeneity of race is a question for the ethnologist."[9]
+
+In Chapter I the reader is introduced to the ethnological problem, and
+it is shown that the results of modern research tend to establish a
+remote racial connection between the Sumerians of Babylonia, the
+prehistoric Egyptians, and the Neolithic (Late Stone Age) inhabitants
+of Europe, as well as the southern Persians and the "Aryans" of India.
+
+Comparative notes are provided in dealing with the customs, religious
+beliefs, and myths and legends of the Mesopotamian peoples to assist
+the student towards the elucidation and partial restoration of certain
+literary fragments from the cuneiform tablets. Of special interest in
+this connection are the resemblances between some of the Indian and
+Babylonian myths. The writer has drawn upon that "great storehouse" of
+ancient legends, the voluminous Indian epic, the _Mahabharata_, and it
+is shown that there are undoubted links between the Garuda eagle myths
+and those of the Sumerian Zu bird and the Etana eagle, while similar
+stories remain attached to the memories of "Sargon of Akkad" and the
+Indian hero Karna, and of Semiramis (who was Queen Sammu-ramat of
+Assyria) and Shakuntala. The Indian god Varuna and the Sumerian Ea are
+also found to have much in common, and it seems undoubted that the
+Manu fish and flood myth is a direct Babylonian inheritance, like the
+Yuga (Ages of the Universe) doctrine and the system of calculation
+associated with it. It is of interest to note, too, that a portion of
+the Gilgamesh epic survives in the _Ramayana_ story of the monkey god
+Hanuman's search for the lost princess Sita; other relics of similar
+character suggest that both the Gilgamesh and Hanuman narratives are
+derived in part from a very ancient myth. Gilgamesh also figures in
+Indian mythology as Yama, the first man, who explored the way to the
+Paradise called "The Land of Ancestors", and over which he
+subsequently presided as a god. Other Babylonian myths link with those
+found in Egypt, Greece, Scandinavia, Iceland, and the British Isles
+and Ireland. The Sargon myth, for instance, resembles closely the myth
+of Scyld (Sceaf), the patriarch, in the _Beowulf_ epic, and both
+appear to be variations of the Tammuz-Adonis story. Tammuz also
+resembles in one of his phases the Celtic hero Diarmid, who was slain
+by the "green boar" of the Earth Mother, as was Adonis by the boar
+form of Ares, the Greek war god.
+
+In approaching the study of these linking myths it would be as rash to
+conclude that all resemblances are due to homogeneity of race as to
+assume that folklore and mythology are devoid of ethnological
+elements. Due consideration must be given to the widespread influence
+exercised by cultural contact. We must recognize also that the human
+mind has ever shown a tendency to arrive quite independently at
+similar conclusions, when confronted by similar problems, in various
+parts of the world.
+
+But while many remarkable resemblances may be detected between the
+beliefs and myths and customs of widely separated peoples, it cannot
+be overlooked that pronounced and striking differences remain to be
+accounted for. Human experiences varied in localities because all
+sections of humanity were not confronted in ancient times by the same
+problems in their everyday lives. Some peoples, for instance,
+experienced no great difficulties regarding the food supply, which
+might be provided for them by nature in lavish abundance; others were
+compelled to wage a fierce and constant conflict against hostile
+forces in inhospitable environments with purpose to secure adequate
+sustenance and their meed of enjoyment. Various habits of life had to
+be adopted in various parts of the world, and these produced various
+habits of thought. Consequently, we find that behind all systems of
+primitive religion lies the formative background of natural phenomena.
+A mythology reflects the geography, the fauna and flora, and the
+climatic conditions of the area in which it took definite and
+permanent shape.
+
+In Babylonia, as elsewhere, we expect, therefore, to find a mythology
+which has strictly local characteristics--one which mirrors river and
+valley scenery, the habits of life of the people, and also the various
+stages of progress in the civilization from its earliest beginnings.
+Traces of primitive thought--survivals from remotest antiquity--should
+also remain in evidence. As a matter of fact Babylonian mythology
+fulfils our expectations in this regard to the highest degree.
+
+Herodotus said that Egypt was the gift of the Nile: similarly
+Babylonia may be regarded as the gift of the Tigris and
+Euphrates--those great shifting and flooding rivers which for long
+ages had been carrying down from the Armenian Highlands vast
+quantities of mud to thrust back the waters of the Persian Gulf and
+form a country capable of being utilized for human habitation. The
+most typical Babylonian deity was Ea, the god of the fertilizing and
+creative waters.
+
+He was depicted clad in the skin of a fish, as gods in other
+geographical areas were depicted wearing the skins of animals which
+were regarded as ancestors, or hostile demons that had to be
+propitiated. Originally Ea appears to have been a fish--the
+incarnation of the spirit of, or life principle in, the Euphrates
+River. His centre of worship was at Eridu, an ancient seaport, where
+apparently the prehistoric Babylonians (the Sumerians) first began to
+utilize the dried-up beds of shifting streams to irrigate the soil.
+One of the several creation myths is reminiscent of those early
+experiences which produced early local beliefs:
+
+    O thou River, who didst create all things,
+    When the great gods dug thee out,
+    They set prosperity upon thy banks,
+    Within thee Ea, the king of the Deep, created his dwelling.[10]
+
+The Sumerians observed that the land was brought into existence by
+means of the obstructing reeds, which caused mud to accumulate. When
+their minds began to be exercised regarding the origin of life, they
+conceived that the first human beings were created by a similar
+process:
+
+    Marduk (son of Ea) laid a reed upon the face of the waters,
+    He formed dust and poured it out beside the reed ...
+    He formed mankind.[11]
+
+Ea acquired in time, as the divine artisan, various attributes which
+reflected the gradual growth of civilization: he was reputed to have
+taught the people how to form canals, control the rivers, cultivate
+the fields, build their houses, and so on.
+
+But although Ea became a beneficent deity, as a result of the growth
+of civilization, he had also a demoniac form, and had to be
+propitiated. The worshippers of the fish god retained ancient modes of
+thought and perpetuated ancient superstitious practices.
+
+The earliest settlers in the Tigro-Euphrates valley were
+agriculturists, like their congeners, the proto-Egyptians and the
+Neolithic Europeans. Before they broke away from the parent stock in
+its area of characterization they had acquired the elements of
+culture, and adopted habits of thought which were based on the
+agricultural mode of life. Like other agricultural communities they
+were worshippers of the "World Mother", the Creatrix, who was the
+giver of all good things, the "Preserver" and also the
+"Destroyer"--the goddess whose moods were reflected by natural
+phenomena, and whose lovers were the spirits of the seasons.
+
+In the alluvial valley which they rendered fit for habitation the
+Sumerians came into contact with peoples of different habits of life
+and different habits of thought. These were the nomadic pastoralists
+from the northern steppe lands, who had developed in isolation
+theories regarding the origin of the Universe which reflected their
+particular experiences and the natural phenomena of their area of
+characterization. The most representative people of this class were
+the "Hatti" of Asia Minor, who were of Alpine or Armenoid stock. In
+early times the nomads were broken up into small tribal units, like
+Abraham and his followers, and depended for their food supply on the
+prowess of the males. Their chief deity was the sky and mountain god,
+who was the "World Father", the creator, and the wielder of the
+thunder hammer, who waged war against the demons of storm or drought,
+and ensured the food supply of his worshippers.
+
+The fusion in Babylonia of the peoples of the god and goddess cults
+was in progress before the dawn of history, as was the case in Egypt
+and also in southern Europe. In consequence independent Pantheons came
+into existence in the various city States in the Tigro-Euphrates
+valley. These were mainly a reflection of city politics: the deities
+of each influential section had to receive recognition. But among the
+great masses of the people ancient customs associated with agriculture
+continued in practice, and, as Babylonia depended for its prosperity
+on its harvests, the force of public opinion tended, it would appear,
+to perpetuate the religious beliefs of the earliest settlers, despite
+the efforts made by conquerors to exalt the deities they introduced.
+
+Babylonian religion was of twofold character. It embraced temple
+worship and private worship. The religion of the temple was the
+religion of the ruling class, and especially of the king, who was the
+guardian of the people. Domestic religion was conducted in homes, in
+reed huts, or in public places, and conserved the crudest
+superstitions surviving from the earliest times. The great "burnings"
+and the human sacrifices in Babylonia, referred to in the Bible, were,
+no doubt, connected with agricultural religion of the private order,
+as was also the ceremony of baking and offering cakes to the Queen of
+Heaven, condemned by Jeremiah, which obtained in the streets of
+Jerusalem and other cities. Domestic religion required no temples.
+There were no temples in Crete: the world was the "house" of the
+deity, who had seasonal haunts on hilltops, in groves, in caves, &c.
+In Egypt Herodotus witnessed festivals and processions which are not
+referred to in official inscriptions, although they were evidently
+practised from the earliest times.
+
+Agricultural religion in Egypt was concentrated in the cult of Osiris
+and Isis, and influenced all local theologies. In Babylonia these
+deities were represented by Tammuz and Ishtar. Ishtar, like Isis,
+absorbed many other local goddesses.
+
+According to the beliefs of the ancient agriculturists the goddess was
+eternal and undecaying. She was the Great Mother of the Universe and
+the source of the food supply. Her son, the corn god, became, as the
+Egyptians put it, "Husband of his Mother". Each year he was born anew
+and rapidly attained to manhood; then he was slain by a fierce rival
+who symbolized the season of pestilence-bringing and parching sun
+heat, or the rainy season, or wild beasts of prey. Or it might be that
+he was slain by his son, as Cronos was by Zeus and Dyaus by Indra. The
+new year slew the old year.
+
+The social customs of the people, which had a religious basis, were
+formed in accordance with the doings of the deities; they sorrowed or
+made glad in sympathy with the spirits of nature. Worshippers also
+suggested by their ceremonies how the deities should act at various
+seasons, and thus exercised, as they believed, a magical control over
+them.
+
+In Babylonia the agricultural myth regarding the Mother goddess and
+the young god had many variations. In one form Tammuz, like Adonis,
+was loved by two goddesses--the twin phases of nature--the Queen of
+Heaven and the Queen of Hades. It was decreed that Tammuz should spend
+part of the year with one goddess and part of the year with the other.
+Tammuz was also a Patriarch, who reigned for a long period over the
+land and had human offspring. After death his spirit appeared at
+certain times and seasons as a planet, star, or constellation. He was
+the ghost of the elder god, and he was also the younger god who was
+born each year.
+
+In the Gilgamesh epic we appear to have a form of the patriarch
+legend--the story of the "culture hero" and teacher who discovered the
+path which led to the land of ancestral spirits. The heroic Patriarch
+in Egypt was Apuatu, "the opener of the ways", the earliest form of
+Osiris; in India he was Yama, the first man, "who searched and found
+out the path for many".
+
+The King as Patriarch was regarded during life as an incarnation of
+the culture god: after death he merged in the god. "Sargon of Akkad"
+posed as an incarnation of the ancient agricultural Patriarch: he
+professed to be a man of miraculous birth who was loved by the goddess
+Ishtar, and was supposed to have inaugurated a New Age of the
+Universe.
+
+The myth regarding the father who was superseded by his son may
+account for the existence in Babylonian city pantheons of elder and
+younger gods who symbolized the passive and active forces of nature.
+
+Considering the persistent and cumulative influence exercised by
+agricultural religion it is not surprising to find, as has been
+indicated, that most of the Babylonian gods had Tammuz traits, as most
+of the Egyptian gods had Osirian traits. Although local or imported
+deities were developed and conventionalized in rival Babylonian
+cities, they still retained traces of primitive conceptions. They
+existed in all their forms--as the younger god who displaced the elder
+god and became the elder god, and as the elder god who conciliated the
+younger god and made him his active agent; and as the god who was
+identified at various seasons with different heavenly bodies and
+natural phenomena. Merodach, the god of Babylon, who was exalted as
+chief of the National pantheon in the Hammurabi Age, was, like Tammuz,
+a son, and therefore a form of Ea, a demon slayer, a war god, a god of
+fertility, a corn spirit, a Patriarch, and world ruler and guardian,
+and, like Tammuz, he had solar, lunar, astral, and atmospheric
+attributes. The complex characters of Merodach and Tammuz were not due
+solely to the monotheistic tendency: the oldest deities were of
+mystical character, they represented the "Self Power" of Naturalism as
+well as the spirit groups of Animism.
+
+The theorizing priests, who speculated regarding the mysteries of life
+and death and the origin of all things, had to address the people
+through the medium of popular beliefs. They utilized floating myths
+for this purpose. As there were in early times various centres of
+culture which had rival pantheons, the adapted myths varied greatly.
+In the different forms in which they survive to us they reflect, not
+only aspects of local beliefs, but also grades of culture at different
+periods. We must not expect, however, to find that the latest form of
+a myth was the highest and most profound. The history of Babylonian
+religion is divided into periods of growth and periods of decadence.
+The influence of domestic religion was invariably opposed to the new
+and high doctrines which emanated from the priesthood, and in times of
+political upheaval tended to submerge them in the debris of immemorial
+beliefs and customs. The retrogressive tendencies of the masses were
+invariably reinforced by the periodic invasions of aliens who had no
+respect for official deities and temple creeds.
+
+We must avoid insisting too strongly on the application of the
+evolution theory to the religious phenomena of a country like
+Babylonia.
+
+The epochs in the intellectual life of an ancient people are not
+comparable to geological epochs, for instance, because the forces at
+work were directed by human wills, whether in the interests of
+progress or otherwise. The battle of creeds has ever been a battle of
+minds. It should be recognized, therefore, that the human element
+bulks as prominently in the drama of Babylon's religious history as
+does the prince of Denmark in the play of _Hamlet_. We are not
+concerned with the plot alone. The characters must also receive
+attention. Their aspirations and triumphs, their prejudices and
+blunders, were the billowy forces which shaped the shoreland of the
+story and made history.
+
+Various aspects of Babylonian life and culture are dealt with
+throughout this volume, and it is shown that the growth of science and
+art was stimulated by unwholesome and crude superstitions. Many rank
+weeds flourished beside the brightest blossoms of the human intellect
+that wooed the sun in that fertile valley of rivers. As in Egypt,
+civilization made progress when wealth was accumulated in sufficient
+abundance to permit of a leisured class devoting time to study and
+research. The endowed priests, who performed temple ceremonies, were
+the teachers of the people and the patrons of culture. We may think
+little of their religious beliefs, regarding which after all we have
+only a superficial knowledge, for we have yet discovered little more
+than the fragments of the shell which held the pearl, the faded petals
+that were once a rose, but we must recognize that they provided
+inspiration for the artists and sculptors whose achievements compel
+our wonder and admiration, moved statesmen to inaugurate and
+administer humanitarian laws, and exalted Right above Might.
+
+These civilizations of the old world, among which the Mesopotamian and
+the Nilotic were the earliest, were built on no unsound foundations.
+They made possible "the glory that was Greece and the grandeur that
+was Rome", and it is only within recent years that we have begun to
+realize how incalculable is the debt which the modern world owes to
+them.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+THE RACES AND EARLY CIVILIZATION OF BABYLONIA
+
+
+  Prehistoric Babylonia--The Confederacies of Sumer and
+  Akkad--Sumerian Racial Affinities--Theories of Mongolian and
+  Ural-Altaic Origins--Evidence of Russian Turkestan--Beginnings of
+  Agriculture--Remarkable Proofs from Prehistoric Egyptian
+  Graves--Sumerians and the Mediterranean Race--Present-day Types in
+  Western Asia--The Evidence of Crania--Origin of the Akkadians--The
+  Semitic Blend--Races in Ancient Palestine--Southward Drift of
+  Armenoid Peoples--The Rephaims of the Bible--Akkadians attain
+  Political Supremacy in Northern Babylonia--Influence of Sumerian
+  Culture--Beginnings of Civilization--Progress in the Neolithic
+  Age--Position of Women in Early Communities--Their Legal Status in
+  Ancient Babylonia--Influence in Social and Religious Life--The
+  "Woman's Language"--Goddess who inspired Poets.
+
+
+Before the dawn of the historical period Ancient Babylonia was
+divided into a number of independent city states similar to those
+which existed in pre-Dynastic Egypt. Ultimately these were grouped
+into loose confederacies. The northern cities were embraced in the
+territory known as Akkad, and the southern in the land of Sumer, or
+Shumer. This division had a racial as well as a geographical
+significance. The Akkadians were "late comers" who had achieved
+political ascendency in the north when the area they occupied was
+called Uri, or Kiuri, and Sumer was known as Kengi. They were a people
+of Semitic speech with pronounced Semitic affinities. From the
+earliest times the sculptors depicted them with abundant locks, long
+full beards, and the prominent distinctive noses and full lips, which
+we usually associate with the characteristic Jewish type, and also
+attired in long, flounced robes, suspended from their left shoulders,
+and reaching down to their ankles. In contrast, the Sumerians had
+clean-shaven faces and scalps, and noses of Egyptian and Grecian
+rather than Semitic type, while they wore short, pleated kilts, and
+went about with the upper part of their bodies quite bare like the
+Egyptian noblemen of the Old Kingdom period. They spoke a non-Semitic
+language, and were the oldest inhabitants of Babylonia of whom we have
+any knowledge. Sumerian civilization was rooted in the agricultural
+mode of life, and appears to have been well developed before the
+Semites became numerous and influential in the land. Cities had been
+built chiefly of sun-dried and fire-baked bricks; distinctive pottery
+was manufactured with much skill; the people were governed by
+humanitarian laws, which formed the nucleus of the Hammurabi code, and
+had in use a system of cuneiform writing which was still in process of
+development from earlier pictorial characters. The distinctive feature
+of their agricultural methods was the engineering skill which was
+displayed in extending the cultivatable area by the construction of
+irrigating canals and ditches. There are also indications that they
+possessed some knowledge of navigation and traded on the Persian Gulf.
+According to one of their own traditions Eridu, originally a seaport,
+was their racial cradle. The Semitic Akkadians adopted the distinctive
+culture of these Sumerians after settlement, and exercised an
+influence on its subsequent growth.
+
+Much controversy has been waged regarding the original home of the
+Sumerians and the particular racial type which they represented. One
+theory connects them with the lank-haired and beardless Mongolians,
+and it is asserted on the evidence afforded by early sculptural
+reliefs that they were similarly oblique-eyed. As they also spoke an
+agglutinative language, it is suggested that they were descended from
+the same parent stock as the Chinese in an ancient Parthian homeland.
+If, however, the oblique eye was not the result of faulty and
+primitive art, it is evident that the Mongolian type, which is
+invariably found to be remarkably persistent in racial blends, did not
+survive in the Tigris and Euphrates valleys, for in the finer and more
+exact sculpture work of the later Sumerian period the eyes of the
+ruling classes are found to be similar to those of the Ancient
+Egyptians and southern Europeans. Other facial characteristics suggest
+that a Mongolian racial connection is highly improbable; the prominent
+Sumerian nose, for instance, is quite unlike the Chinese, which is
+diminutive. Nor can far-reaching conclusions be drawn from the scanty
+linguistic evidence at our disposal. Although the languages of the
+Sumerians and long-headed Chinese are of the agglutinative variety, so
+are those also which are spoken by the broad-headed Turks and Magyars
+of Hungary, the broad-headed and long-headed, dark and fair Finns, and
+the brunet and short-statured Basques with pear-shaped faces, who are
+regarded as a variation of the Mediterranean race with distinctive
+characteristics developed in isolation. Languages afford no sure
+indication of racial origins or affinities.
+
+Another theory connects the Sumerians with the broad-headed peoples of
+the Western Asian plains and plateaus, who are vaguely grouped as
+Ural-Altaic stock and are represented by the present-day Turks and the
+dark variety of Finns. It is assumed that they migrated southward in
+remote times in consequence of tribal pressure caused by changing
+climatic conditions, and abandoned a purely pastoral for an
+agricultural life. The late Sumerian sculpture work again presents
+difficulties in this connection, for the faces and bulging occiputs
+suggest rather a long-headed than a broad-headed type, and the theory
+no longer obtains that new habits of life alter skull forms which are
+usually associated with other distinctive traits in the structure of
+skeletons. These broad-headed nomadic peoples of the Steppes are
+allied to Tatar stock, and distinguished from the pure Mongols by
+their abundance of wavy hair and beard. The fact that the Sumerians
+shaved their scalps and faces is highly suggestive in this connection.
+From the earliest times it has been the habit of most peoples to
+emphasize their racial characteristics so as to be able, one may
+suggest, to distinguish readily a friend from a foeman. At any rate
+this fact is generally recognized by ethnologists. The Basques, for
+instance, shave their pointed chins and sometimes grow short side
+whiskers to increase the distinctive pear-shape which is given to
+their faces by their prominent temples. In contrast, their neighbours,
+the Andalusians, grow chin whiskers to broaden their already rounded
+chins, and to distinguish them markedly from the Basques.[12] Another
+example of similar character is afforded in Asia Minor, where the
+skulls of the children of long-headed Kurds are narrowed, and those of
+the children of broad-headed Armenians made flatter behind as a result
+of systematic pressure applied by using cradle boards. In this way
+these rival peoples accentuate their contrasting head forms, which at
+times may, no doubt, show a tendency towards variation as a result of
+the crossment of types. When it is found, therefore, that the
+Sumerians, like the Ancient Egyptians, were in the habit of shaving,
+their ethnic affinities should be looked for among a naturally
+glabrous rather than a heavily-bearded people.
+
+A Central Asiatic source for Sumerian culture has also been urged of
+late with much circumstantial detail. It breaks quite fresh and
+interesting ground. Recent scientific expeditions in Russian and
+Chinese Turkestan have accumulated important archaeological data which
+clearly establish that vast areas of desert country were at a remote
+period most verdurous and fruitful, and thickly populated by organized
+and apparently progressive communities. From these ancient centres of
+civilization wholesale migrations must have been impelled from time to
+time in consequence of the gradual encroachment of wind-distributed
+sand and the increasing shortage of water. At Anau in Russian
+Turkestan, where excavations were conducted by the Pumpelly
+expedition, abundant traces were found of an archaic and forgotten
+civilization reaching back to the Late Stone Age. The pottery is
+decorated with geometric designs, and resembles somewhat other
+Neolithic specimens found as far apart as Susa, the capital of ancient
+Elam, on the borders of Babylonia, Boghaz K�i in Asia Minor, the seat
+of Hittite administration, round the Black Sea to the north, and at
+points in the southern regions of the Balkan Peninsula. It is
+suggested that these various finds are scattered evidences of early
+racial drifts from the Central Asian areas which were gradually being
+rendered uninhabitable. Among the Copper Age artifacts at Anau are
+clay votive statuettes resembling those which were used in Sumeria for
+religious purposes. These, however, cannot be held to prove a racial
+connection, but they are important in so far as they afford evidence
+of early trade relations in a hitherto unsuspected direction, and the
+long distances over which cultural influence extended before the dawn
+of history. Further we cannot go. No inscriptions have yet been
+discovered to render articulate this mysterious Central Asian
+civilization, or to suggest the original source of early Sumerian
+picture writing. Nor is it possible to confirm Mr. Pumpelly's view
+that from the Anau district the Sumerians and Egyptians first obtained
+barley and wheat, and some of their domesticated animals. If, as
+Professor Elliot Smith believes, copper was first used by the Ancient
+Egyptians, it may be, on the other hand, that a knowledge of this
+metal reached Anau through Sumeria, and that the elements of the
+earlier culture were derived from the same quarter by an indirect
+route. The evidence obtainable in Egypt is of interest in this
+connection. Large quantities of food have been taken from the stomachs
+and intestines of sun-dried bodies which have lain in their
+pre-Dynastic graves for over sixty centuries. This material has been
+carefully examined, and has yielded, among other things, husks of
+barley and millet, and fragments of mammalian bones, including those,
+no doubt, of the domesticated sheep and goats and cattle painted on
+the pottery.[13] It is therefore apparent that at an extremely remote
+period a knowledge of agriculture extended throughout Egypt, and we
+have no reason for supposing that it was not shared by the
+contemporary inhabitants of Sumer.
+
+The various theories which have been propounded regarding the outside
+source of Sumerian culture are based on the assumption that it
+commenced abruptly and full grown. Its rude beginnings cannot be
+traced on the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates, but although no
+specimens of the earliest form of picture writing have been recovered
+from the ruins of Sumerian and Akkadian cities, neither have any been
+found elsewhere. The possibility remains, therefore, that early
+Babylonian culture was indigenous. "A great deal of ingenuity has been
+displayed by many scholars", says Professor Elliot Smith, "with the
+object of bringing these Sumerians from somewhere else as immigrants
+into Sumer; but no reasons have been advanced to show that they had
+not been settled at the head of the Persian Gulf for long generations
+before they first appeared on the stage of history. The argument that
+no early remains have been found is futile, not only because such a
+country as Sumer is no more favourable to the preservation of such
+evidence than is the Delta of the Nile, but also upon the more general
+grounds that negative statements of this sort cannot be assigned a
+positive evidence for an immigration."[14] This distinguished
+ethnologist is frankly of opinion that the Sumerians were the
+congeners of the pre-Dynastic Egyptians of the Mediterranean or Brown
+race, the eastern branch of which reaches to India and the western to
+the British Isles and Ireland. In the same ancient family are included
+the Arabs, whose physical characteristics distinguish them from the
+Semites of Jewish type.
+
+Some light may be thrown on the Sumerian problem by giving
+consideration to the present-day racial complexion of Western Asia.
+The importance of evidence of this character has been emphasized
+elsewhere. In Egypt, for instance, Dr. C.S. Myers has ascertained that
+the modern peasants have skull forms which are identical with those of
+their pre-Dynastic ancestors. Mr. Hawes has also demonstrated that the
+ancient inhabitants of Crete are still represented on that famous
+island. But even more remarkable is the fact that the distinctive
+racial type which occupied the Palaeolithic caves of the Dordogne
+valley in France continues to survive in their vicinity after an
+interval of over twenty thousand years.[15] It is noteworthy,
+therefore, to find that in south-western Asia at the present day one
+particular racial type predominates over all others. Professor Ripley,
+who summarizes a considerable mass of data in this connection, refers
+to it as the "Iranian", and says: "It includes the Persians and Kurds,
+possibly the Ossetes in the Caucasus, and farther to the east a large
+number of Asiatic tribes, from the Afghans to the Hindus. These
+peoples are all primarily long-headed and dark brunets. They incline
+to slenderness of habit, although varying in stature according to
+circumstances. In them we recognize at once undoubted congeners of our
+Mediterranean race in Europe. The area of their extension runs off
+into Africa, through the Egyptians, who are clearly of the same race.
+Not only the modern peoples, but the Ancient Egyptians and the
+Phoenicians also have been traced to the same source. By far the
+largest portion of this part of Western Asia is inhabited by this
+eastern branch of the Mediterranean race." The broad-headed type
+"occurs sporadically among a few ethnic remnants in Syria and
+Mesopotamia".[16] The exhaustive study of thousands of ancient crania
+in London and Cambridge collections has shown that Mediterranean
+peoples, having alien traits, the result of early admixture, were
+distributed between Egypt and the Punjab.[17] Where blending took
+place, the early type, apparently, continued to predominate; and it
+appears to be reasserting itself in our own time in Western Asia, as
+elsewhere. It seems doubtful, therefore, that the ancient Sumerians
+differed racially from the pre-Dynastic inhabitants of Egypt and the
+Pelasgians and Iberians of Europe. Indeed, the statuettes from Tello,
+the site of the Sumerian city of Lagash, display distinctively
+Mediterranean skull forms and faces. Some of the plump figures of the
+later period suggest, however, "the particular alien strain" which in
+Egypt and elsewhere "is always associated with a tendency to the
+development of fat", in contrast to "the lean and sinewy appearance of
+most representatives of the Brown race".[18] This change may be
+accounted for by the presence of the Semites in northern Babylonia.
+
+Whence, then, came these invading Semitic Akkadians of Jewish type? It
+is generally agreed that they were closely associated with one of the
+early outpourings of nomadic peoples from Arabia, a country which is
+favourable for the production of a larger population than it is able
+to maintain permanently, especially when its natural resources are
+restricted by a succession of abnormally dry years. In tracing the
+Akkadians from Arabia, however, we are confronted at the outset with
+the difficulty that its prehistoric, and many of its present-day,
+inhabitants are not of the characteristic Semitic type. On the Ancient
+Egyptian pottery and monuments the Arabs are depicted as men who
+closely resembled the representatives of the Mediterranean race in the
+Nile valley and elsewhere. They shaved neither scalps nor faces as did
+the historic Sumerians and Egyptians, but grew the slight moustache
+and chin-tuft beard like the Libyans on the north and the majority of
+the men whose bodies have been preserved in pre-Dynastic graves in the
+Nile valley. "If", writes Professor Elliot Smith, "the generally
+accepted view is true, that Arabia was the original home of the
+Semites, the Arab must have undergone a profound change in his
+physical characters after he left his homeland and before he reached
+Babylonia." This authority is of opinion that the Arabians first
+migrated into Palestine and northern Syria, where they mingled with
+the southward-migrating Armenoid peoples from Asia Minor. "This blend
+of Arabs, kinsmen of the proto-Egyptians and Armenoids, would then
+form the big-nosed, long-bearded Semites, so familiar not only on the
+ancient Babylonian and Egyptian monuments, but also in the modern
+Jews."[19] Such a view is in accord with Dr. Hugo Winckler's
+contention that the flow of Arabian migrations was northwards towards
+Syria ere it swept through Mesopotamia. It can scarcely be supposed
+that these invasions of settled districts did not result in the fusion
+and crossment of racial types and the production of a sub-variety with
+medium skull form and marked facial characteristics.
+
+Of special interest in this connection is the evidence afforded by
+Palestine and Egypt. The former country has ever been subject to
+periodic ethnic disturbances and changes. Its racial history has a
+remote beginning in the Pleistocene Age. Palaeolithic flints of
+Chellean and other primitive types have been found in large numbers,
+and a valuable collection of these is being preserved in a French
+museum at Jerusalem. In a northern cave fragments of rude pottery,
+belonging to an early period in the Late Stone Age, have been
+discovered in association with the bones of the woolly rhinoceros. To
+a later period belong the series of Gezer cave dwellings, which,
+according to Professor Macalister, the well-known Palestinian
+authority, "were occupied by a non-Semitic people of low stature, with
+thick skulls and showing evidence of the great muscular strength that
+is essential to savage life".[20] These people are generally supposed
+to be representatives of the Mediterranean race, which Sergi has found
+to have been widely distributed throughout Syria and a part of Asia
+Minor.[21] An interesting problem, however, is raised by the fact
+that, in one of the caves, there are evidences that the dead were
+cremated. This was not a Mediterranean custom, nor does it appear to
+have prevailed outside the Gezer area. If, however, it does not
+indicate that the kinsmen of the Ancient Egyptians came into contact
+with the remnants of an earlier people, it may be that the dead of a
+later people were burned there. The possibility that unidentified
+types may have contributed to the Semitic blend, however, remains. The
+Mediterraneans mingled in Northern Syria and Asia Minor with the
+broad-headed Armenoid peoples who are represented in Europe by the
+Alpine race. With them they ultimately formed the great Hittite
+confederacy. These Armenoids were moving southwards at the very dawn
+of Egyptian history, and nothing is known of their conquests and
+settlements. Their pioneers, who were probably traders, appear to have
+begun to enter the Delta region before the close of the Late Stone
+Age.[22] The earliest outpourings of migrating Arabians may have been
+in progress about the same time. This early southward drift of
+Armenoids might account for the presence in southern Palestine, early
+in the Copper Age, of the tall race referred to in the Bible as the
+Rephaim or Anakim, "whose power was broken only by the Hebrew
+invaders".[23] Joshua drove them out of Hebron,[24] in the
+neighbourhood of which Abraham had purchased a burial cave from
+Ephron, the Hittite.[25] Apparently a system of land laws prevailed in
+Palestine at this early period. It is of special interest for us to
+note that in Abraham's day and afterwards, the landed proprietors in
+the country of the Rephaim were identified with the aliens from Asia
+Minor--the tall variety in the Hittite confederacy.
+
+Little doubt need remain that the Arabians during their sojourn in
+Palestine and Syria met with distinctive types, and if not with pure
+Armenoids, at any rate with peoples having Armenoid traits. The
+consequent multiplication of tribes, and the gradual pressure
+exercised by the constant stream of immigrants from Arabia and Asia
+Minor, must have kept this part of Western Asia in a constant state of
+unrest. Fresh migrations of the surplus stock were evidently propelled
+towards Egypt in one direction, and the valleys of the Tigris and
+Euphrates in another. The Semites of Akkad were probably the
+conquerors of the more highly civilized Sumerians, who must have
+previously occupied that area. It is possible that they owed their
+success to the possession of superior weapons. Professor Elliot Smith
+suggests in this connection that the Arabians had become familiar with
+the use of copper as a result of contact with the Egyptians in Sinai.
+There is no evidence, however, that the Sumerians were attacked before
+they had begun to make metal weapons. It is more probable that the
+invading nomads had superior military organization and considerable
+experience in waging war against detached tribal units. They may have
+also found some of the northern Sumerian city states at war with one
+another and taken advantage of their unpreparedness to resist a common
+enemy. The rough Dorians who overran Greece and the fierce Goths who
+shattered the power of Rome were similarly in a lower state of
+civilization than the peoples whom they subdued.
+
+The Sumerians, however, ultimately achieved an intellectual conquest
+of their conquerors. Although the leaders of invasion may have formed
+military aristocracies in the cities which they occupied, it was
+necessary for the great majority of the nomads to engage their
+activities in new directions after settlement. The Semitic Akkadians,
+therefore, adopted Sumerian habits of life which were best suited for
+the needs of the country, and they consequently came under the spell
+of Sumerian modes of thought. This is shown by the fact that the
+native speech of ancient Sumer continued long after the dawn of
+history to be the language of Babylonian religion and culture, like
+Latin in Europe during the Middle Ages. For centuries the mingling
+peoples must have been bilingual, as are many of the inhabitants of
+Ireland, Wales, and the Scottish Highlands in the present age, but
+ultimately the language of the Semites became the prevailing speech in
+Sumer and Akkad. This change was the direct result of the conquests
+and the political supremacy achieved by the northern people. A
+considerable period elapsed, however, ere this consummation was
+reached and Ancient Babylonia became completely Semitized. No doubt
+its brilliant historical civilization owed much of its vigour and
+stability to the organizing genius of the Semites, but the basis on
+which it was established had been laid by the ingenious and
+imaginative Sumerians who first made the desert to blossom like the
+rose.
+
+The culture of Sumer was a product of the Late Stone Age, which should
+not be regarded as necessarily an age of barbarism. During its vast
+periods there were great discoveries and great inventions in various
+parts of Asia, Africa, and Europe. The Neoliths made pottery and
+bricks; we know that they invented the art of spinning, for
+spindle-whorls are found even in the Gezer caves to which we have
+referred, while in Egypt the pre-Dynastic dead were sometimes wrapped
+in finely woven linen: their deftly chipped flint implements are
+eloquent of artistic and mechanical skill, and undoubted mathematical
+ability must be credited to the makers of smoothly polished stone
+hammers which are so perfectly balanced that they revolve on a centre
+of gravity. In Egypt and Babylonia the soil was tilled and its
+fertility increased by irrigation. Wherever man waged a struggle with
+Nature he made rapid progress, and consequently we find that the
+earliest great civilizations were rooted in the little fields of the
+Neolithic farmers. Their mode of life necessitated a knowledge of
+Nature's laws; they had to take note of the seasons and measure time.
+So Egypt gave us the Calendar, and Babylonia the system of dividing
+the week into seven days, and the day into twelve double hours.
+
+The agricultural life permitted large communities to live in river
+valleys, and these had to be governed by codes of laws; settled
+communities required peace and order for their progress and
+prosperity. All great civilizations have evolved from the habits and
+experiences of settled communities. Law and religion were closely
+associated, and the evidence afforded by the remains of stone circles
+and temples suggests that in the organization and division of labour
+the influence of religious teachers was pre-eminent. Early rulers,
+indeed, were priest-kings--incarnations of the deity who owned the
+land and measured out the span of human life.
+
+We need not assume that Neolithic man led an idyllic existence; his
+triumphs were achieved by slow and gradual steps; his legal codes
+were, no doubt, written in blood and his institutions welded in the
+fires of adversity. But, disciplined by laws, which fostered
+humanitarian ideals, Neolithic man, especially of the Mediterranean
+race, had reached a comparatively high state of civilization long ages
+before the earliest traces of his activities can be obtained. When
+this type of mankind is portrayed in Ancient Sumeria, Ancient Egypt,
+and Ancient Crete we find that the faces are refined and intellectual
+and often quite modern in aspect. The skulls show that in the Late
+Stone Age the human brain was fully developed and that the racial
+types were fixed. In every country in Europe we still find the direct
+descendants of the ancient Mediterranean race, as well as the
+descendants of the less highly cultured conquerors who swept westward
+out of Asia at the dawn of the Bronze Age; and everywhere there are
+evidences of crossment of types in varying degrees. Even the influence
+of Neolithic intellectual life still remains. The comparative study of
+mythology and folk beliefs reveals that we have inherited certain
+modes of thought from our remote ancestors, who were the congeners of
+the Ancient Sumerians and the Ancient Egyptians. In this connection it
+is of interest, therefore, to refer to the social ideals of the early
+peoples who met and mingled on the southern plains of the Tigris and
+Euphrates, and especially the position occupied by women, which is
+engaging so much attention at the present day.
+
+It would appear that among the Semites and other nomadic peoples woman
+was regarded as the helpmate rather than the companion and equal of
+man. The birth of a son was hailed with joy; it was "miserable to have
+a daughter", as a Hindu sage reflected; in various countries it was
+the custom to expose female children after birth and leave them to
+die. A wife had no rights other than those accorded to her by her
+husband, who exercised over her the power of life and death. Sons
+inherited family possessions; the daughters had no share allotted to
+them, and could be sold by fathers and brothers. Among the peoples who
+observed "male right", social life was reflected in the conception of
+controlling male deities, accompanied by shadowy goddesses who were
+often little else than figures of speech.
+
+The Ancient Sumerians, on the other hand, like the Mediterranean
+peoples of Egypt and Crete, reverenced and exalted motherhood in
+social and religious life. Women were accorded a legal status and
+marriage laws were promulgated by the State. Wives could possess
+private property in their own right, as did the Babylonian Sarah, wife
+of Abraham, who owned the Egyptian slave Hagar.[26] A woman received
+from her parents a marriage dowry, and in the event of separation from
+her husband she could claim its full value. Some spinsters, or wives,
+were accustomed to enter into business partnerships with men or
+members of their own sex, and could sue and be sued in courts of law.
+Brothers and sisters were joint heirs of the family estate. Daughters
+might possess property over which their fathers exercised no control:
+they could also enter into legal agreements with their parents in
+business matters, when they had attained to years of discretion. Young
+women who took vows of celibacy and lived in religious institutions
+could yet make business investments, as surviving records show. There
+is only one instance of a Sumerian woman ascending the throne, like
+Queen Hatshepsut of Egypt. Women, therefore, were not rigidly excluded
+from official life. Dungi II, an early Sumerian king, appointed two of
+his daughters as rulers of conquered cities in Syria and Elam.
+Similarly Shishak, the Egyptian Pharaoh, handed over the city of
+Gezer, which he had subdued, to his daughter, Solomon's wife.[27] In
+the religious life of ancient Sumeria the female population exercised
+an undoubted influence, and in certain temples there were priestesses.
+The oldest hymns give indication of the respect shown to women by
+making reference to mixed assemblies as "females and males", just as
+present-day orators address themselves to "ladies and gentlemen". In
+the later Semitic adaptations of these productions, it is significant
+to note, this conventional reference was altered to "male and female".
+If influences, however, were at work to restrict the position of women
+they did not meet with much success, because when Hammurabi codified
+existing laws, the ancient rights of women received marked
+recognition.
+
+There were two dialects in ancient Sumeria, and the invocatory hymns
+were composed in what was known as "the women's language". It must not
+be inferred, however, that the ladies of Sumeria had established a
+speech which differed from that used by men. The reference would
+appear to be to a softer and homelier dialect, perhaps the oldest of
+the two, in which poetic emotion found fullest and most beautiful
+expression. In these ancient days, as in our own, the ideal of
+womanhood was the poet's chief source of inspiration, and among the
+hymns the highest reach of poetic art was attained in the invocation
+of Ishtar, the Babylonian Venus. The following hymn is addressed to
+that deity in her Valkyrie-like character as a goddess of war, but her
+more feminine traits are not obscured:--
+
+    HYMN TO ISHTAR
+
+    To thee I cry, O lady of the gods,
+    Lady of ladies, goddess without peer,
+    Ishtar who shapes the lives of all mankind,
+    Thou stately world queen, sovran of the sky,
+    And lady ruler of the host of heaven--
+    Illustrious is thy name... O light divine,
+    Gleaming in lofty splendour o'er the earth--
+    Heroic daughter of the moon, oh! hear;
+    Thou dost control our weapons and award
+    In battles fierce the victory at will--
+    crown'd majestic Fate. Ishtar most high,
+    Who art exalted over all the gods,
+    Thou bringest lamentation; thou dost urge
+    With hostile hearts our brethren to the fray;
+    The gift of strength is thine for thou art strong;
+    Thy will is urgent, brooking no delay;
+    Thy hand is violent, thou queen of war
+    Girded with battle and enrobed with fear...
+    Thou sovran wielder of the wand of Doom,
+    The heavens and earth are under thy control.
+
+    Adored art thou in every sacred place,
+    In temples, holy dwellings, and in shrines,
+    Where is thy name not lauded? where thy will
+    Unheeded, and thine images not made?
+    Where are thy temples not upreared? O, where
+    Art thou not mighty, peerless, and supreme?
+
+    Anu and Bel and Ea have thee raised
+    To rank supreme, in majesty and pow'r,
+    They have established thee above the gods
+    And all the host of heaven... O stately queen,
+    At thought of thee the world is filled with fear,
+    The gods in heaven quake, and on the earth
+    All spirits pause, and all mankind bow down
+    With reverence for thy name... O Lady Judge,
+
+    Thy ways are just and holy; thou dost gaze
+    On sinners with compassion, and each morn
+    Leadest the wayward to the rightful path.
+
+    Now linger not, but come! O goddess fair,
+    O shepherdess of all, thou drawest nigh
+    With feet unwearied... Thou dost break the bonds
+    Of these thy handmaids... When thou stoopest o'er
+    The dying with compassion, lo! they live;
+    And when the sick behold thee they are healed.
+
+    Hear me, thy servant! hearken to my pray'r,
+    For I am full of sorrow and I sigh
+    In sore distress; weeping, on thee I wait.
+    Be merciful, my lady, pity take
+    And answer, "'Tis enough and be appeased".
+
+    How long must my heart sorrow and make moan
+    And restless be? How long must my dark home
+    Be filled with mourning and my soul with grief?
+    O lioness of heaven, bring me peace
+    And rest and comfort. Hearken to my pray'r!
+    Is anger pity? May thine eyes look down
+    With tenderness and blessings, and behold
+    Thy servant. Oh! have mercy; hear my cry
+    And unbewitch me from the evil spells,
+    That I may see thy glory... Oh! how long
+    Shall these my foes pursue me, working ill,
+    And robbing me of joy?... Oh! how long
+    Shall demons compass me about and cause
+    Affliction without end?... I thee adore--
+    The gift of strength is thine and thou art strong--
+    The weakly are made strong, yet I am weak...
+    O hear me! I am glutted with my grief--
+    This flood of grief by evil winds distressed;
+    My heart hath fled me like a bird on wings,
+    And like the dove I moan. Tears from mine eyes
+    Are falling as the rain from heaven falls,
+    And I am destitute and full of woe.
+
+           *       *       *       *       *
+
+    What have I done that thou hast turned from me?
+    Have I neglected homage to my god
+    And thee my goddess? O deliver me
+    And all my sins forgive, that I may share
+    Thy love and be watched over in thy fold;
+    And may thy fold be wide, thy pen secure.
+
+           *       *       *       *       *
+
+    How long wilt thou be angry? Hear my cry,
+    And turn again to prosper all my ways--
+    O may thy wrath be crumbled and withdrawn
+    As by a crumbling stream. Then smite my foes,
+    And take away their power to work me ill,
+    That I may crush them. Hearken to my pray'r!
+    And bless me so that all who me behold
+    May laud thee and may magnify thy name,
+    While I exalt thy power over all--
+    Ishtar is highest! Ishtar is the queen!
+    Ishtar the peerless daughter of the moon!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+THE LAND OF RIVERS AND THE GOD OF THE DEEP
+
+
+  Fertility of Ancient Babylonia--Rivers, Canals, Seasons, and
+  Climate--Early Trade and Foreign Influences--Local Religious
+  Cults--Ea, God of the Deep, identical with Oannes of Berosus--Origin
+  as a Sacred Fish--Compared with Brahma and Vishnu--Flood Legends in
+  Babylonia and India--Fish Deities in Babylonia and Egypt--Fish God
+  as a Corn God--The River as Creator--Ea an Artisan God, and links
+  with Egypt and India--Ea as the Hebrew Jah--Ea and Varuna are Water
+  and Sky Gods--The Babylonian Dagan and Dagon of the
+  Philistines--Deities of Water and Harvest in Phoenicia, Greece,
+  Rome, Scotland, Scandinavia, Ireland, and Egypt--Ea's Spouse
+  Damkina--Demons of Ocean in Babylonia and India--Anu, God of the
+  Sky--Enlil, Storm and War God of Nippur, like Adad, Odin, &c.--Early
+  Gods of Babylonia and Egypt of common origin--Ea's City as Cradle of
+  Sumerian Civilization.
+
+
+Ancient Babylonia was for over four thousand years the garden of
+Western Asia. In the days of Hezekiah and Isaiah, when it had come
+under the sway of the younger civilization of Assyria on the north, it
+was "a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of
+oil olive and of honey[28]". Herodotus found it still flourishing and
+extremely fertile. "This territory", he wrote, "is of all that we know
+the best by far for producing grain; it is so good that it returns as
+much as two hundredfold for the average, and, when it bears at its
+best, it produces three hundredfold. The blades of the wheat and
+barley there grow to be full four fingers broad; and from millet and
+sesame seed, how large a tree grows, I know myself, but shall not
+record, being well aware that even what has already been said relating
+to the crops produced has been enough to cause disbelief in those who
+have not visited Babylonia[29]." To-day great tracts of undulating
+moorland, which aforetime yielded two and three crops a year, are in
+summer partly barren wastes and partly jungle and reedy swamp.
+Bedouins camp beside sandy heaps which were once populous and thriving
+cities, and here and there the shrunken remnants of a people once
+great and influential eke out precarious livings under the oppression
+of Turkish tax-gatherers who are scarcely less considerate than the
+plundering nomads of the desert.
+
+This historic country is bounded on the east by Persia and on the west
+by the Arabian desert. In shape somewhat resembling a fish, it lies
+between the two great rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates, 100 miles
+wide at its broadest part, and narrowing to 35 miles towards the
+"tail" in the latitude of Baghdad; the "head" converges to a point
+above Basra, where the rivers meet and form the Shatt-el-Arab, which
+pours into the Persian Gulf after meeting the Karun and drawing away
+the main volume of that double-mouthed river. The distance from
+Baghdad to Basra is about 300 miles, and the area traversed by the
+Shatt-el-Arab is slowly extending at the rate of a mile every thirty
+years or so, as a result of the steady accumulation of silt and mud
+carried down by the Tigris and Euphrates. When Sumeria was beginning
+to flourish, these two rivers had separate outlets, and Eridu, the
+seat of the cult of the sea god Ea, which now lies 125 miles inland,
+was a seaport at the head of the Persian Gulf. A day's journey
+separated the river mouths when Alexander the Great broke the power of
+the Persian Empire.
+
+In the days of Babylonia's prosperity the Euphrates was hailed as "the
+soul of the land" and the Tigris as "the bestower of blessings".
+Skilful engineers had solved the problem of water distribution by
+irrigating sun-parched areas and preventing the excessive flooding of
+those districts which are now rendered impassable swamps when the
+rivers overflow. A network of canals was constructed throughout the
+country, which restricted the destructive tendencies of the Tigris and
+Euphrates and developed to a high degree their potentialities as
+fertilizing agencies. The greatest of these canals appear to have been
+anciently river beds. One, which is called Shatt en Nil to the north,
+and Shatt el Kar to the south, curved eastward from Babylon, and
+sweeping past Nippur, flowed like the letter S towards Larsa and then
+rejoined the river. It is believed to mark the course followed in the
+early Sumerian period by the Euphrates river, which has moved steadily
+westward many miles beyond the sites of ancient cities that were
+erected on its banks. Another important canal, the Shatt el Hai,
+crossed the plain from the Tigris to its sister river, which lies
+lower at this point, and does not run so fast. Where the artificial
+canals were constructed on higher levels than the streams which fed
+them, the water was raised by contrivances known as "shaddufs"; the
+buckets or skin bags were roped to a weighted beam, with the aid of
+which they were swung up by workmen and emptied into the canals. It is
+possible that this toilsome mode of irrigation was substituted in
+favourable parts by the primitive water wheels which are used in our
+own day by the inhabitants of the country who cultivate strips of land
+along the river banks.
+
+In Babylonia there are two seasons--the rainy and the dry. Rain falls
+from November till March, and the plain is carpeted in spring by
+patches of vivid green verdure and brilliant wild flowers. Then the
+period of drought ensues; the sun rapidly burns up all vegetation, and
+everywhere the eye is wearied by long stretches of brown and yellow
+desert. Occasional sandstorms darken the heavens, sweeping over
+sterile wastes and piling up the shapeless mounds which mark the sites
+of ancient cities. Meanwhile the rivers are increasing in volume,
+being fed by the melting snows at their mountain sources far to the
+north. The swift Tigris, which is 1146 miles long, begins to rise
+early in March and reaches its highest level in May; before the end of
+June it again subsides. More sluggish in movement, the Euphrates,
+which is 1780 miles long, shows signs of rising a fortnight later than
+the Tigris, and is in flood for a more extended period; it does not
+shrink to its lowest level until early in September. By controlling
+the flow of these mighty rivers, preventing disastrous floods, and
+storing and distributing surplus water, the ancient Babylonians
+developed to the full the natural resources of their country, and made
+it--what it may once again become--one of the fairest and most
+habitable areas in the world. Nature conferred upon them bountiful
+rewards for their labour; trade and industries flourished, and the
+cities increased in splendour and strength. Then as now the heat was
+great during the long summer, but remarkably dry and unvarying, while
+the air was ever wonderfully transparent under cloudless skies of
+vivid blue. The nights were cool and of great beauty, whether in
+brilliant moonlight or when ponds and canals were jewelled by the
+lustrous displays of clear and numerous stars which glorified that
+homeland of the earliest astronomers.
+
+Babylonia is a treeless country, and timber had to be imported from
+the earliest times. The date palm was probably introduced by man, as
+were certainly the vine and the fig tree, which were widely
+cultivated, especially in the north. Stone, suitable for building, was
+very scarce, and limestone, alabaster, marble, and basalt had to be
+taken from northern Mesopotamia, where the mountains also yield copper
+and lead and iron. Except Eridu, where ancient workers quarried
+sandstone from its sea-shaped ridge, all the cities were built of
+brick, an excellent clay being found in abundance. When brick walls
+were cemented with bitumen they were given great stability. This
+resinous substance is found in the north and south. It bubbles up
+through crevices of rocks on river banks and forms small ponds. Two
+famous springs at modern Hit, on the Euphrates, have been drawn upon
+from time immemorial. "From one", writes a traveller, "flows hot water
+black with bitumen, while the other discharges intermittently bitumen,
+or, after a rainstorm, bitumen and cold water.... Where rocks crop out
+in the plain above Hit, they are full of seams of bitumen."[30]
+Present-day Arabs call it "kiyara", and export it for coating boats
+and roofs; they also use it as an antiseptic, and apply it to cure the
+skin diseases from which camels suffer.
+
+Sumeria had many surplus products, including corn and figs, pottery,
+fine wool and woven garments, to offer in exchange for what it most
+required from other countries. It must, therefore, have had a brisk
+and flourishing foreign trade at an exceedingly remote period. No
+doubt numerous alien merchants were attracted to its cities, and it
+may be that they induced or encouraged Semitic and other raiders to
+overthrow governments and form military aristocracies, so that they
+themselves might obtain necessary concessions and achieve a degree of
+political ascendancy. It does not follow, however, that the peasant
+class was greatly affected by periodic revolutions of this kind, which
+brought little more to them than a change of rulers. The needs of the
+country necessitated the continuance of agricultural methods and the
+rigid observance of existing land laws; indeed, these constituted the
+basis of Sumerian prosperity. Conquerors have ever sought reward not
+merely in spoil, but also the services of the conquered. In northern
+Babylonia the invaders apparently found it necessary to conciliate and
+secure the continued allegiance of the tillers of the soil. Law and
+religion being closely associated, they had to adapt their gods to
+suit the requirements of existing social and political organizations.
+A deity of pastoral nomads had to receive attributes which would give
+him an agricultural significance; one of rural character had to be
+changed to respond to the various calls of city life. Besides, local
+gods could not be ignored on account of their popularity. As a result,
+imported beliefs and religious customs must have been fused and
+absorbed according to their bearing on modes of life in various
+localities. It is probable that the complex character of certain
+deities was due to the process of adjustment to which they were
+subjected in new environments.
+
+The petty kingdoms of Sumeria appear to have been tribal in origin.
+Each city was presided over by a deity who was the nominal owner of
+the surrounding arable land, farms were rented or purchased from the
+priesthood, and pasture was held in common. As in Egypt, where we
+find, for instance, the artisan god Ptah supreme at Memphis, the sun
+god Ra at Heliopolis, and the cat goddess Bast at Bubastis, the
+various local Sumerian and Akkadian deities had distinctive
+characteristics, and similarly showed a tendency to absorb the
+attributes of their rivals. The chief deity of a state was the central
+figure in a pantheon, which had its political aspect and influenced
+the growth of local theology. Cities, however, did not, as a rule,
+bear the names of deities, which suggests that several were founded
+when Sumerian religion was in its early animistic stages, and gods and
+goddesses were not sharply defined from the various spirit groups.
+
+A distinctive and characteristic Sumerian god was Ea, who was supreme
+at the ancient sea-deserted port of Eridu. He is identified with the
+Oannes of Berosus,[31] who referred to the deity as "a creature
+endowed with reason, with a body like that of a fish, with feet below
+like those of a man, with a fish's tail". This description recalls the
+familiar figures of Egyptian gods and priests attired in the skins of
+the sacred animals from whom their powers were derived, and the fairy
+lore about swan maids and men, and the seals and other animals who
+could divest themselves of their "skin coverings" and appear in human
+shape. Originally Ea may have been a sacred fish. The Indian creative
+gods Brahma and Vishnu had fish forms. In Sanskrit literature Manu,
+the eponymous "first man", is instructed by the fish to build a ship
+in which to save himself when the world would be purged by the rising
+waters. Ea befriended in similar manner the Babylonian Noah, called
+Pir-napishtim, advising him to build a vessel so as to be prepared for
+the approaching Deluge. Indeed the Indian legend appears to throw
+light on the original Sumerian conception of Ea. It relates that when
+the fish was small and in danger of being swallowed by other fish in a
+stream it appealed to Manu for protection. The sage at once lifted up
+the fish and placed it in a jar of water. It gradually increased in
+bulk, and he transferred it next to a tank and then to the river
+Ganges. In time the fish complained to Manu that the river was too
+small for it, so he carried it to the sea. For these services the god
+in fish form instructed Manu regarding the approaching flood, and
+afterwards piloted his ship through the weltering waters until it
+rested on a mountain top.[32]
+
+If this Indian myth is of Babylonian origin, as appears probable, it
+may be that the spirit of the river Euphrates, "the soul of the land",
+was identified with a migrating fish. The growth of the fish suggests
+the growth of the river rising in flood. In Celtic folk tales high
+tides and valley floods are accounted for by the presence of a "great
+beast" in sea, loch, or river. In a class of legends, "specially
+connected with the worship of Atargatis", wrote Professor Robertson
+Smith, "the divine life of the waters resides in the sacred fish that
+inhabit them. Atargatis and her son, according to a legend common to
+Hierapolis and Ascalon, plunged into the waters--in the first case the
+Euphrates, in the second the sacred pool at the temple near the
+town--and were changed into fishes". The idea is that "where a god
+dies, that is, ceases to exist in human form, his life passes into the
+waters where he is buried; and this again is merely a theory to bring
+the divine water or the divine fish into harmony with anthropomorphic
+ideas. The same thing was sometimes effected in another way by saying
+that the anthropomorphic deity was born from the water, as Aphrodite
+sprang from sea foam, or as Atargatis, in another form of the
+Euphrates legend, ... was born of an egg which the sacred fishes found
+in the Euphrates and pushed ashore."[33]
+
+As "Shar Apsi", Ea was the "King of the Watery Deep". The reference,
+however, according to Jastrow, "is not to the salt ocean, but the
+sweet waters flowing under the earth which feed the streams, and
+through streams and canals irrigate the fields".[34] As Babylonia was
+fertilized by its rivers, Ea, the fish god, was a fertilizing deity.
+In Egypt the "Mother of Mendes" is depicted carrying a fish upon her
+head; she links with Isis and Hathor; her husband is Ba-neb-Tettu, a
+form of Ptah, Osiris, and Ra, and as a god of fertility he is
+symbolized by the ram. Another Egyptian fish deity was the god Rem,
+whose name signifies "to weep"; he wept fertilizing tears, and corn
+was sown and reaped amidst lamentations. He may be identical with
+Remi, who was a phase of Sebek, the crocodile god, a developed
+attribute of Nu, the vague primitive Egyptian deity who symbolized the
+primordial deep. The connection between a fish god and a corn god is
+not necessarily remote when we consider that in Babylonia and Egypt
+the harvest was the gift of the rivers.
+
+The Euphrates, indeed, was hailed as a creator of all that grew on its
+banks.
+
+    O thou River who didst create all things,
+    When the great gods dug thee out,
+    They set prosperity upon thy banks,
+    Within thee Ea, the King of the Deep, created his dwelling...
+    Thou judgest the cause of mankind!
+    O River, thou art mighty! O River, thou art supreme!
+    O River, thou art righteous![35]
+
+In serving Ea, the embodiment or the water spirit, by leading him, as
+the Indian Manu led the Creator and "Preserver" in fish form, from
+river to water pot, water pot to pond or canal, and then again to
+river and ocean, the Babylonians became expert engineers and
+experienced agriculturists, the makers of bricks, the builders of
+cities, the framers of laws. Indeed, their civilization was a growth
+of Ea worship. Ea was their instructor. Berosus states that, as
+Oannes, he lived in the Persian Gulf, and every day came ashore to
+instruct the inhabitants of Eridu how to make canals, to grow crops,
+to work metals, to make pottery and bricks, and to build temples; he
+was the artisan god--Nun-ura, "god of the potter"; Kuski-banda, "god
+of goldsmiths", &c.--the divine patron of the arts and crafts. "Ea
+knoweth everything", chanted the hymn maker. He taught the people how
+to form and use alphabetic signs and instructed them in mathematics:
+he gave them their code of laws. Like the Egyptian artisan god Ptah,
+and the linking deity Khnumu, Ea was the "potter or moulder of gods
+and man". Ptah moulded the first man on his potter's wheel: he also
+moulded the sun and moon; he shaped the universe and hammered out the
+copper sky. Ea built the world "as an architect builds a house".[36]
+Similarly the Vedic Indra, who wielded a hammer like Ptah, fashioned
+the universe after the simple manner in which the Aryans made their
+wooden dwellings.[37]
+
+Like Ptah, Ea also developed from an artisan god into a sublime
+Creator in the highest sense, not merely as a producer of crops. His
+word became the creative force; he named those things he desired to
+be, and they came into existence. "Who but Ea creates things",
+exclaimed a priestly poet. This change from artisan god to creator
+(Nudimmud) may have been due to the tendency of early religious cults
+to attach to their chief god the attributes of rivals exalted at other
+centres.
+
+Ea, whose name is also rendered Aa, was identified with Ya, Ya'u, or
+Au, the Jah of the Hebrews. "In Ya-Daganu, 'Jah is Dagon'", writes
+Professor Pinches, "we have the elements reversed, showing a wish to
+identify Jah with Dagon, rather than Dagon with Jah; whilst another
+interesting name, Au-Aa, shows an identification of Jah with Aa, two
+names which have every appearance of being etymologically connected."
+Jah's name "is one of the words for 'god' in the Assyro-Babylonian
+language".[38]
+
+Ea was "Enki", "lord of the world", or "lord of what is beneath";
+Amma-ana-ki, "lord of heaven and earth"; Sa-kalama, "ruler of the
+land", as well as Engur, "god of the abyss", Naqbu, "the deep", and
+Lugal-ida, "king of the river". As rain fell from "the waters above
+the firmament", the god of waters was also a sky and earth god.
+
+The Indian Varuna was similarly a sky as well as an ocean god before
+the theorizing and systematizing Brahmanic teachers relegated him to a
+permanent abode at the bottom of the sea. It may be that Ea-Oannes and
+Varuna were of common origin.
+
+Another Babylonian deity, named Dagan, is believed to be identical
+with Ea. His worship was certainly of great antiquity. "Hammurabi",
+writes Professor Pinches, "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 (Dagon of the Philistines), is found in a few personal
+names.[39]
+
+It is possible that the Philistine deity Dagon was a specialized form
+of ancient Ea, who was either imported from Babylonia or was a sea god
+of more than one branch of the Mediterranean race. The authorities are
+at variance regarding the form and attributes of Dagan. Our knowledge
+regarding him is derived mainly from the Bible. He was a national
+rather than a city god. There are references to a Beth-dagon[40],
+"house or city of Dagon"; he had also a temple at Gaza, and Samson
+destroyed it by pulling down the two middle pillars which were its
+main support.[41] A third temple was situated in Ashdod. When the
+captured ark of the Israelites was placed in it the image of Dagon
+"fell on his face", with the result that "the head of Dagon and both
+the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold; only the stump
+of Dagon was left".[42] A further reference to "the threshold of
+Dagon" suggests that the god had feet like Ea-Oannes. Those who hold
+that Dagon had a fish form derive his name from the Semitic "dag = a
+fish", and suggest that after the idol fell only the fishy part (dago)
+was left. On the other hand, it was argued that Dagon was a corn god,
+and that the resemblance between the words Dagan and Dagon are
+accidental. Professor Sayce makes reference in this connection to a
+crystal seal from Phoenicia in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, bearing
+an inscription which he reads as Baal-dagon. Near the name is an ear
+of corn, and other symbols, such as the winged solar disc, a gazelle,
+and several stars, but there is no fish. It may be, of course, that
+Baal-dagon represents a fusion of deities. As we have seen in the case
+of Ea-Oannes and the deities of Mendes, a fish god may also be a corn
+god, a land animal god and a god of ocean and the sky. The offering of
+golden mice representing "your mice that mar the land",[43] made by
+the Philistines, suggests that Dagon was the fertilizing harvest god,
+among other things, whose usefulness had been impaired, as they
+believed, by the mistake committed of placing the ark of Israel in the
+temple at Ashdod. The Philistines came from Crete, and if their Dagon
+was imported from that island, he may have had some connection with
+Poseidon, whose worship extended throughout Greece. This god of the
+sea, who is somewhat like the Roman Neptune, carried a lightning
+trident and caused earthquakes. He was a brother of Zeus, the sky and
+atmosphere deity, and had bull and horse forms. As a horse he pursued
+Demeter, the earth and corn goddess, and, like Ea, he instructed
+mankind, but especially in the art of training horses. In his train
+were the Tritons, half men, half fishes, and the water fairies, the
+Nereids. Bulls, boars, and rams were offered to this sea god of
+fertility. Amphitrite was his spouse.
+
+An obscure god Shony, the Oannes of the Scottish Hebrides, received
+oblations from those who depended for their agricultural prosperity on
+his gifts of fertilizing seaweed. He is referred to in Martin's
+_Western Isles_, and is not yet forgotten. The Eddic sea god Njord of
+Noatun was the father of Frey, the harvest god. Dagda, the Irish corn
+god, had for wife Boann, the goddess of the river Boyne. Osiris and
+Isis of Egypt were associated with the Nile. The connection between
+agriculture and the water supply was too obvious to escape the early
+symbolists, and many other proofs of this than those referred to could
+be given.
+
+Ea's "faithful spouse" was the goddess Damkina, who was also called
+Nin-ki, "lady of the earth". "May Ea make thee glad", chanted the
+priests. "May Damkina, queen of the deep, illumine thee with her
+countenance; may Merodach (Marduk), the mighty overseer of the Igigi
+(heavenly spirits), exalt thy head." Merodach was their son: in time
+he became the Bel, or "Lord", of the Babylonian pantheon.
+
+Like the Indian Varuna, the sea god, Ea-Oannes had control over the
+spirits and demons of the deep. The "ferryman" who kept watch over the
+river of death was called Arad-Ea, "servant of Ea". There are also
+references to sea maidens, the Babylonian mermaids, or Nereids. We
+have a glimpse of sea giants, which resemble the Indian Danavas and
+Daityas of ocean, in the chant:
+
+    Seven are they, seven are they,
+    In the ocean deep seven are they,
+    Battening in heaven seven are they,
+    Bred in the depths of ocean....
+    Of these seven the first is the south wind,
+    The second a dragon with mouth agape....[44]
+
+A suggestion of the Vedic Vritra and his horde of monsters.
+
+These seven demons were also "the messengers of Anu", who, although
+specialized as a sky god in more than one pantheon, appears to have
+been closely associated with Ea in the earliest Sumerian period. His
+name, signifying "the high one", is derived from "ana", "heaven"; he
+was the city god of Erech (Uruk). It is possible that he was developed
+as an atmospheric god with solar and lunar attributes. The seven
+demons, who were his messengers, recall the stormy Maruts, the
+followers of Indra. They are referred to as
+
+    Forcing their way with baneful windstorms,
+    Mighty destroyers, the deluge of the storm god,
+    Stalking at the right hand of the storm god.[45]
+
+When we deal with a deity in his most archaic form it is difficult to
+distinguish him from a demon. Even the beneficent Ea is associated
+with monsters and furies. "Evil spirits", according to a Babylonian
+chant, were "the bitter venom of the gods". Those attached to a deity
+as "attendants" appear to represent the original animistic group from
+which he evolved. In each district the character of the deity was
+shaped to accord with local conditions.
+
+At Nippur, which was situated on the vague and shifting boundary line
+between Sumer and Akkad, the chief god was Enlil, whose name is
+translated "lord of mist", "lord of might", and "lord of demons" by
+various authorities. He was a storm god and a war god, and "lord of
+heaven and earth ", like Ea and Anu. An atmospheric deity, he shares
+the attributes of the Indian Indra, the thunder and rain god, and
+Vayu, the wind god; he also resembles the Semitic Adad or Rimman, who
+links with the Hittite Tarku. All these are deities of tempest and the
+mountains--Wild Huntsmen in the Raging Host. The name of Enlil's
+temple at Nippur has been translated as "mountain house", or "like a
+mountain", and the theory obtained for a time that the god must
+therefore have been imported by a people from the hills. But as the
+ideogram for "mountain" and "land" was used in the earliest times, as
+King shows, with reference to foreign countries,[46] it is more
+probable that Enlil was exalted as a world god who had dominion over
+not only Sumer and Akkad, but also the territories occupied by the
+rivals and enemies of the early Babylonians.
+
+Enlil is known as the "older Bel" (lord), to distinguish him from Bel
+Merodach of Babylon. He was the chief figure in a triad in which he
+figured as earth god, with Anu as god of the sky and Ea as god of the
+deep. This classification suggests that Nippur had either risen in
+political importance and dominated the cities of Erech and Eridu, or
+that its priests were influential at the court of a ruler who was the
+overlord of several city states.
+
+Associated with Bel Enlil was Beltis, later known as "Beltu--the
+lady". She appears to be identical with the other great goddesses,
+Ishtar, Nana, Zerpanitu^m, &c., a "Great Mother", or consort of an
+early god with whom she was equal in power and dignity.
+
+In the later systematized theology of the Babylonians we seem to trace
+the fragments of a primitive mythology which was vague in outline, for
+the deities were not sharply defined, and existed in groups. Enneads
+were formed in Egypt by placing a local god at the head of a group of
+eight elder deities. The sun god Ra was the chief figure of the
+earliest pantheon of this character at Heliopolis, while at Hermopolis
+the leader was the lunar god Thoth. Professor Budge is of opinion that
+"both the Sumerians and the early Egyptians derived their primeval
+gods from some common but exceedingly ancient source", for he finds in
+the Babylonian and Nile valleys that there is a resemblance between
+two early groups which "seems to be too close to be accidental".[47]
+
+The Egyptian group comprises four pairs of vague gods and
+goddesses--Nu and his consort Nut, Hehu and his consort Hehut, Kekui
+and his consort Kekuit, and Kerh and his consort Kerhet. "Man always
+has fashioned", he says, "and probably always will fashion, his god or
+gods in his own image, and he has always, having reached a certain
+stage in development, given to his gods wives and offspring; but the
+nature of the position taken by the wives of the gods depends upon the
+nature of the position of women in the households of those who write
+the legends and the traditions of the gods. The gods of the oldest
+company in Egypt were, the writer believes, invented by people in
+whose households women held a high position, and among whom they
+possessed more power than is usually the case with Oriental
+peoples."[48]
+
+We cannot say definitely what these various deities represent. Nu was
+the spirit of the primordial deep, and Nut of the waters above the
+heavens, the mother of moon and sun and the stars. The others were
+phases of light and darkness and the forces of nature in activity and
+repose.
+
+Nu is represented in Babylonian mythology by Apsu-Rishtu, and Nut by
+Mummu-Tiamat or Tiawath; the next pair is Lachmu and Lachamu, and the
+third, Anshar and Kishar. The fourth pair is missing, but the names of
+Anu and Ea (as Nudimmud) are mentioned in the first tablet of the
+Creation series, and the name of a third is lost. Professor Budge
+thinks that the Assyrian editors substituted the ancient triad of Anu,
+Ea, and Enlil for the pair which would correspond to those found in
+Egypt. Originally the wives of Anu and Ea may have made up the group
+of eight primitive deities.
+
+There can be little doubt but that Ea, as he survives to us, is of
+later characterization than the first pair of primitive deities who
+symbolized the deep. The attributes of this beneficent god reflect the
+progress, and the social and moral ideals of a people well advanced in
+civilization. He rewarded mankind for the services they rendered to
+him; he was their leader and instructor; he achieved for them the
+victories over the destructive forces of nature. In brief, he was the
+dragon slayer, a distinction, by the way, which was attached in later
+times to his son Merodach, the Babylonian god, although Ea was still
+credited with the victory over the dragon's husband.
+
+When Ea was one of the pre-Babylonian group--the triad of Bel-Enlil,
+Anu, and Ea--he resembled the Indian Vishnu, the Preserver, while
+Bel-Enlil resembled Shiva, the Destroyer, and Anu, the father, supreme
+Brahma, the Creator and Father of All, the difference in exact
+adjustment being due, perhaps, to Sumerian political conditions.
+
+Ea, as we have seen, symbolized the beneficence of the waters; their
+destructive force was represented by Tiamat or Tiawath, the dragon,
+and Apsu, her husband, the arch-enemy of the gods. We shall find these
+elder demons figuring in the Babylonian Creation myth, which receives
+treatment in a later chapter.
+
+The ancient Sumerian city of Eridu, which means "on the seashore", was
+invested with great sanctity from the earliest times, and Ea, the
+"great magician of the gods", was invoked by workers of spells, the
+priestly magicians of historic Babylonia. Excavations have shown that
+Eridu was protected by a retaining wall of sandstone, of which
+material many of its houses were made. In its temple tower, built of
+brick, was a marble stairway, and evidences have been forthcoming that
+in the later Sumerian period the structure was lavishly adorned. It is
+referred to in the fragments of early literature which have survived
+as "the splendid house, shady as the forest", that "none may enter".
+The mythological spell exercised by Eridu in later times suggests that
+the civilization of Sumeria owed much to the worshippers of Ea. At the
+sacred city the first man was created: there the souls of the dead
+passed towards the great Deep. Its proximity to the sea--Ea was
+Nin-bubu, "god of the sailor"--may have brought it into contact with
+other peoples and other early civilizations. Like the early Egyptians,
+the early Sumerians may have been in touch with Punt (Somaliland),
+which some regard as the cradle of the Mediterranean race. The
+Egyptians obtained from that sacred land incense-bearing trees which
+had magical potency. In a fragmentary Babylonian charm there is a
+reference to a sacred tree or bush at Eridu. Professor Sayce has
+suggested that it is the Biblical "Tree of Life" in the Garden of
+Eden. His translations of certain vital words, however, is sharply
+questioned by Mr. R. Campbell Thompson of the British Museum, who does
+not accept the theory.[49] It may be that Ea's sacred bush or tree is
+a survival of tree and water worship.
+
+If Eridu was not the "cradle" of the Sumerian race, it was possibly
+the cradle of Sumerian civilization. Here, amidst the shifting rivers
+in early times, the agriculturists may have learned to control and
+distribute the water supply by utilizing dried-up beds of streams to
+irrigate the land. Whatever successes they achieved were credited to
+Ea, their instructor and patron; he was Nadimmud, "god of everything".
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+RIVAL PANTHEONS AND REPRESENTATIVE DEITIES
+
+
+  Why Different Gods were Supreme at Different Centres--Theories
+  regarding Origin of Life--Vital Principle in Water--Creative Tears
+  of Weeping Deities--Significance of widespread Spitting
+  Customs--Divine Water in Blood and Divine Blood in Water--Liver as
+  the Seat of Life--Inspiration derived by Drinking Mead, Blood,
+  &c.--Life Principle in Breath--Babylonian Ghosts as "Evil Wind
+  Gusts"--Fire Deities--Fire and Water in Magical Ceremonies--Moon
+  Gods of Ur and Harran--Moon Goddess and Babylonian "Jack and
+  Jill"--Antiquity of Sun Worship--Tammuz and Ishtar--Solar Gods of
+  War, Pestilence, and Death--Shamash as the "Great Judge"--His Mitra
+  Name--Aryan Mitra or Mithra and linking Babylonian Deities--Varuna
+  and Shamash Hymns compared--The Female Origin of Life--Goddesses of
+  Maternity--The Babylonian Thor--Deities of Good and Evil.
+
+
+In dealing with the city cults of Sumer and Akkad, consideration must
+be given to the problems involved by the rival mythological systems.
+Pantheons not only varied in detail, but were presided over by
+different supreme gods. One city's chief deity might be regarded as a
+secondary deity at another centre. Although Ea, for instance, was
+given first place at Eridu, and was so pronouncedly Sumerian in
+character, the moon god Nannar remained supreme at Ur, while the sun
+god, whose Semitic name was Shamash, presided at Larsa and Sippar.
+Other deities were similarly exalted in other states.
+
+As has been indicated, a mythological system must have been strongly
+influenced by city politics. To hold a community in sway, it was
+necessary to recognize officially the various gods worshipped by
+different sections, so as to secure the constant allegiance of all
+classes to their rulers. Alien deities were therefore associated with
+local and tribal deities, those of the nomads with those of the
+agriculturists, those of the unlettered folks with those of the
+learned people. Reference has been made to the introduction of strange
+deities by conquerors. But these were not always imposed upon a
+community by violent means. Indications are not awanting that the
+worshippers of alien gods were sometimes welcomed and encouraged to
+settle in certain states. When they came as military allies to assist
+a city folk against a fierce enemy, they were naturally much admired
+and praised, honoured by the women and the bards, and rewarded by the
+rulers.
+
+In the epic of Gilgamesh, the Babylonian Hercules, we meet with
+Ea-bani, a Goliath of the wilds, who is entreated to come to the aid
+of the besieged city of Erech when it seemed that its deities were
+unable to help the people against their enemies.
+
+    The gods of walled-round Erech
+    To flies had turned and buzzed in the streets;
+    The winged bulls of walled-round Erech
+    Were turned to mice and departed through the holes.
+
+Ea-bani was attracted to Erech by the gift of a fair woman for wife.
+The poet who lauded him no doubt mirrored public opinion. We can see
+the slim, shaven Sumerians gazing with wonder and admiration on their
+rough heroic ally.
+
+    All his body was covered with hair,
+    His locks were like a woman's,
+    Thick as corn grew his abundant hair.
+    He was a stranger to the people and in that land.
+    Clad in a garment like Gira, the god,
+    He had eaten grass with the gazelles,
+    He had drunk water with savage beasts.
+    His delight was to be among water dwellers.
+
+Like the giant Alban, the eponymous ancestor of a people who invaded
+prehistoric Britain, Ea-bani appears to have represented in Babylonian
+folk legends a certain type of foreign settlers in the land. No doubt
+the city dwellers, who were impressed by the prowess of the hairy and
+powerful warriors, were also ready to acknowledge the greatness of
+their war gods, and to admit them into the pantheon. The fusion of
+beliefs which followed must have stimulated thought and been
+productive of speculative ideas. "Nowhere", remarks Professor Jastrow,
+"does a high form of culture arise without the commingling of diverse
+ethnic elements."
+
+We must also take into account the influence exercised by leaders of
+thought like En-we-dur-an-ki, the famous high priest of Sippar, whose
+piety did much to increase the reputation of the cult of Shamesh, the
+sun god. The teachings and example of Buddha, for instance,
+revolutionized Brahmanic religion in India.
+
+A mythology was an attempt to solve the riddle of the Universe, and to
+adjust the relations of mankind with the various forces represented by
+the deities. The priests systematized existing folk beliefs and
+established an official religion. To secure the prosperity of the
+State, it was considered necessary to render homage unto whom homage
+was due at various seasons and under various circumstances.
+
+The religious attitude of a particular community, therefore, must have
+been largely dependent on its needs and experiences. The food supply
+was a first consideration. At Eridu, as we have seen, it was assured
+by devotion to Ea and obedience to his commands as an instructor.
+Elsewhere it might happen, however, that Ea's gifts were restricted or
+withheld by an obstructing force--the raging storm god, or the
+parching, pestilence-bringing deity of the sun. It was necessary,
+therefore, for the people to win the favour of the god or goddess who
+seemed most powerful, and was accordingly considered to be the
+greatest in a particular district. A rain god presided over the
+destinies of one community, and a god of disease and death over
+another; a third exalted the war god, no doubt because raids were
+frequent and the city owed its strength and prosperity to its battles
+and conquests. The reputation won by a particular god throughout
+Babylonia would depend greatly on the achievements of his worshippers
+and the progress of the city civilization over which he presided.
+Bel-Enlil's fame as a war deity was probably due to the political
+supremacy of his city of Nippur; and there was probably good reason
+for attributing to the sun god a pronounced administrative and legal
+character; he may have controlled the destinies of exceedingly well
+organized communities in which law and order and authority were held
+in high esteem.
+
+In accounting for the rise of distinctive and rival city deities, we
+should also consider the influence of divergent conceptions regarding
+the origin of life in mingled communities. Each foreign element in a
+community had its own intellectual life and immemorial tribal
+traditions, which reflected ancient habits of life and perpetuated the
+doctrines of eponymous ancestors. Among the agricultural classes, the
+folk religion which entered so intimately into their customs and
+labours must have remained essentially Babylonish in character. In
+cities, however, where official religions were formulated, foreign
+ideas were more apt to be imposed, especially when embraced by
+influential teachers. It is not surprising, therefore, to find that in
+Babylonia, as in Egypt, there were differences of opinion regarding
+the origin of life and the particular natural element which
+represented the vital principle.
+
+One section of the people, who were represented by the worshippers of
+Ea, appear to have believed that the essence of life was contained in
+water. The god of Eridu was the source of the "water of life". He
+fertilized parched and sunburnt wastes through rivers and irrigating
+canals, and conferred upon man the sustaining "food of life". When
+life came to an end--
+
+    Food of death will be offered thee...
+    Water of death will be offered thee...
+
+Offerings of water and food were made to the dead so that the ghosts
+might be nourished and prevented from troubling the living. Even the
+gods required water and food; they were immortal because they had
+drunk ambrosia and eaten from the plant of life. When the goddess
+Ishtar was in the Underworld, the land of the dead, the servant of Ea
+exclaimed--
+
+    "Hail! lady, may the well give me of its waters, so that I may
+        drink."
+
+The goddess of the dead commanded her servant to "sprinkle the lady
+Ishtar with the water of life and bid her depart". The sacred water
+might also be found at a confluence of rivers. Ea bade his son,
+Merodach, to "draw water from the mouth of two streams", and "on this
+water to put his pure spell".
+
+The worship of rivers and wells which prevailed in many countries was
+connected with the belief that the principle of life was in moisture.
+In India, water was vitalized by the intoxicating juice of the Soma
+plant, which inspired priests to utter prophecies and filled their
+hearts with religious fervour. Drinking customs had originally a
+religious significance. It was believed in India that the sap of
+plants was influenced by the moon, the source of vitalizing moisture
+and the hiding-place of the mead of the gods. The Teutonic gods also
+drank this mead, and poets were inspired by it. Similar beliefs
+obtained among various peoples. Moon and water worship were therefore
+closely associated; the blood of animals and the sap of plants were
+vitalized by the water of life and under control of the moon.
+
+The body moisture of gods and demons had vitalizing properties. When
+the Indian creator, Praj�pati, wept at the beginning, "that (the
+tears) which fell into the water became the air. That which he wiped
+away, upwards, became the sky."[50] The ancient Egyptians believed
+that all men were born from the eyes of Horus except negroes, who came
+from other parts of his body.[51] The creative tears of Ra, the sun
+god, fell as shining rays upon the earth. When this god grew old
+saliva dripped from his mouth, and Isis mixed the vitalizing moisture
+with dust, and thus made the serpent which bit and paralysed the great
+solar deity.[52]
+
+Other Egyptian deities, including Osiris and Isis, wept creative
+tears. Those which fell from the eyes of the evil gods produced
+poisonous plants and various baneful animals. Orion, the Greek giant,
+sprang from the body moisture of deities. The weeping ceremonies in
+connection with agricultural rites were no doubt believed to be of
+magical potency; they encouraged the god to weep creative tears.
+
+Ea, the god of the deep, was also "lord of life" (Enti), "king of the
+river" (Lugal-ida), and god of creation (Nudimmud). His aid was
+invoked by means of magical formulae. As the "great magician of the
+gods" he uttered charms himself, and was the patron of all magicians.
+One spell runs as follows:
+
+    I am the sorcerer priest of Ea...
+    To revive the ... sick man
+    The great lord Ea hath sent me;
+    He hath added his pure spell to mine,
+    He hath added his pure voice to mine,
+    He hath added his pure spittle to mine.
+
+            _R.C. Thompson's Translation._
+
+Saliva, like tears, had creative and therefore curative qualities; it
+also expelled and injured demons and brought good luck. Spitting
+ceremonies are referred to in the religious literature of Ancient
+Egypt. When the Eye of Ra was blinded by Set, Thoth spat in it to
+restore vision. The sun god Tum, who was linked with Ra as Ra-Tum,
+spat on the ground, and his saliva became the gods Shu and Tefnut. In
+the Underworld the devil serpent Apep was spat upon to curse it, as
+was also its waxen image which the priests fashioned.[53]
+
+Several African tribes spit to make compacts, declare friendship, and
+to curse.
+
+Park, the explorer, refers in his _Travels_ to his carriers spitting
+on a flat stone to ensure a good journey. Arabian holy men and
+descendants of Mohammed spit to cure diseases. Mohammed spat in the
+mouth of his grandson Hasen soon after birth. Theocritus, Sophocles,
+and Plutarch testify to the ancient Grecian customs of spitting to
+cure and to curse, and also to bless when children were named. Pliny
+has expressed belief in the efficacy of the fasting spittle for curing
+disease, and referred to the custom of spitting to avert witchcraft.
+In England, Scotland, and Ireland spitting customs are not yet
+obsolete. North of England boys used to talk of "spitting their sauls"
+(souls). When the Newcastle colliers held their earliest strikes they
+made compacts by spitting on a stone. There are still "spitting
+stones" in the north of Scotland. When bargains are made in rural
+districts, hands are spat upon before they are shaken. The first money
+taken each day by fishwives and other dealers is spat upon to ensure
+increased drawings. Brand, who refers to various spitting customs,
+quotes _Scot's Discovery of Witchcraft_ regarding the saliva cure for
+king's evil, which is still, by the way, practised in the Hebrides.
+Like Pliny, Scot recommended ceremonial spitting as a charm against
+witchcraft.[54] In China spitting to expel demons is a common
+practice. We still call a hasty person a "spitfire", and a calumniator
+a "spit-poison".
+
+The life principle in trees, &c., as we have seen, was believed to
+have been derived from the tears of deities. In India sap was called
+the "blood of trees", and references to "bleeding trees" are still
+widespread and common. "Among the ancients", wrote Professor Robertson
+Smith, "blood is generally conceived as the principle or vehicle of
+life, and so the account often given of sacred waters is that the
+blood of the deity flows in them. Thus as Milton writes:
+
+    Smooth Adonis from his native rock
+    Ran purple to the sea, supposed with blood
+    Of Thammuz yearly wounded.
+
+            _Paradise Lost_, i, 450.
+
+The ruddy colour which the swollen river derived from the soil at a
+certain season was ascribed to the blood of the god, who received his
+death wound in Lebanon at that time of the year, and lay buried beside
+the sacred source."[55]
+
+In Babylonia the river was regarded as the source of the life blood
+and the seat of the soul. No doubt this theory was based on the fact
+that the human liver contains about a sixth of the blood in the body,
+the largest proportion required by any single organ. Jeremiah makes
+"Mother Jerusalem" exclaim: "My liver is poured upon the earth for the
+destruction of the daughter of my people", meaning that her life is
+spent with grief.
+
+Inspiration was derived by drinking blood as well as by drinking
+intoxicating liquors--the mead of the gods. Indian magicians who drink
+the blood of the goat sacrificed to the goddess Kali, are believed to
+be temporarily possessed by her spirit, and thus enabled to
+prophesy.[56] Malayan exorcists still expel demons while they suck the
+blood from a decapitated fowl.[57]
+
+Similar customs were prevalent in Ancient Greece. A woman who drank
+the blood of a sacrificed lamb or bull uttered prophetic sayings.[58]
+
+But while most Babylonians appear to have believed that the life
+principle was in blood, some were apparently of opinion that it was in
+breath--the air of life. A man died when he ceased to breathe; his
+spirit, therefore, it was argued, was identical with the
+atmosphere--the moving wind--and was accordingly derived from the
+atmospheric or wind god. When, in the Gilgamesh epic, the hero invokes
+the dead Ea-bani, the ghost rises up like a "breath of wind". A
+Babylonian charm runs:
+
+    The gods which seize on men
+      Came forth from the grave;
+    The evil wind gusts
+      Have come forth from the grave,
+    To demand payment of rites and the pouring out of libations
+      They have come forth from the grave;
+    All that is evil in their hosts, like a whirlwind,
+      Hath come forth from the grave.[59]
+
+The Hebrew "nephesh ruach" and "neshamah" (in Arabic "ruh" and "nefs")
+pass from meaning "breath" to "spirit".[60] In Egypt the god Khnumu
+was "Kneph" in his character as an atmospheric deity. The ascendancy
+of storm and wind gods in some Babylonian cities may have been due to
+the belief that they were the source of the "air of life". It is
+possible that this conception was popularized by the Semites.
+Inspiration was perhaps derived from these deities by burning incense,
+which, if we follow evidence obtained elsewhere, induced a prophetic
+trance. The gods were also invoked by incense. In the Flood legend the
+Babylonian Noah burned incense. "The gods smelled a sweet savour and
+gathered like flies over the sacrificer." In Egypt devotees who
+inhaled the breath of the Apis bull were enabled to prophesy.
+
+In addition to water and atmospheric deities Babylonia had also its
+fire gods, Girru, Gish Bar, Gibil, and Nusku. Their origin is obscure.
+It is doubtful if their worshippers, like those of the Indian Agni,
+believed that fire, the "vital spark", was the principle of life which
+was manifested by bodily heat. The Aryan fire worshippers cremated
+their dead so that the spirits might be transferred by fire to
+Paradise. This practice, however, did not obtain among the fire
+worshippers of Persia, nor, as was once believed, in Sumer or Akkad
+either. Fire was, however, used in Babylonia for magical purposes. It
+destroyed demons, and put to flight the spirits of disease. Possibly
+the fire-purification ceremonies resembled those which were practised
+by the Canaanites, and are referred to in the Bible. Ahaz "made his
+son to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the
+heathen".[61] Ezekiel declared that "when ye offer your gifts, when ye
+make your sons to pass through the fire, ye pollute yourselves with
+all your idols".[62] In _Leviticus_ it is laid down: "Thou shalt not
+let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Moloch".[63] It may be
+that in Babylonia the fire-cleansing ceremony resembled that which
+obtained at Beltane (May Day) in Scotland, Germany, and other
+countries. Human sacrifices might also have been offered up as burnt
+offerings. Abraham, who came from the Sumerian city of Ur, was
+prepared to sacrifice Isaac, Sarah's first-born. The fire gods of
+Babylonia never achieved the ascendancy of the Indian Agni; they
+appear to have resembled him mainly in so far as he was connected with
+the sun. Nusku, like Agni, was also the "messenger of the gods". When
+Merodach or Babylon was exalted as chief god of the pantheon his
+messages were carried to Ea by Nusku. He may have therefore symbolized
+the sun rays, for Merodach had solar attributes. It is possible that
+the belief obtained among even the water worshippers of Eridu that the
+sun and moon, which rose from the primordial deep, had their origin in
+the everlasting fire in Ea's domain at the bottom of the sea. In the
+Indian god Varuna's ocean home an "Asura fire" (demon fire) burned
+constantly; it was "bound and confined", but could not be
+extinguished. Fed by water, this fire, it was believed, would burst
+forth at the last day and consume the universe.[64] A similar belief
+can be traced in Teutonic mythology. The Babylonian incantation cult
+appealed to many gods, but "the most important share in the rites",
+says Jastrow, "are taken by fire and water--suggesting, therefore,
+that the god of water--more particularly Ea--and the god of fire ...
+are the chief deities on which the ritual itself hinges". In some
+temples there was a _bit rimki_, a "house of washing", and a _bit
+nuri_, a "house of light".[65]
+
+It is possible, of course, that fire was regarded as the vital
+principle by some city cults, which were influenced by imported ideas.
+If so, the belief never became prevalent. The most enduring influence
+in Babylonian religion was the early Sumerian; and as Sumerian modes
+of thought were the outcome of habits of life necessitated by the
+character of the country, they were bound, sooner or later, to leave a
+deep impress on the minds of foreign peoples who settled in the Garden
+of Western Asia. It is not surprising, therefore, to find that
+imported deities assumed Babylonian characteristics, and were
+identified or associated with Babylonian gods in the later imperial
+pantheon.
+
+Moon worship appears to have been as ancient as water worship, with
+which, as we have seen, it was closely associated. It was widely
+prevalent throughout Babylonia. The chief seat of the lunar deity,
+Nannar or Sin, was the ancient city of Ur, from which Abraham migrated
+to Harran, where the "Baal" (the lord) was also a moon god. Ur was
+situated in Sumer, in the south, between the west bank of the
+Euphrates and the low hills bordering the Arabian desert, and not far
+distant from sea-washed Eridu. No doubt, like that city, it had its
+origin at an exceedingly remote period. At any rate, the excavations
+conducted there have afforded proof that it flourished in the
+prehistoric period.
+
+As in Arabia, Egypt, and throughout ancient Europe and elsewhere, the
+moon god of Sumeria was regarded as the "friend of man". He controlled
+nature as a fertilizing agency; he caused grass, trees, and crops to
+grow; he increased flocks and herds, and gave human offspring. At Ur
+he was exalted above Ea as "the lord and prince of the gods, supreme
+in heaven, the Father of all"; he was also called "great Anu", an
+indication that Anu, the sky god, had at one time a lunar character.
+The moon god was believed to be the father of the sun god: he was the
+"great steer with mighty horns and perfect limbs".
+
+His name Sin is believed to be a corruption of "Zu-ena", which
+signifies "knowledge lord".[66] Like the lunar Osiris of Egypt, he was
+apparently an instructor of mankind; the moon measured time and
+controlled the seasons; seeds were sown at a certain phase of the
+moon, and crops were ripened by the harvest moon. The mountains of
+Sinai and the desert of Sin are called after this deity.
+
+As Nannar, which Jastrow considers to be a variation of "Narnar", the
+"light producer", the moon god scattered darkness and reduced the
+terrors of night. His spirit inhabited the lunar stone, so that moon
+and stone worship were closely associated; it also entered trees and
+crops, so that moon worship linked with earth worship, as both linked
+with water worship.
+
+The consort of Nannar was Nin-Uruwa, "the lady of Ur", who was also
+called Nin-gala. She links with Ishtar as Nin, as Isis of Egypt linked
+with other mother deities. The twin children of the moon were Mashu
+and Mashtu, a brother and sister, like the lunar girl and boy of
+Teutonic mythology immortalized in nursery rhymes as Jack and Jill.
+
+Sun worship was of great antiquity in Babylonia, but appears to have
+been seasonal in its earliest phases. No doubt the sky god Anu had his
+solar as well as his lunar attributes, which he shared with Ea. The
+spring sun was personified as Tammuz, the youthful shepherd, who was
+loved by the earth goddess Ishtar and her rival Eresh-ki-gal, goddess
+of death, the Babylonian Persephone. During the winter Tammuz dwelt in
+Hades, and at the beginning of spring Ishtar descended to search for
+him among the shades.[67] But the burning summer sun was symbolized as
+a destroyer, a slayer of men, and therefore a war god. As Ninip or
+Nirig, the son of Enlil, who was made in the likeness of Anu, he waged
+war against the earth spirits, and was furiously hostile towards the
+deities of alien peoples, as befitted a god of battle. Even his father
+feared him, and when he was advancing towards Nippur, sent out Nusku,
+messenger of the gods, to soothe the raging deity with soft words.
+Ninip was symbolized as a wild bull, was connected with stone worship,
+like the Indian destroying god Shiva, and was similarly a deity of
+Fate. He had much in common with Nin-Girsu, a god of Lagash, who was
+in turn regarded as a form of Tammuz.
+
+Nergal, another solar deity, brought disease and pestilence, and,
+according to Jensen, all misfortunes due to excessive heat. He was the
+king of death, husband of Eresh-ki-gal, queen of Hades. As a war god
+he thirsted for human blood, and was depicted as a mighty lion. He was
+the chief deity of the city of Cuthah, which, Jastrow suggests, was
+situated beside a burial place of great repute, like the Egyptian
+Abydos.
+
+The two great cities of the sun in ancient Babylonia were the Akkadian
+Sippar and the Sumerian Larsa. In these the sun god, Shamash or
+Babbar, was the patron deity. He was a god of Destiny, the lord of the
+living and the dead, and was exalted as the great Judge, the lawgiver,
+who upheld justice; he was the enemy of wrong, he loved righteousness
+and hated sin, he inspired his worshippers with rectitude and punished
+evildoers. The sun god also illumined the world, and his rays
+penetrated every quarter: he saw all things, and read the thoughts of
+men; nothing could be concealed from Shamash. One of his names was
+Mitra, like the god who was linked with Varuna in the Indian
+_Rigveda_. These twin deities, Mitra and Varuna, measured out the span
+of human life. They were the source of all heavenly gifts: they
+regulated sun and moon, the winds and waters, and the seasons.[68]
+
+These did the gods establish in royal power over themselves, because
+they were wise and the children of wisdom, and because they excelled
+in power.--_Prof. Arnold's trans. of Rigvedic Hymn_.
+
+Mitra and Varuna were protectors of hearth and home, and they
+chastised sinners. "In a striking passage of the _Mahabharata_" says
+Professor Moulton, "one in which Indian thought comes nearest to the
+conception of conscience, a kingly wrongdoer is reminded that the sun
+sees secret sin."[69]
+
+In Persian mythology Mitra, as Mithra, is the patron of Truth, and
+"the Mediator" between heaven and earth[70]. This god was also
+worshipped by the military aristocracy of Mitanni, which held sway for
+a period over Assyria. In Roman times the worship of Mithra spread
+into Europe from Persia. Mithraic sculptures depict the deity as a
+corn god slaying the harvest bull; on one of the monuments "cornstalks
+instead of blood are seen issuing from the wound inflicted with the
+knife[71]". The Assyrian word "metru" signifies rain.[70] As a sky god
+Mitra may have been associated, like Varuna, with the
+waters above the firmament. Rain would therefore be
+gifted by him as a fertilizing deity. In the Babylonian
+Flood legend it is the sun god Shamash who "appointed
+the time" when the heavens were to "rain destruction"
+in the night, and commanded Pir-napishtim, "Enter into
+the midst of thy ship and shut thy door". The solar
+deity thus appears as a form of Anu, god of the sky and
+upper atmosphere, who controls the seasons and the various
+forces of nature. Other rival chiefs of city pantheons,
+whether lunar, atmospheric, earth, or water deities, were
+similarly regarded as the supreme deities who ruled the
+Universe, and decreed when man should receive benefits
+or suffer from their acts of vengeance.
+
+It is possible that the close resemblances between Mithra and Mitra of
+the Aryan-speaking peoples of India and the Iranian plateau, and the
+sun god of the Babylonians--the Semitic Shamash, the Sumerian
+Utu--were due to early contact and cultural influence through the
+medium of Elam. As a solar and corn god, the Persian Mithra links with
+Tammuz, as a sky and atmospheric deity with Anu, and as a god of
+truth, righteousness, and law with Shamash. We seem to trace in the
+sublime Vedic hymns addressed by the Indian Aryans to Mitra and Varuna
+the impress of Babylonian religious thought:
+
+    Whate'er exists within this earth, and all within the sky,
+    Yea, all that is beyond, King Varuna perceives....
+
+            _Rigveda_, iv, 16.[72]
+
+
+    O Varuna, whatever the offence may be
+    That we as men commit against the heavenly folk,
+    When through our want of thought we violate thy laws,
+    Chastise us not, O god, for that iniquity.
+
+            _Rigveda_, vii, 89.[73]
+
+Shamash was similarly exalted in Babylonian hymns:
+
+    The progeny of those who deal unjustly will not prosper.
+    What their mouth utters in thy presence
+    Thou wilt destroy, what issues from their mouth thou wilt
+        dissipate.
+    Thou knowest their transgressions, the plan of the wicked thou
+        rejectest.
+    All, whoever they be, are in thy care....
+    He who takes no bribe, who cares for the oppressed,
+    Is favoured by Shamash,--his life shall be prolonged.[74]
+
+The worshippers of Varuna and Mitra in the Punjab did not cremate
+their dead like those who exalted the rival fire god Agni. The grave
+was the "house of clay", as in Babylonia. Mitra, who was identical
+with Yama, ruled over departed souls in the "Land of the Pitris"
+(Fathers), which was reached by crossing the mountains and the rushing
+stream of death.[75] As we have seen, the Babylonian solar god Nergal
+was also the lord of the dead.
+
+As Ma-banda-anna, "the boat of the sky", Shamash links with the
+Egyptian sun god Ra, whose barque sailed over the heavens by day and
+through the underworld of darkness and death during the night. The
+consort of Shamash was Aa, and his attendants were Kittu and Mesharu,
+"Truth" and "Righteousness".
+
+Like the Hittites, the Babylonians had also a sun goddess: her name
+was Nin-sun, which Jastrow renders "the annihilating lady". At Erech
+she had a shrine in the temple of the sky god Anu.
+
+We can trace in Babylonia, as in Egypt, the early belief that life in
+the Universe had a female origin. Nin-sun links with Ishtar, whose
+Sumerian name is Nana. Ishtar appears to be identical with the
+Egyptian Hathor, who, as Sekhet, slaughtered the enemies of the sun
+god Ra. She was similarly the goddess of maternity, and is depicted in
+this character, like Isis and other goddesses of similar character,
+suckling a babe. Another Babylonian lady of the gods was Ama, Mama, or
+Mami, "the creatress of the seed of mankind", and was "probably so
+called as the 'mother' of all things".[76]
+
+A characteristic atmospheric deity was Ramman, the Rimmon of the
+Bible, the Semitic Addu, Adad, Hadad, or Dadu. He was not a presiding
+deity in any pantheon, but was identified with Enlil at Nippur. As a
+hammer god, he was imported by the Semites from the hills. He was a
+wind and thunder deity, a rain bringer, a corn god, and a god of
+battle like Thor, Jupiter, Tarku, Indra, and others, who were all sons
+of the sky.
+
+In this brief review of the representative deities of early Babylonia,
+it will be seen that most gods link with Anu, Ea, and Enlil, whose
+attributes they symbolized in various forms. The prominence accorded
+to an individual deity depended on local conditions, experiences, and
+influences. Ceremonial practices no doubt varied here and there, but
+although one section might exalt Ea and another Shamash, the religious
+faith of the people as a whole did not differ to any marked extent;
+they served the gods according to their lights, so that life might be
+prolonged and made prosperous, for the land of death and "no return"
+was regarded as a place of gloom and misery.
+
+When the Babylonians appear before us in the early stages of the
+historical period they had reached that stage of development set forth
+so vividly in the _Orations_ of Isocrates: "Those of the gods who are
+the source to us of good things have the title of Olympians; those
+whose department is that of calamities and punishments have harsher
+titles: to the first class both private persons and states erect
+altars and temples; the second is not worshipped either with prayers
+or burnt sacrifices, but in their case we perform ceremonies of
+riddance".[77]
+
+The Sumerians, like the Ancient Egyptians, developed their deities,
+who reflected the growth of culture, from vague spirit groups, which,
+like ghosts, were hostile to mankind. Those spirits who could be
+propitiated were exalted as benevolent deities; those who could not be
+bargained with were regarded as evil gods and goddesses. A better
+understanding of the character of Babylonian deities will therefore be
+obtained by passing the demons and evil spirits under review.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+DEMONS, FAIRIES, AND GHOSTS
+
+
+  Spirits in Everything and Everywhere--The Bringers of Luck and
+  Misfortune--Germ Theory Anticipated--Early Gods indistinguishable
+  from Demons--Repulsive form of Ea--Spirit Groups as Attendants of
+  Deities--Egyptian, Indian, Greek, and Germanic parallels--Elder Gods
+  as Evil Gods--Animal Demons--The Babylonian
+  "Will-o'-the-Wisp"--"Foreign Devils"--Elves and Fairies--Demon
+  Lovers--"Adam's first wife, Lilith"--Children Charmed against Evil
+  Spirits--The Demon of Nightmare--Ghosts as Enemies of the
+  Living--The Vengeful Dead Mother in Babylonia, India, Europe, and
+  Mexico--Burial Contrast--Calling Back the Dead--Fate of Childless
+  Ghosts--Religious Need for Offspring--Hags and Giants and Composite
+  Monsters--Tempest Fiends--Legend of Adapa and the Storm Demon--Wind
+  Hags of Ancient Britain--Tyrolese Storm Maidens--Zu Bird Legend and
+  Indian Garuda Myth--Legend of the Eagle and the Serpent--The Snake
+  Mother Goddess--Demons and the Moon God--Plague
+  Deities--Classification of Spirits, and Egyptian, Arabian, and
+  Scottish parallels--Traces of Progress from Animism to Monotheism.
+
+
+The memorable sermon preached by Paul to the Athenians when he stood
+"in the midst of Mars' hill", could have been addressed with equal
+appropriateness to the ancient Sumerians and Akkadians. "I perceive",
+he declared, "that in all things ye are too superstitious.... God that
+made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of
+heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; neither is
+worshipped with men's hands as though he needed any thing, seeing he
+giveth to all life, and breath, and all things ... for in him we live,
+and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have
+said, For we are also his offspring. Forasmuch then as we are the
+offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto
+gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device."[78]
+
+Babylonian temples were houses of the gods in the literal sense; the
+gods were supposed to dwell in them, their spirits having entered into
+the graven images or blocks of stone. It is probable that like the
+Ancient Egyptians they believed a god had as many spirits as he had
+attributes. The gods, as we have said, appear to have evolved from
+early spirit groups. All the world swarmed with spirits, which
+inhabited stones and trees, mountains and deserts, rivers and ocean,
+the air, the sky, the stars, and the sun and moon. The spirits
+controlled Nature: they brought light and darkness, sunshine and
+storm, summer and winter; they were manifested in the thunderstorm,
+the sandstorm, the glare of sunset, and the wraiths of mist rising
+from the steaming marshes. They controlled also the lives of men and
+women. The good spirits were the source of luck. The bad spirits
+caused misfortunes, and were ever seeking to work evil against the
+Babylonian. Darkness was peopled by demons and ghosts of the dead. The
+spirits of disease were ever lying in wait to clutch him with cruel
+invisible hands.
+
+Some modern writers, who are too prone to regard ancient peoples from
+a twentieth-century point of view, express grave doubts as to whether
+"intelligent Babylonians" really believed that spirits came down in
+the rain and entered the soil to rise up before men's eyes as stalks
+of barley or wheat. There is no reason for supposing that they thought
+otherwise. The early folks based their theories on the accumulated
+knowledge of their age. They knew nothing regarding the composition of
+water or the atmosphere, of the cause of thunder and lightning, or of
+the chemical changes effected in soils by the action of bacteria. They
+attributed all natural phenomena to the operations of spirits or gods.
+In believing that certain demons caused certain diseases, they may be
+said to have achieved distinct progress, for they anticipated the germ
+theory. They made discoveries, too, which have been approved and
+elaborated in later times when they lit sacred fires, bathed in sacred
+waters, and used oils and herbs to charm away spirits of pestilence.
+Indeed, many folk cures, which were originally associated with magical
+ceremonies, are still practised in our own day. They were found to be
+effective by early observers, although they were unable to explain why
+and how cures were accomplished, like modern scientific investigators.
+
+In peopling the Universe with spirits, the Babylonians, like other
+ancient folks, betrayed that tendency to symbolize everything which
+has ever appealed to the human mind. Our painters and poets and
+sculptors are greatest when they symbolize their ideals and ideas and
+impressions, and by so doing make us respond to their moods. Their
+"beauty and their terror are sublime". But what may seem poetic to us,
+was invariably a grim reality to the Babylonians. The statue or
+picture was not merely a work of art but a manifestation of the god or
+demon. As has been said, they believed that the spirit of the god
+inhabited the idol; the frown of the brazen image was the frown of the
+wicked demon. They entertained as much dread of the winged and
+human-headed bulls guarding the entrance to the royal palace as do
+some of the Arab workmen who, in our own day, assist excavators to
+rescue them from sandy mounds in which they have been hidden for long
+centuries.
+
+When an idol was carried away from a city by an invading army, it was
+believed that the god himself had been taken prisoner, and was
+therefore unable any longer to help his people.
+
+In the early stages of Sumerian culture, the gods and goddesses who
+formed groups were indistinguishable from demons. They were vaguely
+defined, and had changing shapes. When attempts were made to depict
+them they were represented in many varying forms. Some were winged
+bulls or lions with human heads; others had even more remarkable
+composite forms. The "dragon of Babylon", for instance, which was
+portrayed on walls of temples, had a serpent's head, a body covered
+with scales, the fore legs of a lion, hind legs of an eagle, and a
+long wriggling serpentine tail. Ea had several monster forms. The
+following description of one of these is repulsive enough:--
+
+    The head is the head of a serpent,
+    From his nostrils mucus trickles,
+    His mouth is beslavered with water;
+    The ears are like those of a basilisk,
+    His horns are twisted into three curls,
+    He wears a veil in his head band,
+    The body is a suh-fish full of stars,
+    The base of his feet are claws,
+    The sole of his foot has no heel,
+    His name is Sassu-wunnu,
+    A sea monster, a form of Ea.
+
+            _R.C. Thompson's Translation._[79]
+
+Even after the gods were given beneficent attributes to reflect the
+growth of culture, and were humanized, they still retained many of
+their savage characteristics. Bel Enlil and his fierce son, Nergal,
+were destroyers of mankind; the storm god desolated the land; the sky
+god deluged it with rain; the sea raged furiously, ever hungering for
+human victims; the burning sun struck down its victims; and the floods
+played havoc with the dykes and houses of human beings. In Egypt the
+sun god Ra was similarly a "producer of calamity", the composite
+monster god Sokar was "the lord of fear".[80] Osiris in prehistoric
+times had been "a dangerous god", and some of the Pharaohs sought
+protection against him in the charms inscribed in their tombs.[81] The
+Indian Shiva, "the Destroyer", in the old religious poems has also
+primitive attributes of like character.
+
+The Sumerian gods never lost their connection with the early spirit
+groups. These continued to be represented by their attendants, who
+executed a deity's stern and vengeful decrees. In one of the
+Babylonian charms the demons are referred to as "the spleen of the
+gods"--the symbols of their wrathful emotions and vengeful desires.
+Bel Enlil, the air and earth god, was served by the demons of disease,
+"the beloved sons of Bel", which issued from the Underworld to attack
+mankind. Nergal, the sulky and ill-tempered lord of death and
+destruction, who never lost his demoniac character, swept over the
+land, followed by the spirits of pestilence, sunstroke, weariness, and
+destruction. Anu, the sky god, had "spawned" at creation the demons of
+cold and rain and darkness. Even Ea and his consort, Damkina, were
+served by groups of devils and giants, which preyed upon mankind in
+bleak and desolate places when night fell. In the ocean home of Ea
+were bred the "seven evil spirits" of tempest--the gaping dragon, the
+leopard which preyed upon children, the great Beast, the terrible
+serpent, &c.
+
+In Indian mythology Indra was similarly followed by the stormy Maruts,
+and fierce Rudra by the tempestuous Rudras. In Teutonic mythology Odin
+is the "Wild Huntsman in the Raging Host". In Greek mythology the
+ocean furies attend upon fickle Poseidon. Other examples of this kind
+could be multiplied.
+
+As we have seen (Chapter II) the earliest group of Babylonian deities
+consisted probably of four pairs of gods and goddesses as in Egypt.
+The first pair was Apsu-Rishtu and Tiamat, who personified the
+primordial deep. Now the elder deities in most mythologies--the
+"grandsires" and "grandmothers" and "fathers" and "mothers"--are ever
+the most powerful and most vengeful. They appear to represent
+primitive "layers" of savage thought. The Greek Cronos devours even
+his own children, and, as the late Andrew Lang has shown, there are
+many parallels to this myth among primitive peoples in various parts
+of the world.
+
+Lang regarded the Greek survival as an example of "the conservatism of
+the religious instinct".[82] The grandmother of the Teutonic deity Tyr
+was a fierce giantess with nine hundred heads; his father was an enemy
+of the gods. In Scotland the hag-mother of winter and storm and
+darkness is the enemy of growth and all life, and she raises storms to
+stop the grass growing, to slay young animals, and prevent the union
+of her son with his fair bride. Similarly the Babylonian chaos
+spirits, Apsu and Tiamat, the father and mother of the gods, resolve
+to destroy their offspring, because they begin to set the Universe in
+order. Tiamat, the female dragon, is more powerful than her husband
+Apsu, who is slain by his son Ea. She summons to her aid the gods of
+evil, and creates also a brood of monsters--serpents, dragons, vipers,
+fish men, raging hounds, &c.--so as to bring about universal and
+enduring confusion and evil. Not until she is destroyed can the
+beneficent gods establish law and order and make the earth habitable
+and beautiful.
+
+But although Tiamat was slain, the everlasting battle between the
+forces of good and evil was ever waged in the Babylonian world.
+Certain evil spirits were let loose at certain periods, and they
+strove to accomplish the destruction of mankind and his works. These
+invisible enemies were either charmed away by performing magical
+ceremonies, or by invoking the gods to thwart them and bind them.
+
+Other spirits inhabited the bodies of animals and were ever hovering
+near. The ghosts of the dead and male and female demons were birds,
+like the birds of Fate which sang to Siegfried. When the owl raised
+its melancholy voice in the darkness the listener heard the spirit of
+a departed mother crying for her child. Ghosts and evil spirits
+wandered through the streets in darkness; they haunted empty houses;
+they fluttered through the evening air as bats; they hastened, moaning
+dismally, across barren wastes searching for food or lay in wait for
+travellers; they came as roaring lions and howling jackals, hungering
+for human flesh. The "shedu" was a destructive bull which might slay
+man wantonly or as a protector of temples. Of like character was the
+"lamassu", depicted as a winged bull with human head, the protector of
+palaces; the "alu" was a bull-like demon of tempest, and there were
+also many composite, distorted, or formless monsters which were
+vaguely termed "seizers" or "overthrowers", the Semitic "labashu" and
+"ach-chazu", the Sumerian "dimmea" and "dimme-kur". A dialectic form
+of "gallu" or devil was "mulla". Professor Pinches thinks it not
+improbable that "mulla" may be connected with the word "mula", meaning
+"star", and suggests that it referred to a "will-o'-the-wisp".[83] In
+these islands, according to an old rhyme,
+
+    Some call him Robin Good-fellow,
+      Hob-goblin, or mad Crisp,
+    And some againe doe tearme him oft
+      By name of Will the Wisp.
+
+Other names are "Kitty", "Peg", and "Jack with a lantern". "Poor
+Robin" sang:
+
+    I should indeed as soon expect
+    That Peg-a-lantern would direct
+    Me straightway home on misty night
+    As wand'ring stars, quite out of sight.
+
+In Shakespeare's _Tempest_[84] a sailor exclaims: "Your fairy, which,
+you say, is a harmless fairy, has done little better than played the
+Jack with us". Dr. Johnson commented that the reference was to "Jack
+with a lantern". Milton wrote also of the "wandering fire",
+
+    Which oft, they say, some evil spirit attends,
+    Hovering and blazing with delusive light,
+    Misleads th' amaz'd night wand'rer from his way
+    To bogs and mires, and oft through pond or pool;
+    There swallowed up and lost from succour far.[85]
+
+"When we stick in the mire", sang Drayton, "he doth with laughter
+leave us." These fires were also "fallen stars", "death fires", and
+"fire drakes":
+
+    So have I seen a fire drake glide along
+    Before a dying man, to point his grave,
+    And in it stick and hide.[86]
+
+Pliny referred to the wandering lights as stars.[87] The Sumerian
+"mulla" was undoubtedly an evil spirit. In some countries the "fire
+drake" is a bird with gleaming breast: in Babylonia it assumed the
+form of a bull, and may have had some connection with the bull of
+lshtar. Like the Indian "Dasyu" and "Dasa",[88] Gallu was applied in
+the sense of "foreign devil" to human and superhuman adversaries of
+certain monarchs. Some of the supernatural beings resemble our elves
+and fairies and the Indian Rakshasas. Occasionally they appear in
+comely human guise; at other times they are vaguely monstrous. The
+best known of this class is Lilith, who, according to Hebrew
+tradition, preserved in the Talmud, was the demon lover of Adam. She
+has been immortalized by Dante Gabriel Rossetti:
+
+    Of Adam's first wife Lilith, it is told
+    (The witch he loved before the gift of Eve)
+    That, ere the snake's, her sweet tongue could deceive,
+    And her enchanted hair was the first gold.
+    And still she sits, young while the earth is old,
+    And, subtly of herself contemplative,
+    Draws men to watch the bright web she can weave,
+    Till heart and body and life are in its hold.
+    The rose and poppy are her flowers; for where
+    Is he not found, O Lilith, whom shed scent
+    And soft shed kisses and soft sleep shall snare?
+    Lo! as that youth's eyes burned at thine, so went
+    Thy spell through him, and left his straight neck bent
+    And round his heart one strangling golden hair.
+
+Lilith is the Babylonian Lilithu, a feminine form of Lilu, the
+Sumerian Lila. She resembles Surpanakha of the _Ramayana_, who made
+love to Rama and Lakshmana, and the sister of the demon Hidimva, who
+became enamoured of Bhima, one of the heroes of the _Mahabharata_,[89]
+and the various fairy lovers of Europe who lured men to eternal
+imprisonment inside mountains, or vanished for ever when they were
+completely under their influence, leaving them demented. The elfin
+Lilu similarly wooed young women, like the Germanic Laurin of the
+"Wonderful Rose Garden",[90] who carried away the fair lady Kunhild to
+his underground dwelling amidst the Tyrolese mountains, or left them
+haunting the place of their meetings, searching for him in vain:
+
+    A savage place! as holy and enchanted
+    As ere beneath the waning moon was haunted
+    By woman wailing for her demon lover...
+    His flashing eyes, his floating hair!
+    Weave a circle round him thrice,
+    And close your eyes with holy dread,
+    For he on honey dew hath fed
+    And drunk the milk of Paradise.
+
+            _Coleridge's Kubla Khan._
+
+Another materializing spirit of this class was Ardat Lili, who appears
+to have wedded human beings like the swan maidens, the mermaids, and
+Nereids of the European folk tales, and the goddess Ganga, who for a
+time was the wife of King Shantanu of the _Mahabharata_.[91]
+
+The Labartu, to whom we have referred, was a female who haunted
+mountains and marshes; like the fairies and hags of Europe, she stole
+or afflicted children, who accordingly had to wear charms round their
+necks for protection. Seven of these supernatural beings were reputed
+to be daughters of Anu, the sky god.
+
+The Alu, a storm deity, was also a spirit which caused nightmare. It
+endeavoured to smother sleepers like the Scandinavian hag Mara, and
+similarly deprived them of power to move. In Babylonia this evil
+spirit might also cause sleeplessness or death by hovering near a bed.
+In shape it might be as horrible and repulsive as the Egyptian ghosts
+which caused children to die from fright or by sucking out the breath
+of life.
+
+As most representatives of the spirit world were enemies of the
+living, so were the ghosts of dead men and women. Death chilled all
+human affections; it turned love to hate; the deeper the love had
+been, the deeper became the enmity fostered by the ghost. Certain
+ghosts might also be regarded as particularly virulent and hostile if
+they happened to have left the body of one who was ceremonially
+impure. The most terrible ghost in Babylonia was that of a woman who
+had died in childbed. She was pitied and dreaded; her grief had
+demented her; she was doomed to wail in the darkness; her impurity
+clung to her like poison. No spirit was more prone to work evil
+against mankind, and her hostility was accompanied by the most tragic
+sorrow. In Northern India the Hindus, like the ancient Babylonians,
+regard as a fearsome demon the ghost of a woman who died while
+pregnant, or on the day of the child's birth.[92] A similar belief
+prevailed in Mexico. In Europe there are many folk tales of dead
+mothers who return to avenge themselves on the cruel fathers of
+neglected children.
+
+A sharp contrast is presented by the Mongolian Buriats, whose outlook
+on the spirit world is less gloomy than was that of the ancient
+Babylonians. According to Mr. Jeremiah Curtin, this interesting people
+are wont to perform a ceremony with purpose to entice the ghost to
+return to the dead body--a proceeding which is dreaded in the Scottish
+Highlands.[93] The Buriats address the ghost, saying: "You shall sleep
+well. Come back to your natural ashes. Take pity on your friends. It
+is necessary to live a real life. Do not wander along the mountains.
+Do not be like bad spirits. Return to your peaceful home.... Come back
+and work for your children. How can you leave the little ones?" If it
+is a mother, these words have great effect; sometimes the spirit moans
+and sobs, and the Buriats tell that there have been instances of it
+returning to the body.[94] In his _Arabia Deserta_[95] Doughty relates
+that Arab women and children mock the cries of the owl. One explained
+to him: "It is a wailful woman seeking her lost child; she has become
+this forlorn bird". So do immemorial beliefs survive to our own day.
+
+The Babylonian ghosts of unmarried men and women and of those without
+offspring were also disconsolate night wanderers. Others who suffered
+similar fates were the ghosts of men who died in battle far from home
+and were left unburied, the ghosts of travellers who perished in the
+desert and were not covered over, the ghosts of drowned men which rose
+from the water, the ghosts of prisoners starved to death or executed,
+the ghosts of people who died violent deaths before their appointed
+time. The dead required to be cared for, to have libations poured out,
+to be fed, so that they might not prowl through the streets or enter
+houses searching for scraps of food and pure water. The duty of giving
+offerings to the dead was imposed apparently on near relatives. As in
+India, it would appear that the eldest son performed the funeral
+ceremony: a dreadful fate therefore awaited the spirit of the dead
+Babylonian man or woman without offspring. In Sanskrit literature
+there is a reference to a priest who was not allowed to enter
+Paradise, although he had performed rigid penances, because he had no
+children.[96]
+
+There were hags and giants of mountain and desert, of river and ocean.
+Demons might possess the pig, the goat, the horse, the lion, or the
+ibis, the raven, or the hawk. The seven spirits of tempest, fire, and
+destruction rose from the depths of ocean, and there were hosts of
+demons which could not be overcome or baffled by man without the
+assistance of the gods to whom they were hostile. Many were sexless;
+having no offspring, they were devoid of mercy and compassion. They
+penetrated everywhere:
+
+    The high enclosures, the broad enclosures, like a flood
+      they pass through,
+    From house to house they dash along.
+    No door can shut them out;
+    No bolt can turn them back.
+    Through the door, like a snake, they glide,
+    Through the hinge, like the wind, they storm,
+    Tearing the wife from the embrace of the man,
+    Driving the freedman from his family home.[97]
+
+These furies did not confine their unwelcomed attentions to mankind
+alone:
+
+    They hunt the doves from their cotes,
+    And drive the birds from their nests,
+    And chase the marten from its hole....
+    Through the gloomy street by night they roam,
+    Smiting sheepfold and cattle pen,
+    Shutting up the land as with door and bolt.
+
+            _R.C. Thompson's Translation._
+
+The Babylonian poet, like Burns, was filled with pity for the animals
+which suffered in the storm:
+
+    List'ning the doors an' winnocks rattle,
+    I thought me o' the ourie cattle,
+    Or silly sheep, wha bide this brattle
+      O' winter war....
+    Ilk happing bird, wee, helpless thing!
+    That in the merry months o' spring
+    Delighted me to hear thee sing,
+      What comes o' thee?
+    Whare wilt thou cow'r thy chittering wing,
+      And close thy e'e?
+
+According to Babylonian belief, "the great storms directed from
+heaven" were caused by demons. Mankind heard them "loudly roaring
+above, gibbering below".[98] The south wind was raised by Shutu, a
+plumed storm demon resembling Hraesvelgur of the Icelandic Eddas:
+
+    Corpse-swallower sits at the end of heaven,
+      A J�tun in eagle form;
+    From his wings, they say, comes the wind which fares
+      Over all the dwellers of earth.[99]
+
+The northern story of Thor's fishing, when he hooked and wounded the
+Midgard serpent, is recalled by the Babylonian legend of Adapa, son of
+the god Ea. This hero was engaged catching fish, when Shutu, the south
+wind, upset his boat. In his wrath Adapa immediately attacked the
+storm demon and shattered her pinions. Anu, the sky god, was moved to
+anger against Ea's son and summoned him to the Celestial Court. Adapa,
+however, appeared in garments of mourning and was forgiven. Anu
+offered him the water of life and the bread of life which would have
+made him immortal, but Ea's son refused to eat or drink, believing, as
+his father had warned him, that the sky god desired him to partake of
+the bread of death and to drink of the water of death.
+
+Another terrible atmospheric demon was the south-west wind, which
+caused destructive storms and floods, and claimed many human victims
+like the Icelandic "corpse swallower". She was depicted with lidless
+staring eyes, broad flat nose, mouth gaping horribly, and showing
+tusk-like teeth, and with high cheek bones, heavy eyebrows, and low
+bulging forehead.
+
+In Scotland the hag of the south-west wind is similarly a bloodthirsty
+and fearsome demon. She is most virulent in the springtime. At
+Cromarty she is quaintly called "Gentle Annie" by the fisher folks,
+who repeat the saying: "When Gentle Annie is skyawlan (yelling) roond
+the heel of Ness (a promontory) wi' a white feather on her hat (the
+foam of big billows) they (the spirits) will be harrying (robbing) the
+crook"--that is, the pot which hangs from the crook is empty during
+the spring storms, which prevent fishermen going to sea. In England
+the wind hag is Black Annis, who dwells in a Leicestershire hill cave.
+She may be identical with the Irish hag Anu, associated with the "Paps
+of Anu". According to Gaelic lore, this wind demon of spring is the
+"Cailleach" (old wife). She gives her name in the Highland calendar to
+the stormy period of late spring; she raises gale after gale to
+prevent the coming of summer. Angerboda, the Icelandic hag, is also a
+storm demon, but represents the east wind. A Tyrolese folk tale tells
+of three magic maidens who dwelt on Jochgrimm mountain, where they
+"brewed the winds". Their demon lovers were Ecke, "he who causes
+fear"; Vasolt, "he who causes dismay"; and the scornful Dietrich in
+his mythical character of Donar or Thunor (Thor), the thunderer.
+
+Another Sumerian storm demon was the Zu bird, which is represented
+among the stars by Pegasus and Taurus. A legend relates that this
+"worker of evil, who raised the head of evil", once aspired to rule
+the gods, and stole from Bel, "the lord" of deities, the Tablets of
+Destiny, which gave him his power over the Universe as controller of
+the fates of all. The Zu bird escaped with the Tablets and found
+shelter on its mountain top in Arabia. Anu called on Ramman, the
+thunderer, to attack the Zu bird, but he was afraid; other gods appear
+to have shrunk from the conflict. How the rebel was overcome is not
+certain, because the legend survives in fragmentary form. There is a
+reference, however, to the moon god setting out towards the mountain
+in Arabia with purpose to outwit the Zu bird and recover the lost
+Tablets. How he fared it is impossible to ascertain. In another
+legend--that of Etana--the mother serpent, addressing the sun god,
+Shamash, says:
+
+    Thy net is like unto the broad earth;
+    Thy snare is like unto the distant heaven!
+    Who hath ever escaped from thy net?
+    Even Zu, the worker of evil, who raised the head
+        of evil [did not escape]!
+
+            _L.W. King's Translation._
+
+In Indian mythology, Garuda, half giant, half eagle, robs the Amrita
+(ambrosia) of the gods which gives them their power and renders them
+immortal. It had assumed a golden body, bright as the sun. Indra, the
+thunderer, flung his bolt in vain; he could not wound Garuda, and only
+displaced a single feather. Afterwards, however, he stole the moon
+goblet containing the Amrita, which Garuda had delivered to his
+enemies, the serpents, to free his mother from bondage. This Indian
+eagle giant became the vehicle of the god Vishnu, and, according to
+the _Mahabharata_, "mocked the wind with his fleetness".
+
+It would appear that the Babylonian Zu bird symbolized the summer
+sandstorms from the Arabian desert. Thunder is associated with the
+rainy season, and it may have been assumed, therefore, that the
+thunder god was powerless against the sandstorm demon, who was chased,
+however, by the moon, and finally overcome by the triumphant sun when
+it broke through the darkening sand drift and brightened heaven and
+earth, "netting" the rebellious demon who desired to establish the
+rule of evil over gods and mankind.
+
+In the "Legend of Etana" the Eagle, another demon which links with the
+Indian Garuda, slayer of serpents, devours the brood of the Mother
+Serpent. For this offence against divine law, Shamash, the sun god,
+pronounces the Eagle's doom. He instructs the Mother Serpent to slay a
+wild ox and conceal herself in its entrails. The Eagle comes to feed
+on the carcass, unheeding the warning of one of his children, who
+says, "The serpent lies in this wild ox":
+
+    He swooped down and stood upon the wild ox,
+    The Eagle ... examined the flesh;
+    He looked about carefully before and behind him;
+    He again examined the flesh;
+    He looked about carefully before and behind him,
+    Then, moving swiftly, he made for the hidden parts.
+    When he entered into the midst,
+    The serpent seized him by his wing.
+
+In vain the Eagle appealed for mercy to the Mother Serpent, who was
+compelled to execute the decree of Shamash; she tore off the Eagle's
+pinions, wings, and claws, and threw him into a pit where he perished
+from hunger and thirst.[100] This myth may refer to the ravages of a
+winged demon of disease who was thwarted by the sacrifice of an ox.
+The Mother Serpent appears to be identical with an ancient goddess of
+maternity resembling the Egyptian Bast, the serpent mother of
+Bubastis. According to Sumerian belief, Nintu, "a form of the goddess
+Ma", was half a serpent. On her head there is a horn; she is "girt
+about the loins"; her left arm holds "a babe suckling her breast":
+
+    From her head to her loins
+    The body is that of a naked woman;
+    From the loins to the sole of the foot
+    Scales like those of a snake are visible.
+
+            _R.C. Thompson's Translation._
+
+The close association of gods and demons is illustrated in an obscure
+myth which may refer to an eclipse of the moon or a night storm at the
+beginning of the rainy season. The demons go to war against the high
+gods, and are assisted by Adad (Ramman) the thunderer, Shamash the
+sun, and Ishtar. They desire to wreck the heavens, the home of Anu:
+
+    They clustered angrily round the crescent of the moon god,
+    And won over to their aid Shamash, the mighty, and Adad, the
+        warrior,
+    And Ishtar, who with Anu, the King,
+    Hath founded a shining dwelling.
+
+The moon god Sin, "the seed of mankind", was darkened by the demons
+who raged, "rushing loose over the land" like to the wind. Bel called
+upon his messenger, whom he sent to Ea in the ocean depths, saying:
+"My son Sin ... hath been grievously bedimmed". Ea lamented, and
+dispatched his son Merodach to net the demons by magic, using "a
+two-coloured cord from the hair of a virgin kid and from the wool of a
+virgin lamb".[101]
+
+As in India, where Shitala, the Bengali goddess of smallpox, for
+instance, is worshipped when the dreaded disease she controls becomes
+epidemic, so in Babylonia the people sought to secure immunity from
+attack by worshipping spirits of disease. A tablet relates that Ura, a
+plague demon, once resolved to destroy all life, but ultimately
+consented to spare those who praised his name and exalted him in
+recognition of his bravery and power. This could be accomplished by
+reciting a formula. Indian serpent worshippers believe that their
+devotions "destroy all danger proceeding from snakes".[102]
+
+Like the Ancient Egyptians, the Babylonians also had their kindly
+spirits who brought luck and the various enjoyments of life. A good
+"labartu" might attend on a human being like a household fairy of
+India or Europe: a friendly "shedu" could protect a household against
+the attacks of fierce demons and human enemies. Even the spirits of
+Fate who served Anu, god of the sky, and that "Norn" of the
+Underworld, Eresh-ki-gal, queen of Hades, might sometimes be
+propitious: if the deities were successfully invoked they could cause
+the Fates to smite spirits of disease and bringers of ill luck. Damu,
+a friendly fairy goddess, was well loved, because she inspired
+pleasant dreams, relieved the sufferings of the afflicted, and
+restored to good health those patients whom she selected to favour.
+
+In the Egyptian _Book of the Dead_ the kindly spirits are overshadowed
+by the evil ones, because the various magical spells which were put on
+record were directed against those supernatural beings who were
+enemies of mankind. Similarly in Babylonia the fragments of this class
+of literature which survive deal mainly with wicked and vengeful
+demons. It appears probable, however, that the highly emotional
+Sumerians and Akkadians were on occasion quite as cheerful a people as
+the inhabitants of ancient Egypt. Although they were surrounded by
+bloodthirsty furies who desired to shorten their days, and their
+nights were filled with vague lowering phantoms which inspired fear,
+they no doubt shared, in their charm-protected houses, a comfortable
+feeling of security after performing magical ceremonies, and were
+happy enough when they gathered round flickering lights to listen to
+ancient song and story and gossip about crops and traders, the members
+of the royal house, and the family affairs of their acquaintances.
+
+The Babylonian spirit world, it will be seen, was of complex
+character. Its inhabitants were numberless, but often vaguely defined,
+and one class of demons linked with another. Like the European fairies
+of folk belief, the Babylonian spirits were extremely hostile and
+irresistible at certain seasonal periods; and they were fickle and
+perverse and difficult to please even when inclined to be friendly.
+They were also similarly manifested from time to time in various
+forms. Sometimes they were comely and beautiful; at other times they
+were apparitions of horror. The Jinn of present-day Arabians are of
+like character; these may be giants, cloudy shapes, comely women,
+serpents or cats, goats or pigs.
+
+Some of the composite monsters of Babylonia may suggest the vague and
+exaggerated recollections of terror-stricken people who have had
+glimpses of unfamiliar wild beasts in the dusk or amidst reedy
+marshes. But they cannot be wholly accounted for in this way. While
+animals were often identified with supernatural beings, and foreigners
+were called "devils", it would be misleading to assert that the spirit
+world reflects confused folk memories of human and bestial enemies.
+Even when a demon was given concrete human form it remained
+essentially non-human: no ordinary weapon could inflict an injury, and
+it was never controlled by natural laws. The spirits of disease and
+tempest and darkness were creations of fancy: they symbolized moods;
+they were the causes which explained effects. A sculptor or
+storyteller who desired to convey an impression of a spirit of storm
+or pestilence created monstrous forms to inspire terror. Sudden and
+unexpected visits of fierce and devastating demons were accounted for
+by asserting that they had wings like eagles, were nimble-footed as
+gazelles, cunning and watchful as serpents; that they had claws to
+clutch, horns to gore, and powerful fore legs like a lion to smite
+down victims. Withal they drank blood like ravens and devoured corpses
+like hyaenas. Monsters were all the more repulsive when they were
+partly human. The human-headed snake or the snake-headed man and the
+man with the horns of a wild bull and the legs of a goat were horrible
+in the extreme. Evil spirits might sometimes achieve success by
+practising deception. They might appear as beautiful girls or handsome
+men and seize unsuspecting victims in deathly embrace or leave them
+demented and full of grief, or come as birds and suddenly assume
+awesome shapes.
+
+Fairies and elves, and other half-human demons, are sometimes regarded
+as degenerate gods. It will be seen, however, that while certain
+spirits developed into deities, others remained something between
+these two classes of supernatural beings: they might attend upon gods
+and goddesses, or operate independently now against mankind and now
+against deities even. The "namtaru", for instance, was a spirit of
+fate, the son of Bel-Enlil and Eresh-ki-gal, queen of Hades.
+"Apparently", writes Professor Pinches, "he executed the instructions
+given him concerning the fate of men, and could also have power over
+certain of the gods."[103] To this middle class belong the evil gods
+who rebelled against the beneficent deities. According to Hebridean
+folk belief, the fallen angels are divided into three classes--the
+fairies, the "nimble men" (aurora borealis), and the "blue men of the
+Minch". In _Beowulf_ the "brood of Cain" includes "monsters and elves
+and sea-devils--giants also, who long time fought with God, for which
+he gave them their reward".[104] Similarly the Babylonian spirit
+groups are liable to division and subdivision. The various classes may
+be regarded as relics of the various stages of development from crude
+animism to sublime monotheism: in the fragmentary legends we trace the
+floating material from which great mythologies have been framed.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+MYTHS OF TAMMUZ AND ISHTAR
+
+
+  Forms of Tammuz--The Weeping Ceremony--Tammuz the Patriarch and the
+  Dying God--Common Origin of Tammuz and other Deities from an Archaic
+  God--The Mediterranean Racial Myth--Animal Forms of Gods of
+  Fertility--Two Legends of the Death of Tammuz--Attis, Adonis, and
+  Diarmid Slain by a Boar--Laments for Tammuz--His Soul in Underworld
+  and the Deep--Myth of the Child God of Ocean--Sargon Myth
+  Version--The Germanic Scyld of the Sheaf--Tammuz Links with Frey,
+  Heimdal, Agni, &c.--Assyrian Legend of "Descent of Ishtar"--Sumerian
+  Version--The Sister Belit-sheri and the Mother Ishtar--The Egyptian
+  Isis and Nepthys--Goddesses as Mothers, Sisters, and Wives--Great
+  Mothers of Babylonia--Immortal Goddesses and Dying Gods--The Various
+  Indras--Celtic Goddess with Seven Periods of Youth--Lovers of
+  Germanic and Classic Goddesses--The Lovers of Ishtar--Racial
+  Significance of Goddess Cult--The Great Fathers and their
+  Worshippers--Process of Racial and Religious Fusion--Ishtar and
+  Tiamat--Mother Worship in Palestine--Women among Goddess
+  Worshippers.
+
+
+Among the gods of Babylonia none achieved wider and more enduring
+fame than Tammuz, who was loved by Ishtar, the amorous Queen of
+Heaven--the beautiful youth who died and was mourned for and came to
+life again. He does not figure by his popular name in any of the city
+pantheons, but from the earliest times of which we have knowledge
+until the passing of Babylonian civilization, he played a prominent
+part in the religious life of the people.
+
+Tammuz, like Osiris of Egypt, was an agricultural deity, and as the
+Babylonian harvest was the gift of the rivers, it is probable that one
+of his several forms was Dumu-zi-abzu, "Tammuz of the Abyss". He was
+also "the child", "the heroic lord", "the sentinel", "the healer", and
+the patriarch who reigned over the early Babylonians for a
+considerable period. "Tammuz of the Abyss" was one of the members of
+the family of Ea, god of the Deep, whose other sons, in addition to
+Merodach, were Nira, an obscure deity; Ki-gulla, "world destroyer",
+Burnunta-sa, "broad ear", and Bara and Baragulla, probably "revealers"
+or "oracles". In addition there was a daughter, Khi-dimme-azaga,
+"child of the renowned spirit". She may have been identical with
+Belit-sheri, who is referred to in the Sumerian hymns as the sister of
+Tammuz. This family group was probably formed by symbolizing the
+attributes of Ea and his spouse Damkina. Tammuz, in his character as a
+patriarch, may have been regarded as a hostage from the gods: the
+human form of Ea, who instructed mankind, like King Osiris, how to
+grow corn and cultivate fruit trees. As the youth who perished
+annually, he was the corn spirit. He is referred to in the Bible by
+his Babylonian name.
+
+When Ezekiel detailed the various idolatrous practices of the
+Israelites, which included the worship of the sun and "every form of
+creeping things and abominable beasts"--a suggestion of the composite
+monsters of Babylonia--he was brought "to the door of the gate of the
+Lord's house, which was towards the north; and, behold, there sat
+women weeping for Tammuz".[105]
+
+The weeping ceremony was connected with agricultural rites. Corn
+deities were weeping deities, they shed fertilizing tears; and the
+sowers simulated the sorrow of divine mourners when they cast seed in
+the soil "to die", so that it might spring up as corn. This ancient
+custom, like many others, contributed to the poetic imagery of the
+Bible. "They that sow in tears", David sang, "shall reap in joy. He
+that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless
+come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him."[106] In
+Egypt the priestesses who acted the parts of Isis and Nepthys, mourned
+for the slain corn god Osiris.
+
+    Gods and men before the face of the gods are weeping for
+      thee at the same time, when they behold me!...
+    All thy sister goddesses are at thy side and behind thy couch,
+    Calling upon thee with weeping--yet thou are prostrate upon
+      thy bed!...
+    Live before us, desiring to behold thee.[107]
+
+It was believed to be essential that human beings should share the
+universal sorrow caused by the death of a god. If they remained
+unsympathetic, the deities would punish them as enemies. Worshippers
+of nature gods, therefore, based their ceremonial practices on natural
+phenomena. "The dread of the worshippers that the neglect of the usual
+ritual would be followed by disaster, is particularly intelligible",
+writes Professor Robertson Smith, "if they regarded the necessary
+operations of agriculture as involving the violent extinction of a
+particle of divine life."[108] By observing their ritual, the
+worshippers won the sympathy and co-operation of deities, or exercised
+a magical control over nature.
+
+The Babylonian myth of Tammuz, the dying god, bears a close
+resemblance to the Greek myth of Adonis. It also links with the myth
+of Osiris. According to Professor Sayce, Tammuz is identical with
+"Daonus or Daos, the shepherd of Pantibibla", referred to by Berosus
+as the ruler of one of the mythical ages of Babylonia. We have
+therefore to deal with Tammuz in his twofold character as a patriarch
+and a god of fertility.
+
+The Adonis version of the myth may be summarized briefly. Ere the god
+was born, his mother, who was pursued by her angry sire, as the river
+goddesses of the folk tales are pursued by the well demons,
+transformed herself into a tree. Adonis sprang from the trunk of this
+tree, and Aphrodite, having placed the child in a chest, committed him
+to the care of Persephone, queen of Hades, who resembles the
+Babylonian Eresh-ki-gal. Persephone desired to retain the young god,
+and Aphrodite (Ishtar) appealed to Zeus (Anu), who decreed that Adonis
+should spend part of the year with one goddess and part of the year
+with the other.
+
+It is suggested that the myth of Adonis was derived in post-Homeric
+times by the Greeks indirectly from Babylonia through the Western
+Semites, the Semitic title "Adon", meaning "lord", having been
+mistaken for a proper name. This theory, however, cannot be accepted
+without qualifications. It does not explain the existence of either
+the Phrygian myth of Attis, which was developed differently from the
+Tammuz myth, or the Celtic story of "Diarmid and the boar", which
+belongs to the archaeological "Hunting Period". There are traces in
+Greek mythology of pre-Hellenic myths about dying harvest deities,
+like Hyakinthos and Erigone, for instance, who appear to have been
+mourned for. There is every possibility, therefore, that the Tammuz
+ritual may have been attached to a harvest god of the pre-Hellenic
+Greeks, who received at the same time the new name of Adonis. Osiris
+of Egypt resembles Tammuz, but his Mesopotamian origin has not been
+proved. It would appear probable that Tammuz, Attis, Osiris, and the
+deities represented by Adonis and Diarmid were all developed from an
+archaic god of fertility and vegetation, the central figure of a myth
+which was not only as ancient as the knowledge and practice of
+agriculture, but had existence even in the "Hunting Period". Traces of
+the Tammuz-Osiris story in various forms are found all over the area
+occupied by the Mediterranean or Brown race from Sumeria to the
+British Isles. Apparently the original myth was connected with tree
+and water worship and the worship of animals. Adonis sprang from a
+tree; the body of Osiris was concealed in a tree which grew round the
+sea-drifted chest in which he was concealed. Diarmid concealed himself
+in a tree when pursued by Finn. The blood of Tammuz, Osiris, and
+Adonis reddened the swollen rivers which fertilized the soil. Various
+animals were associated with the harvest god, who appears to have been
+manifested from time to time in different forms, for his spirit
+pervaded all nature. In Egypt the soul of Osiris entered the Apis bull
+or the ram of Mendes.
+
+Tammuz in the hymns is called "the pre-eminent steer of heaven", and a
+popular sacrifice was "a white kid of the god Tammuz", which, however,
+might be substituted by a sucking pig. Osiris had also associations
+with swine, and the Egyptians, according to Herodotus, sacrificed a
+pig to him annually. When Set at full moon hunted the boar in the
+Delta marshes, he probably hunted the boar form of Osiris, whose human
+body had been recovered from the sacred tree by Isis. As the soul of
+Bata, the hero of the Egyptian folk tale,[109] migrated from the
+blossom to the bull, and the bull to the tree, so apparently did the
+soul of Osiris pass from incarnation to incarnation. Set, the demon
+slayer of the harvest god, had also a boar form; he was the black pig
+who devoured the waning moon and blinded the Eye of Ra.
+
+In his character as a long-lived patriarch, Tammuz, the King Daonus or
+Daos of Berosus, reigned in Babylonia for 36,000 years. When he died,
+he departed to Hades or the Abyss. Osiris, after reigning over the
+Egyptians, became Judge of the Dead.
+
+Tammuz of the Sumerian hymns, however, is the Adonis-like god who
+lived on earth for a part of the year as the shepherd and
+agriculturist so dearly beloved by the goddess Ishtar. Then he died so
+that he might depart to the realm of Eresh-ki-gal (Persephone), queen
+of Hades. According to one account, his death was caused by the fickle
+Ishtar. When that goddess wooed Gilgamesh, the Babylonian Hercules, he
+upbraided her, saying:
+
+    On Tammuz, the spouse of thy youth,
+    Thou didst lay affliction every year.
+
+            _King's Translation_.
+
+References in the Sumerian hymns suggest that there also existed a
+form of the legend which gave an account of the slaying of the young
+god by someone else than Ishtar. The slayer may have been a Set-like
+demon--perhaps Nin-shach, who appears to have symbolized the
+destroying influence of the sun. He was a war deity, and his name,
+Professor Pinches says, "is conjectured to mean 'lord of the wild
+boar'". There is no direct evidence, however, to connect Tammuz's
+slayer with the boar which killed Adonis. Ishtar's innocence is
+emphasized by the fact that she mourned for her youthful lover,
+crying:
+
+    Oh hero, my lord, ah me! I will say;
+    Food I eat not ... water I drink not ...
+    Because of the exalted one of the nether world, him of the
+      radiant face, yea radiant,
+    Of the exalted one of the nether world, him of the dove-like
+      voice, yea dove-like.[110]
+
+The Phrygian Attis met his death, according to one legend, by
+self-mutilation under a sacred tree. Another account sets forth,
+however, that he was slain by a boar. The Greek Adonis was similarly
+killed by a boar. This animal was a form of Ares (Mars), god of war
+and tempest, who also loved Aphrodite (Ishtar). The Celtic Diarmid, in
+his character as a love god, with lunar attributes, was slain by "the
+green boar", which appears to have been one of the animals of a
+ferocious Hag, an earth and air "mother" with various names. In one of
+the many Fingalian stories the animal is
+
+    ... That venomous boar, and he so fierce,
+    That Grey Eyebrows had with her herd of swine.[111]
+
+Diarmid had eloped with the wife of Finn-mac-Coul (Fingal), who, like
+Ares, plotted to bring about his rival's death, and accordingly set
+the young hero to hunt the boar. As a thunder god Finn carried a
+hammer with which he smote his shield; the blows were heard in
+Lochlann (Scandinavia). Diarmid, like Tammuz, the "god of the tender
+voice and shining eyes", had much beauty. When he expired, Finn cried:
+
+    No maiden will raise her eye
+    Since the mould has gone over thy visage fair...
+    Blue without rashness in thine eye!
+    Passion and beauty behind thy curls!...
+    Oh, yesternight it was green the hillock,
+    Red is it this day with Diarmid's blood.[112]
+
+Tammuz died with the dying vegetation, and Diarmid expired when the
+hills apparently were assuming their purple tints.[113] The month of
+Tammuz wailings was from 20th June till 20th July, when the heat and
+dryness brought forth the demons of pestilence. The mourners chanted:
+
+    He has gone, he has gone to the bosom of the earth,
+    And the dead are numerous in the land....
+    Men are filled with sorrow: they stagger by day in gloom ...
+    In the month of thy year which brings not peace hast thou gone.
+    Thou hast gone on a journey that makes an end of thy people.
+
+The following extract contains a reference to the slaying of the god:
+
+    The holy one of Ishtar, in the middle of the year the fields
+        languish...
+    The shepherd, the wise one, the man of sorrows, why have they
+    slain?...
+    In his temple, in his inhabited domain,
+    The child, lord of knowledge, abides no more...
+    In the meadows, verily, verily, the soul of life perishes.
+
+There is wailing for Tammuz "at the sacred cedar, where the mother
+bore thee", a reference which connects the god, like Adonis and
+Osiris, with tree worship:
+
+    The wailing is for the herbs: the first lament is, "they are not
+        produced".
+    The wailing is for the grain, ears are not produced.
+    The wailing is for the habitations, for the flocks which bring
+        forth no more.
+    The wailing is for the perishing wedded ones; for the perishing
+    children; the dark-headed people create no more.
+
+The wailing is also for the shrunken river, the parched meadows, the
+fishpools, the cane brakes, the forests, the plains, the gardens, and
+the palace, which all suffer because the god of fertility has
+departed. The mourner cries:
+
+      How long shall the springing of verdure be restrained?
+      How long shall the putting forth of leaves be held back?
+
+Whither went Tammuz? His destination has already been referred to as
+"the bosom of the earth", and in the Assyrian version of the "Descent
+of Ishtar" he dwells in "the house of darkness" among the dead, "where
+dust is their nourishment and their food mud", and "the light is never
+seen"--the gloomy Babylonian Hades. In one of the Sumerian hymns,
+however, it is stated that Tammuz "upon the flood was cast out". The
+reference may be to the submarine "house of Ea", or the Blessed Island
+to which the Babylonian Noah was carried. In this Hades bloomed the
+nether "garden of Adonis".
+
+The following extract refers to the garden of Damu (Tammuz)[114]:--
+
+    Damu his youth therein slumbers ...
+    Among the garden flowers he slumbers; among the garden flowers
+    he is cast away ...
+    Among the tamarisks he slumbers, with woe he causes us to be
+    satiated.
+
+Although Tammuz of the hymns was slain, he returned again from Hades.
+Apparently he came back as a child. He is wailed for as "child, Lord
+Gishzida", as well as "my hero Damu". In his lunar character the
+Egyptian Osiris appeared each month as "the child surpassingly
+beautiful"; the Osiris bull was also a child of the moon; "it was
+begotten", says Plutarch, "by a ray of generative light falling from
+the moon". When the bull of Attis was sacrificed his worshippers were
+drenched with its blood, and were afterwards ceremonially fed with
+milk, as they were supposed to have "renewed their youth" and become
+children. The ancient Greek god Eros (Cupid) was represented as a
+wanton boy or handsome youth. Another god of fertility, the Irish
+Angus, who resembles Eros, is called "the ever young"; he slumbers
+like Tammuz and awakes in the Spring.
+
+Apparently it was believed that the child god, Tammuz, returned from
+the earlier Sumerian Paradise of the Deep, and grew into full manhood
+in a comparatively brief period, like Vyasa and other super-men of
+Indian mythology. A couplet from a Tammuz hymn says tersely:
+
+    In his infancy in a sunken boat he lay.
+    In his manhood in the submerged grain he lay.[115]
+
+The "boat" may be the "chest" in which Adonis was concealed by
+Aphrodite when she confided him to the care of Persephone, queen of
+Hades, who desired to retain the young god, but was compelled by Zeus
+to send him back to the goddess of love and vegetation. The fact that
+Ishtar descended to Hades in quest of Tammuz may perhaps explain the
+symbolic references in hymns to mother goddesses being in sunken boats
+also when their powers were in abeyance, as were those of the god for
+part of each year. It is possible, too, that the boat had a lunar and
+a solar significance. Khonsu, the Egyptian moon god, for instance, was
+associated with the Spring sun, being a deity of fertility and
+therefore a corn spirit; he was a form of Osiris, the Patriarch, who
+sojourned on earth to teach mankind how to grow corn and cultivate
+fruit trees. In the Egyptian legend Osiris received the corn seeds
+from Isis, which suggests that among Great-Mother-worshipping peoples,
+it was believed that agricultural civilization had a female origin.
+The same myths may have been attached to corn gods and corn goddesses,
+associated with water, sun, moon, and stars.
+
+That there existed in Babylonia at an extremely remote period an
+agricultural myth regarding a Patriarch of divine origin who was
+rescued from a boat in his childhood, is suggested by the legend which
+was attached to the memory of the usurper King Sargon of Akkad. It
+runs as follows:
+
+    "I am Sargon, the mighty King of Akkad. My mother was a
+    vestal (priestess), my father an alien, whose brother inhabited
+        the
+    mountain.... When my mother had conceived me, she bare
+    me in a hidden place. She laid me in a vessel of rushes, stopped
+    the door thereof with pitch, and cast me adrift on the river....
+    The river floated me to Akki, the water drawer, who, in drawing
+    water, drew me forth. Akki, the water drawer, educated me as
+    his son, and made me his gardener. As a gardener, I was beloved
+    by the goddess Ishtar."
+
+It is unlikely that this story was invented by Sargon. Like the many
+variants of it found in other countries, it was probably founded on a
+form of the Tammuz-Adonis myth. Indeed, a new myth would not have
+suited Sargon's purpose so well as the adaptation of an old one, which
+was more likely to make popular appeal when connected with his name.
+The references to the goddess Ishtar, and Sargon's early life as a
+gardener, suggest that the king desired to be remembered as an
+agricultural Patriarch, if not of divine, at any rate of semi-divine
+origin.
+
+What appears to be an early form of the widespread Tammuz myth is the
+Teutonic legend regarding the mysterious child who came over the sea
+to inaugurate a new era of civilization and instruct the people how to
+grow corn and become great warriors. The Northern peoples, as
+archaeological evidence suggests, derived their knowledge of
+agriculture, and therefore their agricultural myths, from the
+Neolithic representatives of the Mediterranean race with whom they
+came into contact. There can be no doubt but that the Teutonic legend
+refers to the introduction of agriculture. The child is called "Scef"
+or "Sceaf", which signifies "Sheaf", or "Scyld, the son of Sceaf".
+Scyld is the patriarch of the Scyldings, the Danes, a people of mixed
+origin. In the Anglo-Saxon _Beowulf_ poem, the reference is to
+"Scyld", but Ethelweard, William of Malmesbury, and others adhered to
+"Sceaf" as the name of the Patriarch of the Western Saxons.
+
+The legend runs that one day a boat was seen approaching the shore; it
+was not propelled by oars or sail. In it lay a child fast asleep, his
+head pillowed upon a sheaf of grain. He was surrounded by armour,
+treasure, and various implements, including the fire-borer. The child
+was reared by the people who found him, and he became a great
+instructor and warrior and ruled over the tribe as king. In _Beowulf_
+Scyld is the father of the elder Beowulf, whose grandson Hrothgar
+built the famous Hall. The poem opens with a reference to the
+patriarch "Scyld of the Sheaf". When he died, his body, according to
+the request he had made, was laid in a ship which was set adrift:
+
+    Upon his breast lay many treasures which were to travel with him
+    into the power of the flood. Certainly they (the mourners)
+    furnished him with no less of gifts, of tribal treasures, than
+    those had done who, in his early days, started him over the sea
+    alone, child as he was. Moreover, they set besides a
+    gold-embroidered standard high above his head, and let the flood
+    bear him--gave him to the sea. Their soul was sad, their spirit
+    sorrowful. Who received that load, men, chiefs of council, heroes
+    under heaven, cannot for certain tell.[116]
+
+Sceaf or Scyld is identical with Yngve, the patriarch of the Ynglings;
+with Frey, the harvest and boar god, son of Njord,[117] the sea god;
+and with Hermod, referred to as follows in the Eddic "Lay of Hyndla":
+
+    To some grants he wealth, to his children war fame,
+    Word skill to many and wisdom to men,
+    Fair winds to sea-farers, song craft to skalds,
+    And might of manhood to many a warrior.
+
+Tammuz is similarly "the heroic lord of the land", the "wise one", the
+"lord of knowledge", and "the sovereign, lord of invocation".
+
+Heimdal, watchman of the Teutonic gods, also dwelt for a time among
+men as "Rig", and had human offspring, his son Thrall being the
+ancestor of the Thralls, his son Churl of churls, and Jarl of
+noblemen.
+
+Tammuz, like Heimdal, is also a guardian. He watches the flocks and
+herds, whom he apparently guards against the Gallu demons as Heimdal
+guards the world and the heavens against attacks by giants and
+monsters. The flocks of Tammuz, Professor Pinches suggests, "recall
+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, Dumuzida, meaning 'true or faithful son'. There is probably some
+legend attached to this which is at present unknown."[118]
+
+So the Sumerian hymn-chanters lamented:
+
+    Like an herdsman the sentinel place of sheep and cattle he
+    (Tammuz) has forsaken...
+    From his home, from his inhabited domain, the son, he of wisdom,
+    pre-eminent steer of heaven,
+    The hero unto the nether herding place has taken his way.[119]
+
+Agni, the Aryo-Indian god, who, as the sky sentinel, has points of
+resemblance to Heimdal, also links with Tammuz, especially in his
+Mitra character:
+
+Agni has been established among the tribes of men, the son of the
+waters, Mitra acting in the right way. _Rigveda_, iii, 5, 3.
+
+Agni, who has been looked and longed for in Heaven, who has been
+looked for on earth--he who has been looked for has entered all herbs.
+_Rigveda_, i, 98.[120]
+
+Tammuz, like the Egyptian lunar and solar god Khonsu, is "the healer",
+and Agni "drives away all disease". Tammuz is the god "of sonorous
+voice"; Agni "roars like a bull"; and Heimdal blows a horn when the
+giants and demons threaten to attack the citadel of the gods. As the
+spring sun god, Tammuz is "a youthful warrior", says Jastrow,
+"triumphing over the storms of winter".[121] The storms, of course,
+were symbolized as demons. Tammuz, "the heroic lord", was therefore a
+demon slayer like Heimdal and Agni. Each of these gods appear to have
+been developed in isolation from an archaic spring god of fertility
+and corn whose attributes were symbolized. In Teutonic mythology, for
+instance, Heimdal was the warrior form of the patriarch Scef, while
+Frey was the deified agriculturist who came over the deep as a child.
+In Saxo's mythical history of Denmark, Frey as Frode is taken prisoner
+by a storm giant, Beli, "the howler", and is loved by his hag sister
+in the Teutonic Hades, as Tammuz is loved by Eresh-ki-gal, spouse of
+the storm god Nergal, in the Babylonian Hades. Frode returns to earth,
+like Tammuz, in due season.
+
+It is evident that there were various versions of the Tammuz myth in
+Ancient Babylonia. In one the goddess Ishtar visited Hades to search
+for the lover of her youth. A part of this form of the legend survives
+in the famous Assyrian hymn known as "The Descent of Ishtar ". It was
+first translated by the late Mr. George Smith, of the British Museum.
+A box containing inscribed tablets had been sent from Assyria to
+London, and Mr. Smith, with characteristic patience and skill,
+arranged and deciphered them, giving to the world a fragment of
+ancient literature infused with much sublimity and imaginative power.
+Ishtar is depicted descending to dismal Hades, where the souls of the
+dead exist in bird forms:
+
+    I spread like a bird my hands.
+    I descend, I descend to the house of darkness, the dwelling of the
+        god Irkalla:
+    To the house out of which there is no exit,
+    To the road from which there is no return:
+    To the house from whose entrance the light is taken,
+    The place where dust is their nourishment and their food mud.
+    Its chiefs also are like birds covered with feathers;
+    The light is never seen, in darkness they dwell....
+    Over the door and bolts is scattered dust.
+
+When the goddess reaches the gate of Hades she cries to the porter:
+
+    Keeper of the waters, open thy gate,
+    Open thy gate that I may enter.
+    If thou openest not the gate that I may enter
+    I will strike the door, the bolts I will shatter,
+    I will strike the threshold and will pass through the doors;
+    I will raise up the dead to devour the living,
+    Above the living the dead shall exceed in numbers.
+
+The porter answers that he must first consult the Queen of Hades, here
+called Allatu, to whom he accordingly announces the arrival of the
+Queen of Heaven. Allatu's heart is filled with anger, and makes
+reference to those whom Ishtar caused to perish:
+
+    Let me weep over the strong who have left their wives,
+    Let me weep over the handmaidens who have lost the embraces of
+        their husbands,
+    Over the only son let me mourn, who ere his days are come is taken
+        away.
+
+Then she issues abruptly the stern decree:
+
+    Go, keeper, open the gate to her,
+    Bewitch her according to the ancient rules;
+
+that is, "Deal with her as you deal with others who come here".
+
+As Ishtar enters through the various gates she is stripped of her
+ornaments and clothing. At the first gate her crown was taken off, at
+the second her ear-rings, at the third her necklace of precious
+stones, at the fourth the ornaments of her breast, at the fifth her
+gemmed waist-girdle,[122] at the sixth the bracelets of her hands and
+feet, and at the seventh the covering robe of her body. Ishtar asks at
+each gate why she is thus dealt with, and the porter answers, "Such is
+the command of Allatu."
+
+After descending for a prolonged period the Queen of Heaven at length
+stands naked before the Queen of Hades. Ishtar is proud and arrogant,
+and Allatu, desiring to punish her rival whom she cannot humble,
+
+commands the plague demon, Namtar, to strike her with disease in all
+parts of her body. The effect of Ishtar's fate was disastrous upon
+earth: growth and fertility came to an end.
+
+Meanwhile Pap-sukal, messenger of the gods, hastened to Shamash, the
+sun deity, to relate what had occurred. The sun god immediately
+consulted his lunar father, Sin, and Ea, god of the deep. Ea then
+created a man lion, named Nadushu-namir, to rescue Ishtar, giving him
+power to pass through the seven gates of Hades. When this being
+delivered his message
+
+    Allatu ... struck her breast; she bit her thumb,
+    She turned again: a request she asked not.
+
+In her anger she cursed the rescuer of the Queen of Heaven.
+
+    May I imprison thee in the great prison,
+    May the garbage of the foundations of the city be thy food,
+    May the drains of the city be thy drink,
+    May the darkness of the dungeon be thy dwelling,
+    May the stake be thy seat,
+    May hunger and thirst strike thy offspring.
+
+She was compelled, however, to obey the high gods, and addressed
+Namtar, saying:
+
+    Unto Ishtar give the waters of life and bring her before me.
+
+Thereafter the Queen of Heaven was conducted through the various
+gates, and at each she received her robe and the ornaments which were
+taken from her on entering. Namtar says:
+
+    Since thou hast not paid a ransom for thy deliverance to her
+      (Allatu), so to her again turn back,
+    For Tammuz the husband of thy youth.
+    The glistening waters (of life) pour over him...
+    In splendid clothing dress him, with a ring of crystal adorn him.
+
+Ishtar mourns for "the wound of Tammuz", smiting her breast, and she
+did not ask for "the precious eye-stones, her amulets", which were
+apparently to ransom Tammuz. The poem concludes with Ishtar's wail:
+
+    O my only brother (Tammuz) thou dost not lament for me.
+    In the day that Tammuz adorned me, with a ring of crystal,
+    With a bracelet of emeralds, together with himself, he adorned
+        me,[123]
+    With himself he adorned me; may men mourners and women
+        mourners
+    On a bier place him, and assemble the wake.[124]
+
+A Sumerian hymn to Tammuz throws light on this narrative. It sets
+forth that Ishtar descended to Hades to entreat him to be glad and to
+resume care of his flocks, but Tammuz refused or was unable to return.
+
+        His spouse unto her abode he sent back.
+
+She then instituted the wailing ceremony:
+
+        The amorous Queen of Heaven sits as one in darkness.[125]
+
+Mr. Langdon also translates a hymn (Tammuz III) which appears to
+contain the narrative on which the Assyrian version was founded. The
+goddess who descends to Hades, however, is not Ishtar, but the
+"sister", Belit-sheri. She is accompanied by various demons--the
+"gallu-demon", the "slayer", &c.--and holds a conversation with Tammuz
+which, however, is "unintelligible and badly broken". Apparently,
+however, he promises to return to earth.
+
+         ... I will go up, as for me I will depart with thee ...
+         ... I will return, unto my mother let us go back.
+
+Probably two goddesses originally lamented for Tammuz, as the Egyptian
+sisters, Isis and Nepthys, lamented for Osiris, their brother. Ishtar
+is referred to as "my mother". Isis figures alternately in the
+Egyptian chants as mother, wife, sister, and daughter of Osiris. She
+cries, "Come thou to thy wife in peace; her heart fluttereth for thy
+love", ... "I am thy wife, made as thou art, the elder sister, soul of
+her brother".... "Come thou to us as a babe".... "Lo, thou art as the
+Bull of the two goddesses--come thou, child growing in peace, our
+lord!"... "Lo! the Bull, begotten of the two cows, Isis and
+Nepthys".... "Come thou to the two widowed goddesses".... "Oh child,
+lord, first maker of the body".... "Father Osiris."[126]
+
+As Ishtar and Belit-sheri weep for Tammuz, so do Isis and Nepthys weep
+for Osiris.
+
+    Calling upon thee with weeping--yet thou art prostrate upon thy
+      bed!
+    Gods and men ... are weeping for thee at the same time, when
+      they behold me (Isis).
+    Lo! I invoke thee with wailing that reacheth high as heaven.
+
+Isis is also identified with Hathor (Ishtar) the Cow.... "The cow
+weepeth for thee with her voice."[127]
+
+There is another phase, however, to the character of the mother
+goddess which explains the references to the desertion and slaying of
+Tammuz by Ishtar. "She is", says Jastrow, "the goddess of the human
+instinct, or passion which accompanies human love. Gilgamesh ...
+reproaches her with abandoning the objects of her passion after a
+brief period of union." At Ishtar's temple "public maidens accepted
+temporary partners, assigned to them by Ishtar".[128] The worship of
+all mother goddesses in ancient times was accompanied by revolting
+unmoral rites which are referred to in condemnatory terms in various
+passages in the Old Testament, especially in connection with the
+worship of Ashtoreth, who was identical with Ishtar and the Egyptian
+Hathor.
+
+Ishtar in the process of time overshadowed all the other female
+deities of Babylonia, as did Isis in Egypt. Her name, indeed, which is
+Semitic, became in the plural, Ishtar�te, a designation for goddesses
+in general. But although she was referred to as the daughter of the
+sky, Anu, or the daughter of the moon, Sin or Nannar, she still
+retained traces of her ancient character. Originally she was a great
+mother goddess, who was worshipped by those who believed that life and
+the universe had a female origin in contrast to those who believed in
+the theory of male origin. Ishtar is identical with Nina, the fish
+goddess, a creature who gave her name to the Sumerian city of Nina and
+the Assyrian city of Nineveh. Other forms of the Creatrix included
+Mama, or Mami, or Ama, "mother", Aruru, Bau, Gula, and Zerpanitu^m.
+These were all "Preservers" and healers. At the same time they were
+"Destroyers", like Nin-sun and the Queen of Hades, Eresh-ki-gal or
+Allatu. They were accompanied by shadowy male forms ere they became
+wives of strongly individualized gods, or by child gods, their sons,
+who might be regarded as "brothers" or "husbands of their mothers", to
+use the paradoxical Egyptian term. Similarly Great Father deities had
+vaguely defined wives. The "Semitic" Baal, "the lord", was accompanied
+by a female reflection of himself--Beltu, "the lady". Shamash, the sun
+god, had for wife the shadowy Aa.
+
+As has been shown, Ishtar is referred to in a Tammuz hymn as the
+mother of the child god of fertility. In an Egyptian hymn the sky
+goddess Nut, "the mother" of Osiris, is stated to have "built up life
+from her own body".[129] Sri or Lakshmi, the Indian goddess, who
+became the wife of Vishnu, as the mother goddess Saraswati, a tribal
+deity, became the wife of Brahma, was, according to a Purana
+commentator, "the mother of the world ... eternal and
+undecaying".[130]
+
+The gods, on the other hand, might die annually: the goddesses alone
+were immortal. Indra was supposed to perish of old age, but his wife,
+Indrani, remained ever young. There were fourteen Indras in every "day
+of Brahma", a reference apparently to the ancient conception of Indra
+among the Great-Mother-worshipping sections of the Aryo-Indians.[131]
+In the _Mahabharata_ the god Shiva, as Mahadeva, commands Indra on
+"one of the peaks of Himavat", where they met, to lift up a stone and
+join the Indras who had been before him. "And Indra on removing that
+stone beheld a cave on the breast of that king of mountains in which
+were four others resembling himself." Indra exclaimed in his grief,
+"Shall I be even like these?" These five Indras, like the "Seven
+Sleepers", awaited the time when they would be called forth. They were
+ultimately reborn as the five Pandava warriors.[132]
+
+The ferocious, black-faced Scottish mother goddess, Cailleach Bheur,
+who appears to be identical with Mala Lith, "Grey Eyebrows" of
+Fingalian story, and the English "Black Annis", figures in Irish song
+and legend as "The Old Woman of Beare". This "old woman" (Cailleach)
+"had", says Professor Kuno Meyer, "seven periods of youth one after
+another, so that every man who had lived with her came to die of old
+age, and her grandsons and great-grandsons were tribes and races".
+When old age at length came upon her she sang her "swan song", from
+which the following lines are extracted:
+
+    Ebb tide to me as of the sea!
+    Old age causes me reproach ...
+    It is riches
+    Ye love, it is not men:
+    In the time when _we_ lived
+    It was men we loved ...
+    My arms when they are seen
+    Are bony and thin:
+    Once they would fondle,
+    They would be round glorious kings ...
+    I must take my garment even in the sun:
+    The time is at hand that shall renew me.[133]
+
+Freyja, the Germanic mother goddess, whose car was drawn by cats, had
+similarly many lovers. In the Icelandic poem "Lokasenna", Loki taunts
+her, saying:
+
+    Silence, Freyja! Full well I know thee,
+      And faultless art thou not found;
+    Of the gods and elves who here are gathered
+      Each one hast thou made thy mate.
+
+Idun, the keeper of the apples of immortal youth, which prevent the
+gods growing old, is similarly addressed:
+
+    Silence, Idun! I swear, of all women
+      Thou the most wanton art;
+    Who couldst fling those fair-washed arms of thine
+      About thy brother's slayer.
+
+Frigg, wife of Odin, is satirized as well:
+
+    Silence, Frigg! Earth's spouse for a husband,
+      And hast ever yearned after men![134]
+
+The goddesses of classic mythology had similar reputations. Aphrodite
+(Venus) had many divine and mortal lovers. She links closely with
+Astarte and Ashtoreth (Ishtar), and reference has already been made to
+her relations with Adonis (Tammuz). These love deities were all as
+cruel as they were wayward. When Ishtar wooed the Babylonian hero,
+Gilgamesh, he spurned her advances, as has been indicated, saying:
+
+    On Tammuz, the spouse of thy youth,
+    Thou didst lay affliction every year.
+    Thou didst love the brilliant Allalu bird
+    But thou didst smite him and break his wing;
+    He stands in the woods and cries "O my wing".
+
+He likewise charged her with deceiving the lion and the horse, making
+reference to obscure myths:
+
+    Thou didst also love a shepherd of the flock,
+    Who continually poured out for thee the libation,
+    And daily slaughtered kids for thee;
+    But thou didst smite him and didst change him into a leopard,
+    So that his own sheep boy hunted him,
+    And his own hounds tore him to pieces.[135]
+
+These goddesses were ever prone to afflict human beings who might
+offend them or of whom they wearied. Demeter (Ceres) changed
+Ascalaphus into an owl and Stellio into a lizard. Rhea (Ops) resembled
+
+        The tow'red Cybele,
+    Mother of a hundred gods,
+
+the wanton who loved Attis (Adonis). Artemis (Diana) slew her lover
+Orion, changed Actaeon into a stag, which was torn to pieces by his
+own dogs, and caused numerous deaths by sending a boar to ravage the
+fields of Oeneus, king of Calydon. Human sacrifices were frequently
+offered to the bloodthirsty "mothers". The most famous victim of
+Artemis was the daughter of Agamemnon, "divinely tall and most
+divinely fair".[136] Agamemnon had slain a sacred stag, and the
+goddess punished him by sending a calm when the war fleet was about to
+sail for Troy, with the result that his daughter had to be sacrificed.
+Artemis thus sold breezes like the northern wind hags and witches.
+
+It used to be customary to account for the similarities manifested by
+the various mother goddesses by assuming that there was constant
+cultural contact between separate nationalities, and, as a result, a
+not inconsiderable amount of "religious borrowing". Greece was
+supposed to have received its great goddesses from the western
+Semites, who had come under the spell of Babylonian religion.
+Archaeological evidence, however, tends to disprove this theory. "The
+most recent researches into Mesopotamian history", writes Dr. Farnell,
+"establish with certainty the conclusion that there was no direct
+political contact possible between the powers in the valley of the
+Euphrates and the western shores of the Aegean in the second
+millennium B.C. In fact, between the nascent Hellas and the great
+world of Mesopotamia there were powerful and possibly independent
+strata of cultures interposing."[137]
+
+The real connection appears to be the racial one. Among the
+Mediterranean Neolithic tribes of Sumeria, Arabia, and Europe, the
+goddess cult appears to have been influential. Mother worship was the
+predominant characteristic of their religious systems, so that the
+Greek goddesses were probably of pre-Hellenic origin, the Celtic of
+Iberian, the Egyptian of proto-Egyptian, and the Babylonian of
+Sumerian. The northern hillmen, on the other hand, who may be
+identified with the "Aryans" of the philologists, were father
+worshippers. The Vedic Aryo-Indians worshipped father gods,[138] as
+did also the Germanic peoples and certain tribes in the "Hittite
+confederacy". Earth spirits were males, like the Teutonic elves, the
+Aryo-Indian Ribhus, and the Burkans, "masters", of the present-day
+Buriats, a Mongolian people. When the father-worshipping peoples
+invaded the dominions of the mother-worshipping peoples, they
+introduced their strongly individualized gods, but they did not
+displace the mother goddesses. "The Aryan Hellenes", says Dr. Farnell,
+"were able to plant their Zeus and Poseidon on the high hill of
+Athens, but not to overthrow the supremacy of Athena in the central
+shrine and in the aboriginal soul of the Athenian people."[139] As in
+Egypt, the beliefs of the father worshippers, represented by the
+self-created Ptah, were fused with the beliefs of the mother
+worshippers, who adored Isis, Mut, Neith, and others. In Babylonia
+this process of racial and religious fusion was well advanced before
+the dawn of history. Ea, who had already assumed manifold forms, may
+have originally been the son or child lover of Damkina, "Lady of the
+Deep", as was Tammuz of Ishtar. As the fish, Ea was the offspring of
+the mother river.
+
+The mother worshippers recognized male as well as female deities, but
+regarded the great goddess as the First Cause. Although the primeval
+spirits were grouped in four pairs in Egypt, and apparently in
+Babylonia also, the female in the first pair was more strongly
+individualized than the male. The Egyptian Nu is vaguer than his
+consort Nut, and the Babylonian Apsu than his consort Tiamat. Indeed,
+in the narrative of the Creation Tablets of Babylon, which will
+receive full treatment in a later chapter, Tiamat, the great mother,
+is the controlling spirit. She is more powerful and ferocious than
+Apsu, and lives longer. After Apsu's death she elevates one of her
+brood, named Kingu, to be her consort, a fact which suggests that in
+the Ishtar-Tammuz myth survives the influence of exceedingly ancient
+modes of thought. Like Tiamat, Ishtar is also a great battle heroine,
+and in this capacity she was addressed as "the lady of majestic rank
+exalted over all gods". This was no idle flattery on the part of
+worshippers, but a memory of her ancient supremacy.
+
+Reference has been made to the introduction of Tammuz worship into
+Jerusalem. Ishtar, as Queen of Heaven, was also adored by the
+backsliding Israelites as a deity of battle and harvest. When Jeremiah
+censured the people for burning incense and serving gods "whom they
+knew not", he said, "neither they, ye, nor your fathers", they made
+answer: "Since we left off to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and
+to pour out drink offerings unto her, we have wanted all things, and
+have been consumed by the sword and the famine". The women took a
+leading part in these practices, but refused to accept all the blame,
+saying, "When we burned incense to the queen of heaven, and poured out
+drink offerings unto her, did we make our cakes and pour out drink
+offerings unto her without our men?"[140] That the husbands, and the
+children even, assisted at the ceremony is made evident in another
+reference to goddess worship: "The children gather wood, and the
+fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead the dough, to make cakes
+to the queen of heaven".[141]
+
+Jastrow suggests that the women of Israel wept for Tammuz, offered
+cakes to the mother goddess, &c., because "in all religious bodies ...
+women represent the conservative element; among them religious customs
+continue in practice after they have been abandoned by men".[142] The
+evidence of Jeremiah, however, shows that the men certainly
+co-operated at the archaic ceremonials. In lighting the fires with the
+"vital spark", they apparently acted in imitation of the god of
+fertility. The women, on the other hand, represented the reproductive
+harvest goddess in providing the food supply. In recognition of her
+gift, they rewarded the goddess by offering her the cakes prepared
+from the newly ground wheat and barley--the "first fruits of the
+harvest". As the corn god came as a child, the children began the
+ceremony by gathering the wood for the sacred fire. When the women
+mourned for Tammuz, they did so evidently because the death of the god
+was lamented by the goddess Ishtar. It would appear, therefore, that
+the suggestion regarding the "conservative element" should really
+apply to the immemorial practices of folk religion. These differed
+from the refined ceremonies of the official cult in Babylonia, where
+there were suitable temples and organized bands of priests and
+priestesses. But the official cult received no recognition in
+Palestine; the cakes intended for a goddess were not offered up in the
+temple of Abraham's God, but "in the streets of Jerusalem" and those
+of other cities.[143]
+
+The obvious deduction seems to be that in ancient times women
+everywhere played a prominent part in the ceremonial folk worship of
+the Great Mother goddess, while the men took the lesser part of the
+god whom she had brought into being and afterwards received as
+"husband of his mother". This may account for the high social status
+of women among goddess worshippers, like the representatives of the
+Mediterranean race, whose early religion was not confined to temples,
+but closely associated with the acts of everyday life.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+WARS OF THE CITY STATES OF SUMER AND AKKAD
+
+
+  Civilization well advanced--The Patesi--Prominent City
+  States--Surroundings of Babylonia--The Elamites--Biblical References
+  to Susa--The Sumerian Temperament--Fragmentary Records--City States
+  of Kish and Opis--A Shopkeeper who became a Queen--Goddess
+  Worship--Tammuz as Nin-Girsu--Great Dynasty of Lagash--Ur-Nina and
+  his Descendants--A Napoleonic Conqueror--Golden Age of Sumerian
+  Art--The First Reformer in History--His Rise and Fall--The Dynasty
+  of Erech--Sargon of Akkad--The Royal Gardener--Sargon Myth in
+  India--A Great Empire--The King who Purchased Land--Naram Sin the
+  Conqueror--Disastrous Foreign Raid--Lagash again Prominent--Gudea
+  the Temple Builder--Dynasty of Ur--Dynasty of Isin--Another Gardener
+  becomes King--Rise of Babylon--Humanized Deities--Why Sumerian Gods
+  wore Beards.
+
+
+When the curtain rises to reveal the drama of Babylonian civilization
+we find that we have missed the first act and its many fascinating
+scenes. Sumerians and Akkadians come and go, but it is not always
+possible to distinguish between them. Although most Semites are
+recognizable by their flowing beards, prominent noses, and long robes,
+some have so closely imitated the Sumerians as to suffer almost
+complete loss of identity. It is noticeable that in the north the
+Akkadians are more Semitic than their contemporaries in the south, but
+it is difficult at times to say whether a city is controlled by the
+descendants of the indigenous people or those of later settlers.
+Dynasties rise and fall, and, as in Egypt at times, the progress of
+the fragmentary narrative is interrupted by a sudden change of scene
+ere we have properly grasped a situation and realized its
+significance.
+
+What we know for certain is that civilization is well advanced. Both
+in the north and the south there are many organized and independent
+city states, and not unfrequently these wage war one against another.
+Occasionally ambitious rulers tower among their fellows, conduct
+vigorous military campaigns, and become overlords of wide districts.
+As a rule, a subjugated monarch who has perforce to acknowledge the
+suzerainty of a powerful king is allowed to remain in a state of
+semi-independence on condition that he pays a heavy annual tribute of
+grain. His own laws continue in force, and the city deities remain
+supreme, although recognition may also be given to the deities of his
+conqueror. He styles himself a Patesi--a "priest king", or more
+literally, "servant of the chief deity". But as an independent monarch
+may also be a pious Patesi, it does not always follow when a ruler is
+referred to by that title he is necessarily less powerful than his
+neighbours.
+
+When the historical narrative begins Akkad included the cities of
+Babylon, Cutha, Kish, Akkad, and Sippar, and north of Babylonia proper
+is Semitic Opis. Among the cities of Sumer were Eridu, Ur, Lagash,
+Larsa, Erech, Shuruppak, and probably Nippur, which was situated on
+the "border". On the north Assyria was yet "in the making", and
+shrouded in obscurity. A vague but vast area above Hit on the
+Euphrates, and extending to the Syrian coast, was known as the "land
+of the Amorites". The fish-shaped Babylonian valley lying between the
+rivers, where walled towns were surrounded by green fields and
+numerous canals flashed in the sunshine, was bounded on the west by
+the bleak wastes of the Arabian desert, where during the dry season
+"the rocks branded the body" and occasional sandstorms swept in
+blinding folds towards the "plain of Shinar" (Sumer) like demon hosts
+who sought to destroy the world. To the east the skyline was fretted
+by the Persian Highlands, and amidst the southern mountains dwelt the
+fierce Elamites, the hereditary enemies of the Sumerians, although a
+people apparently of the same origin. Like the Nubians and the
+Libyans, who kept watchful eyes on Egypt, the Elamites seemed ever to
+be hovering on the eastern frontier of Sumeria, longing for an
+opportunity to raid and plunder.
+
+The capital of the Elamites was the city of Susa, where excavations
+have revealed traces of an independent civilization which reaches back
+to an early period in the Late Stone Age. Susa is referred to in the
+Old Testament--"The words of Nehemiah.... I was in Shushan the
+palace".[144] An Assyrian plan of the city shows it occupying a
+strategic position at a bend of the Shawur river, which afforded
+protection against Sumerian attacks from the west, while a canal
+curved round its northern and eastern sides, so that Susa was
+completely surrounded by water. Fortifications had been erected on the
+river and canal banks, and between these and the high city walls were
+thick clumps of trees. That the kings of Elam imitated the splendours
+of Babylonian courts in the later days of Esther and Haman and
+Mordecai, is made evident by the Biblical references to the gorgeous
+palace, which had "white, green, and blue hangings, fastened with
+cords of fine linen and purple to silver rings and pillars of marble;
+the beds were of gold and silver, upon a pavement of red, and blue,
+and white, and black marble ".[145] Beyond Elam were the plains,
+plateaus, and grassy steppes occupied by the Medes and other peoples
+of Aryan speech. Cultural influences came and went like spring winds
+between the various ancient communities.
+
+For ten long centuries Sumer and Akkad flourished and prospered ere we
+meet with the great Hammurabi, whose name has now become almost as
+familiar as that of Julius Caesar. But our knowledge of the leading
+historical events of this vast period is exceedingly fragmentary. The
+Sumerians were not like the later Assyrians or their Egyptian
+contemporaries--a people with a passion for history. When inscriptions
+were composed and cut on stone, or impressed upon clay tablets and
+bricks, the kings selected as a general rule to record pious deeds
+rather than to celebrate their victories and conquests. Indeed, the
+average monarch had a temperament resembling that of Keats, who
+declared:
+
+                       The silver flow
+    Of Hero's tears, the swoon of Imogen,
+    Fair Pastorella in the bandits' den,
+    Are things to brood on with more ardency
+    Than the death day of empires.
+
+The Sumerian king was emotionally religious as the great English poet
+was emotionally poetical. The tears of Ishtar for Tammuz, and the
+afflictions endured by the goddess imprisoned in Hades, to which she
+had descended for love of her slain husband, seemed to have concerned
+the royal recorder to a greater degree than the memories of political
+upheavals and the social changes which passed over the land, like the
+seasons which alternately brought greenness and gold, barrenness and
+flood.
+
+City chronicles, as a rule, are but indices of obscure events, to
+which meagre references were sometimes also made on mace heads, vases,
+tablets, stelae, and sculptured monoliths. Consequently, present-day
+excavators and students have often reason to be grateful that the
+habit likewise obtained of inscribing on bricks in buildings and the
+stone sockets of doors the names of kings and others. These records
+render obscure periods faintly articulate, and are indispensable for
+comparative purposes. Historical clues are also obtained from lists of
+year names. Each city king named a year in celebration of a great
+event--his own succession to the throne, the erection of a new temple
+or of a city wall, or, mayhap, the defeat of an invading army from a
+rival state. Sometimes, too, a monarch gave the name of his father in
+an official inscription, or happily mentioned several ancestors.
+Another may be found to have made an illuminating statement regarding
+a predecessor, who centuries previously erected the particular temple
+that he himself has piously restored. A reckoning of this kind,
+however, cannot always be regarded as absolutely correct. It must be
+compared with and tested by other records, for in these ancient days
+calculations were not unfrequently based on doubtful inscriptions, or
+mere oral traditions, perhaps. Nor can implicit trust be placed on
+every reference to historical events, for the memoried deeds of great
+rulers were not always unassociated with persistent and cumulative
+myths. It must be recognized, therefore, that even portions of the
+data which had of late been sifted and systematized by Oriental
+scholars in Europe, may yet have to be subjected to revision. Many
+interesting and important discoveries, which will throw fresh light on
+this fascinating early period, remain to be made in that ancient and
+deserted land, which still lies under the curse of the Hebrew prophet,
+who exclaimed: "Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the
+Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and
+Gomorrah. It shall never be inhabited; neither shall the Arabian pitch
+tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there. But
+wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be
+full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs
+shall dance there. And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in
+their desolate houses and dragons in their pleasant palaces."[146]
+
+The curtain rises, as has been indicated, after civilization had been
+well advanced. To begin with, our interests abide with Akkad, and
+during a period dated approximately between 3000 B.C. and 2800 B.C.,
+when Egypt was already a united kingdom, and the Cretans were at the
+dawn of the first early Minoan period, and beginning to use bronze. In
+Kish Sumerian and Akkadian elements had apparently blended, and the
+city was the centre of a powerful and independent government. After
+years have fluttered past dimly, and with them the shadow-shapes of
+vigorous rulers, it is found that Kish came under the sway of the
+pronouncedly Semitic city of Opis, which was situated "farthest north"
+and on the western bank of the river Tigris. A century elapsed ere
+Kish again threw off the oppressor's yoke and renewed the strength of
+its youth.
+
+The city of Kish was one of the many ancient centres of goddess
+worship. The Great Mother appears to have been the Sumerian Bau, whose
+chief seat was at Lagash. If tradition is to be relied upon, Kish owed
+its existence to that notable lady, Queen Azag-Bau. Although floating
+legends gathered round her memory as they have often gathered round
+the memories of famous men, like Sargon of Akkad, Alexander the Great,
+and Theodoric the Goth, who became Emperor of Rome, it is probable
+that the queen was a prominent historical personage. She was reputed
+to have been of humble origin, and to have first achieved popularity
+and influence as the keeper of a wine shop. Although no reference
+survives to indicate that she was believed to be of miraculous birth,
+the Chronicle of Kish gravely credits her with a prolonged and
+apparently prosperous reign of a hundred years. Her son, who succeeded
+her, sat on the throne for a quarter of a century. These calculations
+are certainly remarkable. If the Queen Azag-Bau founded Kish when she
+was only twenty, and gave birth to the future ruler in her fiftieth
+year, he must have been an elderly gentleman of seventy when he began
+to reign. When it is found, further, that the dynasty in which mother
+and son flourished was supposed to have lasted for 586 years, divided
+between eight rulers, one of whom reigned for only three years, two
+for six, and two for eleven, it becomes evident that the historian of
+Kish cannot be absolutely relied upon in detail. It seems evident that
+the memory of this lady of forceful character, who flourished about
+thirteen hundred years before the rise of Queen Hatshepsut of Egypt,
+has overshadowed the doubtful annals of ancient Kish at a period when
+Sumerian and Semite were striving in the various states to achieve
+political ascendancy.
+
+Meanwhile the purely Sumerian city of Lagash had similarly grown
+powerful and aggressive. For a time it acknowledged the suzerainty of
+Kish, but ultimately it threw off the oppressor's yoke and asserted
+its independence. The cumulative efforts of a succession of energetic
+rulers elevated Lagash to the position of a metropolis in Ancient
+Babylonia.
+
+The goddess Bau, "the mother of Lagash", was worshipped in conjunction
+with other deities, including the god Nin-Girsu, an agricultural
+deity, and therefore a deity of war, who had solar attributes. One of
+the titles of Nin-Girsu was En-Mersi, which, according to Assyrian
+evidence, was another name of Tammuz, the spring god who slew the
+storm and winter demons, and made the land fertile so that man might
+have food. Nin-Girsu was, it would seem, a developed form of Tammuz,
+like the Scandinavian Frey, god of harvest, or Heimdal, the celestial
+warrior. Bau was one of the several goddesses whose attributes were
+absorbed by the Semitic Ishtar. She was a "Great Mother", a creatrix,
+the source of all human and bestial life, and, of course, a harvest
+goddess. She was identified with Gula, "the great one", who cured
+diseases and prolonged life. Evidently the religion of Lagash was
+based on the popular worship of the "Queen of Heaven", and her son,
+the dying god who became "husband of his mother".
+
+The first great and outstanding ruler of Lagash was Ur-Nina, who
+appears to have owed his power to the successful military operations
+of his predecessors. It is uncertain whether or not he himself engaged
+in any great war. His records are silent in that connection, but,
+judging from what we know of him, it may be taken for granted that he
+was able and fully prepared to give a good account of himself in
+battle. He certainly took steps to make secure his position, for he
+caused a strong wall to be erected round Lagash. His inscriptions are
+eloquent of his piety, which took practical shape, for he repaired and
+built temples, dedicated offerings to deities, and increased the
+wealth of religious bodies and the prosperity of the State by cutting
+canals and developing agriculture. In addition to serving local
+deities, he also gave practical recognition to Ea at Eridu and Enlil
+at Nippur. He, however, overlooked Anu at Erech, a fact which suggests
+that he held sway over Eridu and Nippur, but had to recognize Erech as
+an independent city state.
+
+Among the deities of Lagash, Ur-Nina favoured most the goddess Nina,
+whose name he bore. As she was a water deity, and perhaps identical
+with Belit-sheri, sister of "Tammuz of the Abyss" and daughter of Ea,
+one of the canals was dedicated to her. She was also honoured with a
+new temple, in which was probably placed her great statue, constructed
+by special order of her royal worshipper. Like the Egyptian goddess,
+the "Mother of Mendes", Nina received offerings of fish, not only as a
+patroness of fishermen, but also as a corn spirit and a goddess of
+maternity. She was in time identified with Ishtar.
+
+A famous limestone plaque, which is preserved in the Louvre, Paris,
+depicts on its upper half the pious King Ur-Nina engaged in the
+ceremony of laying the foundations of a temple dedicated either to the
+goddess Nina or to the god Nin-Girsu. His face and scalp are clean
+shaven, and he has a prominent nose and firm mouth, eloquent of
+decision. The folds of neck and jaw suggest Bismarckian traits. He is
+bare to the waist, and wears a pleated kilt, with three flounces,
+which reaches almost to his ankles. On his long head he has poised
+deftly a woven basket containing the clay with which he is to make the
+first brick. In front of him stand five figures. The foremost is
+honoured by being sculptured larger than the others, except the
+prominent monarch. Apparently this is a royal princess, for her head
+is unshaven, and her shoulder dress or long hair drops over one of her
+arms. Her name is Lida, and the conspicuous part she took in the
+ceremony suggests that she was the representative of the goddess Nina.
+She is accompanied by her brothers, and at least one official, Anita,
+the cup-bearer, or high priest. The concluding part of this ceremony,
+or another ceremonial act, is illustrated on the lower part of the
+plaque. Ur-Nina is seated on his throne, not, as would seem at first
+sight, raising the wine cup to his lips and toasting to the success of
+the work, but pouring out a libation upon the ground. The princess is
+not present; the place of honour next to the king is taken by the
+crown prince. Possibly in this case it is the god Nin-Girsu who is
+being honoured. Three male figures, perhaps royal sons, accompany the
+prominent crown prince. The cup-bearer is in attendance behind the
+throne.
+
+The inscription on this plaque, which is pierced in the centre so as
+to be nailed to a sacred shrine, refers to the temples erected by
+Ur-Nina, including those of Nina and Nin-Girsu.
+
+After Ur-Nina's prosperous reign came to a close, his son Akurgal
+ascended the throne. He had trouble with Umma, a powerful city, which
+lay to the north-west of Lagash, between the Shatt-el-Kai and
+Shatt-el-Hai canals. An army of raiders invaded his territory and had
+to be driven back.
+
+The next king, whose name was Eannatum, had Napoleonic
+characteristics. He was a military genius with great ambitions, and
+was successful in establishing by conquest a small but brilliant
+empire. Like his grandfather, he strengthened the fortifications of
+Lagash; then he engaged in a series of successful campaigns. Umma had
+been causing anxiety in Lagash, but Eannatum stormed and captured that
+rival city, appropriated one of its fertile plains, and imposed an
+annual tribute to be paid in kind. An army of Elamites swept down from
+the hills, but Ur-Nina's grandson inflicted upon these bold foreigners
+a crushing defeat and pursued them over the frontier. Several cities
+were afterwards forced to come under the sway of triumphant Lagash,
+including Erech and Ur, and as his suzerainty was already acknowledged
+at Eridu, Eannatum's power in Sumeria became as supreme as it was
+firmly established.
+
+Evidently Zuzu, king of the northern city of Opis, considered that the
+occasion was opportune to overcome the powerful Sumerian conqueror,
+and at the same time establish Semitic rule over the subdued and
+war-wasted cities. He marched south with a large army, but the
+tireless and ever-watchful Eannatum hastened to the fray, scattered
+the forces of Opis, and captured the foolhardy Zuzu.
+
+Eannatum's activities, however, were not confined to battlefields. At
+Lagash he carried out great improvements in the interests of
+agriculture; he constructed a large reservoir and developed the canal
+system. He also extended and repaired existing temples in his native
+city and at Erech. Being a patron of the arts, he encouraged sculpture
+work, and the finest Sumerian examples belong to his reign.
+
+Eannatum was succeeded by his brother, Enannatum I. Apparently the new
+monarch did not share the military qualities of his royal predecessor,
+for there were signs of unrest in the loose confederacy of states.
+Indeed, Umma revolted. From that city an army marched forth and took
+forcible possession of the plain which Eannatum had appropriated,
+removing and breaking the landmarks, and otherwise challenging the
+supremacy of the sovran state. A Lagash force defeated the men of
+Umma, but appears to have done little more than hold in check their
+aggressive tendencies.
+
+No sooner had Entemena, the next king, ascended the throne than the
+flame of revolt burst forth again. The Patesi of Umma was evidently
+determined to free, once and for all, his native state from the yoke
+of Lagash. But he had gravely miscalculated the strength of the
+vigorous young ruler. Entemena inflicted upon the rebels a crushing
+defeat, and following up his success, entered the walled city and
+captured and slew the patesi. Then he took steps to stamp out the
+embers of revolt in Umma by appointing as its governor one of his own
+officials, named Ili, who was duly installed with great ceremony.
+Other military successes followed, including the sacking of Opis and
+Kish, which assured the supremacy of Lagash for many years. Entemena,
+with characteristic vigour, engaged himself during periods of peace in
+strengthening his city fortifications and in continuing the work of
+improving and developing the irrigation system. He lived in the golden
+age of Sumerian art, and to his reign belongs the exquisite silver
+vase of Lagash, which was taken from the Tello mound, and is now in
+the Louvre. This votive offering was placed by the king in the temple
+of Nin-Girsu. It is exquisitely shaped, and has a base of copper. The
+symbolic decorations include the lion-headed eagle, which was probably
+a form of the spring god of war and fertility, the lion, beloved by
+the Mother goddess, and deer and ibexes, which recall the mountain
+herds of Astarte. In the dedicatory inscription the king is referred
+to as a patesi, and the fact that the name of the high priest, Dudu,
+is given may be taken as an indication of the growing power of an
+aggressive priesthood. After a brilliant reign of twenty-nine years
+the king died, and was succeeded by his son, Enannatum II, who was the
+last ruler of Ur-Nina's line. An obscure period ensued. Apparently
+there had been a city revolt, which may have given the enemies of
+Lagash the desired opportunity to gather strength for the coming
+conflict. There is a reference to an Elamite raid which, although
+repulsed, may be regarded as proof of disturbed political conditions.
+
+One or two priests sat on the throne of Lagash in brief succession,
+and then arose to power the famous Urukagina, the first reformer in
+history. He began to rule as patesi, but afterwards styled himself
+king. What appears certain is that he was the leader of a great social
+upheaval, which received the support of a section of the priesthood,
+for he recorded that his elevation was due to the intercession of the
+god Nin-Girsu. Other deities, who were sons and daughters of Nin-Girsu
+and Nina, had been given recognition by his predecessors, and it is
+possible that the orthodox section of Lagash, and especially the
+agricultural classes, supported the new ruler in sweeping away
+innovations to which they were hostile.
+
+Like Khufu and his descendants, the Pyramid kings of Egypt's fourth
+dynasty, the vigorous and efficient monarchs of the Ur-Nina dynasty of
+Lagash were apparently remembered and execrated as tyrants and
+oppressors of the people. To maintain many endowed temples and a
+standing army the traders and agriculturists had been heavily taxed.
+Each successive monarch who undertook public works on a large scale
+for the purpose of extending and developing the area under
+cultivation, appears to have done so mainly to increase the revenue of
+the exchequer, so as to conserve the strength of the city and secure
+its pre-eminence as a metropolis. A leisured class had come into
+existence, with the result that culture was fostered and civilization
+advanced. Lagash seems to have been intensely modern in character
+prior to 2800 B.C., but with the passing of the old order of things
+there arose grave social problems which never appear to have been
+seriously dealt with. All indications of social unrest were, it would
+appear, severely repressed by the iron-gloved monarchs of Ur-Nina's
+dynasty.
+
+The people as a whole groaned under an ever-increasing burden of
+taxation. Sumeria was overrun by an army of officials who were
+notoriously corrupt; they do not appear to have been held in check, as
+in Egypt, by royal auditors. "In the domain of Nin-Girsu", one of
+Urukagina's tablets sets forth, "there were tax gatherers down to the
+sea." They not only attended to the needs of the exchequer, but
+enriched themselves by sheer robbery, while the priests followed their
+example by doubling their fees and appropriating temple offerings to
+their own use. The splendid organization of Lagash was crippled by the
+dishonesty of those who should have been its main support.
+
+Reforms were necessary and perhaps overdue, but, unfortunately for
+Lagash, Urukagina's zeal for the people's cause amounted to
+fanaticism. Instead of gradually readjusting the machinery of
+government so as to secure equality of treatment without impairing its
+efficiency as a defensive force in these perilous times, he
+inaugurated sweeping and revolutionary social changes of far-reaching
+character regardless of consequences. Taxes and temple fees were cut
+down, and the number of officials reduced to a minimum. Society was
+thoroughly disorganized. The army, which was recruited mainly from the
+leisured and official classes, went practically out of existence, so
+that traders and agriculturists obtained relief from taxation at the
+expense of their material security.
+
+Urukagina's motives were undoubtedly above reproach, and he showed an
+example to all who occupied positions of trust by living an upright
+life and denying himself luxuries. He was disinterestedly pious, and
+built and restored temples, and acted as the steward of his god with
+desire to promote the welfare and comfort of all true worshippers. His
+laws were similar to those which over two centuries afterwards were
+codified by Hammurabi, and like that monarch he was professedly the
+guardian of the weak and the helper of the needy; he sought to
+establish justice and liberty in the kingdom. But his social Arcadia
+vanished like a dream because he failed to recognize that Right must
+be supported by Might.
+
+In bringing about his sudden social revolution, Urukagina had at the
+same time unwittingly let loose the forces of disorder. Discontented
+and unemployed officials, and many representatives of the despoiled
+leisured and military classes of Lagash, no doubt sought refuge
+elsewhere, and fostered the spirit of revolt which ever smouldered in
+subject states. At any rate, Umma, remembering the oppressions of
+other days, was not slow to recognize that the iron hand of Lagash had
+become unnerved. The zealous and iconoclastic reformer had reigned but
+seven years when he was called upon to defend his people against the
+invader. He appears to have been utterly unprepared to do so. The
+victorious forces of Umma swept against the stately city of Lagash and
+shattered its power in a single day. Echoes of the great disaster
+which ensued rise from a pious tablet inscription left by a priest,
+who was convinced that the conquerors would be called to account for
+the sins they had committed against the great god Nin-Girsu. He
+lamented the butchery and robbery which had taken place. We gather
+from his composition that blood was shed by the raiders of Umma even
+in the sacred precincts of temples, that statues were shattered, that
+silver and precious stones were carried away, that granaries were
+plundered and standing crops destroyed, and that many buildings were
+set on fire. Amidst these horrors of savagery and vengeance, the now
+tragic figure of the great reformer suddenly vanishes from before our
+eyes. Perhaps he perished in a burning temple; perhaps he found a
+nameless grave with the thousands of his subjects whose bodies had
+lain scattered about the blood-stained streets. With Urukagina the
+glory of Lagash departed. Although the city was rebuilt in time, and
+was even made more stately than before, it never again became the
+metropolis of Sumeria.
+
+The vengeful destroyer of Lagash was Lugal-zaggisi, Patesi of Umma, a
+masterful figure in early Sumerian history. We gather from the tablet
+of the unknown scribe, who regarded him as a sinner against the god
+Nin-Girsu, that his city goddess was named Nidaba. He appears also to
+have been a worshipper of Enlil of Nippur, to whose influence he
+credited his military successes. But Enlil was not his highest god, he
+was the interceder who carried the prayers of Lugal-zaggisi to the
+beloved father, Anu, god of the sky. No doubt Nin-Girsu represented a
+school of theology which was associated with unpleasant memories in
+Umma. The sacking and burning of the temples of Lagash suggests as
+much.
+
+Having broken the power of Lagash, Lugal-zaggisi directed his
+attention to the rival city of Kish, where Semitic influence was
+predominating. When Nanizak, the last monarch of the line of the
+famous Queen Azag-Bau, had sat upon the throne for but three years, he
+perished by the sword of the Umma conqueror. Nippur likewise came
+under his sway, and he also subdued the southern cities.
+
+Lugal-zaggisi chose for his capital ancient Erech, the city of Anu,
+and of his daughter, the goddess Nana, who afterwards was identified
+with Ishtar. Anu's spouse was Anatu, and the pair subsequently became
+abstract deities, like Anshar and Kishar, their parents, who figure in
+the Babylonian Creation story. Nana was worshipped as the goddess of
+vegetation, and her relation to Anu was similar to that of Belit-sheri
+to Ea at Eridu. Anu and Ea were originally identical, but it would
+appear that the one was differentiated as the god of the waters above
+the heaven and the other as god of the waters beneath the earth, both
+being forms of Anshar. Elsewhere the chief god of the spring sun or
+the moon, the lover of the goddess, became pre-eminent, displacing the
+elder god, like Nin-Girsu at Lagash. At Sippar the sun god, Babbar,
+whose Semitic name was Shamash, was exalted as the chief deity, while
+the moon god remained supreme at Ur. This specializing process, which
+was due to local theorizing and the influence of alien settlers, has
+been dealt with in a previous chapter.
+
+In referring to himself as the favoured ruler of various city deities,
+Lugal-zaggisi appears as a ruler of all Sumeria. How far his empire
+extended it is impossible to determine with certainty. He appears to
+have overrun Akkad, and even penetrated to the Syrian coast, for in
+one inscription it is stated that he "made straight his path from the
+Lower Sea (the Persian Gulf) over the Euphrates and Tigris to the
+Upper Sea (the Mediterranean)". The allegiance of certain states,
+however, depended on the strength of the central power. One of his
+successors found it necessary to attack Kish, which was ever waiting
+for an opportunity to regain its independence.
+
+According to the Chronicle of Kish, the next ruler of Sumer and Akkad
+after Lugal-zaggisi was the famous Sargon I. It would appear that he
+was an adventurer or usurper, and that he owed his throne indirectly
+to Lugal-zaggisi, who had dethroned the ruler of Akkad. Later
+traditions, which have been partly confirmed by contemporary
+inscriptions, agree that Sargon was of humble birth. In the previous
+chapter reference was made to the Tammuz-like myth attached to his
+memory. His mother was a vestal virgin dedicated to the sun god,
+Shamash, and his father an unknown stranger from the mountains--a
+suggestion of immediate Semitic affinities. Perhaps Sargon owed his
+rise to power to the assistance received by bands of settlers from the
+land of the Amorites, which Lugal-zaggisi had invaded.
+
+According to the legend, Sargon's birth was concealed. He was placed
+in a vessel which was committed to the river. Brought up by a
+commoner, he lived in obscurity until the Semitic goddess, Ishtar,
+gave him her aid.
+
+A similar myth was attached in India to the memory of Karna, the
+Hector of that great Sanskrit epic the _Mahabharata_. Kama's mother,
+the Princess Pritha, who afterwards became a queen, was loved by the
+sun god, Surya. When in secret she gave birth to her son she placed
+him in an ark of wickerwork, which was set adrift on a stream.
+Ultimately it reached the Ganges, and it was borne by that river to
+the country of Anga, where the child was rescued by a woman and
+afterwards reared by her and her husband, a charioteer. In time Karna
+became a great warrior, and was crowned King of Anga by the Kaurava
+warriors.[147]
+
+Before he became king, Sargon of Akkad, the Sharrukin of the texts,
+was, according to tradition, a gardener and watchman attached to the
+temple of the war god Zamama of Kish. This deity was subsequently
+identified with Merodach, son of Ea; Ninip, son of Enlil; and
+Nin-Girsu of Lagash. He was therefore one of the many developed forms
+of Tammuz--a solar, corn, and military deity, and an interceder for
+mankind. The goddess of Kish appears to have been a form of Bau, as is
+testified by the name of Queen Azag-Bau, the legendary founder of the
+city.
+
+Unfortunately our knowledge of Sargon's reign is of meagre character.
+It is undoubted that he was a distinguished general and able ruler. He
+built up an empire which included Sumer and Akkad, and also Amurru,
+"the western land", or "land of the Amorites". The Elamites gave him
+an opportunity to extend his conquests eastward. They appear to have
+attacked Opis, but he drove them back, and on more than one occasion
+penetrated their country, over the western part of which, known as
+Anshan, he ultimately imposed his rule. Thither went many Semitic
+settlers who had absorbed the culture of Sumeria.
+
+During Sargon's reign Akkad attained to a splendour which surpassed
+that of Babylon. In an omen text the monarch is lauded as the "highly
+exalted one without a peer". Tradition relates that when he was an old
+man all the Babylonian states rose in revolt against him and besieged
+Akkad. But the old warrior led forth his army against the combined
+forces and achieved a shattering victory.
+
+Manishtusu, who succeeded Sargon I, had similarly to subdue a great
+confederacy of thirty-two city states, and must therefore have been a
+distinguished general. But he is best known as the monarch who
+purchased several large estates adjoining subject cities, his aim
+having been probably to settle on these Semitic allies who would be
+less liable to rebel against him than the workers they displaced. For
+the latter, however, he found employment elsewhere. These
+transactions, which were recorded on a monument subsequently carried
+off with other spoils by the Elamites and discovered at Susa, show
+that at this early period (about 2600 B.C.) even a conquering monarch
+considered it advisable to observe existing land laws. Urumush,[148]
+the next ruler, also achieved successes in Elam and elsewhere, but his
+life was cut short by a palace revolution.
+
+The prominent figure of Naram Sin, a later king of Akkad, bulks
+largely in history and tradition. According to the Chronicle of Kish,
+he was a son of Sargon. Whether he was or not, it is certain that he
+inherited the military and administrative genius of that famous
+ex-gardener. The arts flourished during his reign. One of the
+memorable products of the period was an exquisitely sculptured
+monument celebrating one of Naram Sin's victories, which was
+discovered at Susa. It is one of the most wonderful examples of
+Babylonian stone work which has come to light.
+
+A successful campaign had been waged against a mountain people. The
+stele shows the warrior king leading his army up a steep incline and
+round the base of a great peak surmounted by stars. His enemies flee
+in confusion before him. One lies on the ground clutching a spear
+which has penetrated his throat, two are falling over a cliff, while
+others apparently sue for mercy. Trees have been depicted to show that
+part of the conquered territory is wooded. Naram Sin is armed with
+battleaxe and bow, and his helmet is decorated with horns. The whole
+composition is spirited and finely grouped; and the military bearing
+of the disciplined troops contrasts sharply with the despairing
+attitudes of the fleeing remnants of the defending army.
+
+During this period the Semitized mountaineers to the north-east of
+Babylonia became the most aggressive opponents of the city states. The
+two most prominent were the Gutium, or men of Kutu, and the Lulubu.
+Naram Sin's great empire included the whole of Sumer and Akkad, Amurru
+and northern Palestine, and part of Elam, and the district to the
+north. He also penetrated Arabia, probably by way of the Persian Gulf,
+and caused diorite to be quarried there. One of his steles, which is
+now in the Imperial Ottoman Museum at Constantinople, depicts him as a
+fully bearded man with Semitic characteristics. During his lifetime he
+was deified--a clear indication of the introduction of foreign ideas,
+for the Sumerians were not worshippers of kings and ancestors.
+
+Naram Sin was the last great king of his line. Soon after his death
+the power of Akkad went to pieces, and the Sumerian city of Erech
+again became the centre of empire. Its triumph, however, was
+shortlived. After a quarter of a century had elapsed, Akkad and Sumer
+were overswept by the fierce Gutium from the north-eastern mountains.
+They sacked and burned many cities, including Babylon, where the
+memory of the horrors perpetrated by these invaders endured until the
+Grecian Age. An obscure period, like the Egyptian Hyksos Age, ensued,
+but it was of comparatively brief duration.
+
+When the mists cleared away, the city Lagash once more came to the
+front, having evidently successfully withstood the onslaughts of the
+Gutium, but it never recovered the place of eminence it occupied under
+the brilliant Ur-Nina dynasty. It is manifest that it must have
+enjoyed under the various overlords, during the interval, a
+considerable degree of independence, for its individuality remained
+unimpaired. Of all its energetic and capable patesis, the most
+celebrated was Gudea, who reigned sometime before 2400 B.C. In
+contrast to the Semitic Naram Sin, he was beardless and pronouncedly
+Sumerian in aspect. His favoured deity, the city god Nin-Girsu, again
+became prominent, having triumphed over his jealous rivals after
+remaining in obscurity for three or four centuries. Trade flourished,
+and the arts were fostered. Gudea had himself depicted, in one of the
+most characteristic sculptures of his age, as an architect, seated
+reverently with folded hands with a temple plan lying on his knees,
+and his head uplifted as if watching the builders engaged in
+materializing the dream of his life. The temple in which his interests
+were centred was erected in honour of Nin-Girsu. Its ruins suggest
+that it was of elaborate structure and great beauty. Like Solomon in
+later days, Gudea procured material for his temple from many distant
+parts--cedar from Lebanon, marble from Amurru, diorite from Arabia,
+copper from Elam, and so forth. Apparently the King of Lagash was
+strong enough or wealthy enough to command respect over a wide area.
+
+Another city which also rose into prominence, amidst the shattered
+Sumerian states, was Ur, the centre of moon worship. After Gudea's
+death, its kings exercised sway over Lagash and Nippur, and, farther
+south, over Erech and Larsa as well. This dynasty endured for nearly a
+hundred and twenty years, during which Ur flourished like Thebes in
+Egypt. Its monarchs styled themselves as "Kings of the Four Regions".
+The worship of Nannar (Sin) became officially recognized at Nippur,
+the seat of Enlil, during the reign of King Dungi of Ur; while at
+Erech, the high priest of Anu, the sky god, became the high priest of
+the moon god. Apparently matriarchal ideas, associated with lunar
+worship, again came into prominence, for the king appointed two of his
+daughters to be rulers of conquered states in Elam and Syria. In the
+latter half of his reign, Dungi, the conqueror, was installed as high
+priest at Eridu. It would thus appear that there was a renascence of
+early Sumerian religious ideas. Ea, the god of the deep, had long been
+overshadowed, but a few years before Dungi's death a temple was
+erected to him at Nippur, where he was worshipped as Dagan. Until the
+very close of his reign, which lasted for fifty-eight years, this
+great monarch of tireless activity waged wars of conquest, built
+temples and palaces, and developed the natural resources of Sumer and
+Akkad. Among his many reforms was the introduction of standards of
+weights, which received divine sanction from the moon god, who, as in
+Egypt, was the measurer and regulator of human transactions and human
+life.
+
+To this age also belongs many of the Sumerian business and legal
+records, which were ultimately carried off to Susa, where they have
+been recovered by French excavators.
+
+About half a century after Dungi's death the Dynasty of Ur came to an
+end, its last king having been captured by an Elamite force.
+
+At some time subsequent to this period, Abraham migrated from Ur to
+the northern city of Harran, where the moon god was also the chief
+city deity--the Baal, or "lord". It is believed by certain
+Egyptologists that Abraham sojourned in Egypt during its Twelfth
+Dynasty, which, according to the Berlin system of minimum dating,
+extended from about 2000 B.C. till 1780 B.C. The Hebrew patriarch may
+therefore have been a contemporary of Hammurabi's, who is identified
+with Amraphel, king of Shinar (Sumer) in the Bible.[149]
+
+But after the decline of Ur's ascendancy, and long before Babylon's
+great monarch came to the throne, the centre of power in Sumeria was
+shifted to Isin, where sixteen kings flourished for two and a quarter
+centuries. Among the royal names, recognition was given to Ea and
+Dagan, Sin, Enlil, and Ishtar, indicating that Sumerian religion in
+its Semitized form was receiving general recognition. The sun god was
+identical with Ninip and Nin-Girsu, a god of fertility, harvest, and
+war, but now more fully developed and resembling Babbar, "the shining
+one", the solar deity of Akkadian Sippar, whose Semitic name was
+Shamash. As Shamash was ultimately developed as the god of justice and
+righteousness, it would appear that his ascendancy occurred during the
+period when well-governed communities systematized their religious
+beliefs to reflect social conditions.
+
+The first great monarch of the Isin dynasty was Ishbi-Urra, who
+reigned for thirty-two years. Like his successors, he called himself
+"King of Sumer and Akkad", and it appears that his sway extended to
+the city of Sippar, where solar worship prevailed. Traces of him have
+also been found at Eridu, Ur, Erech, and Nippur, so that he must have
+given recognition to Ea, Sin, Anu, and Enlil. In this period the early
+national pantheon may have taken shape, Bel Enlil being the chief
+deity. Enlil was afterwards displaced by Merodach of Babylon.
+
+Before 2200 B.C. there occurred a break in the supremacy of Isin.
+Gungunu, King of Ur, combined with Larsa, whose sun temple he
+restored, and declared himself ruler of Sumer and Akkad. But Isin
+again gathered strength under Ur-Ninip, who was not related to his
+predecessor. Perhaps he came from Nippur, where the god Ninip was
+worshipped as the son of Bel Enlil.
+
+According to a Babylonian document, a royal grandson of Ur-Ninip's,
+having no direct heir, selected as his successor his gardener,
+Enlil-bani. He placed the crown on the head of this obscure
+individual, abdicated in his favour, and then died a mysterious death
+within his palace.
+
+It is highly probable that Enlil-bani, whose name signifies "Enlil is
+my creator", was a usurper like Sargon of Akkad, and he may have
+similarly circulated a myth regarding his miraculous origin to justify
+his sudden rise to power. The truth appears to be that he came to the
+throne as the leader of a palace revolution at a time of great unrest.
+But he was not allowed to remain in undisputed possession. A rival
+named Sin-ikisha, evidently a moon worshipper and perhaps connected
+with Ur, displaced the usurper, and proclaimed himself king. After a
+brief reign of six months he was overthrown, however, by Enlil-bani,
+who piously credited his triumph over his enemy to the chief god of
+Nippur, whose name he bore. Although he took steps to secure his
+position by strengthening the fortifications of Isin, and reigned for
+about a quarter of a century, he was not succeeded by his heir, if he
+had one. King Zambia, who was no relation, followed him, but his reign
+lasted for only three years. The names of the next two kings are
+unknown. Then came Sin-magir, who was succeeded by Damik-ilishu, the
+last King of Isin.
+
+Towards the close of Damik-ilishu's reign of twenty-four years he came
+under the suzerainty of Larsa, whose ruler was Rim Sin. Then Isin was
+captured by Sin-muballit, King of Babylon, the father of the great
+Hammurabi. Rim Sin was an Elamite.
+
+Afterwards the old order of things passed away. Babylon became the
+metropolis, the names of Sumer and Akkad dropped out of use, and the
+whole country between the rivers was called Babylonia.[150] The
+various systems of law which obtained in the different states were
+then codified by Hammurabi, who appointed governors in all the cities
+which came under his sway to displace the patesis and kings. A new
+national pantheon of representative character was also formed, over
+which Merodach (Marduk), the city god of Babylon, presided. How this
+younger deity was supposed to rise to power is related in the
+Babylonian legend of Creation, which is dealt with in the next
+chapter.[151] In framing this myth from the fragments of older myths,
+divine sanction was given to the supremacy achieved by Merodach's
+city. The allegiance of future generations was thus secured, not only
+by the strong arm of the law, but also by the combined influence of
+the reorganized priesthoods at the various centres of administration.
+
+An interesting problem, which should be referred to here, arises in
+connection with the sculptured representations of deities before and
+after the rise of Akkad as a great Power. It is found, although the
+Sumerians shaved their scalps and faces at the dawn of the historical
+age, that they worshipped gods who had long hair and also beards,
+which were sometimes square and sometimes pointed.
+
+At what period the Sumerian deities were given human shape it is
+impossible to determine. As has been shown (Chapters II and III) all
+the chief gods and goddesses had animal forms and composite monster
+forms before they became anthropomorphic deities. Ea had evidently a
+fish shape ere he was clad in the skin of a fish, as an Egyptian god
+was simply a bull before he was depicted in human shape wearing a
+bull's skin. The archaic Sumerian animal and composite monster gods of
+animistic and totemic origin survived after the anthropomorphic period
+as mythical figures, which were used for decorative or magical
+purposes and as symbols. A form of divine headdress was a cap enclosed
+in horns, between which appeared the soaring lion-headed eagle, which
+symbolized Nin-Girsu. This god had also lion and antelope forms, which
+probably figured in lost myths--perhaps they were like the animals
+loved by Ishtar and referred to in the Gilgamesh epic. Similarly the
+winged bull was associated with the moon god Nannar, or Sin, of Ur,
+who was "a horned steer". On various cylinder seals appear groups of
+composite monsters and rearing wild beasts, which were evidently
+representations of gods and demons in conflict.
+
+Suggestive data for comparative study is afforded in this connection
+by ancient Egypt. Sokar, the primitive Memphite deity, retained until
+the end his animal and composite monster forms. Other gods were
+depicted with human bodies and the heads of birds, serpents, and
+crocodiles, thus forming links between the archaic demoniac and the
+later anthropomorphic deities. A Sumerian example is the deified
+Ea-bani, who, like Pan, has the legs and hoofs of a goat.
+
+The earliest representations of Sumerian humanized deities appear on
+reliefs from Tello, the site of Lagash. These examples of archaic
+gods, however, are not bearded in Semitic fashion. On the contrary,
+their lips and cheeks are shaved, while an exaggerated chin tuft is
+retained. The explanation suggested is that the Sumerians gave their
+deities human shape before they themselves were clean shaven, and that
+the retention of the characteristic facial hair growth of the
+Mediterranean Race is another example of the conservatism of the
+religious instinct. In Egypt the clean-shaven Pharaohs, who
+represented gods, wore false chin-tuft beards; even Queen Hatshepsut
+considered it necessary to assume a beard on state occasions.
+Ptah-Osiris retained his archaic beard until the Ptolemaic period.
+
+It seems highly probable that in similarly depicting their gods with
+beards, the early Sumerians were not influenced by the practices of
+any alien people or peoples. Not until the period of Gudea, the Patesi
+of Lagash, did they give their gods heavy moustaches, side whiskers,
+and flowing beards of Semitic type. It may be, however, that by then
+they had completely forgotten the significance of an ancient custom.
+Possibly, too, the sculptors of Lagash were working under the
+influence of the Akkadian school of art, which had produced the
+exquisite stele of victory for Naram-Sin, and consequently adopted the
+conventional Semitic treatment of bearded figures. At any rate, they
+were more likely to study and follow the artistic triumphs of Akkad
+than the crude productions of the archaic period. Besides, they lived
+in an age when Semitic kings were deified and the Semitic overlords
+had attained to great distinction and influence.
+
+The Semitic folks were not so highly thought of in the early Sumerian
+period. It is not likely that the agricultural people regarded as
+models of gods the plunderers who descended from the hills, and, after
+achieving successes, returned home with their spoils. More probably
+they regarded them as "foreign devils". Other Semites, however, who
+came as traders, bringing wood, stone, and especially copper, and
+formed communities in cities, may well have influenced Sumerian
+religious thought. The god Ramman, for instance, who was given
+recognition all through Babylonia, was a god of hill folks as far
+north as Asia Minor and throughout Syria. He may have been introduced
+by settlers who adopted Sumerian habits of life and shaved scalp and
+face. But although the old cities could never have existed in a
+complete state of isolation from the outer world, it is unlikely that
+their inhabitants modelled their deities on those worshipped by groups
+of aliens. A severe strain is imposed on our credulity if we are
+expected to believe that it was due to the teachings and example of
+uncultured nomads that the highly civilized Sumerians developed their
+gods from composite monsters to anthropomorphic deities. Such a
+supposition, at any rate, is not supported by the evidence of Ancient
+Egypt.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+CREATION LEGEND: MERODACH THE DRAGON SLAYER
+
+
+  Elder Spirits of the Primordial Deep--Apsu and the Tiamat
+  Dragon--Plot to Destroy the Beneficent Gods--Ea overcomes Apsu and
+  Muminu--The Vengeful Preparations of the Dragon--Anshar's Appeal to
+  Merodach--The Festival of the High Gods--Merodach exalted as Ruler
+  of the Universe--Dragon slain and Host taken captive--Merodach
+  rearranges the Pantheon--Creation of Man--Merodach as Asari--The
+  Babylonian Osiris--The Chief Purpose of Mankind--Tiamat as Source of
+  Good and Evil--The Dragon as the Serpent or Worm--Folk Tale aspect
+  of Creation Myth--British Neolithic Legends--German and Egyptian
+  Contracts--Biblical references to Dragons--The Father and Son
+  theme--Merodach and Tammuz--Monotheistic Tendency--Bi-sexual
+  Deities.
+
+
+In the beginning the whole universe was a sea. Heaven on high had not
+been named, nor the earth beneath. Their begetter was Apsu, the father
+of the primordial Deep, and their mother was Tiamat, the spirit of
+Chaos. No plain was yet formed, no marsh could be seen; the gods had
+no existence, nor had their fates been determined. Then there was a
+movement in the waters, and the deities issued forth. The first who
+had being were the god Lachmu and the goddess Lachamu. Long ages went
+past. Then were created the god Anshar and the goddess Kishar. When
+the days of these deities had increased and extended, they were
+followed by Anu, god of the sky, whose consort was Anatu; and Ea, most
+wise and all-powerful, who was without an equal. Now Ea, god of the
+deep, was also Enki, "lord of earth", and his eternal spouse, Damkina,
+was Gashan-ki, "lady of earth". The son of Ea and Damkina was Bel, the
+lord, who in time created mankind.[152] Thus were the high gods
+established in power and in glory.
+
+Now Apsu and Tiamat remained amidst confusion in the deeps of chaos.
+They were troubled because their offspring, the high gods, aspired to
+control the universe and set it in order.[153] Apsu was still powerful
+and fierce, and Tiamat snarled and raised tempests, smiting herself.
+Their purpose was to work evil amidst eternal confusion.
+
+Then Apsu called upon Mummu, his counsellor, the son who shared his
+desires, and said, "O Mummu, thou who art pleasing unto me, let us go
+forth together unto Tiamat and speak with her."
+
+So the two went forth and prostrated themselves before the Chaos
+Mother to consult with her as to what should be done to prevent the
+accomplishment of the purpose of the high gods.
+
+Apsu opened his mouth and spake, saying, "O Tiamat, thou gleaming one,
+the purpose of the gods troubles me. I cannot rest by day nor can I
+repose by night. I will thwart them and destroy their purpose. I will
+bring sorrow and mourning so that we may lie down undisturbed by
+them."
+
+Tiamat heard these words and snarled. She raised angry and roaring
+tempests; in her furious grief she uttered a curse, and then spake to
+Apsu, saying, "What shall we do so that their purpose may be thwarted
+and we may lie down undisturbed again?"
+
+Mummu, the counsellor, addressing Apsu, made answer, and said,
+"Although the gods are powerful, thou canst overcome them; although
+their purpose is strong, thou canst thwart it. Then thou shalt have
+rest by day and peace by night to lie down."
+
+The face of Apsu grew bright when he heard these words spoken by
+Mummu, yet he trembled to think of the purpose of the high gods, to
+whom he was hostile. With Tiamat he lamented because the gods had
+changed all things; the plans of the gods filled their hearts with
+dread; they sorrowed and spake with Mummu, plotting evil.
+
+Then Ea, who knoweth all, drew near; he beheld the evil ones
+conspiring and muttering together. He uttered a pure incantation and
+accomplished the downfall of Apsu and Mummu, who were taken
+captive.[154]
+
+Kingu, who shared the desires of Tiamat, spake unto her words of
+counsel, saying, "Apsu and Mummu have been overcome and we cannot
+repose. Thou shalt be their Avenger, O Tempestuous One."
+
+Tiamat heard the words of this bright and evil god, and made answer,
+saying, "On my strength thou canst trust. So let war be waged."
+
+Then were the hosts of chaos and the deep gathered together. By day
+and by night they plotted against the high gods, raging furiously,
+making ready for battle, fuming and storming and taking no rest.
+
+Mother Chuber,[155] the creator of all, provided irresistible weapons.
+She also brought into being eleven kinds of fierce monsters--giant
+serpents, sharp of tooth with unsparing fangs, whose bodies were
+filled with poison instead of blood; snarling dragons, clad with
+terror, and of such lofty stature that whoever saw them was
+overwhelmed with fear, nor could any escape their attack when they
+
+lifted themselves up; vipers and pythons, and the Lachamu, hurricane
+monsters, raging hounds, scorpion men, tempest furies, fish men, and
+mountain rams. These she armed with fierce weapons and they had no
+fear of war.
+
+Then Tiamat, whose commands are unchangeable and mighty, exalted
+Kingu, who had come to her aid, above all the evil gods; she made him
+the leader to direct the army in battle, to go in front, to open the
+attack. Robing Kingu in splendour, she seated him on high and spoke,
+saying:
+
+"I have established thy command over all the gods. Thou shalt rule
+over them. Be mighty, thou my chosen husband, and let thy name be
+exalted over all the spirits of heaven and spirits of earth."
+
+Unto Kingu did Tiamat deliver the tablets of fate; she laid them in
+his bosom, and said, "Thy commands cannot be changed; thy words shall
+remain firm."
+
+Thus was Kingu exalted; he was vested with the divine power of Anu to
+decree the fate of the gods, saying, "Let thy mouth open to thwart the
+fire god; be mighty in battle nor brook resistance."
+
+Then had Ea knowledge of Tiamat's doings, how she had gathered her
+forces together, and how she had prepared to work evil against the
+high gods with purpose to avenge Apsu. The wise god was stricken with
+grief, and he moaned for many days. Thereafter he went and stood
+before his father, Anshar, and spake, saying, "Our mother, Tiamat,
+hath turned against us in her wrath. She hath gathered the gods about
+her, and those thou didst create are with her also."
+
+When Anshar heard all that Ea revealed regarding the preparations made
+by Tiamat, he smote his loins and clenched his teeth, and was ill at
+ease. In sorrow and anger he spoke and said, "Thou didst go forth
+aforetime to battle; thou didst bind Mummu and smite Apsu. Now Kingu
+is exalted, and there is none who can oppose Tiamat."[156]
+
+Anshar called his son, Anu, before him, and spoke, saying: "O mighty
+one without fear, whose attack is irresistible, go now before Tiamat
+and speak so that her anger may subside and her heart be made
+merciful. But if she will not hearken unto thee, speak thou for me, so
+that she may be reconciled."
+
+Anu was obedient to the commands of Anshar. He departed, and descended
+by the path of Tiamat until he beheld her fuming and snarling, but he
+feared to approach her, and turned back.
+
+Then Ea was sent forth, but he was stricken with terror and turned
+back also.[157]
+
+Anshar then called upon Merodach, son of Ea, and addressed him,
+saying, "My son, who softeneth my heart, thou shalt go forth to battle
+and none shall stand against thee."
+
+The heart of Merodach was made glad at these words. He stood before
+Anshar, who kissed him, because that he banished fear. Merodach spake,
+saying: "O lord of the gods, withdraw not thy words; let me go forth
+to do as is thy desire. What man hath challenged thee to battle?"
+
+Anshar made answer and said: "No man hath challenged me. It is Tiamat,
+the woman, who hath resolved to wage war against us. But fear not and
+make merry, for thou shalt bruise the head of Tiamat. O wise god, thou
+shalt overcome her with thy pure incantation. Tarry not but hasten
+forth; she cannot wound thee; thou shalt come back again." The words
+of Anshar delighted the heart of Merodach, who spake, saying: "O lord
+of the gods, O fate of the high gods, if I, the avenger, am to subdue
+Tiamat and save all, then proclaim my greatness among the gods. Let
+all the high gods gather together joyfully in Upshukinaku (the Council
+Hall), so that my words like thine may remain unchanged, and what I do
+may never be altered. Instead of thee I will decree the fates of the
+gods."
+
+Then Anshar called unto his counsellor, Gaga, and addressing him,
+said: "O thou who dost share my desires, thou who dost understand the
+purpose of my heart, go unto Lachmu and Lachamu and summon all the
+high gods to come before me to eat bread and drink wine. Repeat to
+them all I tell you of Tiamat's preparations for war, of my commands
+to Anu and Ea, who turned back, fearing the dragon, of my choice of
+Merodach to be our avenger, and his desire to be equipped with my
+power to decree fate, so that he may be made strong to combat against
+our enemy."
+
+As Anshar commanded so did Gaga do. He went unto Lachmu and Lachamu
+and prostrated himself humbly before them. Then he rose and delivered
+the message of Anshar, their son, adding: "Hasten and speedily decide
+for Merodach your fate. Permit him to depart to meet your powerful
+foe."
+
+When Lachmu and Lachamu heard all that Gaga revealed unto them they
+uttered lamentations, while the Igigi (heavenly spirits) sorrowed
+bitterly, and said: "What change hath happened that Tiamat hath become
+hostile to her own offspring? We cannot understand her deeds."
+
+All the high gods then arose and went unto Anshar, They filled his
+council chamber and kissed one another. Then they sat down to eat
+bread and drink sesame wine. And when they were made drunk and were
+merry and at their ease, they decreed the fate for Merodach.
+
+In the chamber of Anshar they honoured the Avenger. He was exalted as
+a prince over them all, and they said: "Among the high gods thou art
+the highest; thy command is the command of Anu. Henceforth thou wilt
+have power to raise up and to cast down. None of the gods will dispute
+thy authority. O Merodach, our avenger, we give thee sovereignty over
+the entire Universe. Thy weapon will ever be irresistible. Smite down
+the gods who have raised revolt, but spare the lives of those who
+repose their trust in thee."
+
+Then the gods laid down a garment before Merodach, saying: "Open thy
+mouth and speak words of command, so that the garment may be
+destroyed; speak again and it will be brought back."
+
+Merodach spake with his mouth and the garment vanished; he spake again
+and the garment was reproduced.
+
+All the gods rejoiced, and they prostrated themselves and cried out,
+"Merodach is King!"
+
+Thereafter they gave him the sceptre and the throne and the insignia
+of royalty, and also an irresistible weapon[158] with which to
+overcome his enemies, saying: "Now, O Merodach, hasten and slay
+Tiamat. Let the winds carry her blood to hidden places."
+
+So was the fate of Merodach decreed by the gods; so was a path of
+prosperity and peace prepared for him. He made ready for battle; he
+strung his bow and hung his quiver; he slung a dart over his shoulder,
+and he grasped a club in his right hand; before him he set lightning,
+and with flaming fire he filled his body. Anu gave unto him a great
+net with which to snare his enemies and prevent their escape. Then
+Merodach created seven winds--the wind of evil, the uncontrollable
+wind, the sandstorm, and the whirlwind, the fourfold wind, the
+sevenfold wind, and the wind that has no equal--and they went after
+him. Next he seized his mighty weapon, the thunderstone, and leapt
+into his storm chariot, to which were yoked four rushing and
+destructive steeds of rapid flight, with foam-flecked mouths and teeth
+full of venom, trained for battle, to overthrow enemies and trample
+them underfoot. A light burned on the head of Merodach, and he was
+clad in a robe of terror. He drove forth, and the gods, his fathers,
+followed after him: the high gods clustered around and followed him,
+hastening to battle.
+
+Merodach drove on, and at length he drew nigh to the secret lair of
+Tiamat, and he beheld her muttering with Kingu, her consort. For a
+moment he faltered, and when the gods who followed him beheld this,
+their eyes were troubled.
+
+Tiamat snarled nor turned her head. She uttered curses, and said: "O
+Merodach, I fear not thy advance as chief of the gods. My allies are
+assembled here, and are more powerful than thou art."
+
+Merodach uplifted his arm, grasping the dreaded thunderstone, and
+spake unto Tiamat, the rebellious one, saying: "Thou hast exalted
+thyself, and with wrathful heart hath prepared for war against the
+high gods and their fathers, whom thou dost hate in thy heart of evil.
+Unto Kingu thou hast given the power of Anu to decree fate, because
+thou art hostile to what is good and loveth what is sinful. Gather thy
+forces together, and arm thyself and come forth to battle."
+
+When Tiamat heard these mighty words she raved and cried aloud like
+one who is possessed; all her limbs shook, and she muttered a spell.
+The gods seized their weapons.
+
+Tiamat and Merodach advanced to combat against one another. They made
+ready for battle. The lord of the high gods spread out the net which
+Anu had given him. He snared the dragon and she could not escape.
+Tiamat opened her mouth which was seven miles wide, and Merodach
+called upon the evil wind to smite her; he caused the wind to keep her
+mouth agape so that she could not close it. All the tempests and the
+hurricanes entered in, filling her body, and her heart grew weak; she
+gasped, overpowered. Then the lord of the high gods seized his dart
+and cast it through the lower part of her body; it tore her inward
+parts and severed her heart. So was Tiamat slain.
+
+Merodach overturned the body of the dead dragon and stood upon it. All
+the evil gods who had followed her were stricken with terror and broke
+into flight. But they were unable to escape. Merodach caught them in
+his great net, and they stumbled and fell uttering cries of distress,
+and the whole world resounded with their wailing and lamentations. The
+lord of the high gods broke the weapons of the evil gods and put them
+in bondage. Then he fell upon the monsters which Tiamat had created;
+he subdued them, divested them of their powers, and trampled them
+under his feet. Kingu he seized with the others. From this god great
+Merodach took the tablets of fate, and impressing upon them his own
+seal, placed them in his bosom.
+
+So were the enemies of the high gods overthrown by the Avenger.
+Ansar's commands were fulfilled and the desires of Ea fully
+accomplished.
+
+Merodach strengthened the bonds which he had laid upon the evil gods
+and then returned to Tiamat. He leapt upon the dragon's body; he clove
+her skull with his great club; he opened the channels of her blood
+which streamed forth, and caused the north to carry her blood to
+hidden places. The high gods, his fathers, clustered around; they
+raised shouts of triumph and made merry. Then they brought gifts and
+offerings to the great Avenger.
+
+Merodach rested a while, gazing upon the dead body of the dragon. He
+divided the flesh of Ku-pu[159], and devised a cunning plan.
+
+Then the lord of the high gods split the body of the dragon like that
+of a mashde fish into two halves. With one half he enveloped the
+firmament; he fixed it there and set a watchman to prevent the waters
+falling down[160]. With the other half he made the earth[161]. Then he
+made the abode of Ea in the deep, and the abode of Anu in high heaven.
+The abode of Enlil was in the air.
+
+Merodach set all the great gods in their several stations. He also
+created their images, the stars of the Zodiac, and fixed them all. He
+measured the year and divided it into months; for twelve months he
+made three stars each. After he had given starry images of the gods
+separate control of each day of the year, he founded the station of
+Nibiru (Jupiter), his own star, to determine the limits of all stars,
+so that none might err or go astray. He placed beside his own the
+stations of Enlil and Ea, and on each side he opened mighty gates,
+fixing bolts on the left and on the right. He set the zenith in the
+centre.
+
+Merodach decreed that the moon god should rule the night and measure
+the days, and each month he was given a crown. Its various phases the
+great lord determined, and he commanded that on the evening of its
+fullest brilliancy it should stand opposite the sun.[162]
+
+He placed his bow in heaven (as a constellation) and his net also.
+
+We have now reached the sixth tablet, which begins with a reference to
+words spoken to Merodach by the gods. Apparently Ea had conceived in
+his heart that mankind should be created. The lord of the gods read
+his thoughts and said: "I will shed my blood and fashion bone... I
+will create man to dwell on the earth so that the gods may be
+worshipped and shrines erected for them. I will change the pathways of
+the gods...."
+
+The rest of the text is fragmentary, and many lines are missing.
+Berosus states, however, that Belus (Bel Merodach) severed his head
+from his shoulders. His blood flowed forth, and the gods mixed it with
+earth and formed the first man and various animals.
+
+In another version of the creation of man, it is related that Merodach
+"laid a reed upon the face of the waters; he formed dust, and poured
+it out beside the reed.... That he might cause the gods to dwell in
+the habitation of their heart's desire, he formed mankind." The
+goddess Aruru, a deity of Sippar, and one of the forms of "the lady of
+the gods ", is associated with Merodach as the creatrix of the seed of
+mankind. "The beasts of the field and living creatures in the field he
+formed." He also created the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, grass,
+reeds, herbs and trees, lands, marshes and swamps, cows, goats,
+&c.[163]
+
+In the seventh tablet Merodach is praised by the gods--the Igigi
+(spirits of heaven). As he has absorbed all their attributes, he is
+addressed by his fifty-one names; henceforth each deity is a form of
+Merodach. Bel Enlil, for instance, is Merodach of lordship and
+domination; Sin, the moon god, is Merodach as ruler of night; Shamash
+is Merodach as god of law and holiness; Nergal is Merodach of war; and
+so on. The tendency to monotheism appears to have been most marked
+among the priestly theorists of Babylon.
+
+Merodach is hailed to begin with as Asari, the introducer of
+agriculture and horticulture, the creator of grain and plants. He also
+directs the decrees of Anu, Bel, and Ea; but having rescued the gods
+from destruction at the hands of Kingu and Tiamat, he was greater than
+his "fathers", the elder gods. He set the Universe in order, and
+created all things anew. He is therefore Tutu, "the creator", a
+merciful and beneficent god. The following are renderings of lines 25
+to 32:
+
+    Tutu: Aga-azaga (the glorious crown) may he make the crowns
+        glorious--
+    The lord of the glorious incantation bringing the dead to life;
+    He who had mercy on the gods who had been overpowered;
+    Made heavy the yoke which he had laid on the gods who were his
+        enemies,
+    (And) to redeem (?) them created mankind.
+    "The merciful one", "he with whom is salvation",
+    May his word be established, and not forgotten,
+    In the mouth of the black-headed ones whom his hands have made.
+
+            _Pinches' Translation_[164]
+
+
+    Tutu as Aga-azag may mankind fourthly magnify!
+    "The Lord of the Pure Incantation", "the Quickener of the Dead ",
+    "Who had mercy upon the captive gods",
+    "Who removed the yoke from upon the gods his enemies".
+    "For their forgiveness did he create mankind",
+    "The Merciful One, with whom it is to bestow life!"
+    May his deeds endure, may they never be forgotten
+    In the mouth of mankind whom his hands have made.
+
+            _King's Translation._[165]
+
+Apparently the Babylonian doctrine set forth that mankind was created
+not only to worship the gods, but also to bring about the redemption
+of the fallen gods who followed Tiamat.
+
+    Those rebel angels (_ili_ gods) He prohibited return;
+    He stopped their service; He removed them unto the gods (_ili_) who
+        were His enemies.
+    In their room he created mankind.[166]
+
+Tiamat, the chaos dragon, is the Great Mother. She has a dual
+character. As the origin of good she is the creatrix of the gods. Her
+beneficent form survived as the Sumerian goddess Bau, who was
+obviously identical with the Phoenician Baau, mother of the first man.
+Another name of Bau was Ma, and Nintu, "a form of the goddess Ma", was
+half a woman and half a serpent, and was depicted with "a babe
+suckling her breast" (Chapter IV). The Egyptian goddesses Neheb-kau
+and Uazit were serpents, and the goddesses Isis and Nepthys had also
+serpent forms. The serpent was a symbol of fertility, and as a mother
+was a protector. Vishnu, the Preserver of the Hindu Trinity, sleeps on
+the world-serpent's body. Serpent charms are protective and fertility
+charms.
+
+As the origin of evil Tiamat personified the deep and tempests. In
+this character she was the enemy of order and good, and strove to
+destroy the world.
+
+      I have seen
+    The ambitious ocean swell and rage and foam
+    To be exalted with the threatening clouds.[167]
+
+Tiamat was the dragon of the sea, and therefore the serpent or
+leviathan. The word "dragon" is derived from the Greek "drakon", the
+serpent known as "the seeing one" or "looking one", whose glance was
+the lightning. The Anglo-Saxon "fire drake" ("draca", Latin "draco")
+is identical with the "flying dragon".
+
+In various countries the serpent or worm is a destroyer which swallows
+the dead. "The worm shall eat them like wool", exclaimed Isaiah in
+symbolic language.[168] It lies in the ocean which surrounds the world
+in Egyptian, Babylonian, Greek, Teutonic, Indian, and other
+mythologies. The Irish call it "mor�ach", and give it a mermaid form
+like the Babylonian Nintu. In a Scottish Gaelic poem Tiamat figures as
+"The Yellow Muilearteach", who is slain by Finn-mac-Coul, assisted by
+his warrior band.
+
+    There was seen coming on the top of the waves
+    The crooked, clamouring, shivering brave ...
+    Her face was blue black of the lustre of coal,
+    And her bone-tufted tooth was like rusted bone.[169]
+
+The serpent figures in folk tales. When Alexander the Great, according
+to Ethiopic legend, was lowered in a glass cage to the depths of the
+ocean, he saw a great monster going past, and sat for two days
+"watching for its tail and hinder parts to appear".[170] An
+Argyllshire Highlander had a similar experience. He went to fish one
+morning on a rock. "He was not long there when he saw the head of an
+eel pass. He continued fishing for an hour and the eel was still
+passing. He went home, worked in the field all day, and having
+returned to the same rock in the evening, the eel was still passing,
+and about dusk he saw her tail disappearing."[171] Tiamat's sea-brood
+is referred to in the Anglo-Saxon epic _Beowulf_ as "nickers". The
+hero "slew by night sea monsters on the waves" (line 422).
+
+The well dragon--the French "draco"--also recalls the Babylonian water
+monsters. There was a "dragon well" near Jerusalem.[172] From China to
+Ireland rivers are dragons, or goddesses who flee from the well
+dragons. The demon of the Rhone is called the "drac". Floods are also
+referred to as dragons, and the Hydra, or water serpent, slain by
+Hercules, belongs to this category. Water was the source of evil as
+well as good. To the Sumerians, the ocean especially was the abode of
+monsters. They looked upon it as did Shakespeare's Ferdinand, when,
+leaping into the sea, he cried: "Hell is empty and all the devils are
+here".[173]
+
+There can be little doubt but that in this Babylonian story of
+Creation we have a glorified variation of the widespread Dragon myth.
+Unfortunately, however, no trace can be obtained of the pre-existing
+Sumerian oral version which the theorizing priests infused with such
+sublime symbolism. No doubt it enjoyed as great popularity as the
+immemorial legend of Perseus and Andromeda, which the sages of Greece
+attempted to rationalize, and parts of which the poets made use of and
+developed as these appealed to their imaginations.
+
+The lost Sumerian story may be summarized as follows: There existed in
+the savage wilds, or the ocean, a family of monsters antagonistic to a
+group of warriors represented in the Creation legend by the gods. Ea,
+the heroic king, sets forth to combat with the enemies of man, and
+slays the monster father, Apsu, and his son, Mummu. But the most
+powerful demon remains to be dealt with. This is the mother Tiamat,
+who burns to avenge the deaths of her kindred. To wage war against her
+the hero makes elaborate preparations, and equips himself with special
+weapons. The queen of monsters cannot be overcome by ordinary means,
+for she has great cunning, and is less vulnerable than were her
+husband and son. Although Ea may work spells against her, she is able
+to thwart him by working counter spells. Only a hand-to-hand combat
+can decide the fray. Being strongly protected by her scaly hide, she
+must be wounded either on the under part of her body or through her
+mouth by a weapon which will pierce her liver, the seat of life. It
+will be noted in this connection that Merodach achieved success by
+causing the winds which followed him to distend the monster's jaws, so
+that he might be able to inflict the fatal blow and prevent her at the
+same time from uttering spells to weaken him.
+
+This type of story, in which the mother monster is greater and more
+powerful than her husband or son, is exceedingly common in Scottish
+folklore. In the legend which relates the adventures of "Finn in the
+Kingdom of Big Men", the hero goes forth at night to protect his
+allies against the attacks of devastating sea monsters. Standing on
+the beach, "he saw the sea advancing in fiery kilns and as a darting
+serpent.... A huge monster came up, and looking down below where he
+(Finn) was, exclaimed, 'What little speck do I see here?'" Finn, aided
+by his fairy dog, slew the water monster. On Finn, aided by his fairy
+dog, slew the water monster. On the following night a bigger monster,
+"the father", came ashore, and he also was slain. But the most
+powerful enemy had yet to be dealt with. "The next night a Big Hag
+came ashore, and the tooth in the front of her mouth would make a
+distaff. 'You killed my husband and son,' she said." Finn acknowledged
+that he did, and they began to fight. After a prolonged struggle, in
+which Finn was almost overcome, the Hag fell and her head was cut
+off.[174]
+
+The story of "Finlay the Changeling" has similar features. The hero
+slew first a giant and then the giant's father. Thereafter the Hag
+came against him and exclaimed, "Although with cunning and
+deceitfulness you killed my husband last night and my son on the night
+before last, I shall certainly kill you to-night." A fierce wrestling
+match ensued on the bare rock. The Hag was ultimately thrown down. She
+then offered various treasures to ransom her life, including "a gold
+sword in my cave", regarding which she says, "never was it drawn to
+man or to beast whom it did not overcome".[175] In other Scottish
+stories of like character the hero climbs a tree, and says something
+to induce the hag to open her mouth, so that he may plunge his weapon
+down her throat.
+
+The Grendel story in _Beowulf_,[176] the Anglo-Saxon epic, is of like
+character. A male water monster preys nightly upon the warriors who
+sleep in the great hall of King Hrothgar. Beowulf comes over the sea,
+as did Finn to the "Kingdom of Big Men", to sky Grendel. He wrestles
+with this man-eater and mortally wounds him. Great rejoicings ensue,
+but they have to be brought to an abrupt conclusion, because the
+mother of Grendel has meanwhile resolved "to go a sorry journey and
+avenge the death of her son".
+
+The narrative sets forth that she enters the Hall in the darkness of
+night. "Quickly she grasped one of the nobles tight, and then she went
+towards the fen", towards her submarine cave. Beowulf follows in due
+course, and, fully armoured, dives through the waters and ultimately
+enters the monster's lair. In the combat the "water wife" proves to be
+a more terrible opponent than was her son. Indeed, Beowulf was unable
+to slay her until he possessed himself of a gigantic sword, "adorned
+with treasure", which was hanging in the cave. With this magic weapon
+he slays the mother monster, whose poisonous blood afterwards melts
+the "damasked blade". Like Finn, he subsequently returns with the head
+of one of the monsters.
+
+An interesting point about this story is that it does not appear in
+any form in the North German cycle of Romance. Indeed, the poet who
+included in his epic the fiery dragon story, which links the hero
+Beowulf with Sigurd and Siegfried, appears to be doubtful about the
+mother monster's greatness, as if dealing with unfamiliar material,
+for he says: "The terror (caused by Grendel's mother) was less by just
+so much as woman's strength, woman's war terror, is (measured) by
+fighting men".[177] Yet, in the narrative which follows the Amazon is
+proved to be the stronger monster of the two. Traces of the mother
+monster survive in English folklore, especially in the traditions
+about the mythical "Long Meg of Westminster", referred to by Ben
+Jonson in his masque of the "Fortunate Isles":
+
+    Westminster Meg,
+    With her long leg,
+    As long as a crane;
+    And feet like a plane,
+    With a pair of heels
+    As broad as two wheels.
+
+Meg has various graves. One is supposed to be marked by a huge stone
+in the south side of the cloisters of Westminster Abbey; it probably
+marks the trench in which some plague victims--regarded, perhaps, as
+victims of Meg--were interred. Meg was also reputed to have been
+petrified, like certain Greek and Irish giants and giantesses. At
+Little Salkeld, near Penrith, a stone circle is referred to as "Long
+Meg and her Daughters". Like "Long Tom", the famous giant, "Mons Meg"
+gave her name to big guns in early times, all hags and giants having
+been famous in floating folk tales as throwers of granite boulders,
+balls of hard clay, quoits, and other gigantic missiles.
+
+The stories about Grendel's mother and Long Meg are similar to those
+still repeated in the Scottish Highlands. These contrast sharply with
+characteristic Germanic legends, in which the giant is greater than
+the giantess, and the dragon is a male, like Fafner, who is slain by
+Sigurd, and Regin whom Siegfried overcomes. It is probable, therefore,
+that the British stories of female monsters who were more powerful
+than their husbands and sons, are of Neolithic and Iberian
+origin--immemorial relics of the intellectual life of the western
+branch of the Mediterranean race.
+
+In Egypt the dragon survives in the highly developed mythology of the
+sun cult of Heliopolis, and, as sun worship is believed to have been
+imported, and the sun deity is a male, it is not surprising to find
+that the night demon, Apep, was a personification of Set. This god,
+who is identical with Sutekh, a Syrian and Asia Minor deity, was
+apparently worshipped by a tribe which was overcome in the course of
+early tribal struggles in pre-dynastic times. Being an old and
+discredited god, he became by a familiar process the demon of the
+conquerors. In the eighteenth dynasty, however, his ancient glory was
+revived, for the Sutekh of Rameses II figures as the "dragon
+slayer".[178] It is in accordance with Mediterranean modes of thought,
+however, to find that in Egypt there is a great celestial battle
+heroine. This is the goddess Hathor-Sekhet, the "Eye of Ra".[179]
+Similarly in India, the post-Vedic goddess Kali is a destroyer, while
+as Durga she is a guardian of heroes.[180] Kali, Durga, and
+Hathor-Sekhet link with the classical goddesses of war, and also with
+the Babylonian Ishtar, who, as has been shown, retained the
+outstanding characteristics of Tiamat, the fierce old "Great Mother"
+of primitive Sumerian folk religion.
+
+It is possible that in the Babylonian dragon myth the original hero
+was Ea. As much may be inferred from the symbolic references in the
+Bible to Jah's victory over the monster of the deep: "Art thou not it
+that hath cut Rahab and wounded the dragon?"[181] "Thou brakest the
+heads of the dragons in the waters; thou brakest the heads of
+leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people
+inhabiting the wilderness";[182] "He divideth the sea with his power,
+and by his understanding he smiteth through the proud (Rahab). By his
+spirit he hath garnished the heavens: his hand hath formed (or
+pierced) the crooked serpent";[183] "Thou hast broken Rahab in pieces
+as one that is slain: thou hast scattered thine enemies with thy
+strong arm";[184] "In that day the Lord with his sore and great and
+strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing (or stiff) serpent,
+even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that
+is in the sea".[185]
+
+In the Babylonian Creation legend Ea is supplanted as dragon slayer by
+his son Merodach. Similarly Ninip took the place of his father, Enlil,
+as the champion of the gods. "In other words," writes Dr. Langdon,
+"later theology evolved the notion of the son of the earth god, who
+acquires the attributes of the father, and becomes the god of war. It
+is he who stood forth against the rebellious monsters of darkness, who
+would wrest the dominion of the world from the gods who held their
+conclave on the mountain. The gods offer him the Tablets of Fate; the
+right to utter decrees is given unto him." This development is "of
+extreme importance for studying the growth of the idea of father and
+son, as creative and active principles of the world".[186] In Indian
+mythology Indra similarly takes the place of his bolt-throwing father
+Dyaus, the sky god, who so closely resembles Zeus. Andrew Lang has
+shown that this myth is of widespread character.[187] Were the
+Babylonian theorists guided by the folk-lore clue?
+
+Now Merodach, as the son of Ea whom he consulted and received spells
+from, was a brother of "Tammuz of the Abyss". It seems that in the
+great god of Babylon we should recognize one of the many forms of the
+primeval corn spirit and patriarch--the shepherd youth who was beloved
+by Ishtar. As the deity of the spring sun, Tammuz slew the winter
+demons of rain and tempest, so that he was an appropriate spouse for
+the goddess of harvest and war. Merodach may have been a development
+of Tammuz in his character as a demon slayer. When he was raised to
+the position of Bel, "the Lord" by the Babylonian conquerors, Merodach
+supplanted the older Bel--Enlil of Nippur. Now Enlil, who had absorbed
+all the attributes of rival deities, and become a world god, was the
+
+    Lord of the harvest lands ... lord of the grain fields,
+
+being "lord of the anunnaki", or "earth spirits". As agriculturists in
+early times went to war so as to secure prisoners who could be
+sacrificed to feed the corn spirit, Enlil was a god of war and was
+adored as such:
+
+    The haughty, the hostile land thou dost humiliate ...
+    With thee who ventureth to make war?
+
+He was also "the bull of goring horns ... Enlil the bull", the god of
+fertility as well as of battle.[188]
+
+Asari, one of Merodach's names, links him with Osiris, the Egyptian
+Tammuz, who was supplanted by his son Horus. As the dragon slayer, he
+recalls, among others, Perseus, the Grecian hero, of whom it was
+prophesied that he would slay his grandfather. Perseus, like Tammuz
+and Osiris, was enclosed in a chest which was cast into the sea, to be
+rescued, however, by a fisherman on the island of Seriphos. This hero
+afterwards slew Medusa, one of the three terrible sisters, the
+Gorgons--a demon group which links with Tiamat. In time, Perseus
+returned home, and while an athletic contest was in progress, he
+killed his grandfather with a quoit. There is no evidence, however, to
+show that the displacement of Enlil by Merodach had any legendary
+sanction of like character. The god of Babylon absorbed all other
+deities, apparently for political purposes, and in accordance with the
+tendency of the thought of the times, when raised to supreme rank in
+the national pantheon; and he was depicted fighting the winged dragon,
+flapping his own storm wings, and carrying the thunder weapon
+associated with Ramman.
+
+Merodach's spouse Zer-panitu^m was significantly called "the lady of
+the Abyss", a title which connects her with Damkina, the mother, and
+Belit-sheri, the sister of Tammuz. Damkina was also a sky goddess like
+Ishtar.
+
+Zer-panitu^m was no pale reflection of her Celestial husband, but a
+goddess of sharply defined character with independent powers.
+Apparently she was identical with Aruru, creatrix of the seed of
+mankind, who was associated with Merodach when the first man and the
+first woman were brought into being. Originally she was one of the
+mothers in the primitive spirit group, and so identical with Ishtar
+and the other prominent goddesses.
+
+As all goddesses became forms of Ishtar, so did all gods become forms
+of Merodach. Sin was "Merodach as illuminator of night", Nergal was
+"Merodach of war", Addu (Ramman) was "Merodach of rain", and so on. A
+colophon which contains a text in which these identifications are
+detailed, appears to be "a copy", says Professor Pinches, "of an old
+inscription", which, he thinks, "may go back as far as 2000 B.C. This
+is the period at which the name _Yau^m-ilu_, 'Jah is god', is found,
+together with references to _ilu_ as the name for the one great god,
+and is also, roughly, the date of Abraham, who, it may be noted, was a
+Babylonian of Ur of the Chaldees."[189]
+
+In one of the hymns Merodach is addressed as follows:--
+
+    Who shall escape from before thy power?
+    Thy will is an eternal mystery!
+    Thou makest it plain in heaven
+    And in the earth,
+    Command the sea
+    And the sea obeyeth thee.
+    Command the tempest
+    And the tempest becometh a calm.
+    Command the winding course
+    Of the Euphrates,
+    And the will of Merodach
+    Shall arrest the floods.
+    Lord, thou art holy!
+    Who is like unto thee?
+    Merodach thou art honoured
+    Among the gods that bear a name.
+
+The monotheistic tendency, which was a marked feature of Merodach
+worship, had previously become pronounced in the worship of Bel Enlil
+of Nippur. Although it did not affect the religion of the masses, it
+serves to show that among the ancient scholars and thinkers of
+Babylonia religious thought had, at an early period, risen far above
+the crude polytheism of those who bargained with their deities and
+propitiated them with offerings and extravagant flattery, or exercised
+over them a magical influence by the performance of seasonal
+ceremonies, like the backsliders in Jerusalem, censured so severely by
+Jeremiah, who baked cakes to reward the Queen of Heaven for an
+abundant harvest, and wept with her for the slain Tammuz when he
+departed to Hades.
+
+Perhaps it was due to the monotheistic tendency, if not to the fusion
+of father-worshipping and mother-worshipping peoples, that bi-sexual
+deities were conceived of. Nannar, the moon god, was sometimes
+addressed as father and mother in one, and Ishtar as a god as well as
+a goddess. In Egypt Isis is referred to in a temple chant as "the
+woman who was made a male by her father Osiris", and the Nile god Hapi
+was depicted as a man with female breasts.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+DEIFIED HEROES: ETANA AND GILGAMESH
+
+
+  God and Heroes and the "Seven Sleepers"--Quests of Etana, Gilgamesh,
+  Hercules, &c.--The Plant of Birth--Eagle carries Etana to
+  Heaven--Indian Parallel--Flights of Nimrod, Alexander the Great, and
+  a Gaelic Hero--Eagle as a God--Indian Eagle identified with Gods of
+  Creation, Fire, Fertility, and Death--Eagle carries Roman Emperor's
+  Soul to Heaven--Fire and Agricultural Ceremonies--Nimrod of the
+  _Koran_ and John Barleycorn--Gilgamesh and the Eagle--Sargon-Tammuz
+  Garden Myth--Ea-bani compared to Pan, Bast, and
+  Nebuchadnezzar--Exploits of Gilgamesh and Ea-bani--Ishtar's
+  Vengeance--Gilgamesh journeys to Otherworld--Song of Sea Maiden and
+  "Lay of the Harper"--Babylonian Noah and the Plant of Life--Teutonic
+  Parallels--Alexander the Great as Gilgamesh--Water of Life in the
+  _Koran_--The Indian Gilgamesh and Hercules--The Mountain Tunnel in
+  various Mythologies--Widespread Cultural Influences.
+
+
+One of the oldest forms of folk stories relates to the wanderings of
+a hero in distant regions. He may set forth in search of a fair lady
+who has been taken captive, or to obtain a magic herb or stone to
+relieve a sufferer, to cure diseases, and to prolong life. Invariably
+he is a slayer of dragons and other monsters. A friendly spirit, or a
+group of spirits, may assist the hero, who acts according to the
+advice given him by a "wise woman", a magician, or a god. The spirits
+are usually wild beasts or birds--the "fates" of immemorial folk
+belief--and they may either carry the hero on their backs, instruct
+him from time to time, or come to his aid when called upon.
+
+When a great national hero appealed by reason of his achievements to
+the imagination of a people, all the floating legends of antiquity
+were attached to his memory, and he became identified with gods and
+giants and knight-errants "old in story". In Scotland, for instance,
+the boulder-throwing giant of Eildon hills bears the name of Wallace,
+the Edinburgh giant of Arthur's Seat is called after an ancient Celtic
+king,[190] and Thomas the Rhymer takes the place, in an Inverness
+fairy mound called Tom-na-hurich, of Finn (Fingal) as chief of the
+"Seven Sleepers". Similarly Napoleon sleeps in France and Skobeleff in
+Russia, as do also other heroes elsewhere. In Germany the myths of
+Thunor (Thor) were mingled with hazy traditions of Theodoric the Goth
+(Dietrich), while in Greece, Egypt, and Arabia, Alexander the Great
+absorbed a mass of legendary matter of great antiquity, and displaced
+in the memories of the people the heroes of other Ages, as those
+heroes had previously displaced the humanized spirits of fertility and
+growth who alternately battled fiercely against the demons of spring,
+made love, gorged and drank deep and went to sleep--the sleep of
+winter. Certain folk tales, and the folk beliefs on which they were
+based, seem to have been of hoary antiquity before the close of the
+Late Stone Age.
+
+There are two great heroes of Babylonian fame who link with Perseus
+and Hercules, Sigurd and Siegfried, Dietrich and Finn-mac-Coul. These
+are Etana and Gilgamesh, two legendary kings who resemble Tammuz the
+Patriarch referred to by Berosus, a form of Tammuz the Sleeper of the
+Sumerian psalms. One journeys to the Nether World to obtain the Plant
+of Birth and the other to obtain the Plant of Life. The floating
+legends with which they were associated were utilized and developed by
+the priests, when engaged in the process of systematizing and
+symbolizing religious beliefs, with purpose to unfold the secrets of
+creation and the Otherworld. Etana secures the assistance or a giant
+eagle who is an enemy of serpents like the Indian Garuda, half giant,
+half eagle. As Vishnu, the Indian god, rides on the back of Garuda, so
+does Etana ride on the back of the Babylonian Eagle. In one
+fragmentary legend which was preserved in the tablet-library of
+Ashur-banipal, the Assyrian monarch, Etana obtained the assistance of
+the Eagle to go in quest of the Plant of Birth. His wife was about to
+become a mother, and was accordingly in need of magical aid. A similar
+belief caused birth girdles of straw or serpent skins, and eagle
+stones found in eagles' nests, to be used in ancient Britain and
+elsewhere throughout Europe apparently from the earliest times.[191]
+
+On this or another occasion Etana desired to ascend to highest heaven.
+He asked the Eagle to assist him, and the bird assented, saying: "Be
+glad, my friend. Let me bear thee to the highest heaven. Lay thy
+breast on mine and thine arms on my wings, and let my body be as thy
+body." Etana did as the great bird requested him, and together they
+ascended towards the firmament. After a flight which extended over two
+hours, the Eagle asked Etana to gaze downwards. He did so, and beheld
+the ocean surrounding the earth, and the earth seemed like a
+mountainous island. The Eagle resumed its flight, and when another two
+hours had elapsed, it again asked Etana to look downwards. Then the
+hero saw that the sea resembled a girdle which clasped the land. Two
+hours later Etana found that he had been raised to a height from which
+the sea appeared to be no larger than a pond. By this time he had
+reached the heaven of Anu, Bel, and Ea, and found there rest and
+shelter.
+
+Here the text becomes fragmentary. Further on it is gathered from the
+narrative that Etana is being carried still higher by the Eagle
+towards the heaven of Ishtar, "Queen of Heaven", the supreme mother
+goddess. Three times, at intervals of two hours, the Eagle asks Etana
+to look downwards towards the shrinking earth. Then some disaster
+happens, for further onwards the broken tablet narrates that the Eagle
+is falling. Down and down eagle and man fall together until they
+strike the earth, and the Eagle's body is shattered.
+
+The Indian Garuda eagle[192] never met with such a fate, but on one
+occasion Vishnu overpowered it with his right arm, which was heavier
+than the whole universe, and caused many feathers to fall _off_. In
+the story of Rama's wanderings, however, as told in the _Ramayana_ and
+the _Mahabharata_, there are interesting references in this connection
+to Garuda's two "sons". One was mortally wounded by Ravana, the demon
+king of Ceylon. The other bird related to Rama, who found it disabled:
+"Once upon a time we two (brothers), with the desire of outstripping
+each other, flew towards the sun. My wings were burnt, but those of my
+brother were not.... I fell down on the top of this great mountain,
+where I still am."[193]
+
+Another version of the Etana story survives among the Arabian Moslems.
+In the "Al Fatihat" chapter of the _Koran_ it is related that a
+Babylonian king held a dispute with Abraham "concerning his Lord".
+Commentators identify the monarch with Nimrod, who afterwards caused
+the Hebrew patriarch to be cast into a fire from which he had
+miraculous deliverance. Nimrod then built a tower so as to ascend to
+heaven "to see Abraham's god", and make war against Him, but the tower
+was overthrown. He, however, persisted in his design. The narrative
+states that he was "carried to heaven in a chest borne by four
+monstrous birds; but after wandering for some time through the air, he
+fell down on a mountain with such a force that he made it shake". A
+reference in the _Koran_ to "contrivances ... which make mountains
+tremble" is believed to allude to Nimrod's vain attempt.[194]
+
+Alexander the Great was also reputed to have ascended on the back of
+an eagle. Among the myths attached to his memory in the Ethiopic
+"history" is one which explains how "he knew and comprehended the
+length and breadth of the earth", and how he obtained knowledge
+regarding the seas and mountains he would have to cross. "He made
+himself small and flew through the air on an eagle, and he arrived in
+the heights of the heavens and he explored them." Another Alexandrian
+version of the Etana myth resembles the Arabic legend of Nimrod. "In
+the Country of Darkness" Alexander fed and tamed great birds which
+were larger than eagles. Then he ordered four of his soldiers to mount
+them. The men were carried to the "Country of the Living", and when
+they returned they told Alexander "all that had happened and all that
+they had seen".[195]
+
+In a Gaelic story a hero is carried off by a Cromhineach, "a vast bird
+like an eagle". He tells that it "sprang to the clouds with me, and I
+was a while that I did not know which was heaven or earth for me". The
+hero died, but, curiously enough, remained conscious of what was
+happening. Apparently exhausted, the eagle flew to an island in the
+midst of the ocean. It laid the hero on the sunny side. The hero
+proceeds: "Sleep came upon herself (the eagle) and she slept. The sun
+was enlivening me pretty well though I was dead." Afterwards the eagle
+bathed in a healing well, and as it splashed in the water, drops fell
+on the hero and he came to life. "I grew stronger and more active", he
+adds, "than I had ever been before."[196]
+
+The eagle figures in various mythologies, and appears to have been at
+one time worshipped as the god or goddess of fertility, and storm and
+lightning, as the bringer of children, and the deity who carried souls
+to Hades. It was also the symbol of royalty, because the earthly ruler
+represented the controlling deity. Nin-Girsu, the god of Lagash, who
+was identified with Tammuz, was depicted as a lion-headed eagle. Zeus,
+the Greek sky and air god, was attended by an eagle, and may, at one
+time, have been simply an eagle. In Egypt the place of the eagle is
+taken by Nekhebit, the vulture goddess whom the Greeks identified with
+"Eileithyia, the goddess of birth; she was usually represented as a
+vulture hovering over the king".[197]
+
+The double-headed eagle of the Hittites, which figures in the royal
+arms of Germany and Russia, appears to have symbolized the deity of
+whom the king was an incarnation or son. In Indian mythology Garuda,
+the eagle giant, which destroyed serpents like the Babylonian Etana
+eagle, issued from its egg like a flame of fire; its eyes flashed the
+lightning and its voice was the thunder. This bird is identified in a
+hymn with Agni, god of fire, who has the attributes of Tammuz and
+Mithra, with Brahma, the creator, with Indra, god of thunder and
+fertility, and with Yama, god of the dead, who carries off souls to
+Hades. It is also called "the steed-necked incarnation of Vishnu", the
+"Preserver" of the Hindu trinity who rode on its back. The hymn
+referred to lauds Garuda as "the bird of life, the presiding spirit of
+the animate and inanimate universe ... destroyer of all, creator of
+all". It burns all "as the sun in his anger burneth all
+creatures".[198]
+
+Birds were not only fates, from whose movements in flight omens were
+drawn, but also spirits of fertility. When the childless Indian sage
+Mandapala of the _Mahabharata_ was refused admittance to heaven until
+a son was born to him, he "pondered deeply" and "came to know that of
+all creatures birds alone were blest with fecundity"; so he became a
+bird.
+
+It is of interest, therefore, to find the Etana eagle figuring as a
+symbol of royalty at Rome. The deified Roman Emperor's waxen image was
+burned on a pyre after his death, and an eagle was let loose from the
+great pile to carry his soul to heaven.[199] This custom was probably
+a relic of seasonal fire worship, which may have been introduced into
+Northern and Western Syria and Asia Minor by the mysterious Mitanni
+rulers, if it was not an archaic Babylonian custom[200] associated
+with fire-and-water magical ceremonies, represented in the British
+Isles by May-Day and Midsummer fire-and-water festivals. Sandan, the
+mythical founder of Tarsus, was honoured each year at that city by
+burning a great bonfire, and he was identified with Hercules. Probably
+he was a form of Moloch and Melkarth.[201] Doves were burned to
+Adonis. The burning of straw figures, representing gods of fertility,
+on May-Day bonfires may have been a fertility rite, and perhaps
+explains the use of straw birth-girdles.
+
+According to the commentators of the _Koran_, Nimrod, the Babylonian
+king, who cast victims in his annual bonfires at Cuthah, died on the
+eighth day of the Tammuz month, which, according to the Syrian
+calendar, fell on 13th July.[202] It is related that gnats entered
+Nimrod's brain, causing the membrane to grow larger. He suffered great
+pain, and to relieve it had his head beaten with a mallet. Although he
+lived for several hundred years, like other agricultural patriarchs,
+including the Tammuz of Berosus, it is possible that he was ultimately
+sacrificed and burned. The beating of Nimrod recalls the beating of
+the corn spirit of the agricultural legend utilized by Burns in his
+ballad of "John Barleycorn", which gives a jocular account of
+widespread ancient customs that are not yet quite extinct even in
+Scotland:[203]
+
+    They laid him down upon his back
+      And cudgelled him full sore;
+    They hung him up before a storm
+      And turned him o'er and o'er.
+
+    They filled up a darksome pit
+      With water to the brim,
+    They heaved in John Barleycorn--
+      There let him sink or swim.
+
+    They wasted o'er a scorching flame
+      The marrow of his bones,
+    But the miller used him worst of all,
+      For he crushed him between two stones.
+
+Hercules, after performing many mythical exploits, had himself burned
+alive on the pyre which he built upon Mount Oeta, and was borne to
+Olympus amidst peals of thunder.
+
+Gilgamesh, the Babylonian Hercules, who links with Etana, Nimrod, and
+Sandan, is associated with the eagle, which in India, as has been
+shown, was identified with the gods of fertility, fire, and death.
+According to a legend related by Aelian,[204] "the guards of the
+citadel of Babylon threw down to the ground a child who had been
+conceived and brought forth in secret, and who afterwards became known
+as Gilgamos". This appears to be another version of the Sargon-Tammuz
+myth, and may also refer to the sacrifice of children to Melkarth and
+Moloch, who were burned or slain "in the valleys under the clefts of
+the rocks"[205] to ensure fertility and feed the corn god. Gilgamesh,
+however, did not perish. "A keen-eyed eagle saw the child falling, and
+before it touched the ground the bird flew under it and received it on
+its back, and carried it away to a garden and laid it down gently."
+Here we have, it would appear, Tammuz among the flowers, and Sargon,
+the gardener, in the "Garden of Adonis". Mimic Adonis gardens were
+cultivated by women. Corn, &c., was forced in pots and baskets, and
+thrown, with an image of the god, into streams. "Ignorant people",
+writes Professor Frazer, "suppose that by mimicking the effect which
+they desire to produce they actually help to produce it: thus by
+sprinkling water they make rain, by lighting a fire they make
+sunshine, and so on."[206] Evidently Gilgamesh was a heroic form of
+the god Tammuz, the slayer of the demons of winter and storm, who
+passed one part of the year in the world and another in Hades (Chapter
+VI).
+
+Like Hercules, Gilgamesh figured chiefly in legendary narrative as a
+mighty hero. He was apparently of great antiquity, so that it is
+impossible to identify him with any forerunner of Sargon of Akkad, or
+Alexander the Great. His exploits were depicted on cylinder seals of
+the Sumerian period, and he is shown wrestling with a lion as Hercules
+wrestled with the monstrous lion in the valley of Nemea. The story of
+his adventures was narrated on twelve clay tablets, which were
+preserved in the library of Ashur-banipal, the Assyrian emperor. In
+the first tablet, which is badly mutilated, Gilgamesh is referred to
+as the man who beheld the world, and had great wisdom because he
+peered into the mysteries. He travelled to distant places, and was
+informed regarding the flood and the primitive race which the gods
+destroyed; he also obtained the plant of life, which his enemy, the
+earth-lion, in the form of a serpent or well demon, afterwards carried
+away.
+
+Gilgamesh was associated with Erech, where he reigned as "the lord".
+There Ishtar had a great temple, but her worldly wealth had decreased.
+The fortifications of the city were crumbling, and for three years the
+Elamites besieged it. The gods had turned to flies and the winged
+bulls had become like mice. Men wailed like wild beasts and maidens
+moaned like doves. Ultimately the people prayed to the goddess Aruru
+to create a liberator. Bel, Shamash, and Ishtar also came to their
+aid.
+
+Aruru heard the cries of her worshippers. She dipped her hands in
+water and then formed a warrior with clay. He was named Ea-bani, which
+signifies "Ea is my creator". It is possible, therefore, that an
+ancient myth of Eridu forms the basis of the narrative.
+
+Ea-bani is depicted on the cylinder seals as a hairy man-monster
+resembling the god Pan. He ate grass with the gazelles and drank water
+with wild beasts, and he is compared to the corn god, which suggests
+that he was an early form of Tammuz, and of character somewhat
+resembling the Egyptian Bast, the half-bestial god of fertility. A
+hunter was sent out from Erech to search for the man-monster, and
+found him beside a stream in a savage place drinking with his
+associates, the wild animals. The description of Ea-bani recalls that
+of Nebuchadnezzar when he was stricken with madness. "He was driven
+from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew
+of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles' feathers, and his
+nails like birds' claws."[207]
+
+The hunter had no desire to combat with Ea-bani, so he had him lured
+from the wilds by a beautiful woman. Love broke the spell which kept
+Ea-bani in his savage state, and the wild beasts fled from him. Then
+the temptress pleaded with him to go with her to Erech, where Anu and
+Ishtar had their temples, and the mighty Gilgamesh lived in his
+palace. Ea-bani, deserted by his bestial companions, felt lonely and
+desired human friendship. So he consented to accompany his bride.
+Having heard of Gilgamesh from the hunter, he proposed to test his
+strength in single combat, but Shamash, god of the sun, warned Ea-bani
+that he was the protector of Gilgamesh, who had been endowed with
+great knowledge by Bel and Anu and Ea. Gilgamesh was also counselled
+in a vision of night to receive Ea-bani as an ally.
+
+Ea-bani was not attracted by city life and desired to return to the
+wilds, but Shamash prevailed upon him to remain as the friend of
+Gilgamesh, promising that he would be greatly honoured and exalted to
+high rank.
+
+The two heroes became close friends, and when the narrative becomes
+clear again, they are found to be setting forth to wage war against
+Chumbaba,[208] the King of Elam. Their journey was long and perilous.
+In time they entered a thick forest, and wondered greatly at the
+numerous and lofty cedars. They saw the great road which the king had
+caused to be made, the high mountain, and the temple of the god.
+Beautiful were the trees about the mountain, and there were many shady
+retreats that were fragrant and alluring.
+
+At this point the narrative breaks off, for the tablet is mutilated.
+When it is resumed a reference is made to "the head of Chumbaba", who
+has apparently been slain by the heroes. Erech was thus freed from the
+oppression of its fierce enemy.
+
+Gilgamesh and Ea-bani appear to have become prosperous and happy. But
+in the hour of triumph a shadow falls. Gilgamesh is robed in royal
+splendour and wears his dazzling crown. He is admired by all men, but
+suddenly it becomes known that the goddess Ishtar has been stricken
+with love for him. She "loved him with that love which was his doom".
+Those who are loved by celestials or demons become, in folk tales,
+melancholy wanderers and "night wailers". The "wretched wight" in
+Keats' "La Belle Dame Sans Merci" is a typical example.
+
+    O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms,
+      Alone and palely loitering?
+    The sedge is withered from the lake
+      And no birds sing.
+
+           *       *       *       *       *
+
+    I met a lady in the meads,
+      Full beautiful--a faery's child;
+    Her hair was long, her foot was light,
+      And her eyes were wild.
+
+           *       *       *       *       *
+
+    She found me roots of relish sweet,
+      And honey wild and manna dew;
+    And sure in language strange she said,
+      "I love thee true".
+
+Having kissed her lover to sleep, the fairy woman vanished. The
+"knight" then saw in a dream the ghosts of knights and warriors, her
+previous victims, who warned him of his fate.
+
+    I saw their starved lips in the gloam,
+      With horrid warning gaped wide;
+    And I awoke and found me here
+      On the cold hill's side.
+
+The goddess Ishtar appeared as "La Belle Dame Sans Merci" before
+Gilgamesh and addressed him tenderly, saying: "Come, O Gilgamesh, and
+be my consort. Gift thy strength unto me. Be thou my husband and I
+will be thy bride. Thou shalt have a chariot of gold and lapis lazuli
+with golden wheels and gem-adorned. Thy steeds shall be fair and white
+and powerful. Into my dwelling thou shalt come amidst the fragrant
+cedars. Every king and every prince will bow down before thee, O
+Gilgamesh, to kiss thy feet, and all people will become subject unto
+thee."
+
+Gilgamesh feared the fate which would attend him as the lover of
+Ishtar, and made answer saying: "To what husband hast thou ever
+remained faithful? Each year Tammuz, the lover of thy youth, is caused
+by thee to weep. Thou didst love the Allala bird and then broke his
+wings, and he moans in the woods crying, 'O my wings!' Thou didst love
+the lion and then snared him. Thou didst love the horse, and then laid
+harness on him and made him gallop half a hundred miles so that he
+suffered great distress, and thou didst oppress his mother Silili.
+Thou didst love a shepherd who sacrificed kids unto thee, and then
+thou didst smite him so that he became a jackal (or leopard); his own
+herd boy drove him away and his dogs rent him in pieces. Thou didst
+love Ishullanu, the gardener of Anu, who made offerings unto thee, and
+then smote him so that he was unable to move. Alas! if thou wouldst
+love me, my fate would be like unto the fates of those on whom thou
+hast laid affliction."
+
+Ishtar's heart was filled with wrath when she heard the words which
+Gilgamesh had spoken, and she prevailed upon her father Anu to create
+a fierce bull which she sent against the lord of Erech.
+
+This monster, however, was slain by Gilgamesh[209] and Ea-bani, but
+their triumph was shortlived. Ishtar cursed Gilgamesh. Ea-bani then
+defied her and threatened to deal with her as he had dealt with the
+bull, with the result that he was cursed by the goddess also.
+
+Gilgamesh dedicated the horns of the bull to Shamash and returned with
+his friend to Erech, where they were received with great rejoicings. A
+festival was held, and afterwards the heroes lay down to sleep. Then
+Ea-bani dreamt a dream of ill omen. He met his death soon afterwards,
+apparently in a battle, and Gilgamesh lamented over him. From the
+surviving fragments of the narrative it would appear that Gilgamesh
+resolved to undertake a journey, for he had been stricken by disease.
+He wept and cried out, "Oh! let me not die like Ea-bani, for death is
+fearful. I will seek the aid of mine ancestor, Pir-napishtim"--the
+Babylonian Noah, who was believed to be dwelling on an island which
+corresponds to the Greek "Island of the Blessed". The Babylonian
+island lay in the ocean of the Nether World.
+
+It seems that Gilgamesh not only hoped to obtain the Water of Life and
+the Plant of Life to cure his own disease, but also to restore to life
+his dead friend, Ea-bani, whom he loved.
+
+Gilgamesh set out on his journey and in time reached a mountain chasm.
+Gazing on the rugged heights, he beheld fierce lions and his heart
+trembled. Then he cried upon the moon god, who took pity upon him, and
+under divine protection the hero pressed onward. He crossed the rocky
+range and then found himself confronted by the tremendous mountain of
+Mashi--"Sunset hill", which divided the land of the living from the
+western land of the dead. The mountain peak rose to heaven, and its
+foundations were in Aralu, the Underworld.[210] A dark tunnel pierced
+it and could be entered through a door, but the door was shut and on
+either side were two monsters of horrible aspect--the gigantic
+"scorpion man" and his wife, whose heads reached to the clouds. When
+Gilgamesh beheld them he swooned with terror. But they did him no
+harm, perceiving that he was a son of a god and had a body like a god.
+
+When Gilgamesh revived, he realized that the monsters regarded him
+with eyes of sympathy. Addressing the scorpion giant, he told that he
+desired to visit his ancestor, Pir-napishtim, who sat in the council
+of the gods and had divine attributes. The giant warned him of the
+dangers which he would encounter, saying that the mountain passage was
+twelve miles long and beamless and black. Gilgamesh, however, resolved
+to encounter any peril, for he was no longer afraid, and he was
+allowed to go forward. So he entered through the monster-guarded
+mountain door and plunged into thick unbroken darkness. For twice
+twelve hours he groped blindly onward, until he saw a ray of light.
+Quickening his steps, he then escaped from the dreadful tunnel and
+once more rejoiced in the rays of the sun. He found himself in an
+enchanted garden, and in the midst of it he saw a divine and beautiful
+tree towards which he hastened. On its gleaming branches hung clusters
+of precious stones and its leaves were of lapis lazuli. His eyes were
+dazzled, but he did not linger there. Passing many other wonderful
+trees, he came to a shoreland, and he knew that he was drawing nigh to
+the Sea of Death. The country which he entered was ruled over by the
+sea lady whose name was Sabitu. When she saw the pilgrim drawing nigh,
+she entered her palace and shut the door.
+
+Gilgamesh called out requesting that he should be allowed to enter,
+and mingled his entreaties with threats to break open the door. In the
+end Sabitu appeared and spoke, saying:
+
+    Gilgamesh, whither hurriest thou?
+    The life that thou seekest thou wilt not find.
+    When the gods created man
+    They fixed death for mankind.
+    Life they took in their own hand.
+    Thou, O Gilgamesh, let thy belly be filled!
+    Day and night be merry,
+    Daily celebrate a feast,
+    Day and night dance and make merry!
+    Clean be thy clothes,
+    Thy head be washed, bathe in water!
+    Look joyfully on the child that grasps thy hand,
+    Be happy with the wife in thine arms![211]
+
+This is the philosophy of the Egyptian "Lay of the Harper". The
+following quotations are from two separate versions:--
+
+    How rests this just prince!
+    The goodly destiny befalls,
+    The bodies pass away
+    Since the time of the god,
+    And generations come into their places.
+
+           *       *       *       *       *
+
+    (Make) it pleasant for thee to follow thy desire
+    While thou livest.
+    Put myrrh upon thy head,
+    And garments on thee of fine linen....
+    Celebrate the glad day,
+    Be not weary therein....
+    Thy sister (wife) who dwells in thy heart.
+    She sits at thy side.
+    Put song and music before thee,
+    Behind thee all evil things,
+    And remember thou (only) joy.[212]
+
+Jastrow contrasts the Babylonian poem with the following quotation
+from Ecclesiastes:--
+
+    Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with
+    a merry heart.... Let thy garments be always white; and
+    let thy head lack no ointment. Live joyfully with the wife whom
+    thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity, which he [God]
+    hath given thee under the sun, all the days of thy vanity: for
+        that
+    is thy portion in this life, and in thy labour which thou takest
+    under the sun.[213]
+
+"The pious Hebrew mind", Jastrow adds, "found the corrective to this
+view of life in the conception of a stern but just God, acting
+according to self-imposed standards of right and wrong, whose rule
+extends beyond the grave." The final words of the Preacher are, "Fear
+God and keep his commandments".[214]
+
+Gilgamesh did not accept the counsel of the fatalistic sea lady. He
+asked her how he could reach Pir-napishtim, his ancestor, saying he
+was prepared to cross the Sea of Death: if he could not cross it he
+would die of grief.
+
+Sabitu answered him, saying: "O Gilgamesh, no mortal is ferried over
+this great sea. Who can pass over it save Shamash alone? The way is
+full of peril. O Gilgamesh, how canst thou battle against the billows
+of death?"
+
+At length, however, the sea lady revealed to the pilgrim that he might
+obtain the aid of the sailor, Arad Ea, who served his ancestor
+Pir-napishtim.
+
+Gilgamesh soon found where Arad Ea dwelt, and after a time prevailed
+upon him to act as ferryman. Arad Ea required a helm for his boat, and
+Gilgamesh hastened to fashion one from a tree. When it was fixed on,
+the boat was launched and the voyage began. Terrible experiences were
+passed through as they crossed the Sea of Death, but at length they
+drew nigh to the "Island of the Blessed" on which dwelt Pir-napishtim
+and his wife. Wearied by his exertions and wasted by disease,
+Gilgamesh sat resting in the boat. He did not go ashore.
+
+Pir-napishtim had perceived the vessel crossing the Sea of Death and
+marvelled greatly.
+
+The story is unfortunately interrupted again, but it appears that
+Gilgamesh poured into the ears of his ancestor the tale of his
+sufferings, adding that he feared death and desired to escape his
+fate.
+
+Pir-napishtim made answer, reminding the pilgrim that all men must
+die. Men built houses, sealed contracts, disputed one with another,
+and sowed seeds in the earth, but as long as they did so and the
+rivers rose in flood, so long would their fate endure. Nor could any
+man tell when his hour would come. The god of destiny measured out the
+span of life: he fixed the day of death, but never revealed his
+secrets.
+
+Gilgamesh then asked Pir-napishtim how it chanced that he was still
+alive. "Thou hast suffered no change," he said, "thou art even as I
+am. Harden not thy heart against me, but reveal how thou hast obtained
+divine life in the company of the gods."
+
+Pir-napishtim thereupon related to his descendant the story of the
+deluge, which is dealt with fully in the next chapter. The gods had
+resolved to destroy the world, and Ea in a dream revealed unto
+Pir-napishtim how he could escape. He built a ship which was tossed
+about on the waters, and when the world had been destroyed, Bel
+discovered him and transported him to that island in the midst of the
+Sea of Death.
+
+Gilgamesh sat in the boat listening to the words of his ancestor. When
+the narrative was ended, Pir-napishtim spoke sympathetically and said:
+"Who among the gods will restore thee to health, O Gilgamesh? Thou
+hast knowledge of my life, and thou shalt be given the life thou dost
+strive after. Take heed, therefore, to what I say unto thee. For six
+days and seven nights thou shalt not lie down, but remain sitting like
+one in the midst of grief."[215]
+
+Gilgamesh sat in the ship, and sleep enveloped him like to a black
+storm cloud.
+
+Pir-napishtim spoke to his wife and said: "Behold the hero who
+desireth to have life. Sleep envelops him like to a black storm
+cloud."
+
+To that lone man his wife made answer: "Lay thine hand upon him so
+that he may have perfect health and be enabled to return to his own
+land. Give him power to pass through the mighty door by which he
+entered."
+
+Then Pir-napishtim addressed his wife, saying: "His sufferings make me
+sad. Prepare thou for him the magic food, and place it near his head."
+
+On the day when Gilgamesh lay down, the food was prepared by seven
+magic processes, and the woman administered it while yet he slept.
+Then Pir-napishtim touched him, and he awoke full of life.
+
+Gilgamesh spake unto Pir-napishtim and said: "I was suddenly overcome
+by sleep.... But thou didst awaken me by touching me, even thou....
+Lo! I am bewitched. What hast thou done unto thy servant?"
+
+Then Pir-napishtim told Gilgamesh that he had been given to eat of the
+magic food. Afterwards he caused Arad Ea to carry Gilgamesh to a
+fountain of healing, where his disease-stricken body was cleansed. The
+blemished skin fell from him, and he was made whole.
+
+Thereafter Gilgamesh prepared to return to his own land. Ere he bade
+farewell, however, Pir-napishtim revealed unto him the secret of a
+magic plant which had power to renew life and give youth and strength
+unto those who were old.
+
+Arad Ea conducted the hero to the island where the plant grew, and
+when Gilgamesh found it he rejoiced, and said that he would carry it
+to Erech, his own city, where he would partake of it and restore his
+youth.
+
+So Gilgamesh and Arad Ea went on their way together, nor paused until
+they came to a well of pure water. The hero stooped down to draw
+water.[216] But while he was thus engaged that demon, the Earth Lion,
+crept forth as a serpent, and, seizing the magic plant of life,
+carried it away. Stricken with terror, Gilgamesh uttered a curse. Then
+he sat down and wept bitterly, and the tears streamed over his face.
+To Arad Ea he spake, saying: "Why has my health been restored to me?
+Why should I rejoice because that I live? The benefit which I should
+have derived for myself has now fallen to the Earth Lion."
+
+The two travellers then resumed their journey, performing religious
+acts from time to time; chanting dirges and holding feasts for the
+dead, and at length Gilgamesh returned to Erech. He found that the
+city walls were crumbling, and he spake regarding the ceremonies which
+had been performed while yet he was in a far-distant country.
+
+During the days which followed Gilgamesh sorrowed for his lost friend
+Ea-bani, whose spirit was in the Underworld, the captive of the
+spirits of death. "Thou canst not draw thy bow now," he cried, "nor
+raise the battle shout. Thou canst not kiss the woman thou hast loved;
+thou canst not kiss the child thou hast loved, nor canst thou smite
+those whom thou hast hated."
+
+In vain Gilgamesh appealed to his mother goddess to restore Ea-bani to
+him. Then he turned to the gods, and Ea heard him. Thereafter Nergal,
+god of death, caused the grave to yawn, and the spirit of Ea-bani
+arose like a wind gust.
+
+Gilgamesh, still dreading death, spoke to the ghost of his friend,
+saying: "Tell me, my friend, O tell me regarding the land in which
+thou dost dwell."
+
+Ea-bani made answer sorrowfully: "Alas! I cannot tell thee, my friend.
+If I were to tell thee all, thou wouldst sit down and weep."
+
+Said Gilgamesh: "Let me sit down and weep, but tell me regarding the
+land of spirits."
+
+The text is mutilated here, but it can be gathered that Ea-bani
+described the land where ill-doers were punished, where the young were
+like the old, where the worm devoured, and dust covered all. But the
+state of the warrior who had been given burial was better than that of
+the man who had not been buried, and had no one to lament or care for
+him. "He who hath been slain in battle," the ghost said, "reposeth on
+a couch drinking pure water--one slain in battle as thou hast seen and
+I have seen. His head is supported by his parents: beside him sits his
+wife. His spirit doth not haunt the earth. But the spirit of that man
+whose corpse has been left unburied and uncared for, rests not, but
+prowls through the streets eating scraps of food, the leavings of the
+feast, and drinking the dregs of vessels."
+
+So ends the story of Gilgamesh in the form which survives to us.
+
+The journey of Gilgamesh to the Island of the Blessed recalls the
+journeys made by Odin, Hermod, Svipdag, Hotherus and others to the
+Germanic Hela. When Hermod went to search for Balder, as the Prose
+Edda relates, he rode through thick darkness for nine days and nine
+nights ere he crossed the mountains. As Gilgamesh met Sabitu, Hermod
+met Modgudur, "the maiden who kept the bridge" over the river Gj�ll.
+Svipdag, according to a Norse poem, was guided like the Babylonian
+hero by the moon god, Gevar, who instructed him what way he should
+take to find the irresistible sword. Saxo's Hother, who is instructed
+by "King Gewar", crosses dismal mountains "beset with extraordinary
+cold".[217] Thorkill crosses a stormy ocean to the region of perpetual
+darkness, where the ghosts of the dead are confined in loathsome and
+dusty caves. At the main entrance "the door posts were begrimed with
+the soot of ages".[218] In the _Elder Edda_ Svipdag is charmed against
+the perils he will be confronted by as he fares "o'er seas mightier
+than men do know", or is overtaken by night "wandering on the misty
+way ".[219] When Odin "downward rode into Misty Hel" he sang spells at
+a "witch's grave", and the ghost rose up to answer his questions
+regarding Balder. "Tell me tidings of Hel", he addressed her, as
+Gilgamesh addressed the ghost of Ea-bani.
+
+In the mythical histories of Alexander the Great, the hero searches
+for the Water of Life, and is confronted by a great mountain called
+Musas (Mashti). A demon stops him and says; "O king, thou art not able
+to march through this mountain, for in it dwelleth a mighty god who is
+like unto a monster serpent, and he preventeth everyone who would go
+unto him." In another part of the narrative Alexander and his army
+arrive at a place of darkness "where the blackness is not like the
+darkness of night, but is like unto the mists and clouds which descend
+at the break of day". A servant uses a shining jewel stone, which Adam
+had brought from Paradise, to guide him, and found the well. He drank
+of the "waters of life" and bathed in them, with the result that he
+was strengthened and felt neither hunger nor thirst. When he came out
+of the well "all the flesh of his body became bluish-green and his
+garments likewise bluish-green". Apparently he assumed the colour of
+supernatural beings. Rama of India was blue, and certain of his monkey
+allies were green, like the fairies of England and Scotland. This
+fortunate man kept his secret. His name was Matun, but he was
+afterwards nicknamed "'El-Khidr', that is to say, 'Green'". What
+explanation he offered for his sudden change of appearance has not
+been recorded.[220] It is related that when Matun reached the Well of
+Life a dried fish which he dipped in the water was restored to life
+and swam away. In the _Koran_ a similar story is told regarding Moses
+and Joshua, who travelled "for a long space of time" to a place where
+two seas met. "They forgot their fish which they had taken with them,
+and the fish took its way freely to the sea." The Arabian commentators
+explain that Moses once agreed to the suggestion that he was the
+wisest of men. In a dream he was directed to visit Al Khedr, who was
+"more knowing than he", and to take a fish with him in a basket. On
+the seashore Moses fell asleep, and the fish, which had been roasted,
+leapt out of the basket into the sea. Another version sets forth that
+Joshua, "making the ablution at the fountain of life", some of the
+water happened to be sprinkled on the fish, which immediately leapt
+up.[221]
+
+The Well of Life is found in Fingalian legends. When Diarmid was
+mortally wounded by the boar, he called upon Finn to carry water to
+him from the well:
+
+    Give me a draught from thy palms, O Finn,
+    Son of my king for my succour,
+    For my life and my dwelling.
+
+            _Campbell's West Highland Tales_, vol. iii, 80.
+
+The quest of the plant, flower, or fruit of life is referred to in
+many folk tales. In the _Mahabharata_, Bhima, the Indian Gilgamesh or
+Hercules, journeys to north-eastern Celestial regions to find the lake
+of the god Kuvera (Kubera), on which grow the "most beautiful and
+unearthly lotuses", which restore health and give strength to the
+weary. As Gilgamesh meets with Pir-napishtim, who relates the story of
+the Deluge which destroyed the "elder race", Bhima meets with Hanuman,
+who informs him regarding the Ages of the Universe and the races which
+were periodically destroyed by deluges. When Bhima reaches the lotus
+lake he fights with demons. To heal his wounds and recover strength he
+plunges into the lake. "As he drank of the waters, like unto nectar,
+his energy and strength were again fully restored."[222]
+
+Hercules similarly sets out to search for the golden apples which grow
+in
+
+      those Hesperian gardens famed of old,
+    Fortunate fields, and groves and flowery vales.
+
+As Bhima slew Yakshas which guarded the lotuses, Hercules slew Ladon,
+the guardian of the apples. Other heroes kill treasure-protecting
+dragons of various kinds.
+
+There is a remarkable resemblance between the Babylonian account of
+Gilgamesh's journey through the mountain tunnel to the garden and
+seashore, and the Indian story of the demigod Hanuman passing through
+the long cavern to the shoreland palace of the female ascetic, when he
+was engaged searching for Sita, the wife of Rama, who had been carried
+away by Ravana, the demon king of Ceylon. In the version of the latter
+narrative which is given in the _Mahabharata_, Hanuman says: "I bring
+thee good news, O Rama; for Janaka's daughter hath been seen by me.
+Having searched the southern region with all its hills, forests, and
+mines for some time, we became very weary. At length we beheld a great
+cavern. And having beheld it, we entered that cavern which extended
+over many _yojanas_. It was dark and deep, and overgrown with trees
+and infested by worms. And having gone a great way through it, we came
+upon sunshine and beheld a beautiful palace. It was the abode of the
+Daitya (sea demon) Maya. And there we beheld a female ascetic named
+Parbh�vati engaged in ascetic austerities. And she gave us food and
+drink of various kinds. And having refreshed ourselves therewith and
+regained our strength, we proceeded along the way shown by her. At
+last we came out of the cavern and beheld the briny sea, and on its
+shores, the _Sahya_, the _Malaya_, and the great _Dardura_ mountains.
+And ascending the mountains of _Malaya_, we beheld before us the vast
+ocean (or, "the abode of Varuna"). And beholding it, we felt sorely
+grieved in mind.... We despaired of returning with our lives.... We
+then sat together, resolved to die there of starvation."
+
+Hanuman and his friends, having had, so far, experiences similar to
+those of Gilgamesh, next discovered the eagle giant which had burned
+its wings when endeavouring to soar to the sun. This great bird, which
+resembles the Etana eagle, expressed the opinion that Sita was in
+Lanka (Ceylon), whither she must have been carried by Ravana. But no
+one dared to cross the dangerous ocean. Hanuman at length, however,
+obtained the assistance of Vayu, the wind god, his divine father, and
+leapt over the sea, slaying monsters as he went. He discovered where
+the fair lady was concealed by the king of demons.[223]
+
+The dark tunnel is met with in many British stories of daring heroes
+who set out to explore it, but never return. In the Scottish versions
+the adventurers are invariably pipers who are accompanied by dogs. The
+sound of the pipes is heard for a time; then the music ceases
+suddenly, and shortly afterwards the dog returns without a hair upon
+its body. It has evidently been in conflict with demons.
+
+The tunnel may run from a castle to the seashore, from a cave on one
+side of a hill to a cave on the other, or from a seashore cave to a
+distant island.
+
+It is possible that these widespread tunnel stories had origin among
+the cave dwellers of the Palaeolithic Age, who believed that deep
+caverns were the doors of the underground retreats of dragons and
+giants and other supernatural enemies of mankind.
+
+In Babylonia, as elsewhere, the priests utilized the floating material
+from which all mythologies were framed, and impressed upon it the
+stamp of their doctrines. The symbolized stories were afterwards
+distributed far and wide, as were those attached to the memory of
+Alexander the Great at a later period. Thus in many countries may be
+found at the present day different versions of immemorial folk tales,
+which represent various stages of culture, and direct and indirect
+contact at different periods with civilizations that have stirred the
+ocean of human thought, and sent their ideas rippling in widening
+circles to far-distant shores.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+DELUGE LEGEND, THE ISLAND OF THE BLESSED, AND HADES
+
+
+  Babylonian Story of the Flood--The Two Immortals on the Island of
+  the Blessed--Deluge Legends in the Old and New Worlds--How
+  Babylonian Culture reached India--Theory of Cosmic
+  Periods--Gilgamesh resembles the Indian Yama and Persian
+  Yimeh--Links with Varuna and Mitra--The Great Winter in Persian and
+  Teutonic Mythologies--Babylonian Hades compared with the Egyptian,
+  Greek, Indian, Teutonic, and Celtic Otherworlds--Legend of Nergal
+  and the Queen of Death--Underworld originally the Grave--Why
+  Weapons, &c., were Buried with the Dead--Japanese and Roman
+  Beliefs--Palaeolithic Burial Customs--"Our Graves are our
+  Houses"--Importance of Babylonian Funerary Ceremonies--Doctrine of
+  Eternal Bliss in Egypt and India--Why Suppressed in Babylonia--Heavy
+  Burial Fees--Various Burial Customs.
+
+
+The story of the Deluge which was related to Gilgamesh by
+Pir-napishtim runs as follows:--
+
+"Hear me, O Gilgamesh, and I will make revelation regarding the hidden
+doings of the high gods. As thou knowest, the city of Shurippak is
+situated upon the bank of the Euphrates. The gods were within it:
+there they assembled together in council. Anu, the father, was there,
+and Bel the counsellor and warrior, Ninip the messenger, and Ennugi
+the governor. Ea, the wise lord, sat also with them. In their hearts
+the gods agreed together to send a great deluge.
+
+"Thereafter Ea made known the purpose of the divine rulers in the hut
+of reeds, saying:[224] 'O hut of reeds, hear; O wall, understand ... O
+man of Shurippak, son of Umbara Tutu, tear down thy house and build a
+ship; leave all thou dost possess and save thy life, and preserve in
+the ship the living seed of every kind. The ship that thou wilt build
+must be of goodly proportions in length and height. It must be floated
+on the great deep.'
+
+"I heard the command of Ea and understood, and I made answer, saying,
+'O wise lord, as thou hast said so will I do, for thy counsel is most
+excellent. But how shall I give reason for my doings to the young men
+and the elders?'
+
+"Ea opened his mouth and said unto me, his servant: 'What thou shalt
+say unto them is this.... _It hath been revealed unto me that Bel doth
+hate me, therefore I cannot remain any longer in his domain, this city
+of Shurippak, so I must depart unto the domain of Ea and dwell with
+him.... Unto you will Bel send abundance of rain, so that you may
+obtain birds and fishes in plenty and have a rich harvest. But Shamash
+hath appointed a time for Ramman to pour down destruction from the
+heavens._'"[225]
+
+Ea then gave instructions to Pir-napishtim how to build the ship in
+which he should find refuge. So far as can be gathered from the
+fragmentary text, it appears that this vessel was to have a deck house
+six stories high, with nine apartments in each story. According to
+another account, Ea drew a plan of the great ship upon the sand.
+
+Pir-napishtim set to work and made a flat-bottomed vessel, which was
+120 cubits wide and 120 cubits in height. He smeared it with bitumen
+inside and pitch outside; and on the seventh day it was ready. Then he
+carried out Ea's further instructions. Continuing his narrative to
+Gilgamesh, he said:
+
+"I gathered together all that I possessed, my silver and gold and
+seeds of every kind, and my goods also. These I placed in the ship.
+Then I caused to go aboard all my family and house servants, the
+animals of the field and the beasts of the field and the
+workers--every one of them I sent up.
+
+"The god Shamash appointed the time, saying: 'I will cause the Night
+Lord to send much rain and bring destruction. Then enter thou the ship
+and shut thy door.'
+
+"At the appointed time the Night Lord sent at even-time much rain. I
+saw the beginning of the deluge and I was afraid to look up. I entered
+the ship and shut the door. I appointed Buzur-Kurgala, the sailor, to
+be captain, and put under his command the great vessel and all that it
+contained.
+
+"At the dawn of day I saw rising athwart the heavens a dark cloud, and
+in the midst of it Ramman thundered. Nebo and Merodach went in front,
+speeding like emissaries over hills and plains. The cables of the ship
+were let loose.
+
+"Then Ninip, the tempest god, came nigh, and the storm broke in fury
+before him. All the earth spirits leapt up with flaming torches and
+the whole land was aflare. The thunder god swept over the heavens,
+blotting out the sunlight and bringing thick darkness. Rain poured
+down the whole day long, and the earth was covered with water; the
+rivers were swollen; the land was in confusion; men stumbled about in
+the darkness, battling with the elements. Brothers were unable to see
+brothers; no man could recognize his friends.... The spirits above
+looked down and beheld the rising flood and were afraid: they fled
+away, and in the heaven of Anu they crouched like to hounds in the
+protecting enclosures.
+
+"In time Ishtar, the lady of the gods, cried out distressfully,
+saying: 'The elder race hath perished and turned to clay because that
+I have consented to evil counsel in the assembly of the gods. Alas! I
+have allowed my people to be destroyed. I gave being to man, but where
+is he? Like the offspring of fish he cumbers the deep.'
+
+"The earth spirits were weeping with Ishtar: they sat down cowering
+with tightened lips and spake not; they mourned in silence.
+
+"Six days and six nights went past, and the tempest raged over the
+waters which gradually covered the land. But when the seventh day
+came, the wind fell, the whirling waters grew peaceful, and the sea
+retreated. The storm was over and the rain of destruction had ceased.
+I looked forth. I called aloud over the waters. But all mankind had
+perished and turned to clay. Where fields had been I saw marshes only.
+
+"Then I opened wide the window of the ship, and the sunlight suffused
+my countenance. I was dazzled and sank down weeping and the tears
+streamed over my face. Everywhere I looked I saw water.
+
+"At length, land began to appear. The ship drifted towards the country
+of Nitsir, and then it was held fast by the mountain of Nitsir. Six
+days went past and the ship remained stedfast. On the seventh day I
+sent forth a dove, and she flew away and searched this way and that,
+but found no resting place, so she returned. I then sent forth a
+swallow, and she returned likewise. Next I sent forth a raven, and she
+flew away. She saw that the waters were shrinking, and gorged and
+croaked and waded, but did not come back. Then I brought forth all the
+animals into the air of heaven.
+
+"An offering I made on the mountain. I poured out a libation. I set up
+incense vessels seven by seven on heaped-up reeds and used cedar wood
+with incense. The gods smelt the sweet savour, and they clustered like
+flies about the sacrificer.
+
+"Thereafter Ishtar (Sirtu) drew nigh. Lifting up the jewels, which the
+god Anu had fashioned for her according to her desire, she spake,
+saying: 'Oh! these gods! I vow by the lapis lazuli gems upon my neck
+that I will never forget! I will remember these days for ever and
+ever. Let all the gods come hither to the offering, save Bel (Enlil)
+alone, because that he ignored my counsel, and sent a great deluge
+which destroyed my people.'
+
+"But Bel Enlil came also, and when he beheld the ship he paused. His
+heart was filled with wrath against the gods and the spirits of
+heaven. Angrily he spake and said: 'Hath one escaped? It was decreed
+that no human being should survive the deluge.'
+
+"Ninip, son of Bel, spoke, saying: 'Who hath done this save Ea alone?
+He knoweth all things.'
+
+"Ea, god of the deep, opened his mouth and said unto the warrior Bel:
+'Thou art the lord of the gods, O warrior. But thou wouldst not
+hearken to my counsel and caused the deluge to be. Now punish the
+sinner for his sins and the evil doer for his evil deed, but be
+merciful and do not destroy all mankind. May there never again be a
+flood. Let the lion come and men will decrease. May there never again
+be a flood. Let the leopard come and men will decrease. May there
+never again be a flood. Let famine come upon the land; let Ura, god of
+pestilence, come and snatch off mankind.... I did not reveal the
+secret purpose of the mighty gods, but I caused Atra-chasis
+(Pir-napishtim) to dream a dream in which he had knowledge of what the
+gods had decreed.'
+
+"Having pondered a time over these words, Bel entered the ship alone.
+He grasped my hand and led me forth, even me, and he led forth my wife
+also, and caused her to kneel down beside me. Then he stood between us
+and gave his blessing. He spoke, saying: 'In time past Pir-napishtim
+was a man. Henceforth Pir-napishtim and his wife will be like unto
+deities, even us. Let them dwell apart beyond the river mouths.'
+
+"Thereafter Bel carried me hither beyond the mouths of rivers."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Flood myths are found in many mythologies both in the Old World and
+the New.
+
+The violent and deceitful men of the mythical Bronze Age of Greece
+were destroyed by a flood. It is related that Zeus said on one
+occasion to Hermes: "I will send a great rain, such as hath not been
+since the making of the world, and the whole race of men shall perish.
+I am weary of their iniquity."
+
+For receiving with hospitable warmth these two gods in human guise,
+Deucalion, an old man, and his wife Pyrrha were spared, however. Zeus
+instructed his host to build an ark of oak, and store it well with
+food. When this was done, the couple entered the vessel and shut the
+door. Then Zeus "broke up all the fountains of the deep, and opened
+the well springs of heaven, and it rained for forty days and forty
+nights continually". The Bronze folk perished: not even those who fled
+to the hilltops could escape. The ark rested on Parnassus, and when
+the waters ebbed the old couple descended the mountain and took up
+their abode in a cave.[226]
+
+In Indian mythology the world is destroyed by a flood at the end of
+each Age of the Universe. There are four ages: the Krita or Perfect
+Age, the Treta Age, the Dwapara Age, and the Kali or Wicked Age. These
+correspond closely to the Greek and Celtic ages.[227] There are also
+references in Sanskrit literature to the destruction of the world
+because too many human beings lived upon it. "When the increase of
+population had been so frightful," a sage related, "the Earth,
+oppressed with the excessive burden, sank down for a hundred Yojanas.
+Suffering pain in all her limbs, and being deprived of her senses by
+excessive pressure, the Earth in distress sought the protection of
+Narayana, the foremost of the gods."[228]
+
+Manu's account of the flood has been already referred to (Chapter II).
+The god in fish shape informed him: "The time is ripe for purging the
+world.... Build a strong and massive ark, and furnish it with a long
+rope...." When the waters rose the horned fish towed the ark over the
+roaring sea, until it grounded on the highest peak of the Himavat,
+which is still called Naubandha (the harbour). Manu was accompanied by
+seven rishis.[229]
+
+In the Celtic (Irish) account of the flood, Cessair, granddaughter of
+Noah, was refused a chamber for herself in the ark, and fled to the
+western borders of the world as advised by her idol.[230] Her fleet
+consisted of three ships, but two foundered before Ireland was
+reached. The survivors in addition to Cessair were, her father Bith,
+two other men, Fintan and Ladru, and fifty women. All of these
+perished on the hills except Fintan, who slept on the crest of a great
+billow, and lived to see Partholon, the giant, arriving from Greece.
+
+There is a deluge also in Egyptian mythology. When Ra, the sun god,
+grew old as an earthly king, men began to mutter words against him. He
+called the gods together and said: "I will not slay them (his
+subjects) until I have heard what ye say concerning them." Nu, his
+father, who was the god of primeval waters, advised the wholesale
+destruction of mankind.
+
+Said Ra: "Behold men flee unto the hills; their heart is full of fear
+because of that which they said."
+
+The goddess Hathor-Sekhet, the Eye of Ra, then went forth and slew
+mankind on the hills. Thereafter Ra, desiring to protect the remnant
+of humanity, caused a great offering to be made to the goddess,
+consisting of corn beer mixed with herbs and human blood. This drink
+was poured out during the night. "And the goddess came in the morning;
+she found the fields inundated, she rejoiced thereat, she drank
+thereof, her heart was rejoiced, she went about drunken and took no
+more cognizance of men."[231]
+
+It is obvious that the Egyptian myth refers to the annual inundation
+of the Nile, the "human blood" in the "beer" being the blood of the
+slain corn god, or of his earthly representative. It is probable that
+the flood legends of North and South America similarly reflected local
+phenomena, although the possibility that they were of Asiatic origin,
+like the American Mongoloid tribes, cannot be overlooked. Whether or
+not Mexican civilization, which was flourishing about the time of the
+battle of Hastings, received any cultural stimulus from Asia is a
+question regarding which it would be unsafe to dogmatize, owing to the
+meagre character of the available data.
+
+The Mexican deluge was caused by the "water sun", which suddenly
+discharged the moisture it had been drawing from the earth in the form
+of vapour through long ages. All life was destroyed.
+
+A flood legend among the Nahua tribes resembles closely the Babylonian
+story as told by Pir-napishtim. The god Titlacahuan instructed a man
+named Nata to make a boat by hollowing out a cypress tree, so as to
+escape the coming deluge with his wife Nena. This pair escaped
+destruction. They offered up a fish sacrifice in the boat and enraged
+the deity who visited them, displaying as much indignation as did Bel
+when he discovered that Pir-napishtim had survived the great disaster.
+Nata and Nena had been instructed to take with them one ear of maize
+only, which suggests that they were harvest spirits.
+
+In Brazil, Monan, the chief god, sent a great fire to burn up the
+world and its wicked inhabitants. To extinguish the flames a magician
+caused so much rain to fall that the earth was flooded.
+
+The Californian Indians had a flood legend, and believed that the
+early race was diminutive; and the Athapascan Indians of the
+north-west professed to be descendants of a family who escaped the
+deluge. Indeed, deluge myths were widespread in the "New World".
+
+The American belief that the first beings who were created were unable
+to live on earth was shared by the Babylonians. According to Berosus
+the first creation was a failure, because the animals could not bear
+the light and they all died.[232] Here we meet with the germs of the
+Doctrine of the World's Ages, which reached its highest development in
+Indian, Greek, and Celtic (Irish) mythologies.
+
+The Biblical account of the flood is familiar to readers. "It forms",
+says Professor Pinches, "a good subject for comparison with the
+Babylonian account, with which it agrees so closely in all the main
+points, and from which it differs so much in many essential
+details."[233]
+
+The drift of Babylonian culture was not only directed westward towards
+the coast of Palestine, and from thence to Greece during the
+Phoenician period, but also eastward through Elam to the Iranian
+plateau and India. Reference has already been made to the resemblances
+between early Vedic and Sumerian mythologies. When the "new songs" of
+the Aryan invaders of India were being composed, the sky and ocean
+god, Varuna, who resembles Ea-Oannes, and Mitra, who links with
+Shamash, were already declining in splendour. Other cultural
+influences were at work. Certain of the Aryan tribes, for instance,
+buried their dead in Varuna's "house of clay", while a growing
+proportion cremated their dead and worshipped Agni, the fire god. At
+the close of the Vedic period there were fresh invasions into middle
+India, and the "late comers" introduced new beliefs, including the
+doctrines of the Transmigration of Souls and of the Ages of the
+Universe. Goddesses also rose into prominence, and the Vedic gods
+became minor deities, and subject to Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. These
+"late comers" had undoubtedly been influenced by Babylonian ideas
+before they entered India. In their Doctrine of the World's Ages or
+Yugas, for instance, we are forcibly reminded of the Euphratean ideas
+regarding space and time. Mr. Robert Brown, junr., who is an authority
+in this connection, shows that the system by which the "Day of Brahma"
+was calculated in India resembles closely an astronomical system which
+obtained in Babylonia, where apparently the theory of cosmic periods
+had origin.[234]
+
+The various alien peoples, however, who came under the spell of
+Babylonian modes of thought did not remain in a state of intellectual
+bondage. Thought was stimulated rather than arrested by religious
+borrowing, and the development of ideas regarding the mysteries of
+life and death proceeded apace in areas over which the ritualistic and
+restraining priesthood of Babylonia exercised no sway. As much may be
+inferred from the contrasting conceptions of the Patriarchs of Vedic
+and Sumerian mythologies. Pir-napishtim, the Babylonian Noah, and the
+semi-divine Gilgamesh appear to be represented in Vedic mythology by
+Yama, god of the dead. Yama was "the first man", and, like Gilgamesh,
+he set out on a journey over mountains and across water to discover
+Paradise. He is lauded in the Vedic hymns as the explorer of "the
+path" or "way" to the "Land of the Pitris" (Fathers), the Paradise to
+which the Indian uncremated dead walked on foot. Yama never lost his
+original character. He is a traveller in the Epics as in the
+Vedas.[235]
+
+    Him who along the mighty heights departed, Him who searched and
+    spied the path for many, Son of Vivasvat, gatherer of the people,
+    Yama, the King, with sacrifices worship. _Rigveda_, x, 14, 1.[236]
+    To Yama, mighty King, be gifts and homage paid, He was the first
+    of men that died, the first to brave Death's rapid rushing stream,
+    the first to point the road To heaven, and welcome others to that
+    bright abode. _Sir M. Monier Williams' Translation_.[237]
+
+Yama and his sister Yami were the first human pair. They are identical
+with the Persian Celestial twins, Yima and Yimeh. Yima resembles Mitra
+(Mithra); Varuna, the twin brother of Mitra, in fact, carries the
+noose associated with the god of death.[238]
+
+The Indian Yama, who was also called Pitripati, "lord of the fathers",
+takes Mitra's place in the Paradise of Ancestors beside Varuna, god of
+the sky and the deep. He sits below a tree, playing on a flute and
+drinking the Soma drink which gives immortality. When the descendants
+of Yama reached Paradise they assumed shining forms "refined and from
+all taint set free".[239]
+
+In Persian mythology "Yima", says Professor Moulton, "reigns over a
+community which may well have been composed of his own descendants,
+for he lived yet longer than Adam. To render them immortal, he gives
+them to eat forbidden food, being deceived by the Daevas (demons).
+What was this forbidden food? May we connect it with another legend
+whereby, at the Regeneration, Mithra is to make men immortal by giving
+them to eat the fat of the _Ur-Kuh_, the primeval cow from whose slain
+body, according to the Aryan legends adopted by Mithraism, mankind was
+first created?"
+
+Yima is punished for "presumptuously grasping at immortality for
+himself and mankind, on the suggestion of an evil power, instead of
+waiting Ahura's good time". Professor Moulton wonders if this story,
+which he endeavours to reconstruct, "owed anything to Babylon?"
+
+Yima, like the Babylonian Pir-napishtim, is also a revealer of the
+secrets of creation. He was appointed to be "Guardian, Overseer,
+Watcher over my Creation" by Ahura, the supreme god. Three hundred
+years went past--
+
+    Then the earth became abounding,
+    Full of flocks and full of cattle,
+    Full of men, of birds, dogs likewise,
+    Full of fires all bright and blazing,
+    Nor did men, flocks, herds of cattle,
+    Longer find them places in it.
+
+            _Jackson's Translation_.
+
+The earth was thereafter cloven with a golden arrow. Yima then built a
+refuge in which mankind and the domesticated animals might find
+shelter during a terrible winter. "The picture", says Professor
+Moulton, "strongly tempts us to recognize the influence of the
+Babylonian Flood-Legend."[240] The "Fimbul winter" of Germanic
+mythology is also recalled. Odin asks in one of the Icelandic Eddie
+poems:
+
+    What beings shall live when the long dread winter
+      Comes o'er the people of earth?[241]
+
+In another Eddie poem, the Voluspa, the Vala tells of a Sword Age, an
+Axe Age, a Wind Age, and a Wolf Age which is to come "ere the world
+sinks". After the battle of the gods and demons,
+
+    The sun is darkened, earth sinks in the sea.
+
+In time, however, a new world appears.
+
+    I see uprising a second time
+    Earth from the Ocean, green anew;
+    The waters fall, on high the eagle
+    Flies o'er the fell and catches fish.
+
+When the surviving gods return, they will talk, according to the Vala
+(prophetess), of "the great world serpent" (Tiamat). The fields will
+be sown and "Balder will come"[242]--apparently as Tammuz came. The
+association of Balder with corn suggests that, like Nata of the Nahua
+tribes, he was a harvest spirit, among other things.
+
+Leaving, meantime, the many problems which arise from consideration of
+the Deluge legends and their connection with primitive agricultural
+myths, the attention of readers may be directed to the Babylonian
+conception of the Otherworld.
+
+Pir-napishtim, who escaped destruction at the Flood, resides in an
+Island Paradise, which resembles the Greek "Islands of the Blessed",
+and the Irish "Tir nan og" or "Land of the Young", situated in the
+western ocean, and identical with the British[243]
+
+      island-valley of Avilion,
+    Where falls not hail, or rain, or any snow,
+    Nor ever wind blows loudly, but it lies
+    Deep meadow'd, happy, fair with orchard lawns
+    And bowery hollows crowned with summer sea.[244]
+
+Only two human beings were permitted to reside on the Babylonian
+island paradise, however. These were Pir-napishtim and his wife.
+Apparently Gilgamesh could not join them there. His gods did not
+transport heroes and other favoured individuals to a happy isle or
+isles like those of the Greeks and Celts and Aryo-Indians. There was
+no Heaven for the Babylonian dead. All mankind were doomed to enter
+the gloomy Hades of the Underworld, "the land of darkness and the
+shadow of death; a land of darkness, as darkness itself; and of the
+shadow of death, without any order, and where the light is darkness",
+as Job exclaimed in the hour of despair, lamenting his fate.[245]
+
+This gloomy habitation of the dead resembles the Greek Hades, the
+Teutonic Nifelhel, and the Indian "Put". No detailed description of it
+has been found. The references, however, in the "Descent of Ishtar"
+and the Gilgamesh epic suggest that it resembled the hidden regions of
+the Egyptians, in which souls were tortured by demons who stabbed
+them, plunged them in pools of fire, and thrust them into cold outer
+darkness where they gnashed their teeth, or into places of horror
+swarming with poisonous reptiles.
+
+Ishtar was similarly tortured by the plague demon, Namtar, when she
+boldly entered the Babylonian Underworld to search for Tammuz. Other
+sufferings were, no doubt, in store for her, resembling those,
+perhaps, with which the giant maid in the Eddic poem "Skirnismal" was
+threatened when she refused to marry Frey, the god of fertility and
+harvest:
+
+    Trolls shall torment thee from morn till eve
+      In the realms of the Jotun race,
+    Each day to the dwellings of Frost giants must thou
+      Creep helpless, creep hopeless of love;
+    Thou shalt weeping have in the stead of joy,
+      And sore burden bear with tears....
+    May madness and shrieking, bondage and yearning
+      Burden thee with bondage and tears.[246]
+
+In like manner, too, the inhabitants of the Indian Hell suffered
+endless and complicated tortures.[247]
+
+The Persephone of the Babylonian Underworld was Eresh-ki-gal, who was
+also called Allatu. A myth, which was found among the Egyptian
+Tel-el-Amarna "Letters", sets forth that on one occasion the
+Babylonian gods held a feast. All the deities attended it, except
+Eresh-ki-gal. She was unable to leave her gloomy Underworld, and sent
+her messenger, the plague demon Namtar, to obtain her share. The
+various deities honoured Namtar, except Nergal, by standing up to
+receive him. When Eresh-ki-gal was informed of this slight she became
+very angry, and demanded that Nergal should be delivered up to her so
+that he might be put to death. The storm god at once hastened to the
+Underworld, accompanied by his own group of fierce demons, whom he
+placed as guardians at the various doors so as to prevent the escape
+of Eresh-ki-gal. Then he went boldly towards the goddess, clutched her
+by the hair, and dragged her from her throne. After a brief struggle,
+she found herself overpowered. Nergal made ready to cut off her head,
+but she cried for mercy and said: "Do not kill me, my brother! Let me
+speak to thee."
+
+This appeal indicated that she desired to ransom her life--like the
+hags in the European folk tales--so Nergal unloosed his hold.
+
+Then Eresh-ki-gal continued: "Be thou my husband and I will be thy
+wife. On thee I confer sovereignty over the wide earth, giving thee
+the tablet of wisdom. Thou shalt be my lord and I will be thy lady."
+
+Nergal accepted these terms by kissing the goddess. Affectionately
+drying her tears, he spoke, saying: "Thou shalt now have from me what
+thou hast demanded during these past months."
+
+In other words, Nergal promises to honour her as she desired, after
+becoming her husband and equal.
+
+In the "Descent of Ishtar" the Babylonian Underworld is called Cuthah.
+This city had a famous cemetery, like Abydos in Egypt, where many
+pious and orthodox worshippers sought sepulture. The local god was
+Nergal, who symbolized the destructive power of the sun and the sand
+storm; he was a gloomy, vengeful deity, attended by the spirits of
+tempest, weariness, pestilence, and disease, and was propitiated
+because he was dreaded.
+
+In Nether Cuthah, as Ea-bani informed Gilgamesh, the worm devoured the
+dead amidst the dust and thick darkness.
+
+It is evident that this Underworld was modelled on the grave. In early
+times men believed that the spirits of the dead hovered in or about
+the place of sepulture. They were therefore provided with "houses" to
+protect them, in the same manner as the living were protected in their
+houses above the ground.
+
+The enemies of the human ghosts were the earth spirits. Weapons were
+laid beside the dead in their graves so that they might wage war
+against demons when necessary. The corpse was also charmed, against
+attack, by the magical and protecting ornaments which were worn by the
+living--necklaces, armlets, ear-rings, &c. Even face paint was
+provided, probably as a charm against the evil eye and other subtle
+influences.
+
+So long as corpses were left in their graves, the spirits of the dead
+were, it would appear, believed to be safe. But they required food and
+refreshment. Food vessels and drinking urns were therefore included in
+the funerary furniture, and the dead were given food offerings at
+regular intervals. Once a year the living held feasts in the burial
+ground, and invited the ghosts to share in the repast. This custom was
+observed in Babylonia, and is not yet obsolete in Egypt; Moslems and
+Coptic Christians alike hold annual all-night feasts in their
+cemeteries.
+
+The Japanese "Land of Yomi" is similarly an underworld, or great
+grave, where ghosts mingle with the demons of disease and destruction.
+Souls reach it by "the pass of Yomi". The Mikado, however, may be
+privileged to ascend to heaven and join the gods in the "Eternal
+Land".
+
+Among the ancient Romans the primitive belief survived that the spirit
+of the dead "just sank into the earth where it rested, and returned
+from time to time to the upper world through certain openings in the
+ground (mundi), whose solemn uncovering was one of the regular
+observances of the festal calendar".[248]
+
+According to Babylonian belief, the dead who were not properly buried
+roamed through the streets searching for food, eating refuse and
+drinking impure water.
+
+Prior to the period of ceremonial burials, the dead were interred in
+the houses in which they had lived--a custom which has made it
+possible for present-day scientists to accumulate much valuable data
+regarding primitive races and their habits of life. The Palaeolithic
+cave-dwellers of Europe were buried in their caves. These were then
+deserted and became the haunts of wild animals. After a long interval
+a deserted cave was occupied by strangers. In certain characteristic
+caves the various layers containing human remains represent distinct
+periods of the vast Pleistocene Age.
+
+When Mediterranean man moved northward through Europe, he utilized
+some of these caves, and constructed in them well-built graves for his
+dead, digging down through older layers. In thus making a "house"
+within a "house", he has provided us with a link between an old custom
+and a new. Apparently he was influenced by local practices and
+beliefs, for he met and mingled in certain localities with the men of
+the Late Palaeolithic Age.
+
+The primitive house-burial rite is referred to in the Ethiopic version
+of the life of Alexander the Great. The "Two-horned", as the hero was
+called, conversed with Brahmans when he reached India. He spoke to one
+of them, "saying: 'Have ye no tombs wherein to bury any man among ye
+who may die?' And an interpreter made answer to him, saying: 'Man and
+woman and child grow up, and arrive at maturity, and become old, and
+when any one of them dieth we bury him in the place wherein he lived;
+thus our graves are our houses. And our God knoweth that we desire
+this more than the lust for food and meat which all men have: this is
+our life and manner of living in the darkness of our tombs.'" When
+Alexander desired to make a gift to these Brahmans, and asked them
+what they desired most, their answer was, "Give us immortality".[249]
+
+In the Gilgamesh epic the only ray of hope which relieves the gloomy
+closing passages is Ea-bani's suggestion that the sufferings endured
+by the dead may be alleviated by the performance of strict burial
+rites. Commenting on this point Professor Jastrow says: "A proper
+burial with an affectionate care of the corpse ensures at least a
+quiet repose.
+
+    Such a one rests on a couch and drinks pure water;
+    But he whose shade has no rest in the earth, as I have seen and
+        you will see,
+    His shade has no rest in the earth
+    Whose shade no one cares for ...
+    What is left over in the pot, remains of food
+    That are thrown in the street, he eats."[250]
+
+            _Gilgamesh Epic_.
+
+By disseminating the belief that the dead must be buried with much
+ceremony, the priests secured great power over the people, and
+extracted large fees.
+
+In Egypt, on the other hand, the teachers of the sun cult sold charms
+and received rewards to perform ceremonies so that chosen worshippers
+might enter the sun-barque of Ra; while the Osirian priests promised
+the just and righteous that they would reach an agricultural Paradise
+where they could live and work as on earth, but receive a greater
+return for their labour, the harvests of the Otherworld being of
+unequalled abundance.
+
+In the sacred books of India a number of Paradises are referred to. No
+human beings, however, entered the Paradise of Varuna, who resembles
+the Sumerian Ea-Oannes. The souls of the dead found rest and enjoyment
+in the Paradise of Yama, while "those kings that yield up their lives,
+without turning their backs on the field of battle, attain", as the
+sage told a hero, "to the mansion of Indra", which recalls the Valhal
+of Odin. It will thus be seen that belief in immortality was a tenet
+of the Indian cults of Indra and Yama.
+
+It is possible that the Gilgamesh epic in one of its forms concluded
+when the hero reached the island of Pir-napishtim, like the Indian
+Yama who "searched and spied the path for many". The Indian "Land of
+the Pitris" (Ancestors), over which Yama presided, may be compared to
+the Egyptian heaven of Osiris. It contains, we are told, "all kinds of
+enjoyable articles", and also "sweet, juicy, agreeable and delicious
+edibles ... floral wreaths of the most delicious fragrance, and trees
+that yield fruits that are desired of them". Thither go "all sinners
+among human beings, as also (those) that have died during the winter
+solstice"[251]--a suggestion that this Paradise was not unconnected
+with the Tammuz-like deity who took up his abode in the spirit land
+during the barren season.
+
+The view may be urged that in the Gilgamesh epic we have a development
+of the Tammuz legend in its heroic form. Like Ishtar, when she
+descended to Hades, the King of Erech could not return to earth until
+he had been sprinkled by the water of life. No doubt, an incident of
+this character occurred also in the original Tammuz legend. The life
+of the god had to be renewed before he could return. Did he slumber,
+like one of the Seven Sleepers, in Ea's house, and not awake again
+until he arrived as a child in his crescent moon boat--"the sunken
+boat" of the hymns--like Scef, who came over the waves to the land of
+the Scyldings?
+
+It seems remarkable that the doctrine of Eternal Bliss, which obtained
+in Egypt on the one hand and in India on the other, should never have
+been developed among the Babylonians. Of course, our knowledge in this
+connection is derived from the orthodox religious texts. Perhaps the
+great thinkers, whose influence can be traced in the tendencies
+towards monotheism which became marked at various periods, believed in
+a Heaven for the just and good. If they did, their teachings must have
+been suppressed by the mercenary priests. It was extremely profitable
+for these priests to perpetuate the belief that the spirits of the
+dead were consigned to a gloomy Hades, where the degree of suffering
+which they endured depended on the manner in which their bodies were
+disposed of upon earth. An orthodox funeral ceremony was costly at all
+times. This is made evident by the inscriptions which record the
+social reforms of Urukagina, the ill-fated patesi of Lagash. When he
+came to the throne he cut down the burial fees by more than a half.
+"In the case of an ordinary burial," writes Mr. King, "when a corpse
+was laid in a grave, it had been the custom for the presiding priest
+to demand as a fee for himself seven urns of wine or strong drink,
+four hundred and twenty loaves of bread, one hundred and twenty
+measures of corn, a garment, a kid, a bed, and a seat." The reformer
+reduced the perquisites to "three urns of wine, eighty loaves of
+bread, a bed, and a kid, while the fee of his (the priest's) assistant
+was cut down from sixty to thirty measures of corn".[252]
+
+The conservative element in Babylonian religion is reflected by the
+burial customs. These did not change greatly after the Neolithic
+period. Prehistoric Sumerian graves resemble closely those of
+pre-Dynastic Egypt. The bodies of the dead were laid on their sides in
+crouching posture, with a "beaker", or "drinking cup" urn, beside the
+right hand. Other vessels were placed near the head. In this
+connection it may be noted that the magic food prepared for Gilgamesh
+by Pir-napishtim's wife, when he lay asleep, was also placed near his
+head.
+
+The corpse was always decked with various ornaments, including rings,
+necklaces, and armlets. As has been indicated, these were worn by the
+living as charms, and, no doubt, they served the same purpose for the
+dead. This charm-wearing custom was condemned by the Hebrew teachers.
+On one occasion Jacob commanded his household to "put away the strange
+gods which were in their hand, and all the ear-rings which were in
+their ears; and Jacob buried them under the oak which was by
+Shechem".[253] To Jacob, personal ornaments had quite evidently an
+idolatrous significance.
+
+"A very typical class of grave furniture", writes Mr. King, "consisted
+of palettes, or colour dishes, made of alabaster, often of graceful
+shape, and sometimes standing on four feet.... There is no doubt as to
+their use, for colour still remains in many of them, generally black
+and yellow, but sometimes a light rose and light green." Palettes for
+face paint have also been found in many early Egyptian graves.
+
+The gods had their faces painted like the living and the dead and were
+similarly adorned with charms. In the course of the daily service in
+the Egyptian temples an important ceremony was "dressing the god with
+white, green, bright-red, and dark-red sashes, and supplying two kinds
+of ointment and black and green eye paint".[254] In the word-picture
+of the Aryo-Indian Varuna's heaven in the _Mahabharata_ the deity is
+depicted "attired in celestial robes and decked with celestial
+ornaments and jewels". His attendants, the Adityas, appear "adorned
+with celestial garlands and perfumed with celestial scents and
+besmeared with paste of celestial fragrance".[255] Apparently the
+"paste", like the face paint of the Babylonians and Egyptians, had
+protective qualities. The Picts of Scotland may have similarly painted
+themselves to charm their bodies against magical influences and the
+weapons of their enemies. A painted man was probably regarded as one
+who was likely to have good luck, being guarded against bad luck.
+
+Weapons and implements were also laid in the Sumerian graves,
+indicating a belief that the spirits of the dead could not only
+protect themselves against their enemies but also provide themselves
+with food. The funerary gifts of fish-hooks suggests that spirits were
+expected to catch fish and thus obtain clean food, instead of
+returning to disturb the living as they searched for the remnants of
+the feast, like the Scottish Gunna,
+
+                 perched alone
+    On a chilly old grey stone,
+    Nibbling, nibbling at a bone
+      That we'll maybe throw away.
+
+Some bodies which were laid in Sumerian graves were wrapped up in reed
+matting, a custom which suggests that the reeds afforded protection or
+imparted magical powers. Magical ceremonies were performed in
+Babylonian reed huts. As we have seen, Ea revealed the "purpose" of
+the gods, when they resolved to send a flood, by addressing the reed
+hut in which Pir-napishtim lay asleep. Possibly it was believed that
+the dead might also have visions in their dreams which would reveal
+the "purpose" of demons who were preparing to attack them. In Syria it
+was customary to wrap the dead in a sheep skin.[256] As priests and
+gods were clad in the skins of animals from which their powers were
+derived, it is probable that the dead were similarly supposed to
+receive inspiration in their skin coverings. The Highland seer was
+wrapped in a bull's skin and left all night beside a stream so as to
+obtain knowledge of the future. This was a form of the Taghairm
+ceremony, which is referred to by Scott in his "Lady of the
+Lake".[257] The belief in the magical influence of sacred clothing
+gave origin to the priestly robes. When David desired to ascertain
+what Saul intended to do he said, "Bring hither the ephod". Then he
+came to know that his enemy had resolved to attack Keilah.[258] Elisha
+became a prophet when he received Elijah's mantle.[259]
+
+Sometimes the bodies of the Sumerians were placed in sarcophagi of
+clay. The earlier type was of "bath-tub" shape, round and
+flat-bottomed, with a rounded lid, while the later was the
+"slipper-shaped coffin", which was ornamented with charms. There is a
+close resemblance between the "bath-tub" coffins of Sumeria and the
+Egyptian pottery coffins of oval shape found in Third and Fourth
+Dynasty tombs in rock chambers near Nuerat. Certain designs on wooden
+coffins, and tombs as early as the First Dynasty, have direct
+analogies in Babylonia.[260]
+
+No great tombs were erected in Sumeria. The coffins were usually laid
+in brick vaults below dwellings, or below temples, or in trenches
+outside the city walls. On the "stele of victory", which belongs to
+the period of Eannatum, patesi of Lagash, the dead bodies on the
+battlefield are piled up in pairs quite naked, and earth is being
+heaped over them; this is a specimen of mound burial.
+
+According to Herodotus the Babylonians "buried their dead in honey,
+and had funeral lamentations like the Egyptians".[261] The custom of
+preserving the body in this manner does not appear to have been an
+ancient one, and may have resulted from cultural contact with the Nile
+valley during the late Assyrian period. So long as the bones were
+undisturbed, the spirit was supposed to be assured of rest in the
+Underworld. This archaic belief was widespread, and finds an echo in
+the quaint lines over Shakespeare's grave in Stratford church:--
+
+    Good friend, for Jesus' sake forbeare
+    To dig the dust enclosed heare;
+    Blest be the man that spares these stones,
+    And curst be he that moves my bones.
+
+In Babylonia the return of the spirits of the dead was greatly
+dreaded. Ishtar once uttered the terrible threat: "I will cause the
+dead to rise; they will then eat and live. The dead will be more
+numerous than the living." When a foreign country was invaded, it was
+a common custom to break open the tombs and scatter the bones they
+contained. Probably it was believed, when such acts of vandalism were
+committed, that the offended spirits would plague their kinsfolk.
+Ghosts always haunted the homes they once lived in, and were as
+malignant as demons. It is significant to find in this connection that
+the bodies of enemies who were slain in battle were not given decent
+burial, but mutilated and left for birds and beasts of prey to devour.
+
+The demons that plagued the dead might also attack the living. A
+fragmentary narrative, which used to be referred to as the "Cuthean
+Legend of Creation",[262] and has been shown by Mr. L.W. King to have
+no connection with the struggle between Merodach and the dragon,[263]
+deals with a war waged by an ancient king against a horde of evil
+spirits, led by "the lord of heights, lord of the Anunaki (earth
+spirits)". Some of the supernatural warriors had bodies like birds;
+others had "raven faces", and all had been "suckled by Tiamat".
+
+For three years the king sent out great armies to attack the demons,
+but "none returned alive". Then he decided to go forth himself to save
+his country from destruction. So he prepared for the conflict, and
+took the precaution of performing elaborate and therefore costly
+religious rites so as to secure the co-operation of the gods. His
+expedition was successful, for he routed the supernatural army. On his
+return home, he recorded his great victory on tablets which were
+placed in the shrine of Nergal at Cuthah.
+
+This myth may be an echo of Nergal's raid against Eresh-ki-gal. Or,
+being associated with Cuthah, it may have been composed to encourage
+burial in that city's sacred cemetery, which had been cleared by the
+famous old king of the evil demons which tormented the dead and made
+seasonal attacks against the living.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+BUILDINGS AND LAWS AND CUSTOMS OF BABYLON
+
+
+  Decline and Fall of Sumerian Kingdoms--Elamites and Semites strive
+  for Supremacy--Babylon's Walls, Gates, Streets, and Canals--The
+  Hanging Gardens--Merodach's Great Temple--The Legal Code of
+  Hammurabi--The Marriage Market--Position of Women--Marriage brought
+  Freedom--Vestal Virgins--Breach of Promise and Divorce--Rights of
+  Children--Female Publicans--The Land Laws--Doctors legislated out of
+  Existence--Folk Cures--Spirits of Disease expelled by Magical
+  Charms--The Legend of the Worm--"Touch Iron"--Curative
+  Water--Magical Origin of Poetry and Music.
+
+
+The rise of Babylon inaugurated a new era in the history of Western
+Asia. Coincidentally the political power of the Sumerians came to an
+end. It had been paralysed by the Elamites, who, towards the close of
+the Dynasty of Isin, successfully overran the southern district and
+endeavoured to extend their sway over the whole valley. Two Elamite
+kings, Warad-Sin and his brother Rim-Sin, struggled with the rulers of
+Babylon for supremacy, and for a time it appeared as if the intruders
+from the East were to establish themselves permanently as a military
+aristocracy over Sumer and Akkad. But the Semites were strongly
+reinforced by new settlers of the same blended stock who swarmed from
+the land of the Amorites. Once again Arabia was pouring into Syria
+vast hordes of its surplus population, with the result that ethnic
+disturbances were constant and widespread. This migration is termed
+the Canaanitic or Amorite: it flowed into Mesopotamia and across
+Assyria, while it supplied the "driving power" which secured the
+ascendancy of the Hammurabi Dynasty at Babylon. Indeed, the ruling
+family which came into prominence there is believed to have been of
+Canaanitic origin.
+
+Once Babylon became the metropolis it retained its pre-eminence until
+the end. Many political changes took place during its long and
+chequered history, but no rival city in the south ever attained to its
+splendour and greatness. Whether its throne was occupied by Amorite or
+Kassite, Assyrian or Chaldean, it was invariably found to be the most
+effective centre of administration for the lower Tigro-Euphrates
+valley. Some of the Kassite monarchs, however, showed a preference for
+Nippur.
+
+Of its early history little is known. It was overshadowed in turn by
+Kish and Umma, Lagash and Erech, and may have been little better than
+a great village when Akkad rose into prominence. Sargon I, the royal
+gardener, appears to have interested himself in its development, for
+it was recorded that he cleared its trenches and strengthened its
+fortifications. The city occupied a strategic position, and probably
+assumed importance on that account as well as a trading and industrial
+centre. Considerable wealth had accumulated at Babylon when the
+Dynasty of Ur reached the zenith of its power. It is recorded that
+King Dungi plundered its famous "Temple of the High Head", E-sagila,
+which some identify with the Tower of Babel, so as to secure treasure
+for Ea's temple at Eridu, which he specially favoured. His vandalistic
+raid, like that of the Gutium, or men of Kutu, was remembered for long
+centuries afterwards, and the city god was invoked at the time to cut
+short his days.
+
+No doubt, Hammurabi's Babylon closely resembled the later city so
+vividly described by Greek writers, although it was probably not of
+such great dimensions. According to Herodotus, it occupied an exact
+square on the broad plain, and had a circumference of sixty of our
+miles. "While such is its size," the historian wrote, "in magnificence
+there is no other city that approaches to it." Its walls were
+eighty-seven feet thick and three hundred and fifty feet high, and
+each side of the square was fifteen miles in length. The whole city
+was surrounded by a deep, broad canal or moat, and the river Euphrates
+ran through it.
+
+"Here", continued Herodotus, "I may not omit to tell the use to which
+the mould dug out of the great moat was turned, nor the manner in
+which the wall was wrought. As fast as they dug the moat the soil
+which they got from the cutting was made into bricks, and when a
+sufficient number were completed they baked the bricks in kilns. Then
+they set to building, and began with bricking the borders of the moat,
+after which they proceeded to construct the wall itself, using
+throughout for their cement hot bitumen, and interposing a layer of
+wattled reeds at every thirtieth course of the bricks. On the top,
+along the edges of the wall, they constructed buildings of a single
+chamber facing one another, leaving between them room for a four-horse
+chariot to turn. In the circuit of the wall are a hundred gates, all
+of brass, with brazen lintels and side posts."[264] These were the
+gates referred to by Isaiah when God called Cyrus:
+
+    I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two
+    leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut: I will go before
+    thee, and make the crooked places straight; I will break in pieces
+    the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron.[265]
+
+The outer wall was the main defence of the city, but there was also an
+inner wall less thick but not much inferior in strength. In addition,
+a fortress stood in each division of the city. The king's palace and
+the temple of Bel Merodach were surrounded by walls.
+
+All the main streets were perfectly straight, and each crossed the
+city from gate to gate, a distance of fifteen miles, half of them
+being interrupted by the river, which had to be ferried. As there were
+twenty-five gates on each side of the outer wall, the great
+thoroughfares numbered fifty in all, and there were six hundred and
+seventy-six squares, each over two miles in circumference. From
+Herodotus we gather that the houses were three or four stories high,
+suggesting that the tenement system was not unknown, and according to
+Q. Curtius, nearly half of the area occupied by the city was taken up
+by gardens within the squares.
+
+In Greek times Babylon was famous for the hanging or terraced gardens
+of the "new palace", which had been erected by Nebuchadnezzar II.
+These occupied a square which was more than a quarter of a mile in
+circumference. Great stone terraces, resting on arches, rose up like a
+giant stairway to a height of about three hundred and fifty feet, and
+the whole structure was strengthened by a surrounding wall over twenty
+feet in thickness. So deep were the layers of mould on each terrace
+that fruit trees were grown amidst the plants of luxuriant foliage and
+the brilliant Asian flowers. Water for irrigating the gardens was
+raised from the river by a mechanical contrivance to a great cistern
+situated on the highest terrace, and it was prevented from leaking out
+of the soil by layers of reeds and bitumen and sheets of lead.
+Spacious apartments, luxuriously furnished and decorated, were
+constructed in the spaces between the arches and were festooned by
+flowering creepers. A broad stairway ascended from terrace to terrace.
+
+The old palace stood in a square nearly four miles in circumference,
+and was strongly protected by three walls, which were decorated by
+sculptures in low relief, representing battle scenes and scenes of the
+chase and royal ceremonies. Winged bulls with human heads guarded the
+main entrance.
+
+Another architectural feature of the city was E-sagila, the temple of
+Bel Merodach, known to the Greeks as "Jupiter-Belus". The high wall
+which enclosed it had gates of solid brass. "In the middle of the
+precinct", wrote Herodotus, "there was a tower of solid masonry, a
+furlong in length and breadth, upon which was raised a second tower,
+and on that a third, and so on up to eight. The ascent to the top is
+on the outside, by a path which winds round all the towers. When one
+is about halfway up, one finds a resting-place and seats, where
+persons are wont to sit some time on their way to the summit. On the
+topmost tower there is a spacious temple, and inside the temple stands
+a couch of unusual size, richly adorned, with a golden table by its
+side. There is no statue of any kind set up in the place, nor is the
+chamber occupied of nights by anyone but a single native woman, who,
+as the Chaldaeans, the priests of this god, affirm, is chosen for
+himself by the deity out of all the women of the land."
+
+A woman who was the "wife of Amon" also slept in that god's temple at
+Thebes in Egypt. A similar custom was observed in Lycia.
+
+"Below, in the same precinct," continued Herodotus, "there is a second
+temple, in which is a sitting figure of Jupiter, all of gold. Before
+the figure stands a large golden table, and the throne whereon it
+sits, and the base on which the throne is placed, are likewise of pure
+gold.... Outside the temple are two altars, one of solid gold, on
+which it is only lawful to offer sucklings; the other, a common altar,
+but of great size, on which the full-grown animals are sacrificed. It
+is also on the great altar that the Chaldaeans burn the frankincense,
+which is offered to the amount of a thousand talents' weight, every
+year, at the festival of the god. In the time of Cyrus there was
+likewise in this temple a figure of a man, twelve cubits high,
+entirely of solid gold.... Besides the ornaments which I have
+mentioned, there are a large number of private offerings in this holy
+precinct."[266]
+
+The city wall and river gates were closed every night, and when
+Babylon was besieged the people were able to feed themselves. The
+gardens and small farms were irrigated by canals, and canals also
+controlled the flow of the river Euphrates. A great dam had been
+formed above the town to store the surplus water during inundation and
+increase the supply when the river sank to its lowest.
+
+In Hammurabi's time the river was crossed by ferry boats, but long ere
+the Greeks visited the city a great bridge had been constructed. So
+completely did the fierce Sennacherib destroy the city, that most of
+the existing ruins date from the period of Nebuchadnezzar II.[267]
+
+Our knowledge of the social life of Babylon and the territory under
+its control is derived chiefly from the Hammurabi Code of laws, of
+which an almost complete copy was discovered at Susa, towards the end
+of 1901, by the De Morgan expedition. The laws were inscribed on a
+stele of black diorite 7 ft. 3 in. high, with a circumference at the
+base of 6 ft. 2 in. and at the top of 5 ft. 4 in. This important relic
+of an ancient law-abiding people had been broken in three pieces, but
+when these were joined together it was found that the text was not
+much impaired. On one side are twenty-eight columns and on the other
+sixteen. Originally there were in all nearly 4000 lines of
+inscriptions, but five columns, comprising about 300 lines, had been
+erased to give space, it is conjectured, for the name of the invader
+who carried the stele away, but unfortunately the record was never
+made.
+
+On the upper part of the stele, which is now one of the treasures of
+the Louvre, Paris, King Hammurabi salutes, with his right hand
+reverently upraised, the sun god Shamash, seated on his throne, at the
+summit of E-sagila, by whom he is being presented with the stylus with
+which to inscribe the legal code. Both figures are heavily bearded,
+but have shaven lips and chins. The god wears a conical headdress and
+a flounced robe suspended from his left shoulder, while the king has
+assumed a round dome-shaped hat and a flowing garment which almost
+sweeps the ground.
+
+It is gathered from the Code that there were three chief social
+grades--the aristocracy, which included landowners, high officials and
+administrators; the freemen, who might be wealthy merchants or small
+landholders; and the slaves. The fines imposed for a given offence
+upon wealthy men were much heavier than those imposed upon the poor.
+Lawsuits were heard in courts. Witnesses were required to tell the
+truth, "affirming before the god what they knew", and perjurers were
+severely dealt with; a man who gave false evidence in connection with
+a capital charge was put to death. A strict watch was also kept over
+the judges, and if one was found to have willingly convicted a
+prisoner on insufficient evidence he was fined and degraded.
+
+Theft was regarded as a heinous crime, and was invariably punished by
+death. Thieves included those who made purchases from minors or slaves
+without the sanction of elders or trustees. Sometimes the accused was
+given the alternative of paying a fine, which might exceed by ten or
+even thirty fold the value of the article or animal he had
+appropriated. It was imperative that lost property should be restored.
+If the owner of an article of which he had been wrongfully deprived
+found it in possession of a man who declared that he had purchased it
+from another, evidence was taken in court. When it happened that the
+seller was proved to have been the thief, the capital penalty was
+imposed. On the other hand, the alleged purchaser was dealt with in
+like manner if he failed to prove his case. Compensation for property
+stolen by a brigand was paid by the temple, and the heirs of a man
+slain by a brigand within the city had to be compensated by the local
+authority.
+
+Of special interest are the laws which relate to the position of
+women. In this connection reference may first be made to the
+marriage-by-auction custom, which Herodotus described as follows:
+"Once a year in each village the maidens of age to marry were
+collected all together into one place, while the men stood round them
+in a circle. Then a herald called up the damsels one by one, and
+offered them for sale. He began with the most beautiful. When she was
+sold for no small sum of money, he offered for sale the one who came
+next to her in beauty. All of them were sold to be wives. The richest
+of the Babylonians who wished to wed bid against each other for the
+loveliest maidens, while the humbler wife-seekers, who were
+indifferent about beauty, took the more homely damsels with marriage
+portions. For the custom was that when the herald had gone through the
+whole number of the beautiful damsels, he should then call up the
+ugliest--a cripple, if there chanced to be one--and offer her to the
+men, asking who would agree to take her with the smallest marriage
+portion. And the man who offered to take the smallest sum had her
+assigned to him. The marriage portions were furnished by the money
+paid for the beautiful damsels, and thus the fairer maidens portioned
+out the uglier. No one was allowed to give his daughter in marriage to
+the man of his choice, nor might anyone carry away the damsel whom he
+had purchased without finding bail really and truly to make her his
+wife; if, however, it turned out that they did not agree, the money
+might be paid back. All who liked might come, even from distant
+villages, and bid for the women."[268]
+
+This custom is mentioned by other writers, but it is impossible to
+ascertain at what period it became prevalent in Babylonia and by whom
+it was introduced. Herodotus understood that it obtained also in "the
+Illyrian tribe of the Eneti", which was reputed to have entered Italy
+with Antenor after the fall of Troy, and has been identified with the
+Venetians of later times. But the ethnic clue thus afforded is
+exceedingly vague. There is no direct reference to the custom in the
+Hammurabi Code, which reveals a curious blending of the principles of
+"Father right" and "Mother right". A girl was subject to her father's
+will; he could dispose of her as he thought best, and she always
+remained a member of his family; after marriage she was known as the
+daughter of so and so rather than the wife of so and so. But marriage
+brought her freedom and the rights of citizenship. The power vested in
+her father was never transferred to her husband.
+
+A father had the right to select a suitable spouse for his daughter,
+and she could not marry without his consent. That this law did not
+prevent "love matches" is made evident by the fact that provision was
+made in the Code for the marriage of a free woman with a male slave,
+part of whose estate in the event of his wife's death could be claimed
+by his master.
+
+When a betrothal was arranged, the father fixed the "bride price",
+which was paid over before the contract could be concluded, and he
+also provided a dowry. The amount of the "bride price" might, however,
+be refunded to the young couple to give them a start in life. If,
+during the interval between betrothal and marriage, the man "looked
+upon another woman", and said to his father-in-law, "I will not marry
+your daughter", he forfeited the "bride price" for breach of promise
+of marriage.
+
+A girl might also obtain a limited degree of freedom by taking vows of
+celibacy and becoming one of the vestal virgins, or nuns, who were
+attached to the temple of the sun god. She did not, however, live a
+life of entire seclusion. If she received her due proportion of her
+father's estate, she could make business investments within certain
+limits. She was not, for instance, allowed to own a wineshop, and if
+she even entered one she was burned at the stake. Once she took these
+vows she had to observe them until the end of her days. If she
+married, as she might do to obtain the legal status of a married woman
+and enjoy the privileges of that position, she denied her husband
+conjugal rites, but provided him with a concubine who might bear him
+children, as Sarah did to Abraham. These nuns must not be confused
+with the unmoral women who were associated with the temples of Ishtar
+and other love goddesses of shady repute.
+
+The freedom secured by a married woman had its legal limitations. If
+she became a widow, for instance, she could not remarry without the
+consent of a judge, to whom she was expected to show good cause for
+the step she proposed to take. Punishments for breaches of the
+marriage law were severe. Adultery was a capital crime; the guilty
+parties were bound together and thrown into the river. If it happened,
+however, that the wife of a prisoner went to reside with another man
+on account of poverty, she was acquitted and allowed to return to her
+husband after his release. In cases where no plea of poverty could be
+urged the erring women were drowned. The wife of a soldier who had
+been taken prisoner by an enemy was entitled to a third part of her
+husband's estate if her son was a minor, the remainder was held in
+trust. The husband could enter into possession of all his property
+again if he happened to return home.
+
+Divorce was easily obtained. A husband might send his wife away either
+because she was childless or because he fell in love with another
+woman. Incompatibility of temperament was also recognized as
+sufficient reason for separation. A woman might hate her husband and
+wish to leave him. "If", the Code sets forth, "she is careful and is
+without blame, and is neglected by her husband who has deserted her",
+she can claim release from the marriage contract. But if she is found
+to have another lover, and is guilty of neglecting her duties, she is
+liable to be put to death.
+
+A married woman possessed her own property. Indeed, the value of her
+marriage dowry was always vested in her. When, therefore, she divorced
+her husband, or was divorced by him, she was entitled to have her
+dowry refunded and to return to her father's house. Apparently she
+could claim maintenance from her father.
+
+A woman could have only one husband, but a man could have more than
+one wife. He might marry a secondary wife, or concubine, because he
+was without offspring, but "the concubine", the Code lays down, "shall
+not rank with the wife". Another reason for second marriage recognized
+by law was a wife's state of health. In such circumstances a man could
+not divorce his sickly wife. He had to support her in his house as
+long as she lived.
+
+Children were the heirs of their parents, but if a man during his
+lifetime gifted his property to his wife, and confirmed it on "a
+sealed tablet", the children could have no claim, and the widow was
+entitled to leave her estate to those of her children she preferred;
+but she could not will any portion of it to her brothers. In ordinary
+cases the children of a first marriage shared equally the estate of a
+father with those of a second marriage. If a slave bore children to
+her employer, their right to inheritance depended on whether or not
+the father had recognized them as his offspring during his lifetime. A
+father might legally disown his son if the young man was guilty of
+criminal practices.
+
+The legal rights of a vestal virgin were set forth in detail. If she
+had received no dowry from her father when she took vows of celibacy,
+she could claim after his death one-third of the portion of a son. She
+could will her estate to anyone she favoured, but if she died
+intestate her brothers were her heirs. When, however, her estate
+consisted of fields or gardens allotted to her by her father, she
+could not disinherit her legal heirs. The fields or gardens might be
+worked during her lifetime by her brothers if they paid rent, or she
+might employ a manager on the "share system".
+
+Vestal virgins and married women were protected against the slanderer.
+Any man who "pointed the finger" against them unjustifiably was
+charged with the offence before a judge, who could sentence him to
+have his forehead branded. It was not difficult, therefore, in ancient
+Babylonia to discover the men who made malicious and unfounded
+statements regarding an innocent woman. Assaults on women were
+punished according to the victim's rank; even slaves were protected.
+
+Women appear to have monopolized the drink traffic. At any rate, there
+is no reference to male wine sellers. A female publican had to conduct
+her business honestly, and was bound to accept a legal tender. If she
+refused corn and demanded silver, when the value of the silver by
+"grand weight" was below the price of corn, she was prosecuted and
+punished by being thrown into the water. Perhaps she was simply
+ducked. As much may be inferred from the fact that when she was found
+guilty of allowing rebels to meet in her house, she was put to death.
+
+The land laws were strict and exacting. A tenant could be penalized
+for not cultivating his holding properly. The rent paid was a
+proportion of the crop, but the proportion could be fixed according to
+the average yield of a district, so that a careless or inefficient
+tenant had to bear the brunt of his neglect or want of skill. The
+punishment for allowing a field to lie fallow was to make a man hoe
+and sow it and then hand it over to his landlord, and this applied
+even to a man who leased unreclaimed land which he had contracted to
+cultivate. Damage done to fields by floods after the rent was paid was
+borne by the cultivator; but if it occurred before the corn was reaped
+the landlord's share was calculated in proportion to the amount of the
+yield which was recovered. Allowance was also made for poor harvests,
+when the shortage was not due to the neglect of the tenant, but to
+other causes, and no interest was paid for borrowed money even if the
+farm suffered from the depredations of the tempest god; the
+moneylender had to share risks with borrowers. Tenants who neglected
+their dykes, however, were not exempted from their legal liabilities,
+and their whole estates could be sold to reimburse their creditors.
+
+The industrious were protected against the careless. Men who were
+negligent about controlling the water supply, and caused floods by
+opening irrigation ditches which damaged the crops of their
+neighbours, had to pay for the losses sustained, the damages being
+estimated according to the average yield of a district. A tenant who
+allowed his sheep to stray on to a neighbour's pasture had to pay a
+heavy fine in corn at the harvest season, much in excess of the value
+of the grass cropped by his sheep. Gardeners were similarly subject to
+strict laws. All business contracts had to be conducted according to
+the provisions of the Code, and in every case it was necessary that a
+proper record should be made on clay tablets. As a rule a dishonest
+tenant or trader had to pay sixfold the value of the sum under dispute
+if the judge decided in court against his claim.
+
+The law of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth was strictly
+observed in Babylonia. A freeman who destroyed an eye of a freeman had
+one of his own destroyed; if he broke a bone, he had a bone broken.
+Fines were imposed, however, when a slave was injured. For striking a
+gentleman, a commoner received sixty lashes, and the son who smote his
+father had his hands cut off. A slave might have his ears cut off for
+assaulting his master's son.
+
+Doctors must have found their profession an extremely risky one. No
+allowance was made for what is nowadays known as a "professional
+error". A doctor's hands were cut off if he opened a wound with a
+metal knife and his patient afterwards died, or if a man lost his eye
+as the result of an operation. A slave who died under a doctor's hands
+had to be replaced by a slave, and if a slave lost his eye, the doctor
+had to pay half the man's market value to the owner. Professional fees
+were fixed according to a patient's rank. Gentlemen had to pay five
+shekels of silver to a doctor who set a bone or restored diseased
+flesh, commoners three shekels, and masters for their slaves two
+shekels. There was also a scale of fees for treating domesticated
+animals, and it was not over-generous. An unfortunate surgeon who
+undertook to treat an ox or ass suffering from a severe wound had to
+pay a quarter of its price to its owner if it happened to die. A
+shrewd farmer who was threatened with the loss of an animal must have
+been extremely anxious to engage the services of a surgeon.
+
+It is not surprising, after reviewing this part of the Hammurabi Code,
+to find Herodotus stating bluntly that the Babylonians had no
+physicians. "When a man is ill", he wrote, "they lay him in the public
+square, and the passers-by come up to him, and if they have ever had
+his disease themselves, or have known anyone who has suffered from it,
+they give him advice, recommending him to do whatever they found good
+in their own case, or in the case known to them; and no one is allowed
+to pass the sick man in silence without asking him what his ailment
+is." One might imagine that Hammurabi had legislated the medical
+profession out of existence, were it not that letters have been found
+in the Assyrian library of Ashur-banipal which indicate that skilled
+physicians were held in high repute. It is improbable, however, that
+they were numerous. The risks they ran in Babylonia may account for
+their ultimate disappearance in that country.
+
+No doubt patients received some benefit from exposure in the streets
+in the sunlight and fresh air, and perhaps, too, from some of the old
+wives' remedies which were gratuitously prescribed by passers-by. In
+Egypt, where certain of the folk cures were recorded on papyri, quite
+effective treatment was occasionally given, although the "medicines"
+were exceedingly repugnant as a rule; ammonia, for instance, was taken
+with the organic substances found in farmyards. Elsewhere some
+wonderful instances of excellent folk cures have come to light,
+especially among isolated peoples, who have received them interwoven
+in their immemorial traditions. A medical man who has investigated
+this interesting subject in the Scottish Highlands has shown that "the
+simple observation of the people was the starting-point of our fuller
+knowledge, however complete we may esteem it to be". For dropsy and
+heart troubles, foxglove, broom tops, and juniper berries, which have
+reputations "as old as the hills", are "the most reliable medicines in
+our scientific armoury at the present time". These discoveries of the
+ancient folks have been "merely elaborated in later days". Ancient
+cures for indigestion are still in use. "Tar water, which was a remedy
+for chest troubles, especially for those of a consumptive nature, has
+endless imitations in our day"; it was also "the favourite remedy for
+skin diseases". No doubt the present inhabitants of Babylonia, who
+utilize bitumen as a germicide, are perpetuating an ancient folk
+custom.
+
+This medical man who is being quoted adds: "The whole matter may be
+summed up, that we owe infinitely more to the simple nature study of
+our people in the great affair of health than we owe to all the later
+science."[269]
+
+Herodotus, commenting on the custom of patients taking a census of
+folk cures in the streets, said it was one of the wisest institutions
+of the Babylonian people. It is to be regretted that he did not enter
+into details regarding the remedies which were in greatest favour in
+his day. His data would have been useful for comparative purposes.
+
+So far as can be gathered from the clay tablets, faith cures were not
+unknown, and there was a good deal of quackery. If surgery declined,
+as a result of the severe restrictions which hampered progress in an
+honourable profession, magic flourished like tropical fungi. Indeed,
+the worker of spells was held in high repute, and his operations were
+in most cases allowed free play. There are only two paragraphs in the
+Hammurabi Code which deal with magical practices. It is set forth that
+if one man cursed another and the curse could not be justified, the
+perpetrator of it must suffer the death penalty. Provision was also
+made for discovering whether a spell had been legally imposed or not.
+The victim was expected to plunge himself in a holy river. If the
+river carried him away it was held as proved that he deserved his
+punishment, and "the layer of the spell" was given possession of the
+victim's house. A man who could swim was deemed to be innocent; he
+claimed the residence of "the layer of the spell", who was promptly
+put to death. With this interesting glimpse of ancient superstition
+the famous Code opens, and then strikes a modern note by detailing the
+punishments for perjury and the unjust administration of law in the
+courts.
+
+The poor sufferers who gathered at street corners in Babylon to make
+mute appeal for cures believed that they were possessed by evil
+spirits. Germs of disease were depicted by lively imaginations as
+invisible demons, who derived nourishment from the human body. When a
+patient was wasted with disease, growing thinner and weaker and more
+bloodless day by day, it was believed that a merciless vampire was
+sucking his veins and devouring his flesh. It had therefore to be
+expelled by performing a magical ceremony and repeating a magical
+formula. The demon was either driven or enticed away.
+
+A magician had to decide in the first place what particular demon was
+working evil. He then compelled its attention and obedience by
+detailing its attributes and methods of attack, and perhaps by naming
+it. Thereafter he suggested how it should next act by releasing a
+raven, so that it might soar towards the clouds like that bird, or by
+offering up a sacrifice which it received for nourishment and as
+compensation. Another popular method was to fashion a waxen figure of
+the patient and prevail upon the disease demon to enter it. The figure
+was then carried away to be thrown in the river or burned in a fire.
+
+Occasionally a quite effective cure was included in the ceremony. As
+much is suggested by the magical treatment of toothache. First of all
+the magician identified the toothache demon as "the worm ". Then he
+recited its history, which is as follows: After Anu created the
+heavens, the heavens created the earth, the earth created the rivers,
+the rivers created the canals, the canals created the marshes, and
+last of all the marshes created "the worm".
+
+This display of knowledge compelled the worm to listen, and no doubt
+the patient was able to indicate to what degree it gave evidence of
+its agitated mind. The magician continued:
+
+    Came the worm and wept before Shamash,
+    Before Ea came her tears:
+    "What wilt thou give me for my food,
+    What wilt thou give me to devour?"
+
+One of the deities answered: "I will give thee dried bones and scented
+... wood"; but the hungry worm protested:
+
+    "Nay, what are these dried bones of thine to me?
+    Let me drink among the teeth;
+    And set me on the gums
+    That I may devour the blood of the teeth,
+    And of their gums destroy their strength--
+    Then shall I hold the bolt of the door."
+
+The magician provided food for "the worm", and the following is his
+recipe: "Mix beer, the plant sa-kil-bir, and oil together; put it on
+the tooth and repeat Incantation." No doubt this mixture soothed the
+pain, and the sufferer must have smiled gladly when the magician
+finished his incantation by exclaiming:
+
+    "So must thou say this, O Worm!
+    May Ea smite thee with the might of his fist."[270]
+
+Headaches were no doubt much relieved when damp cloths were wrapped
+round a patient's head and scented wood was burned beside him, while
+the magician, in whom so much faith was reposed, droned out a mystical
+incantation. The curative water was drawn from the confluence of two
+streams and was sprinkled with much ceremony. In like manner the
+evil-eye curers, who still operate in isolated districts in these
+islands, draw water from under bridges "over which the dead and the
+living pass",[271] and mutter charms and lustrate victims.
+
+Headaches were much dreaded by the Babylonians. They were usually the
+first symptoms of fevers, and the demons who caused them were supposed
+to be bloodthirsty and exceedingly awesome. According to the charms,
+these invisible enemies of man were of the brood of Nergal. No house
+could be protected against them. They entered through keyholes and
+chinks of doors and windows; they crept like serpents and stank like
+mice; they had lolling tongues like hungry dogs.
+
+Magicians baffled the demons by providing a charm. If a patient
+"touched iron"--meteoric iron, which was the "metal of heaven"--relief
+could be obtained. Or, perhaps, the sacred water would dispel the evil
+one; as the drops trickled from the patient's face, so would the fever
+spirit trickle away. When a pig was offered up in sacrifice as a
+substitute for a patient, the wicked spirit was commanded to depart
+and allow a kindly spirit to take its place--an indication that the
+Babylonians, like the Germanic peoples, believed that they were
+guarded by spirits who brought good luck.
+
+The numerous incantations which were inscribed on clay tablets and
+treasured in libraries, do not throw much light on the progress of
+medical knowledge, for the genuine folk cures were regarded as of
+secondary importance, and were not as a rule recorded. But these
+metrical compositions are of special interest, in so far as they
+indicate how poetry originated and achieved widespread popularity
+among ancient peoples. Like the religious dance, the earliest poems
+were used for magical purposes. They were composed in the first place
+by men and women who were supposed to be inspired in the literal
+sense; that is, possessed by spirits. Primitive man associated
+"spirit" with "breath", which was the "air of life", and identical
+with wind. The poetical magician drew in a "spirit", and thus received
+inspiration, as he stood on some sacred spot on the mountain summit,
+amidst forest solitudes, beside a' whispering stream, or on the
+sounding shore. As Burns has sung:
+
+    The muse, nae poet ever fand her,
+    Till by himsel' he learn'd to wander,
+    Adown some trottin' burn's meander,
+      An' no think lang:
+    O sweet to stray, an' pensive ponder
+      A heart-felt sang!
+
+Or, perhaps, the bard received inspiration by drinking magic water
+from the fountain called Hippocrene, or the skaldic mead which dripped
+from the moon.
+
+The ancient poet did not sing for the mere love of singing: he knew
+nothing about "Art for Art's sake". His object in singing appears to
+have been intensely practical. The world was inhabited by countless
+hordes of spirits, which were believed to be ever exercising
+themselves to influence mankind. The spirits caused suffering; they
+slew victims; they brought misfortune; they were also the source of
+good or "luck ". Man regarded spirits emotionally; he conjured them
+with emotion; he warded off their attacks with emotion; and his
+emotions were given rhythmical expression by means of metrical magical
+charms.
+
+Poetic imagery had originally a magical significance; if the ocean was
+compared to a dragon, it was because it was supposed to be inhabited
+by a storm-causing dragon; the wind whispered because a spirit
+whispered in it. Love lyrics were charms to compel the love god to
+wound or possess a maiden's heart--to fill it, as an Indian charm sets
+forth, with "the yearning of the Apsaras (fairies)"; satires conjured
+up evil spirits to injure a victim; and heroic narratives chanted at
+graves were statements made to the god of battle, so that he might
+award the mighty dead by transporting him to the Valhal of Odin or
+Swarga of Indra.
+
+Similarly, music had magical origin as an imitation of the voices of
+spirits--of the piping birds who were "Fates", of the wind high and
+low, of the thunder roll, of the bellowing sea. So the god Pan piped
+on his reed bird-like notes, Indra blew his thunder horn, Thor used
+his hammer like a drumstick, Neptune imitated on his "wreathed horn"
+the voice of the deep, the Celtic oak god Dagda twanged his windy
+wooden harp, and Angus, the Celtic god of spring and love, came
+through budding forest ways with a silvern harp which had strings of
+gold, echoing the tuneful birds, the purling streams, the whispering
+winds, and the rustling of scented fir and blossoming thorn.
+
+Modern-day poets and singers, who voice their moods and cast the spell
+of their moods over readers and audiences, are the representatives of
+ancient magicians who believed that moods were caused by the spirits
+which possessed them--the rhythmical wind spirits, those harpers of
+the forest and songsters of ocean.
+
+The following quotations from Mr. R.C. Thompson's translations of
+Babylonian charms will serve to illustrate their poetic qualities:--
+
+      Fever like frost hath come upon the land.
+
+    Fever hath blown upon the man as the wind blast,
+    It hath smitten the man and humbled his pride.
+
+    Headache lieth like the stars of heaven in the desert and hath no
+        praise;
+    Pain in the head and shivering like a scudding cloud turn unto the
+        form of man.
+
+        Headache whose course like the dread windstorm none knoweth.
+
+        Headache roareth over the desert, blowing like the wind,
+        Flashing like lightning, it is loosed above and below,
+        It cutteth off him, who feareth not his god, like a reed ...
+        From amid mountains it hath descended upon the land.
+
+            Headache ... a rushing hag-demon,
+            Granting no rest, nor giving kindly sleep ...
+            Whose shape is as the whirlwind.
+            Its appearance is as the darkening heavens,
+            And its face as the deep shadow of the forest.
+
+        Sickness ... breaking the fingers as a rope of wind ...
+        Flashing like a heavenly star, it cometh like the dew.
+
+These early poets had no canons of Art, and there were no critics to
+disturb their meditations. Many singers had to sing and die ere a
+critic could find much to say. In ancient times, therefore, poets had
+their Golden Age--they were a law unto themselves. Even the "minors"
+were influential members of society.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+THE GOLDEN AGE OF BABYLONIA
+
+
+  Rise of the Sun God--Amorites and Elamites struggle for
+  Ascendancy--The Conquering Ancestors of Hammurabi--Sumerian Cities
+  Destroyed--Widespread Race Movements--Phoenician Migration from
+  Persian Gulf--Wanderings of Abraham and Lot--Biblical References to
+  Hittites and Amorites--Battles of Four Kings with Five--Amraphel,
+  Arioch, and Tidal--Hammurabi's Brilliant Reign--Elamite Power
+  Stamped Out--Babylon's Great General and Statesman--The Growth of
+  Commerce, Agriculture, and Education--An Ancient School--Business
+  and Private Correspondence--A Love Letter--Postal
+  System--Hammurabi's Successors--The Earliest Kassites--The Sealand
+  Dynasty--Hittite Raid on Babylon and Hyksos Invasion of Egypt.
+
+
+Sun worship came into prominence in its most fully developed form
+during the obscure period which followed the decline of the Dynasty of
+Isin. This was probably due to the changed political conditions which
+brought about the ascendancy for a time of Larsa, the seat of the
+Sumerian sun cult, and of Sippar, the seat of the Akkadian sun cult.
+Larsa was selected as the capital of the Elamite conquerors, while
+their rivals, the Amorites, appear to have first established their
+power at Sippar.
+
+Babbar, the sun god of Sippar, whose Semitic name was Shamash, must
+have been credited with the early successes of the Amorites, who
+became domiciled under his care, and it was possibly on that account
+that the ruling family subsequently devoted so much attention to his
+worship in Merodach's city of Babylon, where a sun temple was erected,
+and Shamash received devout recognition as an abstract deity of
+righteousness and law, who reflected the ideals of well organized and
+firmly governed communities.
+
+The first Amoritic king was Sumu-abum, but little is known regarding
+him except that he reigned at Sippar. He was succeeded by Sumu-la-ilu,
+a deified monarch, who moved from Sippar to Babylon, the great wall of
+which he either repaired or entirely reconstructed in his fifth year.
+With these two monarchs began the brilliant Hammurabi, or First
+Dynasty of Babylonia, which endured for three centuries. Except
+Sumu-abum, who seems to stand alone, all its kings belonged to the
+same family, and son succeeded father in unbroken succession.
+
+Sumu-la-ilu was evidently a great general and conqueror of the type of
+Thothmes III of Egypt. His empire, it is believed, included the rising
+city states of Assyria, and extended southward as far as ancient
+Lagash.
+
+Of special interest on religious as well as political grounds was his
+association with Kish. That city had become the stronghold of a rival
+family of Amoritic kings, some of whom were powerful enough to assert
+their independence. They formed the Third Dynasty of Kish. The local
+god was Zamama, the Tammuz-like deity, who, like Nin-Girsu of Lagash,
+was subsequently identified with Merodach of Babylon. But prominence
+was also given to the moon god Nannar, to whom a temple had been
+erected, a fact which suggests that sun worship was not more
+pronounced among the Semites than the Arabians, and may not, indeed,
+have been of Semitic origin at all. Perhaps the lunar temple was a
+relic of the influential Dynasty of Ur.
+
+Sumu-la-ilu attacked and captured Kish, but did not slay
+Bunutakhtunila, its king, who became his vassal. Under the
+overlordship of Sumu-la-ilu, the next ruler of Kish, whose name was
+Immerum, gave prominence to the public worship of Shamash. Politics
+and religion went evidently hand in hand.
+
+Sumu-la-ilu strengthened the defences of Sippar, restored the wall and
+temple of Cuthah, and promoted the worship of Merodach and his consort
+Zerpanitu^m at Babylon. He was undoubtedly one of the forceful
+personalities of his dynasty. His son, Zabium, had a short but
+successful reign, and appears to have continued the policy of his
+father in consolidating the power of Babylon and securing the
+allegiance of subject cities. He enlarged Merodach's temple, E-sagila,
+restored the Kish temple of Zamama, and placed a golden image of
+himself in the temple of the sun god at Sippar. Apil-Sin, his son,
+surrounded Babylon with a new wall, erected a temple to Ishtar, and
+presented a throne of gold and silver to Shamash in that city, while
+he also strengthened Borsippa, renewed Nergal's temple at Cuthah, and
+dug canals.
+
+The next monarch was Sin-muballit, son of Apil-Sin and father of
+Hammurabi. He engaged himself in extending and strengthening the area
+controlled by Babylon by building city fortifications and improving
+the irrigation system. It is recorded that he honoured Shamash with
+the gift of a shrine and a golden altar adorned with jewels. Like
+Sumu-la-ilu, he was a great battle lord, and was specially concerned
+in challenging the supremacy of Elam in Sumeria and in the western
+land of the Amorites.
+
+For a brief period a great conqueror, named Rim-Anum, had established
+an empire which extended from Kish to Larsa, but little is known
+regarding him. Then several kings flourished at Larsa who claimed to
+have ruled over Ur. The first monarch with an Elamite name who became
+connected with Larsa was Kudur-Mabug, son of Shimti-Shilkhak, the
+father of Warad-Sin and Rim-Sin.
+
+It was from one of these Elamite monarchs that Sin-muballit captured
+Isin, and probably the Elamites were also the leaders of the army of
+Ur which he had routed before that event took place. He was not
+successful, however, in driving the Elamites from the land, and
+possibly he arranged with them a treaty of peace or perhaps of
+alliance.
+
+Much controversy has been waged over the historical problems connected
+with this disturbed age. The records are exceedingly scanty, because
+the kings were not in the habit of commemorating battles which proved
+disastrous to them, and their fragmentary references to successes are
+not sufficient to indicate what permanent results accrued from their
+various campaigns. All we know for certain is that for a considerable
+period, extending perhaps over a century, a tremendous and disastrous
+struggle was waged at intervals, which desolated middle Babylonia. At
+least five great cities were destroyed by fire, as is testified by the
+evidence accumulated by excavators. These were Lagash, Umma,
+Shurruppak, Kisurra, and Adab. The ancient metropolis of Lagash, whose
+glory had been revived by Gudea and his kinsmen, fell soon after the
+rise of Larsa, and lay in ruins until the second century B.C., when,
+during the Seleucid Period, it was again occupied for a time. From its
+mound at Tello, and the buried ruins of the other cities, most of the
+relics of ancient Sumerian civilization have been recovered.
+
+It was probably during one of the intervals of this stormy period that
+the rival kings in Babylonia joined forces against a common enemy and
+invaded the Western Land. Probably there was much unrest there. Great
+ethnic disturbances were in progress which were changing the political
+complexion of Western Asia. In addition to the outpourings of Arabian
+peoples into Palestine and Syria, which propelled other tribes to
+invade Mesopotamia, northern Babylonia, and Assyria, there was also
+much unrest all over the wide area to north and west of Elam. Indeed,
+the Elamite migration into southern Babylonia may not have been
+unconnected with the southward drift of roving bands from Media and
+the Iranian plateau.
+
+It is believed that these migrations were primarily due to changing
+climatic conditions, a prolonged "Dry Cycle" having caused a shortage
+of herbage, with the result that pastoral peoples were compelled to go
+farther and farther afield in quest of "fresh woods and pastures new".
+Innumerable currents and cross currents were set in motion once these
+race movements swept towards settled districts either to flood them
+with human waves, or surround them like islands in the midst of
+tempest-lashed seas, fretting the frontiers with restless fury, and
+ever groping for an inlet through which to flow with irresistible
+force.
+
+The Elamite occupation of Southern Babylonia appears to have propelled
+migrations of not inconsiderable numbers of its inhabitants. No doubt
+the various sections moved towards districts which were suitable for
+their habits of life. Agriculturists, for instance, must have shown
+preference for those areas which were capable of agricultural
+development, while pastoral folks sought grassy steppes and valleys,
+and seafarers the shores of alien seas.
+
+Northern Babylonia and Assyria probably attracted the tillers of the
+soil. But the movements of seafarers must have followed a different
+route. It is possible that about this time the Phoenicians began to
+migrate towards the "Upper Sea". According to their own traditions
+their racial cradle was on the northern shore of the Persian Gulf. So
+far as we know, they first made their appearance on the Mediterranean
+coast about 2000 B.C., where they subsequently entered into
+competition as sea traders with the mariners of ancient Crete.
+Apparently the pastoral nomads pressed northward through Mesopotamia
+and towards Canaan. As much is suggested by the Biblical narrative
+which deals with the wanderings of Terah, Abraham, and Lot. Taking
+with them their "flocks and herds and tents ", and accompanied by
+wives, and families, and servants, they migrated, it is stated, from
+the Sumerian city of Ur northwards to Haran "and dwelt there". After
+Terah's death the tribe wandered through Canaan and kept moving
+southward, unable, it would seem, to settle permanently in any
+particular district. At length "there was a famine in the land"--an
+interesting reference to the "Dry Cycle"--and the wanderers found it
+necessary to take refuge for a time in Egypt. There they appear to
+have prospered. Indeed, so greatly did their flocks and herds increase
+that when they returned to Canaan they found that "the land was not
+able to bear them", although the conditions had improved somewhat
+during the interval. "There was", as a result, "strife between the
+herdmen of Abram's cattle and the herdmen of Lot's cattle."
+
+It is evident that the area which these pastoral flocks were allowed
+to occupy must have been strictly circumscribed, for more than once it
+is stated significantly that "the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled
+in the land". The two kinsmen found it necessary, therefore, to part
+company. Lot elected to go towards Sodom in the plain of Jordan, and
+Abraham then moved towards the plain of Mamre, the Amorite, in the
+Hebron district.[272] With Mamre, and his brothers, Eshcol and Aner,
+the Hebrew patriarch formed a confederacy for mutual protection.[273]
+
+Other tribes which were in Palestine at this period included the
+Horites, the Rephaims, the Zuzims, the Zamzummims, and the Emims.
+These were probably representatives of the older stocks. Like the
+Amorites, the Hittites or "children of Heth" were evidently "late
+comers", and conquerors. When Abraham purchased the burial cave at
+Hebron, the landowner with whom he had to deal was one Ephron, son of
+Zohar, the Hittite.[274] This illuminating statement agrees with what
+we know regarding Hittite expansion about 2000 B.C. The "Hatti" or
+"Khatti" had constituted military aristocracies throughout Syria and
+extended their influence by forming alliances. Many of their settlers
+were owners of estates, and traders who intermarried with the
+indigenous peoples and the Arabian invaders. As has been indicated
+(Chapter I), the large-nosed Armenoid section of the Hittite
+confederacy appear to have contributed to the racial blend known
+vaguely as the Semitic. Probably the particular group of Amorites with
+whom Abraham became associated had those pronounced Armenoid traits
+which can still be traced in representatives of the Hebrew people. Of
+special interest in this connection is Ezekiel's declaration regarding
+the ethnics of Jerusalem: "Thy birth and thy nativity", he said, "is
+of the land of Canaan; thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother an
+Hittite."[275]
+
+It was during Abraham's residence in Hebron that the Western Land was
+raided by a confederacy of Babylonian and Elamite battle lords. The
+Biblical narrative which deals with this episode is of particular
+interest and has long engaged the attention of European scholars:
+
+"And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel (Hammurabi) king of
+Shinar (Sumer), Arioch (Eri-aku or Warad-Sin) king of Ellasar (Larsa),
+Chedor-laomer (Kudur-Mabug) king of Elam, and Tidal (Tudhula) king of
+nations; that these made war with Bera king of Sodom, and with Birsha
+king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, and Shemeber king of Zeboiim,
+and the king of Bela, which is Zoar. All these joined together in the
+vale of Siddim, which is the salt sea. Twelve years they served
+Chedor-laomer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled."[276]
+Apparently the Elamites had conquered part of Syria after entering
+southern Babylonia.
+
+Chedor-laomer and his allies routed the Rephaims, the Zuzims, the
+Emims, the Horites and others, and having sacked Sodom and Gomorrah,
+carried away Lot and "his goods". On hearing of this disaster, Abraham
+collected a force of three hundred and eighteen men, all of whom were
+no doubt accustomed to guerrilla warfare, and delivered a night attack
+on the tail of the victorious army which was withdrawing through the
+area afterwards allotted to the Hebrew tribe of Dan. The surprise was
+complete; Abraham "smote" the enemy and "pursued them unto Hobah,
+which is on the left hand of Damascus. And he brought back all the
+goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the
+women also, and the people."[277]
+
+The identification of Hammurabi with Amraphel is now generally
+accepted. At first the guttural "h", which gives the English rendering
+"Khammurabi", presented a serious difficulty, but in time the form
+"Ammurapi" which appears on a tablet became known, and the conclusion
+was reached that the softer "h" sound was used and not the guttural.
+The "l" in the Biblical Amraphel has suggested "Ammurapi-ilu",
+"Hammurabi, the god", but it has been argued, on the other hand, that
+the change may have been due to western habitual phonetic conditions,
+or perhaps the slight alteration of an alphabetical sign.
+Chedor-laomer, identified with Kudur-Mabug, may have had several local
+names. One of his sons, either Warad-Sin or Rim-Sin, but probably the
+former, had his name Semitized as Eri-Aku, and this variant appears in
+inscriptions. "Tidal, king of nations", has not been identified. The
+suggestion that he was "King of the Gutium" remains in the realm of
+suggestion. Two late tablets have fragmentary inscriptions which read
+like legends with some historical basis. One mentions Kudur-lahmal
+(?Chedor-laomer) and the other gives the form "Kudur-lahgumal", and
+calls him "King of the land of Elam". Eri-Eaku (?Eri-aku) and Tudhula
+(?Tidal) are also mentioned. Attacks had been delivered on Babylon,
+and the city and its great temple E-sagila were flooded. It is
+asserted that the Elamites "exercised sovereignty in Babylon" for a
+period. These interesting tablets have been published by Professor
+Pinches.
+
+The fact that the four leaders of the expedition to Canaan are all
+referred to as "kings" in the Biblical narrative need not present any
+difficulty. Princes and other subject rulers who governed under an
+overlord might be and, as a matter of fact, were referred to as kings.
+"I am a king, son of a king", an unidentified monarch recorded on one
+of the two tablets just referred to. Kudur-Mabug, King of Elam, during
+his lifetime called his son Warad-Sin (Eri-Aku = Arioch) "King of
+Larsa". It is of interest to note, too, in connection with the
+Biblical narrative regarding the invasion of Syria and Palestine, that
+he styled himself "overseer of the Amurru (Amorites)".
+
+No traces have yet been found in Palestine of its conquest by the
+Elamites, nor have the excavators been able to substantiate the claim
+of Lugal-zaggizi of a previous age to have extended his empire to the
+shores of the Mediterranean. Any relics which these and other eastern
+conquerors may have left were possibly destroyed by the Egyptians and
+Hittites.
+
+When Hammurabi came to the throne he had apparently to recognize the
+overlordship of the Elamite king or his royal son at Larsa. Although
+Sin-muballit had captured Isin, it was retaken, probably after the
+death of the Babylonian war-lord, by Rim-Sin, who succeeded his
+brother Warad-Sin, and for a time held sway in Lagash, Nippur, and
+Erech, as well as Larsa.
+
+It was not until the thirty-first year of his reign that Hammurabi
+achieved ascendancy over his powerful rival. Having repulsed an
+Elamite raid, which was probably intended to destroy the growing power
+of Babylon, he "smote down Rim-Sin", whose power he reduced almost to
+vanishing point. For about twenty years afterwards that subdued
+monarch lived in comparative obscurity; then he led a force of allies
+against Hammurabi's son and successor, Samsu-iluna, who defeated him
+and put him to death, capturing, in the course of his campaign, the
+revolting cities of Emutbalum, Erech, and Isin. So was the last
+smouldering ember of Elamite power stamped out in Babylonia.
+
+Hammurabi, statesman and general, is one of the great personalities of
+the ancient world. No more celebrated monarch ever held sway in
+Western Asia. He was proud of his military achievements, but preferred
+to be remembered as a servant of the gods, a just ruler, a father of
+his people, and "the shepherd that gives peace". In the epilogue to
+his code of laws he refers to "the burden of royalty", and declares
+that he "cut off the enemy" and "lorded it over the conquered" so that
+his subjects might have security. Indeed, his anxiety for their
+welfare was the most pronounced feature of his character. "I carried
+all the people of Sumer and Akkad in my bosom", he declared in his
+epilogue. "By my protection, I guided in peace its brothers. By my
+wisdom I provided for them." He set up his stele, on which the legal
+code was inscribed, so "that the great should not oppress the weak"
+and "to counsel the widow and orphan", and "to succour the injured....
+The king that is gentle, king of the city, exalted am I."[278]
+
+Hammurabi was no mere framer of laws but a practical administrator as
+well. He acted as supreme judge, and his subjects could appeal to him
+as the Romans could to Caesar. Nor was any case too trivial for his
+attention. The humblest man was assured that justice would be done if
+his grievance were laid before the king. Hammurabi was no respecter of
+persons, and treated alike all his subjects high and low. He punished
+corrupt judges, protected citizens against unjust governors, reviewed
+the transactions of moneylenders with determination to curb
+extortionate demands, and kept a watchful eye on the operations of
+taxgatherers.
+
+There can be little doubt but that he won the hearts of his subjects,
+who enjoyed the blessings of just administration under a well-ordained
+political system. He must also have endeared himself to them as an
+exemplary exponent of religious tolerance. He respected the various
+deities in whom the various groups of people reposed their faith,
+restored despoiled temples, and re-endowed them with characteristic
+generosity. By so doing he not only afforded the pious full freedom
+and opportunity to perform their religious ordinances, but also
+promoted the material welfare of his subjects, for the temples were
+centres of culture and the priests were the teachers of the young.
+Excavators have discovered at Sippar traces of a school which dates
+from the Hammurabi Dynasty. Pupils learned to read and write, and
+received instruction in arithmetic and mensuration. They copied
+historical tablets, practised the art of composition, and studied
+geography.
+
+Although there were many professional scribes, a not inconsiderable
+proportion of the people of both sexes were able to write private and
+business letters. Sons wrote from a distance to their fathers when in
+need of money then as now, and with the same air of undeserved
+martyrdom and subdued but confident appeal. One son indited a long
+complaint regarding the quality of the food he was given in his
+lodgings. Lovers appealed to forgetful ladies, showing great concern
+regarding their health. "Inform me how it fares with thee," one wrote
+four thousand years ago. "I went up to Babylon so that I might meet
+thee, but did not, and was much depressed. Let me know why thou didst
+go away so that I may be made glad. And do come hither. Ever have care
+of thy health, remembering me." Even begging-letter writers were not
+unknown. An ancient representative of this class once wrote to his
+employer from prison. He expressed astonishment that he had been
+arrested, and, having protested his innocence, he made touching appeal
+for little luxuries which were denied to him, adding that the last
+consignment which had been forwarded had never reached him.
+
+Letters were often sent by messengers who were named, but there also
+appears to have been some sort of postal system. Letter carriers,
+however, could not have performed their duties without the assistance
+of beasts of burden. Papyri were not used as in Egypt. Nor was ink
+required. Babylonian letters were shapely little bricks resembling
+cushions. The angular alphabetical characters, bristling with
+thorn-like projections, were impressed with a wedge-shaped stylus on
+tablets of soft clay which were afterwards carefully baked in an oven.
+Then the letters were placed in baked clay envelopes, sealed and
+addressed, or wrapped in pieces of sacking transfixed by seals. If the
+ancient people had a festive season which was regarded, like the
+European Yuletide or the Indian Durga fortnight, as an occasion
+suitable for the general exchange of expressions of goodwill, the
+Babylonian streets and highways must have been greatly congested by
+the postal traffic, while muscular postmen worked overtime
+distributing the contents of heavy and bulky letter sacks. Door to
+door deliveries would certainly have presented difficulties. Wood
+being dear, everyone could not afford doors, and some houses were
+entered by stairways leading to the flat and partly open roofs.
+
+King Hammurabi had to deal daily with a voluminous correspondence. He
+received reports from governors in all parts of his realm, legal
+documents containing appeals, and private communications from
+relatives and others. He paid minute attention to details, and was
+probably one of the busiest men in Babylonia. Every day while at home,
+after worshipping Merodach at E-sagila, he dictated letters to his
+scribes, gave audiences to officials, heard legal appeals and issued
+interlocutors, and dealt with the reports regarding his private
+estates. He looks a typical man of affairs in sculptured
+representations--shrewd, resolute, and unassuming, feeling "the
+burden of royalty", but ever ready and well qualified to discharge his
+duties with thoroughness and insight. His grasp of detail was equalled
+only by his power to conceive of great enterprises which appealed to
+his imagination. It was a work of genius on his part to weld together
+that great empire of miscellaneous states extending from southern
+Babylonia to Assyria, and from the borders of Elam to the
+Mediterranean coast, by a universal legal Code which secured
+tranquillity and equal rights to all, promoted business, and set
+before his subjects the ideals of right thinking and right living.
+
+Hammurabi recognized that conquest was of little avail unless followed
+by the establishment of a just and well-arranged political system, and
+the inauguration of practical measures to secure the domestic,
+industrial, and commercial welfare of the people as a whole. He
+engaged himself greatly, therefore, in developing the natural
+resources of each particular district. The network of irrigating
+canals was extended in the homeland so that agriculture might prosper:
+these canals also promoted trade, for they were utilized for
+travelling by boat and for the distribution of commodities. As a
+result of his activities Babylon became not only the administrative,
+but also the commercial centre of his Empire--the London of Western
+Asia--and it enjoyed a spell of prosperity which was never surpassed
+in subsequent times. Yet it never lost its pre-eminent position
+despite the attempts of rival states, jealous of its glory and
+influence, to suspend its activities. It had been too firmly
+established during the Hammurabi Age, which was the Golden Age of
+Babylonia, as the heartlike distributor and controller of business
+life through a vast network of veins and arteries, to be displaced by
+any other Mesopotamian city to pleasure even a mighty monarch. For two
+thousand years, from the time of Hammurabi until the dawn of the
+Christian era, the city of Babylon remained amidst many political
+changes the metropolis of Western Asiatic commerce and culture, and
+none was more eloquent in its praises than the scholarly pilgrim from
+Greece who wondered at its magnificence and reverenced its
+antiquities.
+
+Hammurabi's reign was long as it was prosperous. There is no general
+agreement as to when he ascended the throne--some say in 2123 B.C.,
+others hold that it was after 2000 B.C.--but it is certain that he
+presided over the destinies of Babylon for the long period of
+forty-three years.
+
+There are interesting references to the military successes of his
+reign in the prologue to the legal Code. It is related that when he
+"avenged Larsa", the seat of Rim-Sin, he restored there the temple of
+the sun god. Other temples were built up at various ancient centres,
+so that these cultural organizations might contribute to the welfare
+of the localities over which they held sway. At Nippur he thus
+honoured Enlil, at Eridu the god Ea, at Ur the god Sin, at Erech the
+god Anu and the goddess Nana (Ishtar), at Kish the god Zamama and the
+goddess Ma-ma, at Cuthah the god Nergal, at Lagash the god Nin-Girsu,
+while at Adab and Akkad, "celebrated for its wide squares", and other
+centres he carried out religious and public works. In Assyria he
+restored the colossus of Ashur, which had evidently been carried away
+by a conqueror, and he developed the canal system of Nineveh.
+
+Apparently Lagash and Adab had not been completely deserted during his
+reign, although their ruins have not yielded evidence that they
+flourished after their fall during the long struggle with the
+aggressive and plundering Elamites.
+
+Hammurabi referred to himself in the Prologue as "a king who commanded
+obedience in all the four quarters". He was the sort of benevolent
+despot whom Carlyle on one occasion clamoured vainly for--not an
+Oriental despot in the commonly accepted sense of the term. As a
+German writer puts it, his despotism was a form of Patriarchal
+Absolutism. "When Marduk (Merodach)", as the great king recorded,
+"brought me to direct all people, and commissioned me to give
+judgment, I laid down justice and right in the provinces, I made all
+flesh to prosper."[279] That was the keynote of his long life; he
+regarded himself as the earthly representative of the Ruler of
+all--Merodach, "the lord god of right", who carried out the decrees of
+Anu, the sky god of Destiny.
+
+The next king, Samsu-iluna, reigned nearly as long as his illustrious
+father, and similarly lived a strenuous and pious life. Soon after he
+came to the throne the forces of disorder were let loose, but, as has
+been stated, he crushed and slew his most formidable opponent,
+Rim-Sin, the Elamite king, who had gathered together an army of
+allies. During his reign a Kassite invasion was repulsed. The earliest
+Kassites, a people of uncertain racial affinities, began to settle in
+the land during Hammurabi's lifetime. Some writers connect them with
+the Hittites, and others with the Iranians, vaguely termed as
+Indo-European or Indo-Germanic folk. Ethnologists as a rule regard
+them as identical with the Cossaei, whom the Greeks found settled
+between Babylon and Media, east of the Tigris and north of Elam. The
+Hittites came south as raiders about a century later. It is possible
+that the invading Kassites had overrun Elam and composed part of
+Rim-Sin's army. After settled conditions were secured many of them
+remained in Babylonia, where they engaged like their pioneers in
+agricultural pursuits. No doubt they were welcomed in that capacity,
+for owing to the continuous spread of culture and the development of
+commerce, rural labour had become scarce and dear. Farmers had a
+long-standing complaint, "The harvest truly is plenteous, but the
+labourers are few".[280] "Despite the existence of slaves, who were
+for the most part domestic servants, there was", writes Mr. Johns,
+"considerable demand for free labour in ancient Babylonia. This is
+clear from the large number of contracts relating to hire which have
+come down to us.... As a rule, the man was hired for the harvest and
+was free directly after. But there are many examples in which the term
+of service was different--one month, half a year, or a whole year....
+Harvest labour was probably far dearer than any other, because of its
+importance, the skill and exertion demanded, and the fact that so many
+were seeking for it at once." When a farm worker was engaged he
+received a shekel for "earnest money" or arles, and was penalized for
+non-appearance or late arrival.[281]
+
+So great was the political upheaval caused by Rim-Sin and his allies
+and imitators in southern Babylonia, that it was not until the
+seventeenth year of his reign that Samsu-iluna had recaptured Erech
+and Ur and restored their walls. Among other cities which had to be
+chastised was ancient Akkad, where a rival monarch endeavoured to
+establish himself. Several years were afterwards spent in building new
+fortifications, setting up memorials in temples, and cutting and
+clearing canals. On more than one occasion during the latter part of
+his reign he had to deal with aggressive bands of Amorites.
+
+The greatest danger to the Empire, however, was threatened by a new
+kingdom which had been formed in Bit-Jakin, a part of Sealand which
+was afterwards controlled by the mysterious Chaldeans. Here may have
+collected evicted and rebel bands of Elamites and Sumerians and
+various "gentlemen of fortune" who were opposed to the Hammurabi
+regime. After the fall of Rim-Sin it became powerful under a king
+called Ilu-ma-ilu. Samsu-iluna conducted at least two campaigns
+against his rival, but without much success. Indeed, he was in the end
+compelled to retreat with considerable loss owing to the difficult
+character of that marshy country.
+
+Abeshu, the next Babylonian king, endeavoured to shatter the cause of
+the Sealanders, and made it possible for himself to strike at them by
+damming up the Tigris canal. He achieved a victory, but the wily
+Ilu-ma-ilu eluded him, and after a reign of sixty years was succeeded
+by his son, Kiannib. The Sealand Dynasty, of which little is known,
+lasted for over three and a half centuries, and certain of its later
+monarchs were able to extend their sway over part of Babylonia, but
+its power was strictly circumscribed so long as Hammurabi's
+descendants held sway.
+
+During Abeshu's reign of twenty-eight years, of which but scanty
+records survive, he appears to have proved an able statesman and
+general. He founded a new city called Lukhaia, and appears to have
+repulsed a Kassite raid.
+
+His son, Ammiditana, who succeeded him, apparently inherited a
+prosperous and well-organized Empire, for during the first fifteen
+years of his reign he attended chiefly to the adornment of temples and
+other pious undertakings. He was a patron of the arts with
+archaeological leanings, and displayed traits which suggest that he
+inclined, like Sumu-la-ilu, to ancestor worship. Entemena, the pious
+patesi of Lagash, whose memory is associated with the famous silver
+vase decorated with the lion-headed eagle form of Nin-Girsu, had been
+raised to the dignity of a god, and Ammiditana caused his statue to be
+erected so that offerings might be made to it. He set up several
+images of himself also, and celebrated the centenary of the accession
+to the throne of his grandfather, Samsu-iluna, "the warrior lord", by
+unveiling his statue with much ceremony at Kish. About the middle of
+his reign he put down a Sumerian rising, and towards its close had to
+capture a city which is believed to be Isin, but the reference is too
+obscure to indicate what political significance attached to this
+incident. His son, Ammizaduga, reigned for over twenty years quite
+peacefully so far as is known, and was succeeded by Samsuditana, whose
+rule extended over a quarter of a century. Like Ammiditana, these two
+monarchs set up images of themselves as well as of the gods, so that
+they might be worshipped, no doubt. They also promoted the interests
+of agriculture and commerce, and incidentally increased the revenue
+from taxation by paying much attention to the canals and extending the
+cultivatable areas.
+
+But the days of the brilliant Hammurabi Dynasty were drawing to a
+close. It endured for about a century longer than the Twelfth Dynasty
+of Egypt, which came to an end, according to the Berlin calculations,
+in 1788 B.C. Apparently some of the Hammurabi and Amenemhet kings were
+contemporaries, but there is no evidence that they came into direct
+touch with one another. It was not until at about two centuries after
+Hammurabi's day that Egypt first invaded Syria, with which, however,
+it had for a long period previously conducted a brisk trade. Evidently
+the influence of the Hittites and their Amoritic allies predominated
+between Mesopotamia and the Delta frontier of Egypt, and it is
+significant to find in this connection that the "Khatti" or "Hatti"
+were referred to for the first time in Egypt during the Twelfth
+Dynasty, and in Babylonia during the Hammurabi Dynasty, sometime
+shortly before or after 2000 B.C. About 1800 B.C. a Hittite raid
+resulted in the overthrow of the last king of the Hammurabi family at
+Babylon. The Hyksos invasion of Egypt took place after 1788 B.C.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+RISE OF THE HITTITES, MITANNIANS, KASSITES, HYKSOS, AND ASSYRIANS
+
+
+  The War God of Mountaineers--Antiquity of Hittite
+  Civilization--Prehistoric Movements of "Broad Heads"--Evidence of
+  Babylon and Egypt--Hittites and Mongolians--Biblical References to
+  Hittites in Canaan--Jacob's Mother and her Daughters-in-law--Great
+  Father and Great Mother Cults--History in Mythology--The Kingdom of
+  Mitanni--Its Aryan Aristocracy--The Hyksos Problem--The Horse in
+  Warfare--Hittites and Mitannians--Kassites and Mitannians--Hyksos
+  Empire in Asia--Kassites overthrow Sealand Dynasty--Egyptian
+  Campaigns in Syria--Assyria in the Making--Ethnics of
+  Genesis--Nimrod as Merodach--Early Conquerors of Assyria--Mitannian
+  Overlords--Tell-el-Amarna Letters--Fall of Mitanni--Rise of Hittite
+  and Assyrian Empires--Egypt in Eclipse--Assyrian and Babylonian
+  Rivalries.
+
+
+When the Hammurabi Dynasty, like the Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt, is
+found to be suffering languid decline, the gaps in the dulled
+historical records are filled with the echoes of the thunder god,
+whose hammer beating resounds among the northern mountains. As this
+deity comes each year in Western Asia when vegetation has withered and
+after fruits have dropped from trees, bringing tempests and black
+rainclouds to issue in a new season of growth and fresh activity, so
+he descended from the hills in the second millennium before the
+Christian era as the battle lord of invaders and the stormy herald of
+a new age which was to dawn upon the ancient world.
+
+He was the war god of the Hittites as well as of the northern
+Amorites, the Mitannians, and the Kassites; and he led the Aryans from
+the Iranian steppes towards the verdurous valley of the Punjab. His
+worshippers engraved his image with grateful hands on the beetling
+cliffs of Cappadocian chasms in Asia Minor, where his sway was
+steadfast and pre-eminent for long centuries. In one locality he
+appears mounted on a bull wearing a fringed and belted tunic with
+short sleeves, a conical helmet, and upturned shoes, while he grasps
+in one hand the lightning symbol, and in the other a triangular bow
+resting on his right shoulder. In another locality he is the bringer
+of grapes and barley sheaves. But his most familiar form is the
+bearded and thick-set mountaineer, armed with a ponderous thunder
+hammer, a flashing trident, and a long two-edged sword with a
+hemispherical knob on the hilt, which dangles from his belt, while an
+antelope or goat wearing a pointed tiara prances beside him. This
+deity is identical with bluff, impetuous Thor of northern Europe,
+Indra of the Himalayas, Tarku of Phrygia, and Teshup or Teshub of
+Armenia and northern Mesopotamia, Sandan, the Hercules of Cilicia,
+Adad or Hadad of Amurru and Assyria, and Ramman, who at an early
+period penetrated Akkad and Sumer in various forms. His Hittite name
+is uncertain, but in the time of Rameses II he was identified with
+Sutekh (Set). He passed into southern Europe as Zeus, and became "the
+lord" of the deities of the Aegean and Crete.
+
+The Hittites who entered Babylon about 1800 B.C., and overthrew the
+last king of the Hammurabi Dynasty, may have been plundering raiders,
+like the European Gauls of a later age, or a well-organized force of a
+strong, consolidated power, which endured for a period of uncertain
+duration. They were probably the latter, for although they carried off
+Merodach and Zerpanitu^m, these idols were not thrust into the melting
+pot, but retained apparently for political reasons.
+
+These early Hittites are "a people of the mist". More than once in
+ancient history casual reference is made to them; but on most of these
+occasions they soon vanish suddenly behind their northern mountains.
+The explanation appears to be that at various periods great leaders
+arose who were able to weld together the various tribes, and make
+their presence felt in Western Asia. But when once the organization
+broke down, either on account of internal rivalries or the influence
+of an outside power, they lapsed back again into a state of political
+insignificance in the affairs of the ancient world. It is possible
+that about 1800 B.C. the Hittite confederacy was controlled by an
+ambitious king who had dreams of a great empire, and was accordingly
+pursuing a career of conquest.
+
+Judging from what we know of the northern worshippers of the hammer
+god in later times, it would appear that when they were referred to as
+the Hatti or Khatti, the tribe of that name was the dominating power
+in Asia Minor and north Syria. The Hatti are usually identified with
+the broad-headed mountaineers of Alpine or Armenoid type--the
+ancestors of the modern Armenians. Their ancient capital was at
+Boghaz-K�i, the site of Pteria, which was destroyed, according to the
+Greeks, by Croesus, the last King of Lydia, in the sixth century B.C.
+It was strongly situated in an excellent pastoral district on the
+high, breezy plateau of Cappadocia, surrounded by high mountains, and
+approached through narrow river gorges, which in winter were blocked
+with snow.
+
+Hittite civilization was of great antiquity. Excavations which have
+been conducted at an undisturbed artificial mound at Sakje-Geuzi have
+revealed evidences of a continuous culture which began to flourish
+before 3000 B.C.[282] In one of the lower layers occurred that
+particular type of Neolithic yellow-painted pottery, with black
+geometric designs, which resembles other specimens of painted fabrics
+found in Turkestan by the Pumpelly expedition; in Susa, the capital of
+Elam, and its vicinity, by De Morgan; in the Balkan peninsula by
+Schliemann; in a First Dynasty tomb at Abydos in Egypt by Petrie; and
+in the late Neolithic and early Bronze Age (Minoan) strata of Crete by
+Evans. It may be that these interesting relics were connected with the
+prehistoric drift westward of the broad-headed pastoral peoples who
+ultimately formed the Hittite military aristocracy.
+
+According to Professor Elliot Smith, broad-headed aliens from Asia
+Minor first reached Egypt at the dawn of history. There they blended
+with the indigenous tribes of the Mediterranean or Brown Race. A
+mesocephalic skull then became common. It is referred to as the Giza
+type, and has been traced by Professor Elliot Smith from Egypt to the
+Punjab, but not farther into India.[283]
+
+During the early dynasties this skull with alien traits was confined
+chiefly to the Delta region and the vicinity of Memphis, the city of
+the pyramid builders. It is not improbable that the Memphite god Ptah
+may have been introduced into Egypt by the invading broad heads. This
+deity is a world artisan like Indra, and is similarly associated with
+dwarfish artisans; he hammers out the copper sky, and therefore links
+with the various thunder gods--Tarku, Teshup, Adad, Ramman, &c, of the
+Asian mountaineers. Thunderstorms were of too rare occurrence in Egypt
+to be connected with the food supply, which has always depended on the
+river Nile. Ptah's purely Egyptian characteristics appear to have been
+acquired after fusion with Osiris-Seb, the Nilotic gods of inundation,
+earth, and vegetation. The ancient god Set (Sutekh), who became a
+demon, and was ultimately re-exalted as a great deity during the
+Nineteenth Dynasty, may also have had some connection with the
+prehistoric Hatti.
+
+Professor Elliot Smith, who has found alien traits in the mummies of
+the Rameses kings, is convinced that the broad-headed folks who
+entered Europe by way of Asia Minor, and Egypt through the Delta, at
+the close of the Neolithic Age, represent "two streams of the same
+Asiatic folk".[284] The opinion of such an authority cannot be lightly
+set aside.
+
+The earliest Egyptian reference to the Kheta, as the Hittites were
+called, was made in the reign of the first Amenemhet of the Twelfth
+Dynasty, who began to reign about 2000 B.C. Some authorities,
+including Maspero,[285] are of opinion that the allusion to the Hatti
+which is found in the Babylonian _Book of Omens_ belongs to the
+earlier age of Sargon of Akkad and Naram-Sin, but Sayce favours the
+age of Hammurabi. Others would connect the Gutium, or men of Kutu,
+with the Kheta or Hatti. Sayce has expressed the opinion that the
+Biblical Tidal, identified with Tudkhul or Tudhula, "king of nations",
+the ally of Arioch, Amraphel, and Chedor-laomer, was a Hittite king,
+the "nations" being the confederacy of Asia Minor tribes controlled by
+the Hatti. "In the fragments of the Babylonian story of Chedor-laomer
+published by Dr. Pinches", says Professor Sayce, "the name of
+Tid^{c}al is written Tudkhul, and he is described as King of the
+_Umman Manda_, or Nations of the North, of which the Hebrew _Goyyim_
+is a literal translation. Now the name is Hittite. In the account of
+the campaign of Rameses II against the Hittites it appears as
+Tid^{c}al, and one of the Hittite kings of Boghaz-K�i bears the same
+name, which is written as Dud-khaliya in cuneiform.[286]
+
+One of the racial types among the Hittites wore pigtails. These head
+adornments appear on figures in certain Cappadocian sculptures and on
+Hittite warriors in the pictorial records of a north Syrian campaign
+of Rameses II at Thebes. It is suggestive, therefore, to find that on
+the stele of Naram-Sin of Akkad, the mountaineers who are conquered by
+that battle lord wear pigtails also. Their split robes are unlike the
+short fringed tunics of the Hittite gods, but resemble the long split
+mantles worn over their tunics by high dignitaries like King
+Tarku-dimme, who figures on a famous silver boss of an ancient Hittite
+dagger. Naram-Sin inherited the Empire of Sargon of Akkad, which
+extended to the Mediterranean Sea. If his enemies were not natives of
+Cappadocia, they may have been the congeners of the Hittite pigtailed
+type in another wooded and mountainous country.
+
+It has been suggested that these wearers of pigtails were Mongolians.
+But although high cheek bones and oblique eyes occurred in ancient
+times, and still occur, in parts of Asia Minor, suggesting occasional
+Mongolian admixture with Ural-Altaic broad heads, the Hittite
+pigtailed warriors must not be confused with the true small-nosed
+Mongols of north-eastern Asia. The Egyptian sculptors depicted them
+with long and prominent noses, which emphasize their strong Armenoid
+affinities.
+
+Other tribes in the Hittite confederacy included the representatives
+of the earliest settlers from North Africa of Mediterranean racial
+stock. These have been identified with the Canaanites, and especially
+the agriculturists among them, for the Palestinian Hittites are also
+referred to as Canaanites in the Bible, and in one particular
+connection under circumstances which afford an interesting glimpse of
+domestic life in those far-off times. When Esau, Isaac's eldest son,
+was forty years of age, "he took to wife Judith the daughter of Beeri
+the Hittite, and Bashemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite"[287].
+Apparently the Hittite ladies considered themselves to be of higher
+caste than the indigenous peoples and the settlers from other
+countries, for when Ezekiel declared that the mother of Jerusalem was
+a Hittite he said: "Thou art thy mother's daughter, that lotheth her
+husband and her children."[288] Esau's marriage was "a grief of mind
+unto Isaac and to Rebekah".[287] The Hebrew mother seems to
+have entertained fears that her favourite son Jacob would
+fall a victim to the allurements of other representatives of
+the same stock as her superior and troublesome daughters-in-law,
+for she said to Isaac: "I am weary of my life
+because of the daughters of Heth; if Jacob take a wife
+of the daughters of Heth, such as these which are of the
+daughters of the land, what good shall my life do me?"[289]
+Isaac sent for Jacob, "and charged him, and said unto
+him, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of
+Canaan. Arise, go to Padan-aram, to the house of
+Bethuel, thy mother's father; and take thee a wife from
+thence of the daughters of Laban, thy mother's brother."[290]
+From these quotations two obvious deductions may be
+drawn: the Hebrews regarded the Hittites "of the land"
+as one with the Canaanites, the stocks having probably
+been so well fused, and the worried Rebekah had the
+choosing of Jacob's wife or wives from among her own
+relations in Mesopotamia who were of Sumerian stock
+and kindred of Abraham.[291] It is not surprising to find
+traces of Sumerian pride among the descendants of the
+evicted citizens of ancient Ur, especially when brought
+into association with the pretentious Hittites.
+
+Evidence of racial blending in Asia Minor is also afforded by Hittite
+mythology. In the fertile agricultural valleys and round the shores of
+that great Eur-Asian "land bridge" the indigenous stock was also of
+the Mediterranean race, as Sergi and other ethnologists have
+demonstrated. The Great Mother goddess was worshipped from the
+earliest times, and she bore various local names. At Comana in Pontus
+she was known to the Greeks as Ma, a name which may have been as old
+as that of the Sumerian Mama (the creatrix), or Mamitu^m (goddess of
+destiny); in Armenia she was Anaitis; in Cilicia she was Ate ('Atheh
+of Tarsus); while in Phrygia she was best known as Cybele, mother of
+Attis, who links with Ishtar as mother and wife of Tammuz, Aphrodite
+as mother and wife of Adonis, and Isis as mother and wife of Osiris.
+The Great Mother was in Phoenicia called Astarte; she was a form of
+Ishtar, and identical with the Biblical Ashtoreth. In the Syrian city
+of Hierapolis she bore the name of Atargatis, which Meyer, with whom
+Frazer agrees, considers to be the Greek rendering of the Aramaic
+'Athar-'Atheh--the god 'Athar and the goddess 'Atheh. Like the
+"bearded Aphrodite", Atargatis may have been regarded as a bisexual
+deity. Some of the specialized mother goddesses, whose outstanding
+attributes reflected the history and politics of the states they
+represented, were imported into Egypt--the land of ancient mother
+deities--during the Empire period, by the half-foreign Rameses kings;
+these included the voluptuous Kadesh and the warlike Anthat. In every
+district colonized by the early representatives of the Mediterranean
+race, the goddess cult came into prominence, and the gods and the
+people were reputed to be descendants of the great Creatrix. This rule
+obtained as far distant as Ireland, where the Danann folk and the
+Danann gods were the children of the goddess Danu.
+
+Among the Hatti proper--that is, the broad-headed military
+aristocracy--the chief deity of the pantheon was the Great Father, the
+creator, "the lord of Heaven", the Baal. As Sutekh, Tarku, Adad, or
+Ramman, he was the god of thunder, rain, fertility, and war, and he
+ultimately acquired solar attributes. A famous rock sculpture at
+Boghaz-K�i depicts a mythological scene which is believed to represent
+the Spring marriage of the Great Father and the Great Mother,
+suggesting a local fusion of beliefs which resulted from the union of
+tribes of the god cult with tribes of the goddess cult. So long as the
+Hatti tribe remained the predominant partner in the Hittite
+confederacy, the supremacy was assured of the Great Father who
+symbolized their sway. But when, in the process of time, the power of
+the Hatti declined, their chief god "fell... from his predominant
+place in the religion of the interior", writes Dr. Garstang. "But the
+Great Mother lived on, being the goddess of the land."[292]
+
+In addition to the Hittite confederacy of Asia Minor and North Syria,
+another great power arose in northern Mesopotamia. This was the
+Mitanni Kingdom. Little is known regarding it, except what is derived
+from indirect sources. Winckler believes that it was first established
+by early "waves" of Hatti people who migrated from the east.
+
+The Hittite connection is based chiefly on the following evidence. One
+of the gods of the Mitanni rulers was Teshup, who is identical with
+Tarku, the Thor of Asia Minor. The raiders who in 1800 B.C. entered
+Babylon, set fire to E-sagila, and carried off Merodach and his
+consort Zerpanitu^m, were called the Hatti. The images of these
+deities were afterwards obtained from Khani (Mitanni).
+
+At a later period, when we come to know more about Mitanni from the
+letters of one of its kings to two Egyptian Pharaohs, and the Winckler
+tablets from Bog-haz-K�i, it is found that its military aristocracy
+spoke an Indo-European language, as is shown by the names of their
+kings--Saushatar, Artatama, Sutarna, Artashshumara, Tushratta, and
+Mattiuza. They worshipped the following deities:
+
+    Mi-it-ra, Uru-w-na, In-da-ra, and Na-sa-at-ti-ia--
+
+Mitra, Varuna, Indra, and Nasatyau (the "Twin Aswins" = Castor and
+Pollux)--whose names have been deciphered by Winckler. These gods were
+also imported into India by the Vedic Aryans. The Mitanni tribe (the
+military aristocracy probably) was called "Kharri", and some
+philologists are of opinion that it is identical with "Arya", which
+was "the normal designation in Vedic literature from the Rigveda
+onwards of an Aryan of the three upper classes".[293] Mitanni
+signifies "the river lands", and the descendants of its inhabitants,
+who lived in Cappadocia, were called by the Greeks "Mattienoi". "They
+are possibly", says Dr. Haddon, "the ancestors of the modern
+Kurds",[294] a conspicuously long-headed people, proverbial, like the
+ancient Aryo-Indians and the Gauls, for their hospitality and their
+raiding propensities.
+
+It would appear that the Mitannian invasion of northern Mesopotamia
+and the Aryan invasion of India represented two streams of diverging
+migrations from a common cultural centre, and that the separate groups
+of wanderers mingled with other stocks with whom they came into
+contact. Tribes of Aryan speech were associated with the Kassite
+invaders of Babylon, who took possession of northern Babylonia soon
+after the disastrous Hittite raid. It is believed that they came from
+the east through the highlands of Elam.
+
+For a period, the dating of which is uncertain, the Mitannians were
+overlords of part of Assyria, including Nineveh and even Asshur, as
+well as the district called "Musri" by the Assyrians, and part of
+Cappadocia. They also occupied the cities of Harran and Kadesh.
+Probably they owed their great military successes to their cavalry.
+The horse became common in Babylon during the Kassite Dynasty, which
+followed the Hammurabi, and was there called "the ass of the east", a
+name which suggests whence the Kassites and Mitannians came.
+
+The westward movement of the Mitannians in the second millennium B.C.
+may have been in progress prior to the Kassite conquest of Babylon and
+the Hyksos invasion of Egypt. Their relations in Mesopotamia and Syria
+with the Hittites and the Amorites are obscure. Perhaps they were for
+a time the overlords of the Hittites. At any rate it is of interest to
+note that when Thothmes III struck at the last Hyksos stronghold
+during his long Syrian campaign of about twenty years' duration, his
+operations were directly against Kadesh on the Orontes, which was then
+held by his fierce enemies the Mitannians of Naharina.[295]
+
+During the Hyksos Age the horse was introduced into Egypt. Indeed the
+Hyksos conquest was probably due to the use of the horse, which was
+domesticated, as the Pumpelly expedition has ascertained, at a remote
+period in Turkestan, whence it may have been obtained by the
+horse-sacrificing Aryo-Indians and the horse-sacrificing ancestors of
+the Siberian Buriats.
+
+If the Mitanni rulers were not overlords of the Hittites about 1800
+B.C., the two peoples may have been military allies of the Kassites.
+Some writers suggest, indeed, that the Kassites came from Mitanni.
+Another view is that the Mitannians were the Aryan allies of the
+Kassites who entered Babylon from the Elamite highlands, and that they
+afterwards conquered Mesopotamia and part of Cappadocia prior to the
+Hyksos conquest of Egypt. A third solution of the problem is that the
+Aryan rulers of the Mitannian Hittites were the overlords of northern
+Babylonia, which they included in their Mesopotamian empire for a
+century before the Kassites achieved political supremacy in the
+Tigro-Euphrates valley, and that they were also the leaders of the
+Hyksos invasion of Egypt, which they accomplished with the assistance
+of their Hittite and Amoritic allies.
+
+The first Kassite king of Babylonia of whom we have knowledge was
+Gandash. He adopted the old Akkadian title, "king of the four
+quarters", as well as the title "king of Sumer and Akkad", first used
+by the rulers of the Dynasty of Ur. Nippur appears to have been
+selected by Gandash as his capital, which suggests that his war and
+storm god, Shuqamuna, was identified with Bel Enlil, who as a "world
+giant" has much in common with the northern hammer gods. After
+reigning for sixteen years, Gandash was succeeded by his son, Agum the
+Great, who sat on the throne for twenty-two years. The great-grandson
+of Agum the Great was Agum II, and not until his reign were the
+statues of Merodach and his consort Zerpanitu^m brought back to the
+city of Babylon. This monarch recorded that, in response to the oracle
+of Shamash, the sun god, he sent to the distant land of Khani
+(Mitanni) for the great deity and his consort. Babylon would therefore
+appear to have been deprived of Merodach for about two centuries. The
+Hittite-Mitanni raid is dated about 1800 B.C., and the rise of
+Gandash, the Kassite, about 1700 B.C. At least a century elapsed
+between the reigns of Gandash and Agum II. These calculations do not
+coincide, it will be noted, with the statement in a Babylonian hymn,
+that Merodach remained in the land of the Hatti for twenty-four years,
+which, however, may be either a priestly fiction or a reference to a
+later conquest. The period which followed the fall of the Hammurabi
+Dynasty of Babylonia is as obscure as the Hyksos Age of Egypt.
+
+Agum II, the Kassite king, does not state whether or not he waged war
+against Mitanni to recover Babylon's god Merodach. If, however, he was
+an ally of the Mitanni ruler, the transference of the deity may have
+been an ordinary diplomatic transaction. The possibility may also be
+suggested that the Hittites of Mitanni were not displaced by the Aryan
+military aristocracy until after the Kassites were firmly established
+in northern Babylonia between 1700 B.C. and 1600 B.C. This may account
+for the statements that Merodach was carried off by the Hatti and
+returned from the land of Khani.
+
+The evidence afforded by Egypt is suggestive in this connection. There
+was a second Hyksos Dynasty in that country. The later rulers became
+"Egyptianized" as the Kassites became "Babylonianized", but they were
+all referred to by the exclusive and sullen-Egyptians as "barbarians"
+and "Asiatics". They recognized the sun god of Heliopolis, but were
+also concerned in promoting the worship of Sutekh, a deity of sky and
+thunder, with solar attributes, whom Rameses II identified with the
+"Baal" of the Hittites. The Mitannians, as has been stated, recognized
+a Baal called Teshup, who was identical with Tarku of the Western
+Hittites and with their own tribal Indra also. One of the Hyksos
+kings, named Ian or Khian, the Ianias of Manetho, was either an
+overlord or the ally of an overlord, who swayed a great empire in
+Asia. His name has been deciphered on relics found as far apart as
+Knossos in Crete and Baghdad on the Tigris, which at the time was
+situated within the area of Kassite control. Apparently peaceful
+conditions prevailed during his reign over a wide extent of Asia and
+trade was brisk between far-distant centres of civilization. The very
+term Hyksos is suggestive in this connection. According to Breasted it
+signifies "rulers of countries", which compares with the Biblical
+"Tidal king of nations", whom Sayce, as has been indicated, regards as
+a Hittite monarch. When the Hittite hieroglyphics have been read and
+Mesopotamia thoroughly explored, light may be thrown on the relations
+of the Mitannians, the Hittites, the Hyksos, and the Kassites between
+1800 B.C. and 1500 B.C. It is evident that a fascinating volume of
+ancient history has yet to be written.
+
+The Kassites formed the military aristocracy of Babylonia, which was
+called Karduniash, for nearly six centuries. Agum II was the first of
+their kings who became thoroughly Babylonianized, and although he
+still gave recognition to Shuqamuna, the Kassite god of battle, he
+re-exalted Merodach, whose statue he had taken back from "Khani", and
+decorated E-sagila with gifts of gold, jewels, rare woods, frescoes,
+and pictorial tiles; he also re-endowed the priesthood. During the
+reign of his successor, Burnaburiash I, the Dynasty of Sealand came to
+an end.
+
+Little is known regarding the relations between Elam and Babylonia
+during the Kassite period. If the Kassite invaders crossed the Tigris
+soon after the raid of the Mitannian Hittites they must have
+previously overrun a great part of Elam, but strongly situated Susa
+may have for a time withstood their attacks. At first the Kassites
+held northern Babylonia only, while the ancient Sumerian area was
+dominated by the Sealand power, which had gradually regained strength
+during the closing years of the Hammurabi Dynasty. No doubt many
+northern Babylonian refugees reinforced its army.
+
+The Elamites, or perhaps the Kassites of Elam, appear to have made
+frequent attacks on southern Babylonia. At length Ea-gamil, king of
+Sealand, invaded Elam with purpose, no doubt, to shatter the power of
+his restless enemies. He was either met there, however, by an army
+from Babylon, or his country was invaded during his absence. Prince
+Ulamburiash, son of Burnaburiash I, defeated Ea-gamil and brought to
+an end the Sealand Dynasty which had been founded by Ilu-ma-ilu, the
+contemporary and enemy of Samsu-la-ilu, son of Hammurabi. Ulamburiash
+is referred to on a mace-head which was discovered at Babylon as "king
+of Sealand", and he probably succeeded his father at the capital. The
+whole of Babylonia thus came under Kassite sway.
+
+Agum III, a grandson of Ulamburiash, found it necessary, however, to
+invade Sealand, which must therefore have revolted. It was probably a
+centre of discontent during the whole period of Kassite ascendancy.
+
+After a long obscure interval we reach the period when the Hyksos
+power was broken in Egypt, that is, after 1580 B.C. The great Western
+Asiatic kingdoms at the time were the Hittite, the Mitannian, the
+Assyrian, and the Babylonian (Kassite). Between 1557 B.C. and 1501
+B.C. Thothmes I of Egypt was asserting his sway over part of Syria.
+Many years elapsed, however, before Thothmes III, who died in 1447
+B.C., established firmly, after waging a long war of conquest, the
+supremacy of Egypt between the Euphrates and the Mediterranean coast
+as far north as the borders of Asia Minor.
+
+"At this period", as Professor Flinders Petrie emphasizes, "the
+civilization of Syria was equal or superior to that of Egypt." Not
+only was there in the cities "luxury beyond that of the Egyptians",
+but also "technical work which could teach them". The Syrian soldiers
+had suits of scale armour, which afterwards were manufactured in
+Egypt, and they had chariots adorned with gold and silver and highly
+decorated, which were greatly prized by the Egyptians when they
+captured them, and reserved for royalty. "In the rich wealth of gold
+and silver vases", obtained from captured cities by the Nilotic
+warriors, "we see also", adds Petrie, "the sign of a people who were
+their (the Egyptians') equals, if not their superiors in taste and
+skill."[296] It is not to be wondered at, therefore, when the Pharaohs
+received tribute from Syria that they preferred it to be carried into
+Egypt by skilled workmen. "The keenness with which the Egyptians
+record all the beautiful and luxurious products of the Syrians shows
+that the workmen would probably be more in demand than other kinds or
+slave tribute."[297]
+
+One of the monarchs with whom Thothmes III corresponded was the king
+of Assyria. The enemies of Egypt in northern Mesopotamia were the
+Hittites and Mitannians, and their allies, and these were also the
+enemies of Assyria. But to enable us to deal with the new situation
+which was created by Egypt in Mesopotamia, it is necessary in the
+first place to trace the rise of Assyria, which was destined to become
+for a period the dominating power in Western Asia, and ultimately in
+the Nile valley also.
+
+The Assyrian group of cities grew up on the banks of the Tigris to the
+north of Babylonia, the mother country. The following Biblical
+references regarding the origins of the two states are of special
+interest:--
+
+    Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and
+    Japheth.... The sons of Ham: Cush, and Mizraim, and Phut, and
+    Canaan.... And Cush begat Nimrod; he began to be a mighty one in
+    the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the Lord; wherefore it is
+    said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord. And the
+    beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and
+    Calneh, in the land of Shinar. Out of that land went forth Asshur
+    and builded Nineveh, and the city Rehoboth, and Calah, and Resen
+    between Nineveh and Calah: the same is a great city. The children
+    of Shem: Elam and Asshur ... (_Genesis_, x, 1-22). The land of
+    Assyria ... and the land of Nimrod in the entrances thereof
+    (_Micah_, v, 6).
+
+It will be observed that the Sumero-Babylonians are Cushites or
+Hamites, and therefore regarded as racially akin to the
+proto-Egyptians of the Mediterranean race--an interesting confirmation
+of recent ethnological conclusions.
+
+Nimrod, the king of Babel (Babylon), in Shinar (Sumer), was, it would
+appear, a deified monarch who became ultimately identified with the
+national god of Babylonia. Professor Pinches has shown[298] that his
+name is a rendering of that of Merodach. In Sumerian Merodach was
+called Amaruduk or Amarudu, and in the Assyro-Babylonian language
+Marduk. By a process familiar to philologists the suffix "uk" was
+dropped and the rendering became Marad. The Hebrews added "ni" =
+"ni-marad", assimilating the name "to a certain extent to the 'niphal
+forms' of the Hebrew verbs and making a change", says Pinches, "in
+conformity with the genius of the Hebrew language".
+
+Asshur, who went out of Nimrod's country to build Nineveh, was a son
+of Shem--a Semite, and so far as is known it was after the Semites
+achieved political supremacy in Akkad that the Assyrian colonies were
+formed. Asshur may have been a subject ruler who was deified and
+became the god of the city of Asshur, which probably gave its name to
+Assyria.
+
+According to Herodotus, Nineveh was founded by King Ninus and Queen
+Semiramis. This lady was reputed to be the daughter of Derceto, the
+fish goddess, whom Pliny identified with Atargatis. Semiramis was
+actually an Assyrian queen of revered memory. She was deified and took
+the place of a goddess, apparently Nina, the prototype of Derceto.
+This Nina, perhaps a form of Damkina, wife of Ea, was the great mother
+of the Sumerian city of Nina, and there, and also at Lagash, received
+offerings of fish. She was one of the many goddesses of maternity
+absorbed by Ishtar. The Greek Ninus is regarded as a male form of her
+name; like Atargatis, she may have become a bisexual deity, if she was
+not always accompanied by a shadowy male form. Nineveh (Ninua) was
+probably founded or conquered by colonists from Nina or Lagash, and
+called after the fish goddess.
+
+All the deities of Assyria were imported from Babylonia except, as
+some hold, Ashur, the national god.[299] The theory that Ashur was
+identical with the Aryo-Indian Asura and the Persian Ahura is not
+generally accepted. One theory is that he was an eponymous hero who
+became the city god of Asshur, although the early form of his name,
+Ashir, presents a difficulty in this connection. Asshur was the first
+capital of Assyria. Its city god may have become the national god on
+that account.
+
+At an early period, perhaps a thousand years before Thothmes III
+battled with the Mitannians in northern Syria, an early wave of one of
+the peoples of Aryan speech may have occupied the Assyrian cities. Mr.
+Johns points out in this connection that the names of Ushpia, Kikia,
+and Adasi, who, according to Assyrian records, were early rulers in
+Asshur, "are neither Semitic nor Sumerian". An ancient name of the
+goddess of Nineveh was Shaushka, which compares with Shaushkash, the
+consort of Teshup, the Hittite-Mitanni hammer god. As many of the
+Mitannian names "are", according to Mr. Johns, "really Elamitic", he
+suggests an ethnic connection between the early conquerors of Assyria
+and the people of Elam.[300] Were the pre-Semitic Elamites originally
+speakers of an agglutinative language, like the Sumerians and
+present-day Basques, who were conquered in prehistoric times by a
+people of Aryan speech?
+
+The possibility is urged by Mr. Johns's suggestion that Assyria may
+have been dominated in pre-Semitic times by the congeners of the Aryan
+military aristocracy of Mitanni. As has been shown, it was Semitized
+by the Amoritic migration which, about 2000 B.C., brought into
+prominence the Hammurabi Dynasty of Babylon.
+
+A long list of kings with Semitic names held sway in the Assyrian
+cities during and after the Hammurabi Age. But not until well on in
+the Kassite period did any of them attain prominence in Western Asia.
+Then Ashur-bel-nish-eshu, King of Asshur, was strong enough to deal on
+equal terms with the Kassite ruler Kara-indash I, with whom he
+arranged a boundary treaty. He was a contemporary of Thothmes III of
+Egypt.
+
+After Thothmes III had secured the predominance of Egypt in Syria and
+Palestine he recognized Assyria as an independent power, and supplied
+its king with Egyptian gold to assist him, no doubt, in strengthening
+his territory against their common enemy. Gifts were also sent from
+Assyria to Egypt to fan the flame of cordial relations.
+
+The situation was full of peril for Saushatar, king of Mitanni.
+Deprived by Egypt of tribute-paying cities in Syria, his exchequer
+must have been sadly depleted. A standing army had to be maintained,
+for although Egypt made no attempt to encroach further on his
+territory, the Hittites were ever hovering on his north-western
+frontier, ready when opportunity offered to win back Cappadocia.
+Eastward, Assyria was threatening to become a dangerous rival. He had
+himself to pay tribute to Egypt, and Egypt was subsidizing his enemy.
+It was imperative on his part, therefore, to take action without
+delay. The power of Assyria had to be crippled; its revenues were
+required for the Mitannian exchequer. So Saushatar raided Assyria
+during the closing years of the reign of Thothmes III, or soon after
+his successor, Amenhotep II, ascended the Egyptian throne.
+
+Nothing is known from contemporary records regarding this campaign;
+but it can be gathered from the references of a later period that the
+city of Asshur was captured and plundered; its king, Ashur-nadin-akhe,
+ceased corresponding and exchanging gifts with Egypt. That Nineveh
+also fell is made clear by the fact that a descendant of Saushatar
+(Tushratta) was able to send to a descendant of Thothmes III at Thebes
+(Amenhotep III) the image of Ishtar (Shaushka) of Nineveh. Apparently
+five successive Mitannian kings were overlords of Assyria during a
+period which cannot be estimated at much less than a hundred years.
+
+Our knowledge regarding these events is derived chiefly from the
+Tell-el-Amarna letters, and the tablets found by Professor Hugo
+Winckler at Boghaz-K�i in Cappadocia, Asia Minor.
+
+The Tell-el-Amarna letters were discovered among the ruins of the
+palace of the famous Egyptian Pharaoh, Akhenaton, of the Eighteenth
+Dynasty, who died about 1358 B.C. During the winter of 1887-8 an
+Egyptian woman was excavating soil for her garden, when she happened
+upon the cellar of Akhenaton's foreign office in which the official
+correspondence had been stored. The "letters" were baked clay tablets
+inscribed with cuneiform alphabetical signs in the Babylonian-Assyrian
+language, which, like French in modern times, was the language of
+international diplomacy for many centuries in Western Asia after the
+Hyksos period.
+
+The Egyptian natives, ever so eager to sell antiquities so as to make
+a fortune and retire for life, offered some specimens of the tablets
+for sale. One or two were sent to Paris, where they were promptly
+declared to be forgeries, with the result that for a time the
+inscribed bricks were not a marketable commodity. Ere their value was
+discovered, the natives had packed them into sacks, with the result
+that many were damaged and some completely destroyed. At length,
+however, the majority of them reached the British Museum and the
+Berlin Museum, while others drifted into the museums at Cairo, St.
+Petersburg, and Paris. When they were deciphered, Mitanni was
+discovered, and a flood of light thrown on the internal affairs of
+Egypt and its relations with various kingdoms in Asia, while glimpses
+were also afforded of the life and manners of the times.
+
+The letters covered the reigns of Amenhotep III, the great-grandson of
+Thothmes III, and of his son Akhenaton, "the dreamer king", and
+included communications from the kings of Babylonia, Assyria, Mitanni,
+Cyprus, the Hittites, and the princes of Phoenicia and Canaan. The
+copies of two letters from Amenhotep III to Kallima-Sin, King of
+Babylonia, had also been preserved. One deals with statements made by
+Babylonian ambassadors, whom the Pharaoh stigmatizes as liars.
+Kallima-Sin had sent his daughter to the royal harem of Egypt, and
+desired to know if she was alive and well. He also asked for "much
+gold" to enable him to carry on the work of extending his temple. When
+twenty minas of gold was sent to him, he complained in due course that
+the quantity received was not only short but that the gold was not
+pure; it had been melted in the furnace, and less than five minas came
+out. In return he sent to Akhenaton two minas of enamel, and some
+jewels for his daughter, who was in the Egyptian royal harem.
+
+Ashur-uballit, king of Ashur, once wrote intimating to Akhenaton that
+he was gifting him horses and chariots and a jewel seal. He asked for
+gold to assist in building his palace. "In your country", he added,
+"gold is as plentiful as dust." He also made an illuminating statement
+to the effect that no ambassador had gone from Assyria to Egypt since
+the days of his ancestor Ashur-nadin-akhe. It would therefore appear
+that Ashur-uballit had freed part of Assyria from the yoke of Mitanni.
+
+The contemporary king of Mitanni was Tushratta. He corresponded both
+with his cousin Amenhotep III and his son-in-law Akhenaton. In his
+correspondence with Amenhotep III Tushratta tells that his kingdom had
+been invaded by the Hittites, but his god Teshup had delivered them
+into his hand, and he destroyed them; "not one of them", he declared,
+"returned to his own country". Out of the booty captured he sent
+Amenhotep several chariots and horses, and a boy and a girl. To his
+sister Gilu-khipa, who was one of the Egyptian Pharaoh's wives, he
+gifted golden ornaments and a jar of oil. In another letter Tushratta
+asked for a large quantity of gold "without measure". He complained
+that he did not receive enough on previous occasions, and hinted that
+some of the Egyptian gold looked as if it were alloyed with copper.
+Like the Assyrian king, he hinted that gold was as plentiful as dust
+in Egypt. His own presents to the Pharaoh included precious stones,
+gold ornaments, chariots and horses, and women (probably slaves). This
+may have been tribute. It was during the third Amenhotep's illness
+that Tushratta forwarded the Nineveh image of Ishtar to Egypt, and he
+made reference to its having been previously sent thither by his
+father, Sutarna.
+
+When Akhenaton came to the throne Tushratta wrote to him, desiring to
+continue the friendship which had existed for two or three generations
+between the kings of Mitanni and Egypt, and made complimentary
+references to "the distinguished Queen Tiy", Akhenaton's mother, who
+evidently exercised considerable influence in shaping Egypt's foreign
+policy. In the course of his long correspondence with the Pharaohs,
+Tushratta made those statements regarding his ancestors which have
+provided so much important data for modern historians of his kingdom.
+
+During the early part of the Tell-el-Amarna period, Mitanni was the
+most powerful kingdom in Western Asia. It was chiefly on that account
+that the daughters of its rulers were selected to be the wives and
+mothers of great Egyptian Pharaohs. But its numerous enemies were ever
+plotting to accomplish its downfall. Among these the foremost and most
+dangerous were the Hittites and the Assyrians.
+
+The ascendancy of the Hittites was achieved in northern Syria with
+dramatic suddenness. There arose in Asia Minor a great conqueror,
+named Subbi-luliuma, the successor of Hattusil I, who established a
+strong Hittite empire which endured for about two centuries. His
+capital was at Boghaz-K�i. Sweeping through Cappadocia, at the head of
+a finely organized army, remarkable for its mobility, he attacked the
+buffer states which owed allegiance to Mitanni and Egypt. City after
+city fell before him, until at length he invaded Mitanni; but it is
+uncertain whether or not Tushratta met him in battle. Large numbers of
+the Mitannians were, however, evicted and transferred to the land of
+the Hittites, where the Greeks subsequently found them, and where they
+are believed to be represented by the modern Kurds, the hereditary
+enemies of the Armenians.
+
+In the confusion which ensued, Tushratta was murdered by Sutarna II,
+who was recognized by Subbi-luliuma. The crown prince, Mattiuza, fled
+to Babylon, where he found protection, but was unable to receive any
+assistance. Ultimately, when the Hittite emperor had secured his sway
+over northern Syria, he deposed Sutarna II and set Mattiuza as his
+vassal on the throne of the shrunken Mitanni kingdom.
+
+Meanwhile the Egyptian empire in Asia had gone to pieces. When
+Akhenaton, the dreamer king, died in his palace at Tell-el-Amarna, the
+Khabiri were conquering the Canaanite cities which had paid him
+tribute, and the Hittite ruler was the acknowledged overlord of the
+Amorites.
+
+The star of Assyria was also in the ascendant. Its king,
+Ashur-uballit, who had corresponded with Akhenaton, was, like the
+Hittite king, Subbi-luliuma, a distinguished statesman and general,
+and similarly laid the foundations of a great empire. Before or after
+Subbi-luliuma invaded Tushratta's domains, he drove the Mitannians out
+of Nineveh, and afterwards overcame the Shubari tribes of Mitanni on
+the north-west, with the result that he added a wide extent of
+territory to his growing empire.
+
+He had previously thrust southward the Assyro-Babylonian frontier. In
+fact, he had become so formidable an opponent of Babylonia that his
+daughter had been accepted as the wife of Karakhardash, the Kassite
+king of that country. In time his grandson, Kadashman-Kharbe, ascended
+the Babylonian throne. This young monarch co-operated with his
+grandfather in suppressing the Suti, who infested the trade routes
+towards the west, and plundered the caravans of merchants and the
+messengers of great monarchs with persistent impunity.
+
+A reference to these bandits appears in one of the Tell-el-Amarna
+letters. Writing to Akhenaton, Ashur-uballit said: "The lands (of
+Assyria and Egypt) are remote, therefore let our messengers come and
+go. That your messengers were late in reaching you, (the reason is
+that) if the Suti had waylaid them, they would have been dead men. For
+if I had sent them, the Suti would have sent bands to waylay them;
+therefore I have retained them. My messengers (however), may they not
+(for this reason) be delayed."[301]
+
+Ashur-uballit's grandson extended his Babylonian frontier into Amurru,
+where he dug wells and erected forts to protect traders. The Kassite
+aristocracy, however, appear to have entertained towards him a strong
+dislike, perhaps because he was so closely associated with their
+hereditary enemies the Assyrians. He had not reigned for long when the
+embers of rebellion burst into flame and he was murdered in his
+palace. The Kassites then selected as their king a man of humble
+origin, named Nazibugash, who was afterwards referred to as "the son
+of nobody". Ashur-uballit deemed the occasion a fitting one to
+interfere in the affairs of Babylonia. He suddenly appeared at the
+capital with a strong army, overawed the Kassites, and seized and slew
+Nazibugash. Then he set on the throne his great grandson the infant
+Kurigalzu II, who lived to reign for fifty-five years.
+
+Ashur-uballit appears to have died soon after this event. He was
+succeeded by his son Bel-nirari, who carried on the policy of
+strengthening and extending the Assyrian empire. For many years he
+maintained excellent relations with his kinsman Kurigalzu II, but
+ultimately they came into conflict apparently over disputed territory.
+A sanguinary battle was fought, in which the Babylonians suffered
+heavily and were put to rout. A treaty of peace was afterwards
+arranged, which secured for the Assyrians a further extension of their
+frontier "from the borders of Mitanni as far as Babylonia". The
+struggle of the future was to be for the possession of Mesopotamia, so
+as to secure control over the trade routes.
+
+Thus Assyria rose from a petty state in a comparatively brief period
+to become the rival of Babylonia, at a time when Egypt at the
+beginning of its Nineteenth Dynasty was endeavouring to win back its
+lost empire in Syria, and the Hittite empire was being consolidated in
+the north.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+ASTROLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
+
+
+  Culture and Superstition--Primitive Star Myths--Naturalism,
+  Totemism, and Animism--Stars as Ghosts of Men, Giants, and Wild
+  Animals--Gods as Constellations and Planets--Babylonian and Egyptian
+  Mysticism--Osiris, Tammuz, and Merodach--Ishtar and Isis as Bisexual
+  Deities--The Babylonian Planetary Deities--Planets as Forms of
+  Tammuz and Ghosts of Gods--The Signs of the Zodiac--The "Four
+  Quarters"--Cosmic Periods in Babylonia, India, Greece, and
+  Ireland--Babylonian System of Calculation--Traced in Indian Yuga
+  System--Astrology--Beliefs of the Masses--Rise of
+  Astronomy--Conflicting Views of Authorities--Greece and
+  Babylonia--Eclipses Foretold--The Dial of Ahaz--Omens of Heaven and
+  Air--Biblical References to Constellations--The Past in the Present.
+
+
+The empire builders of old who enriched themselves with the spoils of
+war and the tribute of subject States, not only satisfied personal
+ambition and afforded protection for industrious traders and workers,
+but also incidentally promoted culture and endowed research. When a
+conqueror returned to his capital laden with treasure, he made
+generous gifts to the temples. He believed that his successes were
+rewards for his piety, that his battles were won for him by his god or
+goddess of war. It was necessary, therefore, that he should continue
+to find favour in the eyes of the deity who had been proved to be more
+powerful than the god of his enemies. Besides, he had to make
+provision during his absence on long campaigns, or while absorbed in
+administrative work, for the constant performance of religious rites,
+so that the various deities of water, earth, weather, and corn might
+be sustained or propitiated with sacrificial offerings, or held in
+magical control by the performance of ceremonial rites. Consequently
+an endowed priesthood became a necessity in all powerful and
+well-organized states.
+
+Thus came into existence in Babylonia, as elsewhere, as a result of
+the accumulation of wealth, a leisured official class, whose duties
+tended to promote intellectual activity, although they were primarily
+directed to perpetuate gross superstitious practices. Culture was
+really a by-product of temple activities; it flowed forth like pure
+gold from furnaces of thought which were walled up by the crude ores
+of magic and immemorial tradition.
+
+No doubt in ancient Babylonia, as in Europe during the Middle Ages,
+the men of refinement and intellect among the upper classes were
+attracted to the temples, while the more robust types preferred the
+outdoor life, and especially the life of the soldier.[302] The
+permanent triumphs of Babylonian civilization were achieved either by
+the priests, or in consequence of the influence they exercised. They
+were the grammarians and the scribes, the mathematicians and the
+philosophers of that ancient country, the teachers of the young, and
+the patrons of the arts and crafts. It was because the temples were
+centres of intellectual activity that the Sumerian language remained
+the language of culture for long centuries after it ceased to be the
+everyday speech of the people.
+
+Reference has already been made to the growth of art, and the
+probability that all the arts had their origin in magical practices,
+and to the growth of popular education necessitated by the
+centralization of business in the temples. It remains with us to deal
+now with priestly contributions to the more abstruse sciences. In
+India the ritualists among the Brahmans, who concerned themselves
+greatly regarding the exact construction and measurements of altars,
+gave the world algebra; the pyramid builders of Egypt, who erected
+vast tombs to protect royal mummies, had perforce to lay the
+groundwork of the science of geometry; and the Babylonian priests who
+elaborated the study of astrology became great astronomers because
+they found it necessary to observe and record accurately the movements
+of the heavenly bodies.
+
+From the earliest times of which we have knowledge, the religious
+beliefs of the Sumerians had vague stellar associations. But it does
+not follow that their myths were star myths to begin with. A people
+who called constellations "the ram", "the bull", "the lion", or "the
+scorpion", did not do so because astral groups suggested the forms of
+animals, but rather because the animals had an earlier connection with
+their religious life.
+
+At the same time it should be recognized that the mystery of the stars
+must ever have haunted the minds of primitive men. Night with all its
+terrors appealed more strongly to their imaginations than refulgent
+day when they felt more secure; they were concerned most regarding
+what they feared most. Brooding in darkness regarding their fate, they
+evidently associated the stars with the forces which influenced their
+lives--the ghosts of ancestors, of totems, the spirits that brought
+food or famine and controlled the seasons. As children see images in a
+fire, so they saw human life reflected in the starry sky. To the
+simple minds of early folks the great moon seemed to be the parent of
+the numerous twinkling and moving orbs. In Babylon, indeed, the moon
+was regarded as the father not only of the stars but of the sun also;
+there, as elsewhere, lunar worship was older than solar worship.
+
+Primitive beliefs regarding the stars were of similar character in
+various parts of the world. But the importance which they assumed in
+local mythologies depended in the first place on local phenomena. On
+the northern Eur-Asian steppes, for instance, where stars vanished
+during summer's blue nights, and were often obscured by clouds in
+winter, they did not impress men's minds so persistently and deeply as
+in Babylonia, where for the greater part of the year they gleamed in
+darkness through a dry transparent atmosphere with awesome intensity.
+The development of an elaborate system of astral myths, besides, was
+only possible in a country where the people had attained to a high
+degree of civilization, and men enjoyed leisure and security to make
+observations and compile records. It is not surprising, therefore, to
+find that Babylonia was the cradle of astronomy. But before this
+science had destroyed the theory which it was fostered to prove, it
+lay smothered for long ages in the debris of immemorial beliefs. It is
+necessary, therefore, in dealing with Babylonian astral myths to
+endeavour to approach within reasonable distance of the point of view,
+or points of view, of the people who framed them.
+
+Babylonian religious thought was of highly complex character. Its
+progress was ever hampered by blended traditions. The earliest
+settlers in the Tigro-Euphrates valley no doubt imported many crude
+beliefs which they had inherited from their Palaeolithic
+ancestors--the modes of thought which were the moulds of new theories
+arising from new experiences. When consideration is given to the
+existing religious beliefs of various peoples throughout the world, in
+low stages of culture, it is found that the highly developed creeds of
+Babylonia, Egypt and other countries where civilization flourished
+were never divested wholly of their primitive traits.
+
+Among savage peoples two grades of religious ideas have been
+identified, and classified as Naturalism and Animism. In the plane of
+Naturalism the belief obtains that a vague impersonal force, which may
+have more than one manifestation and is yet manifested in everything,
+controls the world and the lives of human beings. An illustration of
+this stage of religious consciousness is afforded by Mr. Risley, who,
+in dealing with the religion of the jungle dwellers of Chota Nagpur,
+India, says that "in most cases the indefinite something which they
+fear and attempt to propitiate is not a person at all in any sense of
+the word; if one must state the case in positive terms, I should say
+that the idea which lies at the root of their religion is that of a
+power rather than many powers".[303]
+
+Traces of Naturalism appear to have survived in Sumeria in the belief
+that "the spiritual, the Zi, was that which manifested life.... The
+test of the manifestation of life was movement."[304] All things that
+moved, it was conceived in the plane of Naturalism, possessed "self
+power"; the river was a living thing, as was also the fountain; a
+stone that fell from a hill fell of its own accord; a tree groaned
+because the wind caused it to suffer pain. This idea that inanimate
+objects had conscious existence survived in the religion of the
+Aryo-Indians. In the Nala story of the Indian epic, the _Mahabharata_,
+the disconsolate wife Damayanti addresses a mountain when searching
+for her lost husband:
+
+    This, the monarch of all mountains, ask I of the king of men;
+    O all-honoured Prince of Mountains, with thy heavenward soaring
+        peaks ...
+    Hast thou seen the kingly Nala in this dark and awful wood....
+    Why repliest thou not, O Mountain?"
+
+She similarly addresses the Asoka tree:
+
+    "Hast thou seen Nishadha's monarch, hast thou seen my only
+        love?...
+    That I may depart ungrieving, fair Asoka, answer me...."
+    Many a tree she stood and gazed on....[305]
+
+It will be recognized that when primitive men gave names to mountains,
+rivers, or the ocean, these possessed for them a deeper significance
+than they do for us at the present day. The earliest peoples of
+Indo-European speech who called the sky "dyeus", and those of Sumerian
+speech who called it "ana", regarded it not as the sky "and nothing
+more", but as something which had conscious existence and "self
+power". Our remote ancestors resembled, in this respect, those
+imaginative children who hold conversations with articles of
+furniture, and administer punishment to stones which, they believe,
+have tripped them up voluntarily and with desire to commit an offence.
+
+In this early stage of development the widespread totemic beliefs
+appear to have had origin. Families or tribes believed that they were
+descended from mountains, trees, or wild animals.
+
+Aesop's fable about the mountain which gave birth to a mouse may be a
+relic of Totemism; so also may be the mountain symbols on the
+standards of Egyptian ships which appear on pre-dynastic pottery; the
+black dwarfs of Teutonic mythology were earth children.[306]
+
+Adonis sprang from a tree; his mother may have, according to primitive
+belief, been simply a tree; Dagda, the patriarchal Irish corn god, was
+an oak; indeed, the idea of a "world tree", which occurs in Sumerian,
+Vedic-Indian, Teutonic, and other mythologies, was probably a product
+of Totemism.
+
+Wild animals were considered to be other forms of human beings who
+could marry princes and princesses as they do in so many fairy tales.
+Damayanti addressed the tiger, as well as the mountain and tree,
+saying:
+
+    I approach him without fear.
+    "Of the beasts art thou the monarch, all this forest thy
+        domain;...
+    Thou, O king of beasts, console me, if my Nala thou hast
+        seen."[307]
+
+A tribal totem exercised sway over a tribal district. In Egypt, as
+Herodotus recorded, the crocodile was worshipped in one district and
+hunted down in another. Tribes fought against tribes when totemic
+animals were slain. The Babylonian and Indian myths about the
+conflicts between eagles and serpents may have originated as records
+of battles between eagle clans and serpent clans. Totemic animals were
+tabooed. The Set pig of Egypt and the devil pig of Ireland, Scotland,
+and Wales were not eaten except sacrificially. Families were supposed
+to be descended from swans and were named Swans, or from seals and
+were named Seals, like the Gaelic "Mac Codrums", whose surname
+signifies "son of the seal"; the nickname of the Campbells, "sons of
+the pig", may refer to their totemic boar's head crest, which
+commemorated the slaying, perhaps the sacrificial slaying, of the boar
+by their ancestor Diarmid. Mr. Garstang, in _The Syrian Goddess_,
+thinks it possible that the boar which killed Adonis was of totemic
+origin. So may have been the fish form of the Sumerian god Ea. When an
+animal totem was sacrificed once a year, and eaten sacrificially so
+that the strength of the clan might be maintained, the priest who
+wrapped himself in its skin was supposed to have transmitted to him
+certain magical powers; he became identified with the totem and
+prophesied and gave instruction as the totem. Ea was depicted clad in
+the fish's skin.
+
+Animism, the other early stage of human development, also produced
+distinctive modes of thought. Men conceived that the world swarmed
+with spirits, that a spirit groaned in the wind-shaken tree, that the
+howling wind was an invisible spirit, that there were spirits in
+fountains, rivers, valleys, hills, and in ocean, and in all animals;
+and that a hostile spirit might possess an individual and change his
+nature. The sun and the moon were the abodes of spirits, or the
+vessels in which great spirits sailed over the sea of the sky; the
+stars were all spirits, the "host of heaven". These spirits existed in
+groups of seven, or groups of three, and the multiple of three, or in
+pairs, or operated as single individuals.
+
+Although certain spirits might confer gifts upon mankind, they were at
+certain seasons and in certain localities hostile and vengeful, like
+the grass-green fairies in winter, or the earth-black elves when their
+gold was sought for in forbidden and secret places. These spirits were
+the artisans of creation and vegetation, like the Egyptian Khnumu and
+the Indian Rhibus; they fashioned the grass blades and the stalks of
+corn, but at times of seasonal change they might ride on their tempest
+steeds, or issue forth from flooding rivers and lakes. Man was greatly
+concerned about striking bargains with them to secure their services,
+and about propitiating them, or warding off their attacks with
+protective charms, and by performing "ceremonies of riddance". The
+ghosts of the dead, being spirits, were similarly propitious or
+harmful on occasion; as emissaries of Fate they could injure the
+living.
+
+Ancestor worship, the worship of ghosts, had origin in the stage of
+Animism. But ancestor worship was not developed in Babylonia as in
+China, for instance, although traces of it survived in the worship of
+stars as ghosts, in the deification of kings, and the worship of
+patriarchs, who might be exalted as gods or identified with a supreme
+god. The Egyptian Pharaoh Unas became the sun god and the
+constellation of Orion by devouring his predecessors[308]. He ate his
+god as a tribe ate its animal totem; he became the "bull of heaven".
+
+There were star totems as well as mountain totems. A St. Andrew's
+cross sign, on one of the Egyptian ship standards referred to, may
+represent a star. The Babylonian goddess Ishtar was symbolized as a
+star, and she was the "world mother". Many primitive currents of
+thought shaped the fretted rocks of ancient mythologies.
+
+In various countries all round the globe the belief prevailed that the
+stars were ghosts of the mighty dead--of giants, kings, or princes, or
+princesses, or of pious people whom the gods loved, or of animals
+which were worshipped. A few instances may be selected at random. When
+the Teutonic gods slew the giant Thjasse, he appeared in the heavens
+as Sirius. In India the ghosts of the "seven Rishis", who were
+semi-divine Patriarchs, formed the constellation of the Great Bear,
+which in Vedic times was called the "seven bears". The wives of the
+seven Rishis were the stars of the Pleiades. In Greece the Pleiades
+were the ghosts of the seven daughters of Atlas and Pleione, and in
+Australia they were and are a queen and six handmaidens. In these
+countries, as elsewhere, stories were told to account for the "lost
+Pleiad", a fact which suggests that primitive men were more constant
+observers of the heavenly bodies than might otherwise be supposed. The
+Arcadians believed that they were descended, as Hesiod recorded, from
+a princess who was transformed by Zeus into a bear; in this form
+Artemis slew her and she became the "Great Bear" of the sky. The
+Egyptian Isis was the star Sirius, whose rising coincided with the
+beginning of the Nile inundation. Her first tear for the dead Osiris
+fell into the river on "the night of the drop". The flood which ensued
+brought the food supply. Thus the star was not only the Great Mother
+of all, but the sustainer of all.
+
+The brightest stars were regarded as being the greatest and most
+influential. In Babylonia all the planets were identified with great
+deities. Jupiter, for instance, was Merodach, and one of the astral
+forms of Ishtar was Venus. Merodach was also connected with "the fish
+of Ea" (Pisces), so that it is not improbable that Ea worship had
+stellar associations. Constellations were given recognition before the
+planets were identified.
+
+A strange blending of primitive beliefs occurred when the deities were
+given astral forms. As has been shown (Chapter III) gods were supposed
+to die annually. The Egyptian priests pointed out to Herodotus the
+grave of Osiris and also his star. There are "giants' graves" also in
+those countries in which the gods were simply ferocious giants. A god
+might assume various forms; he might take the form of an insect, like
+Indra, and hide in a plant, or become a mouse, or a serpent, like the
+gods of Erech in the Gilgamesh epic. The further theory that a god
+could exist in various forms at one and the same time suggests that it
+had its origin among a people who accepted the idea of a personal god
+while yet in the stage of Naturalism. In Egypt Osiris, for instance,
+was the moon, which came as a beautiful child each month and was
+devoured as the wasting "old moon" by the demon Set; he was the young
+god who was slain in his prime each year; he was at once the father,
+husband, and son of Isis; he was the Patriarch who reigned over men
+and became the Judge of the Dead; he was the earth spirit, he was the
+bisexual Nile spirit, he was the spring sun; he was the Apis bull of
+Memphis, and the ram of Mendes; he was the reigning Pharaoh. In his
+fusion with Ra, who was threefold--Khepera, Ra, and Tum--he died each
+day as an old man; he appeared in heaven at night as the constellation
+Orion, which was his ghost, or was, perhaps, rather the Sumerian Zi,
+the spiritual essence of life. Osiris, who resembled Tammuz, a god of
+many forms also, was addressed as follows in one of the Isis chants:
+
+    There proceedeth from thee the strong Orion in heaven at evening,
+        at the resting of every day!
+    Lo it is I (Isis), at the approach of the Sothis (Sirius) period,
+        who doth watch for him (the child Osiris),
+    Nor will I leave off watching for him; for that which proceedeth
+        from thee (the living Osiris) is revered.
+    An emanation from thee causeth life to gods and men, reptiles and
+        animals, and they live by means thereof.
+    Come thou to us from thy chamber, in the day when thy soul
+        begetteth emanations,--
+    The day when offerings upon offerings are made to thy spirit,
+        which causeth the gods and men likewise to live.[309]
+
+This extract emphasizes how unsafe it is to confine certain deities
+within narrow limits by terming them simply "solar gods", "lunar
+gods", "astral gods", or "earth gods". One deity may have been
+simultaneously a sun god and moon god, an air god and an earth god,
+one who was dead and also alive, unborn and also old. The priests of
+Babylonia and Egypt were less accustomed to concrete and logical
+definitions than their critics and expositors of the twentieth
+century. Simple explanations of ancient beliefs are often by reason of
+their very simplicity highly improbable. Recognition must ever be
+given to the puzzling complexity of religious thought in Babylonia and
+Egypt, and to the possibility that even to the priests the doctrines
+of a particular cult, which embraced the accumulated ideas of
+centuries, were invariably confusing and vague, and full of
+inconsistencies; they were mystical in the sense that the
+understanding could not grasp them although it permitted their
+acceptance. A god, for instance, might be addressed at once in the
+singular and plural, perhaps because he had developed from an
+animistic group of spirits, or, perhaps, for reasons we cannot
+discover. This is shown clearly by the following pregnant extract from
+a Babylonian tablet: "_Powerful, O Sevenfold, one are ye_". Mr. L.W.
+King, the translator, comments upon it as follows: "There is no doubt
+that the name was applied to a group of gods who were so closely
+connected that, though addressed in the plural, they could in the same
+sentence be regarded as forming a single personality".[310]
+
+Like the Egyptian Osiris, the Babylonian Merodach was a highly complex
+deity. He was the son of Ea, god of the deep; he died to give origin
+to human life when he commanded that his head should be cut off so
+that the first human beings might be fashioned by mixing his blood
+with the earth; he was the wind god, who gave "the air of life"; he
+was the deity of thunder and the sky; he was the sun of spring in his
+Tammuz character; he was the daily sun, and the planets Jupiter and
+Mercury as well as Sharru (Regulus); he had various astral
+associations at various seasons. Ishtar, the goddess, was Iku
+(Capella), the water channel star, in January-February, and Merodach
+was Iku in May-June. This strange system of identifying the chief
+deity with different stars at different periods, or simultaneously,
+must not be confused with the monotheistic identification of him with
+other gods. Merodach changed his forms with Ishtar, and had similarly
+many forms. This goddess, for instance, was, even when connected with
+one particular heavenly body, liable to change. According to a tablet
+fragment she was, as the planet Venus, "a female at sunset and a male
+at sunrise[311]"--that is, a bisexual deity like Nannar of Ur, the
+father and mother deity combined, and Isis of Egypt. Nannar is
+addressed in a famous hymn:
+
+    Father Nannar, Lord, God Sin, ruler among the gods....
+    _Mother body which produceth all things_....
+    Merciful, gracious Father, in whose hand the life of the whole
+        land is contained.
+
+One of the Isis chants of Egypt sets forth, addressing Osiris:
+
+    There cometh unto thee Isis, lady of the horizon, who hath
+        begotten herself alone in the image of the gods....
+    She hath taken vengeance before Horus, _the woman who was made a
+        male by her father Osiris_.[312]
+
+Merodach, like Osiris-Sokar, was a "lord of many existences", and
+likewise "the mysterious one, he who is unknown to mankind[313]". It
+was impossible for the human mind "a greater than itself to know".
+
+Evidence has not yet been forthcoming to enable us to determine the
+period at which the chief Babylonian deities were identified with the
+planets, but it is clear that Merodach's ascendancy in astral form
+could not have occurred prior to the rise of that city god of Babylon
+as chief of the pantheon by displacing Enlil. At the same time it must
+be recognized that long before the Hammurabi age the star-gazers of
+the Tigro-Euphrates valley must have been acquainted with the
+movements of the chief planets and stars, and, no doubt, they
+connected them with seasonal changes as in Egypt, where Isis was
+identified with Sirius long before the Ptolemaic age, when Babylonian
+astronomy was imported. Horus was identified not only with the sun but
+also with Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars.[314] Even the primitive
+Australians, as has been indicated, have their star myths; they refer
+to the stars Castor and Pollux as two young men, like the ancient
+Greeks, while the African Bushmen assert that these stars are two
+girls. It would be a mistake, however, to assume that the prehistoric
+Sumerians were exact astronomers. Probably they were, like the
+Aryo-Indians of the Vedic period, "not very accurate observers".[315]
+
+It is of special interest to find that the stars were grouped by the
+Babylonians at the earliest period in companies of seven. The
+importance of this magical number is emphasized by the group of seven
+demons which rose from the deep to rage over the land (p. 71). Perhaps
+the sanctity of Seven was suggested by Orion, the Bears, and the
+Pleiad, one of which constellations may have been the "Sevenfold"
+deity addressed as "one". At any rate arbitrary groupings of other
+stars into companies of seven took place, for references are made to
+the seven Tikshi, the seven Lumashi, and the seven Mashi, which are
+older than the signs of the Zodiac; so far as can be ascertained these
+groups were selected from various constellations. When the five
+planets were identified, they were associated with the sun and moon
+and connected with the chief gods of the Hammurabi pantheon. A
+bilingual list in the British Museum arranges the sevenfold planetary
+group in the following order:--
+
+    The moon, Sin.
+    The sun, Shamash.
+    Jupiter, Merodach.
+    Venus, Ishtar.
+    Saturn, Ninip (Nirig).
+    Mercury, Nebo.
+    Mars, Nergal.
+
+An ancient name of the moon was Aa, �, or Ai, which recalls the
+Egyptian A�h or Ah. The Sumerian moon was Aku, "the measurer", like
+Thoth of Egypt, who in his lunar character as a Fate measured out the
+lives of men, and was a god of architects, mathematicians, and
+scribes. The moon was the parent of the sun or its spouse; and might
+be male, or female, or both as a bisexual deity.
+
+As the "bull of light" Jupiter had solar associations; he was also the
+shepherd of the stars, a title shared by Tammuz as Orion; Nin-Girsu, a
+developed form of Tammuz, was identified with both Orion and Jupiter.
+
+Ishtar's identification with Venus is of special interest. When that
+planet was at its brightest phase, its rays were referred to as "the
+beard" of the goddess; she was the "bearded Aphrodite"--a bisexual
+deity evidently. The astrologers regarded the bright Venus as lucky
+and the rayless Venus as unlucky.
+
+Saturn was Nirig, who is best known as Ninip, a deity who was
+displaced by Enlil, the elder Bel, and afterwards regarded as his son.
+His story has not been recovered, but from the references made to it
+there is little doubt that it was a version of the widespread myth
+about the elder deity who was slain by his son, as Saturn was by
+Jupiter and Dyaus by Indra. It may have resembled the lost Egyptian
+myth which explained the existence of the two Horuses--Horus the
+elder, and Horus, the posthumous son of Osiris. At any rate, it is of
+interest to find in this connection that in Egypt the planet Saturn
+was Her-Ka, "Horus the Bull". Ninip was also identified with the bull.
+Both deities were also connected with the spring sun, like Tammuz, and
+were terrible slayers of their enemies. Ninip raged through Babylonia
+like a storm flood, and Horus swept down the Nile, slaying the
+followers of Set. As the divine sower of seed, Ninip may have
+developed from Tammuz as Horus did from Osiris. Each were at once the
+father and the son, different forms of the same deity at various
+seasons of the year. The elder god was displaced by the son (spring),
+and when the son grew old his son slew him in turn. As the planet
+Saturn, Ninip was the ghost of the elder god, and as the son of Bel he
+was the solar war god of spring, the great wild bull, the god of
+fertility. He was also as Ber "lord of the wild boar", an animal
+associated with Rimmon[316].
+
+Nebo (Nabu), who was identified with Mercury, was a god of Borsippa.
+He was a messenger and "announcer" of the gods, as the Egyptian Horus
+in his connection with Jupiter was Her-ap-sheta, "Horus the opener of
+that which is secret[317]". Nebo's original character is obscure. He
+appears to have been a highly developed deity of a people well
+advanced in civilization when he was exalted as the divine patron of
+Borsippa. Although Hammurabi ignored him, he was subsequently invoked
+with Merodach, and had probably much in common with Merodach. Indeed,
+Merodach was also identified with the planet Mercury. Like the Greek
+Hermes, Nebo was a messenger of the gods and an instructor of mankind.
+Jastrow regards him as "a counterpart of Ea", and says: "Like Ea, he
+is the embodiment and source of wisdom. The art of writing--and
+therefore of all literature--is more particularly associated with him.
+A common form of his name designates him as the 'god of the
+stylus'."[318] He appears also to have been a developed form of
+Tammuz, who was an incarnation of Ea. Professor Pinches shows that one
+of his names, Mermer, was also a non-Semitic name of Ramman.[319]
+Tammuz resembled Ramman in his character as a spring god of war. It
+would seem that Merodach as Jupiter displaced at Babylon Nebo as
+Saturn, the elder god, as Bel Enlil displaced the elder Ninip at
+Nippur.
+
+The god of Mars was Nergal, the patron deity of Cuthah,[320] who
+descended into the Underworld and forced into submission Eresh-ki-gal
+(Persephone), with whom he was afterwards associated. His "name", says
+Professor Pinches, "is supposed to mean 'lord of the great
+habitation', which would be a parallel to that of his spouse,
+Eresh-ki-gal".[321] At Erech he symbolized the destroying influence of
+the sun, and was accompanied by the demons of pestilence. Mars was a
+planet of evil, plague, and death; its animal form was the wolf. In
+Egypt it was called Herdesher, "the Red Horus", and in Greece it was
+associated with Ares (the Roman Mars), the war god, who assumed his
+boar form to slay Adonis (Tammuz).
+
+Nergal was also a fire god like the Aryo-Indian Agni, who, as has been
+shown, links with Tammuz as a demon slayer and a god of fertility. It
+may be that Nergal was a specialized form of Tammuz, who, in a version
+of the myth, was reputed to have entered the Underworld as a conqueror
+when claimed by Eresh-ki-gal, and to have become, like Osiris, the
+lord of the dead. If so, Nergal was at once the slayer and the slain.
+
+The various Babylonian deities who were identified with the planets
+had their characters sharply defined as members of an organized
+pantheon. But before this development took place certain of the
+prominent heavenly bodies, perhaps all the planets, were evidently
+regarded as manifestations of one deity, the primeval Tammuz, who was
+a form of Ea, or of the twin deities Ea and Anu. Tammuz may have been
+the "sevenfold one" of the hymns. At a still earlier period the stars
+were manifestations of the Power whom the jungle dwellers of Chota
+Nagpur attempt to propitiate--the "world soul" of the cultured
+Brahmans of the post-Vedic Indian Age. As much is suggested by the
+resemblances which the conventionalized planetary deities bear to
+Tammuz, whose attributes they symbolized, and by the Egyptian
+conception that the sun, Jupiter, Saturn, and Mars were manifestations
+of Horus. Tammuz and Horus may have been personifications of the Power
+or World Soul vaguely recognized in the stage of Naturalism.
+
+The influence of animistic modes of thought may be traced in the idea
+that the planets and stars were the ghosts of gods who were superseded
+by their sons. These sons were identical with their fathers; they
+became, as in Egypt, "husbands of their mothers". This idea was
+perpetuated in the Aryo-Indian _Laws of Manu_, in which it is set
+forth that "the husband, after conception by his wife, becomes an
+embryo and is born again of her[322]". The deities died every year,
+but death was simply change. Yet they remained in the separate forms
+they assumed in their progress round "the wide circle of necessity".
+Horus was remembered as various planets--as the falcon, as the elder
+sun god, and as the son of Osiris; and Tammuz was the spring sun, the
+child, youth, warrior, the deity of fertility, and the lord of death
+(Orion-Nergal), and, as has been suggested, all the planets.
+
+The stars were also the ghosts of deities who died daily. When the sun
+perished as an old man at evening, it rose in the heavens as Orion, or
+went out and in among the stars as the shepherd of the flock, Jupiter,
+the planet of Merodach in Babylonia, and Attis in Asia Minor. The
+flock was the group of heavenly spirits invisible by day, the "host of
+heaven"--manifestations or ghosts of the emissaries of the controlling
+power or powers.
+
+The planets presided over various months of the year. Sin (the moon)
+was associated with the third month; it also controlled the calendar;
+Ninip (Saturn) was associated with the fourth month, Ishtar (Venus)
+with the sixth, Shamash (the sun) with the seventh, Merodach (Jupiter)
+with the eighth, Nergal (Mars) with the ninth, and a messenger of the
+gods, probably Nebo (Mercury), with the tenth.
+
+Each month was also controlled by a zodiacal constellation. In the
+Creation myth of Babylon it is stated that when Merodach engaged in
+the work of setting the Universe in order he "set all the great gods
+in their several stations", and "also created their images, the stars
+of the Zodiac,[323] and fixed them all" (p. 147).
+
+Our signs of the Zodiac are of Babylonian origin. They were passed on
+to the Greeks by the Phoenicians and Hittites. "There was a time ",
+says Professor Sayce, "when the Hittites were profoundly affected by
+Babylonian civilization, religion, and art...." They "carried the
+time-worn civilizations of Babylonia and Egypt to the furthest
+boundary of Egypt, and there handed them over to the West in the grey
+dawn of European history.... Greek traditions affirmed that the rulers
+of Mykenae had come from Lydia, bringing with them the civilization
+and treasures of Asia Minor. The tradition has been confirmed by
+modern research. While certain elements belonging to the prehistoric
+culture of Greece, as revealed at Mykenae and elsewhere, were derived
+from Egypt and Phoenicia, there are others which point to Asia Minor
+as their source. And the culture of Asia Minor was Hittite."[324]
+
+The early Babylonian astronomers did not know, of course, that the
+earth revolved round the sun. They believed that the sun travelled
+across the heavens flying like a bird or sailing like a boat.[325] In
+studying its movements they observed that it always travelled from
+west to east along a broad path, swinging from side to side of it in
+the course of the year. This path is the Zodiac--the celestial "circle
+of necessity". The middle line of the sun's path is the Ecliptic. The
+Babylonian scientists divided the Ecliptic into twelve equal parts,
+and grouped in each part the stars which formed their constellations;
+these are also called "Signs of the Zodiac". Each month had thus its
+sign or constellation.
+
+The names borne at the present day by the signs of the Zodiac are
+easily remembered even by children, who are encouraged to repeat the
+following familiar lines:
+
+    The _Ram_, the _Bull_, the heavenly _Twins_,
+    And next the _Crab_, the _Lion_ shines.
+        The _Virgin_ and the _Scales_;
+    The _Scorpion, Archer_, and _Sea goat_,
+    The man that holds the _water pot_,
+        And _Fish_ with glitt'ring[326] tails.
+
+The table on p. 308 shows that our signs are derived from ancient
+Babylonia.
+
+The celestial regions were also divided into three or more parts.
+Three "fields" were allotted to the ancient triad formed by Ea, Anu,
+and Bel. The zodiacal "path" ran through these "fields". Ea's field
+was in the west, and was associated with Amurru, the land of the
+Amorites; Anu's field was in the south, and was associated with Elam;
+and Bel's central "field" was associated with the land of Akkad. When
+the rulers of Akkad called themselves "kings of the four quarters",
+the reference was to the countries associated with the three divine
+fields and to Gutium[327](east = our north-east). Was Gutium
+associated with demons, as in Scandinavia the north-east was
+associated with the giants against whom Thor waged war?
+
+
++---------------------------------------------------------------------+
+|               | Date of Sun's Entry |                               |
+|Constellations.|(Babylonian Month in |    Babylonian Equivalent.     |
+|               |     brackets).      |                               |
+|---------------+---------------------+-------------------------------|
+|Aries (the     |20th March (Nisan =  |The Labourer or Messenger.     |
+|Ram).          |March-April)         |                               |
+|---------------+---------------------+-------------------------------|
+|Taurus (the    |20th April (Iyyar =  |A divine figure and the "bull  |
+|Bull).         |April-May)           |of heaven".                    |
+|---------------+---------------------+-------------------------------|
+|Gemini (the    |21st May (Sivan =    |The Faithful Shepherd and Twins|
+|Twins).        |May-June).           |side by side, or head to head  |
+|               |                     |and feet to teet.              |
+|---------------+---------------------+-------------------------------|
+|Cancer (the    |21st June (Tammuz =  |Crab or Scorpion.              |
+|Crab).         |June-July).          |                               |
+|---------------+---------------------+-------------------------------|
+|Leo (the Lion).|22nd July (Ab =      |The big dog (Lion).            |
+|               |July-August).        |                               |
+|---------------+---------------------+-------------------------------|
+|Virgo (the     |23rd August (Elul =  |Ishtar, the Virgin's ear of    |
+|Virgin).       |August-Sept.).       |corn.                          |
+|---------------+---------------------+-------------------------------|
+|Libra (the     |23rd September (Tisri|The Balance.                   |
+|Balance).      |= Sept.-Oct.).       |                               |
+|---------------+---------------------+-------------------------------|
+|Scorpio (the   |23rd October         |                               |
+|Scorpion).     |(Marcheswan =        |Scorpion of darkness.          |
+|               |Oct.-Nov.).          |                               |
+|---------------+---------------------+-------------------------------|
+|Sagittarius    |22nd November        |Man or man-horse with bow, or  |
+|(the Archer).  |(Chisleu =           |an arrow symbol.               |
+|               |Nov.-Dec.).          |                               |
+|---------------+---------------------+-------------------------------|
+|Capricornus    |21st December (Tebet |Ea's goat-fish.                |
+|(the Goat).    |= Dec.-Jan.).        |                               |
+|---------------+---------------------+-------------------------------|
+|Aquarius (the  |19th January (Sebat =|God with water urn.            |
+|Water Carrier).|Jan.-Feb.).          |                               |
+|---------------+---------------------+-------------------------------|
+|Pisces (the    |18th February (Adar =|Fish tails in canal.           |
+|Fishes).       |Feb.-March).         |                               |
++---------------------------------------------------------------------+
+
+
+The Babylonian Creation myth states that Merodach, having fixed the
+stars of the Zodiac, made three stars for each month (p. 147). Mr.
+Robert Brown, jun., who has dealt as exhaustively with the
+astronomical problems of Babylonia as the available data permitted
+him, is of opinion that the leading stars of three constellations are
+referred to, viz.: (1) the central or zodiacal constellations, (2) the
+northern constellations, and (3) the southern constellations. We have
+thus a scheme of thirty-six constellations. The "twelve zodiacal stars
+were flanked on either side by twelve non-zodiacal stars". Mr. Brown
+quotes Diodorus, who gave a r�sum� of Babylonian
+astronomico-astrology, in this connection. He said that "the five
+planets were called 'Interpreters'; and in subjection to these were
+marshalled 'Thirty Stars', which were styled 'Divinities of the
+Council'.... The chiefs of the Divinities are twelve in number, to
+each of whom they assign a month and one of the twelve signs of the
+Zodiac." Through these twelve signs sun, moon, and planets run their
+courses. "And with the zodiacal circle they mark out twenty-four
+stars, half of which they say are arranged in the north and half in
+the south."[328] Mr. Brown shows that the thirty stars referred to
+"constituted the original Euphratean Lunar Zodiac, the parent of the
+seven ancient lunar zodiacs which have come down to us, namely, the
+Persian, Sogdian, Khorasmian, Chinese, Indian, Arab, and Coptic
+schemes".
+
+The three constellations associated with each month had each a
+symbolic significance: they reflected the characters of their months.
+At the height of the rainy season, for instance, the month of Ramman,
+the thunder god, was presided over by the zodiacal constellation of
+the water urn, the northern constellation "Fish of the Canal", and the
+southern "the Horse". In India the black horse was sacrificed at
+rain-getting and fertility ceremonies. The months of growth,
+pestilence, and scorching sun heat were in turn symbolized. The "Great
+Bear" was the "chariot" = "Charles's Wain", and the "Milky Way" the
+"river of the high cloud", the Celestial Euphrates, as in Egypt it was
+the Celestial Nile.
+
+Of special interest among the many problems presented by Babylonian
+astronomical lore is the theory of Cosmic periods or Ages of the
+Universe. In the Indian, Greek, and Irish mythologies there are four
+Ages--the Silvern (white), Golden (yellow), the Bronze (red), and the
+Iron (black). As has been already indicated, Mr. R. Brown, jun., shows
+that "the Indian system of Yugas, or ages of the world, presents many
+features which forcibly remind us of the Euphratean scheme". The
+Babylonians had ten antediluvian kings, who were reputed to have
+reigned for vast periods, the total of which amounted to 120 saroi, or
+432,000 years. These figures at once recall the Indian Maha-yuga of
+4,320,000 years = 432,000 x 10. Apparently the Babylonian and Indian
+systems of calculation were of common origin. In both countries the
+measurements of time and space were arrived at by utilizing the
+numerals 10 and 6.
+
+When primitive man began to count he adopted a method which comes
+naturally to every schoolboy; he utilized his fingers. Twice five gave
+him ten, and from ten he progressed to twenty, and then on to a
+hundred and beyond. In making measurements his hands, arms, and feet
+were at his service. We are still measuring by feet and yards
+(standardized strides) in this country, while those who engage in the
+immemorial art of knitting, and, in doing so, repeat designs found on
+neolithic pottery, continue to measure in finger breadths, finger
+lengths, and hand breadths as did the ancient folks who called an arm
+length a cubit. Nor has the span been forgotten, especially by boys in
+their games with marbles; the space from the end of the thumb to the
+end of the little finger when the hand is extended must have been an
+important measurement from the earliest times.
+
+As he made progress in calculations, the primitive Babylonian appears
+to have been struck by other details in his anatomy besides his sets
+of five fingers and five toes. He observed, for instance, that his
+fingers were divided into three parts and his thumb into two parts
+only;[329] four fingers multiplied by three gave him twelve, and
+multiplying 12 by 3 he reached 36. Apparently the figure 6 attracted
+him. His body was divided into 6 parts--2 arms, 2 legs, the head, and
+the trunk; his 2 ears, 2 eyes, and mouth, and nose also gave him 6.
+The basal 6, multiplied by his 10 fingers, gave him 60, and 60 x 2
+(for his 2 hands) gave him 120. In Babylonian arithmetic 6 and 60 are
+important numbers, and it is not surprising to find that in the system
+of numerals the signs for 1 and 10 combined represent 60.
+
+In fixing the length of a mythical period his first great calculation
+of 120 came naturally to the Babylonian, and when he undertook to
+measure the Zodiac he equated time and space by fixing on 120 degrees.
+His first zodiac was the Sumerian lunar zodiac, which contained thirty
+moon chambers associated with the "Thirty Stars" of the tablets, and
+referred to by Diodorus as "Divinities of the Council". The chiefs of
+the Thirty numbered twelve. In this system the year began in the
+winter solstice. Mr. Hewitt has shown that the chief annual festival
+of the Indian Dravidians begins with the first full moon after the
+winter festival, and Mr. Brown emphasizes the fact that the list of
+Tamil (Dravidian) lunar and solar months are named like the Babylonian
+constellations.[330] "Lunar chronology", wrote Professor Max Mailer,
+"seems everywhere to have preceded solar chronology."[331] The later
+Semitic Babylonian system had twelve solar chambers and the thirty-six
+constellations.
+
+Each degree was divided into sixty minutes, and each minute into sixty
+seconds. The hours of the day and night each numbered twelve.
+
+Multiplying 6 by 10 (pur), the Babylonian arrived at 60 (soss); 60x10
+gave him 600 (ner), and 600x6, 3600 (sar), while 3600x10 gave him
+36,000, and 36,000x12, 432,000 years, or 120 saroi, which is equal to
+the "sar" multiplied by the "soss"x2. "Pur" signifies "heap"--the ten
+fingers closed after being counted; and "ner" signifies "foot". Mr.
+George Bertin suggests that when 6x10 fingers gave 60 this number was
+multiplied by the ten toes, with the result that 600 was afterwards
+associated with the feet (ner). The Babylonian sign for 10 resembles
+the impression of two feet with heels closed and toes apart. This
+suggests a primitive record of the first round of finger counting.
+
+In India this Babylonian system of calculation was developed during
+the Brahmanical period. The four Yugas or Ages, representing the four
+fingers used by the primitive mathematicians, totalled 12,000 divine
+years, a period which was called a Maha-yuga; it equalled the
+Babylonian 120 saroi, multiplied by 100. Ten times a hundred of these
+periods gave a "Day of Brahma".
+
+Each day of the gods, it was explained by the Brahmans, was a year to
+mortals. Multiplied by 360 days, 12,000 divine years equalled
+4,320,000 human years. This Maha-yuga, multiplied by 1000, gave the
+"Day of Brahma" as 4,320,000,000 human years.
+
+The shortest Indian Yuga is the Babylonian 120 saroi multiplied by
+10=1200 divine years for the Kali Yuga; twice that number gives the
+Dvapara Yuga of 2400 divine years; then the Treta Yuga is 2400 + 1200
+= 3600 divine years, and Krita Yuga 3600 + 1200 = 4800 divine years.
+
+The influence of Babylonia is apparent in these calculations. During
+the Vedic period "Yuga" usually signified a "generation", and there
+are no certain references to the four Ages as such. The names "Kali",
+"Dvapara", "Treta", and "Krita" "occur as the designations of throws
+of dice".[332] It was after the arrival of the "late comers", the
+post-Vedic Aryans, that the Yuga system was developed in India.[333]
+
+In _Indian Myth and Legend_[334] it is shown that the Indian and Irish
+Ages have the same colour sequence: (1) White or Silvern, (2) Red or
+Bronze, (3) Yellow or Golden, and (4) Black or Iron. The Greek order
+is: (1) Golden, (2) Silvern, (3) Bronze, and (4) Iron.
+
+The Babylonians coloured the seven planets as follows: the moon,
+silvern; the sun, golden; Mars, red; Saturn, black; Jupiter, orange;
+Venus, yellow; and Mercury, blue.
+
+As the ten antediluvian kings who reigned for 120 saroi had an astral
+significance, their long reigns corresponding "with the distances
+separating certain of the principal stars in or near the
+ecliptic",[335]) it seems highly probable that the planets were
+similarly connected with mythical ages which were equated with the
+"four quarters" of the celestial regions and the four regions of the
+earth, which in Gaelic story are called "the four red divisions of the
+world".
+
+Three of the planets may have been heralds of change. Venus, as "
+Dilbat", was the "Proclaimer", and both Jupiter and Mercury were
+called "Face voices of light", and "Heroes of the rising sun" among
+other names. Jupiter may have been the herald of the "Golden Age" as a
+morning star. This planet was also associated with bronze, as "Kakkub
+Urud", "the star of bronze", while Mars was "Kakkub Aban Kha-urud,"
+"the star of the bronze fish stone". Mercury, the lapis lazuli planet,
+may have been connected with the black Saturn, the ghost of the dead
+sun, the demoniac elder god; in Egypt lapis lazuli was the hair colour
+of Ra when he grew old, and Egyptologists translate it as black.[336]
+The rare and regular appearances of Mercury may have suggested the
+planet's connection with a recurring Age. Venus as an evening star
+might be regarded as the herald of the lunar or silver age; she was
+propitious as a bearded deity and interchanged with Merodach as a
+seasonal herald.
+
+Connecting Jupiter with the sun as a propitious planet, and with Mars
+as a destroying planet, Venus with the moon, and Mercury with Saturn,
+we have left four colour schemes which suggest the Golden, Silvern,
+Bronze, and Iron Ages. The Greek order of mythical ages may have had a
+solar significance, beginning as it does with the "golden" period. On
+the other hand the Indian and Irish systems begin with the Silvern or
+white lunar period. In India the White Age (Treta Yuga) was the age of
+perfect men, and in Greece the Golden Age was the age of men who lived
+like gods. Thus the first ages in both cases were "Perfect" Ages. The
+Bronze Age of Greece was the age of notorious fighters and takers of
+life; in Babylonia the bronze planet Mars was the symbol of the
+destroying Nergal, god of war and pestilence, while Jupiter was also a
+destroyer as Merodach, the slayer of Tiamat. In India the Black Age is
+the age of wickedness. The Babylonian Saturn, as we have seen, is
+black, and its god, Ninip, was the destroying boar, which recalls the
+black boar of the Egyptian demon (or elder god) Set. The Greek Cronos
+was a destroyer even of his own children. All the elder gods had
+demoniac traits like the ghosts of human beings.
+
+As the Babylonian lunar zodiac was imported into India before solar
+worship and the solar zodiac were developed, so too may have been the
+germs of the Yuga doctrine, which appears to have a long history.
+Greece, on the other hand, came under the influence of Babylon at a
+much later period. In Egypt Ra, the sun god, was an antediluvian king,
+and he was followed by Osiris. Osiris was slain by Set, who was
+depicted sometimes red and sometimes black. There was also a Horus
+Age.
+
+The Irish system of ages suggests an early cultural drift into Europe,
+through Asia Minor, and along the uplands occupied by the
+representatives of the Alpine or Armenoid peoples who have been traced
+from Hindu Kush to Brittany. The culture of Gaul resembles that of
+India in certain particulars; both the Gauls and the post-Vedic
+Aryans, for instance, believed in the doctrine of Transmigration of
+Souls, and practised "suttee". After the Roman occupation of Gaul,
+Ireland appears to have been the refuge of Gaulish scholars, who
+imported their beliefs and traditions and laid the foundations of that
+brilliant culture which shed lustre on the Green Isle in late Pagan
+and early Christian times.
+
+The part played by the Mitanni people of Aryan speech in distributing
+Asiatic culture throughout Europe may have been considerable, but we
+know little or nothing regarding their movements and influence, nor
+has sufficient evidence been forthcoming to connect them with the
+cremating invaders of the Bronze Age, who penetrated as far as
+northern Scotland and Scandinavia. On the other hand it is certain
+that the Hittites adopted the planetary system of Babylonia and passed
+it on to Europeans, including the Greeks. The five planets Ninip,
+Merodach, Nergal, Ishtar, and Nebo were called by the Greeks after
+their gods Kronos, Zeus, Ares, Aphrodite, and Hermes, and by the
+Romans Saturnus, Jupiter, Mars, Venus, and Mercurius. It must be
+recognized, however, that these equations were somewhat arbitrary.
+Ninip resembled Kronos and Saturnus as a father, but he was also at
+the same time a son; he was the Egyptian Horus the elder and Horus the
+younger in one. Merodach was similarly of complex character--a
+combination of Ea, Anu, Enlil, and Tammuz, who acquired, when exalted
+by the Amoritic Dynasty of Babylon, the attributes of the thunder god
+Adad-Ramman in the form of Amurru, "lord of the mountains". During the
+Hammurabi Age Amurru was significantly popular in personal names. It
+is as Amurru-Ramman that Merodach bears comparison with Zeus. He also
+links with Hercules. Too much must not be made, therefore, of the
+Greek and Roman identifications of alien deities with their own.
+Mulla, the Gaulish mule god, may have resembled Mars somewhat, but it
+is a "far cry" from Mars-Mulla to Mars-Nergal, as it is also from the
+Gaulish Moccus, the boar, called "Mercury", to Nebo, the god of
+culture, who was the "Mercury" of the Tigro-Euphrates valley.
+Similarly the differences between "Jupiter-Amon" of Egypt and
+"Jupiter-Merodach" of Babylon were more pronounced than the
+resemblances.
+
+The basal idea in Babylonian astrology appears to be the recognition
+of the astral bodies as spirits or fates, who exercised an influence
+over the gods, the world, and mankind. These were worshipped in groups
+when they were yet nameless. The group addressed, "Powerful, O
+sevenfold, one are ye", may have been a constellation consisting of
+seven stars.[337] The worship of stars and planets, which were
+identified and named, "seems never to have spread", says Professor
+Sayce, "beyond the learned classes, and to have remained to the last
+an artificial system. The mass of the people worshipped the stars as a
+whole, but it was only as a whole and not individually."[338] The
+masses perpetuated ancient animistic beliefs, like the pre-Hellenic
+inhabitants of Greece. "The Pelasgians, as I was informed at Dodona,"
+wrote Herodotus, "formerly offered all things indiscriminately to the
+gods. They distinguished them by no name or surname, for they were
+hitherto unacquainted with either; but they called them gods, which by
+its etymology means disposers, from observing the orderly disposition
+and distribution of the various parts of the universe."[339] The
+oldest deities are those which bore no individual names. They were
+simply "Fates" or groups called "Sevenfold". The crude giant gods of
+Scotland are "Fomhairean" (Fomorians), and do not have individual
+names as in Ireland. Families and tribes were controlled by the Fates
+or nameless gods, which might appear as beasts or birds, or be heard
+knocking or screaming.
+
+In the Babylonian astral hymns, the star spirits are associated with
+the gods, and are revealers of the decrees of Fate. "Ye brilliant
+stars... ye bright ones... to destroy evil did Anu create you.... At
+thy command mankind was named (created)! Give thou the Word, and with
+thee let the great gods stand! Give thou my judgment, make my
+decision!"[340]
+
+The Indian evidence shows that the constellations, and especially the
+bright stars, were identified before the planets. Indeed, in Vedic
+literature there is no certain reference to a single planet, although
+constellations are named. It seems highly probable that before the
+Babylonian gods were associated with the astral bodies, the belief
+obtained that the stars exercised an influence over human lives. In
+one of the Indian "Forest Books", for instance, reference is made to a
+man who was "born under the Nakshatra Rohini ".[341] "Nakshatras" are
+stars in the _Rigveda_ and later, and "lunar mansions" in Brahmanical
+compositions.[342] "Rohini, 'ruddy', is the name of a conspicuously
+reddish star, [Greek: alpha] Tauri or Aldebaran, and denotes the group
+of the Hyades."[343] This reference may be dated before 600 B.C.,
+perhaps 800 B.C.
+
+From Greece comes the evidence of Plutarch regarding the principles of
+Babylonian astrology. "Respecting the planets, which they call _the
+birth-ruling divinities_, the Chaldeans", he wrote, "lay down that two
+(Venus and Jupiter) are propitious, and two (Mars and Saturn) malign,
+and three (Sun, Moon, and Mercury) of a middle nature, and one
+common." "That is," Mr. Brown comments, "an astrologer would say,
+these three are propitious with the good, and may be malign with the
+bad."[344]
+
+Jastrow's views in this connection seem highly controversial. He holds
+that Babylonian astrology dealt simply with national affairs, and had
+no concern with "the conditions under which the individual was born";
+it did not predict "the fate in store for him". He believes that the
+Greeks transformed Babylonian astrology and infused it with the spirit
+of individualism which is a characteristic of their religion, and that
+they were the first to give astrology a personal significance.
+
+Jastrow also perpetuates the idea that astronomy began with the
+Greeks. "Several centuries before the days of Alexander the Great," he
+says, "the Greeks had begun to cultivate the study of the heavens, not
+for purposes of divination, but prompted by a scientific spirit as an
+intellectual discipline that might help them to solve the mysteries of
+the universe." It is possible, however, to overrate the "scientific
+spirit" of the Greeks, who, like the Japanese in our own day, were
+accomplished borrowers from other civilizations. That astronomy had
+humble beginnings in Greece as elsewhere is highly probable. The late
+Mr. Andrew Lang wrote in this connection: "The very oddest example of
+the survival of the notion that the stars are men and women is found
+in the _Pax_ of Aristophanes. Trygaeus in that comedy has just made an
+expedition to heaven. A slave meets him, and asks him: 'Is not the
+story true, then, that we become stars when we die?' The answer is,
+'Certainly'; and Trygaeus points out the star into which Ion of Chios
+has just been metamorphosed." Mr. Lang added: "Aristophanes is making
+fun of some popular Greek superstition". The Eskimos, Persians,
+Aryo-Indians, Germans, New Zealanders, and others had a similar
+superstition.[345]
+
+Jastrow goes on to say that the Greeks "imparted their scientific view
+of the Universe to the East. They became the teachers of the East in
+astronomy as in medicine and other sciences, and the credit of having
+discovered the law of the precession of the equinoxes belongs to
+Hipparchus, the Greek astronomer, who announced this important theory
+about the year 130 B.C."[346] Undoubtedly the Greeks contributed to
+the advancement of the science of astronomy, with which, as other
+authorities believe, they became acquainted after it had become well
+developed as a science by the Assyrians and Babylonians.
+
+"In return for improved methods of astronomical calculation which,"
+Jastrow says, "_it may be assumed_ (the italics are ours), contact
+with Greek science gave to the Babylonian astronomers, the Greeks
+accepted from the Babylonians the names of the constellations of the
+ecliptic."[347] This is a grudging admission; they evidently accepted
+more than the mere names.
+
+Jastrow's hypothesis is certainly interesting, especially as he is an
+Oriental linguist of high repute. But it is not generally accepted.
+The sudden advance made by the Tigro-Euphratean astronomers when
+Assyria was at the height of its glory, may have been due to the
+discoveries made by great native scientists, the Newtons and the
+Herschels of past ages, who had studied the data accumulated by
+generations of astrologers, the earliest recorders of the movements of
+the heavenly bodies. It is hard to believe that the Greeks made much
+progress as scientists before they had identified the planets, and
+become familiar with the Babylonian constellations through the medium
+of the Hittites or the Phoenicians. What is known for certain is that
+long centuries before the Greek science was heard of, there were
+scientists in Babylonia. During the Sumerian period "the forms and
+relations of geometry", says Professor Goodspeed, "were employed for
+purposes of augury. The heavens were mapped out, and the courses of
+the heavenly bodies traced to determine the bearing of their movements
+upon human destinies."[348]
+
+Several centuries before Hipparchus was born, the Assyrian kings had
+in their palaces official astronomers who were able to foretell, with
+varying degrees of accuracy, when eclipses would take place.
+Instructions were sent to various observatories, in the king's name,
+to send in reports of forthcoming eclipses. A translation of one of
+these official documents sent from the observatory of Babylon to
+Nineveh, has been published by Professor Harper. The following are
+extracts from it: "As for the eclipse of the moon about which the king
+my lord has written to me, a watch was kept for it in the cities of
+Akkad, Borsippa, and Nippur. We observed it ourselves in the city of
+Akkad.... And whereas the king my lord ordered me to observe also the
+eclipse of the sun, I watched to see whether it took place or not, and
+what passed before my eyes I now report to the king my lord. It was an
+eclipse of the moon that took place.... It was total over Syria, and
+the shadow fell on the land of the Amorites, the land of the Hittites,
+and in part on the land of the Chaldees." Professor Sayce comments:
+"We gather from this letter that there were no less than three
+observatories in Northern Babylonia: one at Akkad, near Sippara; one
+at Nippur, now Niffer; and one at Borsippa, within sight of Babylon.
+As Borsippa possessed a university, it was natural that one of the
+three observatories should be established there."[349]
+
+It is evident that before the astronomers at Nineveh could foretell
+eclipses, they had achieved considerable progress as scientists. The
+data at their disposal probably covered nearly two thousand years. Mr.
+Brown, junior, calculates that the signs of the Zodiac were fixed in
+the year 2084 B.C.[350] These star groups do not now occupy the
+positions in which they were observed by the early astronomers,
+because the revolving earth is rocking like a top, with the result
+that the pole does not always keep pointing at the same spot in the
+heavens. Each year the meeting-place of the imaginary lines of the
+ecliptic and equator is moving westward at the rate of about fifty
+seconds. In time--ages hence--the pole will circle round to the point
+it spun at when the constellations were named by the Babylonians. It
+is by calculating the period occupied by this world-curve that the
+date 2084 B.C. has been arrived at.
+
+As a result of the world-rocking process, the present-day "signs of
+the Zodiac" do not correspond with the constellations. In March, for
+instance, when the sun crosses the equator it enters the sign of the
+Ram (Aries), but does not reach the constellation till the 20th, as
+the comparative table shows on p. 308.
+
+When "the ecliptic was marked off into the twelve regions" and the
+signs of the Zodiac were designated, "the year of three hundred
+sixty-five and one-fourth days was known", says Goodspeed, "though the
+common year was reckoned according to twelve months of thirty days
+each[351], and equated with the solar year by intercalating a month at
+the proper times.... The month was divided into weeks of seven
+days.... The clepsydra and the sundial were Babylonian inventions for
+measuring time."[352]
+
+The sundial of Ahaz was probably of Babylonian design. When the shadow
+went "ten degrees backward" (_2 Kings_, xx, II) ambassadors were sent
+from Babylon "to enquire of the wonder that was done in the land" (_2
+Chron._ xxxii, 31). It was believed that the king's illness was
+connected with the incident. According to astronomical calculation
+there was a partial eclipse of the sun which was visible at Jerusalem
+on 11th January, 689 B.C, about 11.30 a.m. When the upper part of the
+solar disc was obscured, the shadow on the dial was strangely
+affected.
+
+The Babylonian astrologers in their official documents were more
+concerned regarding international omens than those which affected
+individuals. They made observations not only of the stars, but also
+the moon, which, as has been shown, was one of their planets, and took
+note of the clouds and the wind likewise.
+
+As portions of the heavens were assigned to various countries, so was
+the moon divided into four quarters for the same purpose--the upper
+part for the north, Gutium, the lower for the south, Akkad or
+Babylonia, the eastern part for Elam, and the western for Amurru. The
+crescent was also divided in like manner; looking southward the
+astrologers assigned the right horn to the west and the left to the
+east. In addition, certain days and certain months were connected with
+the different regions. Lunar astrology was therefore of complicated
+character. When the moon was dim at the particular phase which was
+connected with Amurru, it was believed that the fortunes of that
+region were in decline, and if it happened to shine brightly in the
+Babylonian phase the time was considered auspicious to wage war in the
+west. Great importance was attached to eclipses, which were
+fortunately recorded, with the result that the ancient astronomers
+were ultimately enabled to forecast them.
+
+The destinies of the various states in the four quarters were
+similarly influenced by the planets. When Venus, for instance, rose
+brightly in the field of Anu, it was a "prosperor" for Elam; if it
+were dim it foretold misfortune. Much importance was also attached to
+the positions occupied by the constellations when the planets were
+propitious or otherwise; no king would venture forth on an expedition
+under a "yoke of inauspicious stars".
+
+Biblical references to the stars make mention of well-known Babylonian
+constellations:
+
+    Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the
+    bands of Orion? Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth (? the Zodiac) in
+    his season? or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons? Knowest
+    thou the ordinances of heaven? canst thou set the dominion thereof
+    in the earth? _Job_, xxxviii, 31-33. Which maketh Arcturus, Orion,
+    and Pleiades, and the chambers of the south. _Job_, ix, 9. Seek
+    him that maketh the seven stars and Orion, and turneth the shadow
+    of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night.
+    _Amos_, v, 8.
+
+The so-called science of astrology, which had origin in ancient
+Babylonia and spread eastward and west, is not yet extinct, and has
+its believers even in our own country at the present day, although
+they are not nearly so numerous as when Shakespeare made Malvolio
+read:
+
+    In my stars I am above thee; but be not afraid of greatness: some
+    are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness
+    thrust upon 'em. Thy Fates open their hands....[353]
+
+or when Byron wrote:
+
+    Ye stars! which are the poetry of heaven!
+    If in your bright leaves we would read the fate
+    Of men and empires--'t is to be forgiven
+    That in our aspirations to be great,
+    Our destinies o'erleap their mortal state
+    And claim a kindred with you....[354]
+
+Our grave astronomers are no longer astrologers, but they still call
+certain constellations by the names given them in Babylonia. Every
+time we look at our watches we are reminded of the ancient
+mathematicians who counted on their fingers and multiplied 10 by 6, to
+give us minutes and seconds, and divided the day and the night into
+twelve hours by multiplying six by the two leaden feet of Time. The
+past lives in the present.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+ASHUR THE NATIONAL GOD OF ASSYRIA
+
+
+  Derivation of Ashur--Ashur as Anshar and Anu--Animal forms of Sky
+  God--Anshar as Star God on the Celestial Mount--Isaiah's
+  Parable--Symbols of World God and World Hill--Dance of the
+  Constellations and Dance of Satyrs--Goat Gods and Bull Gods--Symbols
+  of Gods as "High Heads"--The Winged Disc--Human Figure as Soul of
+  the Sun--Ashur as Hercules and Gilgamesh--Gods differentiated by
+  Cults--Fertility Gods as War Gods--Ashur's Tree and Animal
+  forms--Ashur as Nisroch--Lightning Symbol in Disc--Ezekiel's
+  Reference to Life Wheel--Indian Wheel and Discus--Wheels of Shamash
+  and Ahura-Mazda--Hittite Winged Disc--Solar Wheel causes Seasonal
+  Changes--Bonfires to stimulate Solar Deity--Burning of Gods and
+  Kings--Magical Ring and other Symbols of Scotland--Ashur's Wheel of
+  Life and Eagle Wings--King and Ashur--Ashur associated with Lunar,
+  Fire, and Star Gods--The Osirian Clue--Hittite and Persian
+  Influences.
+
+
+The rise of Assyria brings into prominence the national god Ashur,
+who had been the city god of Asshur, the ancient capital. When first
+met with, he is found to be a complex and mystical deity, and the
+problem of his origin is consequently rendered exceedingly difficult.
+Philologists are not agreed as to the derivation of his name, and
+present as varied views as they do when dealing with the name of
+Osiris. Some give Ashur a geographical significance, urging that its
+original form was Aushar, "water field"; others prefer the renderings
+"Holy", "the Beneficent One", or "the Merciful One"; while not a few
+regard Ashur as simply a dialectic form of the name of Anshar, the god
+who, in the Assyrian version, or copy, of the Babylonian Creation
+myth, is chief of the "host of heaven", and the father of Anu, Ea, and
+Enlil.
+
+If Ashur is to be regarded as an abstract solar deity, who was
+developed from a descriptive place name, it follows that he had a
+history, like Anu or Ea, rooted in Naturalism or Animism. We cannot
+assume that his strictly local character was produced by modes of
+thought which did not obtain elsewhere. The colonists who settled at
+Asshur no doubt imported beliefs from some cultural area; they must
+have either given recognition to a god, or group of gods, or regarded
+the trees, hills, rivers, sun, moon, and stars, and the animals as
+manifestations of the "self power" of the Universe, before they
+undertook the work of draining and cultivating the "water field" and
+erecting permanent homes. Those who settled at Nineveh, for instance,
+believed that they were protected by the goddess Nina, the patron
+deity of the Sumerian city of Nina. As this goddess was also
+worshipped at Lagash, and was one of the many forms of the Great
+Mother, it would appear that in ancient times deities had a tribal
+rather than a geographical significance.
+
+If the view is accepted that Ashur is Anshar, it can be urged that he
+was imported from Sumeria. "Out of that land (Shinar)", according to
+the Biblical reference, "went forth Asshur, and builded Nineveh."[355]
+Asshur, or Ashur (identical, Delitzsch and Jastrow believe, with
+Ashir),[356] may have been an eponymous hero--a deified king like
+Etana, or Gilgamesh, who was regarded as an incarnation of an ancient
+god. As Anshar was an astral or early form of Anu, the Sumerian city
+of origin may have been Erech, where the worship of the mother goddess
+was also given prominence.
+
+Damascius rendered Anshar's name as "Assoros", a fact usually cited to
+establish Ashur's connection with that deity. This writer stated that
+the Babylonians passed over "Sige,[357] the mother, that has begotten
+heaven and earth", and made two--Apason (Apsu), the husband, and
+Tauthe (Tiawath or Tiamat), whose son was Moymis (Mummu). From these
+another progeny came forth--Lache and Lachos (Lachmu and Lachamu).
+These were followed by the progeny Kissare and Assoros (Kishar and
+Anshar), "from which were produced Anos (Anu), Illillos (Enlil) and
+Aos (Ea). And of Aos and Dauke (Dawkina or Damkina) was born Belos
+(Bel Merodach), whom they say is the Demiurge"[358] (the world artisan
+who carried out the decrees of a higher being).
+
+Lachmu and Lachamu, like the second pair of the ancient group of
+Egyptian deities, probably symbolized darkness as a reproducing and
+sustaining power. Anshar was apparently an impersonation of the night
+sky, as his son Anu was of the day sky. It may have been believed that
+the soul of Anshar was in the moon as Nannar (Sin), or in a star, or
+that the moon and the stars were manifestations of him, and that the
+soul of Anu was in the sun or the firmament, or that the sun,
+firmament, and the wind were forms of this "self power".
+
+If Ashur combined the attributes of Anshar and Anu, his early mystical
+character may be accounted for. Like the Indian Brahma, he may have
+been in his highest form an impersonation, or symbol, of the "self
+power" or "world soul" of developed Naturalism--the "creator",
+"preserver", and "destroyer" in one, a god of water, earth, air, and
+sky, of sun, moon, and stars, fire and lightning, a god of the grove,
+whose essence was in the fig, or the fir cone, as it was in all
+animals. The Egyptian god Amon of Thebes, who was associated with
+water, earth, air, sky, sun and moon, had a ram form, and was "the
+hidden one", was developed from one of the elder eight gods; in the
+Pyramid Texts he and his consort are the fourth pair. When Amon was
+fused with the specialized sun god Ra, he was placed at the head of
+the Ennead as the Creator. "We have traces", says Jastrow, "of an
+Assyrian myth of Creation in which the sphere of creator is given to
+Ashur."[359]
+
+Before a single act of creation was conceived of, however, the early
+peoples recognized the eternity of matter, which was permeated by the
+"self power" of which the elder deities were vague phases. These were
+too vague, indeed, to be worshipped individually. The forms of the
+"self power" which were propitiated were trees, rivers, hills, or
+animals. As indicated in the previous chapter, a tribe worshipped an
+animal or natural object which dominated its environment. The animal
+might be the source of the food supply, or might have to be
+propitiated to ensure the food supply. Consequently they identified
+the self power of the Universe with the particular animal with which
+they were most concerned. One section identified the spirit of the
+heavens with the bull and another with the goat. In India Dyaus was a
+bull, and his spouse, the earth mother, Prithivi, was a cow. The
+Egyptian sky goddess Hathor was a cow, and other goddesses were
+identified with the hippopotamus, the serpent, the cat, or the
+vulture. Ra, the sun god, was identified in turn with the cat, the
+ass, the bull, the ram, and the crocodile, the various animal forms of
+the local deities he had absorbed. The eagle in Babylonia and India,
+and the vulture, falcon, and mysterious Phoenix in Egypt, were
+identified with the sun, fire, wind, and lightning. The animals
+associated with the god Ashur were the bull, the eagle, and the lion.
+He either absorbed the attributes of other gods, or symbolized the
+"Self Power" of which the animals were manifestations.
+
+The earliest germ of the Creation myth was the idea that night was the
+parent of day, and water of the earth. Out of darkness and death came
+light and life. Life was also motion. When the primordial waters
+became troubled, life began to be. Out of the confusion came order and
+organization. This process involved the idea of a stable and
+controlling power, and the succession of a group of deities--passive
+deities and active deities. When the Babylonian astrologers assisted
+in developing the Creation myth, they appear to have identified with
+the stable and controlling spirit of the night heaven that steadfast
+orb the Polar Star. Anshar, like Shakespeare's Caesar, seemed to say:
+
+    I am constant as the northern star, Of whose true-fixed and
+    resting quality There is no fellow in the firmament. The skies are
+    painted with unnumbered sparks; They are all fire, and every one
+    doth shine; But there's but one in all doth hold his place.[360]
+
+Associated with the Polar Star was the constellation Ursa Minor, "the
+Little Bear", called by the Babylonian astronomers, "the Lesser
+Chariot". There were chariots before horses were introduced. A patesi
+of Lagash had a chariot which was drawn by asses.
+
+The seemingly steadfast Polar Star was called "Ilu Sar", "the god
+Shar", or Anshar, "star of the height", or "Shar the most high". It
+seemed to be situated at the summit of the vault of heaven. The god
+Shar, therefore, stood upon the Celestial mountain, the Babylonian
+Olympus. He was the ghost of the elder god, who in Babylonia was
+displaced by the younger god, Merodach, as Mercury, the morning star,
+or as the sun, the planet of day; and in Assyria by Ashur, as the sun,
+or Regulus, or Arcturus, or Orion. Yet father and son were identical.
+They were phases of the One, the "self power".
+
+A deified reigning king was an incarnation of the god; after death he
+merged in the god, as did the Egyptian Unas. The eponymous hero Asshur
+may have similarly merged in the universal Ashur, who, like Horus, an
+incarnation of Osiris, had many phases or forms.
+
+Isaiah appears to have been familiar with the Tigro-Euphratean myths
+about the divinity of kings and the displacement of the elder god by
+the younger god, of whom the ruling monarch was an incarnation, and
+with the idea that the summit of the Celestial mountain was crowned by
+the "north star", the symbol of Anshar. "Thou shalt take up this
+parable", he exclaimed, making use of Babylonian symbolism, "against
+the king of Babylon and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden
+city ceased!... How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the
+morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the
+nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend unto heaven,
+I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will sit also upon
+the mount of the congregation, _in the sides of the north_; I will
+ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most
+High."[361] The king is identified with Lucifer as the deity of fire
+and the morning star; he is the younger god who aspired to occupy the
+mountain throne of his father, the god Shar--the Polar or North Star.
+
+It is possible that the Babylonian idea of a Celestial mountain gave
+origin to the belief that the earth was a mountain surrounded by the
+outer ocean, beheld by Etana when he flew towards heaven on the
+eagle's back. In India this hill is Mount Meru, the "world spine",
+which "sustains the earth"; it is surmounted by Indra's Valhal, or
+"the great city of Brahma". In Teutonic mythology the heavens revolve
+round the Polar Star, which is called "Veraldar nagli",[362] the
+"world spike"; while the earth is sustained by the "world tree". The
+"ded" amulet of Egypt symbolized the backbone of Osiris as a world
+god: "ded" means "firm", "established";[363] while at burial
+ceremonies the coffin was set up on end, inside the tomb, "on a small
+sandhill intended to represent the Mountain of the West--the realm of
+the dead".[364] The Babylonian temple towers were apparently symbols
+of the "world hill". At Babylon, the Du-azaga, "holy mound", was
+Merodach's temple E-sagila, "the Temple of the High Head". E-kur,
+rendered "the house or temple of the Mountain", was the temple of Bel
+Enlil at Nippur. At Erech, the temple of the goddess Ishtar was
+E-anna, which connects her, as Nina or Ninni, with Anu, derived from
+"ana", "heaven". Ishtar was "Queen of heaven".
+
+Now Polaris, situated at the summit of the celestial mountain, was
+identified with the sacred goat, "the highest of the flock of
+night".[365] Ursa Minor (the "Little Bear" constellation) may have
+been "the goat with six heads", referred to by Professor Sayce.[366]
+The six astral goats or goat-men were supposed to be dancing round the
+chief goat-man or Satyr (Anshar). Even in the dialogues of Plato the
+immemorial belief was perpetuated that the constellations were "moving
+as in a dance". Dancing began as a magical or religious practice, and
+the earliest astronomers saw their dancing customs reflected in the
+heavens by the constellations, whose movements were rhythmical. No
+doubt, Isaiah had in mind the belief of the Babylonians regarding the
+dance of their goat-gods when he foretold: "Their houses shall be full
+of doleful creatures; and owls (ghosts) shall dwell there, and _satyrs
+shall dance there_".[367] In other words, there would be no people
+left to perform religious dances beside the "desolate houses"; the
+stars only would be seen dancing round Polaris.
+
+Tammuz, like Anshar, as sentinel of the night heaven, was a goat, as
+was also Nin-Girsu of Lagash. A Sumerian reference to "a white kid of
+En Mersi (Nin-Girsu)" was translated into Semitic, "a white kid of
+Tammuz". The goat was also associated with Merodach. Babylonians,
+having prayed to that god to take away their diseases or their sins,
+released a goat, which was driven into the desert. The present Polar
+Star, which was not, of course, the Polar star of the earliest
+astronomers, the world having rocked westward, is called in Arabic
+Al-Jedy, "the kid". In India, the goat was connected with Agni and
+Varuna; it was slain at funeral ceremonies to inform the gods that a
+soul was about to enter heaven. Ea, the Sumerian lord of water, earth,
+and heaven, was symbolized as a "goat fish". Thor, the Teutonic
+fertility and thunder god, had a chariot drawn by goats. It is of
+interest to note that the sacred Sumerian goat bore on its forehead
+the same triangular symbol as the Apis bull of Egypt.
+
+Ashur was not a "goat of heaven", but a "bull of heaven", like the
+Sumerian Nannar (Sin), the moon god of Ur, Ninip of Saturn, and Bel
+Enlil. As the bull, however, he was, like Anshar, the ruling animal of
+the heavens; and like Anshar he had associated with him "six
+divinities of council".
+
+Other deities who were similarly exalted as "high heads" at various
+centres and at various periods, included Anu, Bel Enlil, and Ea,
+Merodach, Nergal, and Shamash. A symbol of the first three was a
+turban on a seat, or altar, which may have represented the "world
+mountain". Ea, as "the world spine", was symbolized as a column, with
+ram's head, standing on a throne, beside which crouched a "goat fish".
+Merodach's column terminated in a lance head, and the head of a lion
+crowned that of Nergal. These columns were probably connected with
+pillar worship, and therefore with tree worship, the pillar being the
+trunk of the "world tree". The symbol of the sun god Shamash was a
+disc, from which flowed streams of water; his rays apparently were
+"fertilizing tears", like the rays of the Egyptian sun god Ra. Horus,
+the Egyptian falcon god, was symbolized as the winged solar disc.
+
+It is necessary to accumulate these details regarding other deities
+and their symbols before dealing with Ashur. The symbols of Ashur must
+be studied, because they are one of the sources of our knowledge
+regarding the god's origin and character. These include (1) a winged
+disc with horns, enclosing four circles revolving round a middle
+circle; rippling rays fall down from either side of the disc; (2) a
+circle or wheel, suspended from wings, and enclosing a warrior drawing
+his bow to discharge an arrow; and (3) the same circle; the warrior's
+bow, however, is carried in his left hand, while the right hand is
+uplifted as if to bless his worshippers. These symbols are taken from
+seal cylinders.
+
+An Assyrian standard, which probably represented the "world column",
+has the disc mounted on a bull's head with horns. The upper part of
+the disc is occupied by a warrior, whose head, part of his bow, and
+the point of his arrow protrude from the circle. The rippling water
+rays are V-shaped, and two bulls, treading river-like rays, occupy the
+divisions thus formed. There are also two heads--a lion's and a
+man's--with gaping mouths, which may symbolize tempests, the
+destroying power of the sun, or the sources of the Tigris and
+Euphrates.
+
+Jastrow regards the winged disc as "the purer and more genuine symbol
+of Ashur as a solar deity". He calls it "a sun disc with protruding
+rays", and says: "To this symbol the warrior with the bow and arrow
+was added--a despiritualization that reflects the martial spirit of
+the Assyrian empire".[368]
+
+The sun symbol on the sun boat of Ra encloses similarly a human
+figure, which was apparently regarded as the soul of the sun: the life
+of the god was in the "sun egg". In an Indian prose treatise it is set
+forth: "Now that man in yonder orb (the sun) and that man in the right
+eye truly are no other than Death (the soul). His feet have stuck fast
+in the heart, and having pulled them out he comes forth; and when he
+comes forth then that man dies; whence they say of him who has passed
+away, 'he has been cut off (his life or life string has been
+severed)'."[369] The human figure did not indicate a process of
+"despiritualization" either in Egypt or in India. The Horus "winged
+disc" was besides a symbol of destruction and battle, as well as of
+light and fertility. Horus assumed that form in one legend to destroy
+Set and his followers.[370] But, of course, the same symbols may not
+have conveyed the same ideas to all peoples. As Blake put it:
+
+    What to others a trifle appears Fills me full of smiles and
+    tears.... With my inward Eye, 't is an old Man grey, With my
+    outward, a Thistle across my way.
+
+Indeed, it is possible that the winged disc meant one thing to an
+Assyrian priest, and another thing to a man not gifted with what Blake
+called "double vision".
+
+What seems certain, however, is that the archer was as truly solar as
+the "wings" or "rays". In Babylonia and Assyria the sun was, among
+other things, a destroyer from the earliest times. It is not
+surprising, therefore, to find that Ashur, like Merodach, resembled,
+in one of his phases, Hercules, or rather his prototype Gilgamesh. One
+of Gilgamesh's mythical feats was the slaying of three demon birds.
+These may be identical with the birds of prey which Hercules, in
+performing his sixth labour, hunted out of Stymphalus.[371] In the
+Greek Hipparcho-Ptolemy star list Hercules was the constellation of
+the "Kneeler", and in Babylonian-Assyrian astronomy he was (as
+Gilgamesh or Merodach) "Sarru", "the king". The astral "Arrow"
+(constellation of Sagitta) was pointed against the constellations of
+the "Eagle", "Vulture", and "Swan". In Phoenician astronomy the
+Vulture was "Zither" (Lyra), a weapon with which Hercules (identified
+with Melkarth) slew Linos, the musician. Hercules used a solar arrow,
+which he received from Apollo. In various mythologies the arrow is
+associated with the sun, the moon, and the atmospheric deities, and is
+a symbol of lightning, rain, and fertility, as well as of famine,
+disease, war, and death. The green-faced goddess Neith of Libya,
+compared by the Greeks to Minerva, carries in one hand two arrows and
+a bow.[372] If we knew as little of Athena (Minerva), who was armed
+with a lance, a breastplate made of the skin of a goat, a shield, and
+helmet, as we do of Ashur, it might be held that she was simply a
+goddess of war. The archer in the sun disc of the Assyrian standard
+probably represented Ashur as the god of the people--a deity closely
+akin to Merodach, with pronounced Tammuz traits, and therefore linking
+with other local deities like Ninip, Nergal, and Shamash, and
+partaking also like these of the attributes of the elder gods Anu, Bel
+Enlil, and Ea.
+
+All the other deities worshipped by the Assyrians were of Babylonian
+origin. Ashur appears to have differed from them just as one local
+Babylonian deity differed from another. He reflected Assyrian
+experiences and aspirations, but it is difficult to decide whether the
+sublime spiritual aspect of his character was due to the beliefs of
+alien peoples, by whom the early Assyrians were influenced, or to the
+teachings of advanced Babylonian thinkers, whose doctrines found
+readier acceptance in a "new country" than among the conservative
+ritualists of ancient Sumerian and Akkadian cities. New cults were
+formed from time to time in Babylonia, and when they achieved
+political power they gave a distinctive character to the religion of
+their city states. Others which did not find political support and
+remained in obscurity at home, may have yet extended their influence
+far and wide. Buddhism, for instance, originated in India, but now
+flourishes in other countries, to which it was introduced by
+missionaries. In the homeland it was submerged by the revival of
+Brahmanism, from which it sprung, and which it was intended
+permanently to displace. An instance of an advanced cult suddenly
+achieving prominence as a result of political influence is afforded by
+Egypt, where the fully developed Aton religion was embraced and
+established as a national religion by Akhenaton, the so-called
+"dreamer". That migrations were sometimes propelled by cults, which
+sought new areas in which to exercise religious freedom and propagate
+their beliefs, is suggested by the invasion of India at the close of
+the Vedic period by the "later comers", who laid the foundations of
+Brahmanism. They established themselves in Madhyadesa, "the Middle
+Country", "the land where the Brahmanas and the later Samhitas were
+produced". From this centre went forth missionaries, who accomplished
+the Brahmanization of the rest of India.[373]
+
+It may be, therefore, that the cult of Ashur was influenced in its
+development by the doctrines of advanced teachers from Babylonia, and
+that Persian Mithraism was also the product of missionary efforts
+extended from that great and ancient cultural area. Mitra, as has been
+stated, was one of the names of the Babylonian sun god, who was also a
+god of fertility. But Ashur could not have been to begin with merely a
+battle and solar deity. As the god of a city state he must have been
+worshipped by agriculturists, artisans, and traders; he must have been
+recognized as a deity of fertility, culture, commerce, and law. Even
+as a national god he must have made wider appeal than to the cultured
+and ruling classes. Bel Enlil of Nippur was a "world god" and war god,
+but still remained a local corn god.
+
+Assyria's greatness was reflected by Ashur, but he also reflected the
+origin and growth of that greatness. The civilization of which he was
+a product had an agricultural basis. It began with the development of
+the natural resources of Assyria, as was recognized by the Hebrew
+prophet, who said: "Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with
+fair branches.... The waters made him great, the deep set him up on
+high with her rivers running round about his plants, and sent out her
+little rivers unto all the trees of the field. Therefore his height
+was exalted above all the trees of the field, and his boughs were
+multiplied, and his branches became long because of the multitude of
+waters when he shot forth. All the fowls of heaven made their nests in
+his boughs, and under his branches did all the beasts of the field
+bring forth their young, and under his shadow dwelt all great nations.
+Thus was he fair in his greatness, in the length of his branches; for
+his root was by great waters. The cedars in the garden of God could
+not hide him: the fir trees were not like his boughs, and the chestnut
+trees were not like his branches; nor any tree in the garden of God
+was like unto him in his beauty."[374]
+
+Asshur, the ancient capital, was famous for its merchants. It is
+referred to in the Bible as one of the cities which traded with Tyre
+"in all sorts of things, in blue clothes, and broidered work, and in
+chests of rich apparel, bound with cords, and made of cedar".[375]
+
+As a military power, Assyria's name was dreaded. "Behold," Isaiah
+said, addressing King Hezekiah, "thou hast heard what the kings of
+Assyria have done to all lands by destroying them utterly."[376] The
+same prophet, when foretelling how Israel would suffer, exclaimed: "O
+Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine
+indignation. I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and
+against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the
+spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of
+the streets."[377]
+
+We expect to find Ashur reflected in these three phases of Assyrian
+civilization. If we recognize him in the first place as a god of
+fertility, his other attributes are at once included. A god of
+fertility is a corn god and a water god. The river as a river was a
+"creator" (p. 29), and Ashur was therefore closely associated with the
+"watery place", with the canals or "rivers running round about his
+plants". The rippling water-rays, or fertilizing tears, appear on the
+solar discs. As a corn god, he was a god of war. Tammuz's first act
+was to slay the demons of winter and storm, as Indra's in India was to
+slay the demons of drought, and Thor's in Scandinavia was to
+exterminate the frost giants. The corn god had to be fed with human
+sacrifices, and the people therefore waged war against foreigners to
+obtain victims. As the god made a contract with his people, he was a
+deity of commerce; he provided them with food and they in turn fed him
+with offerings.
+
+In Ezekiel's comparison of Assyria to a mighty tree, there is no doubt
+a mythological reference. The Hebrew prophets invariably utilized for
+their poetic imagery the characteristic beliefs of the peoples to whom
+they made direct reference. The "owls", "satyrs", and "dragons" of
+Babylon, mentioned by Isaiah, were taken from Babylonian mythology, as
+has been indicated. When, therefore, Assyria is compared to a cedar,
+which is greater than fir or chestnut, and it is stated that there are
+nesting birds in the branches, and under them reproducing beasts of
+the field, and that the greatness of the tree is due to "the multitude
+of waters", the conclusion is suggested that Assyrian religion, which
+Ashur's symbols reflect, included the worship of trees, birds, beasts,
+and water. The symbol of the Assyrian tree--probably the "world tree"
+of its religion--appears to be "the rod of mine anger ... the staff in
+their hand"; that is, the battle standard which was a symbol of Ashur.
+Tammuz and Osiris were tree gods as well as corn gods.
+
+Now, as Ashur was evidently a complex deity, it is futile to attempt
+to read his symbols without giving consideration to the remnants of
+Assyrian mythology which are found in the ruins of the ancient cities.
+These either reflect the attributes of Ashur, or constitute the
+material from which he evolved.
+
+As Layard pointed out many years ago, the Assyrians had a sacred tree
+which became conventionalized. It was "an elegant device, in which
+curved branches, springing from a kind of scroll work, terminated in
+flowers of graceful form. As one of the figures last described[378]
+was turned, as if in act of adoration, towards this device, it was
+evidently a sacred emblem; and I recognized in it the holy tree, or
+tree of life, so universally adored at the remotest period in the
+East, and which was preserved in the religious systems of the Persians
+to the final overthrow of their Empire.... The flowers were formed by
+seven petals."[379]
+
+This tree looks like a pillar, and is thrice crossed by
+conventionalized bull's horns tipped with ring symbols which may be
+stars, the highest pair of horns having a larger ring between them,
+but only partly shown as if it were a crescent. The tree with its many
+"sevenfold" designs may have been a symbol of the
+"Sevenfold-one-are-ye" deity. This is evidently the Assyrian tree
+which was called "the rod" or "staff".
+
+What mythical animals did this tree shelter? Layard found that "the
+four creatures continually introduced on the sculptured walls", were
+"a man, a lion, an ox, and an eagle".[380]
+
+In Sumeria the gods were given human form, but before this stage was
+reached the bull symbolized Nannar (Sin), the moon god, Ninip (Saturn,
+the old sun), and Enlil, while Nergal was a lion, as a tribal sun god.
+The eagle is represented by the Zu bird, which symbolized the storm
+and a phase of the sun, and was also a deity of fertility. On the
+silver vase of Lagash the lion and eagle were combined as the
+lion-headed eagle, a form of Nin-Girsu (Tammuz), and it was associated
+with wild goats, stags, lions, and bulls. On a mace head dedicated to
+Nin-Girsu, a lion slays a bull as the Zu bird slays serpents in the
+folk tale, suggesting the wars of totemic deities, according to one
+"school", and the battle of the sun with the storm clouds according to
+another. Whatever the explanation may be of one animal deity of
+fertility slaying another, it seems certain that the conflict was
+associated with the idea of sacrifice to procure the food supply.
+
+In Assyria the various primitive gods were combined as a winged bull,
+a winged bull with human head (the king's), a winged lion with human
+head, a winged man, a deity with lion's head, human body, and eagle's
+legs with claws, and also as a deity with eagle's head and feather
+headdress, a human body, wings, and feather-fringed robe, carrying in
+one hand a metal basket on which two winged men adored the holy tree,
+and in the other a fir cone.[381]
+
+Layard suggested that the latter deity, with eagle's head, was
+Nisroch, "the word Nisr signifying, in all Semitic languages, an eagle
+".[382] This deity is referred to in the Bible: "Sennacherib, king of
+Assyria, ... was worshipping in the house of Nisroch, his god".[383]
+Professor Pinches is certain that Nisroch is Ashur, but considers that
+the "ni" was attached to "Ashur" (Ashuraku or Ashurachu), as it was to
+"Marad" (Merodach) to give the reading Ni-Marad = Nimrod. The names of
+heathen deities were thus made "unrecognizable, and in all probability
+ridiculous as well.... Pious and orthodox lips could pronounce them
+without fear of defilement."[384] At the same time the "Nisr" theory
+is probable: it may represent another phase of this process. The names
+of heathen gods were not all treated in like manner by the Hebrew
+teachers. Abed-_nebo_, for instance, became Abed-_nego_, _Daniel_, i,
+7), as Professor Pinches shows.
+
+Seeing that the eagle received prominence in the mythologies of
+Sumeria and Assyria, as a deity of fertility with solar and
+atmospheric attributes, it is highly probable that the Ashur symbol,
+like the Egyptian Horus solar disk, is a winged symbol of life,
+fertility, and destruction. The idea that it represents the sun in
+eclipse, with protruding rays, seems rather far-fetched, because
+eclipses were disasters and indications of divine wrath;[385] it
+certainly does not explain why the "rays" should only stretch out
+sideways, like wings, and downward like a tail, why the "rays" should
+be double, like the double wings of cherubs, bulls, &c, and divided
+into sections suggesting feathers, or why the disk is surmounted by
+conventionalized horns, tipped with star-like ring symbols, identical
+with those depicted in the holy tree. What particular connection the
+five small rings within the disk were supposed to have with the
+eclipse of the sun is difficult to discover.
+
+In one of the other symbols in which appears a feather-robed archer,
+it is significant to find that the arrow he is about to discharge has
+a head shaped like a trident; it is evidently a lightning symbol.
+
+When Ezekiel prophesied to the Israelitish captives at Tel-abib, "by
+the river of Chebar" in Chaldea (Kheber, near Nippur), he appears to
+have utilized Assyrian symbolism. Probably he came into contact in
+Babylonia with fugitive priests from Assyrian cities.
+
+This great prophet makes interesting references to "four living
+creatures", with "four faces "--the face of a man, the face of a lion,
+the face of an ox, and the face of an eagle; "they had the hands of a
+man under their wings, ... their wings were joined one to another; ...
+their wings were stretched upward: two wings of every one were joined
+one to another.... Their appearance was like burning coals of fire and
+like the appearance of lamps.... The living creatures ran and returned
+as the appearance of a flash of lightning."[386]
+
+Elsewhere, referring to the sisters, Aholah and Aholibah, who had been
+in Egypt and had adopted unmoral ways of life Ezekiel tells that when
+Aholibah "doted upon the Assyrians" she "saw men pourtrayed upon the
+wall, the images of the Chaldeans pourtrayed with vermilion, girded
+with girdles upon their loins".[387] Traces of the red colour on the
+walls of Assyrian temples and palaces have been observed by
+excavators. The winged gods "like burning coals" were probably painted
+in vermilion.
+
+Ezekiel makes reference to "ring" and "wheel" symbols. In his vision
+he saw "one wheel upon the earth by the living creatures, with his
+four faces. The appearance of the wheels and their work was like unto
+the colour of beryl; and they four had one likeness; and their
+appearance and their work was as it were a wheel in the middle of a
+wheel.... As for their rings, they were so high that they were
+dreadful; and their rings were full of eyes round about them four. And
+when the living creatures went, the wheels went by them; and when the
+living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted
+up. Whithersoever the spirit was to go, they went, thither was their
+spirit to go; and the wheels were lifted up over against them; _for
+the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels_....[388] And the
+likeness of the firmament upon the heads of the living creature was as
+the colour of terrible crystal, stretched forth over their heads
+above.... And when they went I heard the noise of their wings, like
+the noise of great waters, as the voice of the Almighty, the voice of
+speech, as the noise of an host; when they stood they let down their
+wings...."[389]
+
+Another description of the cherubs states: "Their whole body, and
+their backs, and their hands, and their wings, and the wheels, were
+full of eyes (? stars) round about, even the wheels that they four
+had. As for the wheels, it was cried unto them in my hearing, O
+wheel!"--or, according to a marginal rendering, "they were called in
+my hearing, wheel, or Gilgal," i.e. move round.... "And the cherubims
+were lifted up."[390]
+
+It would appear that the wheel (or hoop, a variant rendering) was a
+symbol of life, and that the Assyrian feather-robed figure which it
+enclosed was a god, not of war only, but also of fertility. His
+trident-headed arrow resembles, as has been suggested, a lightning
+symbol. Ezekiel's references are suggestive in this connection. When
+the cherubs "ran and returned" they had "the appearance of a flash of
+lightning", and "the noise of their wings" resembled "the noise of
+great waters". Their bodies were "like burning coals of fire".
+Fertility gods were associated with fire, lightning, and water. Agni
+of India, Sandan of Asia Minor, and Melkarth of Phoenicia were highly
+developed fire gods of fertility. The fire cult was also represented
+in Sumeria (pp. 49-51).
+
+In the Indian epic, the _Mahabharata_, the revolving ring or wheel
+protects the Soma[391] (ambrosia) of the gods, on which their
+existence depends. The eagle giant Garuda sets forth to steal it. The
+gods, fully armed, gather round to protect the life-giving drink.
+Garuda approaches "darkening the worlds by the dust raised by the
+hurricane of his wings". The celestials, "overwhelmed by that dust",
+swoon away. Garuda afterwards assumes a fiery shape, then looks "like
+masses of black clouds", and in the end its body becomes golden and
+bright "as the rays of the sun". The Soma is protected by fire, which
+the bird quenches after "drinking in many rivers" with the numerous
+mouths it has assumed. Then Garuda finds that right above the Soma is
+"a wheel of steel, keen edged, and sharp as a razor, revolving
+incessantly. That fierce instrument, of the lustre of the blazing sun
+and of terrible form, was devised by the gods for cutting to pieces
+all robbers of the Soma." Garuda passes "through the spokes of the
+wheel", and has then to contend against "two great snakes of the
+lustre of blazing fire, of tongues bright as the lightning flash, of
+great energy, of mouth emitting fire, of blazing eyes". He slays the
+snakes.... The gods afterwards recover the stolen Soma.
+
+Garuda becomes the vehicle of the god Vishnu, who carries the discus,
+another fiery wheel which revolves and returns to the thrower like
+lightning. "And he (Vishnu) made the bird sit on the flagstaff of his
+car, saying: 'Even thus thou shalt stay above me'."[392]
+
+The Persian god Ahura Mazda hovers above the king in sculptured
+representations of that high dignitary, enclosed in a winged wheel, or
+disk, like Ashur, grasping a ring in one hand, the other being lifted
+up as if blessing those who adore him.
+
+Shamash, the Babylonian sun god; Ishtar, the goddess of heaven; and
+other Babylonian deities carried rings as the Egyptian gods carried
+the ankh, the symbol of life. Shamash was also depicted sitting on his
+throne in a pillar-supported pavilion, in front of which is a sun
+wheel. The spokes of the wheel are formed by a star symbol and
+threefold rippling "water rays".
+
+In Hittite inscriptions there are interesting winged emblems; "the
+central portion" of one "seems to be composed of two crescents
+underneath a disk (which is also divided like a crescent). Above the
+emblem there appear the symbol of sanctity (the divided oval) and the
+hieroglyph which Professor Sayce interprets as the name of the god
+Sandes." In another instance "the centre of the winged emblem may be
+seen to be a rosette, with a curious spreading object below. Above,
+two dots follow the name of Sandes, and a human arm bent 'in
+adoration' is by the side...." Professor Garstang is here dealing with
+sacred places "on rocky points or hilltops, bearing out the suggestion
+of the sculptures near Boghaz-Keui[393], in which there may be
+reasonably suspected the surviving traces of mountain cults, or cults
+of mountain deities, underlying the newer religious symbolism". Who
+the deity is it is impossible to say, but "he was identified at some
+time or other with Sandes".[394] It would appear, too, that the god
+may have been "called by a name which was that used also by the
+priest". Perhaps the priest king was believed to be an incarnation of
+the deity.
+
+Sandes or Sandan was identical with Sandon of Tarsus, "the prototype
+of Attis",[395] who links with the Babylonian Tammuz. Sandon's animal
+symbol was the lion, and he carried the "double axe" symbol of the god
+of fertility and thunder. As Professor Frazer has shown in _The Golden
+Bough_, he links with Hercules and Melkarth.[396]
+
+All the younger gods, who displaced the elder gods as one year
+displaces another, were deities of fertility, battle, lightning, fire,
+and the sun; it is possible, therefore, that Ashur was like Merodach,
+son of Ea, god of the deep, a form of Tammuz in origin. His spirit was
+in the solar wheel which revolved at times of seasonal change. In
+Scotland it was believed that on the morning of May Day (Beltaine) the
+rising sun revolved three times. The younger god was a spring sun god
+and fire god. Great bonfires were lit to strengthen him, or as a
+ceremony of riddance; the old year was burned out. Indeed the god
+himself might be burned (that is, the old god), so that he might renew
+his youth. Melkarth was burned at Tyre. Hercules burned himself on a
+mountain top, and his soul ascended to heaven as an eagle.
+
+These fiery rites were evidently not unknown in Babylonia and Assyria.
+When, according to Biblical narrative, Nebuchadnezzar "made an image
+of gold" which he set up "in the plain of Dura, in the province of
+Babylon", he commanded: "O people, nations, and languages... at the
+time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery,
+dulcimer, and all kinds of musick... fall down and worship the golden
+image". Certain Jews who had been "set over the affairs of the
+province of Babylonia", namely, "Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego",
+refused to adore the idol. They were punished by being thrown into "a
+burning fiery furnace", which was heated "seven times more than it was
+wont to be heated". They came forth uninjured.[397]
+
+In the Koran it is related that Abraham destroyed the images of
+Chaldean gods; he "brake them all in pieces except the biggest of
+them; that they might lay the blame on that".[398] According to the
+commentators the Chaldaeans were at the time "abroad in the fields,
+celebrating a great festival". To punish the offender Nimrod had a
+great pyre erected at Cuthah. "Then they bound Abraham, and putting
+him into an engine, shot him into the midst of the fire, from which he
+was preserved by the angel Gabriel, who was sent to his assistance."
+Eastern Christians were wont to set apart in the Syrian calendar the
+25th of January to commemorate Abraham's escape from Nimrod's
+pyre.[399]
+
+It is evident that the Babylonian fire ceremony was observed in the
+spring season, and that human beings were sacrificed to the sun god. A
+mock king may have been burned to perpetuate the ancient sacrifice of
+real kings, who were incarnations of the god.
+
+Isaiah makes reference to the sacrificial burning of kings in Assyria:
+"For through the voice of the Lord shall the Assyrian be beaten down,
+which smote with a rod. And in every place where the grounded staff
+shall pass, which the Lord shall lay upon him, it shall be with
+tabrets and harps: and in battles of shaking will he fight with it.
+For Tophet is ordained of old; yea, for the king it is prepared: he
+hath made it deep and large: the pile thereof is fire and much wood:
+the breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle
+it."[400] When Nineveh was about to fall, and with it the Assyrian
+Empire, the legendary king, Sardanapalus, who was reputed to have
+founded Tarsus, burned himself, with his wives, concubines, and
+eunuchs, on a pyre in his palace. Zimri, who reigned over Israel for
+seven days, "burnt the king's house over him with fire"[401]. Saul,
+another fallen king, was burned after death, and his bones were buried
+"under the oak in Jabesh".[402] In Europe the oak was associated with
+gods of fertility and lightning, including Jupiter and Thor. The
+ceremony of burning Saul is of special interest. Asa, the orthodox
+king of Judah, was, after death, "laid in the bed which was filled
+with sweet odours and divers kinds of spices prepared by the
+apothecaries' art: and they made a very great burning for him" (_2
+Chronicles_, xvi, 14). Jehoram, the heretic king of Judah, who "walked
+in the way of the kings of Israel", died of "an incurable disease. And
+his people made no burning for him like the burning of his fathers"
+(_2 Chronicles_, xxi, 18, 19).
+
+The conclusion suggested by the comparative study of the beliefs of
+neighbouring peoples, and the evidence afforded by Assyrian
+sculptures, is that Ashur was a highly developed form of the god of
+fertility, who was sustained, or aided in his conflicts with demons,
+by the fires and sacrifices of his worshippers.
+
+It is possible to read too much into his symbols. These are not more
+complicated and vague than are the symbols on the standing stones of
+Scotland--the crescent with the "broken" arrow; the trident with the
+double rings, or wheels, connected by two crescents; the circle with
+the dot in its centre; the triangle with the dot; the large disk with
+two small rings on either side crossed by double straight lines; the
+so-called "mirror", and so on. Highly developed symbolism may not
+indicate a process of spiritualization so much, perhaps, as the
+persistence of magical beliefs and practices. There is really no
+direct evidence to support the theory that the Assyrian winged disk,
+or disk "with protruding rays", was of more spiritual character than
+the wheel which encloses the feather-robed archer with his
+trident-shaped arrow.
+
+The various symbols may have represented phases of the god. When the
+spring fires were lit, and the god "renewed his life like the eagle",
+his symbol was possibly the solar wheel or disk with eagle's wings,
+which became regarded as a symbol of life. The god brought life and
+light to the world; he caused the crops to grow; he gave increase; he
+sustained his worshippers. But he was also the god who slew the demons
+of darkness and storm. The Hittite winged disk was Sandes or Sandon,
+the god of lightning, who stood on the back of a bull. As the
+lightning god was a war god, it was in keeping with his character to
+find him represented in Assyria as "Ashur the archer" with the bow and
+lightning arrow. On the disk of the Assyrian standard the lion and the
+bull appear with "the archer" as symbols of the war god Ashur, but
+they were also symbols of Ashur the god of fertility.
+
+The life or spirit of the god was in the ring or wheel, as the life of
+the Egyptian and Indian gods, and of the giants of folk tales, was in
+"the egg". The "dot within the circle", a widespread symbol, may have
+represented the seed within "the egg" of more than one mythology, or
+the thorn within the egg of more than one legendary story. It may be
+that in Assyria, as in India, the crude beliefs and symbols of the
+masses were spiritualized by the speculative thinkers in the
+priesthood, but no literary evidence has survived to justify us in
+placing the Assyrian teachers on the same level as the Brahmans who
+composed the Upanishads.
+
+Temples were erected to Ashur, but he might be worshipped anywhere,
+like the Queen of Heaven, who received offerings in the streets of
+Jerusalem, for "he needed no temple", as Professor Pinches says.
+Whether this was because he was a highly developed deity or a product
+of folk religion it is difficult to decide. One important fact is that
+the ruling king of Assyria was more closely connected with the worship
+of Ashur than the king of Babylonia was with the worship of Merodach.
+This may be because the Assyrian king was regarded as an incarnation
+of his god, like the Egyptian Pharaoh. Ashur accompanied the monarch
+on his campaigns: he was their conquering war god. Where the king was,
+there was Ashur also. No images were made of him, but his symbols were
+carried aloft, as were the symbols of Indian gods in the great war of
+the _Mahabharata_ epic.
+
+It would appear that Ashur was sometimes worshipped in the temples of
+other gods. In an interesting inscription he is associated with the
+moon god Nannar (Sin) of Haran. Esarhaddon, the Assyrian king, is
+believed to have been crowned in that city. "The writer", says
+Professor Pinches, "is apparently addressing Assur-bani-apli, 'the
+great and noble Asnapper':
+
+"When the father of my king my lord went to Egypt, he was crowned (?)
+in the _ganni_ of Harran, the temple (lit. 'Bethel') of cedar. The god
+Sin remained over the (sacred) standard, two crowns upon his head,
+(and) the god Nusku stood beside him. The father of the king my lord
+entered, (and) he (the priest of Sin) placed (the crown?) upon his
+head, (saying) thus: 'Thou shalt go and capture the lands in the
+midst'. (He we)nt, he captured the land of Egypt. The rest of the
+lands not submitting (?) to Assur (Ashur) and Sin, the king, the lord
+of kings, shall capture (them)."[403]
+
+Ashur and Sin are here linked as equals. Associated with them is
+Nusku, the messenger of the gods, who was given prominence in Assyria.
+The kings frequently invoked him. As the son of Ea he acted as the
+messenger between Merodach and the god of the deep. He was also a son
+of Bel Enlil, and like Anu was guardian or chief of the Igigi, the
+"host of heaven". Professor Pinches suggests that he may have been
+either identical with the Sumerian fire god Gibil, or a brother of the
+fire god, and an impersonation of the light of fire and sun. In Haran
+he accompanied the moon god, and may, therefore, have symbolized the
+light of the moon also. Professor Pinches adds that in one inscription
+"he is identified with Nirig or En-reshtu" (Nin-Girsu = Tammuz).[404]
+The Babylonians and Assyrians associated fire and light with moisture
+and fertility.
+
+The astral phase of the character of Ashur is highly probable. As has
+been indicated, the Greek rendering of Anshar as "Assoros", is
+suggestive in this connection. Jastrow, however, points out that the
+use of the characters Anshar for Ashur did not obtain until the eighth
+century B.C. "Linguistically", he says, "the change of Ashir to Ashur
+can be accounted for, but not the transformation of An-shar to Ashur
+or Ashir; so that we must assume the 'etymology' of Ashur, proposed by
+some learned scribe, to be the nature of a play upon the name."[405]
+On the other hand, it is possible that what appears arbitrary to us
+may have been justified in ancient Assyria on perfectly reasonable, or
+at any rate traditional, grounds. Professor Pinches points out that as
+a sun god, and "at the same time not Shamash", Ashur resembled
+Merodach. "His identification with Merodach, if that was ever
+accepted, may have been due to the likeness of the word to Asari, one
+of the deities' names."[406] As Asari, Merodach has been compared to
+the Egyptian Osiris, who, as the Nile god, was Asar-Hapi. Osiris
+resembles Tammuz and was similarly a corn deity and a ruler of the
+living and the dead, associated with sun, moon, stars, water, and
+vegetation. We may consistently connect Ashur with Aushar, "water
+field", Anshar, "god of the height", or "most high", and with the
+eponymous King Asshur who went out on the land of Nimrod and "builded
+Nineveh", if we regard him as of common origin with Tammuz, Osiris,
+and Attis--a developed and localized form of the ancient deity of
+fertility and corn.
+
+Ashur had a spouse who is referred to as Ashuritu, or Beltu, "the
+lady". Her name, however, is not given, but it is possible that she
+was identified with the Ishtar of Nineveh. In the historical texts
+Ashur, as the royal god, stands alone. Like the Hittite Great Father,
+he was perhaps regarded as the origin of life. Indeed, it may have
+been due to the influence of the northern hillmen in the early
+Assyrian period, that Ashur was developed as a father god--a Baal.
+When the Hittite inscriptions are read, more light may be thrown on
+the Ashur problem. Another possible source of cultural influence is
+Persia. The supreme god Ahura-Mazda (Ormuzd) was, as has been
+indicated, represented, like Ashur, hovering over the king's head,
+enclosed in a winged disk or wheel, and the sacred tree figured in
+Persian mythology. The early Assyrian kings had non-Semitic and
+non-Sumerian names. It seems reasonable to assume that the religious
+culture of the ethnic elements they represented must have contributed
+to the development of the city god of Asshur.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+CONFLICTS FOR TRADE AND SUPREMACY
+
+
+  Modern Babylonia--History repeating itself--Babylonian Trade Route
+  in Mesopotamia--Egyptian Supremacy in Syria--Mitanni and
+  Babylonia--Bandits who plundered Caravans--Arabian Desert Trade
+  Route opened--Assyrian and Elamite Struggles with Babylonia--Rapid
+  Extension of Assyrian Empire--Hittites control Western Trade
+  Routes--Egypt's Nineteenth Dynasty Conquests--Campaigns of Rameses
+  II--Egyptians and Hittites become Allies--Babylonian Fears of
+  Assyria--Shalmaneser's Triumphs--Assyria Supreme in
+  Mesopotamia--Conquest of Babylonia--Fall of a Great King--Civil War
+  in Assyria--Its Empire goes to pieces--Babylonian Wars with
+  Elam--Revival of Babylonian Power--Invasions of Assyrians and
+  Elamites--End of the Kassite Dynasty--Babylonia contrasted with
+  Assyria.
+
+
+It is possible that during the present century Babylonia may once
+again become one of the great wheat-producing countries of the world.
+A scheme of land reclamation has already been inaugurated by the
+construction of a great dam to control the distribution of the waters
+of the Euphrates, and, if it is energetically promoted on a generous
+scale in the years to come, the ancient canals, which are used at
+present as caravan roads, may yet be utilized to make the whole
+country as fertile and prosperous as it was in ancient days. When that
+happy consummation is reached, new cities may grow up and flourish
+beside the ruins of the old centres of Babylonian culture.
+
+With the revival of agriculture will come the revival of commerce.
+Ancient trade routes will then be reopened, and the slow-travelling
+caravans supplanted by speedy trains. A beginning has already been
+made in this direction. The first modern commercial highway which is
+crossing the threshold of Babylonia's new Age is the German railway
+through Asia Minor, North Syria, and Mesopotamia to Baghdad.[407] It
+brings the land of Hammurabi into close touch with Europe, and will
+solve problems which engaged the attention of many rival monarchs for
+long centuries before the world knew aught of "the glory that was
+Greece and the grandeur that was Rome".
+
+These sudden and dramatic changes are causing history to repeat
+itself. Once again the great World Powers are evincing much concern
+regarding their respective "spheres of influence" in Western Asia, and
+pressing together around the ancient land of Babylon. On the east,
+where the aggressive Elamites and Kassites were followed by the
+triumphant Persians and Medes, Russia and Britain have asserted
+themselves as protectors of Persian territory, and the influence of
+Britain is supreme in the Persian Gulf. Turkey controls the land of
+the Hittites, while Russia looms like a giant across the Armenian
+highlands; Turkey is also the governing power in Syria and
+Mesopotamia, which are being crossed by Germany's Baghdad railway.
+France is constructing railways in Syria, and will control the ancient
+"way of the Philistines". Britain occupies Cyprus on the Mediterranean
+coast, and presides over the destinies of the ancient land of Egypt,
+which, during the brilliant Eighteenth Dynasty, extended its sphere of
+influence to the borders of Asia Minor. Once again, after the lapse of
+many centuries, international politics is being strongly influenced by
+the problems connected with the development of trade in Babylonia and
+its vicinity.
+
+The history of the ancient rival States, which is being pieced
+together by modern excavators, is, in view of present-day political
+developments, invested with special interest to us. We have seen
+Assyria rising into prominence. It began to be a great Power when
+Egypt was supreme in the "Western Land" (the land of the Amorites) as
+far north as the frontiers of Cappadocia. Under the Kassite regime
+Babylonia's political influence had declined in Mesopotamia, but its
+cultural influence remained, for its language and script continued in
+use among traders and diplomatists.
+
+At the beginning of the Pharaoh Akhenaton period, the supreme power in
+Mesopotamia was Mitanni. As the ally of Egypt it constituted a buffer
+state on the borders of North Syria, which prevented the southern
+expansion from Asia Minor of the Hittite confederacy and the western
+expansion of aggressive Assyria, while it also held in check the
+ambitions of Babylonia, which still claimed the "land of the
+Amorites". So long as Mitanni was maintained as a powerful kingdom the
+Syrian possessions of Egypt were easily held in control, and the
+Egyptian merchants enjoyed preferential treatment compared with those
+of Babylonia. But when Mitanni was overcome, and its territories were
+divided between the Assyrians and the Hittites, the North Syrian
+Empire of Egypt went to pieces. A great struggle then ensued between
+the nations of western Asia for political supremacy in the "land of
+the Amorites".
+
+Babylonia had been seriously handicapped by losing control of its
+western caravan road. Prior to the Kassite period its influence was
+supreme in Mesopotamia and middle Syria; from the days of Sargon of
+Akkad and of Naram-Sin until the close of the Hammurabi Age its
+merchants had naught to fear from bandits or petty kings between the
+banks of the Euphrates and the Mediterranean coast. The city of
+Babylon had grown rich and powerful as the commercial metropolis of
+Western Asia.
+
+Separated from the Delta frontier by the broad and perilous wastes of
+the Arabian desert, Babylonia traded with Egypt by an indirect route.
+Its caravan road ran northward along the west bank of the Euphrates
+towards Haran, and then southward through Palestine. This was a long
+detour, but it was the only possible way.
+
+During the early Kassite Age the caravans from Babylon had to pass
+through the area controlled by Mitanni, which was therefore able to
+impose heavy duties and fill its coffers with Babylonian gold. Nor did
+the situation improve when the influence of Mitanni suffered decline
+in southern Mesopotamia. Indeed the difficulties under which traders
+operated were then still further increased, for the caravan roads were
+infested by plundering bands of "Suti", to whom references are made in
+the Tell-el-Amarna letters. These bandits defied all the great powers,
+and became so powerful that even the messengers sent from one king to
+another were liable to be robbed and murdered without discrimination.
+When war broke out between powerful States they harried live stock and
+sacked towns in those areas which were left unprotected.
+
+The "Suti" were Arabians of Aramaean stock. What is known as the
+"Third Semitic Migration" was in progress during this period. The
+nomads gave trouble to Babylonia and Assyria, and, penetrating
+Mesopotamia and Syria, sapped the power of Mitanni, until it was
+unable to resist the onslaughts of the Assyrians and the Hittites.
+
+The Aramaean tribes are referred to, at various periods and by various
+peoples, not only as the "Suti", but also as the "Achlame", the
+"Arimi", and the "Khabiri". Ultimately they were designated simply as
+"Syrians", and under that name became the hereditary enemies of the
+Hebrews, although Jacob was regarded as being of their stock: "A
+Syrian ready to perish", runs a Biblical reference, "was my father
+(ancestor), and he went down into Egypt and sojourned there with a
+few, and became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous".[408]
+
+An heroic attempt was made by one of the Kassite kings of Babylonia to
+afford protection to traders by stamping out brigandage between Arabia
+and Mesopotamia, and opening up a new and direct caravan road to Egypt
+across the Arabian desert. The monarch in question was
+Kadashman-Kharbe, the grandson of Ashur-uballit of Assyria. As we have
+seen, he combined forces with his distinguished and powerful kinsman,
+and laid a heavy hand on the "Suti". Then he dug wells and erected a
+chain of fortifications, like "block-houses", so that caravans might
+come and go without interruption, and merchants be freed from the
+imposts of petty kings whose territory they had to penetrate when
+travelling by the Haran route.
+
+This bold scheme, however, was foredoomed to failure. It was shown
+scant favour by the Babylonian Kassites. No record survives to
+indicate the character of the agreement between Kadashman-Kharbe and
+Ashur-uballit, but there can be little doubt that it involved the
+abandonment by Babylonia of its historic claim upon Mesopotamia, or
+part of it, and the recognition of an Assyrian sphere of influence in
+that region. It was probably on account of his pronounced pro-Assyrian
+tendencies that the Kassites murdered Kadashman-Kharbe, and set the
+pretender, known as "the son of nobody", on the throne for a brief
+period.
+
+Kadashman-Kharbe's immediate successors recognized in Assyria a
+dangerous and unscrupulous rival, and resumed the struggle for the
+possession of Mesopotamia. The trade route across the Arabian desert
+had to be abandoned. Probably it required too great a force to keep it
+open. Then almost every fresh conquest achieved by Assyria involved it
+in war with Babylonia, which appears to have been ever waiting for a
+suitable opportunity to cripple its northern rival.
+
+But Assyria was not the only power which Babylonia had to guard itself
+against. On its eastern frontier Elam was also panting for expansion.
+Its chief caravan roads ran from Susa through Assyria towards Asia
+Minor, and through Babylonia towards the Phoenician coast. It was
+probably because its commerce was hampered by the growth of Assyrian
+power in the north, as Servia's commerce in our own day has been
+hampered by Austria, that it cherished dreams of conquering Babylonia.
+In fact, as Kassite influence suffered decline, one of the great
+problems of international politics was whether Elam or Assyria would
+enter into possession of the ancient lands of Sumer and Akkad.
+
+Ashur-uballit's vigorous policy of Assyrian expansion was continued,
+as has been shown, by his son Bel-nirari. His grandson, Arik-den-ilu,
+conducted several successful campaigns, and penetrated westward as far
+as Haran, thus crossing the Babylonian caravan road. He captured great
+herds of cattle and flocks of sheep, which were transported to Asshur,
+and on one occasion carried away 250,000 prisoners.
+
+Meanwhile Babylonia waged war with Elam. It is related that
+Khur-batila, King of Elam, sent a challenge to Kurigalzu III, a
+descendant of Kadashman-Kharbe, saying: "Come hither; I will fight
+with thee". The Babylonian monarch accepted the challenge, invaded the
+territory of his rival, and won a great victory. Deserted by his
+troops, the Elamite king was taken prisoner, and did not secure
+release until he had ceded a portion of his territory and consented to
+pay annual tribute to Babylonia.
+
+Flushed with his success, the Kassite king invaded Assyria when
+Adad-nirari I died and his son Arik-den-ilu came to the throne. He
+found, however, that the Assyrians were more powerful than the
+Elamites, and suffered defeat. His son, Na�zi-mar-ut�tash[409], also
+made an unsuccessful attempt to curb the growing power of the northern
+Power.
+
+These recurring conflicts were intimately associated with the
+Mesopotamian question. Assyria was gradually expanding westward and
+shattering the dreams of the Babylonian statesmen and traders who
+hoped to recover control of the caravan routes and restore the
+prestige of their nation in the west.
+
+Like his father, Adad-nirari I of Assyria had attacked the Aramaean
+"Suti" who were settling about Haran. He also acquired a further
+portion of the ancient kingdom of Mitanni, with the result that he
+exercised sway over part of northern Mesopotamia. After defeating
+Na�zi-mar-ut�tash, he fixed the boundaries of the Assyrian and
+Babylonian spheres of influence much to the advantage of his own
+country.
+
+At home Adad-nirari conducted a vigorous policy. He developed the
+resources of the city state of Asshur by constructing a great dam and
+quay wall, while he contributed to the prosperity of the priesthood
+and the growth of Assyrian culture by extending the temple of the god
+Ashur. Ere he died, he assumed the proud title of "Shar Kishshate",
+"king of the world", which was also used by his son Shalmaneser I. His
+reign extended over a period of thirty years and terminated about 1300
+B.C.
+
+Soon after Shalmaneser came to the throne his country suffered greatly
+from an earthquake, which threw down Ishtar's temple at Nineveh and
+Ashur's temple at Asshur. Fire broke out in the latter building and
+destroyed it completely.
+
+These disasters did not dismay the young monarch. Indeed, they appear
+to have stimulated him to set out on a career of conquest, to secure
+treasure and slaves, so as to carry out the work of reconstructing the
+temples without delay. He became as great a builder, and as tireless a
+campaigner as Thothmes III of Egypt, and under his guidance Assyria
+became the most powerful nation in Western Asia. Ere he died his
+armies were so greatly dreaded that the Egyptians and Assyrians drew
+their long struggle for supremacy in Syria to a close, and formed an
+alliance for mutual protection against their common enemy.
+
+It is necessary at this point to review briefly the history of
+Palestine and north Syria after the period of Hittite expansion under
+King Subbi-luliuma and the decline of Egyptian power under Akhenaton.
+The western part of Mitanni and the most of northern Syria had been
+colonized by the Hittites.[410] Farther south, their allies, the
+Amorites, formed a buffer State on the borders of Egypt's limited
+sphere of influence in southern Palestine, and of Babylonia's sphere
+in southern Mesopotamia. Mitanni was governed by a subject king who
+was expected to prevent the acquisition by Assyria of territory in the
+north-west.
+
+Subbi-luliuma was succeeded on the Hittite throne by his son, King
+Mursil, who was known to the Egyptians as "Meraser", or "Maurasar".
+The greater part of this monarch's reign appears to have been peaceful
+and prosperous. His allies protected his frontiers, and he was able to
+devote himself to the work of consolidating his empire in Asia Minor
+and North Syria. He erected a great palace at Boghaz K�i, and appears
+to have had dreams of imitating the splendours of the royal Courts of
+Egypt, Assyria, and Babylon.
+
+At this period the Hittite Empire was approaching the zenith of its
+power. It controlled the caravan roads of Babylonia and Egypt, and its
+rulers appear not only to have had intimate diplomatic relations with
+both these countries, but even to have concerned themselves regarding
+their internal affairs. When Rameses I came to the Egyptian throne, at
+the beginning of the Nineteenth Dynasty, he sealed an agreement with
+the Hittites, and at a later date the Hittite ambassador at Babylon,
+who represented Hattusil II, the second son of King Mursil, actually
+intervened in a dispute regarding the selection of a successor to the
+throne.
+
+The closing years of King Mursil's reign were disturbed by the
+military conquests of Egypt, which had renewed its strength under
+Rameses I. Seti I, the son of Rameses I, and the third Pharaoh of the
+powerful Nineteenth Dynasty, took advantage of the inactivity of the
+Hittite ruler by invading southern Syria. He had first to grapple with
+the Amorites, whom he successfully defeated. Then he pressed northward
+as far as Tunip, and won a decisive victory over a Hittite army, which
+secured to Egypt for a period the control of Palestine as far north as
+Phoenicia.
+
+When Mursil died he was succeeded on the Hittite throne by his son
+Mutallu, whom the Egyptians referred to as "Metella" or "Mautinel". He
+was a vigorous and aggressive monarch, and appears to have lost no
+time in compelling the Amorites to throw off their allegiance to Egypt
+and recognize him as their overlord. As a result, when Rameses II
+ascended the Egyptian throne he had to undertake the task of winning
+back the Asiatic possessions of his father.
+
+The preliminary operations conducted by Rameses on the Palestinian
+coast were attended with much success. Then, in his fifth year, he
+marched northward with a great army, with purpose, it would appear, to
+emulate the achievements of Thothmes III and win fame as a mighty
+conqueror. But he underestimated the strength of his rival and
+narrowly escaped disaster. Advancing impetuously, with but two of his
+four divisions, he suddenly found himself surrounded by the army of
+the wily Hittite, King Mutallu, in the vicinity of the city of Kadesh,
+on the Orontes. His first division remained intact, but his second was
+put to flight by an intervening force of the enemy. From this perilous
+position Rameses extricated himself by leading a daring charge against
+the Hittite lines on the river bank, which proved successful. Thrown
+into confusion, his enemies sought refuge in the city, but the Pharaoh
+refrained from attacking them there.
+
+Although Rameses boasted on his return home of having achieved a great
+victory, there is nothing more certain than that this campaign proved
+a dismal failure. He was unable to win back for Egypt the northern
+territories which had acknowledged the suzerainty of Egypt during the
+Eighteenth Dynasty. Subsequently he was kept fully engaged in
+maintaining his prestige in northern Palestine and the vicinity of
+Phoenicia. Then his Asiatic military operations, which extended
+altogether over a period of about twenty years, were brought to a
+close in a dramatic and unexpected manner. The Hittite king Mutallu
+had died in battle, or by the hand of an assassin, and was succeeded
+by his brother Hattusil II (Khetasar), who sealed a treaty of peace
+with the great Rameses.
+
+An Egyptian copy of this interesting document can still be read on the
+walls of a Theban temple, but it is lacking in certain details which
+interest present-day historians. No reference, for instance, is made
+to the boundaries of the Egyptian Empire in Syria, so that it is
+impossible to estimate the degree of success which attended the
+campaigns of Rameses. An interesting light, however, is thrown on the
+purport of the treaty by a tablet letter which has been discovered by
+Professor Hugo Winckler at Boghaz K�i. It is a copy of a communication
+addressed by Hattusil II to the King of Babylonia, who had made an
+enquiry regarding it. "I will inform my brother," wrote the Hittite
+monarch; "the King of Egypt and I have made an alliance, and made
+ourselves brothers. Brothers we are and will [unite against] a common
+foe, and with friends in common."[411] The common foe could have been
+no other than Assyria, and the Hittite king's letter appears to convey
+a hint to Kadashman-turgu of Babylon that he should make common cause
+with Rameses II and Hattusil.
+
+Shalmaneser I of Assyria was pursuing a determined policy of western
+and northern expansion. He struck boldly at the eastern Hittite States
+and conquered Malatia, where he secured great treasure for the god
+Ashur. He even founded colonies within the Hittite sphere of influence
+on the borders of Armenia. Shalmaneser's second campaign was conducted
+against the portion of ancient Mitanni which was under Hittite
+control. The vassal king, Sattuari, apparently a descendant of
+Tushratta's, endeavoured to resist the Assyrians with the aid of
+Hittites and Aramaeans, but his army of allies was put to flight. The
+victorious Shalmaneser was afterwards able to penetrate as far
+westward as Carchemish on the Euphrates.
+
+Having thus secured the whole of Mitanni, the Assyrian conqueror
+attacked the Aramaean hordes which were keeping the territory round
+Haran in a continuous state of unrest, and forced them to recognize
+him as their overlord.
+
+Shalmaneser thus, it would appear, gained control of northern
+Mesopotamia and consequently of the Babylonian caravan route to Haran.
+As a result Hittite prestige must have suffered decline in Babylon.
+For a generation the Hittites had had the Babylonian merchants at
+their mercy, and apparently compelled them to pay heavy duties.
+Winckler has found among the Boghaz K�i tablets several letters from
+the king of Babylon, who made complaints regarding robberies committed
+by Amoritic bandits, and requested that they should be punished and
+kept in control. Such a communication is a clear indication that he
+was entitled, in lieu of payment, to have an existing agreement
+fulfilled.
+
+Shalmaneser found that Asshur, the ancient capital, was unsuitable for
+the administration of his extended empire, so he built a great city at
+Kalkhi (Nimrud), the Biblical Calah, which was strategically situated
+amidst fertile meadows on the angle of land formed by the Tigris and
+the Upper Zab. Thither to a new palace he transferred his brilliant
+Court.
+
+He was succeeded by his son, Tukulti-Ninip I, who was the most
+powerful of the Assyrian monarchs of the Old Empire. He made great
+conquests in the north and east, extended and strengthened Assyrian
+influence in Mesopotamia, and penetrated into Hittite territory,
+bringing into subjection no fewer than forty kings, whom he compelled
+to pay annual tribute. It was inevitable that he should be drawn into
+conflict with the Babylonian king, who was plotting with the Hittites
+against him. One of the tablet letters found by Winckler at Boghaz K�i
+is of special interest in this connection. Hattusil advises the young
+monarch of Babylonia to "go and plunder the land of the foe".
+Apparently he sought to be freed from the harassing attention of the
+Assyrian conqueror by prevailing on his Babylonian royal friend to act
+as a "cat's paw".
+
+It is uncertain whether or not Kashtiliash II of Babylonia invaded
+Assyria with purpose to cripple his rival. At any rate war broke out
+between the two countries, and Tukulti-Ninip proved irresistible in
+battle. He marched into Babylonia, and not only defeated Kashtiliash,
+but captured him and carried him off to Asshur, where he was presented
+in chains to the god Ashur.
+
+The city of Babylon was captured, its wall was demolished, and many of
+its inhabitants were put to the sword. Tukulti-Ninip was evidently
+waging a war of conquest, for he pillaged E-sagila, "the temple of the
+high head", and removed the golden statue of the god Merodach to
+Assyria, where it remained for about sixteen years. He subdued the
+whole of Babylonia as far south as the Persian Gulf, and ruled it
+through viceroys.
+
+Tukulti-Ninip, however, was not a popular emperor even in his own
+country. He offended national susceptibilities by showing preference
+for Babylonia, and founding a new city which has not been located.
+There he built a great palace and a temple for Ashur and his pantheon.
+He called the city after himself, Kar-Tukulti-Ninip[412].
+
+Seven years after the conquest of Babylonia revolts broke out against
+the emperor in Assyria and Babylonia, and he was murdered in his
+palace, which had been besieged and captured by an army headed by his
+own son, Ashur-natsir-pal I, who succeeded him. The Babylonian nobles
+meantime drove the Assyrian garrisons from their cities, and set on
+the throne the Kassite prince Adad-shum-utsur.
+
+Thus in a brief space went to pieces the old Assyrian Empire, which,
+at the close of Tukulti-Ninip's thirty years' reign, embraced the
+whole Tigro-Euphrates valley from the borders of Armenia to the
+Persian Gulf. An obscure century followed, during which Assyria was
+raided by its enemies and broken up into petty States.
+
+The Elamites were not slow to take advantage of the state of anarchy
+which prevailed in Babylonia during the closing years of Assyrian
+rule. They overran a part of ancient Sumer, and captured Nippur, where
+they slew a large number of inhabitants and captured many prisoners.
+On a subsequent occasion they pillaged Isin. When, however, the
+Babylonian king had cleared his country of the Assyrians, he attacked
+the Elamites and drove them across the frontier.
+
+Nothing is known regarding the reign of the parricide Ashur-natsir-pal
+I of Assyria. He was succeeded by Ninip-Tukulti-Ashur and
+Adad-shum-lishir, who either reigned concurrently or were father and
+son. After a brief period these were displaced by another two rulers,
+Ashur-nirari III and Nabu-dan.
+
+It is not clear why Ninip-Tukulti-Ashur was deposed. Perhaps he was an
+ally of Adad-shum-utsur, the Babylonian king, and was unpopular on
+that account. He journeyed to Babylon on one occasion, carrying with
+him the statue of Merodach, but did not return. Perhaps he fled from
+the rebels. At any rate Adad-shum-utsur was asked to send him back, by
+an Assyrian dignitary who was probably Ashur-nirari III. The king of
+Babylon refused this request, nor would he give official recognition
+to the new ruler or rulers.
+
+Soon afterwards another usurper, Bel-kudur-utsur, led an Assyrian army
+against the Babylonians, but was slain in battle. He was succeeded by
+Ninip-apil-esharia, who led his forces back to Asshur, followed by
+Adad-shum-utsur. The city was besieged but not captured by the
+Babylonian army.
+
+Under Adad-shum-utsur, who reigned for thirty years, Babylonia
+recovered much of its ancient splendour. It held Elam in check and
+laid a heavy hand on Assyria, which had been paralysed by civil war.
+Once again it possessed Mesopotamia and controlled its caravan road to
+Haran and Phoenicia, and apparently its relations with the Hittites
+and Syrians were of a cordial character. The next king, Meli-shipak,
+assumed the Assyrian title "Shar Kishshati", "king of the world", and
+had a prosperous reign of fifteen years. He was succeeded by
+Marduk-aplu-iddin I, who presided over the destinies of Babylonia for
+about thirteen years. Thereafter the glory of the Kassite Dynasty
+passed away. King Zamama-shum-iddin followed with a twelvemonth's
+reign, during which his kingdom was successfully invaded from the
+north by the Assyrians under King Ashur-dan I, and from the east by
+the Elamites under a king whose name has not been traced. Several
+towns were captured and pillaged, and rich booty was carried off to
+Asshur and Susa.
+
+Bel-shum-iddin succeeded Zamama-shum-iddin, but three years afterwards
+he was deposed by a king of Isin. So ended the Kassite Dynasty of
+Babylonia, which had endured for a period of 576 years and nine
+months.
+
+Babylonia was called Karduniash during the Kassite Dynasty. This name
+was originally applied to the district at the river mouths, where the
+alien rulers appear to have first achieved ascendancy. Apparently they
+were strongly supported by the non-Semitic elements in the population,
+and represented a popular revolt against the political supremacy of
+the city of Babylon and its god Merodach. It is significant to find in
+this connection that the early Kassite kings showed a preference for
+Nippur as their capital and promoted the worship of Enlil, the elder
+Bel, who was probably identified with their own god of fertility and
+battle. Their sun god, Sachi, appears to have been merged in Shamash.
+In time, however, the kings followed the example of Hammurabi by
+exalting Merodach.
+
+The Kassite language added to the "Babel of tongues" among the common
+people, but was never used in inscriptions. At an early period the
+alien rulers became thoroughly Babylonianized, and as they held sway
+for nearly six centuries it cannot be assumed that they were
+unpopular. They allowed their mountain homeland, or earliest area of
+settlement in the east, to be seized and governed by Assyria, and
+probably maintained as slight a connection with it after settlement in
+Babylonia as did the Saxons of England with their Continental area of
+origin.
+
+Although Babylonia was not so great a world power under the Kassites
+as it had been during the Hammurabi Dynasty, it prospered greatly as
+an industrial, agricultural, and trading country. The Babylonian
+language was used throughout western Asia as the language of diplomacy
+and commerce, and the city of Babylon was the most important
+commercial metropolis of the ancient world. Its merchants traded
+directly and indirectly with far-distant countries. They imported
+cobalt--which was used for colouring glass a vivid blue--from China,
+and may have occasionally met Chinese traders who came westward with
+their caravans, while a brisk trade in marble and limestone was
+conducted with and through Elam. Egypt was the chief source of the
+gold supply, which was obtained from the Nubian mines; and in exchange
+for this precious metal the Babylonians supplied the Nilotic merchants
+with lapis-lazuli from Bactria, enamel, and their own wonderful
+coloured glass, which was not unlike the later Venetian, as well as
+chariots and horses. The Kassites were great horse breeders, and the
+battle steeds from the Babylonian province of Namar were everywhere in
+great demand. They also promoted the cattle trade. Cattle rearing was
+confined chiefly to the marshy districts at the head of the Persian
+Gulf, and the extensive steppes on the borders of the Arabian desert,
+so well known to Abraham and his ancestors, which provided excellent
+grazing. Agriculture also flourished; as in Egypt it constituted the
+basis of national and commercial prosperity.
+
+It is evident that great wealth accumulated in Karduniash during the
+Kassite period. When the images of Merodach and Zerpanitu^m were taken
+back to Babylon, from Assyria, they were clad, as has been recorded,
+in garments embroidered with gold and sparkling with gems, while
+E-sagila was redecorated on a lavish scale with priceless works of
+art.
+
+Assyria presented a sharp contrast to Babylonia, the mother land, from
+which its culture was derived. As a separate kingdom it had to develop
+along different lines. In fact, it was unable to exist as a world
+power without the enforced co-operation of neighbouring States.
+Babylonia, on the other hand, could have flourished in comparative
+isolation, like Egypt during the Old Kingdom period, because it was
+able to feed itself and maintain a large population so long as its
+rich alluvial plain was irrigated during its dry season, which
+extended over about eight months in the year.
+
+The region north of Baghdad was of different geographical formation to
+the southern plain, and therefore less suitable for the birth and
+growth of a great independent civilization. Assyria embraced a chalk
+plateau of the later Mesozoic period, with tertiary deposits, and had
+an extremely limited area suitable for agricultural pursuits. Its
+original inhabitants were nomadic pastoral and hunting tribes, and
+there appears to be little doubt that agriculture was introduced along
+the banks of the Tigris by colonists from Babylonia, who formed city
+States which owed allegiance to the kings of Sumer and Akkad.
+
+After the Hammurabi period Assyria rose into prominence as a predatory
+power, which depended for its stability upon those productive
+countries which it was able to conquer and hold in sway. It never had
+a numerous peasantry, and such as it had ultimately vanished, for the
+kings pursued the short-sighted policy of colonizing districts on the
+borders of their empire with their loyal subjects, and settling aliens
+in the heart of the homeland, where they were controlled by the
+military. In this manner they built up an artificial empire, which
+suffered at critical periods in its history because it lacked the
+great driving and sustaining force of a population welded together by
+immemorial native traditions and the love of country which is the
+essence of true patriotism. National sentiment was chiefly confined to
+the military aristocracy and the priests; the enslaved and uncultured
+masses of aliens were concerned mainly with their daily duties, and no
+doubt included communities, like the Israelites in captivity, who
+longed to return to their native lands.
+
+Assyria had to maintain a standing army, which grew from an alliance
+of brigands who first enslaved the native population, and ultimately
+extended their sway over neighbouring States. The successes of the
+army made Assyria powerful. Conquering kings accumulated rich booty by
+pillaging alien cities, and grew more and more wealthy as they were
+able to impose annual tribute on those States which came under their
+sway. They even regarded Babylonia with avaricious eyes. It was to
+achieve the conquest of the fertile and prosperous mother State that
+the early Assyrian emperors conducted military operations in the
+north-west and laid hands on Mesopotamia. There was no surer way of
+strangling it than by securing control of its trade routes. What the
+command of the sea is to Great Britain at the present day, the command
+of the caravan roads was to ancient Babylonia.
+
+Babylonia suffered less than Assyria by defeat in battle; its natural
+resources gave it great recuperative powers, and the native population
+was ever so intensely patriotic that centuries of alien sway could not
+obliterate their national aspirations. A conqueror of Babylon had to
+become a Babylonian. The Amorites and Kassites had in turn to adopt
+the modes of life and modes of thought of the native population. Like
+the Egyptians, the Babylonians ever achieved the intellectual conquest
+of their conquerors.
+
+The Assyrian Empire, on the other hand, collapsed like a house of
+cards when its army of mercenaries suffered a succession of disasters.
+The kings, as we have indicated, depended on the tribute of subject
+States to pay their soldiers and maintain the priesthood; they were
+faced with national bankruptcy when their vassals successfully
+revolted against them.
+
+The history of Assyria as a world power is divided into three periods:
+(1) the Old Empire; (2) the Middle Empire; (3) the New or Last Empire.
+
+We have followed the rise and growth of the Old Empire from the days
+of Ashur-uballit until the reign of Tukulti-Ninip, when it flourished
+in great splendour and suddenly went to pieces. Thereafter, until the
+second period of the Old Empire, Assyria comprised but a few city
+States which had agricultural resources and were trading centres. Of
+these the most enterprising was Asshur. When a ruler of Asshur was
+able, by conserving his revenues, to command sufficient capital with
+purpose to raise a strong army of mercenaries as a business
+speculation, he set forth to build up a new empire on the ruins of the
+old. In its early stages, of course, this process was slow and
+difficult. It necessitated the adoption of a military career by native
+Assyrians, who officered the troops, and these troops had to be
+trained and disciplined by engaging in brigandage, which also brought
+them rich rewards for their services. Babylonia became powerful by
+developing the arts of peace; Assyria became powerful by developing
+the science of warfare.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+RACE MOVEMENTS THAT SHATTERED EMPIRES
+
+
+  The Third Semitic Migration--Achaean Conquest of Greece--Fall of
+  Crete--Tribes of Raiders--European Settlers in Asia Minor--The Muski
+  overthrow the Hittites--Sea Raids on Egypt--The Homeric
+  Age--Israelites and Philistines in Palestine--Culture of
+  Philistines--Nebuchadrezzar I of Babylonia--Wars against Elamites
+  and Hittites--Conquests in Mesopotamia and Syria--Assyrians and
+  Babylonians at War--Tiglath-pileser I of Assyria--His Sweeping
+  Conquests--Muski Power broken--Big-game Hunting in
+  Mesopotamia--Slaying of a Sea Monster--Decline of Assyria and
+  Babylonia--Revival of Hittite Civilization--An Important Period in
+  History--Philistines as Overlords of Hebrews--Kingdom of David and
+  Saul--Solomon's Relations with Egypt and Phoenicia--Sea Trade with
+  India--Aramaean Conquests--The Chaldaeans--Egyptian King plunders
+  Judah and Israel--Historical Importance of Race Movements.
+
+
+Great changes were taking place in the ancient world during the
+period in which Assyria rose into prominence and suddenly suffered
+decline. These were primarily due to widespread migrations of pastoral
+peoples from the steppe lands of Asia and Europe, and the resulting
+displacement of settled tribes. The military operations of the great
+Powers were also a disturbing factor, for they not only propelled
+fresh movements beyond their spheres of influence, but caused the
+petty States to combine against a common enemy and foster ambitions to
+achieve conquests on a large scale.
+
+Towards the close of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, of which
+Amenhotep III and Akhenaton were the last great kings, two
+well-defined migrations were in progress. The Aramaean folk-waves had
+already begun to pour in increasing volume into Syria from Arabia, and
+in Europe the pastoral fighting folk from the mountains were
+establishing themselves along the south-eastern coast and crossing the
+Hellespont to overrun the land of the Hittites. These race movements
+were destined to exercise considerable influence in shaping the
+history of the ancient world.
+
+The Aramaean, or Third Semitic migration, in time swamped various
+decaying States. Despite the successive efforts of the great Powers to
+hold it in check, it ultimately submerged the whole of Syria and part
+of Mesopotamia. Aramaean speech then came into common use among the
+mingled peoples over a wide area, and was not displaced until the time
+of the Fourth Semitic or Moslem migration from Arabia, which began in
+the seventh century of the Christian era, and swept northward through
+Syria to Asia Minor, eastward across Mesopotamia into Persia and
+India, and westward through Egypt along the north African coast to
+Morocco, and then into Spain.
+
+When Syria was sustaining the first shocks of Aramaean invasion, the
+last wave of Achaeans, "the tamers of horses" and "shepherds of the
+people", had achieved the conquest of Greece, and contributed to the
+overthrow of the dynasty of King Minos of Crete. Professor Ridgeway
+identifies this stock, which had been filtering southward for several
+centuries, with the tall, fair-haired, and grey-eyed "Keltoi"
+(Celts),[413] who, Dr. Haddon believes, were representatives of "the
+mixed peoples of northern and Alpine descent".[414] Mr. Hawes,
+following Professor Sergi, holds, on the other hand, that the Achaeans
+were "fair in comparison with the native (Pelasgian-Mediterranean)
+stock, but not necessarily blonde".[415] The earliest Achaeans were
+rude, uncultured barbarians, but the last wave came from some unknown
+centre of civilization, and probably used iron as well as bronze
+weapons.
+
+The old Cretans were known to the Egyptians as the "Keftiu", and
+traded on the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. It is significant to
+find, however, that no mention is made of them in the inscriptions of
+the Pharaohs after the reign of Amenhotep III. In their place appear
+the Shardana, the Mykenaean people who gave their name to Sardinia,
+the Danauna, believed to be identical with the Danaoi of Homer, the
+Akhaivasha, perhaps the Achaeans, and the Tursha and Shakalsha, who
+may have been of the same stock as the piratical Lycians.
+
+When Rameses II fought his famous battle at Kadesh the Hittite king
+included among his allies the Aramaeans from Arabia, and other
+mercenaries like the Dardanui and Masa, who represented the
+Thraco-Phrygian peoples who had overrun the Balkans, occupied Thrace
+and Macedonia, and crossed into Asia Minor. In time the Hittite
+confederacy was broken up by the migrating Europeans, and their
+dominant tribe, the Muski[416]--the Moschoi of the Greeks and the
+Meshech of the Old Testament--came into conflict with the Assyrians.
+The Muski were forerunners of the Phrygians, and were probably of
+allied stock.
+
+Pharaoh Meneptah, the son of Rameses II, did not benefit much by the
+alliance with the Hittites, to whom he had to send a supply of grain
+during a time of famine. He found it necessary, indeed, to invade
+Syria, where their influence had declined, and had to beat back from
+the Delta region the piratical invaders of the same tribes as were
+securing a footing in Asia Minor. In Syria, Meneptah fought with the
+Israelites, who apparently had begun their conquest of Canaan during
+his reign.
+
+Before the Kassite Dynasty had come to an end, Rameses III of Egypt
+(1198-1167 B.C.) freed his country from the perils of a great invasion
+of Europeans by land and sea. He scattered a fleet on the Delta coast,
+and then arrested the progress of a strong force which was pressing
+southward through Phoenicia towards the Egyptian frontier. These
+events occurred at the beginning of the Homeric Age, and were followed
+by the siege of Troy, which, according to the Greeks, began about 1194
+B.C.
+
+The land raiders who were thwarted by Rameses III were the
+Philistines, a people from Crete.[417] When the prestige of Egypt
+suffered decline they overran the coastline of Canaan, and that
+country was then called Palestine, "the land of the Philistines",
+while the Egyptian overland trade route to Phoenicia became known as
+"the way of the Philistines". Their conflicts with the Hebrews are
+familiar to readers of the Old Testament. "The only contributions the
+Hebrews made to the culture of the country", writes Professor
+Macalister, "were their simple desert customs and their religious
+organization. On the other hand, the Philistines, sprung from one of
+the great homes of art of the ancient world, had brought with them the
+artistic instincts of their race: decayed no doubt, but still superior
+to anything they met with in the land itself. Tombs to be ascribed to
+them, found in Gezer, contained beautiful jewellery and ornaments. The
+Philistines, in fact, were the only cultured or artistic race who ever
+occupied the soil of Palestine, at least until the time when the
+influence of classical Greece asserted itself too strongly to be
+withstood. Whatsoever things raised life in the country above the dull
+animal existence of fellahin were due to this people.... The peasantry
+of the modern villages ... still tell of the great days of old when it
+(Palestine) was inhabited by the mighty race of the 'Fenish'."[418]
+
+When the Kassite Dynasty of Babylonia was extinguished, about 1140
+B.C., the Amorites were being displaced in Palestine by the
+Philistines and the Israelitish tribes; the Aramaeans were extending
+their conquests in Syria and Mesopotamia; the Muski were the overlords
+of the Hittites; Assyrian power was being revived at the beginning of
+the second period of the Old Empire; and Egypt was governed by a
+weakly king, Rameses VIII, a puppet in the hands of the priesthood,
+who was unable to protect the rich tombs of the Eighteenth Dynasty
+Pharaohs against the bands of professional robbers who were plundering
+them.
+
+A new dynasty--the Dynasty of Pashe--had arisen at the ancient
+Sumerian city of Isin. Its early kings were contemporary with some of
+the last Kassite monarchs, and they engaged in conflicts with the
+Elamites, who were encroaching steadily upon Babylonian territory, and
+were ultimately able to seize the province of Namar, famous for its
+horses, which was situated to the east of Akkad. The Assyrians, under
+Ashur-dan I, were not only reconquering lost territory, but invading
+Babylonia and carrying off rich plunder. Ashur-dan inflicted a
+crushing defeat upon the second-last Kassite ruler.
+
+There years later Nebuchadrezzar I, of the Dynasty of Pashe, seized
+the Babylonian throne. He was the most powerful and distinguished
+monarch of his line--an accomplished general and a wise statesman. His
+name signifies: "May the god Nebo protect my boundary". His first duty
+was to drive the Elamites from the land, and win back from them the
+statue of Merodach which they had carried off from E-sagila. At first
+he suffered a reverse, but although the season was midsummer, and the
+heat overpowering, he persisted in his campaign. The Elamites were
+forced to retreat, and following up their main force he inflicted upon
+them a shattering defeat on the banks of the Ula, a tributary of the
+Tigris. He then invaded Elam and returned with rich booty. The
+province of Namar was recovered, and its governor, Ritti Merodach, who
+was Nebuchadrezzar's battle companion, was restored to his family
+possessions and exempted from taxation. A second raid to Elam resulted
+in the recovery of the statue of Merodach. The Kassite and Lullume
+mountaineers also received attention, and were taught to respect the
+power of the new monarch.
+
+Having freed his country from the yoke of the Elamites, and driven the
+Assyrians over the frontier, Nebuchadrezzar came into conflict with
+the Hittites, who appear to have overrun Mesopotamia. Probably the
+invaders were operating in conjunction with the Muski, who were
+extending their sway over part of northern Assyria. They were not
+content with securing control of the trade route, but endeavoured also
+to establish themselves permanently in Babylon, the commercial
+metropolis, which they besieged and captured. This happened in the
+third year of Nebuchadrezzar, when he was still reigning at Isin.
+Assembling a strong force, he hastened northward and defeated the
+Hittites, and apparently followed up his victory. Probably it was at
+this time that he conquered the "West Land" (the land of the Amorites)
+and penetrated to the Mediterranean coast. Egyptian power had been
+long extinguished in that region.
+
+The possession of Mesopotamia was a signal triumph for Babylonia. As
+was inevitable, however, it brought Nebuchadrezzar into conflict some
+years later with the Assyrian king, Ashur-resh-ishi I, grandson of
+Ashur-dan, and father of the famous Tiglath-pileser I. The northern
+monarch had engaged himself in subduing the Lullume and Akhlami hill
+tribes in the south-east, whose territory had been conquered by
+Nebuchadrezzar. Thereafter he crossed the Babylonian frontier.
+Nebuchadrezzar drove him back and then laid siege to the border
+fortress of Zanki, but the Assyrian king conducted a sudden and
+successful reconnaissance in force which rendered perilous the
+position of the attacking force. By setting fire to his siege train
+the Babylonian war lord was able, however, to retreat in good order.
+
+Some time later Nebuchadrezzar dispatched another army northward, but
+it suffered a serious defeat, and its general, Karashtu, fell into the
+hands of the enemy.
+
+Nebuchadrezzar reigned less than twenty years, and appears to have
+secured the allegiance of the nobility by restoring the feudal system
+which had been abolished by the Kassites. He boasted that he was "the
+sun of his country, who restored ancient landmarks and boundaries",
+and promoted the worship of Ishtar, the ancient goddess of the people.
+By restoring the image of Merodach he secured the support of Babylon,
+to which city he transferred his Court.
+
+Nebuchadrezzar was succeeded by his son Ellil-nadin-apil, who reigned
+a few years; but little or nothing is known regarding him. His
+grandson, Marduk-nadin-akhe, came into conflict with Tiglath-pileser I
+of Assyria, and suffered serious reverses, from the effects of which
+his country did not recover for over a century.
+
+Tiglath-pileser I, in one of his inscriptions, recorded significantly:
+"The feet of the enemy I kept from my country". When he came to the
+throne, northern Assyria was menaced by the Muski and their allies,
+the Hittites and the Shubari of old Mitanni. The Kashiari hill tribes
+to the north of Nineveh, whom Shalmaneser I subdued, had half a
+century before thrown off the yoke of Assyria, and their kings were
+apparently vassals of the Muski.
+
+Tiglath-pileser first invaded Mitanni, where he routed a combined
+force of Shubari hillmen and Hittites. Thereafter a great army of the
+Muski and their allies pressed southward with purpose to deal a
+shattering blow against the Assyrian power. The very existence of
+Assyria as a separate power was threatened by this movement.
+Tiglath-pileser, however, was equal to the occasion. He surprised the
+invaders among the Kashiari mountains and inflicted a crushing defeat,
+slaying about 14,000 and capturing 6000 prisoners, who were
+transported to Asshur. In fact, he wiped the invading army out of
+existence and possessed himself of all its baggage. Thereafter he
+captured several cities, and extended his empire beyond the Kashiari
+hills and into the heart of Mitanni.
+
+His second campaign was also directed towards the Mitanni district,
+which had been invaded during his absence by a force of Hittites,
+about 4000 strong. The invaders submitted to him as soon as he drew
+near, and he added them to his standing army.
+
+Subsequent operations towards the north restored the pre-eminence of
+Assyria in the Nairi country, on the shores of Lake Van, in Armenia,
+where Tiglath-pileser captured no fewer than twenty-three petty kings.
+These he liberated after they had taken the oath of allegiance and
+consented to pay annual tribute.
+
+In his fourth year the conqueror learned that the Aramaeans were
+crossing the Euphrates and possessing themselves of Mitanni, which he
+had cleared of the Hittites. By a series of forced marches he caught
+them unawares, scattered them in confusion, and entered Carchemish,
+which he pillaged. Thereafter his army crossed the Euphrates in boats
+of skin, and plundered and destroyed six cities round the base of the
+mountain of Bishru.
+
+While operating in this district, Tiglath-pileser engaged in big-game
+hunting. He recorded: "Ten powerful bull elephants in the land of
+Haran and on the banks of the Khabour I killed; four elephants alive I
+took. Their skins, their teeth, with the living elephants, I brought
+to my city of Asshur."[419] He also claimed to have slain 920 lions,
+as well as a number of wild oxen, apparently including in his record
+the "bags" of his officers and men. A later king credited him with
+having penetrated to the Phoenician coast, where he put to sea and
+slew a sea monster called the "nakhiru". While at Arvad, the narrative
+continues, the King of Egypt, who is not named, sent him a
+hippopotamus (pagutu). This story, however, is of doubtful
+authenticity. About this time the prestige of Egypt was at so low an
+ebb that its messengers were subjected to indignities by the
+Phoenician kings.
+
+The conquests of Tiglath-pileser once more raised the Mesopotamian
+question in Babylonia, whose sphere of influence in that region had
+been invaded. Marduk-nadin-akhe, the grandson of Nebuchadrezzar I,
+"arrayed his chariots" against Tiglath-pileser, and in the first
+conflict achieved some success, but subsequently he was defeated in
+the land of Akkad. The Assyrian army afterwards captured several
+cities, including Babylon and Sippar.
+
+Thus once again the Assyrian Empire came into being as the predominant
+world Power, extending from the land of the Hittites into the heart of
+Babylonia. Its cities were enriched by the immense quantities of booty
+captured by its warrior king, while the coffers of state were glutted
+with the tribute of subject States. Fortifications were renewed,
+temples were built, and great gifts were lavished on the priesthood.
+Artists and artisans were kept fully employed restoring the faded
+splendours of the Old Empire, and everywhere thousands of slaves
+laboured to make the neglected land prosperous as of old. Canals were
+repaired and reopened; the earthworks and quay wall of Ashur were
+strengthened, and its great wall was entirely rebuilt, faced with a
+rampart of earth, and protected once again by a deep moat. The royal
+palace was enlarged and redecorated.
+
+Meanwhile Babylonia was wasted by civil war and invasions. It was
+entered more than once by the Aramaeans, who pillaged several cities
+in the north and the south. Then the throne was seized by
+Adad-aplu-iddina, the grandson of "a nobody", who reigned for about
+ten years. He was given recognition, however, by the Assyrian king,
+Ashur-bel-kala, son of Tiglath-pileser I, who married his daughter,
+and apparently restored to him Sippar and Babylon after receiving a
+handsome dowry. Ashur-bel-kala died without issue, and was succeeded
+by his brother, Shamshi-Adad.
+
+An obscure period followed. In Babylonia there were two weak dynasties
+in less than half a century, and thereafter an Elamite Dynasty which
+lasted about six years. An Eighth Dynasty ensued, and lasted between
+fifty and sixty years. The records of its early kings are exceedingly
+meagre and their order uncertain. During the reign of Nabu-mukin-apli,
+who was perhaps the fourth monarch, the Aramaeans constantly raided
+the land and hovered about Babylon. The names of two or three kings
+who succeeded Nabu-mukin-apli are unknown.
+
+A century and a half after Tiglath-pileser I conquered the north
+Syrian possessions of the Hittites, the Old Assyrian Empire reached
+the close of its second and last period. It had suffered gradual
+decline, under a series of inert and luxury-loving kings, until it was
+unable to withstand the gradual encroachment on every side of the
+restless hill tribes, who were ever ready to revolt when the authority
+of Ashur was not asserted at the point of the sword.
+
+After 950 B.C. the Hittites of North Syria, having shaken off the last
+semblance of Assyrian authority, revived their power, and enjoyed a
+full century of independence and prosperity. In Cappadocia their
+kinsmen had freed themselves at an earlier period from the yoke of the
+Muski, who had suffered so severely at the hands of Tiglath-pileser I.
+The Hittite buildings and rock sculptures of this period testify to
+the enduring character of the ancient civilization of the "Hatti".
+Until the hieroglyphics can be read, however, we must wait patiently
+for the detailed story of the pre-Phrygian period, which was of great
+historical importance, because the tide of cultural influence was then
+flowing at its greatest volume from the old to the new world, where
+Greece was emerging in virgin splendour out of the ruins of the
+ancient Mykenaean and Cretan civilizations.
+
+It is possible that the conquest of a considerable part of Palestine
+by the Philistines was not unconnected with the revival of Hittite
+power in the north. They may have moved southward as the allies of the
+Cilician State which was rising into prominence. For a period they
+were the overlords of the Hebrews, who had been displacing the older
+inhabitants of the "Promised Land", and appear to have been armed with
+weapons of iron. In fact, as is indicated by a passage in the Book of
+Samuel, they had made a "corner" in that metal and restricted its use
+among their vassals. "Now", the Biblical narrative sets forth, "there
+was no smith found throughout all the land of Israel; for the
+Philistines said, Lest the Hebrews make them swords and spears; but
+all the Israelites went down to the Philistines, to sharpen every man
+his share, and his coulter, and his axe, and his mattock".[420] "We
+are inclined", says Professor Macalister, "to picture the West as a
+thing of yesterday, new fangled with its inventions and its
+progressive civilization, and the East as an embodiment of hoary and
+unchanging traditions. But when West first met East on the shores of
+the Holy Land, it was the former which represented the magnificent
+traditions of the past, and the latter which looked forward to the
+future. The Philistines were of the remnant of the dying glories of
+Crete; the Hebrews had no past to speak of, but were entering on the
+heritage they regarded as theirs, by right of a recently ratified
+divine covenant."[421]
+
+Saul was the leader of a revolt against the Philistines in northern
+Palestine, and became the ruler of the kingdom of Israel. Then David,
+having liberated Judah from the yoke of the Philistines, succeeded
+Saul as ruler of Israel, and selected Jerusalem as his capital. He
+also conquered Edom and Moab, but was unsuccessful in his attempt to
+subjugate Ammon. The Philistines were then confined to a restricted
+area on the seacoast, where they fused with the Semites and ultimately
+suffered loss of identity. Under the famous Solomon the united kingdom
+of the Hebrews reached its highest splendour and importance among the
+nations.
+
+If the Philistines received the support of the Hittites, the Hebrews
+were strengthened by an alliance with Egypt. For a period of two and a
+half centuries no Egyptian army had crossed the Delta frontier into
+Syria. The ancient land of the Pharaohs had been overshadowed meantime
+by a cloud of anarchy, and piratical and robber bands settled freely
+on its coast line. At length a Libyan general named Sheshonk (Shishak)
+seized the throne from the Tanite Dynasty. He was the Pharaoh with
+whom Solomon "made affinity",[422] and from whom he received the city
+of Gezer, which an Egyptian army had captured.[423] Solomon had
+previously married a daughter of Sheshonk's.
+
+Phoenicia was also flourishing. Freed from Egyptian, Hittite, and
+Assyrian interference, Tyre and Sidon attained to a high degree of
+power as independent city States. During the reigns of David and
+Solomon, Tyre was the predominant Phoenician power. Its kings, Abibaal
+and his son Hiram, had become "Kings of the Sidonians", and are
+believed to have extended their sway over part of Cyprus. The
+relations between the Hebrews and the Phoenicians were of a cordial
+character, indeed the two powers became allies.
+
+    And Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants unto Solomon; for he had
+    heard that they had anointed him king in the room of his father:
+    for Hiram was ever a lover of David. And Solomon sent to Hiram,
+    saying, Thou knowest how that David my father could not build an
+    house unto the name of the Lord His God for the wars which were
+    about him on every side, until the Lord put them under the soles
+    of his feet. But now the Lord my God hath given me rest on every
+    side, so that there is neither adversary nor evil occurrent. And,
+    behold, I purpose to build an house unto the name of the Lord my
+    God, as the Lord spake unto David my father, saying, Thy son, whom
+    I will set upon thy throne in thy room, he shall build an house
+    unto my name. Now therefore command thou that they hew me cedar
+    trees out of Lebanon; and my servants shall be with thy servants:
+    and unto thee will I give hire for thy servants according to all
+    that thou shalt appoint: for thou knowest that there is not among
+    us any that can skill to hew timber like unto the Sidonians. And
+    it came to pass, when Hiram heard the words of Solomon, that he
+    rejoiced greatly, and said, Blessed be the Lord this day, which
+    hath given unto David a wise son over this great people. And Hiram
+    sent to Solomon, saying, I have considered the things which thou
+    sentest to me for: and I will do all thy desire concerning timber
+    of cedar, and concerning timber of fir. My servants shall bring
+    them down from Lebanon unto the sea: and I will convey them by sea
+    in floats unto the place that thou shalt appoint me, and will
+    cause them to be discharged there, and thou shalt receive them:
+    and thou shalt accomplish my desire, in giving food for my
+    household. So Hiram gave Solomon cedar trees and fir trees
+    according to all his desire. And Solomon gave Hiram twenty
+    thousand measures of wheat for food to his household, and twenty
+    measures of pure oil: thus gave Solomon to Hiram year by year. And
+    the Lord gave Solomon wisdom, as he promised him: and there was
+    peace between Hiram and Solomon; and they two made a league
+    together.[424]
+
+Hiram also sent skilled workers to Jerusalem to assist in the work of
+building the temple and Solomon's palace, including his famous
+namesake, "a widow's son of the (Hebrew) tribe of Naphtali", who, like
+his father, "a man of Tyre", had "understanding and cunning to work
+all works in brass".[425]
+
+Solomon must have cultivated good relations with the Chaldaeans, for
+he had a fleet of trading ships on the Persian Gulf which was manned
+by Phoenician sailors. "Once in three years", the narrative runs,
+"came the navy of Tharshish, bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and
+apes, and peacocks."[426] Apparently he traded with India, the land of
+peacocks, during the Brahmanical period, when the Sanskrit name
+"Samudra", which formerly signified the "collected waters" of the
+broadening Indus, was applied to the Indian Ocean.[427]
+
+The Aramaeans of the Third Semitic migration were not slow to take
+advantage of the weakness of Assyria and Babylon. They overran the
+whole of Syria, and entered into the possession of Mesopotamia, thus
+acquiring full control of the trade routes towards the west. From time
+to time they ravaged Babylonia from the north to the south. Large
+numbers of them acquired permanent settlement in that country, like
+the Amorites of the Second Semitic migration in the pre-Hammurabi Age.
+
+In Syria the Aramaeans established several petty States, and were
+beginning to grow powerful at Damascus, an important trading centre,
+which assumed considerable political importance after the collapse of
+Assyria's Old Empire.
+
+At this period, too, the Chaldaeans came into prominence in Babylonia.
+Their kingdom of Chaldaea (Kaldu, which signifies Sealand) embraces a
+wide stretch of the coast land at the head of the Persian Gulf between
+Arabia and Elam. As we have seen, an important dynasty flourished in
+this region in the time of Hammurabi. Although more than one king of
+Babylon recorded that he had extinguished the Sealand Power, it
+continued to exist all through the Kassite period. It is possible that
+this obscure kingdom embraced diverse ethnic elements, and that it was
+controlled in turn by military aristocracies of Sumerians, Elamites,
+Kassites, and Arabians. After the downfall of the Kassites it had
+become thoroughly Semitized, perhaps as a result of the Aramaean
+migration, which may have found one of its outlets around the head of
+the Persian Gulf. The ancient Sumerian city of Ur, which dominated a
+considerable area of steppe land to the west of the Euphrates, was
+included in the Sealand kingdom, and was consequently referred to in
+after-time as "Ur of the Chaldees".
+
+When Solomon reigned over Judah and Israel, Babylonia was broken up
+into a number of petty States, as in early Sumerian times. The feudal
+revival of Nebuchadrezzar I had weakened the central power, with the
+result that the nominal high kings were less able to resist the
+inroads of invaders. Military aristocracies of Aramaeans, Elamites,
+and Chaldaeans held sway in various parts of the valley, and struggled
+for supremacy.
+
+When Assyria began to assert itself again, it laid claim on Babylonia,
+ostensibly as the protector of its independence, and the Chaldaeans
+for a time made common cause with the Elamites against it. The future,
+however, lay with the Chaldaeans, who, like the Kassites, became the
+liberators of the ancient inhabitants. When Assyria was finally
+extinguished as a world power they revived the ancient glory of
+Babylonia, and supplanted the Sumerians as the scholars and teachers
+of Western Asia. The Chaldaeans became famous in Syria, and even in
+Greece, as "the wise men from the east", and were renowned as
+astrologers.
+
+The prestige of the Hebrew kingdom suffered sharp and serious decline
+after Solomon's death. Pharaoh Sheshonk fostered the elements of
+revolt which ultimately separated Israel from Judah, and, when a
+favourable opportunity arose, invaded Palestine and Syria and
+reestablished Egypt's suzerainty over part of the area which had been
+swayed by Rameses II, replenishing his exhausted treasury with rich
+booty and the tribute he imposed. Phoenicia was able, however, to
+maintain its independence, but before the Assyrians moved westward
+again, Sidon had shaken off the yoke of Tyre and become an independent
+State.
+
+It will be seen from the events outlined in this chapter how greatly
+the history of the ancient world was affected by the periodic
+migrations of pastoral folks from the steppe lands. These human tides
+were irresistible. The direction of their flow might be diverted for a
+time, but they ultimately overcame every obstacle by sheer persistency
+and overpowering volume. Great emperors in Assyria and Egypt
+endeavoured to protect their countries from the "Bedouin peril" by
+strengthening their frontiers and extending their spheres of
+influence, but the dammed-up floods of humanity only gathered strength
+in the interval for the struggle which might be postponed but could
+not be averted.
+
+These migrations, as has been indicated, were due to natural causes.
+They were propelled by climatic changes which caused a shortage of the
+food supply, and by the rapid increase of population under peaceful
+conditions. Once a migration began to flow, it set in motion many
+currents and cross currents, but all these converged towards the
+districts which offered the most attractions to mankind. Prosperous
+and well-governed States were ever in peril of invasion by barbarous
+peoples. The fruits of civilization tempted them; the reward of
+conquest was quickly obtained in Babylon and Egypt with their
+flourishing farms and prosperous cities. Waste land was reclaimed then
+as now by colonists from centres of civilization; the migrating
+pastoral folks lacked the initiative and experience necessary to
+establish new communities in undeveloped districts. Highly civilized
+men sowed the harvest and the barbarians reaped it.
+
+It must not be concluded, however, that the migrations were historical
+disasters, or that they retarded the general advancement of the human
+race. In time the barbarians became civilized and fused with the
+peoples whom they conquered. They introduced, too, into communities
+which had grown stagnant and weakly, a fresh and invigorating
+atmosphere that acted as a stimulant in every sphere of human
+activity. The Kassite, for instance, was a unifying and therefore a
+strengthening influence in Babylonia. He shook off the manacles of the
+past which bound the Sumerian and the Akkadian alike to traditional
+lines of policy based on unforgotten ancient rivalries. His concern
+was chiefly with the future. The nomads with their experience of
+desert wandering promoted trade, and the revival of trade inaugurated
+new eras of prosperity in ancient centres of culture, and brought them
+into closer touch than ever before with one another. The rise of
+Greece was due to the blending of the Achaeans and other pastoral
+fighting folks with the indigenous Pelasgians. Into the early States
+which fostered the elements of ancient Mykenaean civilization, poured
+the cultural influences of the East through Asia Minor and Phoenicia
+and from the Egyptian coast. The conquerors from the steppes meanwhile
+contributed their genius for organization, their simple and frugal
+habits of life, and their sterling virtues; they left a deep impress
+on the moral, physical, and intellectual life of Greece.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+THE HEBREWS IN ASSYRIAN HISTORY
+
+
+  Revival of Assyrian Power--The Syro-Cappadocian Hittites--The
+  Aramaean State of Damascus--Reign of Terror in
+  Mesopotamia--Barbarities of Ashur-natsir-pal III--Babylonia and
+  Chaldaea subdued--Glimpse of the Kalkhi Valley--The Hebrew Kingdoms
+  of Judah and Israel--Rival Monarchs and their Wars--How Judah became
+  subject to Damascus--Ahab and the Phoenician Jezebel--Persecution of
+  Elijah and other Prophets--Israelites fight against
+  Assyrians--Shalmaneser as Overlord of Babylonia--Revolts of Jehu in
+  Israel and Hazael in Damascus--Shalmaneser defeats Hazael--Jehu
+  sends Tribute to Shalmaneser--Baal Worship Supplanted by Golden Calf
+  Worship in Israel--Queen Athaliah of Judah--Crowning of the Boy King
+  Joash--Damascus supreme in Syria and Palestine--Civil War in
+  Assyria--Triumphs of Shamshi-Adad VII--Babylonia becomes an Assyrian
+  Province.
+
+
+In one of the Scottish versions of the Seven Sleepers legend a
+shepherd enters a cave, in which the great heroes of other days lie
+wrapped in magic slumber, and blows two blasts on the horn which hangs
+suspended from the roof. The sleepers open their eyes and raise
+themselves on their elbows. Then the shepherd hears a warning voice
+which comes and goes like the wind, saying: "If the horn is blown once
+again, the world will be upset altogether". Terrified by the Voice and
+the ferocious appearance of the heroes, the shepherd retreats
+hurriedly, locking the door behind him; he casts the key into the sea.
+The story proceeds: "If anyone should find the key and open the door,
+and blow but a single blast on the horn, Finn and all the Feans would
+come forth. And that would be a great day in Alban."[428]
+
+After the lapse of an obscure century the national heroes of Assyria
+were awakened as if from sleep by the repeated blasts from the horn of
+the triumphant thunder god amidst the northern and western
+mountains--Adad or Rimmon of Syria, Teshup of Armenia, Tarku of the
+western Hittites. The great kings who came forth to "upset the world"
+bore the familiar names, Ashur-natsir-pal, Shalmaneser, Shamash-Adad,
+Ashur-dan, Adad-nirari, and Ashur-nirari. They revived and increased
+the ancient glory of Assyria during its Middle Empire period.
+
+The Syro-Cappadocian Hittites had grown once again powerful and
+prosperous, but no great leader like Subbiluliuma arose to weld the
+various States into an Empire, so as to ensure the protection of the
+mingled peoples from the operations of the aggressive and ambitious
+war-lords of Assyria. One kingdom had its capital at Hamath and
+another at Carchemish on the Euphrates. The kingdom of Tabal
+flourished in Cilicia (Khilakku); it included several city States like
+Tarsus, Tiana, and Comana (Kammanu). Farther west was the dominion of
+the Thraco-Phrygian Muski. The tribes round the shores of Lake Van had
+asserted themselves and extended their sphere of influence. The State
+of Urartu was of growing importance, and the Nairi tribes had spread
+round the south-eastern shores of Lake Van. The northern frontier of
+Assyria was continually menaced by groups of independent hill States
+which would have been irresistible had they operated together against
+a common enemy, but were liable to be extinguished when attacked in
+detail.
+
+A number of Aramaean kingdoms had come into existence in Mesopotamia
+and throughout Syria. The most influential of these was the State of
+Damascus, the king of which was the overlord of the Hebrew kingdoms of
+Israel and Judah when Ashur-natsir-pal III ascended the Assyrian
+throne about 885 B.C. Groups of the Aramaeans had acquired a high
+degree of culture and become traders and artisans. Large numbers had
+filtered, as well, not only into Babylonia but also Assyria and the
+north Syrian area of Hittite control. Accustomed for generations to
+desert warfare, they were fearless warriors. Their armies had great
+mobility, being composed mostly of mounted infantry, and were not
+easily overpowered by the Assyrian forces of footmen and charioteers.
+Indeed, it was not until cavalry was included in the standing army of
+Assyria that operations against the Aramaeans were attended with
+permanent success.
+
+Ashur-natsir-pal III[429] was preceded by two vigorous Assyrian
+rulers, Adad-nirari III (911-890 B.C.) and Tukulti-Ninip II (890-885
+B.C). The former had raided North Syria and apparently penetrated as
+far as the Mediterranean coast. In consequence he came into conflict
+with Babylonia, but he ultimately formed an alliance with that
+kingdom. His son, Tukulti-Ninip, operated in southern Mesopotamia, and
+apparently captured Sippar. In the north he had to drive back invading
+bands of the Muski. Although, like his father, he carried out great
+works at Asshur, he appears to have transferred his Court to Nineveh,
+a sure indication that Assyria was once again becoming powerful in
+northern Mesopotamia and the regions towards Armenia.
+
+Ashur-natsir-pal III, son of Tukulti-Ninip II, inaugurated a veritable
+reign of terror in Mesopotamia and northern Syria. His methods of
+dealing with revolting tribes were of a most savage character. Chiefs
+were skinned alive, and when he sacked their cities, not only
+fighting-men but women and children were either slaughtered or burned
+at the stake. It is not surprising to find therefore that, on more
+than one occasion, the kings of petty States made submission to him
+without resistance as soon as he invaded their domains.
+
+In his first year he overran the mountainous district between Lake Van
+and the upper sources of the Tigris. Bubu, the rebel son of the
+governor of Nishtun, who had been taken prisoner, was transported to
+Arbela, where he was skinned alive. Like his father, Ashur-natsir-pal
+fought against the Muski, whose power was declining. Then he turned
+southward from the borders of Asia Minor and dealt with a rebellion in
+northern Mesopotamia.
+
+An Aramaean pretender named Akhiababa had established himself at Suru
+in the region to the east of the Euphrates, enclosed by its
+tributaries the Khabar and the Balikh. He had come from the
+neighbouring Aramaean State of Bit-Adini, and was preparing, it would
+appear, to form a powerful confederacy against the Assyrians.
+
+When Ashur-natsir-pal approached Suru, a part of its population
+welcomed him. He entered the city, seized the pretender and many of
+his followers. These he disposed of with characteristic barbarity.
+Some were skinned alive and some impaled on stakes, while others were
+enclosed in a pillar which the king had erected to remind the
+Aramaeans of his determination to brook no opposition. Akhiababa the
+pretender was sent to Nineveh with a few supporters; and when they had
+been flayed their skins were nailed upon the city walls.
+
+Another revolt broke out in the Kirkhi district between the upper
+reaches of the Tigris and the southwestern shores of Lake Van. It was
+promoted by the Nairi tribes, and even supported by some Assyrian
+officials. Terrible reprisals were meted out to the rebels. When the
+city of Kinabu was captured, no fewer than 3000 prisoners were burned
+alive, the unfaithful governor being flayed. The city of Damdamusa was
+set on fire. Then Tela was attacked. Ashur-natsir-pal's own account of
+the operations runs as follows:--
+
+    The city (of Tello) was very strong; three walls surrounded it.
+    The inhabitants trusted to their strong walls and numerous
+    soldiers; they did not come down or embrace my feet. With battle
+    and slaughter I assaulted and took the city. Three thousand
+    warriors I slew in battle. Their booty and possessions, cattle,
+    sheep, I carried away; many captives I burned with fire. Many of
+    their soldiers I took alive; of some I cut off hands and limbs; of
+    others the noses, ears, and arms; of many soldiers I put out the
+    eyes. I reared a column of the living and a column of heads. I
+    hung on high their heads on trees in the vicinity of their city.
+    Their boys and girls I burned up in flames. I devastated the city,
+    dug it up, in fire burned it; I annihilated it.[430]
+
+The Assyrian war-lord afterwards forced several Nairi kings to
+acknowledge him as their overlord. He was so greatly feared by the
+Syro-Cappadocian Hittites that when he approached their territory they
+sent him tribute, yielding without a struggle.
+
+For several years the great conqueror engaged himself in thus subduing
+rebellious tribes and extending his territory. His military
+headquarters were at Kalkhi, to which city the Court had been
+transferred. Thither he drafted thousands of prisoners, the great
+majority of whom he incorporated in the Assyrian army. Assyrian
+colonies were established in various districts for strategical
+purposes, and officials supplanted the petty kings in certain of the
+northern city States.
+
+The Aramaeans of Mesopotamia gave much trouble to Ashur-natsir-pal.
+Although he had laid a heavy hand on Suru, the southern tribes, the
+Sukhi, stirred up revolts in Mesopotamia as the allies of the
+Babylonians. On one occasion Ashur-natsir-pal swept southward through
+this region, and attacked a combined force of Sukhi Aramaeans and
+Babylonians. The Babylonians were commanded by Zabdanu, brother of
+Nabu-aplu-iddin, king of Babylonia, who was evidently anxious to
+regain control of the western trade route. The Assyrian war-lord,
+however, proved to be too powerful a rival. He achieved so complete a
+victory that he captured the Babylonian general and 3000 of his
+followers. The people of Kashshi (Babylonia) and Kaldu (Chaldaea) were
+"stricken with terror", and had to agree to pay increased tribute.
+
+Ashur-natsir-pal reigned for about a quarter of a century, but his
+wars occupied less than half of that period. Having accumulated great
+booty, he engaged himself, as soon as peace was secured throughout his
+empire, in rebuilding the city of Kalkhi, where he erected a great
+palace and made records of his achievements. He also extended and
+redecorated the royal palace at Nineveh, and devoted much attention to
+the temples.
+
+Tribute poured in from the subject States. The mountain and valley
+tribes in the north furnished in abundance wine and corn, sheep and
+cattle and horses, and from the Aramaeans of Mesopotamia and the
+Syro-Cappadocian Hittites came much silver and gold, copper and lead,
+jewels and ivory, as well as richly decorated furniture, armour and
+weapons. Artists and artisans were also provided by the vassals of
+Assyria. There are traces of Phoenician influence in the art of this
+period.
+
+Ashur-natsir-pal's great palace at Kalkhi was excavated by Layard, who
+has given a vivid description of the verdant plain on which the
+ancient city was situated, as it appeared in spring. "Its pasture
+lands, known as the 'Jaif', are renowned", he wrote, "for their rich
+and luxuriant herbage. In times of quiet, the studs of the Pasha and
+of the Turkish authorities, with the horses of the cavalry and of the
+inhabitants of Mosul, are sent here to graze.... Flowers of every hue
+enamelled the meadows; not thinly scattered over the grass as in
+northern climes, but in such thick and gathering clusters that the
+whole plain seemed a patchwork of many colours. The dogs, as they
+returned from hunting, issued from the long grass dyed red, yellow, or
+blue, according to the flowers through which they had last forced
+their way.... In the evening, after the labour of the day, I often sat
+at the door of my tent, giving myself up to the full enjoyment of that
+calm and repose which are imparted to the senses by such scenes as
+these.... As the sun went down behind the low hills which separate the
+river from the desert--even their rocky sides had struggled to emulate
+the verdant clothing of the plain--its receding rays were gradually
+withdrawn, like a transparent veil of light from the landscape. Over
+the pure cloudless sky was the glow of the last light. In the distance
+and beyond the Zab, Keshaf, another venerable ruin, rose indistinctly
+into the evening mist. Still more distant, and still more indistinct,
+was a solitary hill overlooking the ancient city of Arbela. The
+Kurdish mountains, whose snowy summits cherished the dying sunbeams,
+yet struggled with the twilight. The bleating of sheep and lowing of
+cattle, at first faint, became louder as the flocks returned from
+their pastures and wandered amongst the tents. Girls hurried over the
+greensward to seek their fathers' cattle, or crouched down to milk
+those which had returned alone to their well-remembered folds. Some
+were coming from the river bearing the replenished pitcher on their
+heads or shoulders; others, no less graceful in their form, and erect
+in their carriage, were carrying the heavy loads of long grass which
+they had cut in the meadows."[431]
+
+Across the meadows so beautiful in March the great armies of
+Ashur-natsir-pal returned with the booty of great campaigns--horses
+and cattle and sheep, bales of embroidered cloth, ivory and jewels,
+silver and gold, the products of many countries; while thousands of
+prisoners were assembled there to rear stately buildings which
+ultimately fell into decay and were buried by drifting sands.
+
+Layard excavated the emperor's palace and dispatched to London, among
+other treasures of antiquity, the sublime winged human-headed lions
+which guarded the entrance, and many bas reliefs.
+
+The Assyrian sculptures of this period lack the technical skill, the
+delicacy and imagination of Sumerian and Akkadian art, but they are
+full of energy, dignified and massive, and strong and lifelike. They
+reflect the spirit of Assyria's greatness, which, however, had a
+materialistic basis. Assyrian art found expression in delineating the
+outward form rather than in striving to create a "thing of beauty"
+which is "a joy for ever".
+
+When Ashur-natsir-pal died, he was succeeded by his son Shalmaneser
+III (860-825 B.C.), whose military activities extended over his whole
+reign. No fewer than thirty-two expeditions were recorded on his
+famous black obelisk.
+
+As Shalmaneser was the first Assyrian king who came into direct touch
+with the Hebrews, it will be of interest here to review the history of
+the divided kingdoms of Israel and Judah, as recorded in the Bible,
+because of the light it throws on international politics and the
+situation which confronted Shalmaneser in Mesopotamia and Syria in the
+early part of his reign.
+
+After Solomon died, the kingdom of his son Rehoboam was restricted to
+Judah, Benjamin, Moab, and Edom. The "ten tribes" of Israel had
+revolted and were ruled over by Jeroboam, whose capital was at
+Tirzah.[432] "There were wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam
+continually."[433]
+
+The religious organization which had united the Hebrews under David
+and Solomon was thus broken up. Jeroboam established the religion of
+the Canaanites and made "gods and molten images". He was condemned for
+his idolatry by the prophet Ahijah, who declared, "The Lord shall
+smite Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water; and he shall root up
+Israel out of this good land, which he gave to their fathers, and
+shall scatter them beyond the river, because they have made their
+groves, provoking the Lord to anger. And he shall give Israel up
+because of the sins of Jeroboam, who did sin, and who made Israel to
+sin."[434]
+
+In Judah Rehoboam similarly "did evil in the sight of the Lord"; his
+subjects "also built them high places and images and groves, on every
+high hill, and under every green tree".[435] After the raid of the
+Egyptian Pharaoh Shishak (Sheshonk) Rehoboam repented, however. "And
+when he humbled himself, the wrath of the Lord turned from him, that
+he would not destroy him altogether: and also in Judah things went
+well."[436]
+
+Rehoboam was succeeded by his son Abijah, who shattered the power of
+Jeroboam, defeating that monarch in battle after he was surrounded as
+Rameses II had been by the Hittite army. "The children of Israel fled
+before Judah: and God delivered them into their hand. And Abijah and
+his people slew them with a great slaughter: so there fell down slain
+in Israel five hundred thousand chosen men. Thus the children of
+Israel were brought under at that time, and the children of Judah
+prevailed, because they relied upon the Lord God of their fathers. And
+Abijah pursued after Jeroboam, and took cities from him, Bethel with
+the towns thereof, and Jeshanah with the towns thereof, and Ephraim
+with the towns thereof. Neither did Jeroboam recover strength again in
+the days of Abijah, and the Lord struck him and he died."[437]
+
+Ere Jeroboam died, however, "Abijah slept with his fathers, and they
+buried him in the city of David: and Asa his son reigned in his stead.
+In his days the land was quiet ten years. And Asa did that which was
+good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God. For he took away the
+altars of the strange gods, and the high places, and brake down the
+images, and cut down the groves. And commanded Judah to seek the Lord
+God of their fathers and to do the law and the commandment. Also he
+took away out of all the cities of Judah the high places and the
+images: and the kingdom was quiet before him. And he built fenced
+cities in Judah: for the land had rest, and he had no war in those
+years; because the Lord had given him rest."[438]
+
+Jeroboam died in the second year of Asa's reign, and was succeeded by
+his son Nadab, who "did evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in
+the way of his father, and in his sin wherewith he made Israel to
+sin".[439] Nadab waged war against the Philistines, and was besieging
+Gibbethon when Baasha revolted and slew him. Thus ended the First
+Dynasty of the Kingdom of Israel.
+
+Baasha was declared king, and proceeded to operate against Judah.
+Having successfully waged war against Asa, he proceeded to fortify
+Ramah, a few miles to the north of Jerusalem, "that he might not
+suffer any to go out or come in to Asa king of Judah".[440]
+
+Now Israel was at this time one of the allies of the powerful Aramaean
+State of Damascus, which had resisted the advance of the Assyrian
+armies during the reign of Ashur-natsir-pal I, and apparently
+supported the rebellions of the northern Mesopotamian kings. Judah was
+nominally subject to Egypt, which, however, was weakened by internal
+troubles, and therefore unable either to assert its authority in Judah
+or help its king to resist the advance of the Israelites.
+
+In the hour of peril Judah sought the aid of the king of Damascus.
+"Asa took all the silver and the gold that were left in the treasures
+of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king's house, and
+delivered them into the hand of his servants: and King Asa sent them
+to Ben-hadad, the son of Tabrimon, the son of Hezion, king of Syria,
+that dwelt at Damascus, saying, There is a league between me and thee,
+and between my father and thy father: behold, I have sent unto thee a
+present of silver and gold: _come and break thy league with Baasha
+king of Israel, that he may depart from me_".[441]
+
+Ben-hadad accepted the invitation readily. He waged war against
+Israel, and Baasha was compelled to abandon the building of the
+fortifications at Ramah. "Then king Asa made a proclamation throughout
+all Judah; none was exempted: and they took away the stones of Ramah,
+and the timber thereof, wherewith Baasha had builded; and king Asa
+built with them Geba of Benjamin, and Mizpah."[442]
+
+Judah and Israel thus became subject to Damascus, and had to recognize
+the king of that city as arbiter in all their disputes.
+
+After reigning about twenty-four years, Baasha of Israel died in 886
+B.C. and was succeeded by his son Elah who came to the throne "in the
+twenty and sixth year of Asa". He had ruled a little over a year when
+he was murdered by "his servant Zimri, captain of half his chariots",
+while he was "drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza steward of
+his house in Tirzah".[443] Thus ended the Second Dynasty of the
+Kingdom of Israel.
+
+Zimri's revolt was shortlived. He reigned only "seven days in Tirzah".
+The army was "encamped against Gibbethon, which belonged to the
+Philistines. And the people that were encamped heard say, Zimri hath
+conspired and hath also slain the king; wherefore all Israel made
+Omri, the captain of the host, king over Israel that day in the camp.
+And Omri went up from Gibbethon and all Israel with him, and they
+besieged Tirzah. And it came to pass when Zimri saw that the city was
+taken, that he went into the palace of the king's house, and burnt the
+king's house over him with fire, and died."[444]
+
+Omri's claim to the throne was disputed by a rival named Tibni. "But
+the people that followed Omri prevailed against the people that
+followed Tibni, son of Ginath: so Tibni died, and Omri reigned."[445]
+
+Omri was the builder of Samaria, whither his Court was transferred
+from Tirzah towards the close of his six years reign. He was followed
+by his son Ahab, who ascended the throne "in the thirty and eighth
+year of Asa king of Judah.... And Ahab ... did evil in the sight of
+the Lord above all that were before him." So notorious indeed were
+father and son that the prophet Micah declared to the backsliders of
+his day, "For the statutes of Omri are kept, and all the works of the
+house of Ahab, and ye walk in their counsel; that I should make thee a
+desolation, and the inhabitants thereof an hissing: therefore ye shall
+bear the reproach of my people".[446]
+
+Ahab was evidently an ally of Sidon as well as a vassal of Damascus,
+for he married the notorious princess Jezebel, the daughter of the
+king of that city State. He also became a worshipper of the Phoenician
+god Baal, to whom a temple had been erected in Samaria. "And Ahab made
+a grove; and Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger
+than all the kings of Israel that were before him."[447] Obadiah, who
+"feared the Lord greatly", was the governor of Ahab's house, but the
+outspoken prophet Elijah, whose arch enemy was the notorious Queen
+Jezebel, was an outcast like the hundred prophets concealed by Obadiah
+in two mountain caves.[448]
+
+Ahab became so powerful a king that Ben-hadad II of Damascus picked a
+quarrel with him, and marched against Samaria. It was on this occasion
+that Ahab sent the famous message to Ben-hadad: "Let not him that
+girdeth on his harness (armour) boast himself as he that putteth it
+off". The Israelites issued forth from Samaria and scattered the
+attacking force. "And Israel pursued them: and Ben-hadad the king of
+Syria escaped on a horse with the horseman. And the king of Israel
+went out, and smote the horses and chariots, and slew the Syrians with
+a great slaughter." Ben-hadad was made to believe afterwards by his
+counsellors that he owed his defeat to the fact that the gods of
+Israel were "gods of the hills; therefore they are stronger than we".
+They added: "Let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we
+shall be stronger than they". In the following year Ben-hadad fought
+against the Israelites at Aphek, but was again defeated. He then found
+it necessary to make "a covenant" with Ahab.[449]
+
+In 854 B.C. Shalmaneser III of Assyria was engaged in military
+operations against the Aramaean Syrians. Two years previously he had
+broken the power of Akhuni, king of Bit-Adini in northern Mesopotamia,
+the leader of a strong confederacy of petty States. Thereafter the
+Assyrian monarch turned towards the south-west and attacked the
+Hittite State of Hamath and the Aramaean State of Damascus. The
+various rival kingdoms of Syria united against him, and an army of
+70,000 allies attempted to thwart his progress at Qarqar on the
+Orontes. Although Shalmaneser claimed a victory on this occasion, it
+was of no great advantage to him, for he was unable to follow it up.
+Among the Syrian allies were Bir-idri (Ben-hadad II) of Damascus, and
+Ahab of Israel ("Akhabbu of the land of the Sir'ilites"). The latter
+had a force of 10,000 men under his command.
+
+Four years after Ahab began to reign, Asa died at Jerusalem and his
+son Jehoshaphat was proclaimed king of Judah. "And he walked in all
+the ways of Asa his father; he turned not aside from it, doing that
+which was right in the eyes of the Lord: nevertheless the high places
+were not taken away; for the people offered and burnt incense yet in
+the high places."[450]
+
+There is no record of any wars between Israel and Judah during this
+period, but it is evident that the two kingdoms had been drawn
+together and that Israel was the predominating power. Jehoshaphat
+"joined affinity with Ahab", and some years afterwards visited
+Samaria, where he was hospitably entertained.[451] The two monarchs
+plotted together. Apparently Israel and Judah desired to throw off the
+yoke of Damascus, which was being kept constantly on the defence by
+Assyria. It is recorded in the Bible that they joined forces and set
+out on an expedition to attack Ramoth in Gilead, which Israel claimed,
+and take it "out of the hand of the king of Syria".[452] In the battle
+which ensued (in 853 B.C.) Ahab was mortally wounded, "and about the
+time of the sun going down he died". He was succeeded by his son
+Ahaziah, who acknowledged the suzerainty of Damascus. After a reign of
+two years Ahaziah was succeeded by Joram.
+
+Jehoshaphat did not again come into conflict with Damascus. He devoted
+himself to the development of his kingdom, and attempted to revive the
+sea trade on the Persian gulf which had flourished under Solomon. "He
+made ships of Tharshish to go to Ophir for gold; but they went not;
+for the ships were broken (wrecked) at Ezion-geber." Ahaziah offered
+him sailors--probably Phoenicians--but they were refused.[453]
+Apparently Jehoshaphat had close trading relations with the
+Chaldaeans, who were encroaching on the territory of the king of
+Babylon, and menacing the power of that monarch. Jehoram succeeded
+Jehoshaphat and reigned eight years.
+
+After repulsing the Syrian allies at Qarqar on the Orontes in 854
+B.C., Shalmaneser III of Assyria found it necessary to invade
+Babylonia. Soon after he came to the throne he had formed an alliance
+with Nabu-aplu-iddin of that kingdom, and was thus able to operate in
+the north-west without fear of complications with the rival claimant
+of Mesopotamia. When Nabu-aplu-iddin died, his two sons
+Marduk-zakir-shum and Marduk-bel-usate were rivals for the throne. The
+former, the rightful heir, appealed for help to Shalmaneser, and that
+monarch at once hastened to assert his authority in the southern
+kingdom. In 851 B.C. Marduk-bel-usate, who was supported by an Aram�an
+army, was defeated and put to death.
+
+Marduk-zakir-shum afterwards reigned over Babylonia as the vassal of
+Assyria, and Shalmaneser, his overlord, made offerings to the gods at
+Babylon, Borsippa, and Cuthah. The Chald�ans were afterwards subdued,
+and compelled to pay annual tribute.
+
+In the following year Shalmaneser had to lead an expedition into
+northern Mesopotamia and suppress a fresh revolt in that troubled
+region. But the western allies soon gathered strength again, and in
+846 B.C. he found it necessary to return with a great army, but was
+not successful in achieving any permanent success, although he put his
+enemies to flight. The various western kingdoms, including Damascus,
+Israel, and Tyre and Sidon, remained unconquered, and continued to
+conspire against him.
+
+The resisting power of the Syrian allies, however, was being greatly
+weakened by internal revolts, which may have been stirred up by
+Assyrian emissaries. Edom threw off the yoke of Judah and became
+independent. Jehoram, who had married Athaliah, a royal princess of
+Israel, was dead. His son Ahaziah, who succeeded him, joined forces
+with his cousin and overlord, King Joram of Israel, to assist him in
+capturing Ramoth-gilead from the king of Damascus. Joram took
+possession of the city, but was wounded, and returned to Jezreel to be
+healed.[454] He was the last king of the Omri Dynasty of Israel. The
+prophet Elisha sent a messenger to Jehu, a military leader, who was at
+Ramoth-gilead, with a box of oil and the ominous message, "Thus saith
+the Lord, I have anointed thee king over Israel. And thou shalt smite
+the house of Ahab thy master, that I may avenge the blood of my
+servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the Lord,
+at the hand of Jezebel.... And the dogs shall eat Jezebel in the
+portion of Jezreel, and there shall be none to bury her."
+
+Jehu "conspired against Joram", and then, accompanied by an escort,
+"rode in a chariot and went to Jezreel", so that he might be the first
+to announce the revolt to the king whom he was to depose.
+
+The watchman on the tower of Jezreel saw Jehu and his company
+approaching and informed Joram, who twice sent out a messenger to
+enquire, "Is it peace?" Neither messenger returned, and the watchman
+informed the wounded monarch of Israel, "He came even unto them, and
+cometh not again; and the driving is like the driving of Jehu the son
+of Nimshi; for he driveth furiously".
+
+King Joram went out himself to meet the famous charioteer, but turned
+to flee when he discovered that he came as an enemy. Then Jehu drew
+his bow and shot Joram through the heart. Ahaziah endeavoured to
+conceal himself in Samaria, but was slain also. Jezebel was thrown
+down from a window of the royal harem and trodden under foot by the
+horsemen of Jehu; her body was devoured by dogs.[455]
+
+The Syrian king against whom Joram fought at Ramoth-gilead was Hazael.
+He had murdered Ben-hadad II as he lay on a bed of sickness by
+smothering him with a thick cloth soaked in water. Then he had himself
+proclaimed the ruler of the Aramaean State of Damascus. The prophet
+Elisha had previously wept before him, saying, "I know the evil that
+thou wilt do unto the children of Israel; their strongholds wilt thou
+set on fire, and their young men wilt thou slay with the sword, and
+wilt dash their children and rip up their women with child".[456]
+
+The time seemed ripe for Assyrian conquest. In 843 B.C. Shalmaneser
+III crossed the Euphrates into Syria for the sixteenth time. His first
+objective was Aleppo, where he was welcomed. He made offerings there
+to Hadad, the local Thor, and then suddenly marched southward. Hazael
+went out to oppose the advancing Assyrians, and came into conflict
+with them in the vicinity of Mount Hermon. "I fought with him",
+Shalmaneser recorded, "and accomplished his defeat; I slew with the
+sword 1600 of his warriors and captured 1121 chariots and 470 horses.
+He fled to save his life."
+
+Hazael took refuge within the walls of Damascus, which the Assyrians
+besieged, but failed, however, to capture. Shalmaneser's soldiers
+meanwhile wasted and burned cities without number, and carried away
+great booty. "In those days", Shalmaneser recorded, "I received
+tribute from the Tyrians and Sidonians and from Yaua (Jehu) son
+(successor) of Khumri (Omri)." The following is a translation from a
+bas relief by Professor Pinches of a passage detailing Jehu's tribute:
+
+    The tribute of Yaua, son of Khumri: silver, gold, a golden cup,
+    golden vases, golden vessels, golden buckets, lead, a staff for
+    the hand of the king (and) sceptres, I received.[457]
+
+The scholarly translator adds, "It is noteworthy that the Assyrian
+form of the name, Yaua, shows that the unpronounced aleph at the end
+was at that time sounded, so that the Hebrews must have called him
+Yahua (Jehua)".
+
+Shalmaneser did not again attack Damascus. His sphere of influence was
+therefore confined to North Syria. He found it more profitable,
+indeed, to extend his territories into Asia Minor. For several years
+he engaged himself in securing control of the north-western caravan
+road, and did not rest until he had subdued Cilicia and overrun the
+Hittite kingdoms of Tabal and Malatia.
+
+Hazael of Damascus avenged himself meanwhile on his unfaithful allies
+who had so readily acknowledged the shadowy suzerainty of Assyria. "In
+those days the Lord began to cut Israel short: and Hazael smote them
+in all the coasts of Israel; from Jordan eastward, all the land of
+Gilead, the Gadites, and the Reubenites, and the Manassites, from
+Aroer, which is by the river Arnon, even Gilead and Bashan."[458]
+Israel thus came completely under the sway of Damascus.
+
+Jehu appears to have cherished the ambition of uniting Israel and
+Judah under one crown. His revolt received the support of the orthodox
+Hebrews, and he began well by inaugurating reforms in the northern
+kingdom with purpose apparently to re-establish the worship of David's
+God. He persecuted the prophets of Baal, but soon became a backslider,
+for although he stamped out the Phoenician religion he began to
+worship "the golden calves that were in Bethel and that were in
+Dan.... He departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, which made Israel
+to sin."[459] Apparently he found it necessary to secure the support
+of the idolators of the ancient cult of the "Queen of Heaven".
+
+The crown of Judah had been seized by the Israelitish Queen mother
+Athaliah after the death of her son Ahaziah at the hands of Jehu.[460]
+She endeavoured to destroy "all the seed royal of the house of Judah".
+But another woman thwarted the completion of her monstrous design.
+This was Jehoshabeath, sister of Ahaziah and wife of the priest
+Jehoiada, who concealed the young prince Joash "and put him and his
+nurse in a bedchamber", in "the house of God". There Joash was
+strictly guarded for six years.[461]
+
+In time Jehoiada stirred up a revolt against the Baal-worshipping
+queen of Judah. Having secured the support of the captains of the
+royal guard and a portion of the army, he brought out from the temple
+the seven years old prince Joash, "the king's son, and put upon him
+the crown, and gave him the testimony, and made him king. And Jehoiada
+and his sons anointed him, and said, God save the king.
+
+"Now when Athaliah heard the noise of the people running and praising
+the king, she came to the people into the house of the Lord: and she
+looked, and, behold the king stood at his pillar at the entering in,
+and the princes and the trumpets by the king: and all the people of
+the land rejoiced, and sounded with trumpets, also the singers with
+instruments of musick, and such as taught to sing praise. Then
+Athaliah rent her clothes, and said, Treason, Treason.
+
+"Then Jehoiada the priest brought out the captains of hundreds that
+were set over the host, and said unto them, Have her forth of the
+ranges: and whoso followeth her, let him be slain by the sword. For
+the priest said, Slay her not in the house of the Lord. So they laid
+hands on her; and when she was come to the entering of the horse gate
+by the king's house, they slew her there.
+
+"And Jehoiada made a covenant between him, and between all the people,
+and between the king, that they should be the Lord's people. Then all
+the people went to the house of Baal, and brake it down, and brake his
+altars and his images in pieces, and slew Mattan the priest of Baal
+before the altars."[462]
+
+When Jehu of Israel died, he was succeeded by Jehoahaz. "The Lord was
+kindled against Israel, and he delivered them into the hand of
+Ben-hadad the son of Hazael all their days." Then Jehoahaz repented.
+He "besought the Lord, and the Lord hearkened unto him: for he saw the
+oppression of Israel, because the king of Syria oppressed them. And
+the Lord gave Israel a saviour, so that they went out from under the
+hands of the Syrians."[463] The "saviour", as will be shown, was
+Assyria. Not only Israel, but Judah, under King Joash, Edom, the
+Philistines and the Ammonites were compelled to acknowledge the
+suzerainty of Damascus.
+
+Shalmaneser III swayed an extensive and powerful empire, and kept his
+generals continually employed suppressing revolts on his frontiers.
+After he subdued the Hittites, Kati, king of Tabal, sent him his
+daughter, who was received into the royal harem. Tribes of the Medes
+came under his power: the Nairi and Urartian tribes continued battling
+with his soldiers on his northern borders like the frontier tribes of
+India against the British troops. The kingdom of Urartu was growing
+more and more powerful.
+
+In 829 B.C. the great empire was suddenly shaken to its foundations by
+the outbreak of civil war. The party of rebellion was led by
+Shalmaneser's son Ashur-danin-apli, who evidently desired to supplant
+the crown prince Shamshi-Adad. He was a popular hero and received the
+support of most of the important Assyrian cities, including Nineveh,
+Asshur, Arbela, Imgurbel, and Dur-balat, as well as some of the
+dependencies. Shalmaneser retained Kalkhi and the provinces of
+northern Mesopotamia, and it appears that the greater part of the army
+also remained loyal to him.
+
+After four years of civil war Shalmaneser died. His chosen heir,
+Shamshi-Adad VII, had to continue the struggle for the throne for two
+more years.
+
+When at length the new king had stamped out the last embers of revolt
+within the kingdom, he had to undertake the reconquest of those
+provinces which in the interval had thrown off their allegiance to
+Assyria. Urartu in the north had grown more aggressive, the Syrians
+were openly defiant, the Medes were conducting bold raids, and the
+Babylonians were plotting with the Chaldaeans, Elamites, and Aramaeans
+to oppose the new ruler. Shamshi-Adad, however, proved to be as great
+a general as his father. He subdued the Medes and the Nairi tribes,
+burned many cities and collected enormous tribute, while thousands of
+prisoners were taken and forced to serve the conqueror.
+
+Having established his power in the north, Shamshi-Adad then turned
+attention to Babylonia. On his way southward he subdued many villages.
+He fell upon the first strong force of Babylonian allies at
+Dur-papsukal in Akkad, and achieved a great victory, killing 13,000
+and taking 3000 captives. Then the Babylonian king,
+Marduk-balatsu-ikbi, advanced to meet him with his mixed force of
+Babylonians, Chaldaeans, Elamites, and Aramaeans, but was defeated in
+a fierce battle on the banks of the Daban canal. The Babylonian camp
+was captured, and the prisoners taken by the Assyrians included 5000
+footmen, 200 horsemen, and 100 chariots
+
+Shamshi-Adad conducted in all five campaigns in Babylonia and
+Chaldaea, which he completely subdued, penetrating as far as the
+shores of the Persian Gulf. In the end he took prisoner the new king,
+Bau-akh-iddina, the successor of Marduk-balatsu-ikbi, and transported
+him to Assyria, and offered up sacrifices as the overlord of the
+ancient land at Babylon, Borsippa, and Cuthah. For over half a century
+after this disaster Babylonia was a province of Assyria. During that
+period, however, the influence which it exercised over the Assyrian
+Court was so great that it contributed to the downfall of the royal
+line of the Second Empire.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+THE AGE OF SEMIRAMIS
+
+
+  Queen Sammu-rammat the original of Semiramis--"Mother-right" among
+  "Mother Worshippers"--Sammu-rammat compared to Queen Tiy--Popularity
+  of Goddess Cults--Temple Worship and Domestic Worship--Babylonian
+  Cultural Influence in Assyria--Ethical Tendency in Shamash
+  Worship--The Nebo Religious Revolt--Aton Revolt in Egypt--The Royal
+  Assyrian Library--Fish Goddess of Babylonia in Assyria--The
+  Semiramis and Shakuntala Stories--The Mock King and Queen--Dove
+  Goddesses of Assyria, Phoenicia, and Cyprus--Ishtar's Dove Form--St.
+  Valentine's Day beliefs--Sacred Doves of Cretans, Hittites, and
+  Egyptians--Pigeon Lore in Great Britain and Ireland--Deities
+  associated with various Animals--The Totemic Theory--Common Element
+  in Ancient Goddess Cults--Influence of Agricultural Beliefs--Nebo a
+  form of Ea--His Spouse Tashmit a Love Goddess and
+  Interceder--Traditions of Famous Mother Deities--Adad-nirari IV the
+  "Saviour" of Israel--Expansion of the Urartian Empire--Its Famous
+  Kings--Decline and Fall of Assyria's Middle Empire Dynasty.
+
+
+One of the most interesting figures in Mesopotamian history came into
+prominence during the Assyrian Middle Empire period. This was the
+famous Sammu-rammat, the Babylonian wife of an Assyrian ruler. Like
+Sargon of Akkad, Alexander the Great, and Dietrich von Bern, she made,
+by reason of her achievements and influence, a deep impression on the
+popular imagination, and as these monarchs became identified in
+tradition with gods of war and fertility, she had attached to her
+memory the myths associated with the mother goddess of love and battle
+who presided over the destinies of mankind. In her character as the
+legendary Semiramis of Greek literature, the Assyrian queen was
+reputed to have been the daughter of Derceto, the dove and fish
+goddess of Askalon, and to have departed from earth in bird form.
+
+It is not quite certain whether Sammu-rammat was the wife of
+Shamshi-Adad VII or of his son, Adad-nirari IV. Before the former
+monarch reduced Babylonia to the status of an Assyrian province, he
+had signed a treaty of peace with its king, and it is suggested that
+it was confirmed by a matrimonial alliance. This treaty was repudiated
+by King Bau-akh-iddina, who was transported with his palace treasures
+to Assyria.
+
+As Sammu-rammat was evidently a royal princess of Babylonia, it seems
+probable that her marriage was arranged with purpose to legitimatize
+the succession of the Assyrian overlords to the Babylonian throne. The
+principle of "mother right" was ever popular in those countries where
+the worship of the Great Mother was perpetuated if not in official at
+any rate in domestic religion. Not a few Egyptian Pharaohs reigned as
+husbands or as sons of royal ladies. Succession by the female line was
+also observed among the Hittites. When Hattusil II gave his daughter
+in marriage to Putakhi, king of the Amorites, he inserted a clause in
+the treaty of alliance "to the effect that the sovereignty over the
+Amorite should belong to the son and descendants of his daughter for
+evermore".[464]
+
+As queen or queen-mother, Sammu-rammat occupied as prominent a
+position in Assyria as did Queen Tiy of Egypt during the lifetime of
+her husband, Amenhotep III, and the early part of the reign of her
+son, Amenhotep IV (Akhenaton). The Tell-el-Amarna letters testify to
+Tiy's influence in the Egyptian "Foreign Office", and we know that at
+home she was joint ruler with her husband and took part with him in
+public ceremonials. During their reign a temple was erected to the
+mother goddess Mut, and beside it was formed a great lake on which
+sailed the "barque of Aton" in connection with mysterious religious
+ceremonials. After Akhenaton's religious revolt was inaugurated, the
+worship of Mut was discontinued and Tiy went into retirement. In
+Akhenaton's time the vulture symbol of the goddess Mut did not appear
+above the sculptured figures of royalty.
+
+What connection the god Aton had with Mut during the period of the Tiy
+regime remains obscure. There is no evidence that Aton was first
+exalted as the son of the Great Mother goddess, although this is not
+improbable.
+
+Queen Sammu-rammat of Assyria, like Tiy of Egypt, is associated with
+social and religious innovations. She was the first, and, indeed, the
+only Assyrian royal lady, to be referred to on equal terms with her
+royal husband in official inscriptions. In a dedication to the god
+Nebo, that deity is reputed to be the protector of "the life of
+Adad-nirari, king of the land of Ashur, his lord, and the life of
+Sammu-rammat, she of the palace, his lady".[465]
+
+During the reign of Adad-nirari IV the Assyrian Court radiated
+Babylonian culture and traditions. The king not only recorded his
+descent from the first Shalmaneser, but also claimed to be a
+descendant of Bel-kap-kapu, an earlier, but, to us, unknown,
+Babylonian monarch than "Sulili", i.e. Sumu-la-ilu, the
+great-great-grandfather of Hammurabi. Bel-kap-kapu was reputed to have
+been an overlord of Assyria.
+
+Apparently Adad-nirari desired to be regarded as the legitimate heir
+to the thrones of Assyria and Babylonia. His claim upon the latter
+country must have had a substantial basis. It is not too much to
+assume that he was a son of a princess of its ancient royal family.
+Sammurammat may therefore have been his mother. She could have been
+called his "wife" in the mythological sense, the king having become
+"husband of his mother". If such was the case, the royal pair probably
+posed as the high priest and high priestess of the ancient goddess
+cult--the incarnations of the Great Mother and the son who displaced
+his sire.
+
+The worship of the Great Mother was the popular religion of the
+indigenous peoples of western Asia, including parts of Asia Minor,
+Egypt, and southern and western Europe. It appears to have been
+closely associated with agricultural rites practised among
+representative communities of the Mediterranean race. In Babylonia and
+Assyria the peoples of the goddess cult fused with the peoples of the
+god cult, but the prominence maintained by Ishtar, who absorbed many
+of the old mother deities, testifies to the persistence of immemorial
+habits of thought and antique religious ceremonials among the
+descendants of the earliest settlers in the Tigro-Euphrates valley.
+Merodach's spouse Zerpanitu^m was not a shadowy deity but a goddess
+who exercised as much influence as her divine husband. As Aruru she
+took part with him in the creation of mankind. In Asia Minor the
+mother goddess was overshadowed by the father god during the period of
+Hatti predominance, but her worship was revived after the early people
+along the coast and in the agricultural valleys were freed from the
+yoke of the father-god worshippers.
+
+It must be recognized, in this connection, that an official religion
+was not always a full reflection of popular beliefs. In all the great
+civilizations of antiquity it was invariably a compromise between the
+beliefs of the military aristocracy and the masses of mingled peoples
+over whom they held sway. Temple worship had therefore a political
+aspect; it was intended, among other things, to strengthen the
+position of the ruling classes. But ancient deities could still be
+worshipped, and were worshipped, in homes and fields, in groves and on
+mountain tops, as the case might be. Jeremiah has testified to the
+persistence of the folk practices in connection with the worship of
+the mother goddess among the inhabitants of Palestine. Sacrificial
+fires were lit and cakes were baked and offered to the "Queen of
+Heaven" in the streets of Jerusalem and other cities. In Babylonia and
+Egypt domestic religious practices were never completely supplanted by
+temple ceremonies in which rulers took a prominent part. It was always
+possible, therefore, for usurpers to make popular appeal by reviving
+ancient and persistent forms of worship. As we have seen, Jehu of
+Israel, after stamping out Phoenician Baal worship, secured a strong
+following by giving official recognition to the cult of the golden
+calf.
+
+It is not possible to set forth in detail, or with intimate knowledge,
+the various innovations which Sammu-rammat introduced, or with which
+she was credited, during the reigns of Adad-nirari IV (810-782 B.C.)
+and his father. No discovery has been made of documents like the
+Tell-el-Amarna "letters", which would shed light on the social and
+political life of this interesting period. But evidence is not
+awanting that Assyria was being suffused with Babylonian culture.
+Royal inscriptions record the triumphs of the army, but suppress the
+details of barbarities such as those which sully the annals of
+Ashur-natsir-pal, who had boys and girls burned on pyres and the
+heroes of small nations flayed alive. An ethical tendency becomes
+apparent in the exaltation of the Babylonian Shamash as an abstract
+deity who loved law and order, inspired the king with wisdom and
+ordained the destinies of mankind. He is invoked on equal terms with
+Ashur.
+
+The prominence given to Nebo, the god of Borsippa, during the reign of
+Adad-nirari IV is highly significant. He appears in his later
+character as a god of culture and wisdom, the patron of scribes and
+artists, and the wise counsellor of the deities. He symbolized the
+intellectual life of the southern kingdom, which was more closely
+associated with religious ethics than that of war-loving Assyria.
+
+A great temple was erected to Nebo at Kalkhi, and four statues of him
+were placed within it, two of which are now in the British Museum. On
+one of these was cut the inscription, from which we have quoted,
+lauding the exalted and wise deity and invoking him to protect
+Adad-nirari and the lady of the palace, Sammu-rammat, and closing with
+the exhortation, "Whoso cometh in after time, let him trust in Nebo
+and trust in no other god".
+
+The priests of Ashur in the city of Asshur must have been as deeply
+stirred by this religious revolt at Kalkhi as were the priests of Amon
+when Akhenaton turned his back on Thebes and the national god to
+worship Aton in his new capital at Tell-el-Amarna.
+
+It would appear that this sudden stream of Babylonian culture had
+begun to flow into Assyria as early as the reign of Shalmaneser III,
+and it may be that it was on account of that monarch's pro-Babylonian
+tendencies that his nobles and priests revolted against him.
+Shalmaneser established at Kalkhi a royal library which was stocked
+with the literature of the southern kingdom. During the reign of
+Adad-nirari IV this collection was greatly increased, and subsequent
+additions were made to it by his successors, and especially
+Ashur-nirari IV, the last monarch of the Middle Empire. The
+inscriptions of Shamshi-Adad, son of Shalmaneser III, have literary
+qualities which distinguish them from those of his predecessors, and
+may be accounted for by the influence exercised by Babylonian scholars
+who migrated northward.
+
+To the reign of Adad-nirari belongs also that important compilation
+the "Synchronistic History of Assyria and Babylonia", which deals with
+the relations of the two kingdoms and refers to contemporary events
+and rulers.
+
+The legends of Semiramis indicate that Sammu-rammat was associated
+like Queen Tiy with the revival of mother worship. As we have said,
+she went down to tradition as the daughter of the fish goddess,
+Derceto. Pliny identified that deity with Atargatis of
+Hierapolis.[466]
+
+In Babylonia the fish goddess was Nina, a developed form of Damkina,
+spouse of Ea of Eridu. In the inscription on the Nebo statue, that god
+is referred to as the "son of Nudimmud" (Ea). Nina was the goddess who
+gave her name to Nineveh, and it is possible that Nebo may have been
+regarded as her son during the Semiramis period.
+
+The story of Semiramis's birth is evidently of great antiquity. It
+seems to survive throughout Europe in the nursery tale of the "Babes
+in the Wood". A striking Indian parallel is afforded by the legend of
+Shakuntala, which may be first referred to for the purpose of
+comparative study. Shakuntala was the daughter of the rishi,
+Viswamitra, and Menaka, the Apsara (celestial fairy). Menaka gave
+birth to her child beside the sacred river Malini. "And she cast the
+new-born infant on the bank of that river and went away. And beholding
+the newborn infant lying in that forest destitute of human beings but
+abounding with lions and tigers, a number of vultures sat around to
+protect it from harm." A sage discovered the child and adopted her.
+"Because", he said, "she was surrounded by _Shakuntas_ (birds),
+therefore hath she been named by me _Shakuntala_ (bird
+protected)."[467]
+
+Semiramis was similarly deserted at birth by her Celestial mother. She
+was protected by doves, and her Assyrian name, Sammu-rammat, is
+believed to be derived from "Summat"--"dove", and to signify "the dove
+goddess loveth her". Simmas, the chief of royal shepherds, found the
+child and adopted her. She was of great beauty like Shakuntala, the
+maiden of "perfect symmetry", "sweet smiles", and "faultless
+features", with whom King Dushyanta fell in love and married in
+Gandharva fashion.[468]
+
+Semiramis became the wife of Onnes, governor of Nineveh, and one of
+the generals of its alleged founder, King Ninus. She accompanied her
+husband to Bactria on a military campaign, and is said to have
+instructed the king how that city should be taken. Ninus fell in love
+with Semiramis, and Onnes, who refused to give her up, went and hanged
+himself. The fair courtesan then became the wife of the king.
+
+The story proceeds that Semiramis exercised so great an influence over
+the impressionable King Ninus, that she persuaded him to proclaim her
+Queen of Assyria for five days. She then ascended the throne decked in
+royal robes. On the first day she gave a great banquet, and on the
+second thrust Ninus into prison, or had him put to death. In this
+manner she secured the empire for herself. She reigned for over forty
+years.
+
+Professor Frazer inclines to the view that the legend is a
+reminiscence of the custom of appointing a mock king and queen to whom
+the kingdom was yielded up for five days. Semiramis played the part of
+the mother goddess, and the priestly king died a violent death in the
+character of her divine lover. "The mounds of Semiramis which were
+pointed out all over Western Asia were said to have been the graves of
+her lovers whom she buried alive.... This tradition is one of the
+surest indications of the identity of the mythical Semiramis with the
+Babylonian goddess Ishtar or Astarte."[469] As we have seen, Ishtar
+and other mother goddesses had many lovers whom they deserted like La
+Belle Dame sans Merci (pp. 174-175).
+
+As Queen of Assyria, Semiramis was said to have cut roads through
+mountainous districts and erected many buildings. According to one
+version of the legend she founded the city of Babylon. Herodotus,
+however, says in this connection: "Semiramis held the throne for five
+generations before the later princess (Nitocris).... She raised
+certain embankments, well worthy of inspection, in the plain near
+Babylon, to control the river (Euphrates), which, till then, used to
+overflow and flood the whole country round about."[470] Lucian, who
+associates the famous queen with "mighty works in Asia", states that
+she was reputed by some to be the builder of the ancient temple of
+Aphrodite in the Libanus, although others credited it to Cinyras, or
+Deukalion.[471] Several Median places bear her name, and according to
+ancient Armenian tradition she was the founder of Van, which was
+formerly called "Shamiramagerd". Strabo tells that unidentified
+mountains in Western Asia were named after Semiramis.[472] Indeed,
+many of the great works in the Tigro-Euphrates valley, not excepting
+the famous inscription of Darius, were credited to the legendary queen
+of Babylonia and Assyria.[473] She was the rival in tradition of the
+famous Sesostris of Egypt as a ruler, builder, and conqueror.
+
+All the military expeditions of Semiramis were attended with success,
+except her invasion of India. She was supposed to have been defeated
+in the Punjab. After suffering this disaster she died, or abdicated
+the throne in favour of her son Ninyas. The most archaic form of the
+legend appears to be that she was turned into a dove and took flight
+to heaven in that form. After her death she was worshipped as a dove
+goddess like "Our Lady of Trees and Doves" in Cyprus, whose shrine at
+old Paphos was founded, Herodotus says, by Phoenician colonists from
+Askalon.[474] Fish and doves were sacred to Derceto (Attar),[475] who
+had a mermaid form. "I have beheld", says Lucian, "the image of
+Derceto in Phoenicia. A marvellous spectacle it is. One half is a
+woman, but the part which extends from thighs to feet terminates with
+the tail of a fish."[476]
+
+Derceto was supposed to have been a woman who threw herself in despair
+into a lake. After death she was adored as a goddess and her
+worshippers abstained from eating fish, except sacrificially. A golden
+image of a fish was suspended in her temple. Atargatis, who was
+identical with Derceto, was reputed in another form of the legend to
+have been born of an egg which the sacred fishes found in the
+Euphrates and thrust ashore (p. 28). The Greek Aphrodite was born of
+the froth of the sea and floated in a sea-shell. According to Hesiod,
+
+          The wafting waves
+    First bore her to Cythera the divine:
+    To wave-encircled Cyprus came she then,
+    And forth emerged, a goddess, in the charms
+    Of awful beauty. Where her delicate feet
+    Had pressed the sands, green herbage flowering sprang.
+    Her Aphrodite gods and mortals name,
+    The foam-born goddess; and her name is known
+    As Cytherea with the blooming wreath,
+    For that she touched Cythera's flowery coast;
+    And Cypris, for that on the Cyprian shore
+    She rose, amid the multitude of waves. _Elton's translation_.
+
+The animals sacred to Aphrodite included the sparrow, the dove, the
+swan, the swallow, and the wryneck.[477] She presided over the month
+of April, and the myrtle, rose, poppy, and apple were sacred to her.
+
+Some writers connect Semiramis, in her character as a dove goddess,
+with Media and the old Persian mother goddess Anaitis, and regard as
+arbitrary her identification with the fish goddess Derceto or
+Atargatis. The dove was certainly not a popular bird in the religious
+art of Babylonia and Assyria, but in one of the hymns translated by
+Professor Pinches Ishtar says, "Like a lonely dove I rest". In another
+the worshipper tries to touch Ishtar's heart by crying, "Like the dove
+I moan". A Sumerian psalmist makes a goddess (Gula, who presided over
+Larak, a part of Isin) lament over the city after it was captured by
+the enemy:
+
+    My temple E-aste, temple of Larak,
+    Larak the city which Bel Enlil gave,
+    Beneath are turned to strangeness, above are turned to
+        strangeness,
+    With wailings on the lyre my dwelling-place is surrendered to the
+        stranger,
+    _The dove cots they wickedly seized, the doves they entrapped_....
+    The ravens he (Enlil) caused to fly.[478]
+
+Apparently there were temple and household doves in Babylonia. The
+Egyptians had their household dovecots in ancient as in modern times.
+Lane makes reference to the large pigeon houses in many villages. They
+are of archaic pattern, "with the walls slightly inclining inwards
+(like many of the ancient Egyptian buildings)", and are "constructed
+upon the roofs of the huts with crude brick, pottery, and mud.... Each
+pair of pigeons occupies a separate (earthen) pot."[479] It may be
+that the dove bulked more prominently in domestic than in official
+religion, and had a special seasonal significance. Ishtar appears to
+have had a dove form. In the Gilgamesh epic she is said to have loved
+the "brilliant Allalu bird" (the "bright-coloured wood pigeon",
+according to Sayce), and to have afterwards wounded it by breaking its
+wings.[480] She also loved the lion and the horse, and must therefore
+have assumed the forms of these animals. The goddess Bau, "she whose
+city is destroyed", laments in a Sumerian psalm:
+
+    Like a dove to its dwelling-place, how long to my dwelling-place
+        will they pursue me,
+    To my sanctuary ... the sacred place they pursue me....
+    My resting place, the brick walls of my city Isin, thou art
+        destroyed;
+    My sanctuary, shrine of my temple Galmah, thou art destroyed.
+
+            _Langdon's translation._
+
+Here the goddess appears to be identified with the doves which rest on
+the walls and make their nests in the shrine. The Sumerian poets did
+not adorn their poems with meaningless picturesque imagery; their
+images were stern facts; they had a magical or religious significance
+like the imagery of magical incantations; the worshipper invoked the
+deity by naming his or her various attributes, forms, &c.
+
+Of special interest are the references in Sumerian psalms to the
+ravens as well as the doves of goddesses. Throughout Asia and Europe
+ravens are birds of ill omen. In Scotland there still linger curious
+folk beliefs regarding the appearance of ravens and doves after death.
+Michael Scott, the great magician, when on his deathbed told his
+friends to place his body on a hillock. "Three ravens and three doves
+would be seen flying towards it. If the ravens were first the body was
+to be burned, but if the doves were first it was to receive Christian
+burial. The ravens were foremost, but in their hurry flew beyond their
+mark. So the devil, who had long been preparing a bed for Michael, was
+disappointed."[481]
+
+In Indian mythology Purusha, the chaos giant, first divided himself.
+"Hence were husband and wife produced." This couple then assumed
+various animal forms and thus "created every living pair whatsoever
+down to the ants".[482] Goddesses and fairies in the folk tales of
+many countries sometimes assume bird forms. The "Fates" appear to
+Damayanti in the Nala story as swans which carry love messages.[483]
+
+According to Aryo-Indian belief, birds were "blessed with fecundity".
+The Babylonian Etana eagle and the Egyptian vulture, as has been
+indicated, were deities of fertility. Throughout Europe birds, which
+were "Fates", mated, according to popular belief, on St. Valentine's
+Day in February, when lots were drawn for wives by rural folks.
+Another form of the old custom is referred to by the poet Gay:--
+
+    Last Valentine, the day when birds of kind
+    Their paramours with mutual chirpings find,
+    I early rose....
+    Thee first I spied, and the first swain we see,
+    In spite of fortune, shall our true love be.
+
+The dove appears to have been a sacred bird in various areas occupied
+by tribes of the Mediterranean race. Models of a shrine found in two
+royal graves at Mycenae are surmounted by a pair of doves, suggesting
+twin goddesses like Isis and Nepthys of Egypt and Ishtar and
+Belitsheri of Babylonia. Doves and snakes were associated with the
+mother goddess of Crete, "typifying", according to one view, "her
+connection with air and earth. Although her character was distinctly
+beneficent and pacific, yet as Lady of the Wild Creatures she had a
+more fearful aspect, one that was often depicted on carved gems, where
+lions are her companions."[484] Discussing the attributes and symbols
+of this mother goddess, Professor Burrows says: "As the serpent,
+coming from the crevices of the earth, shows the possession of the
+tree or pillar from the underworld, so the dove, with which this
+goddess is also associated, shows its possession from the world of the
+sky".[485] Professor Robertson Smith has demonstrated that the dove
+was of great sanctity among the Semites.[486] It figures in Hittite
+sculptures and was probably connected with the goddess cult in Asia
+Minor. Although Egypt had no dove goddess, the bird was addressed by
+lovers--
+
+    I hear thy voice, O turtle dove--
+      The dawn is all aglow--
+    Weary am I with love, with love,
+      Oh, whither shall I go?[487]
+
+Pigeons, as indicated, are in Egypt still regarded as sacred birds,
+and a few years ago British soldiers created a riot by shooting them.
+Doves were connected with the ancient Greek oracle at Dodona. In many
+countries the dove is closely associated with love, and also
+symbolizes innocence, gentleness, and holiness.
+
+The pigeon was anciently, it would appear, a sacred bird in these
+islands, and Brand has recorded curious folk beliefs connected with
+it. In some districts the idea prevailed that no person could die on a
+bed which contained pigeon feathers: "If anybody be sick and lye a
+dying, if they lye upon pigeon feathers they will be languishing and
+never die, but be in pain and torment," wrote a correspondent. A
+similar superstition about the feathers of different varieties of wild
+fowl[488] obtained in other districts. Brand traced this interesting
+traditional belief in Yorkshire, Lancashire, Derbyshire, and some of
+the Welsh and Irish counties.[489] It still lingers in parts of the
+Scottish Highlands. In the old ballad of "The Bloody Gardener" the
+white dove appears to a young man as the soul of his lady love who was
+murdered by his mother. He first saw the bird perched on his breast
+and then "sitting on a myrtle tree".[490]
+
+The dove was not only a symbol of Semiramis, but also of her mother
+Derceto, the Phoenician fish goddess. The connection between bird and
+fish may have been given an astral significance. In "Poor Robin's
+Almanack" for 1757 a St. Valentine rhyme begins:--
+
+    This month bright Phoebus enters Pisces,
+    The maids will have good store of kisses,
+    For always when the sun comes there,
+    Valentine's day is drawing near,
+    And both the men and maids incline
+    To choose them each a Valentine.
+
+As we have seen, the example was set by the mating birds. The
+"Almanack" poet no doubt versified an old astrological belief: when
+the spring sun entered the sign of the Fishes, the love goddess in
+bird form returned to earth.
+
+Advocates of the Totemic theory, on the other hand, may hold that the
+association of doves with snake goddesses and fish goddesses of
+fertility was due to the fusion of tribes who had various animal
+totems. "The Pelew Islanders believed", says Professor Frazer, "that
+the souls of their forefathers lived in certain species of animals,
+which accordingly they held sacred and would not injure. For this
+reason one man would not kill snakes, another would not harm pigeons,
+and so on; but everyone was quite ready to kill and eat the sacred
+animals of his neighbours."[491] That the Egyptians had similar
+customs is suggested by what Herodotus tells us regarding their sacred
+animals: "Those who live near Thebes and the lake Moeris hold the
+crocodile in religious veneration.... Those who live in or near
+Elephantine, so far from considering these beasts as sacred, make them
+an article of food.... The hippopotamus is esteemed sacred in the
+district of Papremis, but in no other part of Egypt.... They roast and
+boil ... birds and fishes ... excepting those which are preserved for
+sacred purposes."[492] Totemic animals controlled the destinies of
+tribes and families. "Grose tells us", says Brand, "that, besides
+general notices of death, many families have particular warnings or
+notices: some by the appearance of a bird, and others by the figure of
+a tall woman, dressed all in white.... Pennant says that many of the
+great families in Scotland had their demon or genius, who gave them
+monitions of future events."[493] Members of tribes which venerated
+the pigeon therefore invoked it like the Egyptian love poet and drew
+omens from its notes, or saw one appearing as the soul of the dead
+like the lover in the ballad of "The Bloody Gardener". They refrained
+also from killing the pigeon except sacrificially, and suffered
+agonies on a deathbed which contained pigeon feathers, the "taboo"
+having been broken.
+
+Some such explanation is necessary to account for the specialization
+of certain goddesses as fish, snake, cat, or bird deities. Aphrodite,
+who like Ishtar absorbed the attributes of several goddesses of
+fertility and fate, had attached to her the various animal symbols
+which were prominent in districts or among tribes brought into close
+contact, while the poppy, rose, myrtle, &c., which were used as love
+charms, or for making love potions, were also consecrated to her.
+Anthropomorphic deities were decorated with the symbols and flowers of
+folk religion.
+
+From the comparative evidence accumulated here, it will be seen that
+the theory of the mythical Semiramis's Median or Persian origin is
+somewhat narrow. It is possible that the dove was venerated in Cyprus,
+as it certainly was in Crete, long centuries before Assyrian and
+Babylonian influence filtered westward through Phoenician and Hittite
+channels. In another connection Sir Arthur Evans shows that the
+resemblance between Cretan and early Semitic beliefs "points rather to
+some remote common element, the nature of which is at present obscure,
+than to any definite borrowing by one side or another".[494]
+
+From the evidence afforded by the Semiramis legends and the
+inscriptions of the latter half of the Assyrian Middle Empire period,
+it may be inferred that a renascence of "mother worship" was favoured
+by the social and political changes which were taking place. In the
+first place the influence of Babylon must have been strongly felt in
+this connection. The fact that Adadnirari found it necessary to win
+the support of the Babylonians by proclaiming his descent from one of
+their ancient royal families, suggests that he was not only concerned
+about the attitude assumed by the scholars of the southern kingdom,
+but also that of the masses of old Sumerian and Akkadian stocks who
+continued to bake cakes to the Queen of Heaven so as to ensure good
+harvests. In the second place it is not improbable that even in
+Assyria the introduction of Nebo and his spouse made widespread
+appeal. That country had become largely peopled by an alien
+population; many of these aliens came from districts where "mother
+worship" prevailed, and had no traditional respect for Ashur, while
+they regarded with hostility the military aristocracy who conquered
+and ruled in the name of that dreaded deity. Perhaps, too, the
+influence of the Aramaeans, who in Babylonia wrecked the temples of
+the sun god, tended to revive the ancient religion of the
+Mediterranean race. Jehu's religious revolt in Israel, which
+established once again the cult of Ashtoreth, occurred after he came
+under the sway of Damascus, and may have not been unconnected with the
+political ascendancy elsewhere of the goddess cult.
+
+Nebo, whom Adad-nirari exalted at Kalkhi, was more than a local god of
+Borsippa. "The most satisfactory view", says Jastrow, "is to regard
+him as a counterpart of Ea. Like Ea, he is the embodiment and source
+of wisdom.... The study of the heavens formed part of the wisdom which
+is traced back to Nebo, and the temple school at Borsippa became one
+of the chief centres for the astrological, and, subsequently, for the
+astronomical lore of Babylonia.... Like Nebo, Ea is also associated
+with the irrigation of the fields and with their consequent fertility.
+A hymn praises him as the one who fills the canals and the dikes, who
+protects the fields and brings the crops to maturity." Nebo links with
+Merodach (Marduk), who is sometimes referred to as his father. Jastrow
+assumes that the close partnership between Nebo and Merodach "had as a
+consequence a transfer of some of the father Marduk's attributes as a
+solar deity to Nebo,[495] his son, just as Ea passed his traits on to
+his son, Marduk".[496]
+
+As the "recorder" or "scribe" among the gods, Nebo resembles the
+Egyptian god Thoth, who links with Khonsu, the lunar and spring sun
+god of love and fertility, and with Osiris. In Borsippa he had, like
+Merodach in Babylon, pronounced Tammuz traits. Nebo, in fact, appears
+to be the Tammuz of the new age, the son of the ancient goddess, who
+became "Husband of his Mother". If Nebo had no connection with Great
+Mother worship, it is unlikely that his statue would have borne an
+inscription referring to King Adad-nirari and Queen Sammu-rammat on
+equal terms. The Assyrian spouse of Nebo was called Tashmit. This
+"goddess of supplication and love" had a lunar significance. A prayer
+addressed to her in association with Nannar (Sin) and Ishtar,
+proceeds:
+
+    In the evil of the eclipse of the moon which ... has taken place,
+    In the evil of the powers, of the portents, evil and not good,
+        which are in my palace and my land,
+    (I) have turned towards thee!...
+    Before Nabu (Nebo) thy spouse, thy lord, the prince, the
+        first-born of E-sagila, intercede for me!
+    May he hearken to my cry at the word of thy mouth; may he remove
+        my sighing, may he learn my supplication!
+
+Damkina is similarly addressed in another prayer:
+
+    O Damkina, mighty queen of all the gods,
+    O wife of Ea, valiant art thou,
+    O Ir-nina, mighty queen of all the gods ...
+    Thou that dwellest in the Abyss, O lady of heaven and earth!...
+    In the evil of the eclipse of the moon, etc.
+
+Bau is also prayed in a similar connection as "mighty lady that
+dwellest in the bright heavens", i.e. "Queen of heaven".[497]
+
+Tashmit, whose name signifies "Obedience", according to Jastrow, or
+"Hearing", according to Sayce, carried the prayers of worshippers to
+Nebo, her spouse. As Isis interceded with Osiris, she interceded with
+Nebo, on behalf of mankind. But this did not signify that she was the
+least influential of the divine pair. A goddess played many parts: she
+was at once mother, daughter, and wife of the god; the servant of one
+god or the "mighty queen of all the gods". The Great Mother was, as
+has been indicated, regarded as the eternal and undecaying one; the
+gods passed away, son succeeding father; she alone remained. Thus,
+too, did Semiramis survive in the popular memory, as the queen-goddess
+of widespread legends, after kings and gods had been forgotten. To her
+was ascribed all the mighty works of other days in the lands where the
+indigenous peoples first worshipped the Great Mother as Damkina, Nina,
+Bau, Ishtar, or Tashmit, because the goddess was anciently believed to
+be the First Cause, the creatrix, the mighty one who invested the
+ruling god with the powers he possessed--the god who held sway because
+he was her husband, as did Nergal as the husband of Eresh-ki-gal,
+queen of Hades.
+
+The multiplication of well-defined goddesses was partly due to the
+tendency to symbolize the attributes of the Great Mother, and partly
+due to the development of the great "Lady" in a particular district
+where she reflected local phenomena and where the political influence
+achieved by her worshippers emphasized her greatness. Legends
+regarding a famous goddess were in time attached to other goddesses,
+and in Aphrodite and Derceto we appear to have mother deities who
+absorbed the traditions of more than one local "lady" of river and
+plain, forest and mountain. Semiramis, on the other hand, survived as
+a link between the old world and the new, between the country from
+which emanated the stream of ancient culture and the regions which
+received it. As the high priestess of the cult, she became identified
+with the goddess whose bird name she bore, as Gilgamesh and Etana
+became identified with the primitive culture-hero or patriarch of the
+ancient Sumerians, and Sargon became identified with Tammuz. No doubt
+the fame of Semiramis was specially emphasized because of her close
+association, as Queen Sammu-rammat, with the religious innovations
+which disturbed the land of the god Ashur during the Middle Empire
+period.
+
+Adad-nirari IV, the son or husband of Sammu-rammat, was a vigorous and
+successful campaigner. He was the Assyrian king who became the
+"saviour" of Israel. Although it is not possible to give a detailed
+account of his various expeditions, we find from the list of these
+which survives in the Eponym Chronicle that he included in the
+Assyrian Empire a larger extent of territory than any of his
+predecessors. In the north-east he overcame the Median and other
+tribes, and acquired a large portion of the Iranian plateau; he
+compelled Edom to pay tribute, and established his hold in Babylonia
+by restricting the power of the Chaldaeans in Sealand. In the north he
+swayed--at least, so he claimed--the wide domains of the Nairi people.
+He also confirmed his supremacy over the Hittites.
+
+The Aramaean state of Damascus, which had withstood the attack of the
+great Shalmaneser and afterwards oppressed, as we have seen, the
+kingdoms of Israel and Judah, was completely overpowered by
+Adad-nirari. The old king, Hazael, died when Assyria's power was being
+strengthened and increased along his frontiers. He was succeeded by
+his son Mari, who is believed to be identical with the Biblical
+Ben-Hadad III.[498]
+
+Shortly after this new monarch came to the throne, Adad-nirari IV led
+a great army against him. The Syrian ruler appears to have been taken
+by surprise; probably his kingdom was suffering from the three defeats
+which had been previously administered by the revolting
+Israelites.[499] At any rate Mari was unable to gather together an
+army of allies to resist the Assyrian advance, and took refuge behind
+the walls of Damascus. This strongly fortified city was closely
+invested, and Mari had at length to submit and acknowledge Adad-nirari
+as his overlord. The price of peace included 23,000 talents of silver,
+20 of gold, 3000 of copper, and 5000 of iron, as well as ivory
+ornaments and furniture, embroidered materials, and other goods "to a
+countless amount". Thus "the Lord gave Israel a saviour, so that they
+went out from under the hand of the Syrians: and the children of
+Israel dwelt in their tents, as beforetime". This significant
+reference to the conquest of Damascus by the Assyrian king is followed
+by another which throws light on the religious phenomena of the
+period: "Nevertheless they departed not from the sins of the house of
+Jeroboam, who made Israel sin, but walked therein: and there remained
+the grove also in Samaria".[500] Ashtoreth and her golden calf
+continued to be venerated, and doves were sacrificed to the local
+Adonis.
+
+It is not certain whether Adad-nirari penetrated farther than
+Damascus. Possibly all the states which owed allegiance to the king of
+that city became at once the willing vassals of Assyria, their
+protector. The tribute received by Adad-nirari from Tyre, Sidon, the
+land of Omri (Israel), Edom, and Palastu (Philistia) may have been
+gifted as a formal acknowledgment of his suzerainty and with purpose
+to bring them directly under Assyrian control, so that Damascus might
+be prevented from taking vengeance against them.
+
+Meagre details survive regarding the reign of the next king,
+Shalmaneser IV (781-772 B.C). These are, however, supplemented by the
+Urartian inscriptions. Although Adad-nirari boasted that he had
+subdued the kingdom of Urartu in the north, he appears to have done no
+more than limit its southern expansion for a time.
+
+The Urarti were, like the Mitanni, a military aristocracy[501] who
+welded together by conquest the tribes of the eastern and northern
+Highlands which several Assyrian monarchs included in their Empire.
+They acquired the elements of Assyrian culture, and used the Assyrian
+script for their own language. Their god was named Khaldis, and they
+called their nation Khaldia. During the reign of Ashur-natsir-pal
+their area of control was confined to the banks of the river Araxes,
+but it was gradually extended under a succession of vigorous kings
+towards the south-west until they became supreme round the shores of
+Lake Van. Three of their early kings were Lutipris, Sharduris I, and
+Arame.
+
+During the reign of Shamshi-Adad the Assyrians came into conflict with
+the Urarti, who were governed at the time by "Ushpina of Nairi"
+(Ishpuinis, son of Sharduris II). The Urartian kingdom had extended
+rapidly and bordered on Assyrian territory. To the west were the
+tribes known as the Mannai, the northern enemies of the Medes, a
+people of Indo-European speech.
+
+When Adad-nirari IV waged war against the Urarti, their king was
+Menuas, the son of Ishpuinis. Menuas was a great war-lord, and was
+able to measure his strength against Assyria on equal terms. He had
+nearly doubled by conquest the area controlled by his predecessors.
+Adad-nirari endeavoured to drive his rival northward, but all along
+the Assyrian frontier from the Euphrates to the Lower Zab, Menuas
+forced the outposts of Adad-nirari to retreat southward. The
+Assyrians, in short, were unable to hold their own.
+
+Having extended his kingdom towards the south, Menuas invaded Hittite
+territory, subdued Malatia and compelled its king to pay tribute. He
+also conquered the Mannai and other tribes. Towards the north and
+north-west he added a considerable area to his kingdom, which became
+as large as Assyria.
+
+Menuas's capital was the city of Turushpa or Dhuspas (Van), which was
+called Khaldinas[502] after the national god. For a century it was the
+seat of Urartian administration. The buildings erected there by Menuas
+and his successors became associated in after-time with the traditions
+of Semiramis, who, as Queen Sammu-rammat of Assyria, was a
+contemporary of the great Urartian conqueror. Similarly a sculptured
+representation of the Hittite god was referred to by Herodotus as a
+memorial of the Egyptian king Sesostris.
+
+The strongest fortification at Dhuspas was the citadel, which was
+erected on a rocky promontory jutting into Lake Van. A small garrison
+could there resist a prolonged siege. The water supply of the city was
+assured by the construction of subterranean aqueducts. Menuas erected
+a magnificent palace, which rivalled that of the Assyrian monarch at
+Kalkhi, and furnished it with the rich booty brought back from
+victorious campaigns. He was a lover of trees and planted many, and he
+laid out gardens which bloomed with brilliant Asian flowers. The
+palace commanded a noble prospect of hill and valley scenery on the
+south-western shore of beautiful Lake Van.
+
+Menuas was succeeded by his son Argistis, who ascended the throne
+during the lifetime of Adad-nirari of Assyria. During the early part
+of his reign he conducted military expeditions to the north beyond the
+river Araxes. He afterwards came into conflict with Assyria, and
+acquired more territory on its northern frontier. He also subdued the
+Mannai, who had risen in revolt.
+
+For three years (781-778 B.C.) the general of Shalmaneser IV waged war
+constantly with Urartu, and again in 776 B.C. and 774 B.C. attempts
+were made to prevent the southern expansion of that Power. On more
+than one occasion the Assyrians were defeated and compelled to
+retreat.
+
+Assyria suffered serious loss of prestige on account of its inability
+to hold in check its northern rival. Damascus rose in revolt and had
+to be subdued, and northern Syria was greatly disturbed. Hadrach was
+visited in the last year of the king's reign.
+
+Ashur-dan III (771-763 B.C.) occupied the Assyrian throne during a
+period of great unrest. He was unable to attack Urartu. His army had
+to operate instead on his eastern and southern frontiers. A great
+plague broke out in 765 B.C., the year in which Hadrach had again to
+be dealt with. On June 15, 763 B.C., there was a total eclipse of the
+sun, and that dread event was followed by a revolt at Asshur which was
+no doubt of priestly origin. The king's son Adad-nirari was involved
+in it, but it is not certain whether or not he displaced his father
+for a time. In 758 B.C. Ashur-dan again showed signs of activity by
+endeavouring to suppress the revolts which during the period of civil
+war had broken out in Syria.
+
+Adad-nirari V came to the throne in 763 B.C. He had to deal with
+revolts in Asshur in other cities. Indeed for the greater part of his
+reign he seems to have been kept fully engaged endeavouring to
+establish his authority within the Assyrian borders. The Syrian
+provinces regained their independence.
+
+During the first four years of his successor Ashurnirari IV (753-746
+B.C.) the army never left Assyria. Namri was visited in 749-748 B.C.,
+but it is not certain whether he fought against the Urartians, or the
+Aramaeans who had become active during this period of Assyrian
+decline. In 746 B.C. a revolt broke out in the city of Kalkhi and the
+king had to leave it. Soon afterwards he died--perhaps he was
+assassinated--and none of his sons came to the throne. A year
+previously Nabu-natsir, known to the Greeks as Nabonassar, was crowned
+king of Babylonia.
+
+Ashur-nirari IV appears to have been a monarch of somewhat like
+character to the famous Akhenaton of Egypt--an idealist for whom war
+had no attractions. He kept his army at home while his foreign
+possessions rose in revolt one after another. Apparently he had dreams
+of guarding Assyria against attack by means of treaties of peace. He
+arranged one with a Mesopotamian king, Mati-ilu of Agusi, who pledged
+himself not to go to war without the consent of his Assyrian overlord,
+and it is possible that there were other documents of like character
+which have not survived to us. During his leisure hours the king
+engaged himself in studious pursuits and made additions to the royal
+library. In the end his disappointed soldiers found a worthy leader in
+one of its generals who seized the throne and assumed the royal name
+of Tiglath-pileser.
+
+Ashur-nirari IV was the last king of the Middle Empire of Assyria. He
+may have been a man of high character and refinement and worthy of our
+esteem, although an unsuitable ruler for a predatory State.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+ASSYRIA'S AGE OF SPLENDOUR
+
+
+  Tiglath-pileser IV, the Biblical Pul--Babylonian Campaign--Urartian
+  Ambitions in North Syria--Battle of Two Kings and Flight of
+  Sharduris--Conquest of Syro-Cappadocian States--Hebrew History from
+  Jehu to Menahem--Israel subject to Assyria--Urartu's Power
+  broken--Ahaz's Appeal to Assyria--Damascus and Israel
+  subdued--Babylonia united to Assyria--Shalmaneser and Hoshea--Sargon
+  deports the "Lost Ten Tribes"--Merodach Baladan King of
+  Babylonia--Egyptian Army of Allies routed--Ahaz and Isaiah--Frontier
+  Campaigns--Merodach Baladan overthrown--Sennacherib and the Hittite
+  States--Merodach Baladan's second and brief Reign--Hezekiah and
+  Sennacherib--Destruction of Assyrian Army--Sack of Babylon--
+  Esarhaddon--A Second Semiramis--Raids of Elamites, Cimmerians,
+  Scythians, and Medes--Sack of Sidon--Manasseh and Isaiah's
+  Fate--Esarhaddon conquers Lower Egypt--Revolt of Assyrian
+  Nobles--Ashurbanipal.
+
+
+We now enter upon the last and most brilliant phase of Assyrian
+civilization--the period of the Third or New Empire during which
+flourished Tiglath-pileser IV, the mighty conqueror; the Shalmaneser
+of the Bible; "Sargon the Later", who transported the "lost ten
+tribes" of Israel; Sennacherib, the destroyer of Babylon, and
+Esarhaddon, who made Lower Egypt an Assyrian province. We also meet
+with notable figures of Biblical fame, including Ahaz, Hezekiah,
+Isaiah, and the idolatrous Manasseh.
+
+Tiglath-pileser IV, who deposed Ashur-nirari IV, was known to the
+Babylonians as Pulu, which, some think, was a term of contempt
+signifying "wild animal". In the Bible he is referred to as Pul,
+Tiglath-pilneser, and Tiglath-pileser.[503] He came to the Assyrian
+throne towards the end of April in 745 B.C. and reigned until 727 B.C.
+We know nothing regarding his origin, but it seems clear that he was
+not of royal descent. He appears to have been a popular leader of the
+revolt against Ashur-nirari, who, like certain of his predecessors,
+had pronounced pro-Babylonian tendencies. It is significant to note in
+this connection that the new king was an unswerving adherent of the
+cult of Ashur, by the adherents of which he was probably strongly
+supported.
+
+Tiglath-pileser combined in equal measure those qualities of
+generalship and statesmanship which were necessary for the
+reorganization of the Assyrian state and the revival of its military
+prestige. At the beginning of his reign there was much social
+discontent and suffering. The national exchequer had been exhausted by
+the loss of tribute from revolting provinces, trade was paralysed, and
+the industries were in a languishing condition. Plundering bands of
+Aramaeans were menacing the western frontiers and had overrun part of
+northern Babylonia. New political confederacies in Syria kept the
+north-west regions in a constant state of unrest, and the now powerful
+Urartian kingdom was threatening the Syro-Cappadocian states as if its
+rulers had dreams of building up a great world empire on the ruins of
+that of Assyria.
+
+Tiglath-pileser first paid attention to Babylonia, and extinguished
+the resistance of the Aramaeans in Akkad. He appears to have been
+welcomed by Nabonassar, who became his vassal, and he offered
+sacrifices in the cities of Babylon, Sippar, Cuthah, and Nippur.
+Sippar had been occupied by Aramaeans, as on a previous occasion when
+they destroyed the temple of the sun god Shamash which was restored by
+Nabu-aplu-iddina of Babylon.
+
+Tiglath-pileser did not overrun Chaldaea, but he destroyed its
+capital, Sarrabanu, and impaled King Nabu-ushabshi. He proclaimed
+himself "King of Sumer and Akkad" and "King of the Four Quarters". The
+frontier states of Elam and Media were visited and subdued.
+
+Having disposed of the Aramaeans and other raiders, the Assyrian
+monarch had next to deal with his most powerful rival, Urartu.
+Argistis I had been succeeded by Sharduris III, who had formed an
+alliance with the north Mesopotamian king, Mati-ilu of Agusi, on whom
+Ashur-nirari had reposed his faith. Ere long Sharduris pressed
+southward from Malatia and compelled the north Syrian Hittite states,
+including Carchemish, to acknowledge his suzerainty. A struggle then
+ensued between Urartu and Assyria for the possession of the
+Syro-Cappadocian states.
+
+At this time the reputation of Tiglath-pileser hung in the balance. If
+he failed in his attack on Urartu, his prestige would vanish at home
+and abroad and Sharduris might, after establishing himself in northern
+Syria, invade Assyria and compel its allegiance.
+
+Two courses lay before Tiglath-pileser. He could either cross the
+mountains and invade Urartu, or strike at his rival in north Syria,
+where the influence of Assyria had been completely extinguished. The
+latter appeared to him to be the most feasible and judicious
+procedure, for if he succeeded in expelling the invaders he would at
+the same time compel the allegiance of the rebellious Hittite states.
+
+In the spring of 743 B.C. Tiglath-pileser led his army across the
+Euphrates and reached Arpad without meeting with any resistance. The
+city appears to have opened its gates to him although it was in the
+kingdom of Mati-ilu, who acknowledged Urartian sway. Its foreign
+garrison was slaughtered. Well might Sharduris exclaim, in the words
+of the prophet, "Where is the king of Arpad? where are the gods of
+Arpad?"[504]
+
+Leaving Arpad, Tiglath-pileser advanced to meet Sharduris, who was
+apparently hastening southward to attack the Assyrians in the rear.
+Tiglath-pileser, however, crossed the Euphrates and, moving northward,
+delivered an unexpected attack on the Urartian army in Qummukh. A
+fierce battle ensued, and one of its dramatic incidents was a single
+combat between the rival kings. The tide of battle flowed in Assyria's
+favour, and when evening was falling the chariots and cavalry of
+Urartu were thrown into confusion. An attempt was made to capture King
+Sharduris, who leapt from his chariot and made hasty escape on
+horseback, hotly pursued in the gathering darkness by an Assyrian
+contingent of cavalry. Not until "the bridge of the Euphrates" was
+reached was the exciting night chase abandoned.
+
+Tiglath-pileser had achieved an overwhelming victory against an army
+superior to his own in numbers. Over 70,000 of the enemy were slain or
+taken captive, while the Urartian camp with its stores and horses and
+followers fell into the hands of the triumphant Assyrians.
+Tiglath-pileser burned the royal tent and throne as an offering to
+Ashur, and carried Sharduris's bed to the temple of the goddess of
+Nineveh, whither he returned to prepare a new plan of campaign against
+his northern rival.
+
+Despite the blow dealt against Urartu, Assyria did not immediately
+regain possession of north Syria. The shifty Mati-ilu either cherished
+the hope that Sharduris would recover strength and again invade north
+Syria, or that he might himself establish an empire in that region.
+Tiglath-pileser had therefore to march westward again. For three years
+he conducted vigorous campaigns in "the western land", where he met
+with vigorous resistance. In 740 B.C. Arpad was captured and Mati-ilu
+deposed and probably put to death. Two years later Kullani and Hamath
+fell, and the districts which they controlled were included in the
+Assyrian empire and governed by Crown officials.
+
+Once again the Hebrews came into contact with Assyria. The Dynasty of
+Jehu had come to an end by this time. Its fall may not have been
+unconnected with the trend of events in Assyria during the closing
+years of the Middle Empire.
+
+Supported by Assyria, the kings of Israel had become powerful and
+haughty. Jehoash, the grandson of Jehu, had achieved successes in
+conflict with Damascus. In Judah the unstable Amaziah, son of Joash,
+was strong enough to lay a heavy hand on Edom, and flushed with
+triumph then resolved to readjust his relations with his overlord, the
+king of Israel. Accordingly he sent a communication to Jehoash which
+contained some proposal regarding their political relations,
+concluding with the offer or challenge, "Come, let us look one another
+in the face". A contemptuous answer was returned.
+
+    Jehoash the king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying,
+    The thistle that was in Lebanon sent to the cedar that was in
+    Lebanon, saying, Give thy daughter to my son to wife: and there
+    passed by a wild beast that was in Lebanon, and trode down the
+    thistle. Thou hast indeed smitten Edom, and thine heart hath
+    lifted thee up: glory of this, and tarry at home, for why
+    shouldest thou meddle to thy hurt, that thou shouldest fall, even
+    thou, and Judah with thee? But Amaziah would not hear. Therefore
+    Jehoash king of Israel went up; and he and Amaziah king of Judah
+    looked one another in the face at Beth-shemesh [city of Shamash,
+    the sun god], which belongeth to Judah. And Judah was put to the
+    worse before Israel; and they fled every man to their tents.
+
+Jehoash afterwards destroyed a large portion of the wall of Jerusalem
+and plundered the temple and palace, returning home to Samaria with
+rich booty and hostages.[505] Judah thus remained a vassal state of
+Israel's.
+
+Jeroboam, son of Jehoash, had a long and prosperous reign. About 773
+B.C. he appears to have co-operated with Assyria and conquered
+Damascus and Hamath. His son Zachariah, the last king of the Jehu
+Dynasty of Israel, came to the throne in 740 B.C. towards the close of
+the reign of Azariah, son of Amaziah, king of Judah. Six months
+afterwards he was assassinated by Shallum. This usurper held sway at
+Samaria for only a month. "For Menahem the son of Gadi went up from
+Tirzah, and came to Samaria, and smote Shallum the son of Jabesh in
+Samaria, and slew him, and reigned in his stead."[506]
+
+Tiglath-pileser was operating successfully in middle Syria when he had
+dealings with, among others, "Menihimme (Menahem) of the city of the
+Samarians", who paid tribute. No resistance was possible on the part
+of Menahem, the usurper, who was probably ready to welcome the
+Assyrian conqueror, so that, by arranging an alliance, he might secure
+his own position. The Biblical reference is as follows: "And Pul the
+king of Assyria came against the land: and Menahem gave Pul a thousand
+talents of silver, that his hand might be with him to confirm the
+kingdom in his hand. And Menahem exacted the money of Israel, even of
+all the mighty men of wealth, of each man fifty shekels of silver, to
+give to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria turned back, and
+stayed not there in the land."[507] Rezin of Damascus, Hiram of Tyre,
+and Zabibi, queen of the Arabians, also sent gifts to Tiglath-pileser
+at this time (738 B.C.). Aramaean revolts on the borders of Elam were
+suppressed by Assyrian governors, and large numbers of the inhabitants
+were transported to various places in Syria.
+
+Tiglath-pileser next operated against the Median and other hill tribes
+in the north-east. In 735 B.C. he invaded Urartu, the great Armenian
+state which had threatened the supremacy of Assyria in north Syria and
+Cappadocia. King Sharduris was unable to protect his frontier or
+hamper the progress of the advancing army, which penetrated to his
+capital. Dhuspas was soon captured, but Sharduris took refuge in his
+rocky citadel which he and his predecessors had laboured to render
+impregnable. There he was able to defy the might of Assyria, for the
+fortress could be approached on the western side alone by a narrow
+path between high walls and towers, so that only a small force could
+find room to operate against the numerous garrison.
+
+Tiglath-pileser had to content himself by devastating the city on the
+plain and the neighbouring villages. He overthrew buildings, destroyed
+orchards, and transported to Nineveh those of the inhabitants he had
+not put to the sword, with all the live stock he could lay hands on.
+Thus was Urartu crippled and humiliated: it never regained its former
+prestige among the northern states.
+
+In the following year Tiglath-pileser returned to Syria. The
+circumstances which made this expedition necessary are of special
+interest on account of its Biblical associations. Menahem, king of
+Israel, had died, and was succeeded by his son Pekahiah. "But Pekah
+the son of Remaliah, a captain of his, conspired against him and smote
+him in Samaria, in the palace of the king's house, ... and he killed
+him, and reigned in his room."[508] When Pekah was on the throne, Ahaz
+began to reign over Judah.
+
+Judah had taken advantage of the disturbed conditions in Israel to
+assert its independence. The walls of Jerusalem were repaired by
+Jotham, father of Ahaz, and a tunnel constructed to supply it with
+water. Isaiah refers to this tunnel: "Go forth and meet Ahaz ... at
+the end of the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the
+fuller's field" (_Isaiah_, vii, 3).
+
+Pekah had to deal with a powerful party in Israel which favoured the
+re-establishment of David's kingdom in Palestine. Their most prominent
+leader was the prophet Amos, whose eloquent exhortations were couched
+in no uncertain terms. He condemned Israel for its idolatries, and
+cried:
+
+    For thus saith the Lord unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me and
+    ye shall live.... Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and offerings
+    in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel? But ye have
+    borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the
+    star of your god, which ye made to yourselves.[509]
+
+Pekah sought to extinguish the orthodox party's movement by subduing
+Judah. So he plotted with Rezin, king of Damascus. Amos prophesied,
+
+    Thus saith the Lord.... I will send a fire into the house of
+    Hazael, which will devour the palaces of Ben-hadad. I will break
+    also the bar of Damascus ... and the people of Syria shall go into
+    captivity unto Kir.... The remnant of the Philistines shall
+    perish.
+
+Tyre, Edom, and Ammon would also be punished.[510] Judah was
+completely isolated by the allies who acknowledged the suzerainty of
+Damascus. Soon after Ahaz came to the throne he found himself hemmed
+in on every side by adversaries who desired to accomplish his fall.
+"At that time Rezin, king of Syria, and Pekah ...came up to Jerusalem
+to war: and they besieged Ahaz, but could not overcome him."[511]
+Judah, however, was overrun; the city of Elath was captured and
+restored to Edom, while the Philistines were liberated from the
+control of Jerusalem.
+
+Isaiah visited Ahaz and said,
+
+    Take heed, and be quiet; fear not, neither be faint-hearted for
+    the two tails of these smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of
+    Rezin with Syria, and of the son of Remaliah. Because Syria,
+    Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah, have taken evil counsel against
+    thee, saying, Let us go up against Judah, and vex it, and let us
+    make a breach therein for us, and set a king in the midst of it,
+    even the son of Tabeal: Thus saith the Lord God, It shall not
+    stand, neither shall it come to pass.[512]
+
+The unstable Ahaz had sought assistance from the Baal, and "made his
+son to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the
+heathen".[513] Then he resolved to purchase the sympathy of one of the
+great Powers. There was no hope of assistance from "the fly that is in
+the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt", for the Ethiopian Pharaohs
+had not yet conquered the Delta region, so he turned to "the bee that
+is in the land of Assyria".[514] Assyria was the last resource of the
+king of Judah.
+
+    So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria,
+    saying, I am thy servant and thy son: come up and save me out of
+    the hand of Syria and out of the hand of the king of Israel, which
+    rise up against me. And Ahaz took the silver and gold that was
+    found in the house of the Lord, and in the treasures of the king's
+    house, and sent it for a present to the king of Assyria. And the
+    king of Assyria hearkened unto him: for the king of Assyria went
+    up against Damascus, and took it, and carried the people of it
+    captive to Kir[515] and slew Rezin.[516]
+
+Tiglath-pileser recorded that Rezin took refuge in his city like "a
+mouse". Israel was also dealt with.
+
+    In the days of Pekah king of Israel came Tiglath-pileser king of
+    Assyria, and took Ijon and Abel-beth-maachah, and Janoah and
+    Kedesh, and Hazor, and Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of
+    Naphtali, and carried them captive to Assyria. And Hoshea the son
+    of Elah made a conspiracy against Pekah the son of Remaliah, and
+    smote him, and slew him, and reigned in his stead.[517]
+
+Tiglath-pileser recorded: "They overthrew Paqaha (Pekah), their king,
+and placed Ausi'a (Hoshea) over them". He swept through Israel "like a
+hurricane". The Philistines and the Arabians of the desert were also
+subdued. Tribute was sent to the Assyrian monarch by Phoenicia, Moab,
+Ammon, and Edom. It was a proud day for Ahaz when he paid a visit to
+Tiglath-pileser at Damascus.[518] An Assyrian governor was appointed
+to rule over Syria and its subject states.
+
+Babylon next claimed the attention of Tiglath-pileser. Nabonassar had
+died and was succeeded by his son Nabu-nadin-zeri, who, after reigning
+for two years, was slain in a rebellion. The throne was then seized by
+Nabu-shum-ukin, but in less than two months this usurper was
+assassinated and the Chaldaeans had one of their chiefs, Ukinzer,
+proclaimed king (732 B.C.).
+
+When the Assyrian king returned from Syria in 731 B.C. he invaded
+Babylonia. He was met with a stubborn resistance. Ukinzer took refuge
+in his capital, Shapia, which held out successfully, although the
+surrounding country was ravaged and despoiled. Two years afterwards
+Tiglath-pileser returned, captured Shapia, and restored peace
+throughout Babylonia. He was welcomed in Babylon, which opened its
+gates to him, and he had himself proclaimed king of Sumer and Akkad.
+The Chaldaeans paid tribute.
+
+Tiglath-pileser had now reached the height of his ambition. He had not
+only extended his empire in the west from Cappadocia to the river of
+Egypt, crippled Urartu and pacified his eastern frontier, but brought
+Assyria into close union with Babylonia, the mother land, the home of
+culture and the land of the ancient gods. He did not live long,
+however, to enjoy his final triumph, for he died a little over twelve
+months after he "took the hands of Bel (Merodach)" at Babylon.
+
+He was succeeded by Shalmaneser V (727-722 B.C.), who may have been
+his son, but this is not quite certain. Little is known regarding his
+brief reign. In 725 B.C. he led an expedition to Syria and Phoenicia.
+Several of the vassal peoples had revolted when they heard of the
+death of Tiglath-pileser. These included the Phoenicians, the
+Philistines, and the Israelites who were intriguing with either Egypt
+or Mutsri.
+
+Apparently Hoshea, king of Israel, pretended when the Assyrians
+entered his country that he remained friendly. Shalmaneser, however,
+was well informed, and made Hoshea a prisoner. Samaria closed its
+gates against him although their king had been dispatched to Assyria.
+
+The Biblical account of the campaign is as follows: "Against him
+(Hoshea) came up Shalmaneser king of Assyria; and Hoshea became his
+servant, and gave him presents. And the king of Assyria found
+conspiracy in Hoshea: for he had sent messengers to So king of
+Egypt,[519] and brought no present to the king of Assyria, as he had
+done year by year; therefore the king of Assyria shut him up and bound
+him in prison.
+
+"Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, and went up
+to Samaria, and besieged it three years."[520]
+
+Shalmaneser died before Samaria was captured, and may have been
+assassinated. The next Assyrian monarch, Sargon II (722-705 B.C.), was
+not related to either of his two predecessors. He is referred to by
+Isaiah,[521] and is the Arkeanos of Ptolemy. He was the Assyrian
+monarch who deported the "Lost Ten Tribes".
+
+"In the ninth year of Hoshea" (and the first of Sargon) "the king of
+Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed
+them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of
+the Medes."[522] In all, according to Sargon's record, "27,290 people
+dwelling in the midst of it (Samaria) I carried off".
+
+    They (the Israelites) left all the commandments of the Lord their
+    God, and made them molten images, even two calves, and made a
+    grove, and worshipped all the host of heaven (the stars), and
+    served Baal. And they caused their sons and their daughters to
+    pass through the fire, and used divination and enchantments, and
+    sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke
+    him to anger. Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel, and
+    removed them out of his sight: there was none left but the tribe
+    of Judah only. And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon,
+    and from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from
+    Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of
+    the children of Israel: and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in
+    the cities thereof.... And the men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth,
+    and the men of Cuth (Cuthah) made Nergal, and the men of Hamath
+    made Ashima, and the Avites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the
+    Sepharites burnt their children in fire to Adram-melech and
+    Anam-melech, the gods of Sepharvaim.
+
+A number of the new settlers were slain by lions, and the king of
+Assyria ordered that a Samaritan priest should be sent to "teach them
+the manner of the God of the land". This man was evidently an orthodox
+Hebrew, for he taught them "how they should fear the Lord.... So they
+feared the Lord", but also "served their own gods ... their graven
+images".[523]
+
+There is no evidence to suggest that the "Ten Lost Tribes", "regarding
+whom so many nonsensical theories have been formed", were not
+ultimately absorbed by the peoples among whom they settled between
+Mesopotamia and the Median Highlands.[524] The various sections must
+have soon lost touch with one another. They were not united like the
+Jews (the people of Judah), who were transported to Babylonia a
+century and a half later, by a common religious bond, for although a
+few remained faithful to Abraham's God, the majority of the Israelites
+worshipped either the Baal or the Queen of Heaven.
+
+The Assyrian policy of transporting the rebellious inhabitants of one
+part of their empire to another was intended to break their national
+spirit and compel them to become good and faithful subjects amongst
+the aliens, who must have disliked them. "The colonists," says
+Professor Maspero, "exposed to the same hatred as the original
+Assyrian conquerors, soon forgot to look upon the latter as the
+oppressors of all, and, allowing their present grudge to efface the
+memory of past injuries, did not hesitate to make common cause with
+them. In time of peace the (Assyrian) governor did his best to protect
+them against molestation on the part of the natives, and in return for
+this they rallied round him whenever the latter threatened to get out
+of hand, and helped him to stifle the revolt, or hold it in check
+until the arrival of reinforcements. Thanks to their help, the empire
+was consolidated and maintained without too many violent outbreaks in
+regions far removed from the capital, and beyond the immediate reach
+of the sovereign."[525]
+
+While Sargon was absent in the west, a revolt broke out in Babylonia.
+A Chaldaean king, Merodach Baladan III, had allied himself with the
+Elamites, and occupied Babylon. A battle was fought at Dur-ilu and the
+Elamites retreated. Although Sargon swept triumphantly through the
+land, he had to leave his rival, the tyrannous Chaldaean, in
+possession of the capital, and he reigned there for over eleven years.
+
+Trouble was brewing in Syria. It was apparently fostered by an
+Egyptian king--probably Bocchoris of Sais, the sole Pharaoh so far as
+can be ascertained of the Twenty-fourth Dynasty, who had allied
+himself with the local dynasts of Lower Egypt and apparently sought to
+extend his sway into Asia, the Ethiopians being supreme in Upper
+Egypt. An alliance had been formed to cast off the yoke of Assyria.
+The city states involved Arpad, Simirra, Damascus, Samaria, and Gaza.
+Hanno of Gaza had fled to Egypt after Tiglath-pileser came to the
+relief of Judah and broke up the league of conspirators by capturing
+Damascus, and punishing Samaria, Gaza, and other cities. His return in
+Sargon's reign was evidently connected with the new rising in which he
+took part. The throne of Hamath had been seized by an adventurer,
+named Ilu-bi�di, a smith. The Philistines of Ashdod and the Arabians
+being strongly pro-Egyptian in tendency, were willing sympathizers and
+helpers against the hated Assyrians.
+
+Sargon appeared in the west with a strong army before the allies had
+matured their plans. He met the smith king of Hamath in battle at
+Qarqar, and, having defeated him, had him skinned alive. Then he
+marched southward. At Rapiki (Raphia) he routed an army of allies.
+Shabi (?So), the Tartan (commander-in-chief) of Pi�ru[526] (Pharaoh),
+King of Mutsri (an Arabian state confused, perhaps, with Misraim =
+Egypt), escaped "like to a shepherd whose sheep have been taken". Piru
+and other two southern kings, Samsi and Itamara, afterwards paid
+tribute to Sargon. Hanno of Gaza was transported to Asshur.
+
+In 715 B.C. Sargon, according to his records, appeared with his army
+in Arabia, and received gifts in token of homage from Piru of Mutsri,
+Samsi of Aribi, and Itamara of Saba.
+
+Four years later a revolt broke out in Ashdod which was, it would
+appear, directly due to the influence of Shabaka, the Ethiopian
+Pharaoh, who had deposed Bocchoris of Sais. Another league was about
+to be formed against Assyria. King Azuri of Ashdod had been deposed
+because of his Egyptian sympathies by the Assyrian governor, and his
+brother Akhimiti was placed on the throne. The citizens, however,
+overthrew Akhimiti, and an adventurer from Cyprus was proclaimed king
+(711 B.C).
+
+It would appear that advances were made by the anti-Assyrians to Ahaz
+of Judah. That monarch was placed in a difficult position. He knew
+that if the allies succeeded in stamping out Assyrian authority in
+Syria and Palestine they would certainly depose him, but if on the
+other hand he joined them and Assyria triumphed, its emperor would
+show him small mercy. As Babylon defied Sargon and received the active
+support of Elam, and there were rumours of risings in the north, it
+must have seemed to the western kings as if the Assyrian empire was
+likely once again to go to pieces.
+
+Fortunately for Ahaz he had a wise counsellor at this time in the
+great statesman and prophet, the scholarly Isaiah. The Lord spake by
+Isaiah saying, "Go and loose the sackcloth from off thy loins, and put
+off thy shoe from thy foot. And he did so, walking naked and barefoot.
+And the Lord said, Like as my servant Isaiah hath walked naked and
+barefoot three years for a sign and wonder upon Egypt and upon
+Ethiopia; so shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians
+prisoners.... And they (the allies) shall be afraid and ashamed of
+Ethiopia their expectation, and of Egypt their glory."[527]
+
+Isaiah warned Ahaz against joining the league, "in the year that
+Tartan[528] came unto Ashdod (when Sargon the king of Assyria sent
+him)". The Tartan "fought against Ashdod and took it".[529] According
+to Sargon's record the Pretender of Ashdod fled to Arabia, where he
+was seized by an Arabian chief and delivered up to Assyria. The
+pro-Egyptian party in Palestine went under a cloud for a period
+thereafter.
+
+Before Sargon could deal with Merodach Baladan of Babylon, he found it
+necessary to pursue the arduous task of breaking up a powerful league
+which had been formed against him in the north. The Syro-Cappadocian
+Hittite states, including Tabal in Asia Minor and Carchemish in north
+Syria, were combining for the last time against Assyria, supported by
+Mita (Midas), king of the Muski-Phrygians, and Rusas, son of Sharduris
+III, king of Urartu.
+
+Urartu had recovered somewhat from the disasters which it had suffered
+at the hands of Tiglath-pileser, and was winning back portions of its
+lost territory on the north-east frontier of Assyria. A buffer state
+had been formed in that area by Tiglath-pileser, who had assisted the
+king of the Mannai to weld together the hill tribesmen between Lake
+Van and Lake Urmia into an organized nation. Iranzu, its ruler,
+remained faithful to Assyria and consequently became involved in war
+with Rusas of Urartu, who either captured or won over several cities
+of the Mannai. Iranzu was succeeded by his son Aza, and this king was
+so pronounced a pro-Assyrian that his pro-Urartian subjects
+assassinated him and set on the throne Bagdatti of Umildish.
+
+Soon after Sargon began his operations in the north he captured
+Bagdatti and had him skinned alive. The flag of revolt, however, was
+kept flying by his brother, Ullusunu, but ere long this ambitious man
+found it prudent to submit to Sargon on condition that he would retain
+the throne as a faithful Assyrian vassal. His sudden change of policy
+appears to have been due to the steady advance of the Median tribes
+into the territory of the Mannai. Sargon conducted a vigorous and
+successful campaign against the raiders, and extended Ullusunu's area
+of control.
+
+The way was now clear to Urartu. In 714 B.C. Sargon attacked the
+revolting king of Zikirtu, who was supported by an army led by Rusas,
+his overlord. A fierce battle was fought in which the Assyrians
+achieved a great victory. King Rusas fled, and when he found that the
+Assyrians pressed home their triumph by laying waste the country
+before them, he committed suicide, according to the Assyrian records,
+although those of Urartu indicate that he subsequently took part in
+the struggle against Sargon. The Armenian peoples were compelled to
+acknowledge the suzerainty of Assyria, and the conqueror received
+gifts from various tribes between Lake Van and the Caspian Sea, and
+along the frontiers from Lake Van towards the south-east as far as the
+borders of Elam.
+
+Rusas of Urartu was succeeded by Argistes II, who reigned over a
+shrunken kingdom. He intrigued with neighbouring states against
+Assyria, but was closely watched. Ere long he found himself caught
+between two fires. During his reign the notorious Cimmerians and
+Scythians displayed much activity in the north and raided his
+territory.
+
+The pressure of fresh infusions of Thraco-Phrygian tribes into western
+Asia Minor had stirred Midas of the Muski to co-operate with the
+Urartian power in an attempt to stamp out Assyrian influence in
+Cilicia, Cappadocia, and north Syria. A revolt in Tabal in 718 B.C.
+was extinguished by Sargon, but in the following year evidences were
+forthcoming of a more serious and widespread rising. Pisiris, king of
+Carchemish, threw off the Assyrian yoke. Before, however, his allies
+could hasten to his assistance he was overcome by the vigilant Sargon,
+who deported a large proportion of the city's inhabitants and
+incorporated it in an Assyrian province. Tabal revolted in 713 B.C.
+and was similarly dealt with. In 712 B.C. Milid had to be overcome.
+The inhabitants were transported, and "Suti" Aramaean peoples settled
+in their homes. The king of Commagene, having remained faithful,
+received large extensions of territory. Finally in 709 B.C. Midas of
+the Muski-Phrygians was compelled to acknowledge the suzerainty of
+Assyria. The northern confederacy was thus completely worsted and
+broken up. Tribute was paid by many peoples, including the rulers of
+Cyprus.
+
+Sargon was now able to deal with Babylonia, which for about twelve
+years had been ruled by Merodach Baladan, who oppressed the people and
+set at defiance ancient laws by seizing private estates and
+transferring them to his Chaldaean kinsmen. He still received the
+active support of Elam.
+
+Sargon's first move was to interpose his army between those of the
+Babylonians and Elamites. Pushing southward, he subdued the Aramaeans
+on the eastern banks of the Tigris, and drove the Elamites into the
+mountains. Then he invaded middle Babylonia from the east. Merodach
+Baladan hastily evacuated Babylon, and, moving southward, succeeded in
+evading Sargon's army. Finding Elam was unable to help him, he took
+refuge in the Chaldaean capital, Bit Jakin, in southern Babylonia.
+
+Sargon was visited by the priests of Babylon and Borsippa, and hailed
+as the saviour of the ancient kingdom. He was afterwards proclaimed
+king at E-sagila, where he "took the hands of Bel". Then having
+expelled the Aramaeans from Sippar, he hastened southward, attacked
+Bit Jakin and captured it. Merodach Baladan escaped into Elam. The
+whole of Chaldaea was subdued.
+
+Thus "Sargon the Later" entered at length into full possession of the
+empire of Sargon of Akkad. In Babylonia he posed as an incarnation of
+his ancient namesake, and had similarly Messianic pretensions which
+were no doubt inspired by the Babylonian priesthood. Under him Assyria
+attained its highest degree of splendour.
+
+He recorded proudly not only his great conquests but also his works of
+public utility: he restored ancient cities, irrigated vast tracts of
+country, fostered trade, and promoted the industries. Like the pious
+Pharaohs of Egypt he boasted that he fed the hungry and protected the
+weak against the strong.
+
+Sargon found time during his strenuous career as a conqueror to lay
+out and build a new city, called Dur-Sharrukin, "the burgh of Sargon",
+to the north of Nineveh. It was completed before he undertook the
+Babylonian campaign. The new palace was occupied in 708 B.C. Previous
+to that period he had resided principally at Kalkhi, in the restored
+palace of Ashur-natsir-pal III.
+
+He was a worshipper of many gods. Although he claimed to have restored
+the supremacy of Asshur "which had come to an end", he not only adored
+Ashur but also revived the ancient triad of Anu, Bel, and Ea, and
+fostered the growth of the immemorial "mother-cult" of Ishtar. Before
+he died he appointed one of his sons, Sennacherib, viceroy of the
+northern portion of the empire. He was either assassinated at a
+military review or in some frontier war. As much is suggested by the
+following entry in an eponym list.
+
+    Eponymy of Upahhir-belu, prefect of the city of Amedu ...
+    According to the oracle of the Kulummite(s).... A soldier
+    (entered) the camp of the king of Assyria (and killed him?), month
+    Ab, day 12th, Sennacherib (sat on the throne).[530]
+
+The fact that Sennacherib lamented his father's sins suggests that the
+old king had in some manner offended the priesthood. Perhaps, like
+some of the Middle Empire monarchs, he succumbed to the influence of
+Babylon during the closing years of his life. It is stated that "he
+was not buried in his house", which suggests that the customary
+religious rites were denied him, and that his lost soul was supposed
+to be a wanderer which had to eat offal and drink impure water like
+the ghost of a pauper or a criminal.
+
+The task which lay before Sennacherib (705-680 B.C.) was to maintain
+the unity of the great empire of his distinguished father. He waged
+minor wars against the Kassite and Illipi tribes on the Elamite
+border, and the Muski and Hittite tribes in Cappadocia and Cilicia.
+The Kassites, however, were no longer of any importance, and the
+Hittite power had been extinguished, for ere the states could recover
+from the blows dealt by the Assyrians the Cimmerian hordes ravaged
+their territory. Urartu was also overrun by the fierce barbarians from
+the north. It was one of these last visits of the Assyrians to Tabal
+of the Hittites and the land of the Muski (Meshech) which the Hebrew
+prophet referred to in after-time when he exclaimed:
+
+    Asshur is there and all her company: his graves are about him:
+    all of them slain, fallen by the sword.... There is Meshech,
+    Tubal, and all her multitude: her graves are round about him: all
+    of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword, though they caused
+    their terror in the land of the living.... (_Ezekiel_, xxxii.)
+
+Sennacherib found that Ionians had settled in Cilicia, and he deported
+large numbers of them to Nineveh. The metal and ivory work at Nineveh
+show traces of Greek influence after this period.
+
+A great conspiracy was fomented in several states against Sennacherib
+when the intelligence of Sargon's death was bruited abroad. Egypt was
+concerned in it. Taharka (the Biblical Tirhakah[531]), the last
+Pharaoh of the Ethiopian Dynasty, had dreams of re-establishing
+Egyptian supremacy in Palestine and Syria, and leagued himself with
+Luli, king of Tyre, Hezekiah, king of Judah, and others. Merodach
+Baladan, the Chaldaean king, whom Sargon had deposed, supported by
+Elamites and Aramaeans, was also a party to the conspiracy. "At that
+time Merodach Baladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent
+letters and a present to Hezekiah.... And Hezekiah was glad of
+them."[532]
+
+Merodach Baladan again seized the throne of Babylon. Sargon's son, who
+had been appointed governor, was murdered and a pretender sat on the
+throne for a brief period, but Merodach Baladan thrust him aside and
+reigned for nine months, during which period he busied himself by
+encouraging the kings of Judah and Tyre to revolt. Sennacherib invaded
+Babylonia with a strong army, deposed Merodach Baladan, routed the
+Chaldaeans and Aramaeans, and appointed as vassal king Bel-ibni, a
+native prince, who remained faithful to Assyria for about three years.
+
+In 707 B.C. Sennacherib appeared in the west. When he approached Tyre,
+Luli, the king, fled to Cyprus. The city was not captured, but much of
+its territory was ceded to the king of Sidon. Askalon was afterwards
+reduced. At Eltekeh Sennacherib came into conflict with an army of
+allies, including Ethiopian, Egyptian, and Arabian Mutsri forces,
+which he routed. Then he captured a number of cities in Judah and
+transported 200,150 people. He was unable, however, to enter
+Jerusalem, in which Hezekiah was compelled to remain "like a bird in a
+cage". It appears that Hezekiah "bought off" the Assyrians on this
+occasion with gifts of gold and silver and jewels, costly furniture,
+musicians, and female slaves.
+
+In 689 B.C. Sennacherib found it necessary to penetrate Arabia.
+Apparently another conspiracy was brewing, for Hezekiah again
+revolted. On his return from the south--according to Berosus he had
+been in Egypt--the Assyrian king marched against the king of Judah.
+
+    And when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib was come, and that he was
+    purposed to fight against Jerusalem, he took counsel with the
+    princes and his mighty men to stop the waters of the fountains
+    which were without the city: and they did help him.... Why should
+    the kings of Assyria come and find much water?
+
+Sennacherib sent messengers to Jerusalem to attempt to stir up the
+people against Hezekiah. "He wrote also letters to rail on the Lord
+God of Israel, and to speak against him, saying, As the gods of the
+nations of other lands have not delivered their people out of mine
+hand, so shall not the God of Hezekiah deliver his people out of mine
+hand."[533]
+
+Hezekiah sent his servants to Isaiah, who was in Jerusalem at the
+time, and the prophet said to them:
+
+    Thus shall ye say to your master. Thus saith the Lord, Be not
+    afraid of the words which thou hast heard, with which the servants
+    of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. Behold, I will send a
+    blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, and shall return to
+    his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own
+    land.[534]
+
+According to Berosus, the Babylonian priestly historian, the camp of
+Sennacherib was visited in the night by swarms of field mice which ate
+up the quivers and bows and the (leather) handles of shields. Next
+morning the army fled.
+
+The Biblical account of the disaster is as follows:
+
+    And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the Lord went
+    out, and smote the camp of the Assyrians an hundred and four score
+    and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning,
+    behold, they were all dead corpses. So Sennacherib king of Assyria
+    departed, and went and returned and dwelt at Nineveh.[535]
+
+A pestilence may have broken out in the camp, the infection, perhaps,
+having been carried by field mice. Byron's imagination was stirred by
+the vision of the broken army of Assyria.
+
+    The Assyrian came down like a wolf on the fold,
+    And his cohorts were gleaming with purple and gold;
+    And the sheen of their spears was like stars of the sea,
+    When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee.
+
+    Like the leaves of the forest when summer is green,
+    That host with their banners at sunset were seen;
+    Like the leaves of the forest when autumn hath blown,
+    That host on the morrow lay withered and strown.
+
+    For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast,
+    And breathed on the face of the foe as he passed;
+    And the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill,
+    And their hearts but once heaved--and forever grew still!
+
+    And there lay the steed with his nostril all wide,
+    But through it there rolled not the breath of his pride;
+    And the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf,
+    And cold as the spray of the rock-beating surf.
+
+    And there lay the rider distorted and pale,
+    With the dew on his brow, and the rust on his mail;
+    And the tents were all silent--the banners alone--
+    Thelances uplifted--the trumpet unblown.
+
+    And the widows of Asshur are loud in their wail,
+    And the idols are broke in the temple of Baal;
+    And the might of the Gentile, unsmote by the sword,
+    Hath melted like snow in the glance of the Lord.
+
+Before this disaster occurred Sennacherib had to invade Babylonia
+again, for the vassal king, Bel-ibni, had allied himself with the
+Chaldaeans and raised the standard of revolt. The city of Babylon was
+besieged and captured, and its unfaithful king deported with a number
+of nobles to Assyria. Old Merodach Baladan was concerned in the plot
+and took refuge on the Elamite coast, where the Chaldaeans had formed
+a colony. He died soon afterwards.
+
+Sennacherib operated in southern Babylonia and invaded Elam. But ere
+he could return to Assyria he was opposed by a strong army of allies,
+including Babylonians, Chaldaeans, Aramaeans, Elamites, and Persians,
+led by Samunu, son of Merodach Baladan. A desperate battle was fought.
+Although Sennacherib claimed a victory, he was unable to follow it up.
+This was in 692 B.C. A Chaldaean named Mushezib-Merodach seized the
+Babylonian throne.
+
+In 691 B.C. Sennacherib again struck a blow for Babylonia, but was
+unable to depose Mushezib-Merodach. His opportunity came, however, in
+689 B.C. Elam had been crippled by raids of the men of Parsua
+(Persia), and was unable to co-operate with the Chaldaean king of
+Babylon. Sennacherib captured the great commercial metropolis, took
+Mushezib-Merodach prisoner, and dispatched him to Nineveh. Then he
+wreaked his vengeance on Babylon. For several days the Assyrian
+soldiers looted the houses and temples, and slaughtered the
+inhabitants without mercy. E-sagila was robbed of its treasures,
+images of deities were either broken in pieces or sent to Nineveh: the
+statue of Bel-Merodach was dispatched to Asshur so that he might take
+his place among the gods who were vassals of Ashur. "The city and its
+houses," Sennacherib recorded, "from foundation to roof, I destroyed
+them, I demolished them, I burned them with fire; walls, gateways,
+sacred chapels, and the towers of earth and tiles, I laid them low and
+cast them into the Arakhtu."[536]
+
+"So thorough was Sennacherib's destruction of the city in 689 B.C.,"
+writes Mr. King, "that after several years of work, Dr. Koldewey
+concluded that all traces of earlier buildings had been destroyed on
+that occasion. More recently some remains of earlier strata have been
+recognized, and contract-tablets have been found which date from the
+period of the First Dynasty. Moreover, a number of earlier pot-burials
+have been unearthed, but a careful examination of the greater part of
+the ruins has added little to our knowledge of this most famous city
+before the Neo-Babylonian period."[537]
+
+It is possible that Sennacherib desired to supplant Babylon as a
+commercial metropolis by Nineveh. He extended and fortified that city,
+surrounding it with two walls protected by moats. According to
+Diodorus, the walls were a hundred feet high and about fifty feet
+wide. Excavators have found that at the gates they were about a
+hundred feet in breadth. The water supply of the city was ensured by
+the construction of dams and canals, and strong quays were erected to
+prevent flooding. Sennacherib repaired a lofty platform which was
+isolated by a canal, and erected upon it his great palace. On another
+platform he had an arsenal built.
+
+Sennacherib's palace was the most magnificent building of its kind
+ever erected by an Assyrian emperor. It was lavishly decorated, and
+its bas-reliefs display native art at its highest pitch of excellence.
+The literary remains of the time also give indication of the growth of
+culture: the inscriptions are distinguished by their prose style. It
+is evident that men of culture and refinement were numerous in
+Assyria. The royal library of Kalkhi received many additions during
+the reign of the destroyer of Babylon.
+
+Like his father, Sennacherib died a violent death. According to the
+Babylonian Chronicle he was slain in a revolt by his son "on the
+twentieth day of Tebet" (680 B.C). The revolt continued from the "20th
+of Tebet" (early in January) until the 2nd day of Adar (the middle of
+February). On the 18th of Adar, Esarhaddon, son of Sennacherib, was
+proclaimed king.
+
+Berosus states that Sennacherib was murdered by two of his sons, but
+Esarhaddon was not one of the conspirators. The Biblical reference is
+as follows: "Sennacherib ... dwelt at Nineveh. And it came to pass, as
+he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch (?Ashur) his god, that
+Adrammelech and Sharezer (Ashur-shar-etir) his sons smote him with the
+sword: and they escaped into the land of Armenia (Urartu). And
+Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead." Ashur-shar-etir appears to
+have been the claimant to the throne.
+
+Esarhaddon (680-668 B.C.) was a man of different type from his father.
+He adopted towards vassal states a policy of conciliation, and did
+much to secure peace within the empire by his magnanimous treatment of
+rebel kings who had been intimidated by their neighbours and forced to
+entwine themselves in the meshes of intrigue. His wars were directed
+mainly to secure the protection of outlying provinces against
+aggressive raiders.
+
+The monarch was strongly influenced by his mother, Naki'a, a
+Babylonian princess who appears to have been as distinguished a lady
+as the famous Sammu-rammat. Indeed, it is possible that traditions
+regarding her contributed to the Semiramis legends. But it was not
+only due to her that Esarhaddon espoused the cause of the
+pro-Babylonian party. He appears to be identical with the Axerdes of
+Berosus, who ruled over the southern kingdom for eight years.
+Apparently he had been appointed governor by Sennacherib after the
+destruction of Babylon, and it may be that during his term of office
+in Babylonia he was attracted by its ethical ideals, and developed
+those traits of character which distinguished him from his father and
+grandfather. He married a Babylonian princess, and one of his sons,
+Shamash-shum-ukin, was born in a Babylonian palace, probably at
+Sippar. He was a worshipper of the mother goddess Ishtar of Nineveh
+and Ishtar of Arbela, and of Shamash, as well as of the national god
+Ashur.
+
+As soon as Esarhaddon came to the throne he undertook the restoration
+of Babylon, to which many of the inhabitants were drifting back. In
+three years the city resumed its pre-eminent position as a trading and
+industrial centre. Withal, he won the hearts of the natives by
+expelling Chaldaeans from the private estates which they had seized
+during the Merodach-Baladan regime, and restoring them to the rightful
+heirs.
+
+A Chaldaean revolt was inevitable. Two of Merodach Baladan's sons gave
+trouble in the south, but were routed in battle. One fled to Elam,
+where he was assassinated; the other sued for peace, and was accepted
+by the diplomatic Esarhaddon as a vassal king.
+
+Egypt was intriguing in the west. Its Ethiopian king, Taharka (the
+Biblical Tirhakah) had stirred up Hezekiah to revolt during
+Sennacherib's reign. An Assyrian ambassador who had visited Jerusalem
+"heard say concerning Tirhakah.... He sent messengers to Hezekiah
+saying.... Let not thy God, in whom thou trustest, deceive thee
+saying, Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of
+Assyria. Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done
+to all lands by destroying them utterly; and shalt thou be delivered?
+Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have
+destroyed, as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden
+which were in Telassar? Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of
+Arphad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah?"[538]
+Sidon was a party to the pro-Egyptian league which had been formed in
+Palestine and Syria.
+
+Early in his reign Esarhaddon conducted military operations in the
+west, and during his absence the queen-mother Naki'a held the reins of
+government. The Elamites regarded this innovation as a sign of
+weakness, and invaded Babylon. Sippar was plundered, and its gods
+carried away. The Assyrian governors, however, ultimately repulsed the
+Elamite king, who was deposed soon after he returned home. His son,
+who succeeded him, restored the stolen gods, and cultivated good
+relations with Esarhaddon. There was great unrest in Elam at this
+period: it suffered greatly from the inroads of Median and Persian
+pastoral fighting folk.
+
+In the north the Cimmerians and Scythians, who were constantly warring
+against Urartu, and against each other, had spread themselves westward
+and east. Esarhaddon drove Cimmerian invaders out of Cappadocia, and
+they swamped Phrygia.
+
+The Scythian peril on the north-east frontier was, however, of more
+pronounced character. The fierce mountaineers had allied themselves
+with Median tribes and overrun the buffer State of the Mannai. Both
+Urartu and Assyria were sufferers from the brigandage of these allies.
+Esarhaddon's generals, however, were able to deal with the situation,
+and one of the notable results of the pacification of the
+north-eastern area was the conclusion of an alliance with Urartu.
+
+The most serious situation with which the emperor had to deal was in
+the west. The King of Sidon, who had been so greatly favoured by
+Sennacherib, had espoused the Egyptian cause. He allied himself with
+the King of Cilicia, who, however, was unable to help him much. Sidon
+was besieged and captured; the royal allies escaped, but a few years
+later were caught and beheaded. The famous seaport was destroyed, and
+its vast treasures deported to Assyria (about 676 B.C). Esarhaddon
+replaced it by a new city called Kar-Esarhaddon, which formed the
+nucleus of the new Sidon.
+
+It is believed that Judah and other disaffected States were dealt with
+about this time. Manasseh had succeeded Hezekiah at Jerusalem when but
+a boy of twelve years. He appears to have come under the influence of
+heathen teachers.
+
+    For he built up again the high places which Hezekiah his father
+    had destroyed; and he reared up altars for Baal, and made a grove,
+    as did Ahab king of Israel; and worshipped all the host of heaven,
+    and served them.... And he built altars for all the host of heaven
+    in the two courts of the house of the Lord. And he made his son
+    pass through the fire, and observed times, and used enchantments,
+    and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards: he wrought much
+    wickedness in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger. And
+    he set a graven image of the grove that he had made in the house,
+    of which the Lord said to David, and to Solomon his son, In this
+    house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all tribes of
+    Israel, will I put my name for ever.[539]
+
+Isaiah ceased to prophesy after Manasseh came to the throne. According
+to Rabbinic traditions he was seized by his enemies and enclosed in
+the hollow trunk of a tree, which was sawn through. Other orthodox
+teachers appear to have been slain also. "Manasseh shed innocent blood
+very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another."[540]
+It is possible that there is a reference to Isaiah's fate in an early
+Christian lament regarding the persecutions of the faithful: "Others
+had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and
+imprisonment: they were stoned, _they were sawn asunder_, were
+tempted, were slain with the sword".[541] There is no Assyrian
+evidence regarding the captivity of Manasseh. "Wherefore the Lord
+brought upon them (the people of Judah) the captains of the host of
+the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh among the thorns, and bound
+him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon. And when he was in
+affliction, he besought the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly
+before the God of his fathers, and prayed unto him: and he was
+intreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to
+Jerusalem into his kingdom."[542] It was, however, in keeping with the
+policy of Esarhaddon to deal in this manner with an erring vassal. The
+Assyrian records include Manasseh of Judah (Menas� of the city of
+Yaudu) with the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, Ashdod, Gaza,
+Byblos, &c, and "twenty-two kings of Khatti" as payers of tribute to
+Esarhaddon, their overlord. Hazael of Arabia was conciliated by having
+restored to him his gods which Sennacherib had carried away.
+
+Egypt continued to intrigue against Assyria, and Esarhaddon resolved
+to deal effectively with Taharka, the last Ethiopian Pharaoh. In 674
+B.C. he invaded Egypt, but suffered a reverse and had to retreat. Tyre
+revolted soon afterwards (673 B.C).
+
+Esarhaddon, however, made elaborate preparations for his next
+campaign. In 671 B.C. he went westward with a much more powerful army.
+A detachment advanced to Tyre and invested it. The main force
+meanwhile pushed on, crossed the Delta frontier, and swept
+victoriously as far south as Memphis, where Taharka suffered a
+crushing defeat. That great Egyptian metropolis was then occupied and
+plundered by the soldiers of Esarhaddon. Lower Egypt became an
+Assyrian province; the various petty kings, including Necho of Sais,
+had set over them Assyrian governors. Tyre was also captured.
+
+When he returned home Esarhaddon erected at the Syro-Cappadocian city
+of Singirli[543] a statue of victory, which is now in the Berlin
+museum. On this memorial the Assyrian "King of the kings of Egypt" is
+depicted as a giant. With one hand he pours out an oblation to a god;
+in the other he grasps his sceptre and two cords attached to rings,
+which pierce the lips of dwarfish figures representing the Pharaoh
+Taharka of Egypt and the unfaithful King of Tyre.
+
+In 668 B.C. Taharka, who had fled to Napata in Ethiopia, returned to
+Upper Egypt, and began to stir up revolts. Esarhaddon planned out
+another expedition, so that he might shatter the last vestige of power
+possessed by his rival. But before he left home he found it necessary
+to set his kingdom in order.
+
+During his absence from home the old Assyrian party, who disliked the
+emperor because of Babylonian sympathies, had been intriguing
+regarding the succession to the throne. According to the Babylonian
+Chronicle, "the king remained in Assyria" during 669 B.C., "and he
+slew with the sword many noble men". Ashur-bani-pal was evidently
+concerned in the conspiracy, and it is significant to find that he
+pleaded on behalf of certain of the conspirators. The crown prince
+Sinidinabal was dead: perhaps he had been assassinated.
+
+At the feast of the goddess Gula (identical with Bau, consort of
+Ninip), towards the end of April in 668 B.C., Esarhaddon divided his
+empire between two of his sons. Ashur-bani-pal was selected to be King
+of Assyria, and Shamash-shum-ukin to be King of Babylon and the vassal
+of Ashur-banipal. Other sons received important priestly appointments.
+
+Soon after these arrangements were completed Esarhaddon, who was
+suffering from bad health, set out for Egypt. He died towards the end
+of October, and the early incidents of his campaign were included in
+the records of Ashur-bani-pal's reign. Taharka was defeated at
+Memphis, and retreated southward to Thebes.
+
+So passed away the man who has been eulogized as "the noblest and most
+sympathetic figure among the Assyrian kings". There was certainly much
+which was attractive in his character. He inaugurated many social
+reforms, and appears to have held in check his overbearing nobles.
+Trade flourished during his reign. He did not undertake the erection
+of a new city, like his father, but won the gratitude of the
+priesthood by his activities as a builder and restorer of temples. He
+founded a new "house of Ashur" at Nineveh, and reconstructed several
+temples in Babylonia. His son Ashur-bani-pal was the last great
+Assyrian ruler.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+THE LAST DAYS OF ASSYRIA AND BABYLONIA
+
+
+  Doom of Nineveh and Babylon--Babylonian Monotheism--Ashur-banipal
+  and his Brother, King of Babylon--Ceremony of "Taking the Hands of
+  Bel"--Merodach restored to E-sagila--Assyrian Invasion of Egypt and
+  Sack of Thebes--Lydia's Appeal to Assyria--Elam subdued--Revolt of
+  Babylon--Death of Babylonian King--Sack of Susa--Psamtik of
+  Egypt--Cimmerians crushed--Ashur-bani-pal's Literary Activities--The
+  Sardanapalus Legend--Last Kings of Assyria--Fall of Nineveh--The New
+  Babylonian Empire--Necho of Egypt expelled from Syria--King
+  Jehoaikin of Judah deposed--Zedekiah's Revolt and Punishment--Fall
+  of Jerusalem and Hebrew Captivity--Jeremiah laments over
+  Jerusalem--Babylonia's Last Independent King--Rise of Cyrus the
+  Conqueror--The Persian Patriarch and Eagle Legend--Cyrus conquers
+  Lydia--Fall of Babylon--Jews return to Judah--Babylon from Cyrus to
+  Alexander the Great.
+
+
+The burden of Nineveh.... The Lord is slow to anger, and great in
+power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the Lord hath his way in
+the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his
+feet. He rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry, and drieth up all the
+rivers: Bashan languisheth, and Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon
+languisheth.... He that dasheth in pieces is come up before thy
+face.... The gates of the rivers shall be opened, and the palace shall
+be dissolved. And Huzzab shall be led away captive, she shall be
+brought up, and her maids shall lead her as with the voice of doves,
+tabering upon their breasts.... Draw thee waters for the siege,
+fortify thy strong holds: go into clay, and tread the morter, make
+strong the brick-kiln. There shall the fire devour thee; the sword
+shall cut thee off.... Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria: thy
+nobles shall dwell in the dust: thy people is scattered upon the
+mountains, and no man gathereth them. There is no healing of thy
+bruise; thy wound is grievous: all that hear the bruit of thee shall
+clap the hands over thee: for upon whom hath not thy wickedness passed
+continually?[544]
+
+The doom of Babylon was also foretold:
+
+    Bel boweth down, Nebo stoopeth.... Come down, and sit in the
+    dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon, sit on the ground: there is no
+    throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans.... Stand now with thine
+    enchantments, and with the multitude of thy sorceries, wherein
+    thou hast laboured from thy youth; if so be thou shalt be able to
+    profit, if so be thou mayest prevail. Thou art wearied in the
+    multitude of thy counsels. Let now the astrologers, the
+    star-gazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee
+    from these things that shall come upon thee. Behold, they shall be
+    as stubble; the fire shall burn them.... Thus shall they be unto
+    thee with whom thou hast laboured, even thy merchants, from thy
+    youth: they shall wander every one to his quarter; none shall save
+    thee.[545]
+
+Against a gloomy background, dark and ominous as a thundercloud, we
+have revealed in the last century of Mesopotamian glory the splendour
+of Assyria and the beauty of Babylon. The ancient civilizations
+ripened quickly before the end came. Kings still revelled in pomp and
+luxury. Cities resounded with "the noise of a whip, and the noise of
+the rattling of the wheels, and of the prancing horses, and of the
+jumping chariots. The horseman lifteth up both the bright sword and
+the glittering spear.... The valiant men are in scarlet."[546] But the
+minds of cultured men were more deeply occupied than ever with the
+mysteries of life and creation. In the libraries, the temples, and
+observatories, philosophers and scientists were shattering the
+unsubstantial fabric of immemorial superstition; they attained to
+higher conceptions of the duties and responsibilities of mankind; they
+conceived of divine love and divine guidance; they discovered, like
+Wordsworth, that the soul has--
+
+                 An obscure sense
+    Of possible sublimity, whereto
+    With growing faculties she doth aspire.
+
+One of the last kings of Babylon, Nebuchadrezzar, recorded a prayer
+which reveals the loftiness of religious thought and feeling attained
+by men to whom graven images were no longer worthy of adoration and
+reverence--men whose god was not made by human hands--
+
+    O eternal prince! Lord of all being!
+    As for the king whom thou lovest, and
+    Whose name thou hast proclaimed
+    As was pleasing to thee,
+    Do thou lead aright his life,
+    Guide him in a straight path.
+    I am the prince, obedient to thee,
+    The creature of thy hand;
+    Thou hast created me, and
+    With dominion over all people
+    Thou hast entrusted me.
+    According to thy grace, O Lord,
+    Which thou dost bestow on
+    All people,
+    Cause me to love thy supreme dominion,
+    And create in my heart
+    The worship of thy godhead
+    And grant whatever is pleasing to thee,
+    Because thou hast fashioned my life.[547]
+
+The "star-gazers" had become scientists, and foretold eclipses: in
+every sphere of intellectual activity great men were sifting out truth
+from the debris of superstition. It seemed as if Babylon and Assyria
+were about to cross the threshold of a new age, when their doom was
+sounded and their power was shattered for ever. Nineveh perished with
+dramatic suddenness: Babylon died of "senile decay".
+
+When, in 668 B.C., intelligence reached Nineveh that Esarhaddon had
+passed away, on the march through Egypt, the arrangements which he had
+made for the succession were carried out smoothly and quickly. Naki'a,
+the queen mother, was acting as regent, and completed her lifework by
+issuing a proclamation exhorting all loyal subjects and vassals to
+obey the new rulers, her grandsons, Ashur-bani-pal, Emperor of
+Assyria, and Shamash-shum-ukin, King of Babylon. Peace prevailed in
+the capital, and there was little or no friction throughout the
+provinces: new rulers were appointed to administer the States of Arvad
+and Ammon, but there were no changes elsewhere.
+
+Babylon welcomed its new king--a Babylonian by birth and the son of a
+Babylonian princess. The ancient kingdom rejoiced that it was no
+longer to be ruled as a province; its ancient dignities and privileges
+were being partially restored. But one great and deep-seated grievance
+remained. The god Merodach was still a captive in the temple of Ashur.
+No king could reign aright if Merodach were not restored to E-sagila.
+Indeed he could not be regarded as the lord of the land until he had
+"taken the hands of Bel".
+
+The ceremony of taking the god's hands was an act of homage. When it
+was consummated the king became the steward or vassal of Merodach, and
+every day he appeared before the divine one to receive instructions
+and worship him. The welfare of the whole kingdom depended on the
+manner in which the king acted towards the god. If Merodach was
+satisfied with the king he sent blessings to the land; if he was angry
+he sent calamities. A pious and faithful monarch was therefore the
+protector of the people.
+
+This close association of the king with the god gave the priests great
+influence in Babylon. They were the power behind the throne. The
+destinies of the royal house were placed in their hands; they could
+strengthen the position of a royal monarch, or cause him to be deposed
+if he did not satisfy their demands. A king who reigned over Babylon
+without the priestly party on his side occupied an insecure position.
+Nor could he secure the co-operation of the priests unless the image
+of the god was placed in the temple. Where king was, there Merodach
+had to be also.
+
+Shamash-shum-ukin pleaded with his royal brother and overlord to
+restore Bel Merodach to Babylon. Ashur-bani-pal hesitated for a time;
+he was unwilling to occupy a less dignified position, as the
+representative of Ashur, than his distinguished predecessor, in his
+relation to the southern kingdom. At length, however, he was prevailed
+upon to consult the oracle of Shamash, the solar lawgiver, the
+revealer of destiny. The god was accordingly asked if
+Shamash-shum-ukin could "take the hands of Bel" in Ashur's temple, and
+then proceed to Babylon as his representative. In response, the
+priests of Shamash informed the emperor that Bel Merodach could not
+exercise sway as sovereign lord so long as he remained a prisoner in a
+city which was not his own.
+
+Ashur-bani-pal accepted the verdict, and then visited Ashur's temple
+to plead with Bel Merodach to return to Babylon. "Let thy thoughts",
+he cried, "dwell in Babylon, which in thy wrath thou didst bring to
+naught. Let thy face be turned towards E-sagila, thy lofty and divine
+temple. Return to the city thou hast deserted for a house unworthy of
+thee. O Merodach! lord of the gods, issue thou the command to return
+again to Babylon."
+
+Thus did Ashur-bani-pal make pious and dignified submission to the
+will of the priests. A favourable response was, of course, received
+from Merodach when addressed by the emperor, and the god's image was
+carried back to E-sagila, accompanied by a strong force.
+Ashur-bani-pal and Shamash-shum-ukin led the procession of priests and
+soldiers, and elaborate ceremonials were observed at each city they
+passed, the local gods being carried forth to do homage to Merodach.
+
+Babylon welcomed the deity who was thus restored to his temple after
+the lapse of about a quarter of a century, and the priests celebrated
+with unconcealed satisfaction and pride the ceremony at which
+Shamash-shum-ukin "took the hands of Bel". The public rejoicings were
+conducted on an elaborate scale. Babylon believed that a new era of
+prosperity had been inaugurated, and the priests and nobles looked
+forward to the day when the kingdom would once again become free and
+independent and powerful.
+
+Ashur-bani-pal (668-626 B.C.) made arrangements to complete his
+father's designs regarding Egypt. His Tartan continued the campaign,
+and Taharka, as has been stated, was driven from Memphis. The beaten
+Pharaoh returned to Ethiopia and did not again attempt to expel the
+Assyrians. He died in 666 B.C. It was found that some of the petty
+kings of Lower Egypt had been intriguing with Taharka, and their
+cities were severely dealt with. Necho of Sais had to be arrested,
+among others, but was pardoned after he appeared before
+Ashur-bani-pal, and sent back to Egypt as the Assyrian governor.
+
+Tanutamon, a son of Pharaoh Shabaka, succeeded Taharka, and in 663
+B.C. marched northward from Thebes with a strong army. He captured
+Memphis. It is believed Necho was slain, and Herodotus relates that
+his son Psamtik took refuge in Syria. In 661 B.C. Ashur-bani-pal's
+army swept through Lower Egypt and expelled the Ethiopians. Tanutamon
+fled southward, but on this occasion the Assyrians followed up their
+success, and besieged and captured Thebes, which they sacked. Its
+nobles were slain or taken captive. According to the prophet Nahum,
+who refers to Thebes as No (Nu-Amon = city of Amon), "her young
+children also were dashed in pieces at the top of all the streets: and
+they (the Assyrians) cast lots for her honourable men, and all her
+great men were bound in chains".[548] Thebes never again recovered its
+prestige. Its treasures were transported to Nineveh. The Ethiopian
+supremacy in Egypt was finally extinguished, and Psamtik, son of
+Necho, who was appointed the Pharaoh, began to reign as the vassal of
+Assyria.
+
+When the kings on the seacoasts of Palestine and Asia Minor found that
+they could no longer look to Egypt for help, they resigned themselves
+to the inevitable, and ceased to intrigue against Assyria. Gifts were
+sent to Ashur-bani-pal by the kings of Arvad, Tyre, Tarsus, and Tabal.
+The Arvad ruler, however, was displaced, and his son set on his
+throne. But the most extraordinary development was the visit to
+Nineveh of emissaries from Gyges, king of Lydia, who figures in the
+legends of Greece. This monarch had been harassed by the Cimmerians
+after they accomplished the fall of Midas of Phrygia in 676 B.C., and
+he sought the help of Ashur-bani-pal. It is not known whether the
+Assyrians operated against the Cimmerians in Tabal, but, as Gyges did
+not send tribute, it would appear that he held his own with the aid of
+mercenaries from the State of Caria in southwestern Asia Minor. The
+Greeks of Cilicia, and the Achaeans and Phoenicians of Cyprus remained
+faithful to Assyria.
+
+Elam gave trouble in 665 B.C. by raiding Akkad, but the Assyrian army
+repulsed the invaders at Dur-ilu and pushed on to Susa. The Elamites
+received a crushing defeat in a battle on the banks of the River Ula.
+King Teumman was slain, and a son of the King of Urtagu was placed on
+his throne. Elam thus came under Assyrian sway.
+
+The most surprising and sensational conspiracy against Ashur-bani-pal
+was fomented by his brother Shamash-shum-ukin of Babylon, after the
+two had co-operated peacefully for fifteen years. No doubt the
+priestly party at E-sagila were deeply concerned in the movement, and
+the king may have been strongly influenced by the fact that Babylonia
+was at the time suffering from severe depression caused by a series of
+poor harvests. Merodach, according to the priests, was angry; it was
+probably argued that he was punishing the people because they had not
+thrown off the yoke of Assyria.
+
+The temple treasures of Babylon were freely drawn upon to purchase the
+allegiance of allies. Ere Ashur-bani-pal had any knowledge of the
+conspiracy his brother had won over several governors in Babylonia,
+the Chaldaeans, Aramaeans and Elamites, and many petty kings in
+Palestine and Syria: even Egypt and Libya were prepared to help him.
+When, however, the faithful governor of Ur was approached, he
+communicated with his superior at Erech, who promptly informed
+Ashur-bani-pal of the great conspiracy. The intelligence reached
+Nineveh like a bolt from the blue. The emperor's heart was filled with
+sorrow and anguish. In after-time he lamented in an inscription that
+his "faithless brother" forgot the favours he had shown him.
+"Outwardly with his lips he spoke friendly things, while inwardly his
+heart plotted murder."
+
+In 652 B.C. Shamash-shum-ukin precipitated the crisis by forbidding
+Ashur-bani-pal to make offerings to the gods in the cities of
+Babylonia. He thus declared his independence.
+
+War broke out simultaneously. Ur and Erech were besieged and captured
+by the Chaldaeans, and an Elamite army marched to the aid of the King
+of Babylon, but it was withdrawn before long on account of the
+unsettled political conditions at home. The Assyrian armies swept
+through Babylonia, and the Chaldeans in the south were completely
+subjugated before Babylon was captured. That great commercial
+metropolis was closely besieged for three years, and was starved into
+submission. When the Assyrians were entering the city gates a
+sensational happening occurred. Shamash-shum-ukin, the rebel king,
+shut himself up in his palace and set fire to it, and perished there
+amidst the flames with his wife and children, his slaves and all his
+treasures. Ashur-bani-pal was in 647 B.C. proclaimed King
+Kandalanu[549] of Babylon, and reigned over it until his death in 626
+B.C.
+
+Elam was severely dealt with. That unhappy country was terribly
+devastated by Assyrian troops, who besieged and captured Susa, which
+was pillaged and wrecked. It was recorded afterwards as a great
+triumph of this campaign that the statue of Nana of Erech, which had
+been carried off by Elamites 1635 years previously, was recovered and
+restored to the ancient Sumerian city. Elam's power of resistance was
+finally extinguished, and the country fell a ready prey to the Medes
+and Persians, who soon entered into possession of it. Thus, by
+destroying a buffer State, Ashur-bani-pal strengthened the hands of
+the people who were destined twenty years after his death to destroy
+the Empire of Assyria.
+
+The western allies of Babylon were also dealt with, and it may be that
+at this time Manasseh of Judah was taken to Babylon (_2 Chronicles_,
+xxxiii, II), where, however, he was forgiven. The Medes and the Mannai
+in the north-west were visited and subdued, and a new alliance was
+formed with the dying State of Urartu.
+
+Psamtik of Egypt had thrown off the yoke of Assyria, and with the
+assistance of Carian mercenaries received from his ally, Gyges, king
+of Lydia, extended his sway southward. He made peace with Ethiopia by
+marrying a princess of its royal line. Gyges must have weakened his
+army by thus assisting Psamtik, for he was severely defeated and slain
+by the Cimmerians. His son, Ardys, appealed to Assyria for help.
+Ashur-bani-pal dispatched an army to Cilicia. The joint operations of
+Assyria and Lydia resulted in the extinction of the kingdom of the
+Cimmerians about 645 B.C.
+
+The records of Ashur-bani-pal cease after 640 B.C., so that we are
+unable to follow the events of his reign during its last fourteen
+years. Apparently peace prevailed everywhere. The great monarch, who
+was a pronounced adherent of the goddess cults, appears to have given
+himself up to a life of indulgence and inactivity. Under the name
+Sardanapalus he went down to tradition as a sensual Oriental monarch
+who lived in great pomp and luxury, and perished in his burning palace
+when the Medes revolted against him. It is evident, however, that the
+memory of more than one monarch contributed to the Sardanapalus
+legend, for Ashur-bani-pal had lain nearly twenty years in his grave
+before the siege of Nineveh took place.
+
+In the Bible he is referred to as "the great and noble Asnapper", and
+he appears to have been the emperor who settled the Babylonian,
+Elamite, and other colonists "in the cities of Samaria".[550]
+
+He erected at Nineveh a magnificent palace, which was decorated on a
+lavish scale. The sculptures are the finest productions of Assyrian
+art, and embrace a wide variety of subjects--battle scenes, hunting
+scenes, and elaborate Court and temple ceremonies. Realism is combined
+with a delicacy of touch and a degree of originality which raises the
+artistic productions of the period to the front rank among the
+artistic triumphs of antiquity.
+
+Ashur-bani-pal boasted of the thorough education which he had received
+from the tutors of his illustrious father, Esarhaddon. In his palace
+he kept a magnificent library. It contained thousands of clay tablets
+on which were inscribed and translated the classics of Babylonia. To
+the scholarly zeal of this cultured monarch is due the preservation of
+the Babylonian story of creation, the Gilgamesh and Etana legends, and
+other literary and religious products of remote antiquity. Most of the
+literary tablets in the British Museum were taken from
+Ashur-bani-pal's library.
+
+There are no Assyrian records of the reigns of Ashur-bani-pal's two
+sons, Ashur-etil-ilani--who erected a small palace and reconstructed
+the temple to Nebo at Kalkhi--and Sin-shar-ishkun, who is supposed to
+have perished in Nineveh. Apparently Ashur-etil-ilani reigned for at
+least six years, and was succeeded by his brother.
+
+A year after Ashur-bani-pal died, Nabopolassar, who was probably a
+Chaldaean, was proclaimed king at Babylon. According to Babylonian
+legend he was an Assyrian general who had been sent southward with an
+army to oppose the advance of invaders from the sea. Nabopolassar's
+sway at first was confined to Babylon and Borsippa, but he
+strengthened himself by forming an offensive and defensive alliance
+with the Median king, whose daughter he had married to his son
+Nebuchadrezzar. He strengthened the fortifications of Babylon, rebuilt
+the temple of Merodach, which had been destroyed by Ashur-bani-pal,
+and waged war successfully against the Assyrians and their allies in
+Mesopotamia.
+
+About 606 B.C. Nineveh fell, and Sin-shar-ishkun may have burned
+himself there in his palace, like his uncle, Shamash-shum-ukin of
+Babylon, and the legendary Sardanapalus. It is not certain, however,
+whether the Scythians or the Medes were the successful besiegers of
+the great Assyrian capital. "Woe to the bloody city! it is all full of
+lies and robbery", Nahum had cried."... The gates of the rivers shall
+be opened, and the palace shall be dissolved.... Take ye the spoil of
+silver, take the spoil of gold.... Behold, I am against thee, saith
+the Lord of hosts[551]."
+
+According to Herodotus, an army of Medes under Cyaxares had defeated
+the Assyrians and were besieging Nineveh when the Scythians overran
+Media. Cyaxares raised the siege and went against them, but was
+defeated. Then the Scythians swept across Assyria and Mesopotamia, and
+penetrated to the Delta frontier of Egypt. Psamtik ransomed his
+kingdom with handsome gifts. At length, however, Cyaxares had the
+Scythian leaders slain at a banquet, and then besieged and captured
+Nineveh.
+
+Assyria was completely overthrown. Those of its nobles and priests who
+escaped the sword no doubt escaped to Babylonia. Some may have found
+refuge also in Palestine and Egypt.
+
+Necho, the second Pharaoh of the Twenty-sixth Egyptian Dynasty, did
+not hesitate to take advantage of Assyria's fall. In 609 B.C. he
+proceeded to recover the long-lost Asiatic possessions of Egypt, and
+operated with an army and fleet. Gaza and Askalon were captured.
+Josiah, the grandson of Manasseh, was King of Judah. "In his days
+Pharaoh-nechoh king of Egypt went up against the king of Assyria to
+the river Euphrates: and king Josiah went against him; and he (Necho)
+slew him at Megiddo."[552] His son, Jehoahaz, succeeded him, but was
+deposed three months later by Necho, who placed another son of Josiah,
+named Eliakim, on the throne, "and turned his name to Jehoiakim".[553]
+The people were heavily taxed to pay tribute to the Pharaoh.
+
+When Necho pushed northward towards the Euphrates he was met by a
+Babylonian army under command of Prince Nebuchadrezzar.[554] The
+Egyptians were routed at Carchemish in 605 B.C. (_Jeremiah_, xvi, 2).
+
+In 604 B.C. Nabopolassar died, and the famous Nebuchadrezzar II
+ascended the throne of Babylon. He lived to be one of its greatest
+kings, and reigned for over forty years. It was he who built the city
+described by Herodotus (pp. 219 _et seq._), and constructed its outer
+wall, which enclosed so large an area that no army could invest it.
+Merodach's temple was decorated with greater magnificence than ever
+before. The great palace and hanging gardens were erected by this
+mighty monarch, who no doubt attracted to the city large numbers of
+the skilled artisans who had fled from Nineveh. He also restored
+temples at other cities, and made generous gifts to the priests.
+Captives were drafted into Babylonia from various lands, and employed
+cleaning out the canals and as farm labourers.
+
+The trade and industries of Babylon flourished greatly, and
+Nebuchadrezzar's soldiers took speedy vengeance on roving bands which
+infested the caravan roads. "The king of Egypt", after his crushing
+defeat at Carchemish, "came not again any more out of his land: for
+the king of Babylon had taken from the river of Egypt unto the river
+Euphrates all that pertained to the king of Egypt."[555] Jehoiakim of
+Judah remained faithful to Necho until he was made a prisoner by
+Nebuchadrezzar, who "bound him in fetters to carry him to
+Babylon".[556] He was afterwards sent back to Jerusalem. "And
+Jehoiakim became his (Nebuchadrezzar's) servant three years: then he
+turned and rebelled against him."[557]
+
+Bands of Chaldaeans, Syrians, Moabites, and Ammonites were harassing
+the frontiers of Judah, and it seemed to the king as if the Babylonian
+power had collapsed. Nebuchadrezzar hastened westward and scattered
+the raiders before him. Jehoiakim died, and his son Jehoiachan, a
+youth of eighteen years, succeeded him. Nebuchadrezzar laid siege to
+Jerusalem, and the young king submitted to him and was carried off to
+Babylon, with "all the princes, and all the mighty men of valour, even
+ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths: none remained
+save the poorest sort of the people of the land".[558] Nebuchadrezzar
+had need of warriors and workmen.
+
+Zedekiah was placed on the throne of Judah as an Assyrian vassal. He
+remained faithful for a few years, but at length began to conspire
+with Tyre and Sidon, Moab, Edom, and Ammon in favour of Egyptian
+suzerainty. Pharaoh Hophra (Apries), the fourth king of the
+Twenty-sixth Dynasty, took active steps to assist the conspirators,
+and "Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon[559]".
+
+Nebuchadrezzar led a strong army through Mesopotamia, and divided it
+at Riblah, on the Orontes River. One part of it descended upon Judah
+and captured Lachish and Azekah. Jerusalem was able to hold out for
+about eighteen months. Then "the famine was sore in the city, so that
+there was no bread for the people of the land. Then the city was
+broken up, and all the men of war fled, and went forth out of the city
+by night by way of the gate between the two walls, which was by the
+king's garden." Zedekiah attempted to escape, but was captured and
+carried before Nebuchadrezzar, who was at Riblah, in the land of
+Hamath.
+
+    And the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah before his
+    eyes.... Then he put out the eyes of Zedekiah; and the king of
+    Babylon bound him in chains and carried him to Babylon and put him
+    in prison till the day of his death[560].
+
+The majority of the Jews were deported to Babylonia, where they were
+employed as farm labourers. Some rose to occupy important official
+positions. A remnant escaped to Egypt with Jeremiah.
+
+Jerusalem was plundered and desolated. The Assyrians "burned the house
+of the Lord and the king's house, and all the houses of Jerusalem",
+and "brake down all the walls of Jerusalem round about". Jeremiah
+lamented:
+
+    How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people! how is
+    she become as a widow! she that was great among the nations, and
+    princess among the provinces, how is she become tributary! She
+    weepeth sore in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks: among
+    all her lovers she hath none to comfort her: all her friends have
+    dealt treacherously with her, they are become her enemies. Judah
+    is gone into captivity because of affliction, and because of great
+    servitude: she dwelleth among the heathen, she findeth no rest:
+    all her persecutors overtook her between the straits.... Jerusalem
+    remembered in the days of her affliction and of her miseries all
+    her pleasant things that she had in the days of old....[561]
+
+Tyre was besieged, but was not captured. Its king, however, arranged
+terms of peace with Nebuchadrezzar.
+
+Amel-Marduk, the "Evil Merodach" of the Bible, the next king of
+Babylon, reigned for a little over two years. He released Jehoiachin
+from prison, and allowed him to live in the royal palace.[562] Berosus
+relates that Amel-Marduk lived a dissipated life, and was slain by his
+brother-in-law, Nergal-shar-utsur, who reigned two years (559-6 B.C.).
+Labashi-Marduk, son of Nergal-shar-utsur, followed with a reign of
+nine months. He was deposed by the priests. Then a Babylonian prince
+named Nabu-na�id (Nabonidus) was set on the throne. He was the last
+independent king of Babylonia. His son Belshazzar appears to have
+acted as regent during the latter part of the reign.
+
+Nabonidus engaged himself actively during his reign (556-540 B.C.) in
+restoring temples. He entirely reconstructed the house of Shamash, the
+sun god, at Sippar, and, towards the end of his reign, the house of
+Sin, the moon god, at Haran. The latter building had been destroyed by
+the Medes.
+
+The religious innovations of Nabonidus made him exceedingly unpopular
+throughout Babylonia, for he carried away the gods of Ur, Erech,
+Larsa, and Eridu, and had them placed in E-sagila. Merodach and his
+priests were displeased: the prestige of the great god was threatened
+by the policy adopted by Nabonidus. As an inscription composed after
+the fall of Babylon sets forth; Merodach "gazed over the surrounding
+lands ... looking for a righteous prince, one after his own heart, who
+should take his hands.... He called by name Cyrus."
+
+Cyrus was a petty king of the shrunken Elamite province of Anshan,
+which had been conquered by the Persians. He claimed to be an
+Achaemenian--that is a descendant of the semi-mythical Akhamanish (the
+Achaemenes of the Greeks), a Persian patriarch who resembled the
+Aryo-Indian Manu and the Germanic Mannus. Akhamanish was reputed to
+have been fed and protected in childhood by an eagle--the sacred eagle
+which cast its shadow on born rulers. Probably this eagle was remotely
+Totemic, and the Achaemenians were descendants of an ancient eagle
+tribe. Gilgamesh was protected by an eagle, as we have seen, as the
+Aryo-Indian Shakuntala was by vultures and Semiramis by doves. The
+legends regarding the birth and boyhood of Cyrus resemble those
+related regarding Sargon of Akkad and the Indian Karna and Krishna.
+
+Cyrus acknowledged as his overlord Astyages, king of the Medes. He
+revolted against Astyages, whom he defeated and took prisoner.
+Thereafter he was proclaimed King of the Medes and Persians, who were
+kindred peoples of Indo-European speech. The father of Astyages was
+Cyaxares, the ally of Nabopolassar of Babylon. When this powerful king
+captured Nineveh he entered into possession of the northern part of
+the Assyrian Empire, which extended westward into Asia Minor to the
+frontier of the Lydian kingdom; he also possessed himself of Urartu
+(Armenia). Lydia had, after the collapse of the Cimmerian power,
+absorbed Phrygia, and its ambitious king, Alyattes, waged war against
+the Medes. At length, owing to the good offices of Nebuchadrezzar of
+Babylon and Syennesis of Cilicia, the Medes and Lydians made peace in
+585 B.C. Astyages then married a daughter of the Lydian ruler.
+
+When Cyrus overthrew Cyaxares, king of the Medes, Croesus, king of
+Lydia, formed an alliance against him with Amasis, king of Egypt, and
+Nabonidus, king of Babylon. The latter was at first friendly to Cyrus,
+who had attacked Cyaxares when he was advancing on Babylon to dispute
+Nabonidus's claim to the throne, and perhaps to win it for a
+descendant of Nebuchadrezzar, his father's ally. It was after the fall
+of the Median Dynasty that Nabonidus undertook the restoration of the
+moon god's temple at Haran.
+
+Cyrus advanced westward against Croesus of Lydia before that monarch
+could receive assistance from the intriguing but pleasure-loving
+Amasis of Egypt; he defeated and overthrew him, and seized his kingdom
+(547-546 B.C.). Then, having established himself as supreme ruler in
+Asia Minor, he began to operate against Babylonia. In 539 B.C.
+Belshazzar was defeated near Opis. Sippar fell soon afterwards.
+Cyrus's general, Gobryas, then advanced upon Babylon, where Belshazzar
+deemed himself safe. One night, in the month of Tammuz--
+
+    Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his
+    lords, and drank wine before the thousand. Belshazzar, whiles he
+    tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels
+    which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which
+    was in Jerusalem; that the king, and his princes, his wives, and
+    his concubines, might drink therein.... They drank wine, and
+    praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of
+    wood, and of stone.... In that night was Belshazzar the king of
+    the Chaldeans slain.[563]
+
+On the 16th of Tammuz the investing army under Gobryas entered
+Babylon, the gates having been opened by friends within the city. Some
+think that the Jews favoured the cause of Cyrus. It is quite as
+possible, however, that the priests of Merodach had a secret
+understanding with the great Achaemenian, the "King of kings".
+
+A few days afterwards Cyrus arrived at Babylon. Belshazzar had been
+slain, but Nabonidus still lived, and he was deported to Carmania.
+Perfect order prevailed throughout the city, which was firmly policed
+by the Persian soldiers, and there was no looting. Cyrus was welcomed
+as a deliverer by the priesthood. He "took the hands" of Bel Merodach
+at E-sagila, and was proclaimed "King of the world, King of Babylon,
+King of Sumer and Akkad, and King of the Four Quarters".
+
+Cyrus appointed his son Cambyses as governor of Babylon. Although a
+worshipper of Ahura-Mazda and Mithra, Cambyses appears to have
+conciliated the priesthood. When he became king, and swept through
+Egypt, he was remembered as the madman who in a fit of passion slew a
+sacred Apis bull. It is possible, however, that he performed what he
+considered to be a pious act: he may have sacrificed the bull to
+Mithra.
+
+The Jews also welcomed Cyrus. They yearned for their native land.
+
+    By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when
+    we remembered Zion. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the
+    midst thereof. For there they that carried us away captive
+    required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us
+    mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. How shall we sing
+    the Lord's song in a strange land? If I forget thee, O Jerusalem,
+    let my right hand forget her cunning. If I do not remember thee,
+    let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not
+    Jerusalem above my chief joy.[564]
+
+Cyrus heard with compassion the cry of the captives.
+
+    Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of
+    the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord
+    stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a
+    proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in
+    writing, saying, Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The Lord God of
+    heaven hath given me all kingdoms of the earth; and he hath
+    charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.
+    Who is there among you of all his people? his God be with him, and
+    let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house
+    of the Lord God of Israel (he is the God) which is in
+    Jerusalem.[565]
+
+In 538 B.C. the first party of Jews who were set free saw through
+tears the hills of home, and hastened their steps to reach Mount Zion.
+Fifty years later Ezra led back another party of the faithful. The
+work of restoring Jerusalem was undertaken by Nehemiah in 445 B.C.
+
+The trade of Babylon flourished under the Persians, and the influence
+of its culture spread far and wide. Persian religion was infused with
+new doctrines, and their deities were given stellar attributes.
+Ahura-Mazda became identified with Bel Merodach, as, perhaps, he had
+previously been with Ashur, and the goddess Anahita absorbed the
+attributes of Nina, Ishtar, Zerpanitu^m, and other Babylonian "mother
+deities".
+
+Another "Semiramis" came into prominence. This was the wife and sister
+of Cambyses. After Cambyses died she married Darius I, who, like
+Cyrus, claimed to be an Achaemenian. He had to overthrow a pretender,
+but submitted to the demands of the orthodox Persian party to purify
+the Ahura-Mazda religion of its Babylonian innovations. Frequent
+revolts in Babylon had afterwards to be suppressed. The Merodach
+priesthood apparently suffered loss of prestige at Court. According to
+Herodotus, Darius plotted to carry away from E-sagila a great statue
+of Bel "twelve cubits high and entirely of solid gold". He, however,
+was afraid "to lay his hands upon it". Xerxes, son of Darius (485-465
+B.C.), punished Babylon for revolting, when intelligence reached them
+of his disasters in Greece, by pillaging and partly destroying the
+temple. "He killed the priest who forbade him to move the statue, and
+took it away."[566] The city lost its vassal king, and was put under
+the control of a governor. It, however, regained some of its ancient
+glory after the burning of Susa palace, for the later Persian monarchs
+resided in it. Darius II died at Babylon, and Artaxerxes II promoted
+in the city the worship of Anaitis.
+
+When Darius III, the last Persian emperor, was overthrown by Alexander
+the Great in 331 B.C., Babylon welcomed the Macedonian conqueror as it
+had welcomed Cyrus. Alexander was impressed by the wisdom and
+accomplishments of the astrologers and priests, who had become known
+as "Chaldaeans", and added Bel Merodach to his extraordinary pantheon,
+which already included Amon of Egypt, Melkarth, and Jehovah. Impressed
+by the antiquity and magnificence of Babylon, he resolved to make it
+the capital of his world-wide empire, and there he received
+ambassadors from countries as far east as India and as far west as
+Gaul.
+
+The canals of Babylonia were surveyed, and building operations on a
+vast scale planned out. No fewer than ten thousand men were engaged
+working for two months reconstructing and decorating the temple of
+Merodach, which towered to a height of 607 feet. It looked as if
+Babylon were about to rise to a position of splendour unequalled in
+its history, when Alexander fell sick, after attending a banquet, and
+died on an evening of golden splendour sometime in June of 323 B.C.
+
+One can imagine the feelings of the Babylonian priests and astrologers
+as they spent the last few nights of the emperor's life reading "the
+omens of the air"--taking note of wind and shadow, moon and stars and
+planets, seeking for a sign, but unable to discover one favourable.
+Their hopes of Babylonian glory were suspended in the balance, and
+they perished completely when the young emperor passed away in the
+thirty-third year of his life. For four days and four nights the
+citizens mourned in silence for Alexander and for Babylon.
+
+The ancient city fell into decay under the empire of the Seleucidae.
+Seleucus I had been governor of Babylon, and after the break-up of
+Alexander's empire he returned to the ancient metropolis as a
+conqueror. "None of the persons who succeeded Alexander", Strabo
+wrote, "attended to the undertaking at Babylon"--the reconstruction of
+Merodach's temple. "Other works were neglected, and the city was
+dilapidated partly by the Persians and partly by time and through the
+indifference of the Greeks, particularly after Seleucus Nicator
+fortified Seleukeia on the Tigris."[567]
+
+Seleucus drafted to the city which bore his name the great bulk of the
+inhabitants of Babylon. The remnant which was left behind continued to
+worship Merodach and other gods after the walls had crumbled and the
+great temple began to tumble down. Babylon died slowly, but at length
+the words of the Hebrew prophet were fulfilled:
+
+    The cormorant and the bittern shall possess it; the owl also and
+    the raven shall dwell in it.... They shall call the nobles thereof
+    to the kingdom, but none shall be there, and all her princes shall
+    be nothing. And thorns shall come up in her palaces, nettles and
+    brambles in the fortresses thereof: and it shall be an habitation
+    of dragons, and a court for owls. The wild beasts of the desert
+    shall also meet with the wild beasts of the island, and the satyr
+    shall cry to his fellow: the screech owl also shall rest there,
+    and find for herself a place of rest.[568]
+
+
+
+
+FOOTNOTES
+
+
+[1] _Life of Apollonius of Tyana_, i, 2O.
+
+[2] _Egyptian Tales_ (Second Series), W.M. Flinders Petrie, pp. 98 _et
+seq._
+
+[3] _Revelation_, xviii. The Babylon of the Apocalypse is generally
+believed to symbolize or be a mystic designation of Rome.
+
+[4] _Nineveh and Its Remains_, vol. i, p. 17.
+
+[5] _Ezra_, iv, 10.
+
+[6] The culture god.
+
+[7] Langdon's _Sumerian and Babylonian Psalms_, p. 179.
+
+[8] _Crete the Forerunner of Greece_, p. 18.
+
+[9] _The Scapegoat vol._, p. 409 (3rd edition).
+
+[10] _The Seven Tablets of Creation_, L. W. King, p. 129.
+
+[11] _Ibid_, pp. 133-4.
+
+[12] _The Races of Europe_, W.Z. Ripley, p. 203.
+
+[13] _The Ancient Egyptians_, by Elliot Smith, p. 41 _et seq._
+
+[14] _The Ancient Egyptians_, p. 140.
+
+[15] _Crete the Forerunner of Greece_, C. H. and H. B. Hawes, 1911, p. 23
+_et seq._
+
+[16] _The Races of Europe_, W. Z. Ripley, p. 443 _et seq._
+
+[17] _The Ancient Egyptians_, pp. 144-5.
+
+[18] _The Ancient Egyptians_, p. 114.
+
+[19] _The Ancient Egyptians_, p. 136.
+
+[20] _A History of Palestine_, R.A.S. Macalister, pp. 8-16.
+
+[21] _The Mediterranean Race_ (1901 trans.), G. Sergi, p. 146 _et seq._
+
+[22] _The Ancient Egyptians_, p. 130.
+
+[23] _A History of Civilization in Palestine, p. 20 et seq._
+
+[24] _Joshua_, xi. 21.
+
+[25] _Genesis_, xxiii.
+
+[26] _Genesis_, xvi. 8, 9.
+
+[27] _1 Kings_, xvi. 16.
+
+[28] _2 Kings_, xviii, 32.
+
+[29] _Herodotus_, i, 193.
+
+[30] Peter's _Nippur_, i, p. 160.
+
+[31] A Babylonian priest of Bel Merodach. In the third century a.c. he
+composed in Greek a history of his native land, which has perished.
+Extracts from it are given by Eusebius, Josephus, Apollodorus, and
+others.
+
+[32] _Indian Myth and Legend_, pp. 140, 141.
+
+[33] _The Religion of the Semites_, pp. 159, 160.
+
+[34] _Religion of Babylonia and Assyria_, M. Jastrow, p. 88.
+
+[35] _The Seven Tablets of Creation_, L.W. King, vol. i, p. 129.
+
+[36] _Religious Belief in Babylonia and Assyria_, M. Jastrow, p. 88.
+
+[37] _Cosmology of the Rigveda_, Wallis, and _Indian Myth and Legend_, p.
+10.
+
+[38] _The Old Testament in the Light of the Historical Records and Legends
+of Assyria and Babylonia_, T.G. Pinches, pp. 59-61.
+
+[39] _The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria_, T.G. Pinches, pp. 91, 92.
+
+[40] _Joshua_, xv, 41; xix, 27.
+
+[41] _Judges_, xvi, 14.
+
+[42] _I Sam_., v, 1-9.
+
+[43] _I Sam_., vi, 5.
+
+[44] _The Devils and Evil Spirits of Babylonia_, R. Campbell Thompson,
+London, 1903, vol. i, p. xlii.
+
+[45] _The Devils and Evil Spirits of Babylonia_, R. C. Thompson, vol. i, p.
+xliii.
+
+[46] _A History of Sumer and Akkad_, L. W. King, p. 54.
+
+[47] _The Gods of the Egyptians_, E. Wallis Budge, vol. i, p. 290.
+
+[48] _The Gods of the Egyptians_, vol. i, p. 287.
+
+[49] _The Devils and Evil Spirits of Babylonia_, vol. i, _Intro_. See also
+Sayce's _The Religion of Ancient Egypt and Babylonia_ (Gifford
+Lectures, 1902), p. 385, and Pinches' _The Old Testament in the Light
+of Historical Records_, &c., p. 71.
+
+[50] _Indian Myth and Legend_, p. 100.
+
+[51] Maspero's _Dawn of Civilization_, p. 156 _et seq._
+
+[52] _Egyptian Myth and Legend_, p. I _et seq._ The saliva of the frail and
+elderly was injurious.
+
+[53] _Osiris and the Egyptian Resurrection_, E. Wallis Budge, vol. ii, p.
+203 _et seq._
+
+[54] _Brana's Popular Antiquities_, vol. iii, pp. 259-263 (1889 ed.).
+
+[55] _The Religion of the Semites_, pp. 158, 159.
+
+[56] _Castes and Tribes of Southern India_, E. Thurston, iv, 187.
+
+[57] _Omens and Superstitions of Southern India_, E. Thurston (1912), pp.
+245, 246.
+
+[58] Pausanias, ii, 24, 1.
+
+[59] _Devils and Evil Spirits of Babylonia_, R.C. Thompson, vol. ii, tablet
+Y.
+
+[60] _Animism_, E. Clodd, p. 37.
+
+[61] _2 Kings_, xvi, 3.
+
+[62] _Ezekiel_, xx, 31.
+
+[63] _Leviticus_, xviii, 21.
+
+[64] _Indian Myth and Legend_, p. 65.
+
+[65] _Religious Belief in Babylonia and Assyria_, M. Jastrow, pp. 312, 313.
+
+[66] _The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria_, T.G. Pinches, p. 81.
+
+[67] In early times two goddesses searched for Tammuz at different periods.
+
+[68] _Indian Myth and Legend_, p. 30.
+
+[69] _Early Religious Poetry of Persia_, p. 35.
+
+[70] _Early Religious Poetry of Persia_, p. 37.
+
+[71] _The Golden Bough_ (Spirits of the Corn and Wild, vol. ii, p. 10), 3rd
+edition.
+
+[72] _Indian Wisdom_, Sir Monier Monier-Williams.
+
+[73] _A History of Sanskrit Literature_, Professor Macdonell.
+
+[74] _Religious Belief and Practice in Babylonia and Assyria_, M. Jastrow,
+pp. 111, 112.
+
+[75] _Indian Myth and Legend_, pp. xxxii, and 38 _et seq._
+
+[76] _The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria_, T.G. Pinches, p. 94.
+
+[77] _The Religion of Ancient Greece_, J.E. Harrison, p. 46, and Isoc.
+_Orat._, v, 117
+
+[78] _The Acts_, xvii, 22-31.
+
+[79] _Devils and Evil Spirits of Babylonia_, vol. ii, p. 149 _et seq._
+
+[80] _Egyptian Myth and Legend_, xxxix, _n._
+
+[81] _Development of Religion and Thought in Ancient Egypt_, J.H. Breasted,
+pp. 38, 74.
+
+[82] _Custom and Myth_, p. 45 _et seq._
+
+[83] _The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria_, p. 108.
+
+[84] Act iv, scene 1.
+
+[85] _Paradise Lost_, book ix.
+
+[86] Chapman's _Caesar and Pompey_.
+
+[87] _Natural History_, 2nd book.
+
+[88] _Indian Myth and Legend_, 70, n.
+
+[89] _Indian Myth and Legend_, pp. 202-5, 400, 401.
+
+[90] _Teutonic Myth and Legend_, p. 424 et seq.
+
+[91] _Indian Myth and Legend_, p. 164 et seq.
+
+[92] _Popular Religion and Folk Lore of Northern India_, W. Crooke, vol. i,
+p. 254.
+
+[93] When a person, young or old, is dying, near relatives must not call
+out their names in case the soul may come back from the spirit world.
+A similar belief still lingers, especially among women, in the
+Lowlands. The writer was once present in a room when a child was
+supposed to be dying. Suddenly the mother called out the child's name
+in agonized voice. It revived soon afterwards. Two old women who had
+attempted to prevent "the calling" shook their heads and remarked:
+"She has done it! The child will never do any good in this world after
+being called back." In England and Ireland, as well as in Scotland,
+the belief also prevails in certain localities that if a dying person
+is "called back" the soul will tarry for another twenty-four hours,
+during which the individual will suffer great agony.
+
+[94] _A Journey in Southern Siberia_, Jeremiah Curtin, pp. 103, 104.
+
+[95] Vol. i, p. 305.
+
+[96] _Adi Parva_ section of _Mah�bh�rata_, Roy's trans., p. 635.
+
+[97] Jastrow's _Aspects of Religious Belief in Babylonia_, &c., p. 312.
+
+[98] R.C. Thompson's trans.
+
+[99] _The Elder or Poetic Edda_, Olive Bray, part i, p. 53.
+
+[100] _Babylonian Religion_, L.W. King, pp. 186-8.
+
+[101] _The Devils and Evil Spirits of Babylonia_, R. Campbell Thompson, vol.
+i, p. 53 et seq.
+
+[102] _Omens and Superstitions of Southern India_, E. Thurston, p. 124.
+
+[103] _The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria_, p. 110.
+
+[104] _Beowulf_, Clark Hall, p. 14.
+
+[105] _Ezekiel_, viii.
+
+[106] _Psalms_, cxxvi.
+
+[107] _The Burden of Isis_, J.T. Dennis _(Wisdom of the East_ series), pp.
+21, 22.
+
+[108] _Religion of the Semites_, pp. 412, 414.
+
+[109] _Egyptian Myth and Legend_, pp. 45 et seq.
+
+[110] Langdon's _Sumerian and Babylonian Psalms_, pp. 319-321.
+
+[111] Campbell's _West Highland Tales_, vol. iii, p. 74.
+
+[112] _West Highland Tales_, vol. iii, pp. 85, 86.
+
+[113] If Finn and his band were really militiamen--the original Fenians--as
+is believed in Ireland, they may have had attached to their memories
+the legends of archaic Iberian deities who differed from the Celtic
+Danann deities. Theodoric the Goth, as Dietrich von Bern, was
+identified, for instance, with Donar or Thunor (Thor), the thunder
+god. In Scotland Finn and his followers are all giants. Diarmid is the
+patriarch of the Campbell clan, the MacDiarmids being "sons of
+Diarmid".
+
+[114] Isaiah condemns a magical custom connected with the worship of Tammuz
+in the garden, _Isaiah_, xvii, 9, 11. This "Garden of Adonis" is dealt
+with in the next chapter.
+
+[115] Quotations are from _Sumerian and Babylonian Psalms_, translated by
+Stephen Langdon, Ph.D. (Paris and London, 1909), pp. 299-341.
+
+[116] _Beowulf_, translated by J.R. Clark Hall (London, 1911), pp. 9-11.
+
+[117] For Frey's connection with the Ynglings see Morris and Magnusson's
+_Heimskringla_ (_Saga Library_, vol. iii), pp. 23-71.
+
+[118] _The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria_, p. 72.
+
+[119] Langdon's _Sumerian and Babylonian Psalms_, pp. 325, 339.
+
+[120] Professor Oldenberg's translation.
+
+[121] Osiris is also invoked to "remove storms and rain and give fecundity
+in the nighttime". As a spring sun god he slays demons; as a lunar god
+he brings fertility.
+
+[122] Like the love-compelling girdle of Aphrodite.
+
+[123] A wedding bracelet of crystal is worn by Hindu women; they break it
+when the husband dies.
+
+[124] Quotations from the translation in _The Chaldean Account of Genesis_,
+by George Smith.
+
+[125] Langdon's _Sumerian and Babylonian Psalms_, p. 329 _et seq._
+
+[126] _The Burden of Isis_, translated by J.T. Dennis (_Wisdom of the East_
+series), pp. 24, 31, 32, 39, 45, 46, 49.
+
+[127] _The Burden of Isis_, pp. 22, 46.
+
+[128] _Aspects of Religious Belief and Practice in Babylonia and Assyria_,
+p. 137, and _Herodotus_, book i, 199.
+
+[129] _The Burden of Isis_, p. 47.
+
+[130] _Original Sanskrit Texts_, J. Muir, London, 1890, vol. i, p. 67.
+
+[131] _Original Sanskrit Texts_, vol. i, p. 44.
+
+[132] _Adi Parva_ section of _Mah�bh�rata_ (Roy's translation), pp. 553,
+555.
+
+[133] _Ancient Irish Poetry_, Kuno Meyer (London, 1911), pp. 88-90.
+
+[134] Translations from _The Elder Edda_, by O. Bray (part i), London, 1908.
+
+[135] _Babylonian Religion_, L.W. King, pp. 160, 161.
+
+[136] Tennyson's _A Dream of Fair Women._
+
+[137] _Greece and Babylon_, L.R. Farnell (Edinburgh, 1911), p. 35.
+
+[138] The goddesses did not become prominent until the "late invasion" of
+the post-Vedic Aryans.
+
+[139] _Greece and Babylon_, p. 96.
+
+[140] _Jeremiah_, xliv.
+
+[141] _Jeremiah, vii, 18._
+
+[142] _Aspects of Religious Belief and Practice in Babylonia and Assyria_,
+pp. 348, 349.
+
+[143] _Jeremiah, vii, 17._
+
+[144] _Nehemiah_, i, 1.
+
+[145] _Esther_, i, 6.
+
+[146] _Isaiah_, xiii, 19-22.
+
+[147] _Indian Myth and Legend_, pp. 173-175 and 192-194.
+
+[148] Or Rimush.
+
+[149] _Genesis_, xiv.
+
+[150] That is, the equivalent of Babylonia. During the Kassite period the
+name was Karduniash.
+
+[151] The narrative follows _The Seven Tablets of Creation_ and other
+fragments, while the account given by Berosus is also drawn upon.
+
+[152] The elder Bel was Enlil of Nippur and the younger Merodach of Babylon.
+According to Damascius the elder Bel came into existence before Ea,
+who as Enki shared his attributes.
+
+[153] This is the inference drawn from fragmentary texts.
+
+[154] A large portion of the narrative is awaiting here.
+
+[155] A title of Tiamat; pron. _ch_ guttural.
+
+[156] There is another gap here which interrupts the narrative.
+
+[157] This may refer to Ea's first visit when he overcame Kingu, but did not
+attack Tiamat.
+
+[158] The lightning trident or thunderstone.
+
+[159] The authorities are not agreed as to the meaning of "Ku-pu." Jensen
+suggests "trunk, body". In European dragon stories the heroes of the
+Siegfried order roast and eat the dragon's heart. Then they are
+inspired with the dragon's wisdom and cunning. Sigurd and Siegfried
+immediately acquire the language of birds. The birds are the "Fates",
+and direct the heroes what next they should do. Apparently Merodach's
+"cunning plan" was inspired after he had eaten a part of the body of
+Tiamat.
+
+[160] The waters above the firmament.
+
+[161] According to Berosus.
+
+[162] This portion is fragmentary and seems to indicate that the Babylonians
+had made considerable progress in the science of astronomy. It is
+suggested that they knew that the moon derived its light from the sun.
+
+[163] _The Seven Tablets of Creation_, L.W. King, pp. 134, 135.
+
+[164] _The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria_, T.G. Pinches, p. 43.
+
+[165] _The Seven Tablets of Creation_, L. W. King, vol. i, pp. 98, 99.
+
+[166] _Trans. Soc. Bib. Arch_., iv, 251-2.
+
+[167] Shakespeare's _Julius Caesar_, i, 3, 8.
+
+[168] _Isaiah_, li, 8.
+
+[169] Campbell's _West Highland Tales_, pp. 136 _et seq._
+
+[170] _The Life and Exploits of Alexander the Great_, E. A. Wallis Budge,
+pp. 284, 285.
+
+[171] Campbell's _West Highland Tales_.
+
+[172] _Nehemiah_, ii, 13.
+
+[173] _The Tempest_, i, 2, 212.
+
+[174] _Waifs and Strays of Celtic Tradition_, vol. iv, p. 176 et seq.
+
+[175] From unpublished folk tale.
+
+[176] _Beowulf_, translated by Clark Hall, London, 1911, p. 18 et seq.
+
+[177] _Beowulf_, translated by Clark Hall, London, 1911, p. 69, lines
+1280-1287.
+
+[178] _Egyptian Myth and Legend_, pp. 260, 261.
+
+[179] _Egyptian Myth and Legend_, pp. 8, 9.
+
+[180] _Indian Myth and Legend_, pp. xli, 149, 150.
+
+[181] _Isaiah_, li, 9.
+
+[182] _Psalms_, lxxiv, 13, 14. It will be noted that the Semitic dragon,
+like the Egyptian, is a male.
+
+[183] _Job_, xxvi, 12, 13.
+
+[184] _Psalms_, lxxxix, 10.
+
+[185] _Isaiah_, xxvii, I.
+
+[186] _Sumerian and Babylonian Psalms_, p. 204.
+
+[187] _Custom and Myth_, pp. 45 et seq.
+
+[188] Translation by Dr. Langdon, pp. 199 _et seq._
+
+[189] _The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria_, T.G. Pinches, pp. 118, 119.
+
+[190] It is suggested that Arthur is derived from the Celtic word for
+"bear". If so, the bear may have been the "totem" of the Arthur tribe
+represented by the Scottish clan of MacArthurs.
+
+[191] See "Lady in the Straw" beliefs in _Brand's Popular Antiquities_, vol.
+ii, 66 _et seq._ 1899 ed.).
+
+[192] Like the Etana "mother eagle" Garuda was a slayer of serpents (Chapter
+III).
+
+[193] _Vana Parva_ section of the _Mah�bh�rata_ (Roy's trans.), p. 818 _et
+seq._, and _Indian Myth and Legend_, p. 413.
+
+[194] _The Koran_ (with notes from approved commentators), trans. by George
+Sale, P-246, _n_.
+
+[195] _The Life and Exploits of Alexander the Great_, E. Wallis Budge
+(London, 1896), pp. 277-8, 474-5.
+
+[196] Campbell's _West Highland Tales_, vol. iii, pp. 251-4 (1892 ed.).
+
+[197] _Religion of the Ancient Egyptians_, A. Wiedemann, p. 141.
+
+[198] _Adi Parva_ section of the _Mah�bh�rata_ (Hymn to Garuda), Roy's
+trans., p. 88, 89.
+
+[199] Herodian, iv, 2.
+
+[200] The image made by Nebuchadnezzar is of interest in this connection. He
+decreed that "whoso falleth not down and worshippeth" should be burned
+in the "fiery furnace". The Hebrews, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego,
+were accordingly thrown into the fire, but were delivered by God.
+_Daniel_, iii, 1-30.
+
+[201] The Assyrian and Phoenician Hercules is discussed by Raoul Rochette in
+_M�moires de l'Acad�mie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres_ (Paris,
+1848), pp. 178 et seq.
+
+[202] G. Sale's _Koran_, p. 246, n.
+
+[203] In the Eddic poem "Lokasenna" the god Byggvir (Barley) is addressed by
+Loki, "Silence, Barleycorn!" _The Elder Edda_, translation by Olive
+Bray, pp. 262, 263.
+
+[204] _De Nat. Animal_., xii, 21, ed. Didot, p. 210, quoted by Professor
+Budge in _The Life and Exploits of Alexander the Great_, p. 278, n.
+
+[205] _Isaiah_, lvii, 4 and 5.
+
+[206] _The Golden Bough (Adonis, Attis, Osiris_ vol.), "The Gardens of
+Adonis", pp. 194 _et seq._ (3rd ed.).
+
+[207] _Daniel_, iv, 33. It is possible that Nebuchadnezzar, as the human
+representative of the god of corn and fertility, imitated the god by
+living a time in the wilds like Ea-bani.
+
+[208] Pronounce _ch_ guttural.
+
+[209] On a cylinder seal the heroes each wrestle with a bull.
+
+[210] Alexander the Great in the course of his mythical travels reached a
+mountain at the world-end. "Its peak reached to the first heaven and
+its base to the seventh earth."--_Budge_.
+
+[211] Jastrow's trans., _Aspects of Religious Belief and Practice in
+Babylonia and Assyria_, p. 374.
+
+[212] _Development of Religion and Thought in Ancient Egypt_ (1912), J.H.
+Breasted, pp. 183-5.
+
+[213] _Ecclesiastes_, ix, 7-9.
+
+[214] Ibid., xii, 13.
+
+[215] Perhaps brooding and undergoing penance like an Indian Rishi with
+purpose to obtain spiritual power.
+
+[216] Probably to perform the ceremony of pouring out a libation.
+
+[217] _Saxo_, iii, 71.
+
+[218] Ibid., viii, 291.
+
+[219] _The Elder Edda_, O. Bray, pp. 157 et seq. See also _Teutonic Myth and
+Legend_.
+
+[220] _The Life and Exploits of Alexander the Great_, E. Wallis Budge, pp.
+xl et seq., 167 et seq.
+
+[221] _The Koran_, trans, by G. Sale, pp. 222, 223 (chap. xviii).
+
+[222] _Vana Parva_ section of the _Mah�bh�rata_ (Roy's trans.), pp. 435-60,
+and _Indian Myth and Legend_, pp. 105-9.
+
+[223] _Vana Parva_ section of the _Mah�bh�rata_ (Roy's translation), pp.
+832, 833.
+
+[224] Ea addresses the hut in which his human favourite, Pir-napishtim,
+slept. His message was conveyed to this man in a dream.
+
+[225] The second sentence of Ea's speech is conjectural, as the lines are
+mutilated.
+
+[226] _The Muses' Pageant_, W.M.L. Hutchinson, pp. 5 _et seq._
+
+[227] _Indian Myth and Legend_, pp. 107 _et seq._
+
+[228] _Vana Parva_ section of the _Mah�bh�rata_ (Roy's trans.), p. 425.
+
+[229] _Indian Myth and Legend_, p. 141.
+
+[230] _Book of Leinster_, and Keating's _History of Ireland_, p. 150 (1811
+ed.).
+
+[231] _Religion of the Ancient Egyptians_, A. Wiedemann, pp. 58 _et seq._
+
+[232] Pinches' _The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria_, p. 42.
+
+[233] The problems involved are discussed from different points of view by
+Mr. L.W. King in _Babylonian Religion_ (Books on Egypt and Chaldaea,
+vol. iv), Professor Pinches in _The Old Testament in the Light of the
+Historical Records and Legends of Assyria and Babylonia_, and other
+vols.
+
+[234] _Primitive Constellations_, vol. i, pp. 334-5.
+
+[235] _Indian Myth and Legend_, chap. iii.
+
+[236] Professor Macdonell's translation.
+
+[237] _Indian Wisdom_.
+
+[238] "Varuna, the deity bearing the noose as his weapon", _Sabha Parva_
+section of the _Mah�bh�rata_ (Roy's trans.), p. 29.
+
+[239] _Indian Myth and Legend_, pp. 38-42.
+
+[240] _Early Religious Poetry of Persia_, J.H. Moulton, pp. 41 _et seq._ and
+154 _et seq._
+
+[241] _The Elder Edda_, O. Bray, p. 55.
+
+[242] _The Elder Edda_, O. Bray, pp. 291 _et seq._
+
+[243] _Celtic Myth and Legend_, pp. 133 _et seq._
+
+[244] Tennyson's _The Passing of Arthur_.
+
+[245] _Job_, x, 1-22.
+
+[246] _The Elder Edda_, O. Bray, pp. 150-1.
+
+[247] _Indian Myth and Legend_, p. 326.
+
+[248] _The Religion of Ancient Rome_, Cyril Bailey, p. 50.
+
+[249] _The Life and Exploits of Alexander the Great (Ethiopic version of the
+Pseudo Callisthenes)_, pp. 133-4. The conversation possibly never took
+place, but it is of interest in so far as it reflects beliefs which
+were familiar to the author of this ancient work. His Brahmans
+evidently believed that immortality was denied to ordinary men, and
+reserved only for the king, who was the representative of the deity,
+of course.
+
+[250] _Aspects of Religious Belief and Practice in Babylonia and Assyria_,
+Morris Jastrow, pp. 358-9.
+
+[251] The _Mah�bh�rata_ (_Sabha Parva_ section), Roy's translation, pp.
+25-7.
+
+[252] _A History of Sumer and Akkad_, L.W. King, pp. 181-2.
+
+[253] _Genesis_, xxxv, 2-4.
+
+[254] _The Religion of Ancient Egypt_, W.M. Flinders Petrie, p. 72.
+
+[255] _Sabha Parva_ section of the _Mah�bh�rata_ (Roy's trans.), p. 29.
+
+[256] _Egyptian Myth and Legend_, p. 214.
+
+[257] Canto iv:--
+
+[258] _1 Samuel_, xxiii, 9-11.
+
+[259] _1 Kings_, xix, 19 and _2 Kings_, ii, 13-15.
+
+[260] _The Burial Customs of Ancient Egypt_, John Garstang, pp. 28, 29
+(London, 1907).
+
+[261] _Herod._, book i, 198.
+
+[262] _Records of the Past_ (old series), xi, pp. 109 et seq., and (new
+series), vol. i, pp. 149 et seq.
+
+[263] L.W. King's _The Seven Tablets of Creation_.
+
+[264] _Herodotus_, book i, 179 (Rawlinson's translation).
+
+[265] _Isaiah_, xlv, 1, 2.
+
+[266] _Herodotus_, book i, 181-3 (Rawlinson's translation).
+
+[267] _History of Sumer and Akkad_, L.W. King, p. 37.
+
+[268] _Herodotus_, book i, 196 (Rawlinson's translation).
+
+[269] _Home Life of the Highlanders_ (Dr. Cameron Gillies on _Medical
+Knowledge_,) pp. 85 _et seq._ Glasgow, 1911.
+
+[270] Translations by R.C. Thompson in _The Devils and Spirits of Babylon_,
+vol. i, pp. lxiii _et seq._
+
+[271] Bridges which lead to graveyards.
+
+[272] _Genesis_, xii and xiii.
+
+[273] _Genesis_, xiv, 13.
+
+[274] _Ibid_., xxiii.
+
+[275] _Ezekiel_, xvi, 3.
+
+[276] _Genesis_, xiv, 1-4.
+
+[277] _Ibid_., 5-24.
+
+[278] _Babylonian and Assyrian Laws, Contracts, and Letters_, C.H.W. Johns,
+pp. 392 _et seq._
+
+[279] Translation by Johns in _Babylonian and Assyrian Laws, Contracts, and
+Letters_, pp. 390 _et seq._
+
+[280] _Matthew_, ix, 37.
+
+[281] Johns's _Babylonian and Assyrian Laws, &c._, pp. 371-2.
+
+[282] _The Land of the Hittites_, John Garstang, pp. 312 _et seq._ and 315
+_et seq._
+
+[283] _The Ancient Egyptian_, pp. 106 _et seq._
+
+[284] _The Ancient Egyptians_, p. 130.
+
+[285] _Struggle of the Nations_ (1896), p. 19.
+
+[286] Note contributed to _The Land of the Hittites_, J. Garstang, p. 324.
+
+[287] _Genesis_, xxvi, 34, 35.
+
+[288] _Ezekiel_, xvi, 45.
+
+[289] _Genesis_, xxvii, 46.
+
+[290] _Genesis_, xxviii, 1, 2.
+
+[291] _Genesis_, xxiv.
+
+[292] _The Syrian Goddess_, John Garstang (London, 1913), pp. 17-8.
+
+[293] _Vedic Index of Names and Subjects_, Macdonald & Keith, vol. i, pp.
+64-5 (London, 1912).
+
+[294] _The Wanderings of Peoples_, p. 21.
+
+[295] Breasted's _History of Egypt_, pp. 219-20.
+
+[296] _A History of Egypt_, W.M. Flinders Petrie, vol. ii, p. 146 _et seq._
+(1904 ed.).
+
+[297] _A History of Egypt_, W.M. Flinders Petrie, vol. ii, p. 147 (1904
+ed.).
+
+[298] _The Old Testament in the Light of the Historical Records and Legends
+of Assyria and Babylonia_, pp. 126 _et seq._
+
+[299] His connection with Anu is discussed in chapter xiv.
+
+[300] _Ancient Assyria_, C.H.W. Johns, p. 11 (London, 1912).
+
+[301] _The Tell-el-Amarna Letters_, Hugo Winckler, p. 31.
+
+[302] "It may be worth while to note again", says Beddoe, "how often finely
+developed skulls are discovered in the graveyards of old monasteries,
+and how likely seems Galton's conjecture, that progress was arrested
+in the Middle Ages, because the celibacy of the clergy brought about
+the extinction of the best strains of blood." _The Anthropological
+History of Europe_, p. 161 (1912).
+
+[303] _Census of India_, vol. I, part i, pp. 352 et seq.
+
+[304] _Hibbert Lectures_, Professor Sayce, p. 328.
+
+[305] _The Story of Nala_, Monier Williams, pp. 68-9 and 77.
+
+[306] "In Ymer's flesh (the earth) the dwarfs were engendered and began to
+move and live.... The dwarfs had been bred in the mould of the earth,
+just as worms are in a dead body." _The Prose Edda_. "The gods ...
+took counsel whom they should make the lord of dwarfs out of Ymer's
+blood (the sea) and his swarthy limbs (the earth)." _The Elder Edda
+(Voluspa_, stanza 9).
+
+[307] _The Story of Nala_, Monier Williams, p. 67.
+
+[308] _Egyptian Myth and Legend_, pp. 168 _it seq._
+
+[309] _The Burden of Isis_, Dennis, p. 24.
+
+[310] _Babylonian Magic and Sorcery_, p. 117.
+
+[311] _Babylonian and Assyrian Religion_, T.G. Pinches, p. l00.
+
+[312] _The Burden of Isis_, J.T. Dennis, p. 49.
+
+[313] _Ibid_., p. 52.
+
+[314] _Religion of the Ancient Egyptians_, A. Wiedemann, p. 30.
+
+[315] _Vedic Index_, Macdonell & Keith, vol. i, pp. 423 _et seq._
+
+[316] _Religion of the Ancient Babylonians_, Sayce, p. 153, n. 6.
+
+[317] _Religion of the Ancient Egyptians_, A. Wiedemann, p. 30.
+
+[318] _Aspects of Religious Belief and Practice in Babylonia and Assyria_,
+p. 95.
+
+[319] _Babylonian and Assyrian Religion_, pp. 63 and 83.
+
+[320] When the King of Assyria transported the Babylonians, &c., to Samaria
+"the men of Cuth made Nergal", _2 Kings_, xvii, 30.
+
+[321] _Babylonian and Assyrian Religion_, p. 80.
+
+[322] _Indian Myth and Legend_, p. 13.
+
+[323] Derived from the Greek zoon, an animal.
+
+[324] _The Hittites_, pp. 116, 119, 120, 272.
+
+[325] "The sun... is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and
+rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race." (_Psalm_ xix, 4 _et seq._)
+The marriage of the sun bridegroom with the moon bride appears to
+occur in Hittite mythology. In Aryo-Indian Vedic mythology the bride
+of the sun (Surya) is Ushas, the Dawn. The sun maiden also married the
+moon god. The Vedic gods ran a race and Indra and Agni were the
+winners. The sun was "of the nature of Agni". _Indian Myth and
+Legend_, pp. 14, 36, 37.
+
+[326] Or golden.
+
+[327] The later reference is to Assyria. There was no Assyrian kingdom when
+these early beliefs were developed.
+
+[328] _Primitive Constellations_, R. Brown, jun., vol. ii, p. 1 _et seq._
+
+[329] In India "finger counting" (Kaur guna) is associated with prayer or
+the repeating of mantras. The counting is performed by the thumb,
+which, when the hand is drawn up, touches the upper part of the third
+finger. The two upper "chambers" of the third finger are counted, then
+the two upper "chambers" of the little finger; the thumb then touches
+the tip of each finger from the little finger to the first; when it
+comes down into the upper chamber of the first finger 9 is counted. By
+a similar process each round of 9 on the right hand is recorded by the
+left up to 12; 12 X 9 = 108 repetitions of a mantra. The upper
+"chambers" of the fingers are the "best" or "highest" (uttama), the
+lower (adhama) chambers are not utilized in the prayer-counting
+process. When Hindus sit cross-legged at prayers, with closed eyes,
+the right hand is raised from the elbow in front of the body, and the
+thumb moves each time a mantra is repeated; the left hand lies palm
+upward on the left knee, and the thumb moves each time nine mantras
+have been counted.
+
+[330] _Primitive Constellations_, R. Brown, jun., vol. ii, p. 61; and _Early
+History of Northern India_, J.F. Hewitt, pp. 551-2.
+
+[331] _Rigveda-Samhita_, vol. iv (1892), p. 67.
+
+[332] _Vedic Index_, Macdonell & Keith, vol. ii, pp. 192 _et seq._
+
+[333] _Indian Myth and Legend_
+
+[334] Pp. 107 _et seq._
+
+[335] _Primitive Constellation_, R. Brown, jun., vol. i, 1. 333. A table is
+given showing how 120 saroi equals 360 degrees, each king being
+identified with a star.
+
+[336] "Behold, his majesty the god Ra is grown old; his bones are become
+silver, his limbs gold, and his hair pure lapis lazuli." _Religion of
+the Ancient Egyptians_, A. Wiedemann, p. 58. Ra became a destroyer
+after completing his reign as an earthly king.
+
+[337] As Nin-Girau, Tammuz was associated with "sevenfold" Orion.
+
+[338] _Babylonian and Assyrian Life_, pp. 61, 62.
+
+[339] Herodotus (ii, 52) as quoted in _Egypt and Scythia_ (London, 1886), p.
+49.
+
+[340] _Babylonian Magic and Sorcery_, L.W. King (London, 1896), pp. 43 and
+115.
+
+[341] _Vedic Index_, Macdonell & Keith, vol. ii, p. 229.
+
+[342] _Ibid_ vol. i, pp. 409, 410.
+
+[343] _Ibid_ vol. i, p. 415.
+
+[344] _Primitive Constellations_, vol. i, p. 343.
+
+[345] _Custom and Myth_, pp. 133 _et seq._
+
+[346] Dr. Alfred Jeremias gives very forcible reasons for believing that the
+ancient Babylonians were acquainted with the precession of the
+equinoxes. _Das Alter der Babylonischen Astronomie_ (Hinrichs,
+Leipzig, 1908), pp. 47 _et seq._
+
+[347] _Aspects of Religious Belief and Practice in Babylonia and Assyria_,
+pp. 207 _et seq._
+
+[348] _A History of the Babylonians and Assyrians_, p. 93.
+
+[349] _Babylonians and Assyrians: Life and Customs_, pp. 219, 220.
+
+[350] _Primitive Constellations_, vol. ii, pp. 147 et seq.
+
+[351] The Aryo-Indians had a lunar year of 360 days (_Vedic Index_, ii,
+158).
+
+[352] _A History of the Babylonians and Assyrians_, p. 94.
+
+[353] _Twelfth Night_, act ii, scene 5.
+
+[354] _Childe Harold_, canto iii, v, 88.
+
+[355] _Genesis_, x, 11.
+
+[356] "A number of tablets have been found in Cappadocia of the time of the
+Second Dynasty of Ur which show marked affinities with Assyria. The
+divine name Ashir, as in early Assyrian texts, the institution of
+eponyms and many personal names which occur in Assyria, are so
+characteristic that we must assume kinship of peoples. But whether
+they witness to a settlement in Cappadocia from Assyria, or vice
+versa, is not yet clear." _Ancient Assyria_, C.H.W. Johns (Cambridge,
+1912), pp. 12-13.
+
+[357] Sumerian Ziku, apparently derived from Zi, the spiritual essence of
+life, the "self power" of the Universe.
+
+[358] _Peri Archon_, cxxv.
+
+[359] _Religion of Babylonia and Assyria_, p. 197 et seq.
+
+[360] _Julius Caesar_, act iii, scene I.
+
+[361] _Isaiah_, xiv, 4-14.
+
+[362] _Eddubrott_, ii.
+
+[363] _Religion of the Ancient Egyptians_, A. Wiedemann, pp. 289-90.
+
+[364] _Ibid_., p. 236. Atlas was also believed to be in the west.
+
+[365] _Primitive Constellations_, vol. ii, p. 184.
+
+[366] _Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia_, xxx, II.
+
+[367] _Isaiah_, xiii, 21. For "Satyrs" the Revised Version gives the
+alternative translation, "or he-goats".
+
+[368] _Aspects of Religious Belief and Practice in Babylonia and Assyria_,
+p. 120, plate 18 and note.
+
+[369] _Satapatha Brahmana_, translated by Professor Eggeling, part iv, 1897,
+p. 371. _(Sacred Books of the East_.)
+
+[370] _Egyptian Myth and Legend_, pp. 165 et seq.
+
+[371] _Classic Myth and Legend_, p. 105. The birds were called
+"Stymphalides".
+
+[372] The so-called "shuttle" of Neith may be a thunderbolt. Scotland's
+archaic thunder deity is a goddess. The bow and arrows suggest a
+lightning goddess who was a deity of war because she was a deity of
+fertility.
+
+[373] _Vedic Index_, Macdonell & Keith, vol. ii, pp. 125-6, and vol. i,
+168-9.
+
+[374] _Ezekiel_, xxxi, 3-8.
+
+[375] _Ezekiel_, xxvii, 23, 24.
+
+[376] _Isaiah_, xxxvii, 11.
+
+[377] _Ibid_., x, 5, 6.
+
+[378] A winged human figure, carrying in one hand a basket and in another a
+fir cone.
+
+[379] Layard's _Nineveh_ (1856), p. 44.
+
+[380] _Ibid_., p. 309.
+
+[381] The fir cone was offered to Attis and Mithra. Its association with
+Ashur suggests that the great Assyrian deity resembled the gods of
+corn and trees and fertility.
+
+[382] _Nineveh_, p. 47.
+
+[383] _Isaiah_, xxxvii, 37-8.
+
+[384] _The Old Testament in the Light of the Historical Records and Legends
+of Assyria and Babylonia_, pp. 129-30.
+
+[385] An eclipse of the sun in Assyria on June 15, 763 B.C., was followed by
+an outbreak of civil war.
+
+[386] _Ezekiel_, i, 4-14.
+
+[387] _Ezekiel_, xxiii, 1-15.
+
+[388] As the soul of the Egyptian god was in the sun disk or sun egg.
+
+[389] _Ezekiel_, i, 15-28.
+
+[390] _Ezekiel_, x, 11-5.
+
+[391] Also called "Amrita".
+
+[392] The _Mahabharata_ (_Adi Parva_), Sections xxxiii-iv.
+
+[393] Another way of spelling the Turkish name which signifies "village of
+the pass". The deep "gh" guttural is not usually attempted by English
+speakers. A common rendering is "Bog-haz' Kay-ee", a slight "oo" sound
+being given to the "a" in "Kay"; the "z" sound is hard and hissing.
+
+[394] _The Land of the Hittites_, J. Garstang, pp. 178 _et seq._
+
+[395] _Ibid_., p. 173.
+
+[396] _Adonis, Attis, Osiris_, chaps. v and vi.
+
+[397] _Daniel_, iii, 1-26.
+
+[398] The story that Abraham hung an axe round the neck of Baal after
+destroying the other idols is of Jewish origin.
+
+[399] _The Koran_, George Sale, pp. 245-6.
+
+[400] _Isaiah_, xxx, 31-3. See also for Tophet customs _2 Kings_, xxiii, 10;
+_Jeremiah_, vii, 31, 32 and xix, 5-12.
+
+[401] _1 Kings_, xvi, 18.
+
+[402] _1 Samuel_, xxxi, 12, 13 and _1 Chronicles_, x, 11, 12.
+
+[403] _The Old Testament in the Light of the Historical Records and Legends
+of Assyria and Babylonia_, pp. 201-2.
+
+[404] _Babylonian and Assyrian Religion_, pp. 57-8.
+
+[405] _Aspects of Religious Belief and Practice in Babylonia and Assyria_,
+p. 121.
+
+[406] _Babylonian and Assyrian Religion_, p. 86.
+
+[407] At Carchemish a railway bridge spans the mile-wide river ferry which
+Assyria's soldiers were wont to cross with the aid of skin floats. The
+engineers have found it possible to utilize a Hittite river wall about
+3000 years old--the oldest engineering structure in the world. The
+ferry was on the old trade route.
+
+[408] _Deuteronomy_, xxvi, 5
+
+[409] Pr. _u_ as _oo_.
+
+[410] The chief cities of North Syria were prior to this period Hittite.
+This expansion did not change the civilization but extended the area
+of occupation and control.
+
+[411] Garstang's _The Land of the Hittites_, p. 349.
+
+[412] "Burgh of Tukulti-Ninip."
+
+[413] Article "Celts" in _Encyclopaedia Britannica_, eleventh ed.
+
+[414] _The Wanderings of Peoples_, p. 41.
+
+[415] _Crete, the Forerunner of Greece_, p. 146.
+
+[416] Pr. Moosh�kee.
+
+[417] "Have I not brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt and the
+Philistines from Caphtor (Crete)?" _Amos_, viii, 7.
+
+[418] _A History of Civilization in Palestine_, p. 58.
+
+[419] Pinches' translation.
+
+[420] _I Samuel_, xiii, 19.
+
+[421] _A History of Civilization in Palestine_, p. 54.
+
+[422] _1 Kings_, iii, 1.
+
+[423] _Ibid_., ix, 16.
+
+[424] _1 Kings_, v, 1-12.
+
+[425] _Ibid_., vii, 14 _et seq._
+
+[426] _Ibid_., x, 22-3.
+
+[427] _Indian Myth and Legend_, pp. 83-4.
+
+[428] _Finn and His Warrior Band_, pp. 245 _et seq._ (London, 1911).
+
+[429] Also rendered Ashur-na'sir-pal.
+
+[430] _A History of the Babylonians and Assyrians_, G.S. Goodspeed, p. 197.
+
+[431] _Discoveries at Nineveh_, Sir A.H. Layard (London, 1856), pp. 55, 56.
+
+[432] "Thou art beautiful, O my love, as Tirzah, comely as Jerusalem."
+_Solomon's Song_, vi, 4.
+
+[433] _2 Chronicles_, xii, 15.
+
+[434] _1 Kings_, xiv, 1-20.
+
+[435] _Ibid._, 21-3.
+
+[436] _2 Chronicles_, xii, 1-12.
+
+[437] _2 Chronicles_, xiii, 1-20.
+
+[438] _Ibid._, xiv, 1-6.
+
+[439] _1 Kings_, xv, 25-6.
+
+[440] _1 Kings_, xv, 16-7.
+
+[441] _Ibid._, 18-9.
+
+[442] _Ibid._, 20-2.
+
+[443] _1 Kings_, xvi, 9-10.
+
+[444] _Ibid._, 15-8.
+
+[445] _Ibid._, 21-2.
+
+[446] _Micah_, vi, 16.
+
+[447] _1 Kings_, xvi, 29-33.
+
+[448] _Ibid._, xviii, 1-4.
+
+[449] _1 Kings_, xx.
+
+[450] _Ibid._, xxii, 43.
+
+[451] _2 Chronicles_, xviii, 1-2.
+
+[452] _1 Kings_, xxii and _2 Chronicles_, xviii.
+
+[453] _1 Kings_, xxii, 48-9.
+
+[454] _1 Kings_, viii.
+
+[455] _2 Kings_, ix and _2 Chronicles_, xxii.
+
+[456] _2 Kings_, viii, 1-15.
+
+[457] _The Old Testament in the Light of the Historical Records and Legends
+of Assyria and Babylonia_, pp. 337 _et seq._
+
+[458] _2 Kings_, x, 32-3.
+
+[459] _Ibid._, 1-31.
+
+[460] _2 Kings_, xi, 1-3.
+
+[461] _2 Chronicles_, xxii, 10-12.
+
+[462] _2 Chronicles_, xxiii, 1-17.
+
+[463] _2 Kings_, xiii, 1-5.
+
+[464] _The Land of the Hittites_, J. Garstang, p. 354.
+
+[465] _The Old Testament in the Light of the Historical Records and Legends
+of Assyria and Babylonia_, T.G. Pinches, p. 343.
+
+[466] _Nat. Hist_., v, 19 and _Strabo_ xvi, 1-27.
+
+[467] _The Mahabharata_: _Adi Parva_, sections lxxi and lxxii (Roy's
+translation, pp. 213 216, and _Indian Myth and Legend_, pp. 157 _et
+seq._
+
+[468] That is, without ceremony but with consent.
+
+[469] _The Golden Bough_ (_The Scapegoat_), pp. 369 _et seq._, (3rd
+edition). Perhaps the mythic Semiramis and legends connected were in
+existence long before the historic Sammu-rammat, though the two got
+mixed up.
+
+[470] _Herodotus_, i, 184.
+
+[471] _De dea Syria_, 9-14.
+
+[472] _Strabo_, xvi, 1, 2.
+
+[473] _Diodorus Siculus_, ii, 3.
+
+[474] _Herodotus_, i, 105.
+
+[475] _Diodorus Siculus_, ii, 4.
+
+[476] _De dea Syria_, 14.
+
+[477] This little bird allied to the woodpecker twists its neck strangely
+when alarmed. It may have symbolized the coquettishness of fair
+maidens. As love goddesses were "Fates", however, the wryneck may have
+been connected with the belief that the perpetrator of a murder, or a
+death spell, could be detected when he approached his victim's corpse.
+If there was no wound to "bleed afresh", the "death thraw" (the
+contortions of death) might indicate who the criminal was. In a
+Scottish ballad regarding a lady, who was murdered by her lover, the
+verse occurs:
+
+[478] Langdon's _Sumerian and Babylonian Psalms_, pp. 133, 135.
+
+[479] Introduction to Lane's _Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians._
+
+[480] Tammuz is referred to in a Sumerian psalm as "him of the dovelike
+voice, yea, dovelike". He may have had a dove form. Angus, the Celtic
+god of spring, love, and fertility, had a swan form; he also had his
+seasonal period of sleep like Tammuz.
+
+[481] Campbell's _Superstitions of the Scottish Highlands_, p. 288.
+
+[482] _Indian Myth and Legend_, p. 95.
+
+[483] _Ibid_., pp. 329-30.
+
+[484] _Crete, the Forerunner of Greece_, C.H. and H.B. Hawes, p. 139
+
+[485] _The Discoveries in Crete_, pp. 137-8.
+
+[486] _Religion of the Semites_, p. 294.
+
+[487] _Egyptian Myth and Legend_, p. 59.
+
+[488] Including the goose, one of the forms of the harvest goddess.
+
+[489] _Brand's Popular Antiquities_, vol. ii, 230-1 and vol. iii, 232 (1899
+ed.).
+
+[490] _Ibid_., vol. iii, 217. The myrtle was used for love charms.
+
+[491] _The Golden Bough_ (_Spirits of the Corn and of the Wild_), vol. ii,
+p. 293 (3rd ed.).
+
+[492] _Herodotus_, ii, 69, 71, and 77.
+
+[493] _Brand's Popular Antiquities_, vol. iii, p. 227.
+
+[494] Cited by Professor Burrows in _The Discoveries in Crete_, p. 134.
+
+[495] Like the Egyptian Horus, Nebo had many phases: he was connected with
+the sun and moon, the planet Mercury, water and crops; he was young
+and yet old--a mystical god.
+
+[496] _Aspects of Religious Belief and Practice in Babylonia and Assyria_,
+pp. 94 _et seq._
+
+[497] _Babylonian Magic and Sorcery_, L.W. King, pp. 6-7 and 26-7.
+
+[498] _2 Kings_, xiii, 3.
+
+[499] _2 Kings_, xiii, 14-25.
+
+[500] _3 Kings_, xiii, 5, 6.
+
+[501] The masses of the Urartian folk appear to have been of Hatti
+stock--"broad heads", like their descendants, the modern Armenians.
+
+[502] It is uncertain whether this city or Kullani in north Syria it the
+Biblical Calno. _Isaiah_, x, 9.
+
+[503] _2 Kings_, xv, 19 and 29; _2 Chronicles_, xxviii, 20.
+
+[504] _2 Kings_, xviii, 34 and xix, 13.
+
+[505] _2 Kings_, xiv, 1-14.
+
+[506] _2 Kings_, xv, 1-14.
+
+[507] _2 Kings_, xv, 19, 20.
+
+[508] _2 Kings_, xv, 25.
+
+[509] _Amos_, v.
+
+[510] _Amos_, i.
+
+[511] _2 Kings_, xvi, 5.
+
+[512] _Isaiah_, vii, 3-7.
+
+[513] _2 Kings_, xv, 3.
+
+[514] _Isaiah_, vii, 18.
+
+[515] Kir was probably on the borders of Elam.
+
+[516] _2 Kings_, xvi, 7-9.
+
+[517] _2 Kings_, xv, 29, 30.
+
+[518] _2 Kings_, xvi, 10.
+
+[519] In the Hebrew text this monarch is called Sua, Seveh, and So, says
+Maspero. The Assyrian texts refer to him as Sebek, Shibahi, Shab�, &c.
+He has been identified with Pharaoh Shabaka of the Twenty-fifth
+Egyptian Dynasty; that monarch may have been a petty king before he
+founded his Dynasty. Another theory is that he was Seve, king of
+Mutsri, and still another that he was a petty king of an Egyptian
+state in the Delta and not Shabaka.
+
+[520] _2 Kings_, xvii, 3-5.
+
+[521] _Isaiah_, xx, 1.
+
+[522] _2 Kings_, xvii, 6.
+
+[523] _2 Kings_, xvii, 16-41.
+
+[524] The people carried away would not be the whole of the
+inhabitants--only, one would suppose, the more important personages,
+enough to make up the number 27,290 given above.
+
+[525] _Passing of the Empires_, pp. 200-1.
+
+[526] Those who, like Breasted, identify "Piru of Mutsri" with "Pharaoh of
+Egypt" adopt the view that Bocchoris of Sais paid tribute to Sargon.
+Piru, however, is subsequently referred to with two Arabian kings as
+tribute payers to Sargon apparently after Lower Egypt had come under
+the sway of Shabaka, the first king of the Ethiopian or Twenty-fifth
+Dynasty.
+
+[527] _Isaiah_, xx, 2-5.
+
+[528] Commander-in-chief.
+
+[529] _Isaiah_, xx, 1.
+
+[530] _The Old Testament in the Light of the Historical Records and Legends
+of Assyria and Babylonia_, T.G. Pinches, p. 372.
+
+[531] _Isaiah_, xxxvii, 9.
+
+[532] _Isaiah_, xxix, 1, 2.
+
+[533] _2 Chronicles_, xxxii, 9-17.
+
+[534] _2 Kings_, xix, 6, 7.
+
+[535] _2 Kings_, xix, 35, 36.
+
+[536] Smith-Sayce, _History of Sennacherib_, pp. 132-5.
+
+[537] _A History of Sumer and Akkad_, p. 37.
+
+[538] _Isaiah_, xxxvii, 8-13.
+
+[539] _2 Kings_, xxi, 3-7.
+
+[540] _2 Kings_, xxi, 16.
+
+[541] _Hebrews_, xi, 36, 37.
+
+[542] _2 Chronicles_, xxxiii, 11-3. It may be that Manasseh was taken to
+Babylon during Ashur-bani-pal's reign. See next chapter.
+
+[543] Pronounce _g_ as in _gem_.
+
+[544] _Nahum_, i, ii, and iii.
+
+[545] _Isaiah_, xlvi, 1; xlvii, 1-15.
+
+[546] _Nahum_, iii, 2, 3; ii, 3.
+
+[547] Goodspeed's _A History of the Babylonians and Assyrians_, p. 348.
+
+[548] _Nahum_, iii, 8-11.
+
+[549] Ptolemy's Kineladanus.
+
+[550] _Ezra_, iv, 10.
+
+[551] _Nahum_, iii and ii.
+
+[552] 2 _Kings_, xxiii, 29.
+
+[553] _Ibid._, 33-5.
+
+[554] Nebuchadrezzar is more correct than Nebuchadnezzar.
+
+[555] _2 Kings_, xxiv, 7.
+
+[556] _2 Chronicles_, xxxvi, 6.
+
+[557] _2 Kings_, xxiv, 1.
+
+[558] _2 Kings_, xxiv, 8-15.
+
+[559] _Jeremiah_, lii, 3.
+
+[560] _Jeremiah_, lii, 4-11.
+
+[561] _The Laminations of Jeremiah_, i, 1-7.
+
+[562] _Jeremiah_, lii, 31-4.
+
+[563] _Daniel_, v, I et seq.
+
+[564] _Psalms_, cxxxvii, 1-6.
+
+[565] _Ezra_, i, 1-3.
+
+[566] _Herodotus_, i, 183; _Strabo_, xvi, 1, 5; and _Arrian_, vii, 17.
+
+[567] _Strabo_, xvi, 1-5.
+
+[568] _Isaiah_, xxiiv, 11-4.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Myths of Babylonia and Assyria
+by Donald A. Mackenzie
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+<pre>
+
+Project Gutenberg's Myths of Babylonia and Assyria, by Donald A. Mackenzie
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Myths of Babylonia and Assyria
+
+Author: Donald A. Mackenzie
+
+Release Date: September 5, 2005 [EBook #16653]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MYTHS OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Sami Sieranoja, Tapio Riikonen and PG
+Distributed Proofreaders
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+</pre>
+
+<div class="book" lang="en" xml:lang="en">
+<div class="titlepage">
+<div>
+<div>
+<h1 class="title"><a id="id2407459" name="id2407459"></a>MYTHS OF
+BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA</h1>
+</div>
+<div>
+<div class="author">
+<h3 class="author"><span class="firstname">Donald</span>
+<span class="othername">A.</span> <span class=
+"surname">Mackenzie</span></h3>
+</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+<hr /></div>
+<div class="toc"><b>Table of Contents</b>
+<table class="toc">
+<tr class="preface">
+<td></td>
+<td><a href="#id2452991">Preface</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr class="preface">
+<td></td>
+<td><a href="#id2453309">Introduction</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr class="chapter">
+<td>I</td>
+<td><a href="#id2514776">The Races and Early Civilization of
+Babylonia</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr class="chapter">
+<td>II</td>
+<td><a href="#id2516306">The Land of Rivers and the God of the
+Deep</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr class="chapter">
+<td>III</td>
+<td><a href="#id2517500">Rival Pantheons and Representative
+Deities</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr class="chapter">
+<td>IV</td>
+<td><a href="#id2519057">Demons, Fairies, and Ghosts</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr class="chapter">
+<td>V</td>
+<td><a href="#id2520821">Myths of Tammuz and Ishtar</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr class="chapter">
+<td>VI</td>
+<td><a href="#id2523463">Wars of the City States of Sumer and
+Akkad</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr class="chapter">
+<td>VII</td>
+<td><a href="#id2524978">Creation Legend: Merodach the Dragon
+Slayer</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr class="chapter">
+<td>VIII</td>
+<td><a href="#id2526908">Deified Heroes: Etana and
+Gilgamesh</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr class="chapter">
+<td>IX</td>
+<td><a href="#id2529027">Deluge Legend, the Island of the
+Blessed, and Hades</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr class="chapter">
+<td>X</td>
+<td><a href="#id2531105">Buildings and Laws and Customs of
+Babylon</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr class="chapter">
+<td>XI</td>
+<td><a href="#id2532489">The Golden Age of Babylonia</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr class="chapter">
+<td>XII</td>
+<td><a href="#id2533567">Rise of the Hittites, Mitannians,
+Kassites, Hyksos, and Assyrians</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr class="chapter">
+<td>XIII</td>
+<td><a href="#id2535270">Astrology and Astronomy</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr class="chapter">
+<td>XIV</td>
+<td><a href="#id2538332">Ashur the National God of
+Assyria</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr class="chapter">
+<td>XV</td>
+<td><a href="#id2540528">Conflicts for Trade and
+Supremacy</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr class="chapter">
+<td>XVI</td>
+<td><a href="#id2541617">Race Movements that Shattered
+Empires</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr class="chapter">
+<td>XVII</td>
+<td><a href="#id2543038">The Hebrews in Assyrian History</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr class="chapter">
+<td>XVIII</td>
+<td><a href="#id2544669">The Age of Semiramis</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr class="chapter">
+<td>XIX</td>
+<td><a href="#id2546714">Assyria's Age of Splendour</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr class="chapter">
+<td>XX</td>
+<td><a href="#id2549065">The Last Days of Assyria and
+Babylonia</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr class="index">
+<td></td>
+<td><a href="#id2550638">Index</a></td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+<div class="list-of-figures">
+<p><b>List of Figures</b></p>
+<table class="list-of-figures">
+<tr>
+<td>1.</td>
+<td><a href="#id2453292">TEMPTATION OF THE EA-BANI</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>2.</td>
+<td><a href="#id2514763">BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>I.1.</td>
+<td><a href="#id2514897">EXAMPLES OF RACIAL TYPES</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>I.2.</td>
+<td><a href="#id2514914">STATUE OF A ROYAL PERSONAGE OR OFFICIAL
+OF NON-SEMITIC ORIGIN</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>III.1.</td>
+<td><a href="#id2518436">WORSHIP OF THE MOON GOD</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>III.2.</td>
+<td><a href="#id2518456">WINGED MAN-HEADED LION</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>IV.1.</td>
+<td><a href="#id2520294">TWO FIGURES OF DEMONS</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>IV.2.</td>
+<td><a href="#id2520314">WINGED HUMAN-HEADED COW (?)</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>V.1.</td>
+<td><a href="#id2522188">ISHTAR IN HADES</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>V.2.</td>
+<td><a href="#id2523186">Female figure in adoration before a
+goddess</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>V.3.</td>
+<td><a href="#id2523200">The winged Ishtar above the rising sun
+god, the river god, and other deities</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>V.4.</td>
+<td><a href="#id2523214">Gilgamesh in conflict with bulls (see
+page 176)</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>V.5.</td>
+<td><a href="#id2523350">PLAQUE OF UR-NINA</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>VI.1.</td>
+<td><a href="#id2524106">SILVER VASE DEDICATED TO THE GOD
+NIN-GIRSU BY ENTEMENA</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>VI.2.</td>
+<td><a href="#id2524128">STELE OF NARAM SIN</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>VII.1.</td>
+<td><a href="#id2525050">STATUE OF GUDEA</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>VII.2.</td>
+<td><a href="#id2525068">"THE SEVEN TABLETS OF CREATION"</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>VII.3.</td>
+<td><a href="#id2525477">MERODACH SETS FORTH TO ATTACK
+TIAMAT</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>VIII.1.</td>
+<td><a href="#id2527990">THE SLAYING OF THE BULL OF
+ISHTAR</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>IX.1.</td>
+<td><a href="#id2529196">THE BABYLONIAN DELUGE</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>IX.2.</td>
+<td><a href="#id2530933">SLIPPER-SHAPED COFFIN MADE OF GLAZED
+EARTHENWARE</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>IX.3.</td>
+<td><a href="#id2530951">STELE OF HAMMURABI, WITH "CODE OF
+LAWS"</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>X.1.</td>
+<td><a href="#id2531547">THE BABYLONIAN MARRIAGE MARKET</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>XI.1.</td>
+<td><a href="#id2532989">HAMMURABI RECEIVING THE "CODE OF LAWS"
+FROM THE SUN GOD</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>XI.2.</td>
+<td><a href="#id2533007">THE HORSE IN WARFARE</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>XII.1.</td>
+<td><a href="#id2534935">LETTER FROM TUSHRATTA, KING OF MITANNI,
+TO AMENHOTEP III, KING OF EGYPT</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>XII.2.</td>
+<td><a href="#id2534970">THE GOD NINIP AND ANOTHER DEITY</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>XIII.1.</td>
+<td><a href="#id2536676">SYMBOLS OF DEITIES AS ASTRONOMICAL
+SIGNS</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>XIII.2.</td>
+<td><a href="#id2536696">ASHUR SYMBOLS</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>XIV.1.</td>
+<td><a href="#id2539353">WINGED DEITIES KNEELING BESIDE A SACRED
+TREE</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>XIV.2.</td>
+<td><a href="#id2539371">EAGLE-HEADED WINGED DEITY
+(ASHUR)</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>XVI.1.</td>
+<td><a href="#id2542429">ASSYRIAN KING HUNTING LIONS</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>XVI.2.</td>
+<td><a href="#id2542442">TYRIAN GALLEY PUTTING OUT TO
+SEA</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>XVII.1.</td>
+<td><a href="#id2543231">STATUE OF ASHUR-NATSIR-PAL, WITH
+INSCRIPTIONS</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>XVII.2.</td>
+<td><a href="#id2543249">DETAILS FROM SECOND SIDE OF BLACK
+OBELISK OF SHALMANESER III</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>XVIII.1.</td>
+<td><a href="#id2545156">THE SHEPHERD FINDS THE BABE
+SEMIRAMIS</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>XIX.1.</td>
+<td><a href="#id2546871">STATUE OF NEBO</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>XIX.2.</td>
+<td><a href="#id2546890">TIGLATH-PLESSER IV IN HIS
+CHARIOT</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>XIX.3.</td>
+<td><a href="#id2547724">COLOSSAL WINGED AND HUMAN-HEADED BULL
+AND MYTHOLOGICAL BEING</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>XIX.4.</td>
+<td><a href="#id2547743">ASSAULT ON THE CITY OF ALAMMU (?
+JERUSALEM) BY THE ASSYRIANS UNDER SENNACHERIB</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>XX.1.</td>
+<td><a href="#id2549406">ASHUR-BANI-PAL RECLINING IN A
+BOWER</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>XX.2.</td>
+<td><a href="#id2549424">PERSIANS BRINGING CHARIOTS, RINGS, AND
+WREATHS</a></td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+<div class="preface" lang="en" xml:lang="en">
+<div class="titlepage">
+<div>
+<div>
+<h2 class="title"><a id="id2452991" name=
+"id2452991"></a>Preface</h2>
+</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+<p>This volume deals with the myths and legends of Babylonia and
+Assyria, and as these reflect the civilization in which they
+developed, a historical narrative has been provided, beginning
+with the early Sumerian Age and concluding with the periods of
+the Persian and Grecian Empires. Over thirty centuries of human
+progress are thus passed under review.</p>
+<p>During this vast interval of time the cultural influences
+emanating from the Tigro-Euphrates valley reached far-distant
+shores along the intersecting avenues of trade, and in
+consequence of the periodic and widespread migrations of peoples
+who had acquired directly or indirectly the leavening elements of
+Mesopotamian civilization. Even at the present day traces survive
+in Europe of the early cultural impress of the East; our "Signs
+of the Zodiac", for instance, as well as the system of measuring
+time and space by using 60 as a basic numeral for calculation,
+are inheritances from ancient Babylonia.</p>
+<p>As in the Nile Valley, however, it is impossible to trace in
+Mesopotamia the initiatory stages of prehistoric culture based on
+the agricultural mode of life. What is generally called the "Dawn
+of History" is really the beginning of a later age of progress;
+it is necessary to account for the degree of civilization
+attained at the earliest period of which we have knowledge by
+postulating a remoter age of culture of much longer duration than
+that which separates the "Dawn" from the age in which we now
+live. Although Sumerian (early Babylonian) civilization presents
+distinctively local features which justify the application of the
+term "indigenous" in the broad sense, it is found, like that of
+Egypt, to be possessed of certain elements which suggest
+exceedingly remote influences and connections at present obscure.
+Of special interest in this regard is Professor Budge's mature
+and well-deliberated conclusion that "both the Sumerians and
+early Egyptians derived their primeval gods from some common but
+exceedingly ancient source". The prehistoric burial customs of
+these separate peoples are also remarkably similar and they
+resemble closely in turn those of the Neolithic Europeans. The
+cumulative effect of such evidence forces us to regard as not
+wholly satisfactory and conclusive the hypothesis of cultural
+influence. A remote racial connection is possible, and is
+certainly worthy of consideration when so high an authority as
+Professor Frazer, author of <span class="emphasis"><em>The Golden
+Bough</em></span>, is found prepared to admit that the widespread
+"homogeneity of beliefs" may have been due to "homogeneity of
+race". It is shown (Chapter 1) that certain ethnologists have
+accumulated data which establish a racial kinship between the
+Neolithic Europeans, the proto-Egyptians, the Sumerians, the
+southern Persians, and the Aryo-Indians.</p>
+<p>Throughout this volume comparative notes have been compiled in
+dealing with Mesopotamian beliefs with purpose to assist the
+reader towards the study of linking myths and legends.
+Interesting parallels have been gleaned from various religious
+literatures in Europe, Egypt, India, and elsewhere. It will be
+found that certain relics of Babylonian intellectual life, which
+have a distinctive geographical significance, were shared by
+peoples in other cultural areas where they were similarly
+overlaid with local colour. Modes of thought were the products of
+modes of life and were influenced in their development by human
+experiences. The influence of environment on the growth of
+culture has long been recognized, but consideration must also be
+given to the choice of environment by peoples who had adopted
+distinctive habits of life. Racial units migrated from cultural
+areas to districts suitable for colonization and carried with
+them a heritage of immemorial beliefs and customs which were
+regarded as being quite as indispensable for their welfare as
+their implements and domesticated animals.</p>
+<p>When consideration is given in this connection to the
+conservative element in primitive religion, it is not surprising
+to find that the growth of religious myths was not so spontaneous
+in early civilizations of the highest order as has hitherto been
+assumed. It seems clear that in each great local mythology we
+have to deal, in the first place, not with symbolized ideas so
+much as symbolized folk beliefs of remote antiquity and, to a
+certain degree, of common inheritance. It may not be found
+possible to arrive at a conclusive solution of the most
+widespread, and therefore the most ancient folk myths, such as,
+for instance, the Dragon Myth, or the myth of the culture hero.
+Nor, perhaps, is it necessary that we should concern ourselves
+greatly regarding the origin of the idea of the dragon, which in
+one country symbolized fiery drought and in another overwhelming
+river floods.</p>
+<p>The student will find footing on surer ground by following the
+process which exalts the dragon of the folk tale into the symbol
+of evil and primordial chaos. The Babylonian Creation Myth, for
+instance, can be shown to be a localized and glorified legend in
+which the hero and his tribe are displaced by the war god and his
+fellow deities whose welfare depends on his prowess. Merodach
+kills the dragon, Tiamat, as the heroes of Eur-Asian folk stories
+kill grisly hags, by casting his weapon down her throat.</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>He severed her inward parts, he pierced
+her heart,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>He overcame her and cut off her
+life;</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>He cast down her body and stood upon it
+...</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>And with merciless club he smashed her
+skull.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>He cut through the channels of her
+blood,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>And he made the north wind to bear it
+away into secret places.</tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>Afterwards</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>He divided the flesh of the
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Ku-pu</em></span> and devised a
+cunning plan.</tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>Mr. L.W. King, from whose scholarly <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Seven Tablets of Creation</em></span> these lines
+are quoted, notes that "Ku-pu" is a word of uncertain meaning.
+Jensen suggests "trunk, body". Apparently Merodach obtained
+special knowledge after dividing, and perhaps eating, the
+"Ku-pu". His "cunning plan" is set forth in detail: he cut up the
+dragon's body:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>He split her up like a flat fish into
+two halves.</tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>He formed the heavens with one half and the earth with the
+other, and then set the universe in order. His power and wisdom
+as the Demiurge were derived from the fierce and powerful Great
+Mother, Tiamat.</p>
+<p>In other dragon stories the heroes devise their plans after
+eating the dragon's heart. According to Philostratus,<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex11" href="#ftn.fnrex11" id=
+"fnrex11">1</a>]</span> Apollonius of Tyana was worthy of being
+remembered for two things--his bravery in travelling among fierce
+robber tribes, not then subject to Rome, and his wisdom in
+learning the language of birds and other animals as the Arabs do.
+This accomplishment the Arabs acquired, Philostratus explains, by
+eating the hearts of dragons. The "animals" who utter magic words
+are, of course, the Fates. Siegfried of the <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Nibelungenlied</em></span>, after slaying the
+Regin dragon, makes himself invulnerable by bathing in its blood.
+He obtains wisdom by eating the heart: as soon as he tastes it he
+can understand the language of birds, and the birds reveal to him
+that Mimer is waiting to slay him. Sigurd similarly makes his
+plans after eating the heart of the Fafner dragon. In Scottish
+legend Finn-mac-Coul obtains the power to divine secrets by
+partaking of a small portion of the seventh salmon associated
+with the "well dragon", and Michael Scott and other folk heroes
+become great physicians after tasting the juices of the middle
+part of the body of the white snake. The hero of an Egyptian folk
+tale slays a "deathless snake" by cutting it in two parts and
+putting sand between the parts. He then obtains from the box, of
+which it is the guardian, the book of spells; when he reads a
+page of the spells he knows what the birds of the sky, the fish
+of the deep, and the beasts of the hill say; the book gives him
+power to enchant "the heaven and the earth, the abyss, the
+mountains and the sea".<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex12" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex12" id="fnrex12">2</a>]</span></p>
+<p>Magic and religion were never separated in Babylonia; not only
+the priests but also the gods performed magical ceremonies. Ea,
+Merodach's father, overcame Apsu, the husband of the dragon
+Tiamat, by means of spells: he was "the great magician of the
+gods". Merodach's division of the "Ku-pu" was evidently an act of
+contagious magic; by eating or otherwise disposing of the vital
+part of the fierce and wise mother dragon, he became endowed with
+her attributes, and was able to proceed with the work of
+creation. Primitive peoples in our own day, like the Abipones of
+Paraguay, eat the flesh of fierce and cunning animals so that
+their strength, courage, and wisdom may be increased.</p>
+<p>The direct influence exercised by cultural contact, on the
+other hand, may be traced when myths with an alien geographical
+setting are found among peoples whose experiences could never
+have given them origin. In India, where the dragon symbolizes
+drought and the western river deities are female, the Manu fish
+and flood legend resembles closely the Babylonian, and seems to
+throw light upon it. Indeed, the Manu myth appears to have been
+derived from the lost flood story in which Ea figured prominently
+in fish form as the Preserver. The Babylonian Ea cult and the
+Indian Varuna cult had apparently much in common, as is
+shown.</p>
+<p>Throughout this volume special attention has been paid to the
+various peoples who were in immediate contact with, and were
+influenced by, Mesopotamian civilization. The histories are
+traced in outline of the Kingdoms of Elam, Urartu (Ancient
+Armenia), Mitanni, and the Hittites, while the story of the rise
+and decline of the Hebrew civilization, as narrated in the Bible
+and referred to in Mesopotamian inscriptions, is related from the
+earliest times until the captivity in the Neo-Babylonian period
+and the restoration during the age of the Persian Empire. The
+struggles waged between the great Powers for the control of trade
+routes, and the periodic migrations of pastoral warrior folks who
+determined the fate of empires, are also dealt with, so that
+light may be thrown on the various processes and influences
+associated with the developments of local religions and
+mythologies. Special chapters, with comparative notes, are
+devoted to the Ishtar-Tammuz myths, the Semiramis legends, Ashur
+and his symbols, and the origin and growth of astrology and
+astronomy.</p>
+<p>The ethnic disturbances which occurred at various well-defined
+periods in the Tigro-Euphrates valley were not always favourable
+to the advancement of knowledge and the growth of culture. The
+invaders who absorbed Sumerian civilization may have secured more
+settled conditions by welding together political units, but seem
+to have exercised a retrogressive influence on the growth of
+local culture. "Babylonian religion", writes Dr. Langdon,
+"appears to have reached its highest level in the Sumerian
+period, or at least not later than 2000 B.C. From that period
+onward to the first century B.C. popular religion maintained with
+great difficulty the sacred standards of the past." Although it
+has been customary to characterize Mesopotamian civilization as
+Semitic, modern research tends to show that the indigenous
+inhabitants, who were non-Semitic, were its originators. Like the
+proto-Egyptians, the early Cretans, and the Pelasgians in
+southern Europe and Asia Minor, they invariably achieved the
+intellectual conquest of their conquerors, as in the earliest
+times they had won victories over the antagonistic forces of
+nature. If the modern view is accepted that these ancient
+agriculturists of the goddess cult were of common racial origin,
+it is to the most representative communities of the widespread
+Mediterranean race that the credit belongs of laying the
+foundations of the brilliant civilizations of the ancient world
+in southern Europe, and Egypt, and the valley of the Tigris and
+Euphrates.</p>
+<div class="figure"><a id="id2453292" name="id2453292"></a>
+<p class="title"><b>Figure�1.�TEMPTATION OF THE EA-BANI</b></p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<p><span class="emphasis"><em>From the Painting by E.
+Wallcousins</em></span></p>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="graphic"><img alt="" src="img/0.jpg" /></div>
+<div class="footnotes"><br />
+<hr width="100" align="left" />
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex11" href="#fnrex11" id="ftn.fnrex11">1</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Life of Apollonius of
+Tyana</em></span>, i, 20.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex12" href="#fnrex12" id="ftn.fnrex12">2</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Egyptian Tales</em></span> (Second
+Series), W.M. Flinders Petrie, pp. 98 <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>et seq.</em></span></div>
+</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="preface" lang="en" xml:lang="en">
+<div class="titlepage">
+<div>
+<div>
+<h2 class="title"><a id="id2453309" name=
+"id2453309"></a>Introduction</h2>
+</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.xvii" name="page.anchor.xvii"></a>Ancient
+Babylonia has made stronger appeal to the imagination of
+Christendom than even Ancient Egypt, because of its association
+with the captivity of the Hebrews, whose sorrows are enshrined in
+the familiar psalm:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat
+down;</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Yea, we wept, when we remembered
+Zion.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>We hanged our harps upon the
+willows....</tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>In sacred literature proud Babylon became the city of the
+anti-Christ, the symbol of wickedness and cruelty and human
+vanity. Early Christians who suffered persecution compared their
+worldly state to that of the oppressed and disconsolate Hebrews,
+and, like them, they sighed for Jerusalem--the new Jerusalem.
+When St. John the Divine had visions of the ultimate triumph of
+Christianity, he referred to its enemies--the unbelievers and
+persecutors--as the citizens of the earthly Babylon, the doom of
+which he pronounced in stately and memorable phrases:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Babylon the great is fallen, is
+fallen,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>And is become the habitation of
+devils,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>And the hold of every foul
+spirit,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>And a cage of every unclean and hateful
+bird....</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>�</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt><a id="page.anchor.xviii" name=
+"page.anchor.xviii"></a>For her sins have reached unto
+heaven</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>And God hath remembered her
+iniquities....</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>The merchants of the earth shall weep
+and mourn over her,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>�For no man buyeth their merchandise
+any more.</tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>"At the noise of the taking of Babylon", cried Jeremiah,
+referring to the original Babylon, "the earth is moved, and the
+cry is heard among the nations.... It shall be no more inhabited
+forever; neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to
+generation." The Christian Saint rendered more profound the
+brooding silence of the desolated city of his vision by voicing
+memories of its beauty and gaiety and bustling trade:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>The voice of harpers, and musicians,
+and of pipers and trumpeters shall be heard no more at all in
+thee;</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>And no craftsman, of whatsoever craft
+he be, shall be found any more in thee;</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>And the light of a candle shall shine
+no more at all in thee;</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>And the voice of the bridegroom and of
+the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee:</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>For thy merchants were the great men of
+the earth;</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>For by thy sorceries were all nations
+deceived.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt><span class="emphasis"><em>And in her
+was found the blood of prophets, and of
+saints,</em></span></tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt><span class="emphasis"><em>And of all
+that were slain upon the earth</em></span>.<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex13" href="#ftn.fnrex13" id=
+"fnrex13">3</a>]</span></tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>So for nearly two thousand years has the haunting memory of
+the once-powerful city pervaded Christian literature, while its
+broken walls and ruined temples and palaces lay buried deep in
+desert sand. The history of the ancient land of which it was the
+capital survived in but meagre and fragmentary form, mingled with
+accumulated myths and legends. A slim volume contained all that
+could be derived from references in the Old Testament and the
+compilations of classical writers.</p>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.xix" name="page.anchor.xix"></a>It is only
+within the past half-century that the wonderful story of early
+Eastern civilization has been gradually pieced together by
+excavators and linguists, who have thrust open the door of the
+past and probed the hidden secrets of long ages. We now know more
+about "the land of Babel" than did not only the Greeks and
+Romans, but even the Hebrew writers who foretold its destruction.
+Glimpses are being afforded us of its life and manners and
+customs for some thirty centuries before the captives of Judah
+uttered lamentations on the banks of its reedy canals. The sites
+of some of the ancient cities of Babylonia and Assyria were
+identified by European officials and travellers in the East early
+in the nineteenth century, and a few relics found their way to
+Europe. But before Sir A.H. Layard set to work as an excavator in
+the "forties", "a case scarcely three feet square", as he himself
+wrote, "enclosed all that remained not only of the great city of
+Nineveh, but of Babylon itself".<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex14" href="#ftn.fnrex14" id="fnrex14">4</a>]</span></p>
+<p>Layard, the distinguished pioneer Assyriologist, was an
+Englishman of Huguenot descent, who was born in Paris. Through
+his mother he inherited a strain of Spanish blood. During his
+early boyhood he resided in Italy, and his education, which began
+there, was continued in schools in France, Switzerland, and
+England. He was a man of scholarly habits and fearless and
+independent character, a charming writer, and an accomplished
+fine-art critic; withal he was a great traveller, a strenuous
+politician, and an able diplomatist. In 1845, while sojourning in
+the East, he undertook the exploration of ancient Assyrian
+cities. He first set to work at Kalkhi, the Biblical Calah. Three
+years previously M.P.C. Botta, the French consul at Mosul, had
+begun to investigate the Nineveh mounds; but these he abandoned
+<a id="page.anchor.xx" name="page.anchor.xx"></a>for a mound near
+Khorsabad which proved to be the site of the city erected by
+"Sargon the Later", who is referred to by Isaiah. The relics
+discovered by Botta and his successor, Victor Place, are
+preserved in the Louvre.</p>
+<p>At Kalkhi and Nineveh Layard uncovered the palaces of some of
+the most famous Assyrian Emperors, including the Biblical
+Shalmaneser and Esarhaddon, and obtained the colossi, bas
+reliefs, and other treasures of antiquity which formed the
+nucleus of the British Museum's unrivalled Assyrian collection.
+He also conducted diggings at Babylon and Niffer (Nippur). His
+work was continued by his assistant, Hormuzd Rassam, a native
+Christian of Mosul, near Nineveh. Rassam studied for a time at
+Oxford.</p>
+<p>The discoveries made by Layard and Botta stimulated others to
+follow their example. In the "fifties" Mr. W.K. Loftus engaged in
+excavations at Larsa and Erech, where important discoveries were
+made of ancient buildings, ornaments, tablets, sarcophagus
+graves, and pot burials, while Mr. J.E. Taylor operated at Ur,
+the seat of the moon cult and the birthplace of Abraham, and at
+Eridu, which is generally regarded as the cradle of early
+Babylonian (Sumerian) civilization.</p>
+<p>In 1854 Sir Henry Rawlinson superintended diggings at Birs
+Nimrud (Borsippa, near Babylon), and excavated relics of the
+Biblical Nebuchadrezzar. This notable archaeologist began his
+career in the East as an officer in the Bombay army. He
+distinguished himself as a political agent and diplomatist. While
+resident at Baghdad, he devoted his leisure time to cuneiform
+studies. One of his remarkable feats was the copying of the
+famous trilingual rock inscription of Darius the Great on a
+mountain cliff at Behistun, in Persian Kurdistan. This work was
+carried out at great personal risk, for the cliff <a id=
+"page.anchor.xxi" name="page.anchor.xxi"></a>is 1700 feet high
+and the sculptures and inscriptions are situated about 300 feet
+from the ground.</p>
+<p>Darius was the first monarch of his line to make use of the
+Persian cuneiform script, which in this case he utilized in
+conjunction with the older and more complicated Assyro-Babylonian
+alphabetic and syllabic characters to record a portion of the
+history of his reign. Rawlinson's translation of the famous
+inscription was an important contribution towards the
+decipherment of the cuneiform writings of Assyria and
+Babylonia.</p>
+<p>Twelve years of brilliant Mesopotamian discovery concluded in
+1854, and further excavations had to be suspended until the
+"seventies" on account of the unsettled political conditions of
+the ancient land and the difficulties experienced in dealing with
+Turkish officials. During the interval, however, archaeologists
+and philologists were kept fully engaged studying the large
+amount of material which had been accumulated. Sir Henry
+Rawlinson began the issue of his monumental work <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>The Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western
+Asia</em></span> on behalf of the British Museum.</p>
+<p>Goodspeed refers to the early archaeological work as the
+"Heroic Period" of research, and says that the "Modern Scientific
+Period" began with Mr. George Smith's expedition to Nineveh in
+1873.</p>
+<p>George Smith, like Henry Schliemann, the pioneer investigator
+of pre-Hellenic culture, was a self-educated man of humble
+origin. He was born at Chelsea in 1840. At fourteen he was
+apprenticed to an engraver. He was a youth of studious habits and
+great originality, and interested himself intensely in the
+discoveries which had been made by Layard and other explorers. At
+the British Museum, which he visited regularly to pore over the
+Assyrian inscriptions, he attracted the attention of Sir <a id=
+"page.anchor.xxii" name="page.anchor.xxii"></a>Henry Rawlinson.
+So greatly impressed was Sir Henry by the young man's enthusiasm
+and remarkable intelligence that he allowed him the use of his
+private room and provided casts and squeezes of inscriptions to
+assist him in his studies. Smith made rapid progress. His
+earliest discovery was the date of the payment of tribute by
+Jehu, King of Israel, to the Assyrian Emperor Shalmaneser. Sir
+Henry availed himself of the young investigator's assistance in
+producing the third volume of <span class="emphasis"><em>The
+Cuneiform Inscriptions</em></span>.</p>
+<p>In 1867 Smith received an appointment in the Assyriology
+Department of the British Museum, and a few years later became
+famous throughout Christendom as the translator of fragments of
+the Babylonian Deluge Legend from tablets sent to London by
+Rassam. Sir Edwin Arnold, the poet and Orientalist, was at the
+time editor of the <span class="emphasis"><em>Daily
+Telegraph</em></span>, and performed a memorable service to
+modern scholarship by dispatching Smith, on behalf of his paper,
+to Nineveh to search for other fragments of the Ancient
+Babylonian epic. Rassam had obtained the tablets from the great
+library of the cultured Emperor Ashur-bani-pal, "the great and
+noble Asnapper" of the Bible,<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex15"
+href="#ftn.fnrex15" id="fnrex15">5</a>]</span> who took delight,
+as he himself recorded, in</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<p>The wisdom of Ea,<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex16" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex16" id="fnrex16">6</a>]</span> the art of song, the
+treasures of science.</p>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>This royal patron of learning included in his library
+collection, copies and translations of tablets from Babylonia.
+Some of these were then over 2000 years old. The Babylonian
+literary relics were, indeed, of as great antiquity to
+Ashur-bani-pal as that monarch's relics are to us.</p>
+<p>The Emperor invoked Nebo, god of wisdom and learning, to bless
+his "books", praying:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt><a id="page.anchor.xxiii" name=
+"page.anchor.xxiii"></a>Forever, O Nebo, King of all heaven and
+earth,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Look gladly upon this
+Library</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Of Ashur-bani-pal, his (thy) shepherd,
+reverencer of thy divinity.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex17"
+href="#ftn.fnrex17" id="fnrex17">7</a>]</span></tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>Mr. George Smith's expedition to Nineveh in 1873 was
+exceedingly fruitful of results. More tablets were discovered and
+translated. In the following year he returned to the ancient
+Assyrian city on behalf of the British Museum, and added further
+by his scholarly achievements to his own reputation and the
+world's knowledge of antiquity. His last expedition was made
+early in 1876; on his homeward journey he was stricken down with
+fever, and on 19th August he died at Aleppo in his thirty-sixth
+year. So was a brilliant career brought to an untimely end.</p>
+<p>Rassam was engaged to continue Smith's great work, and between
+1877 and 1882 made many notable discoveries in Assyria and
+Babylonia, including the bronze doors of a Shalmaneser temple,
+the sun temple at Sippar; the palace of the Biblical
+Nebuchadrezzar, which was famous for its "hanging gardens"; a
+cylinder of Nabonidus, King of Babylon; and about fifty thousand
+tablets.</p>
+<p>M. de Sarzec, the French consul at Bassorah, began in 1877
+excavations at the ancient Sumerian city of Lagash (Shirpula),
+and continued them until 1900. He found thousands of tablets,
+many has reliefs, votive statuettes, which worshippers apparently
+pinned on sacred shrines, the famous silver vase of King
+Entemena, statues of King Gudea, and various other treasures
+which are now in the Louvre.</p>
+<p>The pioneer work achieved by British and French excavators
+stimulated interest all over the world. An <a id=
+"page.anchor.xxiv" name="page.anchor.xxiv"></a>expedition was
+sent out from the United States by the University of
+Pennsylvania, and began to operate at Nippur in 1888. The
+Germans, who have displayed great activity in the domain of
+philological research, are at present represented by an exploring
+party which is conducting the systematic exploration of the ruins
+of Babylon. Even the Turkish Government has encouraged research
+work, and its excavators have accumulated a fine collection of
+antiquities at Constantinople. Among the archaeologists and
+linguists of various nationalities who are devoting themselves to
+the study of ancient Assyrian and Babylonian records and
+literature, and gradually unfolding the story of ancient Eastern
+civilization, those of our own country occupy a prominent
+position. One of the most interesting discoveries of recent years
+has been new fragments of the Creation Legend by L.W. King of the
+British Museum, whose scholarly work, <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>The Seven Tablets of Creation</em></span>, is the
+standard work on the subject.</p>
+<p>The archaeological work conducted in Persia, Asia Minor,
+Palestine, Cyprus, Crete, the Aegean, and Egypt has thrown, and
+is throwing, much light on the relations between the various
+civilizations of antiquity. In addition to the Hittite
+discoveries, with which the name of Professor Sayce will ever be
+associated as a pioneer, we now hear much of the hitherto unknown
+civilizations of Mitanni and Urartu (ancient Armenia), which
+contributed to the shaping of ancient history. The Biblical
+narratives of the rise and decline of the Hebrew kingdoms have
+also been greatly elucidated.</p>
+<p>In this volume, which deals mainly with the intellectual life
+of the Mesopotamian peoples, a historical narrative has been
+provided as an appropriate setting for the myths and legends. In
+this connection the reader must be reminded that the chronology
+of the early <a id="page.anchor.xxv" name=
+"page.anchor.xxv"></a>period is still uncertain. The approximate
+dates which are given, however, are those now generally adopted
+by most European and American authorities. Early Babylonian
+history of the Sumerian period begins some time prior to 3000
+B.C; Sargon of Akkad flourished about 2650 B.C., and Hammurabi
+not long before or after 2000 B.C. The inflated system of dating
+which places Mena of Egypt as far back as 5500 B.C. and Sargon at
+about 3800 B.C. has been abandoned by the majority of prominent
+archaeologists, the exceptions including Professor Flinders
+Petrie. Recent discoveries appear to support the new
+chronological system. "There is a growing conviction", writes Mr.
+Hawes, "that Cretan evidence, especially in the eastern part of
+the island, favours the minimum (Berlin) system of Egyptian
+chronology, according to which the Sixth (Egyptian) Dynasty began
+at <span class="emphasis"><em>c</em></span>. 2540 B.C. and the
+Twelfth at <span class="emphasis"><em>c</em></span>. 2000
+B.C.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex18" href="#ftn.fnrex18" id=
+"fnrex18">8</a>]</span> Petrie dates the beginning of the Twelfth
+Dynasty at <span class="emphasis"><em>c</em></span>. 3400
+B.C.</p>
+<p>To students of comparative folklore and mythology the myths
+and legends of Babylonia present many features of engrossing
+interest. They are of great antiquity, yet not a few seem
+curiously familiar. We must not conclude, however, that because a
+European legend may bear resemblances to one translated from a
+cuneiform tablet it is necessarily of Babylonian origin. Certain
+beliefs, and the myths which were based upon them, are older than
+even the civilization of the Tigro-Euphrates valley. They belong,
+it would appear, to a stock of common inheritance from an
+uncertain cultural centre of immense antiquity. The problem
+involved has been referred to by Professor Frazer in the
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Golden Bough</em></span>. Commenting
+on the similarities presented by certain ancient festivals in
+various countries, he suggests that <a id="page.anchor.xxvi"
+name="page.anchor.xxvi"></a>they may be due to "a remarkable
+homogeneity of civilization throughout Southern Europe and
+Western Asia in prehistoric times. How far", he adds, "such
+homogeneity of civilization may be taken as evidence of
+homogeneity of race is a question for the
+ethnologist."<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex19" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex19" id="fnrex19">9</a>]</span></p>
+<p>In Chapter I the reader is introduced to the ethnological
+problem, and it is shown that the results of modern research tend
+to establish a remote racial connection between the Sumerians of
+Babylonia, the prehistoric Egyptians, and the Neolithic (Late
+Stone Age) inhabitants of Europe, as well as the southern
+Persians and the "Aryans" of India.</p>
+<p>Comparative notes are provided in dealing with the customs,
+religious beliefs, and myths and legends of the Mesopotamian
+peoples to assist the student towards the elucidation and partial
+restoration of certain literary fragments from the cuneiform
+tablets. Of special interest in this connection are the
+resemblances between some of the Indian and Babylonian myths. The
+writer has drawn upon that "great storehouse" of ancient legends,
+the voluminous Indian epic, the <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Mahabharata</em></span>, and it is shown that
+there are undoubted links between the Garuda eagle myths and
+those of the Sumerian Zu bird and the Etana eagle, while similar
+stories remain attached to the memories of "Sargon of Akkad" and
+the Indian hero Karna, and of Semiramis (who was Queen
+Sammu-ramat of Assyria) and Shakuntala. The Indian god Varuna and
+the Sumerian Ea are also found to have much in common, and it
+seems undoubted that the Manu fish and flood myth is a direct
+Babylonian inheritance, like the Yuga (Ages of the Universe)
+doctrine and the system of calculation associated with it. It is
+of interest to note, too, that a portion of the Gilgamesh epic
+survives in the <a id="page.anchor.xxvii" name=
+"page.anchor.xxvii"></a><span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Ramayana</em></span> story of the monkey god
+Hanuman's search for the lost princess Sita; other relics of
+similar character suggest that both the Gilgamesh and Hanuman
+narratives are derived in part from a very ancient myth.
+Gilgamesh also figures in Indian mythology as Yama, the first
+man, who explored the way to the Paradise called "The Land of
+Ancestors", and over which he subsequently presided as a god.
+Other Babylonian myths link with those found in Egypt, Greece,
+Scandinavia, Iceland, and the British Isles and Ireland. The
+Sargon myth, for instance, resembles closely the myth of Scyld
+(Sceaf), the patriarch, in the <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Beowulf</em></span> epic, and both appear to be
+variations of the Tammuz-Adonis story. Tammuz also resembles in
+one of his phases the Celtic hero Diarmid, who was slain by the
+"green boar" of the Earth Mother, as was Adonis by the boar form
+of Ares, the Greek war god.</p>
+<p>In approaching the study of these linking myths it would be as
+rash to conclude that all resemblances are due to homogeneity of
+race as to assume that folklore and mythology are devoid of
+ethnological elements. Due consideration must be given to the
+widespread influence exercised by cultural contact. We must
+recognize also that the human mind has ever shown a tendency to
+arrive quite independently at similar conclusions, when
+confronted by similar problems, in various parts of the
+world.</p>
+<p>But while many remarkable resemblances may be detected between
+the beliefs and myths and customs of widely separated peoples, it
+cannot be overlooked that pronounced and striking differences
+remain to be accounted for. Human experiences varied in
+localities because all sections of humanity were not confronted
+in ancient times by the same problems in their everyday lives.
+Some peoples, for instance, experienced no great difficulties
+regarding the food supply, which might be <a id=
+"page.anchor.xxviii" name="page.anchor.xxviii"></a>provided for
+them by nature in lavish abundance; others were compelled to wage
+a fierce and constant conflict against hostile forces in
+inhospitable environments with purpose to secure adequate
+sustenance and their meed of enjoyment. Various habits of life
+had to be adopted in various parts of the world, and these
+produced various habits of thought. Consequently, we find that
+behind all systems of primitive religion lies the formative
+background of natural phenomena. A mythology reflects the
+geography, the fauna and flora, and the climatic conditions of
+the area in which it took definite and permanent shape.</p>
+<p>In Babylonia, as elsewhere, we expect, therefore, to find a
+mythology which has strictly local characteristics--one which
+mirrors river and valley scenery, the habits of life of the
+people, and also the various stages of progress in the
+civilization from its earliest beginnings. Traces of primitive
+thought--survivals from remotest antiquity--should also remain in
+evidence. As a matter of fact Babylonian mythology fulfils our
+expectations in this regard to the highest degree.</p>
+<p>Herodotus said that Egypt was the gift of the Nile: similarly
+Babylonia may be regarded as the gift of the Tigris and
+Euphrates--those great shifting and flooding rivers which for
+long ages had been carrying down from the Armenian Highlands vast
+quantities of mud to thrust back the waters of the Persian Gulf
+and form a country capable of being utilized for human
+habitation. The most typical Babylonian deity was Ea, the god of
+the fertilizing and creative waters.</p>
+<p>He was depicted clad in the skin of a fish, as gods in other
+geographical areas were depicted wearing the skins of animals
+which were regarded as ancestors, or hostile demons that had to
+be propitiated. Originally Ea appears to have been a fish--the
+incarnation of the spirit of, or <a id="page.anchor.xxix" name=
+"page.anchor.xxix"></a>life principle in, the Euphrates River.
+His centre of worship was at Eridu, an ancient seaport, where
+apparently the prehistoric Babylonians (the Sumerians) first
+began to utilize the dried-up beds of shifting streams to
+irrigate the soil. One of the several creation myths is
+reminiscent of those early experiences which produced early local
+beliefs:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>O thou River, who didst create all
+things,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>When the great gods dug thee
+out,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>They set prosperity upon thy
+banks,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Within thee Ea, the king of the Deep,
+created his dwelling.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex110" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex110" id="fnrex110">10</a>]</span></tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>The Sumerians observed that the land was brought into
+existence by means of the obstructing reeds, which caused mud to
+accumulate. When their minds began to be exercised regarding the
+origin of life, they conceived that the first human beings were
+created by a similar process:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Marduk (son of Ea) laid a reed upon the
+face of the waters,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>He formed dust and poured it out beside
+the reed ...</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>He formed mankind.<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex111" href="#ftn.fnrex111" id=
+"fnrex111">11</a>]</span></tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>Ea acquired in time, as the divine artisan, various attributes
+which reflected the gradual growth of civilization: he was
+reputed to have taught the people how to form canals, control the
+rivers, cultivate the fields, build their houses, and so on.</p>
+<p>But although Ea became a beneficent deity, as a result of the
+growth of civilization, he had also a demoniac form, and had to
+be propitiated. The worshippers of the fish god retained ancient
+modes of thought and perpetuated ancient superstitious
+practices.</p>
+<p>The earliest settlers in the Tigro-Euphrates valley were
+agriculturists, like their congeners, the proto-Egyptians <a id=
+"page.anchor.xxx" name="page.anchor.xxx"></a>and the Neolithic
+Europeans. Before they broke away from the parent stock in its
+area of characterization they had acquired the elements of
+culture, and adopted habits of thought which were based on the
+agricultural mode of life. Like other agricultural communities
+they were worshippers of the "World Mother", the Creatrix, who
+was the giver of all good things, the "Preserver" and also the
+"Destroyer"--the goddess whose moods were reflected by natural
+phenomena, and whose lovers were the spirits of the seasons.</p>
+<p>In the alluvial valley which they rendered fit for habitation
+the Sumerians came into contact with peoples of different habits
+of life and different habits of thought. These were the nomadic
+pastoralists from the northern steppe lands, who had developed in
+isolation theories regarding the origin of the Universe which
+reflected their particular experiences and the natural phenomena
+of their area of characterization. The most representative people
+of this class were the "Hatti" of Asia Minor, who were of Alpine
+or Armenoid stock. In early times the nomads were broken up into
+small tribal units, like Abraham and his followers, and depended
+for their food supply on the prowess of the males. Their chief
+deity was the sky and mountain god, who was the "World Father",
+the creator, and the wielder of the thunder hammer, who waged war
+against the demons of storm or drought, and ensured the food
+supply of his worshippers.</p>
+<p>The fusion in Babylonia of the peoples of the god and goddess
+cults was in progress before the dawn of history, as was the case
+in Egypt and also in southern Europe. In consequence independent
+Pantheons came into existence in the various city States in the
+Tigro-Euphrates valley. These were mainly a reflection of city
+politics: the deities of each influential section had to <a id=
+"page.anchor.xxxi" name="page.anchor.xxxi"></a>receive
+recognition. But among the great masses of the people ancient
+customs associated with agriculture continued in practice, and,
+as Babylonia depended for its prosperity on its harvests, the
+force of public opinion tended, it would appear, to perpetuate
+the religious beliefs of the earliest settlers, despite the
+efforts made by conquerors to exalt the deities they
+introduced.</p>
+<p>Babylonian religion was of twofold character. It embraced
+temple worship and private worship. The religion of the temple
+was the religion of the ruling class, and especially of the king,
+who was the guardian of the people. Domestic religion was
+conducted in homes, in reed huts, or in public places, and
+conserved the crudest superstitions surviving from the earliest
+times. The great "burnings" and the human sacrifices in
+Babylonia, referred to in the Bible, were, no doubt, connected
+with agricultural religion of the private order, as was also the
+ceremony of baking and offering cakes to the Queen of Heaven,
+condemned by Jeremiah, which obtained in the streets of Jerusalem
+and other cities. Domestic religion required no temples. There
+were no temples in Crete: the world was the "house" of the deity,
+who had seasonal haunts on hilltops, in groves, in caves, &amp;c.
+In Egypt Herodotus witnessed festivals and processions which are
+not referred to in official inscriptions, although they were
+evidently practised from the earliest times.</p>
+<p>Agricultural religion in Egypt was concentrated in the cult of
+Osiris and Isis, and influenced all local theologies. In
+Babylonia these deities were represented by Tammuz and Ishtar.
+Ishtar, like Isis, absorbed many other local goddesses.</p>
+<p>According to the beliefs of the ancient agriculturists the
+goddess was eternal and undecaying. She was the Great Mother of
+the Universe and the source of the food <a id="page.anchor.xxxii"
+name="page.anchor.xxxii"></a>supply. Her son, the corn god,
+became, as the Egyptians put it, "Husband of his Mother". Each
+year he was born anew and rapidly attained to manhood; then he
+was slain by a fierce rival who symbolized the season of
+pestilence-bringing and parching sun heat, or the rainy season,
+or wild beasts of prey. Or it might be that he was slain by his
+son, as Cronos was by Zeus and Dyaus by Indra. The new year slew
+the old year.</p>
+<p>The social customs of the people, which had a religious basis,
+were formed in accordance with the doings of the deities; they
+sorrowed or made glad in sympathy with the spirits of nature.
+Worshippers also suggested by their ceremonies how the deities
+should act at various seasons, and thus exercised, as they
+believed, a magical control over them.</p>
+<p>In Babylonia the agricultural myth regarding the Mother
+goddess and the young god had many variations. In one form
+Tammuz, like Adonis, was loved by two goddesses--the twin phases
+of nature--the Queen of Heaven and the Queen of Hades. It was
+decreed that Tammuz should spend part of the year with one
+goddess and part of the year with the other. Tammuz was also a
+Patriarch, who reigned for a long period over the land and had
+human offspring. After death his spirit appeared at certain times
+and seasons as a planet, star, or constellation. He was the ghost
+of the elder god, and he was also the younger god who was born
+each year.</p>
+<p>In the Gilgamesh epic we appear to have a form of the
+patriarch legend--the story of the "culture hero" and teacher who
+discovered the path which led to the land of ancestral spirits.
+The heroic Patriarch in Egypt was Apuatu, "the opener of the
+ways", the earliest form of Osiris; in India he was Yama, the
+first man, "who searched and found out the path for many".</p>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.xxxiii" name="page.anchor.xxxiii"></a>The
+King as Patriarch was regarded during life as an incarnation of
+the culture god: after death he merged in the god. "Sargon of
+Akkad" posed as an incarnation of the ancient agricultural
+Patriarch: he professed to be a man of miraculous birth who was
+loved by the goddess Ishtar, and was supposed to have inaugurated
+a New Age of the Universe.</p>
+<p>The myth regarding the father who was superseded by his son
+may account for the existence in Babylonian city pantheons of
+elder and younger gods who symbolized the passive and active
+forces of nature.</p>
+<p>Considering the persistent and cumulative influence exercised
+by agricultural religion it is not surprising to find, as has
+been indicated, that most of the Babylonian gods had Tammuz
+traits, as most of the Egyptian gods had Osirian traits. Although
+local or imported deities were developed and conventionalized in
+rival Babylonian cities, they still retained traces of primitive
+conceptions. They existed in all their forms--as the younger god
+who displaced the elder god and became the elder god, and as the
+elder god who conciliated the younger god and made him his active
+agent; and as the god who was identified at various seasons with
+different heavenly bodies and natural phenomena. Merodach, the
+god of Babylon, who was exalted as chief of the National pantheon
+in the Hammurabi Age, was, like Tammuz, a son, and therefore a
+form of Ea, a demon slayer, a war god, a god of fertility, a corn
+spirit, a Patriarch, and world ruler and guardian, and, like
+Tammuz, he had solar, lunar, astral, and atmospheric attributes.
+The complex characters of Merodach and Tammuz were not due solely
+to the monotheistic tendency: the oldest deities were of mystical
+character, they represented the "Self Power" of Naturalism as
+well as the spirit groups of Animism.</p>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.xxxiv" name="page.anchor.xxxiv"></a>The
+theorizing priests, who speculated regarding the mysteries of
+life and death and the origin of all things, had to address the
+people through the medium of popular beliefs. They utilized
+floating myths for this purpose. As there were in early times
+various centres of culture which had rival pantheons, the adapted
+myths varied greatly. In the different forms in which they
+survive to us they reflect, not only aspects of local beliefs,
+but also grades of culture at different periods. We must not
+expect, however, to find that the latest form of a myth was the
+highest and most profound. The history of Babylonian religion is
+divided into periods of growth and periods of decadence. The
+influence of domestic religion was invariably opposed to the new
+and high doctrines which emanated from the priesthood, and in
+times of political upheaval tended to submerge them in the debris
+of immemorial beliefs and customs. The retrogressive tendencies
+of the masses were invariably reinforced by the periodic
+invasions of aliens who had no respect for official deities and
+temple creeds.</p>
+<p>We must avoid insisting too strongly on the application of the
+evolution theory to the religious phenomena of a country like
+Babylonia.</p>
+<p>The epochs in the intellectual life of an ancient people are
+not comparable to geological epochs, for instance, because the
+forces at work were directed by human wills, whether in the
+interests of progress or otherwise. The battle of creeds has ever
+been a battle of minds. It should be recognized, therefore, that
+the human element bulks as prominently in the drama of Babylon's
+religious history as does the prince of Denmark in the play of
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Hamlet</em></span>. We are not
+concerned with the plot alone. The characters must also receive
+attention. Their aspirations and triumphs, their prejudices and
+blunders, were the <a id="page.anchor.xxxv" name=
+"page.anchor.xxxv"></a>billowy forces which shaped the shoreland
+of the story and made history.</p>
+<p>Various aspects of Babylonian life and culture are dealt with
+throughout this volume, and it is shown that the growth of
+science and art was stimulated by unwholesome and crude
+superstitions. Many rank weeds flourished beside the brightest
+blossoms of the human intellect that wooed the sun in that
+fertile valley of rivers. As in Egypt, civilization made progress
+when wealth was accumulated in sufficient abundance to permit of
+a leisured class devoting time to study and research. The endowed
+priests, who performed temple ceremonies, were the teachers of
+the people and the patrons of culture. We may think little of
+their religious beliefs, regarding which after all we have only a
+superficial knowledge, for we have yet discovered little more
+than the fragments of the shell which held the pearl, the faded
+petals that were once a rose, but we must recognize that they
+provided inspiration for the artists and sculptors whose
+achievements compel our wonder and admiration, moved statesmen to
+inaugurate and administer humanitarian laws, and exalted Right
+above Might.</p>
+<p>These civilizations of the old world, among which the
+Mesopotamian and the Nilotic were the earliest, were built on no
+unsound foundations. They made possible "the glory that was
+Greece and the grandeur that was Rome", and it is only within
+recent years that we have begun to realize how incalculable is
+the debt which the modern world owes to them.</p>
+<div class="figure"><a id="id2514763" name="id2514763"></a>
+<p class="title"><b>Figure�2.�BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA</b></p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote"></blockquote>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="graphic"><img alt="" src="img/1.jpg" /></div>
+<div class="footnotes"><br />
+<hr width="100" align="left" />
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex13" href="#fnrex13" id="ftn.fnrex13">3</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Revelation</em></span>, xviii. The
+Babylon of the Apocalypse is generally believed to symbolize or
+be a mystic designation of Rome.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex14" href="#fnrex14" id="ftn.fnrex14">4</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Nineveh and Its Remains</em></span>,
+vol. i, p. 17.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex15" href="#fnrex15" id="ftn.fnrex15">5</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Ezra</em></span>, iv, 10.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex16" href="#fnrex16" id="ftn.fnrex16">6</a>]</span> The
+culture god.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex17" href="#fnrex17" id="ftn.fnrex17">7</a>]</span>
+Langdon's <span class="emphasis"><em>Sumerian and Babylonian
+Psalms</em></span>, p. 179.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex18" href="#fnrex18" id="ftn.fnrex18">8</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Crete the Forerunner of
+Greece</em></span>, p. 18.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex19" href="#fnrex19" id="ftn.fnrex19">9</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>The Scapegoat vol</em></span>., p. 409
+(3rd edition).</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex110" href="#fnrex110" id="ftn.fnrex110">10</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>The Seven Tablets of
+Creation</em></span>, L. W. King, p. 129.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex111" href="#fnrex111" id="ftn.fnrex111">11</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Ibid</em></span>, pp. 133-4.</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="chapter" lang="en" xml:lang="en">
+<div class="titlepage">
+<div>
+<div>
+<h2 class="title"><a id="id2514776" name=
+"id2514776"></a>Chapter�I.�The Races and Early Civilization of
+Babylonia</h2>
+</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="abstract">
+<p class="title"><b>Abstract</b></p>
+<p>Prehistoric Babylonia--The Confederacies of Sumer and
+Akkad--Sumerian Racial Affinities--Theories of Mongolian and
+Ural-Altaic Origins--Evidence of Russian Turkestan--Beginnings of
+Agriculture--Remarkable Proofs from Prehistoric Egyptian
+Graves--Sumerians and the Mediterranean Race--Present-day Types
+in Western Asia--The Evidence of Crania--Origin of the
+Akkadians--The Semitic Blend--Races in Ancient
+Palestine--Southward Drift of Armenoid Peoples--The Rephaims of
+the Bible--Akkadians attain Political Supremacy in Northern
+Babylonia--Influence of Sumerian Culture--Beginnings of
+Civilization--Progress in the Neolithic Age--Position of Women in
+Early Communities--Their Legal Status in Ancient
+Babylonia--Influence in Social and Religious Life--The "Woman's
+Language"--Goddess who inspired Poets.</p>
+</div>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.1" name="page.anchor.1"></a> Before the
+dawn of the historical period Ancient Babylonia was divided into
+a number of independent city states similar to those which
+existed in pre-Dynastic Egypt. Ultimately these were grouped into
+loose confederacies. The northern cities were embraced in the
+territory known as Akkad, and the southern in the land of Sumer,
+or Shumer. This division had a racial as well as a geographical
+significance. The Akkadians were<a id="page.anchor.2" name=
+"page.anchor.2"></a> "late comers" who had achieved political
+ascendency in the north when the area they occupied was called
+Uri, or Kiuri, and Sumer was known as Kengi. They were a people
+of Semitic speech with pronounced Semitic affinities. From the
+earliest times the sculptors depicted them with abundant locks,
+long full beards, and the prominent distinctive noses and full
+lips, which we usually associate with the characteristic Jewish
+type, and also attired in long, flounced robes, suspended from
+their left shoulders, and reaching down to their ankles. In
+contrast, the Sumerians had clean-shaven faces and scalps, and
+noses of Egyptian and Grecian rather than Semitic type, while
+they wore short, pleated kilts, and went about with the upper
+part of their bodies quite bare like the Egyptian noblemen of the
+Old Kingdom period. They spoke a non-Semitic language, and were
+the oldest inhabitants of Babylonia of whom we have any
+knowledge. Sumerian civilization was rooted in the agricultural
+mode of life, and appears to have been well developed before the
+Semites became numerous and influential in the land. Cities had
+been built chiefly of sun-dried and fire-baked bricks;
+distinctive pottery was manufactured with much skill; the people
+were governed by humanitarian laws, which formed the nucleus of
+the Hammurabi code, and had in use a system of cuneiform writing
+which was still in process of development from earlier pictorial
+characters. The distinctive feature of their agricultural methods
+was the engineering skill which was displayed in extending the
+cultivatable area by the construction of irrigating canals and
+ditches. There are also indications that they possessed some
+knowledge of navigation and traded on the Persian Gulf. According
+to one of their own traditions Eridu, originally a seaport, was
+their racial cradle. The Semitic Akkadians adopted the
+distinctive culture of <a id="page.anchor.3" name=
+"page.anchor.3"></a>these Sumerians after settlement, and
+exercised an influence on its subsequent growth.</p>
+<div class="figure"><a id="id2514897" name="id2514897"></a>
+<p class="title"><b>Figure�I.1.�EXAMPLES OF RACIAL TYPES</b></p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<p><span class="emphasis"><em>From a drawing by E.
+Wallcousins</em></span></p>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="graphic"><img alt="" src="img/2.jpg" /></div>
+<div class="figure"><a id="id2514914" name="id2514914"></a>
+<p class="title"><b>Figure�I.2.�STATUE OF A ROYAL PERSONAGE OR
+OFFICIAL OF NON-SEMITIC ORIGIN</b></p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<p>(<span class="emphasis"><em>British Museum</em></span>)</p>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="graphic"><img alt="" src="img/3.jpg" /></div>
+<p>Much controversy has been waged regarding the original home of
+the Sumerians and the particular racial type which they
+represented. One theory connects them with the lank-haired and
+beardless Mongolians, and it is asserted on the evidence afforded
+by early sculptural reliefs that they were similarly
+oblique-eyed. As they also spoke an agglutinative language, it is
+suggested that they were descended from the same parent stock as
+the Chinese in an ancient Parthian homeland. If, however, the
+oblique eye was not the result of faulty and primitive art, it is
+evident that the Mongolian type, which is invariably found to be
+remarkably persistent in racial blends, did not survive in the
+Tigris and Euphrates valleys, for in the finer and more exact
+sculpture work of the later Sumerian period the eyes of the
+ruling classes are found to be similar to those of the Ancient
+Egyptians and southern Europeans. Other facial characteristics
+suggest that a Mongolian racial connection is highly improbable;
+the prominent Sumerian nose, for instance, is quite unlike the
+Chinese, which is diminutive. Nor can far-reaching conclusions be
+drawn from the scanty linguistic evidence at our disposal.
+Although the languages of the Sumerians and long-headed Chinese
+are of the agglutinative variety, so are those also which are
+spoken by the broad-headed Turks and Magyars of Hungary, the
+broad-headed and long-headed, dark and fair Finns, and the brunet
+and short-statured Basques with pear-shaped faces, who are
+regarded as a variation of the Mediterranean race with
+distinctive characteristics developed in isolation. Languages
+afford no sure indication of racial origins or affinities.</p>
+<p>Another theory connects the Sumerians with the<a id=
+"page.anchor.4" name="page.anchor.4"></a> broad-headed peoples of
+the Western Asian plains and plateaus, who are vaguely grouped as
+Ural-Altaic stock and are represented by the present-day Turks
+and the dark variety of Finns. It is assumed that they migrated
+southward in remote times in consequence of tribal pressure
+caused by changing climatic conditions, and abandoned a purely
+pastoral for an agricultural life. The late Sumerian sculpture
+work again presents difficulties in this connection, for the
+faces and bulging occiputs suggest rather a long-headed than a
+broad-headed type, and the theory no longer obtains that new
+habits of life alter skull forms which are usually associated
+with other distinctive traits in the structure of skeletons.
+These broad-headed nomadic peoples of the Steppes are allied to
+Tatar stock, and distinguished from the pure Mongols by their
+abundance of wavy hair and beard. The fact that the Sumerians
+shaved their scalps and faces is highly suggestive in this
+connection. From the earliest times it has been the habit of most
+peoples to emphasize their racial characteristics so as to be
+able, one may suggest, to distinguish readily a friend from a
+foeman. At any rate this fact is generally recognized by
+ethnologists. The Basques, for instance, shave their pointed
+chins and sometimes grow short side whiskers to increase the
+distinctive pear-shape which is given to their faces by their
+prominent temples. In contrast, their neighbours, the
+Andalusians, grow chin whiskers to broaden their already rounded
+chins, and to distinguish them markedly from the
+Basques.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex112" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex112" id="fnrex112">12</a>]</span> Another example of
+similar character is afforded in Asia Minor, where the skulls of
+the children of long-headed Kurds are narrowed, and those of the
+children of broad-headed Armenians made flatter behind as a
+result of systematic pressure applied by using cradle<a id=
+"page.anchor.5" name="page.anchor.5"></a> boards. In this way
+these rival peoples accentuate their contrasting head forms,
+which at times may, no doubt, show a tendency towards variation
+as a result of the crossment of types. When it is found,
+therefore, that the Sumerians, like the Ancient Egyptians, were
+in the habit of shaving, their ethnic affinities should be looked
+for among a naturally glabrous rather than a heavily-bearded
+people.</p>
+<p>A Central Asiatic source for Sumerian culture has also been
+urged of late with much circumstantial detail. It breaks quite
+fresh and interesting ground. Recent scientific expeditions in
+Russian and Chinese Turkestan have accumulated important
+archaeological data which clearly establish that vast areas of
+desert country were at a remote period most verdurous and
+fruitful, and thickly populated by organized and apparently
+progressive communities. From these ancient centres of
+civilization wholesale migrations must have been impelled from
+time to time in consequence of the gradual encroachment of
+wind-distributed sand and the increasing shortage of water. At
+Anau in Russian Turkestan, where excavations were conducted by
+the Pumpelly expedition, abundant traces were found of an archaic
+and forgotten civilization reaching back to the Late Stone Age.
+The pottery is decorated with geometric designs, and resembles
+somewhat other Neolithic specimens found as far apart as Susa,
+the capital of ancient Elam, on the borders of Babylonia, Boghaz
+K&ouml;i in Asia Minor, the seat of Hittite administration, round
+the Black Sea to the north, and at points in the southern regions
+of the Balkan Peninsula. It is suggested that these various finds
+are scattered evidences of early racial drifts from the Central
+Asian areas which were gradually being rendered uninhabitable.
+Among the Copper Age artifacts at Anau are clay votive<a id=
+"page.anchor.6" name="page.anchor.6"></a> statuettes resembling
+those which were used in Sumeria for religious purposes. These,
+however, cannot be held to prove a racial connection, but they
+are important in so far as they afford evidence of early trade
+relations in a hitherto unsuspected direction, and the long
+distances over which cultural influence extended before the dawn
+of history. Further we cannot go. No inscriptions have yet been
+discovered to render articulate this mysterious Central Asian
+civilization, or to suggest the original source of early Sumerian
+picture writing. Nor is it possible to confirm Mr. Pumpelly's
+view that from the Anau district the Sumerians and Egyptians
+first obtained barley and wheat, and some of their domesticated
+animals. If, as Professor Elliot Smith believes, copper was first
+used by the Ancient Egyptians, it may be, on the other hand, that
+a knowledge of this metal reached Anau through Sumeria, and that
+the elements of the earlier culture were derived from the same
+quarter by an indirect route. The evidence obtainable in Egypt is
+of interest in this connection. Large quantities of food have
+been taken from the stomachs and intestines of sun-dried bodies
+which have lain in their pre-Dynastic graves for over sixty
+centuries. This material has been carefully examined, and has
+yielded, among other things, husks of barley and millet, and
+fragments of mammalian bones, including those, no doubt, of the
+domesticated sheep and goats and cattle painted on the
+pottery.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex113" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex113" id="fnrex113">13</a>]</span> It is therefore
+apparent that at an extremely remote period a knowledge of
+agriculture extended throughout Egypt, and we have no reason for
+supposing that it was not shared by the contemporary inhabitants
+of Sumer.</p>
+<p>The various theories which have been propounded regarding the
+outside source of Sumerian culture are<a id="page.anchor.7" name=
+"page.anchor.7"></a> based on the assumption that it commenced
+abruptly and full grown. Its rude beginnings cannot be traced on
+the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates, but although no specimens
+of the earliest form of picture writing have been recovered from
+the ruins of Sumerian and Akkadian cities, neither have any been
+found elsewhere. The possibility remains, therefore, that early
+Babylonian culture was indigenous. "A great deal of ingenuity has
+been displayed by many scholars", says Professor Elliot Smith,
+"with the object of bringing these Sumerians from somewhere else
+as immigrants into Sumer; but no reasons have been advanced to
+show that they had not been settled at the head of the Persian
+Gulf for long generations before they first appeared on the stage
+of history. The argument that no early remains have been found is
+futile, not only because such a country as Sumer is no more
+favourable to the preservation of such evidence than is the Delta
+of the Nile, but also upon the more general grounds that negative
+statements of this sort cannot be assigned a positive evidence
+for an immigration."<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex114" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex114" id="fnrex114">14</a>]</span> This distinguished
+ethnologist is frankly of opinion that the Sumerians were the
+congeners of the pre-Dynastic Egyptians of the Mediterranean or
+Brown race, the eastern branch of which reaches to India and the
+western to the British Isles and Ireland. In the same ancient
+family are included the Arabs, whose physical characteristics
+distinguish them from the Semites of Jewish type.</p>
+<p>Some light may be thrown on the Sumerian problem by giving
+consideration to the present-day racial complexion of Western
+Asia. The importance of evidence of this character has been
+emphasized elsewhere. In Egypt, for instance, Dr. C.S. Myers has
+ascertained that the modern peasants have skull forms which are
+identical<a id="page.anchor.8" name="page.anchor.8"></a> with
+those of their pre-Dynastic ancestors. Mr. Hawes has also
+demonstrated that the ancient inhabitants of Crete are still
+represented on that famous island. But even more remarkable is
+the fact that the distinctive racial type which occupied the
+Palaeolithic caves of the Dordogne valley in France continues to
+survive in their vicinity after an interval of over twenty
+thousand years.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex115" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex115" id="fnrex115">15</a>]</span> It is noteworthy,
+therefore, to find that in south-western Asia at the present day
+one particular racial type predominates over all others.
+Professor Ripley, who summarizes a considerable mass of data in
+this connection, refers to it as the "Iranian", and says: "It
+includes the Persians and Kurds, possibly the Ossetes in the
+Caucasus, and farther to the east a large number of Asiatic
+tribes, from the Afghans to the Hindus. These peoples are all
+primarily long-headed and dark brunets. They incline to
+slenderness of habit, although varying in stature according to
+circumstances. In them we recognize at once undoubted congeners
+of our Mediterranean race in Europe. The area of their extension
+runs off into Africa, through the Egyptians, who are clearly of
+the same race. Not only the modern peoples, but the Ancient
+Egyptians and the Phoenicians also have been traced to the same
+source. By far the largest portion of this part of Western Asia
+is inhabited by this eastern branch of the Mediterranean race."
+The broad-headed type "occurs sporadically among a few ethnic
+remnants in Syria and Mesopotamia".<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex116" href="#ftn.fnrex116" id="fnrex116">16</a>]</span> The
+exhaustive study of thousands of ancient crania in London and
+Cambridge collections has shown that Mediterranean peoples,
+having alien traits, the result of early admixture, were
+distributed between Egypt and the Punjab.<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex117" href="#ftn.fnrex117" id=
+"fnrex117">17</a>]</span> Where blending took place, the early
+type,<a id="page.anchor.9" name="page.anchor.9"></a> apparently,
+continued to predominate; and it appears to be reasserting itself
+in our own time in Western Asia, as elsewhere. It seems doubtful,
+therefore, that the ancient Sumerians differed racially from the
+pre-Dynastic inhabitants of Egypt and the Pelasgians and Iberians
+of Europe. Indeed, the statuettes from Tello, the site of the
+Sumerian city of Lagash, display distinctively Mediterranean
+skull forms and faces. Some of the plump figures of the later
+period suggest, however, "the particular alien strain" which in
+Egypt and elsewhere "is always associated with a tendency to the
+development of fat", in contrast to "the lean and sinewy
+appearance of most representatives of the Brown
+race".<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex118" href="#ftn.fnrex118"
+id="fnrex118">18</a>]</span> This change may be accounted for by
+the presence of the Semites in northern Babylonia.</p>
+<p>Whence, then, came these invading Semitic Akkadians of Jewish
+type? It is generally agreed that they were closely associated
+with one of the early outpourings of nomadic peoples from Arabia,
+a country which is favourable for the production of a larger
+population than it is able to maintain permanently, especially
+when its natural resources are restricted by a succession of
+abnormally dry years. In tracing the Akkadians from Arabia,
+however, we are confronted at the outset with the difficulty that
+its prehistoric, and many of its present-day, inhabitants are not
+of the characteristic Semitic type. On the Ancient Egyptian
+pottery and monuments the Arabs are depicted as men who closely
+resembled the representatives of the Mediterranean race in the
+Nile valley and elsewhere. They shaved neither scalps nor faces
+as did the historic Sumerians and Egyptians, but grew the slight
+moustache and chin-tuft beard like the Libyans on the north and
+the majority of the men whose bodies<a id="page.anchor.10" name=
+"page.anchor.10"></a> have been preserved in pre-Dynastic graves
+in the Nile valley. "If", writes Professor Elliot Smith, "the
+generally accepted view is true, that Arabia was the original
+home of the Semites, the Arab must have undergone a profound
+change in his physical characters after he left his homeland and
+before he reached Babylonia." This authority is of opinion that
+the Arabians first migrated into Palestine and northern Syria,
+where they mingled with the southward-migrating Armenoid peoples
+from Asia Minor. "This blend of Arabs, kinsmen of the
+proto-Egyptians and Armenoids, would then form the big-nosed,
+long-bearded Semites, so familiar not only on the ancient
+Babylonian and Egyptian monuments, but also in the modern
+Jews."<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex119" href="#ftn.fnrex119"
+id="fnrex119">19</a>]</span> Such a view is in accord with Dr.
+Hugo Winckler's contention that the flow of Arabian migrations
+was northwards towards Syria ere it swept through Mesopotamia. It
+can scarcely be supposed that these invasions of settled
+districts did not result in the fusion and crossment of racial
+types and the production of a sub-variety with medium skull form
+and marked facial characteristics.</p>
+<p>Of special interest in this connection is the evidence
+afforded by Palestine and Egypt. The former country has ever been
+subject to periodic ethnic disturbances and changes. Its racial
+history has a remote beginning in the Pleistocene Age.
+Palaeolithic flints of Chellean and other primitive types have
+been found in large numbers, and a valuable collection of these
+is being preserved in a French museum at Jerusalem. In a northern
+cave fragments of rude pottery, belonging to an early period in
+the Late Stone Age, have been discovered in association with the
+bones of the woolly rhinoceros. To a later period belong the
+series of Gezer cave dwellings, which, according to Professor
+Macalister, the well-known Palestinian<a id="page.anchor.11"
+name="page.anchor.11"></a> authority, "were occupied by a
+non-Semitic people of low stature, with thick skulls and showing
+evidence of the great muscular strength that is essential to
+savage life".<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex120" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex120" id="fnrex120">20</a>]</span> These people are
+generally supposed to be representatives of the Mediterranean
+race, which Sergi has found to have been widely distributed
+throughout Syria and a part of Asia Minor.<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex121" href="#ftn.fnrex121" id=
+"fnrex121">21</a>]</span> An interesting problem, however, is
+raised by the fact that, in one of the caves, there are evidences
+that the dead were cremated. This was not a Mediterranean custom,
+nor does it appear to have prevailed outside the Gezer area. If,
+however, it does not indicate that the kinsmen of the Ancient
+Egyptians came into contact with the remnants of an earlier
+people, it may be that the dead of a later people were burned
+there. The possibility that unidentified types may have
+contributed to the Semitic blend, however, remains. The
+Mediterraneans mingled in Northern Syria and Asia Minor with the
+broad-headed Armenoid peoples who are represented in Europe by
+the Alpine race. With them they ultimately formed the great
+Hittite confederacy. These Armenoids were moving southwards at
+the very dawn of Egyptian history, and nothing is known of their
+conquests and settlements. Their pioneers, who were probably
+traders, appear to have begun to enter the Delta region before
+the close of the Late Stone Age.<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex122" href="#ftn.fnrex122" id="fnrex122">22</a>]</span> The
+earliest outpourings of migrating Arabians may have been in
+progress about the same time. This early southward drift of
+Armenoids might account for the presence in southern Palestine,
+early in the Copper Age, of the tall race referred to in the
+Bible as the Rephaim or Anakim, "whose power was broken only by
+the Hebrew<a id="page.anchor.12" name="page.anchor.12"></a>
+invaders".<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex123" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex123" id="fnrex123">23</a>]</span> Joshua drove them
+out of Hebron,<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex124" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex124" id="fnrex124">24</a>]</span> in the neighbourhood
+of which Abraham had purchased a burial cave from Ephron, the
+Hittite.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex125" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex125" id="fnrex125">25</a>]</span> Apparently a system
+of land laws prevailed in Palestine at this early period. It is
+of special interest for us to note that in Abraham's day and
+afterwards, the landed proprietors in the country of the Rephaim
+were identified with the aliens from Asia Minor--the tall variety
+in the Hittite confederacy.</p>
+<p>Little doubt need remain that the Arabians during their
+sojourn in Palestine and Syria met with distinctive types, and if
+not with pure Armenoids, at any rate with peoples having Armenoid
+traits. The consequent multiplication of tribes, and the gradual
+pressure exercised by the constant stream of immigrants from
+Arabia and Asia Minor, must have kept this part of Western Asia
+in a constant state of unrest. Fresh migrations of the surplus
+stock were evidently propelled towards Egypt in one direction,
+and the valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates in another. The
+Semites of Akkad were probably the conquerors of the more highly
+civilized Sumerians, who must have previously occupied that area.
+It is possible that they owed their success to the possession of
+superior weapons. Professor Elliot Smith suggests in this
+connection that the Arabians had become familiar with the use of
+copper as a result of contact with the Egyptians in Sinai. There
+is no evidence, however, that the Sumerians were attacked before
+they had begun to make metal weapons. It is more probable that
+the invading nomads had superior military organization and
+considerable experience in waging war against detached tribal
+units. They may have also found some of the northern Sumerian
+city states at war with one another and taken<a id=
+"page.anchor.13" name="page.anchor.13"></a> advantage of their
+unpreparedness to resist a common enemy. The rough Dorians who
+overran Greece and the fierce Goths who shattered the power of
+Rome were similarly in a lower state of civilization than the
+peoples whom they subdued.</p>
+<p>The Sumerians, however, ultimately achieved an intellectual
+conquest of their conquerors. Although the leaders of invasion
+may have formed military aristocracies in the cities which they
+occupied, it was necessary for the great majority of the nomads
+to engage their activities in new directions after settlement.
+The Semitic Akkadians, therefore, adopted Sumerian habits of life
+which were best suited for the needs of the country, and they
+consequently came under the spell of Sumerian modes of thought.
+This is shown by the fact that the native speech of ancient Sumer
+continued long after the dawn of history to be the language of
+Babylonian religion and culture, like Latin in Europe during the
+Middle Ages. For centuries the mingling peoples must have been
+bilingual, as are many of the inhabitants of Ireland, Wales, and
+the Scottish Highlands in the present age, but ultimately the
+language of the Semites became the prevailing speech in Sumer and
+Akkad. This change was the direct result of the conquests and the
+political supremacy achieved by the northern people. A
+considerable period elapsed, however, ere this consummation was
+reached and Ancient Babylonia became completely Semitized. No
+doubt its brilliant historical civilization owed much of its
+vigour and stability to the organizing genius of the Semites, but
+the basis on which it was established had been laid by the
+ingenious and imaginative Sumerians who first made the desert to
+blossom like the rose.</p>
+<p>The culture of Sumer was a product of the Late Stone Age,
+which should not be regarded as necessarily<a id="page.anchor.14"
+name="page.anchor.14"></a> an age of barbarism. During its vast
+periods there were great discoveries and great inventions in
+various parts of Asia, Africa, and Europe. The Neoliths made
+pottery and bricks; we know that they invented the art of
+spinning, for spindle-whorls are found even in the Gezer caves to
+which we have referred, while in Egypt the pre-Dynastic dead were
+sometimes wrapped in finely woven linen: their deftly chipped
+flint implements are eloquent of artistic and mechanical skill,
+and undoubted mathematical ability must be credited to the makers
+of smoothly polished stone hammers which are so perfectly
+balanced that they revolve on a centre of gravity. In Egypt and
+Babylonia the soil was tilled and its fertility increased by
+irrigation. Wherever man waged a struggle with Nature he made
+rapid progress, and consequently we find that the earliest great
+civilizations were rooted in the little fields of the Neolithic
+farmers. Their mode of life necessitated a knowledge of Nature's
+laws; they had to take note of the seasons and measure time. So
+Egypt gave us the Calendar, and Babylonia the system of dividing
+the week into seven days, and the day into twelve double
+hours.</p>
+<p>The agricultural life permitted large communities to live in
+river valleys, and these had to be governed by codes of laws;
+settled communities required peace and order for their progress
+and prosperity. All great civilizations have evolved from the
+habits and experiences of settled communities. Law and religion
+were closely associated, and the evidence afforded by the remains
+of stone circles and temples suggests that in the organization
+and division of labour the influence of religious teachers was
+pre-eminent. Early rulers, indeed, were priest-kings
+--incarnations of the deity who owned the land and measured out
+the span of human life.</p>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.15" name="page.anchor.15"></a>We need not
+assume that Neolithic man led an idyllic existence; his triumphs
+were achieved by slow and gradual steps; his legal codes were, no
+doubt, written in blood and his institutions welded in the fires
+of adversity. But, disciplined by laws, which fostered
+humanitarian ideals, Neolithic man, especially of the
+Mediterranean race, had reached a comparatively high state of
+civilization long ages before the earliest traces of his
+activities can be obtained. When this type of mankind is
+portrayed in Ancient Sumeria, Ancient Egypt, and Ancient Crete we
+find that the faces are refined and intellectual and often quite
+modern in aspect. The skulls show that in the Late Stone Age the
+human brain was fully developed and that the racial types were
+fixed. In every country in Europe we still find the direct
+descendants of the ancient Mediterranean race, as well as the
+descendants of the less highly cultured conquerors who swept
+westward out of Asia at the dawn of the Bronze Age; and
+everywhere there are evidences of crossment of types in varying
+degrees. Even the influence of Neolithic intellectual life still
+remains. The comparative study of mythology and folk beliefs
+reveals that we have inherited certain modes of thought from our
+remote ancestors, who were the congeners of the Ancient Sumerians
+and the Ancient Egyptians. In this connection it is of interest,
+therefore, to refer to the social ideals of the early peoples who
+met and mingled on the southern plains of the Tigris and
+Euphrates, and especially the position occupied by women, which
+is engaging so much attention at the present day.</p>
+<p>It would appear that among the Semites and other nomadic
+peoples woman was regarded as the helpmate rather than the
+companion and equal of man. The birth of a son was hailed with
+joy; it was "miserable to have<a id="page.anchor.16" name=
+"page.anchor.16"></a> a daughter", as a Hindu sage reflected; in
+various countries it was the custom to expose female children
+after birth and leave them to die. A wife had no rights other
+than those accorded to her by her husband, who exercised over her
+the power of life and death. Sons inherited family possessions;
+the daughters had no share allotted to them, and could be sold by
+fathers and brothers. Among the peoples who observed "male
+right", social life was reflected in the conception of
+controlling male deities, accompanied by shadowy goddesses who
+were often little else than figures of speech.</p>
+<p>The Ancient Sumerians, on the other hand, like the
+Mediterranean peoples of Egypt and Crete, reverenced and exalted
+motherhood in social and religious life. Women were accorded a
+legal status and marriage laws were promulgated by the State.
+Wives could possess private property in their own right, as did
+the Babylonian Sarah, wife of Abraham, who owned the Egyptian
+slave Hagar.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex126" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex126" id="fnrex126">26</a>]</span> A woman received
+from her parents a marriage dowry, and in the event of separation
+from her husband she could claim its full value. Some spinsters,
+or wives, were accustomed to enter into business partnerships
+with men or members of their own sex, and could sue and be sued
+in courts of law. Brothers and sisters were joint heirs of the
+family estate. Daughters might possess property over which their
+fathers exercised no control: they could also enter into legal
+agreements with their parents in business matters, when they had
+attained to years of discretion. Young women who took vows of
+celibacy and lived in religious institutions could yet make
+business investments, as surviving records show. There is only
+one instance of a Sumerian woman ascending the throne, like Queen
+Hatshepsut of Egypt. Women, therefore,<a id="page.anchor.17"
+name="page.anchor.17"></a> were not rigidly excluded from
+official life. Dungi II, an early Sumerian king, appointed two of
+his daughters as rulers of conquered cities in Syria and Elam.
+Similarly Shishak, the Egyptian Pharaoh, handed over the city of
+Gezer, which he had subdued, to his daughter, Solomon's
+wife.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex127" href="#ftn.fnrex127"
+id="fnrex127">27</a>]</span> In the religious life of ancient
+Sumeria the female population exercised an undoubted influence,
+and in certain temples there were priestesses. The oldest hymns
+give indication of the respect shown to women by making reference
+to mixed assemblies as "females and males", just as present-day
+orators address themselves to "ladies and gentlemen". In the
+later Semitic adaptations of these productions, it is significant
+to note, this conventional reference was altered to "male and
+female". If influences, however, were at work to restrict the
+position of women they did not meet with much success, because
+when Hammurabi codified existing laws, the ancient rights of
+women received marked recognition.</p>
+<p>There were two dialects in ancient Sumeria, and the invocatory
+hymns were composed in what was known as "the women's language".
+It must not be inferred, however, that the ladies of Sumeria had
+established a speech which differed from that used by men. The
+reference would appear to be to a softer and homelier dialect,
+perhaps the oldest of the two, in which poetic emotion found
+fullest and most beautiful expression. In these ancient days, as
+in our own, the ideal of womanhood was the poet's chief source of
+inspiration, and among the hymns the highest reach of poetic art
+was attained in the invocation of Ishtar, the Babylonian Venus.
+The following hymn is addressed to that deity in her
+Valkyrie-like character as a goddess of war, but her more
+feminine traits are not obscured:--<a id="page.anchor.18" name=
+"page.anchor.18"></a></p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>HYMN TO ISHTAR</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>�</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>To thee I cry, O lady of the
+gods,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Lady of ladies, goddess without
+peer,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Ishtar who shapes the lives of all
+mankind,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Thou stately world queen, sovran of the
+sky,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>And lady ruler of the host of
+heaven--</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Illustrious is thy name.... O light
+divine,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Gleaming in lofty splendour o'er the
+earth--</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Heroic daughter of the moon, oh!
+hear;</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Thou dost control our weapons and
+award</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>In battles fierce the victory at
+will--</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>crown'd majestic Fate. Ishtar most
+high,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Who art exalted over all the
+gods,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Thou bringest lamentation; thou dost
+urge</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>With hostile hearts our brethren to the
+fray;</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>The gift of strength is thine for thou
+art strong;</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Thy will is urgent, brooking no
+delay;</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Thy hand is violent, thou queen of
+war</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Girded with battle and enrobed with
+fear...</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Thou sovran wielder of the wand of
+Doom,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>The heavens and earth are under thy
+control.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>�</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Adored art thou in every sacred
+place,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>In temples, holy dwellings, and in
+shrines,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Where is thy name not lauded? where thy
+will</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Unheeded, and thine images not
+made?</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Where are thy temples not upreared? O,
+where</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Art thou not mighty, peerless, and
+supreme?</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>�</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Anu and Bel and Ea have thee
+raised</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>To rank supreme, in majesty and
+pow'r,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>They have established thee above the
+gods</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>And all the host of heaven... O stately
+queen,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>At thought of thee the world is filled
+with fear,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>The gods in heaven quake, and on the
+earth</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>All spirits pause, and all mankind bow
+down</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>With reverence for thy name.... O Lady
+Judge,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>�</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Thy ways are just and holy; thou dost
+gaze<a id="page.anchor.19" name="page.anchor.19"></a></tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>On sinners with compassion, and each
+morn</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Leadest the wayward to the rightful
+path.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>�</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Now linger not, but come! O goddess
+fair,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>O shepherdess of all, thou drawest
+nigh</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>With feet unwearied... Thou dost break
+the bonds</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Of these thy handmaids... When thou
+stoopest o'er</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>The dying with compassion, lo! they
+live;</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>And when the sick behold thee they are
+healed.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>�</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Hear me, thy servant! hearken to my
+pray'r,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>For I am full of sorrow and I
+sigh</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>In sore distress; weeping, on thee I
+wait.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Be merciful, my lady, pity
+take</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>And answer, "'Tis enough and be
+appeased".</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>�</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>How long must my heart sorrow and make
+moan</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>And restless be? How long must my dark
+home</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Be filled with mourning and my soul
+with grief?</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>O lioness of heaven, bring me
+peace</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>And rest and comfort. Hearken to my
+pray'r!</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Is anger pity? May thine eyes look
+down</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>With tenderness and blessings, and
+behold</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Thy servant. Oh! have mercy; hear my
+cry</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>And unbewitch me from the evil
+spells,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>That I may see thy glory... Oh! how
+long</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Shall these my foes pursue me, working
+ill,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>And robbing me of joy?... Oh! how
+long</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Shall demons compass me about and
+cause</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Affliction without end?... I thee
+adore--</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>The gift of strength is thine and thou
+art strong--</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>The weakly are made strong, yet I am
+weak...</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>O hear me! I am glutted with my
+grief--</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>This flood of grief by evil winds
+distressed;</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>My heart hath fled me like a bird on
+wings,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>And like the dove I moan. Tears from
+mine eyes</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Are falling as the rain from heaven
+falls,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>And I am destitute and full of
+woe.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>�</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line">
+<tt>�������*�������*�������*�������*�������*<a id=
+"page.anchor.20" name="page.anchor.20"></a></tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>�</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>What have I done that thou hast turned
+from me?</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Have I neglected homage to my
+god</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>And thee my goddess? O deliver
+me</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>And all my sins forgive, that I may
+share</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Thy love and be watched over in thy
+fold;</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>And may thy fold be wide, thy pen
+secure.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>�</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line">
+<tt>�������*�������*�������*�������*�������*</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>�</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>How long wilt thou be angry? Hear my
+cry,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>And turn again to prosper all my
+ways--</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>O may thy wrath be crumbled and
+withdrawn</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>As by a crumbling stream. Then smite my
+foes,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>And take away their power to work me
+ill,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>That I may crush them. Hearken to my
+pray'r!</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>And bless me so that all who me
+behold</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>May laud thee and may magnify thy
+name,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>While I exalt thy power over
+all--</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Ishtar is highest! Ishtar is the
+queen!</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Ishtar the peerless daughter of the
+moon!</tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<div class="footnotes"><br />
+<hr width="100" align="left" />
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex112" href="#fnrex112" id="ftn.fnrex112">12</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>The Races of Europe</em></span>, W.Z.
+Ripley, p. 203.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex113" href="#fnrex113" id="ftn.fnrex113">13</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>The Ancient Egyptians</em></span>, by
+Elliot Smith, p. 41 <span class="emphasis"><em>et
+seq</em></span>.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex114" href="#fnrex114" id="ftn.fnrex114">14</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>The Ancient Egyptians</em></span>, p.
+140.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex115" href="#fnrex115" id="ftn.fnrex115">15</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Crete the Forerunner of
+Greece</em></span>, C. H. and H. B. Hawes, 1911, p. 23
+<span class="emphasis"><em>et seq.</em></span></div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex116" href="#fnrex116" id="ftn.fnrex116">16</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>The Races of Europe</em></span>, W. Z.
+Ripley, p. 443 <span class="emphasis"><em>et
+seq</em></span>.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex117" href="#fnrex117" id="ftn.fnrex117">17</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>The Ancient Egyptians</em></span>, pp.
+144-5.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex118" href="#fnrex118" id="ftn.fnrex118">18</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>The Ancient Egyptians</em></span>, p.
+114.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex119" href="#fnrex119" id="ftn.fnrex119">19</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>The Ancient Egyptians</em></span>, p.
+136.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex120" href="#fnrex120" id="ftn.fnrex120">20</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>A History of Palestine</em></span>,
+R.A.S. Macalister, pp. 8-16.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex121" href="#fnrex121" id="ftn.fnrex121">21</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>The Mediterranean Race</em></span>
+(1901 trans.), G. Sergi, p. 146 <span class="emphasis"><em>et
+seq</em></span>.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex122" href="#fnrex122" id="ftn.fnrex122">22</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>The Ancient Egyptians</em></span>, p.
+130.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex123" href="#fnrex123" id="ftn.fnrex123">23</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>A History of Civilization in
+Palestine, p. 20 et seq.</em></span></div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex124" href="#fnrex124" id="ftn.fnrex124">24</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Joshua</em></span>, xi. 21.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex125" href="#fnrex125" id="ftn.fnrex125">25</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Genesis</em></span>, xxiii.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex126" href="#fnrex126" id="ftn.fnrex126">26</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Genesis</em></span>, xvi. 8, 9.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex127" href="#fnrex127" id="ftn.fnrex127">27</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>1 Kings</em></span>, xvi. 16.</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="chapter" lang="en" xml:lang="en">
+<div class="titlepage">
+<div>
+<div>
+<h2 class="title"><a id="id2516306" name=
+"id2516306"></a>Chapter�II.�The Land of Rivers and the God of the
+Deep</h2>
+</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="abstract">
+<p class="title"><b>Abstract</b></p>
+<p>Fertility of Ancient Babylonia--Rivers, Canals, Seasons, and
+Climate--Early Trade and Foreign Influences--Local Religious
+Cults--Ea, God of the Deep, identical with Oannes of
+Berosus--Origin as a Sacred Fish--Compared with Brahma and
+Vishnu--Flood Legends in Babylonia and India--Fish Deities in
+Babylonia and Egypt--Fish God as a Corn God--The River as
+Creator--Ea an Artisan God, and links with Egypt and India--Ea as
+the Hebrew Jah--Ea and Varuna are Water and Sky Gods--The
+Babylonian Dagan and Dagon of the Philistines--Deities of Water
+and Harvest in Phoenicia, Greece, Rome, Scotland, Scandinavia,
+Ireland, and Egypt--Ea's Spouse Damkina--Demons of Ocean in
+Babylonia and India--Anu, God of the Sky--Enlil, Storm and War
+God of Nippur, like Adad, Odin, &amp;c.--Early Gods of Babylonia
+and Egypt of common origin--Ea's City as Cradle of Sumerian
+Civilization.</p>
+</div>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.21" name="page.anchor.21"></a> Ancient
+Babylonia was for over four thousand years the garden of Western
+Asia. In the days of Hezekiah and Isaiah, when it had come under
+the sway of the younger civilization of Assyria on the north, it
+was "a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a
+land of oil olive and of honey<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex128" href="#ftn.fnrex128" id="fnrex128">28</a>]</span>".
+Herodotus found it still flourishing and extremely fertile. "This
+territory", he wrote, "is of all that we know the best by far for
+producing grain; it is so good that it returns as much as two
+hundredfold for the average, and, when it bears at its best, it
+produces three hundredfold. The blades of the wheat and barley
+there grow to be full four fingers broad;<a id="page.anchor.22"
+name="page.anchor.22"></a> and from millet and sesame seed, how
+large a tree grows, I know myself, but shall not record, being
+well aware that even what has already been said relating to the
+crops produced has been enough to cause disbelief in those who
+have not visited Babylonia<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex129"
+href="#ftn.fnrex129" id="fnrex129">29</a>]</span>." To-day great
+tracts of undulating moorland, which aforetime yielded two and
+three crops a year, are in summer partly barren wastes and partly
+jungle and reedy swamp. Bedouins camp beside sandy heaps which
+were once populous and thriving cities, and here and there the
+shrunken remnants of a people once great and influential eke out
+precarious livings under the oppression of Turkish tax-gatherers
+who are scarcely less considerate than the plundering nomads of
+the desert.</p>
+<p>This historic country is bounded on the east by Persia and on
+the west by the Arabian desert. In shape somewhat resembling a
+fish, it lies between the two great rivers, the Tigris and the
+Euphrates, 100 miles wide at its broadest part, and narrowing to
+35 miles towards the "tail" in the latitude of Baghdad; the
+"head" converges to a point above Basra, where the rivers meet
+and form the Shatt-el-Arab, which pours into the Persian Gulf
+after meeting the Karun and drawing away the main volume of that
+double-mouthed river. The distance from Baghdad to Basra is about
+300 miles, and the area traversed by the Shatt-el-Arab is slowly
+extending at the rate of a mile every thirty years or so, as a
+result of the steady accumulation of silt and mud carried down by
+the Tigris and Euphrates. When Sumeria was beginning to flourish,
+these two rivers had separate outlets, and Eridu, the seat of the
+cult of the sea god Ea, which now lies 125 miles inland, was a
+seaport at the head of the Persian Gulf. A day's journey
+separated the river mouths when<a id="page.anchor.23" name=
+"page.anchor.23"></a> Alexander the Great broke the power of the
+Persian Empire.</p>
+<p>In the days of Babylonia's prosperity the Euphrates was hailed
+as "the soul of the land" and the Tigris as "the bestower of
+blessings". Skilful engineers had solved the problem of water
+distribution by irrigating sun-parched areas and preventing the
+excessive flooding of those districts which are now rendered
+impassable swamps when the rivers overflow. A network of canals
+was constructed throughout the country, which restricted the
+destructive tendencies of the Tigris and Euphrates and developed
+to a high degree their potentialities as fertilizing agencies.
+The greatest of these canals appear to have been anciently river
+beds. One, which is called Shatt en Nil to the north, and Shatt
+el Kar to the south, curved eastward from Babylon, and sweeping
+past Nippur, flowed like the letter <b class="b">S</b> towards
+Larsa and then rejoined the river. It is believed to mark the
+course followed in the early Sumerian period by the Euphrates
+river, which has moved steadily westward many miles beyond the
+sites of ancient cities that were erected on its banks. Another
+important canal, the Shatt el Hai, crossed the plain from the
+Tigris to its sister river, which lies lower at this point, and
+does not run so fast. Where the artificial canals were
+constructed on higher levels than the streams which fed them, the
+water was raised by contrivances known as "shaddufs"; the buckets
+or skin bags were roped to a weighted beam, with the aid of which
+they were swung up by workmen and emptied into the canals. It is
+possible that this toilsome mode of irrigation was substituted in
+favourable parts by the primitive water wheels which are used in
+our own day by the inhabitants of the country who cultivate
+strips of land along the river banks.</p>
+<p>In Babylonia there are two seasons--the rainy and<a id=
+"page.anchor.24" name="page.anchor.24"></a> the dry. Rain falls
+from November till March, and the plain is carpeted in spring by
+patches of vivid green verdure and brilliant wild flowers. Then
+the period of drought ensues; the sun rapidly burns up all
+vegetation, and everywhere the eye is wearied by long stretches
+of brown and yellow desert. Occasional sandstorms darken the
+heavens, sweeping over sterile wastes and piling up the shapeless
+mounds which mark the sites of ancient cities. Meanwhile the
+rivers are increasing in volume, being fed by the melting snows
+at their mountain sources far to the north. The swift Tigris,
+which is 1146 miles long, begins to rise early in March and
+reaches its highest level in May; before the end of June it again
+subsides. More sluggish in movement, the Euphrates, which is 1780
+miles long, shows signs of rising a fortnight later than the
+Tigris, and is in flood for a more extended period; it does not
+shrink to its lowest level until early in September. By
+controlling the flow of these mighty rivers, preventing
+disastrous floods, and storing and distributing surplus water,
+the ancient Babylonians developed to the full the natural
+resources of their country, and made it--what it may once again
+become--one of the fairest and most habitable areas in the world.
+Nature conferred upon them bountiful rewards for their labour;
+trade and industries flourished, and the cities increased in
+splendour and strength. Then as now the heat was great during the
+long summer, but remarkably dry and unvarying, while the air was
+ever wonderfully transparent under cloudless skies of vivid blue.
+The nights were cool and of great beauty, whether in brilliant
+moonlight or when ponds and canals were jewelled by the lustrous
+displays of clear and numerous stars which glorified that
+homeland of the earliest astronomers.</p>
+<p>Babylonia is a treeless country, and timber had to be<a id=
+"page.anchor.25" name="page.anchor.25"></a> imported from the
+earliest times. The date palm was probably introduced by man, as
+were certainly the vine and the fig tree, which were widely
+cultivated, especially in the north. Stone, suitable for
+building, was very scarce, and limestone, alabaster, marble, and
+basalt had to be taken from northern Mesopotamia, where the
+mountains also yield copper and lead and iron. Except Eridu,
+where ancient workers quarried sandstone from its sea-shaped
+ridge, all the cities were built of brick, an excellent clay
+being found in abundance. When brick walls were cemented with
+bitumen they were given great stability. This resinous substance
+is found in the north and south. It bubbles up through crevices
+of rocks on river banks and forms small ponds. Two famous springs
+at modern Hit, on the Euphrates, have been drawn upon from time
+immemorial. "From one", writes a traveller, "flows hot water
+black with bitumen, while the other discharges intermittently
+bitumen, or, after a rainstorm, bitumen and cold water.... Where
+rocks crop out in the plain above Hit, they are full of seams of
+bitumen."<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex130" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex130" id="fnrex130">30</a>]</span> Present-day Arabs
+call it "kiyara", and export it for coating boats and roofs; they
+also use it as an antiseptic, and apply it to cure the skin
+diseases from which camels suffer.</p>
+<p>Sumeria had many surplus products, including corn and figs,
+pottery, fine wool and woven garments, to offer in exchange for
+what it most required from other countries. It must, therefore,
+have had a brisk and flourishing foreign trade at an exceedingly
+remote period. No doubt numerous alien merchants were attracted
+to its cities, and it may be that they induced or encouraged
+Semitic and other raiders to overthrow governments and form
+military aristocracies, so that they themselves might obtain
+necessary concessions and achieve a degree of<a id=
+"page.anchor.26" name="page.anchor.26"></a> political ascendancy.
+It does not follow, however, that the peasant class was greatly
+affected by periodic revolutions of this kind, which brought
+little more to them than a change of rulers. The needs of the
+country necessitated the continuance of agricultural methods and
+the rigid observance of existing land laws; indeed, these
+constituted the basis of Sumerian prosperity. Conquerors have
+ever sought reward not merely in spoil, but also the services of
+the conquered. In northern Babylonia the invaders apparently
+found it necessary to conciliate and secure the continued
+allegiance of the tillers of the soil. Law and religion being
+closely associated, they had to adapt their gods to suit the
+requirements of existing social and political organizations. A
+deity of pastoral nomads had to receive attributes which would
+give him an agricultural significance; one of rural character had
+to be changed to respond to the various calls of city life.
+Besides, local gods could not be ignored on account of their
+popularity. As a result, imported beliefs and religious customs
+must have been fused and absorbed according to their bearing on
+modes of life in various localities. It is probable that the
+complex character of certain deities was due to the process of
+adjustment to which they were subjected in new environments.</p>
+<p>The petty kingdoms of Sumeria appear to have been tribal in
+origin. Each city was presided over by a deity who was the
+nominal owner of the surrounding arable land, farms were rented
+or purchased from the priesthood, and pasture was held in common.
+As in Egypt, where we find, for instance, the artisan god Ptah
+supreme at Memphis, the sun god Ra at Heliopolis, and the cat
+goddess Bast at Bubastis, the various local Sumerian and Akkadian
+deities had distinctive characteristics, and similarly showed a
+tendency to absorb the attributes of their<a id="page.anchor.27"
+name="page.anchor.27"></a> rivals. The chief deity of a state was
+the central figure in a pantheon, which had its political aspect
+and influenced the growth of local theology. Cities, however, did
+not, as a rule, bear the names of deities, which suggests that
+several were founded when Sumerian religion was in its early
+animistic stages, and gods and goddesses were not sharply defined
+from the various spirit groups.</p>
+<p>A distinctive and characteristic Sumerian god was Ea, who was
+supreme at the ancient sea-deserted port of Eridu. He is
+identified with the Oannes of Berosus,<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex131" href="#ftn.fnrex131" id="fnrex131">31</a>]</span> who
+referred to the deity as "a creature endowed with reason, with a
+body like that of a fish, with feet below like those of a man,
+with a fish's tail". This description recalls the familiar
+figures of Egyptian gods and priests attired in the skins of the
+sacred animals from whom their powers were derived, and the fairy
+lore about swan maids and men, and the seals and other animals
+who could divest themselves of their "skin coverings" and appear
+in human shape. Originally Ea may have been a sacred fish. The
+Indian creative gods Brahma and Vishnu had fish forms. In
+Sanskrit literature Manu, the eponymous "first man", is
+instructed by the fish to build a ship in which to save himself
+when the world would be purged by the rising waters. Ea
+befriended in similar manner the Babylonian Noah, called
+Pir-napishtim, advising him to build a vessel so as to be
+prepared for the approaching Deluge. Indeed the Indian legend
+appears to throw light on the original Sumerian conception of Ea.
+It relates that when the fish was small and in danger of being
+swallowed by other fish in a stream it appealed to Manu for
+protection. The<a id="page.anchor.28" name="page.anchor.28"></a>
+sage at once lifted up the fish and placed it in a jar of water.
+It gradually increased in bulk, and he transferred it next to a
+tank and then to the river Ganges. In time the fish complained to
+Manu that the river was too small for it, so he carried it to the
+sea. For these services the god in fish form instructed Manu
+regarding the approaching flood, and afterwards piloted his ship
+through the weltering waters until it rested on a mountain
+top.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex132" href="#ftn.fnrex132"
+id="fnrex132">32</a>]</span></p>
+<p>If this Indian myth is of Babylonian origin, as appears
+probable, it may be that the spirit of the river Euphrates, "the
+soul of the land", was identified with a migrating fish. The
+growth of the fish suggests the growth of the river rising in
+flood. In Celtic folk tales high tides and valley floods are
+accounted for by the presence of a "great beast" in sea, loch, or
+river. In a class of legends, "specially connected with the
+worship of Atargatis", wrote Professor Robertson Smith, "the
+divine life of the waters resides in the sacred fish that inhabit
+them. Atargatis and her son, according to a legend common to
+Hierapolis and Ascalon, plunged into the waters--in the first
+case the Euphrates, in the second the sacred pool at the temple
+near the town--and were changed into fishes". The idea is that
+"where a god dies, that is, ceases to exist in human form, his
+life passes into the waters where he is buried; and this again is
+merely a theory to bring the divine water or the divine fish into
+harmony with anthropomorphic ideas. The same thing was sometimes
+effected in another way by saying that the anthropomorphic deity
+was born from the water, as Aphrodite sprang from sea foam, or as
+Atargatis, in another form of the Euphrates legend, ... was born
+of an egg which the sacred fishes found in the Euphrates and
+pushed ashore."<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex133" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex133" id="fnrex133">33</a>]</span></p>
+<p>As "Shar Apsi", Ea was the "King of the Watery<a id=
+"page.anchor.29" name="page.anchor.29"></a> Deep". The reference,
+however, according to Jastrow, "is not to the salt ocean, but the
+sweet waters flowing under the earth which feed the streams, and
+through streams and canals irrigate the fields".<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex134" href="#ftn.fnrex134" id=
+"fnrex134">34</a>]</span> As Babylonia was fertilized by its
+rivers, Ea, the fish god, was a fertilizing deity. In Egypt the
+"Mother of Mendes" is depicted carrying a fish upon her head; she
+links with Isis and Hathor; her husband is Ba-neb-Tettu, a form
+of Ptah, Osiris, and Ra, and as a god of fertility he is
+symbolized by the ram. Another Egyptian fish deity was the god
+Rem, whose name signifies "to weep"; he wept fertilizing tears,
+and corn was sown and reaped amidst lamentations. He may be
+identical with Remi, who was a phase of Sebek, the crocodile god,
+a developed attribute of Nu, the vague primitive Egyptian deity
+who symbolized the primordial deep. The connection between a fish
+god and a corn god is not necessarily remote when we consider
+that in Babylonia and Egypt the harvest was the gift of the
+rivers.</p>
+<p>The Euphrates, indeed, was hailed as a creator of all that
+grew on its banks.</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>O thou River who didst create all
+things,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>When the great gods dug thee
+out,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>They set prosperity upon thy
+banks,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Within thee Ea, the King of the Deep,
+created his dwelling...</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Thou judgest the cause of
+mankind!</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>O River, thou art mighty! O River, thou
+art supreme!</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>O River, thou art
+righteous!<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex135" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex135" id="fnrex135">35</a>]</span></tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>In serving Ea, the embodiment or the water spirit, by leading
+him, as the Indian Manu led the Creator and "Preserver" in fish
+form, from river to water pot, water pot to pond or canal, and
+then again to river and ocean,<a id="page.anchor.30" name=
+"page.anchor.30"></a> the Babylonians became expert engineers and
+experienced agriculturists, the makers of bricks, the builders of
+cities, the framers of laws. Indeed, their civilization was a
+growth of Ea worship. Ea was their instructor. Berosus states
+that, as Oannes, he lived in the Persian Gulf, and every day came
+ashore to instruct the inhabitants of Eridu how to make canals,
+to grow crops, to work metals, to make pottery and bricks, and to
+build temples; he was the artisan god--Nun-ura, "god of the
+potter"; Kuski-banda, "god of goldsmiths", &amp;c.--the divine
+patron of the arts and crafts. "Ea knoweth everything", chanted
+the hymn maker. He taught the people how to form and use
+alphabetic signs and instructed them in mathematics: he gave them
+their code of laws. Like the Egyptian artisan god Ptah, and the
+linking deity Khnumu, Ea was the "potter or moulder of gods and
+man". Ptah moulded the first man on his potter's wheel: he also
+moulded the sun and moon; he shaped the universe and hammered out
+the copper sky. Ea built the world "as an architect builds a
+house".<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex136" href="#ftn.fnrex136"
+id="fnrex136">36</a>]</span> Similarly the Vedic Indra, who
+wielded a hammer like Ptah, fashioned the universe after the
+simple manner in which the Aryans made their wooden
+dwellings.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex137" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex137" id="fnrex137">37</a>]</span></p>
+<p>Like Ptah, Ea also developed from an artisan god into a
+sublime Creator in the highest sense, not merely as a producer of
+crops. His word became the creative force; he named those things
+he desired to be, and they came into existence. "Who but Ea
+creates things", exclaimed a priestly poet. This change from
+artisan god to creator (Nudimmud) may have been due to the
+tendency of early religious cults to attach to their chief god
+the attributes of rivals exalted at other centres.</p>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.31" name="page.anchor.31"></a>Ea, whose
+name is also rendered Aa, was identified with Ya, Ya'u, or Au,
+the Jah of the Hebrews. "In Ya-Daganu, 'Jah is Dagon'", writes
+Professor Pinches, "we have the elements reversed, showing a wish
+to identify Jah with Dagon, rather than Dagon with Jah; whilst
+another interesting name, Au-Aa, shows an identification of Jah
+with Aa, two names which have every appearance of being
+etymologically connected." Jah's name "is one of the words for
+'god' in the Assyro-Babylonian language".<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex138" href="#ftn.fnrex138" id=
+"fnrex138">38</a>]</span></p>
+<p>Ea was "Enki", "lord of the world", or "lord of what is
+beneath"; Amma-ana-ki, "lord of heaven and earth"; Sa-kalama,
+"ruler of the land", as well as Engur, "god of the abyss", Naqbu,
+"the deep", and Lugal-ida, "king of the river". As rain fell from
+"the waters above the firmament", the god of waters was also a
+sky and earth god.</p>
+<p>The Indian Varuna was similarly a sky as well as an ocean god
+before the theorizing and systematizing Brahmanic teachers
+relegated him to a permanent abode at the bottom of the sea. It
+may be that Ea-Oannes and Varuna were of common origin.</p>
+<p>Another Babylonian deity, named Dagan, is believed to be
+identical with Ea. His worship was certainly of great antiquity.
+"Hammurabi", writes Professor Pinches, "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 (Dagon of the Philistines), is
+found in a few personal names.<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex139" href="#ftn.fnrex139" id="fnrex139">39</a>]</span></p>
+<p>It is possible that the Philistine deity Dagon was a<a id=
+"page.anchor.32" name="page.anchor.32"></a> specialized form of
+ancient Ea, who was either imported from Babylonia or was a sea
+god of more than one branch of the Mediterranean race. The
+authorities are at variance regarding the form and attributes of
+Dagan. Our knowledge regarding him is derived mainly from the
+Bible. He was a national rather than a city god. There are
+references to a Beth-dagon<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex140"
+href="#ftn.fnrex140" id="fnrex140">40</a>]</span>, "house or city
+of Dagon"; he had also a temple at Gaza, and Samson destroyed it
+by pulling down the two middle pillars which were its main
+support.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex141" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex141" id="fnrex141">41</a>]</span> A third temple was
+situated in Ashdod. When the captured ark of the Israelites was
+placed in it the image of Dagon "fell on his face", with the
+result that "the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands
+were cut off upon the threshold; only the stump of Dagon was
+left".<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex142" href="#ftn.fnrex142"
+id="fnrex142">42</a>]</span> A further reference to "the
+threshold of Dagon" suggests that the god had feet like
+Ea-Oannes. Those who hold that Dagon had a fish form derive his
+name from the Semitic "dag = a fish", and suggest that after the
+idol fell only the fishy part (d&#257;go) was left. On the other
+hand, it was argued that Dagon was a corn god, and that the
+resemblance between the words Dagan and Dagon are accidental.
+Professor Sayce makes reference in this connection to a crystal
+seal from Phoenicia in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, bearing an
+inscription which he reads as Baal-dagon. Near the name is an ear
+of corn, and other symbols, such as the winged solar disc, a
+gazelle, and several stars, but there is no fish. It may be, of
+course, that Baal-dagon represents a fusion of deities. As we
+have seen in the case of Ea-Oannes and the deities of Mendes, a
+fish god may also be a corn god, a land animal god and a god of
+ocean and the sky. The offering of golden mice representing "your
+mice that mar the<a id="page.anchor.33" name=
+"page.anchor.33"></a> land",<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex143"
+href="#ftn.fnrex143" id="fnrex143">43</a>]</span> made by the
+Philistines, suggests that Dagon was the fertilizing harvest god,
+among other things, whose usefulness had been impaired, as they
+believed, by the mistake committed of placing the ark of Israel
+in the temple at Ashdod. The Philistines came from Crete, and if
+their Dagon was imported from that island, he may have had some
+connection with Poseidon, whose worship extended throughout
+Greece. This god of the sea, who is somewhat like the Roman
+Neptune, carried a lightning trident and caused earthquakes. He
+was a brother of Zeus, the sky and atmosphere deity, and had bull
+and horse forms. As a horse he pursued Demeter, the earth and
+corn goddess, and, like Ea, he instructed mankind, but especially
+in the art of training horses. In his train were the Tritons,
+half men, half fishes, and the water fairies, the Nereids. Bulls,
+boars, and rams were offered to this sea god of fertility.
+Amphitrite was his spouse.</p>
+<p>An obscure god Shony, the Oannes of the Scottish Hebrides,
+received oblations from those who depended for their agricultural
+prosperity on his gifts of fertilizing seaweed. He is referred to
+in Martin's <span class="emphasis"><em>Western Isles</em></span>,
+and is not yet forgotten. The Eddic sea god Njord of Noatun was
+the father of Frey, the harvest god. Dagda, the Irish corn god,
+had for wife Boann, the goddess of the river Boyne. Osiris and
+Isis of Egypt were associated with the Nile. The connection
+between agriculture and the water supply was too obvious to
+escape the early symbolists, and many other proofs of this than
+those referred to could be given.</p>
+<p>Ea's "faithful spouse" was the goddess Damkina, who was also
+called Nin-ki, "lady of the earth". "May Ea make thee glad",
+chanted the priests. "May Damkina, queen of the deep, illumine
+thee with her countenance;<a id="page.anchor.34" name=
+"page.anchor.34"></a> may Merodach (Marduk), the mighty overseer
+of the Igigi (heavenly spirits), exalt thy head." Merodach was
+their son: in time he became the Bel, or "Lord", of the
+Babylonian pantheon.</p>
+<p>Like the Indian Varuna, the sea god, Ea-Oannes had control
+over the spirits and demons of the deep. The "ferryman" who kept
+watch over the river of death was called Arad-Ea, "servant of
+Ea". There are also references to sea maidens, the Babylonian
+mermaids, or Nereids. We have a glimpse of sea giants, which
+resemble the Indian Danavas and Daityas of ocean, in the
+chant:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Seven are they, seven are
+they,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>In the ocean deep seven are
+they,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Battening in heaven seven are
+they,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Bred in the depths of
+ocean....</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Of these seven the first is the south
+wind,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>The second a dragon with mouth
+agape....<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex144" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex144" id="fnrex144">44</a>]</span></tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>A suggestion of the Vedic Vritra and his horde of
+monsters.</p>
+<p>These seven demons were also "the messengers of Anu", who,
+although specialized as a sky god in more than one pantheon,
+appears to have been closely associated with Ea in the earliest
+Sumerian period. His name, signifying "the high one", is derived
+from "ana", "heaven"; he was the city god of Erech (Uruk). It is
+possible that he was developed as an atmospheric god with solar
+and lunar attributes. The seven demons, who were his messengers,
+recall the stormy Maruts, the followers of Indra. They are
+referred to as</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Forcing their way with baneful
+windstorms,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Mighty destroyers, the deluge of the
+storm god,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Stalking at the right hand of the storm
+god.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex145" href="#ftn.fnrex145"
+id="fnrex145">45</a>]</span></tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.35" name="page.anchor.35"></a>When we deal
+with a deity in his most archaic form it is difficult to
+distinguish him from a demon. Even the beneficent Ea is
+associated with monsters and furies. "Evil spirits", according to
+a Babylonian chant, were "the bitter venom of the gods". Those
+attached to a deity as "attendants" appear to represent the
+original animistic group from which he evolved. In each district
+the character of the deity was shaped to accord with local
+conditions.</p>
+<p>At Nippur, which was situated on the vague and shifting
+boundary line between Sumer and Akkad, the chief god was Enlil,
+whose name is translated "lord of mist", "lord of might", and
+"lord of demons" by various authorities. He was a storm god and a
+war god, and "lord of heaven and earth", like Ea and Anu. An
+atmospheric deity, he shares the attributes of the Indian Indra,
+the thunder and rain god, and Vayu, the wind god; he also
+resembles the Semitic Adad or Rimman, who links with the Hittite
+Tarku. All these are deities of tempest and the mountains--Wild
+Huntsmen in the Raging Host. The name of Enlil's temple at Nippur
+has been translated as "mountain house", or "like a mountain",
+and the theory obtained for a time that the god must therefore
+have been imported by a people from the hills. But as the
+ideogram for "mountain" and "land" was used in the earliest
+times, as King shows, with reference to foreign
+countries,<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex146" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex146" id="fnrex146">46</a>]</span> it is more probable
+that Enlil was exalted as a world god who had dominion over not
+only Sumer and Akkad, but also the territories occupied by the
+rivals and enemies of the early Babylonians.</p>
+<p>Enlil is known as the "older Bel" (lord), to distinguish him
+from Bel Merodach of Babylon. He was<a id="page.anchor.36" name=
+"page.anchor.36"></a> the chief figure in a triad in which he
+figured as earth god, with Anu as god of the sky and Ea as god of
+the deep. This classification suggests that Nippur had either
+risen in political importance and dominated the cities of Erech
+and Eridu, or that its priests were influential at the court of a
+ruler who was the overlord of several city states.</p>
+<p>Associated with Bel Enlil was Beltis, later known as
+"Beltu--the lady". She appears to be identical with the other
+great goddesses, Ishtar, Nana, Zerpanitu<span class=
+'phonetic'>m</span>, &amp;c., a "Great Mother", or consort of an
+early god with whom she was equal in power and dignity.</p>
+<p>In the later systematized theology of the Babylonians we seem
+to trace the fragments of a primitive mythology which was vague
+in outline, for the deities were not sharply defined, and existed
+in groups. Enneads were formed in Egypt by placing a local god at
+the head of a group of eight elder deities. The sun god Ra was
+the chief figure of the earliest pantheon of this character at
+Heliopolis, while at Hermopolis the leader was the lunar god
+Thoth. Professor Budge is of opinion that "both the Sumerians and
+the early Egyptians derived their primeval gods from some common
+but exceedingly ancient source", for he finds in the Babylonian
+and Nile valleys that there is a resemblance between two early
+groups which "seems to be too close to be
+accidental".<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex147" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex147" id="fnrex147">47</a>]</span></p>
+<p>The Egyptian group comprises four pairs of vague gods and
+goddesses--Nu and his consort Nut, Hehu and his consort Hehut,
+Kekui and his consort Kekuit, and Kerh and his consort Kerhet.
+"Man always has fashioned", he says, "and probably always will
+fashion, his god or gods in his own image, and he has always,
+having reached a certain stage in development, given to his gods
+wives<a id="page.anchor.37" name="page.anchor.37"></a> and
+offspring; but the nature of the position taken by the wives of
+the gods depends upon the nature of the position of women in the
+households of those who write the legends and the traditions of
+the gods. The gods of the oldest company in Egypt were, the
+writer believes, invented by people in whose households women
+held a high position, and among whom they possessed more power
+than is usually the case with Oriental peoples."<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex148" href="#ftn.fnrex148" id=
+"fnrex148">48</a>]</span></p>
+<p>We cannot say definitely what these various deities represent.
+Nu was the spirit of the primordial deep, and Nut of the waters
+above the heavens, the mother of moon and sun and the stars. The
+others were phases of light and darkness and the forces of nature
+in activity and repose.</p>
+<p>Nu is represented in Babylonian mythology by Apsu-Rishtu, and
+Nut by Mummu-Tiamat or Tiawath; the next pair is Lachmu and
+Lachamu, and the third, Anshar and Kishar. The fourth pair is
+missing, but the names of Anu and Ea (as Nudimmud) are mentioned
+in the first tablet of the Creation series, and the name of a
+third is lost. Professor Budge thinks that the Assyrian editors
+substituted the ancient triad of Anu, Ea, and Enlil for the pair
+which would correspond to those found in Egypt. Originally the
+wives of Anu and Ea may have made up the group of eight primitive
+deities.</p>
+<p>There can be little doubt but that Ea, as he survives to us,
+is of later characterization than the first pair of primitive
+deities who symbolized the deep. The attributes of this
+beneficent god reflect the progress, and the social and moral
+ideals of a people well advanced in civilization. He rewarded
+mankind for the services they rendered to him; he was their
+leader and instructor; he achieved for them the victories over
+the destructive forces<a id="page.anchor.38" name=
+"page.anchor.38"></a> of nature. In brief, he was the dragon
+slayer, a distinction, by the way, which was attached in later
+times to his son Merodach, the Babylonian god, although Ea was
+still credited with the victory over the dragon's husband.</p>
+<p>When Ea was one of the pre-Babylonian group--the triad of
+Bel-Enlil, Anu, and Ea--he resembled the Indian Vishnu, the
+Preserver, while Bel-Enlil resembled Shiva, the Destroyer, and
+Anu, the father, supreme Brahma, the Creator and Father of All,
+the difference in exact adjustment being due, perhaps, to
+Sumerian political conditions.</p>
+<p>Ea, as we have seen, symbolized the beneficence of the waters;
+their destructive force was represented by Tiamat or Tiawath, the
+dragon, and Apsu, her husband, the arch-enemy of the gods. We
+shall find these elder demons figuring in the Babylonian Creation
+myth, which receives treatment in a later chapter.</p>
+<p>The ancient Sumerian city of Eridu, which means "on the
+seashore", was invested with great sanctity from the earliest
+times, and Ea, the "great magician of the gods", was invoked by
+workers of spells, the priestly magicians of historic Babylonia.
+Excavations have shown that Eridu was protected by a retaining
+wall of sandstone, of which material many of its houses were
+made. In its temple tower, built of brick, was a marble stairway,
+and evidences have been forthcoming that in the later Sumerian
+period the structure was lavishly adorned. It is referred to in
+the fragments of early literature which have survived as "the
+splendid house, shady as the forest", that "none may enter". The
+mythological spell exercised by Eridu in later times suggests
+that the civilization of Sumeria owed much to the worshippers of
+Ea. At the sacred city the first man was created: there the
+souls<a id="page.anchor.39" name="page.anchor.39"></a> of the
+dead passed towards the great Deep. Its proximity to the sea--Ea
+was Nin-bubu, "god of the sailor"--may have brought it into
+contact with other peoples and other early civilizations. Like
+the early Egyptians, the early Sumerians may have been in touch
+with Punt (Somaliland), which some regard as the cradle of the
+Mediterranean race. The Egyptians obtained from that sacred land
+incense-bearing trees which had magical potency. In a fragmentary
+Babylonian charm there is a reference to a sacred tree or bush at
+Eridu. Professor Sayce has suggested that it is the Biblical
+"Tree of Life" in the Garden of Eden. His translations of certain
+vital words, however, is sharply questioned by Mr. R. Campbell
+Thompson of the British Museum, who does not accept the
+theory.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex149" href="#ftn.fnrex149"
+id="fnrex149">49</a>]</span> It may be that Ea's sacred bush or
+tree is a survival of tree and water worship.</p>
+<p>If Eridu was not the "cradle" of the Sumerian race, it was
+possibly the cradle of Sumerian civilization. Here, amidst the
+shifting rivers in early times, the agriculturists may have
+learned to control and distribute the water supply by utilizing
+dried-up beds of streams to irrigate the land. Whatever successes
+they achieved were credited to Ea, their instructor and patron;
+he was Nadimmud, "god of everything".</p>
+<div class="footnotes"><br />
+<hr width="100" align="left" />
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex128" href="#fnrex128" id="ftn.fnrex128">28</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>2 Kings</em></span>, xviii, 32.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex129" href="#fnrex129" id="ftn.fnrex129">29</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Herodotus</em></span>, i, 193.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex130" href="#fnrex130" id="ftn.fnrex130">30</a>]</span>
+Peter's <span class="emphasis"><em>Nippur</em></span>, i, p.
+160.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex131" href="#fnrex131" id="ftn.fnrex131">31</a>]</span>
+A Babylonian priest of Bel Merodach. In the third century a.c. he
+composed in Greek a history of his native land, which has
+perished. Extracts from it are given by Eusebius, Josephus,
+Apollodorus, and others.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex132" href="#fnrex132" id="ftn.fnrex132">32</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Indian Myth and Legend</em></span>,
+pp. 140, 141.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex133" href="#fnrex133" id="ftn.fnrex133">33</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>The Religion of the
+Semites</em></span>, pp. 159, 160.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex134" href="#fnrex134" id="ftn.fnrex134">34</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Religion of Babylonia and
+Assyria</em></span>, M. Jastrow, p. 88.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex135" href="#fnrex135" id="ftn.fnrex135">35</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>The Seven Tablets of
+Creation</em></span>, L.W. King, vol. i, p. 129.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex136" href="#fnrex136" id="ftn.fnrex136">36</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Religious Belief in Babylonia and
+Assyria</em></span>, M. Jastrow, p. 88.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex137" href="#fnrex137" id="ftn.fnrex137">37</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Cosmology of the Rigveda,</em></span>
+Wallis, and <span class="emphasis"><em>Indian Myth and
+Legend</em></span>, p. 10.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex138" href="#fnrex138" id="ftn.fnrex138">38</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>The Old Testament in the Light of the
+Historical Records and Legends of Assyria and
+Babylonia</em></span>, T.G. Pinches, pp. 59-61.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex139" href="#fnrex139" id="ftn.fnrex139">39</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>The Religion of Babylonia and
+Assyria</em></span>, T.G. Pinches, pp. 91, 92.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex140" href="#fnrex140" id="ftn.fnrex140">40</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Joshua</em></span>, xv, 41; xix,
+27.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex141" href="#fnrex141" id="ftn.fnrex141">41</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Judges</em></span>, xvi, 14.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex142" href="#fnrex142" id="ftn.fnrex142">42</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>I Sam</em></span>., v, 1-9.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex143" href="#fnrex143" id="ftn.fnrex143">43</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>I Sam</em></span>., vi, 5.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex144" href="#fnrex144" id="ftn.fnrex144">44</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>The Devils and Evil Spirits of
+Babylonia</em></span>, R. Campbell Thompson, London, 1903, vol.
+i, p. xlii.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex145" href="#fnrex145" id="ftn.fnrex145">45</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>The Devils and Evil Spirits of
+Babylonia</em></span>, R. C. Thompson, vol. i, p. xliii.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex146" href="#fnrex146" id="ftn.fnrex146">46</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>A History of Sumer and
+Akkad</em></span>, L. W. King, p. 54.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex147" href="#fnrex147" id="ftn.fnrex147">47</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>The Gods of the Egyptians</em></span>,
+E. Wallis Budge, vol. i, p. 290.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex148" href="#fnrex148" id="ftn.fnrex148">48</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>The Gods of the Egyptians</em></span>,
+vol. i, p. 287.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex149" href="#fnrex149" id="ftn.fnrex149">49</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>The Devils and Evil Spirits of
+Babylonia</em></span>, vol. i, <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Intro</em></span>. See also Sayce's <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>The Religion of Ancient Egypt and
+Babylonia</em></span> (Gifford Lectures, 1902), p. 385, and
+Pinches' <span class="emphasis"><em>The Old Testament in the
+Light of Historical Records</em></span>, &amp;c., p. 71.</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="chapter" lang="en" xml:lang="en">
+<div class="titlepage">
+<div>
+<div>
+<h2 class="title"><a id="id2517500" name=
+"id2517500"></a>Chapter�III.�Rival Pantheons and Representative
+Deities</h2>
+</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="abstract">
+<p class="title"><b>Abstract</b></p>
+<p>Why Different Gods were Supreme at Different Centres--Theories
+regarding Origin of Life--Vital Principle in Water--Creative
+Tears of Weeping Deities--Significance of widespread Spitting
+Customs--Divine Water in Blood and Divine Blood in Water--Liver
+as the Seat of Life--Inspiration derived by Drinking Mead, Blood,
+&amp;c.--Life Principle in Breath--Babylonian Ghosts as "Evil
+Wind Gusts"--Fire Deities--Fire and Water in Magical
+Ceremonies--Moon Gods of Ur and Harran--Moon Goddess and
+Babylonian "Jack and Jill"--Antiquity of Sun Worship--Tammuz and
+Ishtar--Solar Gods of War, Pestilence, and Death--Shamash as the
+"Great Judge"--His Mitra Name--Aryan Mitra or Mithra and linking
+Babylonian Deities--Varuna and Shamash Hymns compared--The Female
+Origin of Life--Goddesses of Maternity--The Babylonian
+Thor--Deities of Good and Evil.</p>
+</div>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.40" name="page.anchor.40"></a> In dealing
+with the city cults of Sumer and Akkad, consideration must be
+given to the problems involved by the rival mythological systems.
+Pantheons not only varied in detail, but were presided over by
+different supreme gods. One city's chief deity might be regarded
+as a secondary deity at another centre. Although Ea, for
+instance, was given first place at Eridu, and was so pronouncedly
+Sumerian in character, the moon god Nannar remained supreme at
+Ur, while the sun god, whose Semitic name was Shamash, presided
+at Larsa and Sippar. Other deities were similarly exalted in
+other states.</p>
+<p>As has been indicated, a mythological system must have been
+strongly influenced by city politics. To hold<a id=
+"page.anchor.41" name="page.anchor.41"></a> a community in sway,
+it was necessary to recognize officially the various gods
+worshipped by different sections, so as to secure the constant
+allegiance of all classes to their rulers. Alien deities were
+therefore associated with local and tribal deities, those of the
+nomads with those of the agriculturists, those of the unlettered
+folks with those of the learned people. Reference has been made
+to the introduction of strange deities by conquerors. But these
+were not always imposed upon a community by violent means.
+Indications are not awanting that the worshippers of alien gods
+were sometimes welcomed and encouraged to settle in certain
+states. When they came as military allies to assist a city folk
+against a fierce enemy, they were naturally much admired and
+praised, honoured by the women and the bards, and rewarded by the
+rulers.</p>
+<p>In the epic of Gilgamesh, the Babylonian Hercules, we meet
+with Ea-bani, a Goliath of the wilds, who is entreated to come to
+the aid of the besieged city of Erech when it seemed that its
+deities were unable to help the people against their enemies.</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>The gods of walled-round
+Erech</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>To flies had turned and buzzed in the
+streets;</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>The winged bulls of walled-round
+Erech</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Were turned to mice and departed
+through the holes.</tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>Ea-bani was attracted to Erech by the gift of a fair woman for
+wife. The poet who lauded him no doubt mirrored public opinion.
+We can see the slim, shaven Sumerians gazing with wonder and
+admiration on their rough heroic ally.</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>All his body was covered with
+hair,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>His locks were like a
+woman's,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Thick as corn grew his abundant
+hair.<a id="page.anchor.42" name="page.anchor.42"></a></tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>He was a stranger to the people and in
+that land.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Clad in a garment like Gira, the
+god,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>He had eaten grass with the
+gazelles,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>He had drunk water with savage
+beasts.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>His delight was to be among water
+dwellers.</tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>Like the giant Alban, the eponymous ancestor of a people who
+invaded prehistoric Britain, Ea-bani appears to have represented
+in Babylonian folk legends a certain type of foreign settlers in
+the land. No doubt the city dwellers, who were impressed by the
+prowess of the hairy and powerful warriors, were also ready to
+acknowledge the greatness of their war gods, and to admit them
+into the pantheon. The fusion of beliefs which followed must have
+stimulated thought and been productive of speculative ideas.
+"Nowhere", remarks Professor Jastrow, "does a high form of
+culture arise without the commingling of diverse ethnic
+elements."</p>
+<p>We must also take into account the influence exercised by
+leaders of thought like En-we-dur-an-ki, the famous high priest
+of Sippar, whose piety did much to increase the reputation of the
+cult of Shamesh, the sun god. The teachings and example of
+Buddha, for instance, revolutionized Brahmanic religion in
+India.</p>
+<p>A mythology was an attempt to solve the riddle of the
+Universe, and to adjust the relations of mankind with the various
+forces represented by the deities. The priests systematized
+existing folk beliefs and established an official religion. To
+secure the prosperity of the State, it was considered necessary
+to render homage unto whom homage was due at various seasons and
+under various circumstances.</p>
+<p>The religious attitude of a particular community, therefore,
+must have been largely dependent on its needs and experiences.
+The food supply was a first consideration.<a id="page.anchor.43"
+name="page.anchor.43"></a> At Eridu, as we have seen, it was
+assured by devotion to Ea and obedience to his commands as an
+instructor. Elsewhere it might happen, however, that Ea's gifts
+were restricted or withheld by an obstructing force--the raging
+storm god, or the parching, pestilence-bringing deity of the sun.
+It was necessary, therefore, for the people to win the favour of
+the god or goddess who seemed most powerful, and was accordingly
+considered to be the greatest in a particular district. A rain
+god presided over the destinies of one community, and a god of
+disease and death over another; a third exalted the war god, no
+doubt because raids were frequent and the city owed its strength
+and prosperity to its battles and conquests. The reputation won
+by a particular god throughout Babylonia would depend greatly on
+the achievements of his worshippers and the progress of the city
+civilization over which he presided. Bel-Enlil's fame as a war
+deity was probably due to the political supremacy of his city of
+Nippur; and there was probably good reason for attributing to the
+sun god a pronounced administrative and legal character; he may
+have controlled the destinies of exceedingly well organized
+communities in which law and order and authority were held in
+high esteem.</p>
+<p>In accounting for the rise of distinctive and rival city
+deities, we should also consider the influence of divergent
+conceptions regarding the origin of life in mingled communities.
+Each foreign element in a community had its own intellectual life
+and immemorial tribal traditions, which reflected ancient habits
+of life and perpetuated the doctrines of eponymous ancestors.
+Among the agricultural classes, the folk religion which entered
+so intimately into their customs and labours must have remained
+essentially Babylonish in character. In cities,<a id=
+"page.anchor.44" name="page.anchor.44"></a> however, where
+official religions were formulated, foreign ideas were more apt
+to be imposed, especially when embraced by influential teachers.
+It is not surprising, therefore, to find that in Babylonia, as in
+Egypt, there were differences of opinion regarding the origin of
+life and the particular natural element which represented the
+vital principle.</p>
+<p>One section of the people, who were represented by the
+worshippers of Ea, appear to have believed that the essence of
+life was contained in water. The god of Eridu was the source of
+the "water of life". He fertilized parched and sunburnt wastes
+through rivers and irrigating canals, and conferred upon man the
+sustaining "food of life". When life came to an end--</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Food of death will be offered
+thee...</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Water of death will be offered
+thee...</tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>Offerings of water and food were made to the dead so that the
+ghosts might be nourished and prevented from troubling the
+living. Even the gods required water and food; they were immortal
+because they had drunk ambrosia and eaten from the plant of life.
+When the goddess Ishtar was in the Underworld, the land of the
+dead, the servant of Ea exclaimed--</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>"Hail! lady, may the well give me of
+its waters, so that I may drink."</tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>The goddess of the dead commanded her servant to "sprinkle the
+lady Ishtar with the water of life and bid her depart". The
+sacred water might also be found at a confluence of rivers. Ea
+bade his son, Merodach, to "draw water from the mouth of two
+streams", and "on this water to put his pure spell".</p>
+<p>The worship of rivers and wells which prevailed in<a id=
+"page.anchor.45" name="page.anchor.45"></a> many countries was
+connected with the belief that the principle of life was in
+moisture. In India, water was vitalized by the intoxicating juice
+of the Soma plant, which inspired priests to utter prophecies and
+filled their hearts with religious fervour. Drinking customs had
+originally a religious significance. It was believed in India
+that the sap of plants was influenced by the moon, the source of
+vitalizing moisture and the hiding-place of the mead of the gods.
+The Teutonic gods also drank this mead, and poets were inspired
+by it. Similar beliefs obtained among various peoples. Moon and
+water worship were therefore closely associated; the blood of
+animals and the sap of plants were vitalized by the water of life
+and under control of the moon.</p>
+<p>The body moisture of gods and demons had vitalizing
+properties. When the Indian creator, Praj&aacute;pati, wept at
+the beginning, "that (the tears) which fell into the water became
+the air. That which he wiped away, upwards, became the
+sky."<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex150" href="#ftn.fnrex150"
+id="fnrex150">50</a>]</span> The ancient Egyptians believed that
+all men were born from the eyes of Horus except negroes, who came
+from other parts of his body.<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex151" href="#ftn.fnrex151" id="fnrex151">51</a>]</span> The
+creative tears of Ra, the sun god, fell as shining rays upon the
+earth. When this god grew old saliva dripped from his mouth, and
+Isis mixed the vitalizing moisture with dust, and thus made the
+serpent which bit and paralysed the great solar
+deity.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex152" href="#ftn.fnrex152"
+id="fnrex152">52</a>]</span></p>
+<p>Other Egyptian deities, including Osiris and Isis, wept
+creative tears. Those which fell from the eyes of the evil gods
+produced poisonous plants and various baneful animals. Orion, the
+Greek giant, sprang from the body moisture of deities. The
+weeping ceremonies in connection<a id="page.anchor.46" name=
+"page.anchor.46"></a> with agricultural rites were no doubt
+believed to be of magical potency; they encouraged the god to
+weep creative tears.</p>
+<p>Ea, the god of the deep, was also "lord of life" (Enti), "king
+of the river" (Lugal-ida), and god of creation (Nudimmud). His
+aid was invoked by means ot magical formulae. As the "great
+magician of the gods" he uttered charms himself, and was the
+patron of all magicians. One spell runs as follows:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>I am the sorcerer priest of
+Ea...</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>To revive the ... sick man</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>The great lord Ea hath sent
+me;</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>He hath added his pure spell to
+mine,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>He hath added his pure voice to
+mine,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>He hath added his pure spittle to
+mine.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>�</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>��������<span class="emphasis"><em>R.C.
+Thompson's Translation.</em></span></tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>Saliva, like tears, had creative and therefore curative
+qualities; it also expelled and injured demons and brought good
+luck. Spitting ceremonies are referred to in the religious
+literature of Ancient Egypt. When the Eye of Ra was blinded by
+Set, Thoth spat in it to restore vision. The sun god Tum, who was
+linked with Ra as Ra-Tum, spat on the ground, and his saliva
+became the gods Shu and Tefnut. In the Underworld the devil
+serpent Apep was spat upon to curse it, as was also its waxen
+image which the priests fashioned.<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex153" href="#ftn.fnrex153" id="fnrex153">53</a>]</span></p>
+<p>Several African tribes spit to make compacts, declare
+friendship, and to curse.</p>
+<p>Park, the explorer, refers in his <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Travels</em></span> to his carriers spitting on a
+flat stone to ensure a good journey. Arabian holy men and
+descendants of Mohammed spit to cure diseases. Mohammed spat in
+the mouth of his grandson Hasen soon after birth. Theocritus,
+Sophocles,<a id="page.anchor.47" name="page.anchor.47"></a> and
+Plutarch testify to the ancient Grecian customs of spitting to
+cure and to curse, and also to bless when children were named.
+Pliny has expressed belief in the efficacy of the fasting spittle
+for curing disease, and referred to the custom of spitting to
+avert witchcraft. In England, Scotland, and Ireland spitting
+customs are not yet obsolete. North of England boys used to talk
+of "spitting their sauls" (souls). When the Newcastle colliers
+held their earliest strikes they made compacts by spitting on a
+stone. There are still "spitting stones" in the north of
+Scotland. When bargains are made in rural districts, hands are
+spat upon before they are shaken. The first money taken each day
+by fishwives and other dealers is spat upon to ensure increased
+drawings. Brand, who refers to various spitting customs, quotes
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Scot's Discovery of
+Witchcraft</em></span> regarding the saliva cure for king's evil,
+which is still, by the way, practised in the Hebrides. Like
+Pliny, Scot recommended ceremonial spitting as a charm against
+witchcraft.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex154" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex154" id="fnrex154">54</a>]</span> In China spitting to
+expel demons is a common practice. We still call a hasty person a
+"spitfire", and a calumniator a "spit-poison".</p>
+<p>The life principle in trees, &amp;c., as we have seen, was
+believed to have been derived from the tears of deities. In India
+sap was called the "blood of trees", and references to "bleeding
+trees" are still widespread and common. "Among the ancients",
+wrote Professor Robertson Smith, "blood is generally conceived as
+the principle or vehicle of life, and so the account often given
+of sacred waters is that the blood of the deity flows in them.
+Thus as Milton writes:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Smooth Adonis from his native
+rock</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Ran purple to the sea, supposed with
+blood</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Of Thammuz yearly wounded.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>�</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>��������<span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Paradise Lost</em></span>, i, 450.</tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.48" name="page.anchor.48"></a>The ruddy
+colour which the swollen river derived from the soil at a certain
+season was ascribed to the blood of the god, who received his
+death wound in Lebanon at that time of the year, and lay buried
+beside the sacred source."<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex155"
+href="#ftn.fnrex155" id="fnrex155">55</a>]</span></p>
+<p>In Babylonia the river was regarded as the source of the life
+blood and the seat of the soul. No doubt this theory was based on
+the fact that the human liver contains about a sixth of the blood
+in the body, the largest proportion required by any single organ.
+Jeremiah makes "Mother Jerusalem" exclaim: "My liver is poured
+upon the earth for the destruction of the daughter of my people",
+meaning that her life is spent with grief.</p>
+<p>Inspiration was derived by drinking blood as well as by
+drinking intoxicating liquors--the mead of the gods. Indian
+magicians who drink the blood of the goat sacrificed to the
+goddess Kali, are believed to be temporarily possessed by her
+spirit, and thus enabled to prophesy.<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex156" href="#ftn.fnrex156" id="fnrex156">56</a>]</span>
+Malayan exorcists still expel demons while they suck the blood
+from a decapitated fowl.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex157"
+href="#ftn.fnrex157" id="fnrex157">57</a>]</span></p>
+<p>Similar customs were prevalent in Ancient Greece. A woman who
+drank the blood of a sacrificed lamb or bull uttered prophetic
+sayings.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex158" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex158" id="fnrex158">58</a>]</span></p>
+<p>But while most Babylonians appear to have believed that the
+life principle was in blood, some were apparently of opinion that
+it was in breath--the air of life. A man died when he ceased to
+breathe; his spirit, therefore, it was argued, was identical with
+the atmosphere--the moving wind--and was accordingly derived from
+the atmospheric or wind god. When, in the Gilgamesh epic, the
+hero invokes the dead Ea-bani, the ghost rises<a id=
+"page.anchor.49" name="page.anchor.49"></a> up like a "breath of
+wind". A Babylonian charm runs:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>The gods which seize on men</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>��Came forth from the grave;</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>The evil wind gusts</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>��Have come forth from the
+grave,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>To demand payment of rites and the
+pouring out of libations</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>��They have come forth from the
+grave;</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>All that is evil in their hosts, like a
+whirlwind,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>��Hath come forth from the
+grave.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex159" href="#ftn.fnrex159"
+id="fnrex159">59</a>]</span></tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>The Hebrew "nephesh ruach" and "neshamah" (in Arabic "ruh" and
+"nefs") pass from meaning "breath" to "spirit".<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex160" href="#ftn.fnrex160" id=
+"fnrex160">60</a>]</span> In Egypt the god Khnumu was "Kneph" in
+his character as an atmospheric deity. The ascendancy of storm
+and wind gods in some Babylonian cities may have been due to the
+belief that they were the source of the "air of life". It is
+possible that this conception was popularized by the Semites.
+Inspiration was perhaps derived from these deities by burning
+incense, which, if we follow evidence obtained elsewhere, induced
+a prophetic trance. The gods were also invoked by incense. In the
+Flood legend the Babylonian Noah burned incense. "The gods
+smelled a sweet savour and gathered like flies over the
+sacrificer." In Egypt devotees who inhaled the breath of the Apis
+bull were enabled to prophesy.</p>
+<p>In addition to water and atmospheric deities Babylonia had
+also its fire gods, Girru, Gish Bar, Gibil, and Nusku. Their
+origin is obscure. It is doubtful if their worshippers, like
+those of the Indian Agni, believed that fire, the "vital spark",
+was the principle of life which was manifested by bodily heat.
+The Aryan fire worshippers cremated their dead so that the
+spirits might be<a id="page.anchor.50" name="page.anchor.50"></a>
+transferred by fire to Paradise. This practice, however, did not
+obtain among the fire worshippers of Persia, nor, as was once
+believed, in Sumer or Akkad either. Fire was, however, used in
+Babylonia for magical purposes. It destroyed demons, and put to
+flight the spirits of disease. Possibly the fire-purification
+ceremonies resembled those which were practised by the
+Canaanites, and are referred to in the Bible. Ahaz "made his son
+to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the
+heathen".<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex161" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex161" id="fnrex161">61</a>]</span> Ezekiel declared
+that "when ye offer your gifts, when ye make your sons to pass
+through the fire, ye pollute yourselves with all your
+idols".<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex162" href="#ftn.fnrex162"
+id="fnrex162">62</a>]</span> In <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Leviticus</em></span> it is laid down: "Thou shalt
+not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to
+Moloch".<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex163" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex163" id="fnrex163">63</a>]</span> It may be that in
+Babylonia the fire-cleansing ceremony resembled that which
+obtained at Beltane (May Day) in Scotland, Germany, and other
+countries. Human sacrifices might also have been offered up as
+burnt offerings. Abraham, who came from the Sumerian city of Ur,
+was prepared to sacrifice Isaac, Sarah's first-born. The fire
+gods of Babylonia never achieved the ascendancy of the Indian
+Agni; they appear to have resembled him mainly in so far as he
+was connected with the sun. Nusku, like Agni, was also the
+"messenger of the gods". When Merodach or Babylon was exalted as
+chief god of the pantheon his messages were carried to Ea by
+Nusku. He may have therefore symbolized the sun rays, for
+Merodach had solar attributes. It is possible that the belief
+obtained among even the water worshippers of Eridu that the sun
+and moon, which rose from the primordial deep, had their origin
+in the everlasting fire in Ea's domain at the bottom of the sea.
+In the Indian god Varuna's ocean home an "Asura fire" (demon
+fire) <a id="page.anchor.51" name="page.anchor.51"></a>burned
+constantly; it was "bound and confined", but could not be
+extinguished. Fed by water, this fire, it was believed, would
+burst forth at the last day and consume the universe.<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex164" href="#ftn.fnrex164" id=
+"fnrex164">64</a>]</span> A similar belief can be traced in
+Teutonic mythology. The Babylonian incantation cult appealed to
+many gods, but "the most important share in the rites", says
+Jastrow, "are taken by fire and water--suggesting, therefore,
+that the god of water--more particularly Ea--and the god of fire
+... are the chief deities on which the ritual itself hinges". In
+some temples there was a <span class="emphasis"><em>bit
+rimki</em></span>, a "house of washing", and a <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>bit nuri</em></span>, a "house of
+light".<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex165" href="#ftn.fnrex165"
+id="fnrex165">65</a>]</span></p>
+<div class="figure"><a id="id2518436" name="id2518436"></a>
+<p class="title"><b>Figure�III.1.�WORSHIP OF THE MOON GOD</b></p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<p>Cylinder-Seal ol Khashkhamer, Patesi of Ishkun-Sin (in North
+Babylonia), and vassal of Ur-Engur, King of Ur. (c. 2400 B.C.)
+(<span class="emphasis"><em>British Museum</em></span>)</p>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="graphic"><img alt="" src="img/4.jpg" /></div>
+<div class="figure"><a id="id2518456" name="id2518456"></a>
+<p class="title"><b>Figure�III.2.�WINGED MAN-HEADED LION</b></p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<p><span class="emphasis"><em>In Marble. From N.W. Palace of
+Nimroud: now in the British Museum</em></span></p>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="graphic"><img alt="" src="img/5.jpg" /></div>
+<p>It is possible, of course, that fire was regarded as the vital
+principle by some city cults, which were influenced by imported
+ideas. If so, the belief never became prevalent. The most
+enduring influence in Babylonian religion was the early Sumerian;
+and as Sumerian modes of thought were the outcome of habits of
+life necessitated by the character of the country, they were
+bound, sooner or later, to leave a deep impress on the minds of
+foreign peoples who settled in the Garden of Western Asia. It is
+not surprising, therefore, to find that imported deities assumed
+Babylonian characteristics, and were identified or associated
+with Babylonian gods in the later imperial pantheon.</p>
+<p>Moon worship appears to have been as ancient as water worship,
+with which, as we have seen, it was closely associated. It was
+widely prevalent throughout Babylonia. The chief seat of the
+lunar deity, Nannar or Sin, was the ancient city of Ur, from
+which Abraham migrated to Harran, where the "Baal" (the lord) was
+also a moon god. Ur was situated in Sumer, in the south,
+between<a id="page.anchor.52" name="page.anchor.52"></a> the west
+bank of the Euphrates and the low hills bordering the Arabian
+desert, and not far distant from sea-washed Eridu. No doubt, like
+that city, it had its origin at an exceedingly remote period. At
+any rate, the excavations conducted there have afforded proof
+that it flourished in the prehistoric period.</p>
+<p>As in Arabia, Egypt, and throughout ancient Europe and
+elsewhere, the moon god of Sumeria was regarded as the "friend of
+man". He controlled nature as a fertilizing agency; he caused
+grass, trees, and crops to grow; he increased flocks and herds,
+and gave human offspring. At Ur he was exalted above Ea as "the
+lord and prince of the gods, supreme in heaven, the Father of
+all"; he was also called "great Anu", an indication that Anu, the
+sky god, had at one time a lunar character. The moon god was
+believed to be the father of the sun god: he was the "great steer
+with mighty horns and perfect limbs".</p>
+<p>His name Sin is believed to be a corruption of "Zu-ena", which
+signifies "knowledge lord".<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex166"
+href="#ftn.fnrex166" id="fnrex166">66</a>]</span> Like the lunar
+Osiris of Egypt, he was apparently an instructor of mankind; the
+moon measured time and controlled the seasons; seeds were sown at
+a certain phase of the moon, and crops were ripened by the
+harvest moon. The mountains of Sinai and the desert of Sin are
+called after this deity.</p>
+<p>As Nannar, which Jastrow considers to be a variation of
+"Narnar", the "light producer", the moon god scattered darkness
+and reduced the terrors of night. His spirit inhabited the lunar
+stone, so that moon and stone worship were closely associated; it
+also entered trees and crops, so that moon worship linked with
+earth worship, as both linked with water worship.</p>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.53" name="page.anchor.53"></a>The consort
+of Nannar was Nin-Uruwa, "the lady of Ur", who was also called
+Nin-gala. She links with Ishtar as Nin, as Isis of Egypt linked
+with other mother deities. The twin children of the moon were
+Mashu and Mashtu, a brother and sister, like the lunar girl and
+boy of Teutonic mythology immortalized in nursery rhymes as Jack
+and Jill.</p>
+<p>Sun worship was of great antiquity in Babylonia, but appears
+to have been seasonal in its earliest phases. No doubt the sky
+god Anu had his solar as well as his lunar attributes, which he
+shared with Ea. The spring sun was personified as Tammuz, the
+youthful shepherd, who was loved by the earth goddess Ishtar and
+her rival Eresh-ki-gal, goddess of death, the Babylonian
+Persephone. During the winter Tammuz dwelt in Hades, and at the
+beginning of spring Ishtar descended to search for him among the
+shades.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex167" href="#ftn.fnrex167"
+id="fnrex167">67</a>]</span> But the burning summer sun was
+symbolized as a destroyer, a slayer of men, and therefore a war
+god. As Ninip or Nirig, the son of Enlil, who was made in the
+likeness of Anu, he waged war against the earth spirits, and was
+furiously hostile towards the deities of alien peoples, as
+befitted a god of battle. Even his father feared him, and when he
+was advancing towards Nippur, sent out Nusku, messenger of the
+gods, to soothe the raging deity with soft words. Ninip was
+symbolized as a wild bull, was connected with stone worship, like
+the Indian destroying god Shiva, and was similarly a deity of
+Fate. He had much in common with Nin-Girsu, a god of Lagash, who
+was in turn regarded as a form of Tammuz.</p>
+<p>Nergal, another solar deity, brought disease and pestilence,
+and, according to Jensen, all misfortunes due to excessive heat.
+He was the king of death, husband of<a id="page.anchor.54" name=
+"page.anchor.54"></a> Eresh-ki-gal, queen of Hades. As a war god
+he thirsted for human blood, and was depicted as a mighty lion.
+He was the chief deity of the city of Cuthah, which, Jastrow
+suggests, was situated beside a burial place of great repute,
+like the Egyptian Abydos.</p>
+<p>The two great cities of the sun in ancient Babylonia were the
+Akkadian Sippar and the Sumerian Larsa. In these the sun god,
+Shamash or Babbar, was the patron deity. He was a god of Destiny,
+the lord of the living and the dead, and was exalted as the great
+Judge, the lawgiver, who upheld justice; he was the enemy of
+wrong, he loved righteousness and hated sin, he inspired his
+worshippers with rectitude and punished evildoers. The sun god
+also illumined the world, and his rays penetrated every quarter:
+he saw all things, and read the thoughts of men; nothing could be
+concealed from Shamash. One of his names was Mitra, like the god
+who was linked with Varuna in the Indian <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Rigveda</em></span>. These twin deities, Mitra and
+Varuna, measured out the span of human life. They were the source
+of all heavenly gifts: they regulated sun and moon, the winds and
+waters, and the seasons.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex168"
+href="#ftn.fnrex168" id="fnrex168">68</a>]</span></p>
+<p>These did the gods establish in royal power over themselves,
+because they were wise and the children of wisdom, and because
+they excelled in power.--<span class="emphasis"><em>Prof.
+Arnold's trans. of Rigvedic Hymn</em></span>.</p>
+<p>Mitra and Varuna were protectors of hearth and home, and they
+chastised sinners. "In a striking passage of the <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Mahabharata</em></span>" says Professor Moulton,
+"one in which Indian thought comes nearest to the conception of
+conscience, a kingly wrongdoer is reminded that the sun sees
+secret sin."<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex169" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex169" id="fnrex169">69</a>]</span></p>
+<p>In Persian mythology Mitra, as Mithra, is the patron<a id=
+"page.anchor.55" name="page.anchor.55"></a> of Truth, and "the
+Mediator" between heaven and earth<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex170" href="#ftn.fnrex170" id="fnrex170">70</a>]</span>.
+This god was also worshipped by the military aristocracy of
+Mitanni, which held sway for a period over Assyria. In Roman
+times the worship of Mithra spread into Europe from Persia.
+Mithraic sculptures depict the deity as a corn god slaying the
+harvest bull; on one of the monuments "cornstalks instead of
+blood are seen issuing from the wound inflicted with the
+knife<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex171" href="#ftn.fnrex171"
+id="fnrex171">71</a>]</span>". The Assyrian word "metru"
+signifies rain<span class="sub">[<a href=
+"#ftn.fnrex170">70</a>]</span>. As a sky god Mitra may have been
+associated, like Varuna, with the waters above the firmament.
+Rain would therefore be gifted by him as a fertilizing deity. In
+the Babylonian Flood legend it is the sun god Shamash who
+"appointed the time" when the heavens were to "rain destruction"
+in the night, and commanded Pir-napishtim, "Enter into the midst
+of thy ship and shut thy door". The solar deity thus appears as a
+form of Anu, god of the sky and upper atmosphere, who controls
+the seasons and the various forces of nature. Other rival chiefs
+of city pantheons, whether lunar, atmospheric, earth, or water
+deities, were similarly regarded as the supreme deities who ruled
+the Universe, and decreed when man should receive benefits or
+suffer from their acts of vengeance.</p>
+<p>It is possible that the close resemblances between Mithra and
+Mitra of the Aryan-speaking peoples of India and the Iranian
+plateau, and the sun god of the Babylonians--the Semitic Shamash,
+the Sumerian Utu--were due to early contact and cultural
+influence through the medium of Elam. As a solar and corn god,
+the Persian Mithra links with Tammuz, as a sky and atmospheric
+deity with Anu, and as a god of truth, righteousness, and law
+with Shamash. We seem to trace in the<a id="page.anchor.56" name=
+"page.anchor.56"></a> sublime Vedic hymns addressed by the Indian
+Aryans to Mitra and Varuna the impress of Babylonian religious
+thought:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Whate'er exists within this earth, and
+all within the sky,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Yea, all that is beyond, King Varuna
+perceives....</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>�</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>��������<span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Rigveda</em></span>, iv, 16.<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex172" href="#ftn.fnrex172" id=
+"fnrex172">72</a>]</span></tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>�</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>�</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>O Varuna, whatever the offence may
+be</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>That we as men commit against the
+heavenly folk,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>When through our want of thought we
+violate thy laws,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Chastise us not, O god, for that
+iniquity.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>�</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>��������<span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Rigveda</em></span>, vii, 89.<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex173" href="#ftn.fnrex173" id=
+"fnrex173">73</a>]</span></tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>Shamash was similarly exalted in Babylonian hymns:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>The progeny of those who deal unjustly
+will not prosper.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>What their mouth utters in thy
+presence</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Thou wilt destroy, what issues from
+their mouth thou wilt dissipate.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Thou knowest their transgressions, the
+plan of the wicked thou rejectest.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>All, whoever they be, are in thy
+care....</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>He who takes no bribe, who cares for
+the oppressed,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Is favoured by Shamash,--his life shall
+be prolonged.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex174" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex174" id="fnrex174">74</a>]</span></tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>The worshippers of Varuna and Mitra in the Punjab did not
+cremate their dead like those who exalted the rival fire god
+Agni. The grave was the "house of clay", as in Babylonia. Mitra,
+who was identical with Yama, ruled over departed souls in the
+"Land of the Pitris" (Fathers), which was reached by crossing the
+mountains and the rushing stream of death.<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex175" href="#ftn.fnrex175" id=
+"fnrex175">75</a>]</span> As we have seen, the Babylonian solar
+god Nergal was also the lord of the dead.</p>
+<p>As Ma-banda-anna, "the boat of the sky", Shamash links with
+the Egyptian sun god Ra, whose barque sailed<a id=
+"page.anchor.57" name="page.anchor.57"></a> over the heavens by
+day and through the underworld of darkness and death during the
+night. The consort of Shamash was Aa, and his attendants were
+Kittu and Mesharu, "Truth" and "Righteousness".</p>
+<p>Like the Hittites, the Babylonians had also a sun goddess: her
+name was Nin-sun, which Jastrow renders "the annihilating lady".
+At Erech she had a shrine in the temple of the sky god Anu.</p>
+<p>We can trace in Babylonia, as in Egypt, the early belief that
+life in the Universe had a female origin. Nin-sun links with
+Ishtar, whose Sumerian name is Nana. Ishtar appears to be
+identical with the Egyptian Hathor, who, as Sekhet, slaughtered
+the enemies of the sun god Ra. She was similarly the goddess of
+maternity, and is depicted in this character, like Isis and other
+goddesses of similar character, suckling a babe. Another
+Babylonian lady of the gods was Ama, Mama, or Mami, "the
+creatress of the seed of mankind", and was "probably so called as
+the 'mother' of all things".<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex176"
+href="#ftn.fnrex176" id="fnrex176">76</a>]</span></p>
+<p>A characteristic atmospheric deity was Ramman, the Rimmon of
+the Bible, the Semitic Addu, Adad, Hadad, or Dadu. He was not a
+presiding deity in any pantheon, but was identified with Enlil at
+Nippur. As a hammer god, he was imported by the Semites from the
+hills. He was a wind and thunder deity, a rain bringer, a corn
+god, and a god of battle like Thor, Jupiter, Tarku, Indra, and
+others, who were all sons of the sky.</p>
+<p>In this brief review of the representative deities of early
+Babylonia, it will be seen that most gods link with Anu, Ea, and
+Enlil, whose attributes they symbolized in various forms. The
+prominence accorded to an individual deity depended on local
+conditions, experiences, and influences. Ceremonial practices no
+doubt varied<a id="page.anchor.58" name="page.anchor.58"></a>
+here and there, but although one section might exalt Ea and
+another Shamash, the religious faith of the people as a whole did
+not differ to any marked extent; they served the gods according
+to their lights, so that life might be prolonged and made
+prosperous, for the land of death and "no return" was regarded as
+a place of gloom and misery.</p>
+<p>When the Babylonians appear before us in the early stages of
+the historical period they had reached that stage of development
+set forth so vividly in the <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Orations</em></span> of Isocrates: "Those of the
+gods who are the source to us of good things have the title of
+Olympians; those whose department is that of calamities and
+punishments have harsher titles: to the first class both private
+persons and states erect altars and temples; the second is not
+worshipped either with prayers or burnt sacrifices, but in their
+case we perform ceremonies of riddance".<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex177" href="#ftn.fnrex177" id=
+"fnrex177">77</a>]</span></p>
+<p>The Sumerians, like the Ancient Egyptians, developed their
+deities, who reflected the growth of culture, from vague spirit
+groups, which, like ghosts, were hostile to mankind. Those
+spirits who could be propitiated were exalted as benevolent
+deities; those who could not be bargained with were regarded as
+evil gods and goddesses. A better understanding of the character
+of Babylonian deities will therefore be obtained by passing the
+demons and evil spirits under review.</p>
+<div class="footnotes"><br />
+<hr width="100" align="left" />
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex150" href="#fnrex150" id="ftn.fnrex150">50</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Indian Myth and Legend</em></span>, p.
+100.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex151" href="#fnrex151" id="ftn.fnrex151">51</a>]</span>
+Maspero's <span class="emphasis"><em>Dawn of
+Civilization</em></span>, p. 156 <span class="emphasis"><em>et
+seq.</em></span></div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex152" href="#fnrex152" id="ftn.fnrex152">52</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Egyptian Myth and Legend</em></span>,
+p. I <span class="emphasis"><em>et seq</em></span>. The saliva of
+the frail and elderly was injurious.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex153" href="#fnrex153" id="ftn.fnrex153">53</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Osiris and the Egyptian
+Resurrection</em></span>, E. Wallis Budge, vol. ii, p. 203
+<span class="emphasis"><em>et seq.</em></span></div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex154" href="#fnrex154" id="ftn.fnrex154">54</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Brana's Popular
+Antiquities</em></span>, vol. iii, pp. 259-263 (1889 ed.).</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex155" href="#fnrex155" id="ftn.fnrex155">55</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>The Religion of the
+Semites</em></span>, pp. 158, 159.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex156" href="#fnrex156" id="ftn.fnrex156">56</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Castes and Tribes of Southern
+India</em></span>, E. Thurston, iv, 187.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex157" href="#fnrex157" id="ftn.fnrex157">57</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Omens and Superstitions of Southern
+India</em></span>, E. Thurston (1912), pp. 245, 246.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex158" href="#fnrex158" id="ftn.fnrex158">58</a>]</span>
+Pausanias, ii, 24, 1.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex159" href="#fnrex159" id="ftn.fnrex159">59</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Devils and Evil Spirits of
+Babylonia</em></span>, R.C. Thompson, vol. ii, tablet Y.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex160" href="#fnrex160" id="ftn.fnrex160">60</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Animism</em></span>, E. Clodd, p.
+37.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex161" href="#fnrex161" id="ftn.fnrex161">61</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>2 Kings</em></span>, xvi, 3.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex162" href="#fnrex162" id="ftn.fnrex162">62</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Ezekiel</em></span>, xx, 31.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex163" href="#fnrex163" id="ftn.fnrex163">63</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Leviticus</em></span>, xviii,
+21.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex164" href="#fnrex164" id="ftn.fnrex164">64</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Indian Myth and Legend</em></span>, p.
+65.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex165" href="#fnrex165" id="ftn.fnrex165">65</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Religious Belief in Babylonia and
+Assyria</em></span>, M. Jastrow, pp. 312, 313.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex166" href="#fnrex166" id="ftn.fnrex166">66</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>The Religion of Babylonia and
+Assyria</em></span>, T.G. Pinches, p. 81.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex167" href="#fnrex167" id="ftn.fnrex167">67</a>]</span>
+In early times two goddesses searched for Tammuz at different
+periods.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex168" href="#fnrex168" id="ftn.fnrex168">68</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Indian Myth and Legend</em></span>, p.
+30.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex169" href="#fnrex169" id="ftn.fnrex169">69</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Early Religious Poetry of
+Persia</em></span>, p. 35.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex170" href="#fnrex170" id="ftn.fnrex170">70</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Early Religious Poetry of
+Persia</em></span>, p. 37.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex171" href="#fnrex171" id="ftn.fnrex171">71</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>The Golden Bough</em></span> (Spirits
+of the Corn and Wild, vol. ii, p. 10), 3rd edition.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex172" href="#fnrex172" id="ftn.fnrex172">72</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Indian Wisdom</em></span>, Sir Monier
+Monier-Williams.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex173" href="#fnrex173" id="ftn.fnrex173">73</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>A History of Sanskrit
+Literature</em></span>, Professor Macdonell.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex174" href="#fnrex174" id="ftn.fnrex174">74</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Religious Belief and Practice in
+Babylonia and Assyria</em></span>, M. Jastrow, pp. 111,
+112.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex175" href="#fnrex175" id="ftn.fnrex175">75</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Indian Myth and Legend</em></span>,
+pp. xxxii, and 38 <span class="emphasis"><em>et
+seq.</em></span></div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex176" href="#fnrex176" id="ftn.fnrex176">76</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>The Religion of Babylonia and
+Assyria</em></span>, T.G. Pinches, p. 94.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex177" href="#fnrex177" id="ftn.fnrex177">77</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>The Religion of Ancient
+Greece</em></span>, J.E. Harrison, p. 46, and Isoc. <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Orat.</em></span>, v, 117</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="chapter" lang="en" xml:lang="en">
+<div class="titlepage">
+<div>
+<div>
+<h2 class="title"><a id="id2519057" name=
+"id2519057"></a>Chapter�IV.�Demons, Fairies, and Ghosts</h2>
+</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="abstract">
+<p class="title"><b>Abstract</b></p>
+<p>Spirits in Everything and Everywhere--The Bringers of Luck and
+Misfortune--Germ Theory Anticipated--Early Gods indistinguishable
+from Demons--Repulsive form of Ea--Spirit Groups as Attendants of
+Deities--Egyptian, Indian, Greek, and Germanic parallels--Elder
+Gods as Evil Gods--Animal Demons--The Babylonian
+"Will-o'-the-Wisp"--"Foreign Devils"--Elves and Fairies--Demon
+Lovers--"Adam's first wife, Lilith"--Children Charmed against
+Evil Spirits--The Demon of Nightmare--Ghosts as Enemies of the
+Living--The Vengeful Dead Mother in Babylonia, India, Europe, and
+Mexico--Burial Contrast--Calling Back the Dead--Fate of Childless
+Ghosts--Religious Need for Offspring--Hags and Giants and
+Composite Monsters--Tempest Fiends--Legend of Adapa and the Storm
+Demon--Wind Hags of Ancient Britain--Tyrolese Storm Maidens--Zu
+Bird Legend and Indian Garuda Myth--Legend of the Eagle and the
+Serpent--The Snake Mother Goddess--Demons and the Moon
+God--Plague Deities--Classification of Spirits, and Egyptian,
+Arabian, and Scottish parallels--Traces of Progress from Animism
+to Monotheism.</p>
+</div>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.59" name="page.anchor.59"></a> The
+memorable sermon preached by Paul to the Athenians when he stood
+"in the midst of Mars' hill", could have been addressed with
+equal appropriateness to the ancient Sumerians and Akkadians. "I
+perceive", he declared, "that in all things ye are too
+superstitious.... God that made the world and all things therein,
+seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in
+temples made with hands; neither is worshipped with men's hands
+as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and
+breath, and all things ... for in him we live, and move, and have
+our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we
+are also his offspring. Forasmuch then as we are the offspring
+of<a id="page.anchor.60" name="page.anchor.60"></a> God, we ought
+not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or
+stone, graven by art and man's device."<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex178" href="#ftn.fnrex178" id=
+"fnrex178">78</a>]</span></p>
+<p>Babylonian temples were houses of the gods in the literal
+sense; the gods were supposed to dwell in them, their spirits
+having entered into the graven images or blocks of stone. It is
+probable that like the Ancient Egyptians they believed a god had
+as many spirits as he had attributes. The gods, as we have said,
+appear to have evolved from early spirit groups. All the world
+swarmed with spirits, which inhabited stones and trees, mountains
+and deserts, rivers and ocean, the air, the sky, the stars, and
+the sun and moon. The spirits controlled Nature: they brought
+light and darkness, sunshine and storm, summer and winter; they
+were manifested in the thunderstorm, the sandstorm, the glare of
+sunset, and the wraiths of mist rising from the steaming marshes.
+They controlled also the lives of men and women. The good spirits
+were the source of luck. The bad spirits caused misfortunes, and
+were ever seeking to work evil against the Babylonian. Darkness
+was peopled by demons and ghosts of the dead. The spirits of
+disease were ever lying in wait to clutch him with cruel
+invisible hands.</p>
+<p>Some modern writers, who are too prone to regard ancient
+peoples from a twentieth-century point of view, express grave
+doubts as to whether "intelligent Babylonians" really believed
+that spirits came down in the rain and entered the soil to rise
+up before men's eyes as stalks of barley or wheat. There is no
+reason for supposing that they thought otherwise. The early folks
+based their theories on the accumulated knowledge of their age.
+They knew nothing regarding the composition<a id="page.anchor.61"
+name="page.anchor.61"></a> of water or the atmosphere, of the
+cause of thunder and lightning, or of the chemical changes
+effected in soils by the action of bacteria. They attributed all
+natural phenomena to the operations of spirits or gods. In
+believing that certain demons caused certain diseases, they may
+be said to have achieved distinct progress, for they anticipated
+the germ theory. They made discoveries, too, which have been
+approved and elaborated in later times when they lit sacred
+fires, bathed in sacred waters, and used oils and herbs to charm
+away spirits of pestilence. Indeed, many folk cures, which were
+originally associated with magical ceremonies, are still
+practised in our own day. They were found to be effective by
+early observers, although they were unable to explain why and how
+cures were accomplished, like modern scientific
+investigators.</p>
+<p>In peopling the Universe with spirits, the Babylonians, like
+other ancient folks, betrayed that tendency to symbolize
+everything which has ever appealed to the human mind. Our
+painters and poets and sculptors are greatest when they symbolize
+their ideals and ideas and impressions, and by so doing make us
+respond to their moods. Their "beauty and their terror are
+sublime". But what may seem poetic to us, was invariably a grim
+reality to the Babylonians. The statue or picture was not merely
+a work of art but a manifestation of the god or demon. As has
+been said, they believed that the spirit of the god inhabited the
+idol; the frown of the brazen image was the frown of the wicked
+demon. They entertained as much dread of the winged and
+human-headed bulls guarding the entrance to the royal palace as
+do some of the Arab workmen who, in our own day, assist
+excavators to rescue them from sandy mounds in which they have
+been hidden for long centuries.</p>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.62" name="page.anchor.62"></a>When an idol
+was carried away from a city by an invading army, it was believed
+that the god himself had been taken prisoner, and was therefore
+unable any longer to help his people.</p>
+<p>In the early stages of Sumerian culture, the gods and
+goddesses who formed groups were indistinguishable from demons.
+They were vaguely defined, and had changing shapes. When attempts
+were made to depict them they were represented in many varying
+forms. Some were winged bulls or lions with human heads; others
+had even more remarkable composite forms. The "dragon of
+Babylon", for instance, which was portrayed on walls of temples,
+had a serpent's head, a body covered with scales, the fore legs
+of a lion, hind legs of an eagle, and a long wriggling serpentine
+tail. Ea had several monster forms. The following description of
+one of these is repulsive enough:--</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>The head is the head of a
+serpent,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>From his nostrils mucus
+trickles,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>His mouth is beslavered with
+water;</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>The ears are like those of a
+basilisk,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>His horns are twisted into three
+curls,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>He wears a veil in his head
+band,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>The body is a suh-fish full of
+stars,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>The base of his feet are
+claws,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>The sole of his foot has no
+heel,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>His name is Sassu-wunnu,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>A sea monster, a form of Ea.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>�</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>��������<span class="emphasis"><em>R.C.
+Thompson's Translation.</em></span><span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex179" href="#ftn.fnrex179" id=
+"fnrex179">79</a>]</span></tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>Even after the gods were given beneficent attributes to
+reflect the growth of culture, and were humanized, they still
+retained many of their savage characteristics. Bel Enlil and his
+fierce son, Nergal, were destroyers<a id="page.anchor.63" name=
+"page.anchor.63"></a> of mankind; the storm god desolated the
+land; the sky god deluged it with rain; the sea raged furiously,
+ever hungering for human victims; the burning sun struck down its
+victims; and the floods played havoc with the dykes and houses of
+human beings. In Egypt the sun god Ra was similarly a "producer
+of calamity", the composite monster god Sokar was "the lord of
+fear".<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex180" href="#ftn.fnrex180"
+id="fnrex180">80</a>]</span> Osiris in prehistoric times had been
+"a dangerous god", and some of the Pharaohs sought protection
+against him in the charms inscribed in their tombs.<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex181" href="#ftn.fnrex181" id=
+"fnrex181">81</a>]</span> The Indian Shiva, "the Destroyer", in
+the old religious poems has also primitive attributes of like
+character.</p>
+<p>The Sumerian gods never lost their connection with the early
+spirit groups. These continued to be represented by their
+attendants, who executed a deity's stern and vengeful decrees. In
+one of the Babylonian charms the demons are referred to as "the
+spleen of the gods"--the symbols of their wrathful emotions and
+vengeful desires. Bel Enlil, the air and earth god, was served by
+the demons of disease, "the beloved sons of Bel", which issued
+from the Underworld to attack mankind. Nergal, the sulky and
+ill-tempered lord of death and destruction, who never lost his
+demoniac character, swept over the land, followed by the spirits
+of pestilence, sunstroke, weariness, and destruction. Anu, the
+sky god, had "spawned" at creation the demons of cold and rain
+and darkness. Even Ea and his consort, Damkina, were served by
+groups of devils and giants, which preyed upon mankind in bleak
+and desolate places when night fell. In the ocean home of Ea were
+bred the "seven evil spirits" of tempest--the gaping dragon, the
+leopard which preyed upon children, the great Beast, the terrible
+serpent, &amp;c.</p>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.64" name="page.anchor.64"></a>In Indian
+mythology Indra was similarly followed by the stormy Maruts, and
+fierce Rudra by the tempestuous Rudras. In Teutonic mythology
+Odin is the "Wild Huntsman in the Raging Host". In Greek
+mythology the ocean furies attend upon fickle Poseidon. Other
+examples of this kind could be multiplied.</p>
+<p>As we have seen (Chapter II) the earliest group of Babylonian
+deities consisted probably of four pairs of gods and goddesses as
+in Egypt. The first pair was Apsu-Rishtu and Tiamat, who
+personified the primordial deep. Now the elder deities in most
+mythologies--the "grandsires" and "grandmothers" and "fathers"
+and "mothers"--are ever the most powerful and most vengeful. They
+appear to represent primitive "layers" of savage thought. The
+Greek Cronos devours even his own children, and, as the late
+Andrew Lang has shown, there are many parallels to this myth
+among primitive peoples in various parts of the world.</p>
+<p>Lang regarded the Greek survival as an example of "the
+conservatism of the religious instinct".<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex182" href="#ftn.fnrex182" id=
+"fnrex182">82</a>]</span> The grandmother of the Teutonic deity
+Tyr was a fierce giantess with nine hundred heads; his father was
+an enemy of the gods. In Scotland the hag-mother of winter and
+storm and darkness is the enemy of growth and all life, and she
+raises storms to stop the grass growing, to slay young animals,
+and prevent the union of her son with his fair bride. Similarly
+the Babylonian chaos spirits, Apsu and Tiamat, the father and
+mother of the gods, resolve to destroy their offspring, because
+they begin to set the Universe in order. Tiamat, the female
+dragon, is more powerful than her husband Apsu, who is slain by
+his son Ea. She summons to her aid the gods of evil, and creates
+also a brood of monsters--serpents,<a id="page.anchor.65" name=
+"page.anchor.65"></a> dragons, vipers, fish men, raging hounds,
+&amp;c.--so as to bring about universal and enduring confusion
+and evil. Not until she is destroyed can the beneficent gods
+establish law and order and make the earth habitable and
+beautiful.</p>
+<p>But although Tiamat was slain, the everlasting battle between
+the forces of good and evil was ever waged in the Babylonian
+world. Certain evil spirits were let loose at certain periods,
+and they strove to accomplish the destruction of mankind and his
+works. These invisible enemies were either charmed away by
+performing magical ceremonies, or by invoking the gods to thwart
+them and bind them.</p>
+<p>Other spirits inhabited the bodies of animals and were ever
+hovering near. The ghosts of the dead and male and female demons
+were birds, like the birds of Fate which sang to Siegfried. When
+the owl raised its melancholy voice in the darkness the listener
+heard the spirit of a departed mother crying for her child.
+Ghosts and evil spirits wandered through the streets in darkness;
+they haunted empty houses; they fluttered through the evening air
+as bats; they hastened, moaning dismally, across barren wastes
+searching for food or lay in wait for travellers; they came as
+roaring lions and howling jackals, hungering for human flesh. The
+"shedu" was a destructive bull which might slay man wantonly or
+as a protector of temples. Of like character was the "lamassu",
+depicted as a winged bull with human head, the protector of
+palaces; the "alu" was a bull-like demon of tempest, and there
+were also many composite, distorted, or formless monsters which
+were vaguely termed "seizers" or "overthrowers", the Semitic
+"labashu" and "ach-chazu", the Sumerian "dimmea" and "dimme-kur".
+A dialectic form of "gallu" or devil<a id="page.anchor.66" name=
+"page.anchor.66"></a> was "mulla". Professor Pinches thinks it
+not improbable that "mulla" may be connected with the word
+"mula", meaning "star", and suggests that it referred to a
+"will-o'-the-wisp".<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex183" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex183" id="fnrex183">83</a>]</span> In these islands,
+according to an old rhyme,</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Some call him Robin
+Good-fellow,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>��Hob-goblin, or mad Crisp,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>And some againe doe tearme him
+oft</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>��By name of Will the Wisp.</tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>Other names are "Kitty", "Peg", and "Jack with a lantern".
+"Poor Robin" sang:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>I should indeed as soon
+expect</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>That Peg-a-lantern would
+direct</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Me straightway home on misty
+night</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>As wand'ring stars, quite out of
+sight.</tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>In Shakespeare's <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Tempest</em></span><span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex184" href="#ftn.fnrex184" id="fnrex184">84</a>]</span> a
+sailor exclaims: "Your fairy, which, you say, is a harmless
+fairy, has done little better than played the Jack with us". Dr.
+Johnson commented that the reference was to "Jack with a
+lantern". Milton wrote also of the "wandering fire",</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Which oft, they say, some evil spirit
+attends,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Hovering and blazing with delusive
+light,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Misleads th' amaz'd night wand'rer from
+his way</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>To bogs and mires, and oft through pond
+or pool;</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>There swallowed up and lost from
+succour far.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex185" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex185" id="fnrex185">85</a>]</span></tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>"When we stick in the mire", sang Drayton, "he doth with
+laughter leave us." These fires were also "fallen stars", "death
+fires", and "fire drakes":</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>So have I seen a fire drake glide
+along</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Before a dying man, to point his
+grave,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>And in it stick and hide.<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex186" href="#ftn.fnrex186" id=
+"fnrex186">86</a>]</span></tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.67" name="page.anchor.67"></a>Pliny
+referred to the wandering lights as stars.<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex187" href="#ftn.fnrex187" id=
+"fnrex187">87</a>]</span> The Sumerian "mulla" was undoubtedly an
+evil spirit. In some countries the "fire drake" is a bird with
+gleaming breast: in Babylonia it assumed the form of a bull, and
+may have had some connection with the bull of lshtar. Like the
+Indian "Dasyu" and "Dasa",<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex188"
+href="#ftn.fnrex188" id="fnrex188">88</a>]</span> Gallu was
+applied in the sense of "foreign devil" to human and superhuman
+adversaries of certain monarchs. Some of the supernatural beings
+resemble our elves and fairies and the Indian Rakshasas.
+Occasionally they appear in comely human guise; at other times
+they are vaguely monstrous. The best known of this class is
+Lilith, who, according to Hebrew tradition, preserved in the
+Talmud, was the demon lover of Adam. She has been immortalized by
+Dante Gabriel Rossetti:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Of Adam's first wife Lilith, it is
+told</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>(The witch he loved before the gift of
+Eve)</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>That, ere the snake's, her sweet tongue
+could deceive,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>And her enchanted hair was the first
+gold.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>And still she sits, young while the
+earth is old,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>And, subtly of herself
+contemplative,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Draws men to watch the bright web she
+can weave,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Till heart and body and life are in its
+hold.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>The rose and poppy are her flowers; for
+where</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Is he not found, O Lilith, whom shed
+scent</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>And soft shed kisses and soft sleep
+shall snare?</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Lo! as that youth's eyes burned at
+thine, so went</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Thy spell through him, and left his
+straight neck bent</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>And round his heart one strangling
+golden hair.</tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>Lilith is the Babylonian Lilithu, a feminine form of Lilu, the
+Sumerian Lila. She resembles Surpanakha of the <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Ramayana</em></span>, who made love to Rama and
+Lakshmana, and the sister of the demon Hidimva, who became<a id=
+"page.anchor.68" name="page.anchor.68"></a> enamoured of Bhima,
+one of the heroes of the <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Mahabharata</em></span>,<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex189" href="#ftn.fnrex189" id=
+"fnrex189">89</a>]</span> and the various fairy lovers of Europe
+who lured men to eternal imprisonment inside mountains, or
+vanished for ever when they were completely under their
+influence, leaving them demented. The elfin Lilu similarly wooed
+young women, like the Germanic Laurin of the "Wonderful Rose
+Garden",<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex190" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex190" id="fnrex190">90</a>]</span> who carried away the
+fair lady Kunhild to his underground dwelling amidst the Tyrolese
+mountains, or left them haunting the place of their meetings,
+searching for him in vain:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>A savage place! as holy and
+enchanted</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>As ere beneath the waning moon was
+haunted</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>By woman wailing for her demon
+lover...</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>His flashing eyes, his floating
+hair!</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Weave a circle round him
+thrice,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>And close your eyes with holy
+dread,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>For he on honey dew hath fed</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>And drunk the milk of
+Paradise.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>�</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>��������<span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Coleridge's Kubla Khan.</em></span></tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>Another materializing spirit of this class was Ardat Lili, who
+appears to have wedded human beings like the swan maidens, the
+mermaids, and Nereids of the European folk tales, and the goddess
+Ganga, who for a time was the wife of King Shantanu of the
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Mahabharata</em></span>.<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex191" href="#ftn.fnrex191" id=
+"fnrex191">91</a>]</span></p>
+<p>The Labartu, to whom we have referred, was a female who
+haunted mountains and marshes; like the fairies and hags of
+Europe, she stole or afflicted children, who accordingly had to
+wear charms round their necks for protection. Seven of these
+supernatural beings were reputed to be daughters of Anu, the sky
+god.</p>
+<p>The Alu, a storm deity, was also a spirit which caused
+nightmare. It endeavoured to smother sleepers like the<a id=
+"page.anchor.69" name="page.anchor.69"></a> Scandinavian hag
+Mara, and similarly deprived them of power to move. In Babylonia
+this evil spirit might also cause sleeplessness or death by
+hovering near a bed. In shape it might be as horrible and
+repulsive as the Egyptian ghosts which caused children to die
+from fright or by sucking out the breath of life.</p>
+<p>As most representatives of the spirit world were enemies of
+the living, so were the ghosts of dead men and women. Death
+chilled all human affections; it turned love to hate; the deeper
+the love had been, the deeper became the enmity fostered by the
+ghost. Certain ghosts might also be regarded as particularly
+virulent and hostile if they happened to have left the body of
+one who was ceremonially impure. The most terrible ghost in
+Babylonia was that of a woman who had died in childbed. She was
+pitied and dreaded; her grief had demented her; she was doomed to
+wail in the darkness; her impurity clung to her like poison. No
+spirit was more prone to work evil against mankind, and her
+hostility was accompanied by the most tragic sorrow. In Northern
+India the Hindus, like the ancient Babylonians, regard as a
+fearsome demon the ghost of a woman who died while pregnant, or
+on the day of the child's birth.<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex192" href="#ftn.fnrex192" id="fnrex192">92</a>]</span> A
+similar belief prevailed in Mexico. In Europe there are many folk
+tales of dead mothers who return to avenge themselves on the
+cruel fathers of neglected children.</p>
+<p>A sharp contrast is presented by the Mongolian Buriats, whose
+outlook on the spirit world is less gloomy than was that of the
+ancient Babylonians. According to Mr. Jeremiah Curtin, this
+interesting people are wont to perform a ceremony with purpose to
+entice the ghost to return to the dead body--a proceeding which
+is<a id="page.anchor.70" name="page.anchor.70"></a> dreaded in
+the Scottish Highlands.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex193"
+href="#ftn.fnrex193" id="fnrex193">93</a>]</span> The Buriats
+address the ghost, saying: "You shall sleep well. Come back to
+your natural ashes. Take pity on your friends. It is necessary to
+live a real life. Do not wander along the mountains. Do not be
+like bad spirits. Return to your peaceful home.... Come back and
+work for your children. How can you leave the little ones?" If it
+is a mother, these words have great effect; sometimes the spirit
+moans and sobs, and the Buriats tell that there have been
+instances of it returning to the body.<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex194" href="#ftn.fnrex194" id="fnrex194">94</a>]</span> In
+his <span class="emphasis"><em>Arabia
+Deserta</em></span><span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex195" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex195" id="fnrex195">95</a>]</span> Doughty relates that
+Arab women and children mock the cries of the owl. One explained
+to him: "It is a wailful woman seeking her lost child; she has
+become this forlorn bird". So do immemorial beliefs survive to
+our own day.</p>
+<p>The Babylonian ghosts of unmarried men and women and of those
+without offspring were also disconsolate night wanderers. Others
+who suffered similar fates were the ghosts of men who died in
+battle far from home and were left unburied, the ghosts of
+travellers who perished in the desert and were not covered over,
+the ghosts of drowned men which rose from the water, the ghosts
+of prisoners starved to death or executed, the ghosts of people
+who died violent deaths before their appointed time. The dead
+required to be cared for, to have libations poured out, to be
+fed, so that they might not prowl<a id="page.anchor.71" name=
+"page.anchor.71"></a> through the streets or enter houses
+searching for scraps of food and pure water. The duty of giving
+offerings to the dead was imposed apparently on near relatives.
+As in India, it would appear that the eldest son performed the
+funeral ceremony: a dreadful fate therefore awaited the spirit of
+the dead Babylonian man or woman without offspring. In Sanskrit
+literature there is a reference to a priest who was not allowed
+to enter Paradise, although he had performed rigid penances,
+because he had no children.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex196"
+href="#ftn.fnrex196" id="fnrex196">96</a>]</span></p>
+<p>There were hags and giants of mountain and desert, of river
+and ocean. Demons might possess the pig, the goat, the horse, the
+lion, or the ibis, the raven, or the hawk. The seven spirits of
+tempest, fire, and destruction rose from the depths of ocean, and
+there were hosts of demons which could not be overcome or baffled
+by man without the assistance of the gods to whom they were
+hostile. Many were sexless; having no offspring, they were devoid
+of mercy and compassion. They penetrated everywhere:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>The high enclosures, the broad
+enclosures, like a flood</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>��they pass through,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>From house to house they dash
+along.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>No door can shut them out;</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>No bolt can turn them back.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Through the door, like a snake, they
+glide,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Through the hinge, like the wind, they
+storm,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Tearing the wife from the embrace of
+the man,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Driving the freedman from his family
+home.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex197" href="#ftn.fnrex197"
+id="fnrex197">97</a>]</span></tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>These furies did not confine their unwelcomed attentions to
+mankind alone:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>They hunt the doves from their
+cotes,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>And drive the birds from their
+nests,<a id="page.anchor.72" name=
+"page.anchor.72"></a></tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>And chase the marten from its
+hole....</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Through the gloomy street by night they
+roam,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Smiting sheepfold and cattle
+pen,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Shutting up the land as with door and
+bolt.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>�</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>��������<span class="emphasis"><em>R.C.
+Thompson's Translation.</em></span></tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>The Babylonian poet, like Burns, was filled with pity for the
+animals which suffered in the storm:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>List'ning the doors an' winnocks
+rattle,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>I thought me o' the ourie
+cattle,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Or silly sheep, wha bide this
+brattle</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>��O' winter war....</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Ilk happing bird, wee, helpless
+thing!</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>That in the merry months o'
+spring</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Delighted me to hear thee
+sing,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>��What comes o' thee?</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Whare wilt thou cow'r thy chittering
+wing,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>��And close thy e'e?</tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>According to Babylonian belief, "the great storms directed
+from heaven" were caused by demons. Mankind heard them "loudly
+roaring above, gibbering below".<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex198" href="#ftn.fnrex198" id="fnrex198">98</a>]</span> The
+south wind was raised by Shutu, a plumed storm demon resembling
+Hraesvelgur of the Icelandic Eddas:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Corpse-swallower sits at the end of
+heaven,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>��A J&ouml;tun in eagle
+form;</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>From his wings, they say, comes the
+wind which fares</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>��Over all the dwellers of
+earth.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex199" href="#ftn.fnrex199"
+id="fnrex199">99</a>]</span></tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>The northern story of Thor's fishing, when he hooked and
+wounded the Midgard serpent, is recalled by the Babylonian legend
+of Adapa, son of the god Ea. This hero was engaged catching fish,
+when Shutu, the south wind, upset his boat. In his wrath Adapa
+immediately attacked the storm demon and shattered her pinions.
+Anu, the sky god, was moved to anger against Ea's son <a id=
+"page.anchor.73" name="page.anchor.73"></a>and summoned him to
+the Celestial Court. Adapa, however, appeared in garments of
+mourning and was forgiven. Anu offered him the water of life and
+the bread of life which would have made him immortal, but Ea's
+son refused to eat or drink, believing, as his father had warned
+him, that the sky god desired him to partake of the bread of
+death and to drink of the water of death.</p>
+<div class="figure"><a id="id2520294" name="id2520294"></a>
+<p class="title"><b>Figure�IV.1.�TWO FIGURES OF DEMONS</b></p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<p>The upper head is that of Shutu, the demon of the south-west
+wind, whose wings were broken by Adapa, son of Ea (<span class=
+"emphasis"><em>British Museum</em></span>)</p>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="graphic"><img alt="" src="img/6.jpg" /></div>
+<div class="figure"><a id="id2520314" name="id2520314"></a>
+<p class="title"><b>Figure�IV.2.�WINGED HUMAN-HEADED COW
+(?)</b></p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<p><span class="emphasis"><em>From Kouyunjik (Nineveh): now in
+the British Museum</em></span></p>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="graphic"><img alt="" src="img/7.jpg" /></div>
+<p>Another terrible atmospheric demon was the south-west wind,
+which caused destructive storms and floods, and claimed many
+human victims like the Icelandic "corpse swallower". She was
+depicted with lidless staring eyes, broad flat nose, mouth gaping
+horribly, and showing tusk-like teeth, and with high cheek bones,
+heavy eyebrows, and low bulging forehead.</p>
+<p>In Scotland the hag of the south-west wind is similarly a
+bloodthirsty and fearsome demon. She is most virulent in the
+springtime. At Cromarty she is quaintly called "Gentle Annie" by
+the fisher folks, who repeat the saying: "When Gentle Annie is
+skyawlan (yelling) roond the heel of Ness (a promontory) wi' a
+white feather on her hat (the foam of big billows) they (the
+spirits) will be harrying (robbing) the crook"--that is, the pot
+which hangs from the crook is empty during the spring storms,
+which prevent fishermen going to sea. In England the wind hag is
+Black Annis, who dwells in a Leicestershire hill cave. She may be
+identical with the Irish hag Anu, associated with the "Paps of
+Anu". According to Gaelic lore, this wind demon of spring is the
+"Cailleach" (old wife). She gives her name in the Highland
+calendar to the stormy period of late spring; she raises gale
+after gale to prevent the coming of summer. Angerboda, the
+Icelandic hag, is also a storm demon, but represents the east
+wind. A Tyrolese folk<a id="page.anchor.74" name=
+"page.anchor.74"></a> tale tells of three magic maidens who dwelt
+on Jochgrimm mountain, where they "brewed the winds". Their demon
+lovers were Ecke, "he who causes fear"; Vasolt, "he who causes
+dismay"; and the scornful Dietrich in his mythical character of
+Donar or Thunor (Thor), the thunderer.</p>
+<p>Another Sumerian storm demon was the Zu bird, which is
+represented among the stars by Pegasus and Taurus. A legend
+relates that this "worker of evil, who raised the head of evil",
+once aspired to rule the gods, and stole from Bel, "the lord" of
+deities, the Tablets of Destiny, which gave him his power over
+the Universe as controller of the fates of all. The Zu bird
+escaped with the Tablets and found shelter on its mountain top in
+Arabia. Anu called on Ramman, the thunderer, to attack the Zu
+bird, but he was afraid; other gods appear to have shrunk from
+the conflict. How the rebel was overcome is not certain, because
+the legend survives in fragmentary form. There is a reference,
+however, to the moon god setting out towards the mountain in
+Arabia with purpose to outwit the Zu bird and recover the lost
+Tablets. How he fared it is impossible to ascertain. In another
+legend--that of Etana--the mother serpent, addressing the sun
+god, Shamash, says:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Thy net is like unto the broad
+earth;</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Thy snare is like unto the distant
+heaven!</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Who hath ever escaped from thy
+net?</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Even Zu, the worker of evil, who raised
+the head</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>����of evil [did not
+escape]!</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>�</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>��������<span class="emphasis"><em>L.W.
+King's Translation.</em></span></tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>In Indian mythology, Garuda, half giant, half eagle, robs the
+Amrita (ambrosia) of the gods which gives them their power and
+renders them immortal. It had assumed a golden body, bright as
+the sun. Indra, the thunderer,<a id="page.anchor.75" name=
+"page.anchor.75"></a> flung his bolt in vain; he could not wound
+Garuda, and only displaced a single feather. Afterwards, however,
+he stole the moon goblet containing the Amrita, which Garuda had
+delivered to his enemies, the serpents, to free his mother from
+bondage. This Indian eagle giant became the vehicle of the god
+Vishnu, and, according to the <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Mahabharata</em></span>, "mocked the wind with his
+fleetness".</p>
+<p>It would appear that the Babylonian Zu bird symbolized the
+summer sandstorms from the Arabian desert. Thunder is associated
+with the rainy season, and it may have been assumed, therefore,
+that the thunder god was powerless against the sandstorm demon,
+who was chased, however, by the moon, and finally overcome by the
+triumphant sun when it broke through the darkening sand drift and
+brightened heaven and earth, "netting" the rebellious demon who
+desired to establish the rule of evil over gods and mankind.</p>
+<p>In the "Legend of Etana" the Eagle, another demon which links
+with the Indian Garuda, slayer of serpents, devours the brood of
+the Mother Serpent. For this offence against divine law, Shamash,
+the sun god, pronounces the Eagle's doom. He instructs the Mother
+Serpent to slay a wild ox and conceal herself in its entrails.
+The Eagle comes to feed on the carcass, unheeding the warning of
+one of his children, who says, "The serpent lies in this wild
+ox":</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>He swooped down and stood upon the wild
+ox,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>The Eagle ... examined the
+flesh;</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>He looked about carefully before and
+behind him;</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>He again examined the flesh;</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>He looked about carefully before and
+behind him,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Then, moving swiftly, he made for the
+hidden parts.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>When he entered into the
+midst,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>The serpent seized him by his
+wing.</tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.76" name="page.anchor.76"></a>In vain the
+Eagle appealed for mercy to the Mother Serpent, who was compelled
+to execute the decree of Shamash; she tore off the Eagle's
+pinions, wings, and claws, and threw him into a pit where he
+perished from hunger and thirst.<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1100" href="#ftn.fnrex1100" id="fnrex1100">100</a>]</span>
+This myth may refer to the ravages of a winged demon of disease
+who was thwarted by the sacrifice of an ox. The Mother Serpent
+appears to be identical with an ancient goddess of maternity
+resembling the Egyptian Bast, the serpent mother of Bubastis.
+According to Sumerian belief, Nintu, "a form of the goddess Ma",
+was half a serpent. On her head there is a horn; she is "girt
+about the loins"; her left arm holds "a babe suckling her
+breast":</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>From her head to her loins</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>The body is that of a naked
+woman;</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>From the loins to the sole of the
+foot</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Scales like those of a snake are
+visible.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>�</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>��������<span class="emphasis"><em>R.C.
+Thompson's Translation.</em></span></tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>The close association of gods and demons is illustrated in an
+obscure myth which may refer to an eclipse of the moon or a night
+storm at the beginning of the rainy season. The demons go to war
+against the high gods, and are assisted by Adad (Ramman) the
+thunderer, Shamash the sun, and Ishtar. They desire to wreck the
+heavens, the home of Anu:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>They clustered angrily round the
+crescent of the moon god,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>And won over to their aid Shamash, the
+mighty, and Adad, the warrior,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>And Ishtar, who with Anu, the
+King,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Hath founded a shining
+dwelling.</tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>The moon god Sin, "the seed of mankind", was darkened by the
+demons who raged, "rushing loose over<a id="page.anchor.77" name=
+"page.anchor.77"></a> the land" like to the wind. Bel called upon
+his messenger, whom he sent to Ea in the ocean depths, saying:
+"My son Sin ... hath been grievously bedimmed". Ea lamented, and
+dispatched his son Merodach to net the demons by magic, using "a
+two-coloured cord from the hair of a virgin kid and from the wool
+of a virgin lamb".<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1101" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1101" id="fnrex1101">101</a>]</span></p>
+<p>As in India, where Shitala, the Bengali goddess of smallpox,
+for instance, is worshipped when the dreaded disease she controls
+becomes epidemic, so in Babylonia the people sought to secure
+immunity from attack by worshipping spirits of disease. A tablet
+relates that Ura, a plague demon, once resolved to destroy all
+life, but ultimately consented to spare those who praised his
+name and exalted him in recognition of his bravery and power.
+This could be accomplished by reciting a formula. Indian serpent
+worshippers believe that their devotions "destroy all danger
+proceeding from snakes".<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1102"
+href="#ftn.fnrex1102" id="fnrex1102">102</a>]</span></p>
+<p>Like the Ancient Egyptians, the Babylonians also had their
+kindly spirits who brought luck and the various enjoyments of
+life. A good "labartu" might attend on a human being like a
+household fairy of India or Europe: a friendly "shedu" could
+protect a household against the attacks of fierce demons and
+human enemies. Even the spirits of Fate who served Anu, god of
+the sky, and that "Norn" of the Underworld, Eresh-ki-gal, queen
+of Hades, might sometimes be propitious: if the deities were
+successfully invoked they could cause the Fates to smite spirits
+of disease and bringers of ill luck. Damu, a friendly fairy
+goddess, was well loved, because she inspired pleasant dreams,
+relieved the sufferings of the<a id="page.anchor.78" name=
+"page.anchor.78"></a> afflicted, and restored to good health
+those patients whom she selected to favour.</p>
+<p>In the Egyptian <span class="emphasis"><em>Book of the
+Dead</em></span> the kindly spirits are overshadowed by the evil
+ones, because the various magical spells which were put on record
+were directed against those supernatural beings who were enemies
+of mankind. Similarly in Babylonia the fragments of this class of
+literature which survive deal mainly with wicked and vengeful
+demons. It appears probable, however, that the highly emotional
+Sumerians and Akkadians were on occasion quite as cheerful a
+people as the inhabitants of ancient Egypt. Although they were
+surrounded by bloodthirsty furies who desired to shorten their
+days, and their nights were filled with vague lowering phantoms
+which inspired fear, they no doubt shared, in their
+charm-protected houses, a comfortable feeling of security after
+performing magical ceremonies, and were happy enough when they
+gathered round flickering lights to listen to ancient song and
+story and gossip about crops and traders, the members of the
+royal house, and the family affairs of their acquaintances.</p>
+<p>The Babylonian spirit world, it will be seen, was of complex
+character. Its inhabitants were numberless, but often vaguely
+defined, and one class of demons linked with another. Like the
+European fairies of folk belief, the Babylonian spirits were
+extremely hostile and irresistible at certain seasonal periods;
+and they were fickle and perverse and difficult to please even
+when inclined to be friendly. They were also similarly manifested
+from time to time in various forms. Sometimes they were comely
+and beautiful; at other times they were apparitions of horror.
+The Jinn of present-day Arabians are of like character; these may
+be giants, cloudy shapes, comely women, serpents or cats, goats
+or pigs.<a id="page.anchor.79" name="page.anchor.79"></a></p>
+<p>Some of the composite monsters of Babylonia may suggest the
+vague and exaggerated recollections of terror-stricken people who
+have had glimpses of unfamiliar wild beasts in the dusk or amidst
+reedy marshes. But they cannot be wholly accounted for in this
+way. While animals were often identified with supernatural
+beings, and foreigners were called "devils", it would be
+misleading to assert that the spirit world reflects confused folk
+memories of human and bestial enemies. Even when a demon was
+given concrete human form it remained essentially non-human: no
+ordinary weapon could inflict an injury, and it was never
+controlled by natural laws. The spirits of disease and tempest
+and darkness were creations of fancy: they symbolized moods; they
+were the causes which explained effects. A sculptor or
+storyteller who desired to convey an impression of a spirit of
+storm or pestilence created monstrous forms to inspire terror.
+Sudden and unexpected visits of fierce and devastating demons
+were accounted for by asserting that they had wings like eagles,
+were nimble-footed as gazelles, cunning and watchful as serpents;
+that they had claws to clutch, horns to gore, and powerful fore
+legs like a lion to smite down victims. Withal they drank blood
+like ravens and devoured corpses like hyaenas. Monsters were all
+the more repulsive when they were partly human. The human-headed
+snake or the snake-headed man and the man with the horns of a
+wild bull and the legs of a goat were horrible in the extreme.
+Evil spirits might sometimes achieve success by practising
+deception. They might appear as beautiful girls or handsome men
+and seize unsuspecting victims in deathly embrace or leave them
+demented and full of grief, or come as birds and suddenly assume
+awesome shapes.</p>
+<p>Fairies and elves, and other half-human demons, are<a id=
+"page.anchor.80" name="page.anchor.80"></a> sometimes regarded as
+degenerate gods. It will be seen, however, that while certain
+spirits developed into deities, others remained something between
+these two classes of supernatural beings: they might attend upon
+gods and goddesses, or operate independently now against mankind
+and now against deities even. The "namtaru", for instance, was a
+spirit of fate, the son of Bel-Enlil and Eresh-ki-gal, queen of
+Hades. "Apparently", writes Professor Pinches, "he executed the
+instructions given him concerning the fate of men, and could also
+have power over certain of the gods."<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1103" href="#ftn.fnrex1103" id="fnrex1103">103</a>]</span>
+To this middle class belong the evil gods who rebelled against
+the beneficent deities. According to Hebridean folk belief, the
+fallen angels are divided into three classes--the fairies, the
+"nimble men" (aurora borealis), and the "blue men of the Minch".
+In <span class="emphasis"><em>Beowulf</em></span> the "brood of
+Cain" includes "monsters and elves and sea-devils--giants also,
+who long time fought with God, for which he gave them their
+reward".<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1104" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1104" id="fnrex1104">104</a>]</span> Similarly the
+Babylonian spirit groups are liable to division and subdivision.
+The various classes may be regarded as relics of the various
+stages of development from crude animism to sublime monotheism:
+in the fragmentary legends we trace the floating material from
+which great mythologies have been framed.</p>
+<div class="footnotes"><br />
+<hr width="100" align="left" />
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex178" href="#fnrex178" id="ftn.fnrex178">78</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>The Acts</em></span>, xvii,
+22-31.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex179" href="#fnrex179" id="ftn.fnrex179">79</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Devils and Evil Spirits of
+Babylonia</em></span>, vol. ii, p. 149 <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>et seq</em></span>.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex180" href="#fnrex180" id="ftn.fnrex180">80</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Egyptian Myth and Legend</em></span>,
+xxxix, <span class="emphasis"><em>n.</em></span></div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex181" href="#fnrex181" id="ftn.fnrex181">81</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Development of Religion and Thought in
+Ancient Egypt</em></span>, J.H. Breasted, pp. 38, 74.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex182" href="#fnrex182" id="ftn.fnrex182">82</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Custom and Myth</em></span>, p. 45
+<span class="emphasis"><em>et seq</em></span>.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex183" href="#fnrex183" id="ftn.fnrex183">83</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>The Religion of Babylonia and
+Assyria</em></span>, p. 108.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex184" href="#fnrex184" id="ftn.fnrex184">84</a>]</span>
+Act iv, scene 1.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex185" href="#fnrex185" id="ftn.fnrex185">85</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Paradise Lost</em></span>, book
+ix.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex186" href="#fnrex186" id="ftn.fnrex186">86</a>]</span>
+Chapman's <span class="emphasis"><em>Caesar and
+Pompey</em></span>.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex187" href="#fnrex187" id="ftn.fnrex187">87</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Natural History</em></span>, 2nd
+book.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex188" href="#fnrex188" id="ftn.fnrex188">88</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Indian Myth and Legend</em></span>,
+70, n.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex189" href="#fnrex189" id="ftn.fnrex189">89</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Indian Myth and Legend</em></span>,
+pp. 202-5, 400, 401.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex190" href="#fnrex190" id="ftn.fnrex190">90</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Teutonic Myth and Legend</em></span>,
+p. 424 et seq.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex191" href="#fnrex191" id="ftn.fnrex191">91</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Indian Myth and Legend</em></span>, p.
+164 et seq.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex192" href="#fnrex192" id="ftn.fnrex192">92</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Popular Religion and Folk Lore of
+Northern India</em></span>, W. Crooke, vol. i, p. 254.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex193" href="#fnrex193" id="ftn.fnrex193">93</a>]</span>
+When a person, young or old, is dying, near relatives must not
+call out their names in case the soul may come back from the
+spirit world. A similar belief still lingers, especially among
+women, in the Lowlands. The writer was once present in a room
+when a child was supposed to be dying. Suddenly the mother called
+out the child's name in agonized voice. It revived soon
+afterwards. Two old women who had attempted to prevent "the
+calling" shook their heads and remarked: "She has done it! The
+child will never do any good in this world after being called
+back." In England and Ireland, as well as in Scotland, the belief
+also prevails in certain localities that if a dying person is
+"called back" the soul will tarry for another twenty-four hours,
+during which the individual will suffer great agony.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex194" href="#fnrex194" id="ftn.fnrex194">94</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>A Journey in Southern
+Siberia</em></span>, Jeremiah Curtin, pp. 103, 104.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex195" href="#fnrex195" id="ftn.fnrex195">95</a>]</span>
+Vol. i, p. 305.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex196" href="#fnrex196" id="ftn.fnrex196">96</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Adi Parva</em></span> section of
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Mah&agrave;bh&agrave;rata</em></span>,
+Roy's trans., p. 635.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex197" href="#fnrex197" id="ftn.fnrex197">97</a>]</span>
+Jastrow's <span class="emphasis"><em>Aspects of Religious Belief
+in Babylonia</em></span>, &amp;c., p. 312.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex198" href="#fnrex198" id="ftn.fnrex198">98</a>]</span>
+R.C. Thompson's trans.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex199" href="#fnrex199" id="ftn.fnrex199">99</a>]</span>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>The Elder or Poetic Edda</em></span>,
+Olive Bray, part i, p. 53.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1100" href="#fnrex1100" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1100">100</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Babylonian Religion</em></span>, L.W. King, pp.
+186-8.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1101" href="#fnrex1101" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1101">101</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>The
+Devils and Evil Spirits of Babylonia</em></span>, R. Campbell
+Thompson, vol. i, p. 53 et seq.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1102" href="#fnrex1102" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1102">102</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>Omens
+and Superstitions of Southern India</em></span>, E. Thurston, p.
+124.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1103" href="#fnrex1103" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1103">103</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>The
+Religion of Babylonia and Assyria</em></span>, p. 110.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1104" href="#fnrex1104" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1104">104</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Beowulf</em></span>, Clark Hall, p. 14.</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="chapter" lang="en" xml:lang="en">
+<div class="titlepage">
+<div>
+<div>
+<h2 class="title"><a id="id2520821" name=
+"id2520821"></a>Chapter�V.�Myths of Tammuz and Ishtar</h2>
+</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="abstract">
+<p class="title"><b>Abstract</b></p>
+<p>Forms of Tammuz--The Weeping Ceremony--Tammuz the Patriarch
+and the Dying God--Common Origin of Tammuz and other Deities from
+an Archaic God--The Mediterranean Racial Myth--Animal Forms of
+Gods of Fertility--Two Legends of the Death of Tammuz--Attis,
+Adonis, and Diarmid Slain by a Boar--Laments for Tammuz--His Soul
+in Underworld and the Deep--Myth of the Child God of
+Ocean--Sargon Myth Version--The Germanic Scyld of the
+Sheaf--Tammuz Links with Frey, Heimdal, Agni, &amp;c.--Assyrian
+Legend of "Descent of Ishtar"--Sumerian Version--The Sister
+Belit-sheri and the Mother Ishtar--The Egyptian Isis and
+Nepthys--Goddesses as Mothers, Sisters, and Wives--Great Mothers
+of Babylonia--Immortal Goddesses and Dying Gods--The Various
+Indras--Celtic Goddess with Seven Periods of Youth--Lovers of
+Germanic and Classic Goddesses--The Lovers of Ishtar--Racial
+Significance of Goddess Cult--The Great Fathers and their
+Worshippers--Process of Racial and Religious Fusion--Ishtar and
+Tiamat--Mother Worship in Palestine--Women among Goddess
+Worshippers.</p>
+</div>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.81" name="page.anchor.81"></a> Among the
+gods of Babylonia none achieved wider and more enduring fame than
+Tammuz, who was loved by Ishtar, the amorous Queen of Heaven--the
+beautiful youth who died and was mourned for and came to life
+again. He does not figure by his popular name in any of the city
+pantheons, but from the earliest times of which we have knowledge
+until the passing of Babylonian civilization, he played a
+prominent part in the religious life of the people.</p>
+<p>Tammuz, like Osiris of Egypt, was an agricultural deity, and
+as the Babylonian harvest was the gift of the rivers, it is
+probable that one of his several forms was Dumu-zi-abzu, "Tammuz
+of the Abyss". He was also<a id="page.anchor.82" name=
+"page.anchor.82"></a> "the child", "the heroic lord", "the
+sentinel", "the healer", and the patriarch who reigned over the
+early Babylonians for a considerable period. "Tammuz of the
+Abyss" was one of the members of the family of Ea, god of the
+Deep, whose other sons, in addition to Merodach, were Nira, an
+obscure deity; Ki-gulla, "world destroyer", Burnunta-sa, "broad
+ear", and Bara and Baragulla, probably "revealers" or "oracles".
+In addition there was a daughter, Khi-dimme-azaga, "child of the
+renowned spirit". She may have been identical with Belit-sheri,
+who is referred to in the Sumerian hymns as the sister of Tammuz.
+This family group was probably formed by symbolizing the
+attributes of Ea and his spouse Damkina. Tammuz, in his character
+as a patriarch, may have been regarded as a hostage from the
+gods: the human form of Ea, who instructed mankind, like King
+Osiris, how to grow corn and cultivate fruit trees. As the youth
+who perished annually, he was the corn spirit. He is referred to
+in the Bible by his Babylonian name.</p>
+<p>When Ezekiel detailed the various idolatrous practices of the
+Israelites, which included the worship of the sun and "every form
+of creeping things and abominable beasts"--a suggestion of the
+composite monsters of Babylonia --he was brought "to the door of
+the gate of the Lord's house, which was towards the north; and,
+behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz".<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1105" href="#ftn.fnrex1105" id=
+"fnrex1105">105</a>]</span></p>
+<p>The weeping ceremony was connected with agricultural rites.
+Corn deities were weeping deities, they shed fertilizing tears;
+and the sowers simulated the sorrow of divine mourners when they
+cast seed in the soil "to die", so that it might spring up as
+corn. This ancient custom, like many others, contributed to the
+poetic<a id="page.anchor.83" name="page.anchor.83"></a> imagery
+of the Bible. "They that sow in tears", David sang, "shall reap
+in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed,
+shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves
+with him."<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1106" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1106" id="fnrex1106">106</a>]</span> In Egypt the
+priestesses who acted the parts of Isis and Nepthys, mourned for
+the slain corn god Osiris.</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Gods and men before the face of the
+gods are weeping for</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>��thee at the same time, when they
+behold me!...</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>All thy sister goddesses are at thy
+side and behind thy couch,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Calling upon thee with weeping--yet
+thou are prostrate upon</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>��thy bed!...</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Live before us, desiring to behold
+thee.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1107" href="#ftn.fnrex1107"
+id="fnrex1107">107</a>]</span></tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>It was believed to be essential that human beings should share
+the universal sorrow caused by the death of a god. If they
+remained unsympathetic, the deities would punish them as enemies.
+Worshippers of nature gods, therefore, based their ceremonial
+practices on natural phenomena. "The dread of the worshippers
+that the neglect of the usual ritual would be followed by
+disaster, is particularly intelligible", writes Professor
+Robertson Smith, "if they regarded the necessary operations of
+agriculture as involving the violent extinction of a particle of
+divine life."<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1108" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1108" id="fnrex1108">108</a>]</span> By observing
+their ritual, the worshippers won the sympathy and co-operation
+of deities, or exercised a magical control over nature.</p>
+<p>The Babylonian myth of Tammuz, the dying god, bears a close
+resemblance to the Greek myth of Adonis. It also links with the
+myth of Osiris. According to Professor Sayce, Tammuz is identical
+with "Daonus or Daos, the shepherd of Pantibibla", referred to by
+Berosus as the ruler of one of the mythical ages of Babylonia.
+We<a id="page.anchor.84" name="page.anchor.84"></a> have
+therefore to deal with Tammuz in his twofold character as a
+patriarch and a god of fertility.</p>
+<p>The Adonis version of the myth may be summarized briefly. Ere
+the god was born, his mother, who was pursued by her angry sire,
+as the river goddesses of the folk tales are pursued by the well
+demons, transformed herself into a tree. Adonis sprang from the
+trunk of this tree, and Aphrodite, having placed the child in a
+chest, committed him to the care of Persephone, queen of Hades,
+who resembles the Babylonian Eresh-ki-gal. Persephone desired to
+retain the young god, and Aphrodite (Ishtar) appealed to Zeus
+(Anu), who decreed that Adonis should spend part of the year with
+one goddess and part of the year with the other.</p>
+<p>It is suggested that the myth of Adonis was derived in
+post-Homeric times by the Greeks indirectly from Babylonia
+through the Western Semites, the Semitic title "Adon", meaning
+"lord", having been mistaken for a proper name. This theory,
+however, cannot be accepted without qualifications. It does not
+explain the existence of either the Phrygian myth of Attis, which
+was developed differently from the Tammuz myth, or the Celtic
+story of "Diarmid and the boar", which belongs to the
+archaeological "Hunting Period". There are traces in Greek
+mythology of pre-Hellenic myths about dying harvest deities, like
+Hyakinthos and Erigone, for instance, who appear to have been
+mourned for. There is every possibility, therefore, that the
+Tammuz ritual may have been attached to a harvest god of the
+pre-Hellenic Greeks, who received at the same time the new name
+of Adonis. Osiris of Egypt resembles Tammuz, but his Mesopotamian
+origin has not been proved. It would appear probable that Tammuz,
+Attis, Osiris, and the deities represented by Adonis and Diarmid
+were all developed<a id="page.anchor.85" name=
+"page.anchor.85"></a> from an archaic god of fertility and
+vegetation, the central figure of a myth which was not only as
+ancient as the knowledge and practice of agriculture, but had
+existence even in the "Hunting Period". Traces of the
+Tammuz-Osiris story in various forms are found all over the area
+occupied by the Mediterranean or Brown race from Sumeria to the
+British Isles. Apparently the original myth was connected with
+tree and water worship and the worship of animals. Adonis sprang
+from a tree; the body of Osiris was concealed in a tree which
+grew round the sea-drifted chest in which he was concealed.
+Diarmid concealed himself in a tree when pursued by Finn. The
+blood of Tammuz, Osiris, and Adonis reddened the swollen rivers
+which fertilized the soil. Various animals were associated with
+the harvest god, who appears to have been manifested from time to
+time in different forms, for his spirit pervaded all nature. In
+Egypt the soul of Osiris entered the Apis bull or the ram of
+Mendes.</p>
+<p>Tammuz in the hymns is called "the pre-eminent steer of
+heaven", and a popular sacrifice was "a white kid of the god
+Tammuz", which, however, might be substituted by a sucking pig.
+Osiris had also associations with swine, and the Egyptians,
+according to Herodotus, sacrificed a pig to him annually. When
+Set at full moon hunted the boar in the Delta marshes, he
+probably hunted the boar form of Osiris, whose human body had
+been recovered from the sacred tree by Isis. As the soul of Bata,
+the hero of the Egyptian folk tale,<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1109" href="#ftn.fnrex1109" id="fnrex1109">109</a>]</span>
+migrated from the blossom to the bull, and the bull to the tree,
+so apparently did the soul of Osiris pass from incarnation to
+incarnation. Set, the demon slayer of the harvest god, had also a
+boar form; he was the black pig who devoured the waning moon and
+blinded the Eye of Ra.</p>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.86" name="page.anchor.86"></a>In his
+character as a long-lived patriarch, Tammuz, the King Daonus or
+Daos of Berosus, reigned in Babylonia for 36,000 years. When he
+died, he departed to Hades or the Abyss. Osiris, after reigning
+over the Egyptians, became Judge of the Dead.</p>
+<p>Tammuz of the Sumerian hymns, however, is the Adonis-like god
+who lived on earth for a part of the year as the shepherd and
+agriculturist so dearly beloved by the goddess Ishtar. Then he
+died so that he might depart to the realm of Eresh-ki-gal
+(Persephone), queen of Hades. According to one account, his death
+was caused by the fickle Ishtar. When that goddess wooed
+Gilgamesh, the Babylonian Hercules, he upbraided her, saying:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>On Tammuz, the spouse of thy
+youth,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Thou didst lay affliction every
+year.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>�</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>��������<span class=
+"emphasis"><em>King's Translation</em></span>.</tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>References in the Sumerian hymns suggest that there also
+existed a form of the legend which gave an account of the slaying
+of the young god by someone else than Ishtar. The slayer may have
+been a Set-like demon--perhaps Nin-shach, who appears to have
+symbolized the destroying influence of the sun. He was a war
+deity, and his name, Professor Pinches says, "is conjectured to
+mean 'lord of the wild boar'". There is no direct evidence,
+however, to connect Tammuz's slayer with the boar which killed
+Adonis. Ishtar's innocence is emphasized by the fact that she
+mourned for her youthful lover, crying:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Oh hero, my lord, ah me! I will
+say;</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Food I eat not ... water I drink not
+...</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Because of the exalted one of the
+nether world, him of the</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>��radiant face, yea radiant,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Of the exalted one of the nether world,
+him of the dove-like</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>��voice, yea dove-like.<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1110" href="#ftn.fnrex1110" id=
+"fnrex1110">110</a>]</span></tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.87" name="page.anchor.87"></a>The Phrygian
+Attis met his death, according to one legend, by self-mutilation
+under a sacred tree. Another account sets forth, however, that he
+was slain by a boar. The Greek Adonis was similarly killed by a
+boar. This animal was a form of Ares (Mars), god of war and
+tempest, who also loved Aphrodite (Ishtar). The Celtic Diarmid,
+in his character as a love god, with lunar attributes, was slain
+by "the green boar", which appears to have been one of the
+animals of a ferocious Hag, an earth and air "mother" with
+various names. In one of the many Fingalian stories the animal
+is</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>... That venomous boar, and he so
+fierce,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>That Grey Eyebrows had with her herd of
+swine.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1111" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1111" id="fnrex1111">111</a>]</span></tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>Diarmid had eloped with the wife of Finn-mac-Coul (Fingal),
+who, like Ares, plotted to bring about his rival's death, and
+accordingly set the young hero to hunt the boar. As a thunder god
+Finn carried a hammer with which he smote his shield; the blows
+were heard in Lochlann (Scandinavia). Diarmid, like Tammuz, the
+"god of the tender voice and shining eyes", had much beauty. When
+he expired, Finn cried:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>No maiden will raise her eye</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Since the mould has gone over thy
+visage fair...</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Blue without rashness in thine
+eye!</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Passion and beauty behind thy
+curls!...</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Oh, yesternight it was green the
+hillock,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Red is it this day with Diarmid's
+blood.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1112" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1112" id="fnrex1112">112</a>]</span></tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>Tammuz died with the dying vegetation, and Diarmid expired
+when the hills apparently were assuming their purple
+tints.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1113" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1113" id="fnrex1113">113</a>]</span> The month of
+Tammuz wailings was from<a id="page.anchor.88" name=
+"page.anchor.88"></a> 20th June till 20th July, when the heat and
+dryness brought forth the demons of pestilence. The mourners
+chanted:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>He has gone, he has gone to the bosom
+of the earth,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>And the dead are numerous in the
+land....</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Men are filled with sorrow: they
+stagger by day in gloom ...</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>In the month of thy year which brings
+not peace hast thou gone.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Thou hast gone on a journey that makes
+an end of thy people.</tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>The following extract contains a reference to the slaying of
+the god:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>The holy one of Ishtar, in the middle
+of the year the fields languish...</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>The shepherd, the wise one, the man of
+sorrows, why have they</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>slain?...</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>In his temple, in his inhabited
+domain,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>The child, lord of knowledge, abides no
+more...</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>In the meadows, verily, verily, the
+soul of life perishes.</tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>There is wailing for Tammuz "at the sacred cedar, where the
+mother bore thee", a reference which connects the god, like
+Adonis and Osiris, with tree worship:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>The wailing is for the herbs: the first
+lament is, "they are not produced".</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>The wailing is for the grain, ears are
+not produced.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>The wailing is for the habitations, for
+the flocks which bring forth no more.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>The wailing is for the perishing wedded
+ones; for the perishing</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>children; the dark-headed people create
+no more.</tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>The wailing is also for the shrunken river, the parched
+meadows, the fishpools, the cane brakes, the forests, the<a id=
+"page.anchor.89" name="page.anchor.89"></a> plains, the gardens,
+and the palace, which all suffer because the god of fertility has
+departed. The mourner cries:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>��How long shall the springing of
+verdure be restrained?</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>��How long shall the putting forth of
+leaves be held back?</tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>Whither went Tammuz? His destination has already been referred
+to as "the bosom of the earth", and in the Assyrian version of
+the "Descent of Ishtar" he dwells in "the house of darkness"
+among the dead, "where dust is their nourishment and their food
+mud", and "the light is never seen"--the gloomy Babylonian Hades.
+In one of the Sumerian hymns, however, it is stated that Tammuz
+"upon the flood was cast out". The reference may be to the
+submarine "house of Ea", or the Blessed Island to which the
+Babylonian Noah was carried. In this Hades bloomed the nether
+"garden of Adonis".</p>
+<p>The following extract refers to the garden of Damu
+(Tammuz)<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1114" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1114" id="fnrex1114">114</a>]</span>:--</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Damu his youth therein slumbers
+...</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Among the garden flowers he slumbers;
+among the garden flowers</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>he is cast away ...</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Among the tamarisks he slumbers, with
+woe he causes us to be</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>satiated.</tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>Although Tammuz of the hymns was slain, he returned again from
+Hades. Apparently he came back as a child. He is wailed for as
+"child, Lord Gishzida", as well as "my hero Damu". In his lunar
+character the Egyptian Osiris appeared each month as "the child
+surpassingly beautiful"; the Osiris bull was also a child of the
+moon; "it was begotten", says Plutarch, "by a ray of generative
+light falling from the moon". When the bull of Attis was
+sacrificed his worshippers were drenched<a id="page.anchor.90"
+name="page.anchor.90"></a> with its blood, and were afterwards
+ceremonially fed with milk, as they were supposed to have
+"renewed their youth" and become children. The ancient Greek god
+Eros (Cupid) was represented as a wanton boy or handsome youth.
+Another god of fertility, the Irish Angus, who resembles Eros, is
+called "the ever young"; he slumbers like Tammuz and awakes in
+the Spring.</p>
+<p>Apparently it was believed that the child god, Tammuz,
+returned from the earlier Sumerian Paradise of the Deep, and grew
+into full manhood in a comparatively brief period, like Vyasa and
+other super-men of Indian mythology. A couplet from a Tammuz hymn
+says tersely:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>In his infancy in a sunken boat he
+lay.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>In his manhood in the submerged grain
+he lay.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1115" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1115" id="fnrex1115">115</a>]</span></tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>The "boat" may be the "chest" in which Adonis was concealed by
+Aphrodite when she confided him to the care of Persephone, queen
+of Hades, who desired to retain the young god, but was compelled
+by Zeus to send him back to the goddess of love and vegetation.
+The fact that Ishtar descended to Hades in quest of Tammuz may
+perhaps explain the symbolic references in hymns to mother
+goddesses being in sunken boats also when their powers were in
+abeyance, as were those of the god for part of each year. It is
+possible, too, that the boat had a lunar and a solar
+significance. Khonsu, the Egyptian moon god, for instance, was
+associated with the Spring sun, being a deity of fertility and
+therefore a corn spirit; he was a form of Osiris, the Patriarch,
+who sojourned on earth to teach mankind how to grow corn and
+cultivate fruit trees. In the Egyptian legend Osiris received the
+corn seeds from Isis, which suggests that among<a id=
+"page.anchor.91" name="page.anchor.91"></a>
+Great-Mother-worshipping peoples, it was believed that
+agricultural civilization had a female origin. The same myths may
+have been attached to corn gods and corn goddesses, associated
+with water, sun, moon, and stars.</p>
+<p>That there existed in Babylonia at an extremely remote period
+an agricultural myth regarding a Patriarch of divine origin who
+was rescued from a boat in his childhood, is suggested by the
+legend which was attached to the memory of the usurper King
+Sargon of Akkad. It runs as follows:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>"I am Sargon, the mighty King of Akkad.
+My mother was a</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>vestal (priestess), my father an alien,
+whose brother inhabited the</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>mountain.... When my mother had
+conceived me, she bare</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>me in a hidden place. She laid me in a
+vessel of rushes, stopped</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>the door thereof with pitch, and cast
+me adrift on the river....</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>The river floated me to Akki, the water
+drawer, who, in drawing</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>water, drew me forth. Akki, the water
+drawer, educated me as</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>his son, and made me his gardener. As a
+gardener, I was beloved</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>by the goddess Ishtar."</tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>It is unlikely that this story was invented by Sargon. Like
+the many variants of it found in other countries, it was probably
+founded on a form of the Tammuz-Adonis myth. Indeed, a new myth
+would not have suited Sargon's purpose so well as the adaptation
+of an old one, which was more likely to make popular appeal when
+connected with his name. The references to the goddess Ishtar,
+and Sargon's early life as a gardener, suggest that the king
+desired to be remembered as an agricultural Patriarch, if not of
+divine, at any rate of semi-divine origin.</p>
+<p>What appears to be an early form of the widespread Tammuz myth
+is the Teutonic legend regarding the mysterious child who came
+over the sea to inaugurate a new era of civilization and instruct
+the people how to<a id="page.anchor.92" name=
+"page.anchor.92"></a> grow corn and become great warriors. The
+Northern peoples, as archaeological evidence suggests, derived
+their knowledge of agriculture, and therefore their agricultural
+myths, from the Neolithic representatives of the Mediterranean
+race with whom they came into contact. There can be no doubt but
+that the Teutonic legend refers to the introduction of
+agriculture. The child is called "Scef" or "Sceaf", which
+signifies "Sheaf", or "Scyld, the son of Sceaf". Scyld is the
+patriarch of the Scyldings, the Danes, a people of mixed origin.
+In the Anglo-Saxon <span class="emphasis"><em>Beowulf</em></span>
+poem, the reference is to "Scyld", but Ethelweard, William of
+Malmesbury, and others adhered to "Sceaf" as the name of the
+Patriarch of the Western Saxons.</p>
+<p>The legend runs that one day a boat was seen approaching the
+shore; it was not propelled by oars or sail. In it lay a child
+fast asleep, his head pillowed upon a sheaf of grain. He was
+surrounded by armour, treasure, and various implements, including
+the fire-borer. The child was reared by the people who found him,
+and he became a great instructor and warrior and ruled over the
+tribe as king. In <span class="emphasis"><em>Beowulf</em></span>
+Scyld is the father of the elder Beowulf, whose grandson Hrothgar
+built the famous Hall. The poem opens with a reference to the
+patriarch "Scyld of the Sheaf". When he died, his body, according
+to the request he had made, was laid in a ship which was set
+adrift:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<p>Upon his breast lay many treasures which were to travel with
+him into the power of the flood. Certainly they (the mourners)
+furnished him with no less of gifts, of tribal treasures, than
+those had done who, in his early days, started him over the sea
+alone, child as he was. Moreover, they set besides a
+gold-embroidered standard high above his head, and let the flood
+bear him--gave him to the sea. Their soul was sad, their spirit
+sorrowful. Who<a id="page.anchor.93" name="page.anchor.93"></a>
+received that load, men, chiefs of council, heroes under heaven,
+cannot for certain tell.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1116"
+href="#ftn.fnrex1116" id="fnrex1116">116</a>]</span></p>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>Sceaf or Scyld is identical with Yngve, the patriarch of the
+Ynglings; with Frey, the harvest and boar god, son of
+Njord,<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1117" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1117" id="fnrex1117">117</a>]</span> the sea god; and
+with Hermod, referred to as follows in the Eddic "Lay of
+Hyndla":</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>To some grants he wealth, to his
+children war fame,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Word skill to many and wisdom to
+men,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Fair winds to sea-farers, song craft to
+skalds,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>And might of manhood to many a
+warrior.</tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>Tammuz is similarly "the heroic lord of the land", the "wise
+one", the "lord of knowledge", and "the sovereign, lord of
+invocation".</p>
+<p>Heimdal, watchman of the Teutonic gods, also dwelt for a time
+among men as "Rig", and had human offspring, his son Thrall being
+the ancestor of the Thralls, his son Churl of churls, and Jarl of
+noblemen.</p>
+<p>Tammuz, like Heimdal, is also a guardian. He watches the
+flocks and herds, whom he apparently guards against the Gallu
+demons as Heimdal guards the world and the heavens against
+attacks by giants and monsters. The flocks of Tammuz, Professor
+Pinches suggests, "recall 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, Dumuzida, meaning 'true
+or faithful son'. There is probably some legend attached to this
+which is at present unknown."<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1118" href="#ftn.fnrex1118" id=
+"fnrex1118">118</a>]</span><a id="page.anchor.94" name=
+"page.anchor.94"></a></p>
+<p>So the Sumerian hymn-chanters lamented:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Like an herdsman the sentinel place of
+sheep and cattle he</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>(Tammuz) has forsaken...</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>From his home, from his inhabited
+domain, the son, he of wisdom,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>pre-eminent steer of heaven,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>The hero unto the nether herding place
+has taken his way.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1119" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1119" id="fnrex1119">119</a>]</span></tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>Agni, the Aryo-Indian god, who, as the sky sentinel, has
+points of resemblance to Heimdal, also links with Tammuz,
+especially in his Mitra character:</p>
+<p>Agni has been established among the tribes of men, the son of
+the waters, Mitra acting in the right way. <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Rigveda</em></span>, iii, 5, 3.</p>
+<p>Agni, who has been looked and longed for in Heaven, who has
+been looked for on earth--he who has been looked for has entered
+all herbs. <span class="emphasis"><em>Rigveda</em></span>, i,
+98.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1120" href="#ftn.fnrex1120"
+id="fnrex1120">120</a>]</span></p>
+<p>Tammuz, like the Egyptian lunar and solar god Khonsu, is "the
+healer", and Agni "drives away all disease". Tammuz is the god
+"of sonorous voice"; Agni "roars like a bull"; and Heimdal blows
+a horn when the giants and demons threaten to attack the citadel
+of the gods. As the spring sun god, Tammuz is "a youthful
+warrior", says Jastrow, "triumphing over the storms of
+winter".<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1121" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1121" id="fnrex1121">121</a>]</span> The storms, of
+course, were symbolized as demons. Tammuz, "the heroic lord", was
+therefore a demon slayer like Heimdal and Agni. Each of these
+gods appear to have been developed in isolation from an archaic
+spring god of fertility and corn whose attributes were
+symbolized. In Teutonic mythology, for instance, Heimdal was the
+warrior form of the patriarch Scef, while Frey was the deified
+agriculturist who came over the deep as a child. In Saxo's
+mythical history of Denmark,<a id="page.anchor.95" name=
+"page.anchor.95"></a> Frey as Frode is taken prisoner by a storm
+giant, Beli, "the howler", and is loved by his hag sister in the
+Teutonic Hades, as Tammuz is loved by Eresh-ki-gal, spouse of the
+storm god Nergal, in the Babylonian Hades. Frode returns to
+earth, like Tammuz, in due season.</p>
+<p>It is evident that there were various versions of the Tammuz
+myth in Ancient Babylonia. In one the goddess Ishtar visited
+Hades to search for the lover of her youth. A part of this form
+of the legend survives in the famous Assyrian hymn known as "The
+Descent of Ishtar". It was first translated by the late Mr.
+George Smith, of the British Museum. A box containing inscribed
+tablets had been sent from Assyria to London, and Mr. Smith, with
+characteristic patience and skill, arranged and deciphered them,
+giving to the world a fragment of ancient literature infused with
+much sublimity and imaginative power. Ishtar is depicted
+descending to dismal Hades, where the souls of the dead exist in
+bird forms:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>I spread like a bird my
+hands.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>I descend, I descend to the house of
+darkness, the dwelling of the</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>����god Irkalla:</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>To the house out of which there is no
+exit,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>To the road from which there is no
+return:</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>To the house from whose entrance the
+light is taken,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>The place where dust is their
+nourishment and their food mud.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Its chiefs also are like birds covered
+with feathers;</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>The light is never seen, in darkness
+they dwell....</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Over the door and bolts is scattered
+dust.</tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>When the goddess reaches the gate of Hades she cries to the
+porter:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Keeper of the waters, open thy
+gate,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Open thy gate that I may
+enter.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>If thou openest not the gate that I may
+enter</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>I will strike the door, the bolts I
+will shatter,<a id="page.anchor.96" name=
+"page.anchor.96"></a></tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>I will strike the threshold and will
+pass through the doors;</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>I will raise up the dead to devour the
+living,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Above the living the dead shall exceed
+in numbers.</tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>The porter answers that he must first consult the Queen of
+Hades, here called Allatu, to whom he accordingly announces the
+arrival of the Queen of Heaven. Allatu's heart is filled with
+anger, and makes reference to those whom Ishtar caused to
+perish:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Let me weep over the strong who have
+left their wives,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Let me weep over the handmaidens who
+have lost the embraces of their husbands,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Over the only son let me mourn, who ere
+his days are come is taken away.</tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>Then she issues abruptly the stern decree:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Go, keeper, open the gate to
+her,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Bewitch her according to the ancient
+rules;</tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>that is, "Deal with her as you deal with others who come
+here".</p>
+<p>As Ishtar enters through the various gates she is stripped of
+her ornaments and clothing. At the first gate her crown was taken
+off, at the second her ear-rings, at the third her necklace of
+precious stones, at the fourth the ornaments of her breast, at
+the fifth her gemmed waist-girdle,<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1122" href="#ftn.fnrex1122" id="fnrex1122">122</a>]</span>
+at the sixth the bracelets of her hands and feet, and at the
+seventh the covering robe of her body. Ishtar asks at each gate
+why she is thus dealt with, and the porter answers, "Such is the
+command of Allatu."</p>
+<p>After descending for a prolonged period the Queen of Heaven at
+length stands naked before the Queen of Hades. Ishtar is proud
+and arrogant, and Allatu, desiring to punish her rival whom she
+cannot humble,</p>
+<div class="figure"><a id="id2522188" name="id2522188"></a>
+<p class="title"><b>Figure�V.1.�ISHTAR IN HADES</b></p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<p><span class="emphasis"><em>From the Painting by E.
+Wallcousins</em></span></p>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="graphic"><img alt="" src="img/8.jpg" /></div>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.97" name="page.anchor.97"></a>commands the
+plague demon, Namtar, to strike her with disease in all parts of
+her body. The effect of Ishtar's fate was disastrous upon earth:
+growth and fertility came to an end.</p>
+<p>Meanwhile Pap-sukal, messenger of the gods, hastened to
+Shamash, the sun deity, to relate what had occurred. The sun god
+immediately consulted his lunar father, Sin, and Ea, god of the
+deep. Ea then created a man lion, named Nadushu-namir, to rescue
+Ishtar, giving him power to pass through the seven gates of
+Hades. When this being delivered his message</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Allatu ... struck her breast; she bit
+her thumb,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>She turned again: a request she asked
+not.</tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>In her anger she cursed the rescuer of the Queen of
+Heaven.</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>May I imprison thee in the great
+prison,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>May the garbage of the foundations of
+the city be thy food,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>May the drains of the city be thy
+drink,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>May the darkness of the dungeon be thy
+dwelling,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>May the stake be thy seat,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>May hunger and thirst strike thy
+offspring.</tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>She was compelled, however, to obey the high gods, and
+addressed Namtar, saying:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Unto Ishtar give the waters of life and
+bring her before me.</tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>Thereafter the Queen of Heaven was conducted through the
+various gates, and at each she received her robe and the
+ornaments which were taken from her on entering. Namtar says:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Since thou hast not paid a ransom for
+thy deliverance to her</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>��(Allatu), so to her again turn
+back,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>For Tammuz the husband of thy
+youth.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>The glistening waters (of life) pour
+over him...</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>In splendid clothing dress him, with a
+ring of crystal adorn him.</tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.98" name="page.anchor.98"></a>Ishtar mourns
+for "the wound of Tammuz", smiting her breast, and she did not
+ask for "the precious eye-stones, her amulets", which were
+apparently to ransom Tammuz. The poem concludes with Ishtar's
+wail:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>O my only brother (Tammuz) thou dost
+not lament for me.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>In the day that Tammuz adorned me, with
+a ring of crystal,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>With a bracelet of emeralds, together
+with himself, he adorned me,<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1123" href="#ftn.fnrex1123" id=
+"fnrex1123">123</a>]</span></tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>With himself he adorned me; may men
+mourners and women</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>����mourners</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>On a bier place him, and assemble the
+wake.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1124" href="#ftn.fnrex1124"
+id="fnrex1124">124</a>]</span></tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>A Sumerian hymn to Tammuz throws light on this narrative. It
+sets forth that Ishtar descended to Hades to entreat him to be
+glad and to resume care of his flocks, but Tammuz refused or was
+unable to return.</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>����His spouse unto her abode he sent
+back.</tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>She then instituted the wailing ceremony:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>����The amorous Queen of Heaven sits as
+one in darkness.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1125" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1125" id="fnrex1125">125</a>]</span></tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>Mr. Langdon also translates a hymn (Tammuz III) which appears
+to contain the narrative on which the Assyrian version was
+founded. The goddess who descends to Hades, however, is not
+Ishtar, but the "sister", Belit-sheri. She is accompanied by
+various demons-- the "gallu-demon", the "slayer", &amp;c.--and
+holds a conversation with Tammuz which, however, is
+"unintelligible and badly broken". Apparently, however, he
+promises to return to earth.</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>�����... I will go up, as for me I will
+depart with thee ...</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>�����... I will return, unto my mother
+let us go back.</tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.99" name="page.anchor.99"></a>Probably two
+goddesses originally lamented for Tammuz, as the Egyptian
+sisters, Isis and Nepthys, lamented for Osiris, their brother.
+Ishtar is referred to as "my mother". Isis figures alternately in
+the Egyptian chants as mother, wife, sister, and daughter of
+Osiris. She cries, "Come thou to thy wife in peace; her heart
+fluttereth for thy love", ... "I am thy wife, made as thou art,
+the elder sister, soul of her brother".... "Come thou to us as a
+babe".... "Lo, thou art as the Bull of the two goddesses--come
+thou, child growing in peace, our lord!"... "Lo! the Bull,
+begotten of the two cows, Isis and Nepthys".... "Come thou to the
+two widowed goddesses".... "Oh child, lord, first maker of the
+body".... "Father Osiris."<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1126"
+href="#ftn.fnrex1126" id="fnrex1126">126</a>]</span></p>
+<p>As Ishtar and Belit-sheri weep for Tammuz, so do Isis and
+Nepthys weep for Osiris.</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Calling upon thee with weeping--yet
+thou art prostrate upon thy</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>��bed!</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Gods and men ... are weeping for thee
+at the same time, when</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>��they behold me (Isis).</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Lo! I invoke thee with wailing that
+reacheth high as heaven.</tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>Isis is also identified with Hathor (Ishtar) the Cow.... "The
+cow weepeth for thee with her voice."<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1127" href="#ftn.fnrex1127" id=
+"fnrex1127">127</a>]</span></p>
+<p>There is another phase, however, to the character of the
+mother goddess which explains the references to the desertion and
+slaying of Tammuz by Ishtar. "She is", says Jastrow, "the goddess
+of the human instinct, or passion which accompanies human love.
+Gilgamesh ... reproaches her with abandoning the objects of her
+passion after a brief period of union." At Ishtar's temple
+"public maidens accepted temporary partners, assigned to them
+by<a id="page.anchor.100" name="page.anchor.100"></a>
+Ishtar".<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1128" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1128" id="fnrex1128">128</a>]</span> The worship of
+all mother goddesses in ancient times was accompanied by
+revolting unmoral rites which are referred to in condemnatory
+terms in various passages in the Old Testament, especially in
+connection with the worship of Ashtoreth, who was identical with
+Ishtar and the Egyptian Hathor.</p>
+<p>Ishtar in the process of time overshadowed all the other
+female deities of Babylonia, as did Isis in Egypt. Her name,
+indeed, which is Semitic, became in the plural, Ishtar&aacute;te,
+a designation for goddesses in general. But although she was
+referred to as the daughter of the sky, Anu, or the daughter of
+the moon, Sin or Nannar, she still retained traces of her ancient
+character. Originally she was a great mother goddess, who was
+worshipped by those who believed that life and the universe had a
+female origin in contrast to those who believed in the theory of
+male origin. Ishtar is identical with Nina, the fish goddess, a
+creature who gave her name to the Sumerian city of Nina and the
+Assyrian city of Nineveh. Other forms of the Creatrix included
+Mama, or Mami, or Ama, "mother", Aruru, Bau, Gula, and
+Zerpanitu<span class='phonetic'>m</span>. These were all
+"Preservers" and healers. At the same time they were
+"Destroyers", like Nin-sun and the Queen of Hades, Eresh-ki-gal
+or Allatu. They were accompanied by shadowy male forms ere they
+became wives of strongly individualized gods, or by child gods,
+their sons, who might be regarded as "brothers" or "husbands of
+their mothers", to use the paradoxical Egyptian term. Similarly
+Great Father deities had vaguely defined wives. The "Semitic"
+Baal, "the lord", was accompanied by a female reflection of
+himself--Beltu, "the lady". Shamash, the sun god, had for wife
+the shadowy Aa.</p>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.101" name="page.anchor.101"></a>As has been
+shown, Ishtar is referred to in a Tammuz hymn as the mother of
+the child god of fertility. In an Egyptian hymn the sky goddess
+Nut, "the mother" of Osiris, is stated to have "built up life
+from her own body".<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1129" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1129" id="fnrex1129">129</a>]</span> Sri or Lakshmi,
+the Indian goddess, who became the wife of Vishnu, as the mother
+goddess Saraswati, a tribal deity, became the wife of Brahma,
+was, according to a Purana commentator, "the mother of the world
+... eternal and undecaying".<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1130" href="#ftn.fnrex1130" id=
+"fnrex1130">130</a>]</span></p>
+<p>The gods, on the other hand, might die annually: the goddesses
+alone were immortal. Indra was supposed to perish of old age, but
+his wife, Indrani, remained ever young. There were fourteen
+Indras in every "day of Brahma", a reference apparently to the
+ancient conception of Indra among the Great-Mother-worshipping
+sections of the Aryo-Indians.<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1131" href="#ftn.fnrex1131" id="fnrex1131">131</a>]</span>
+In the <span class="emphasis"><em>Mahabharata</em></span> the god
+Shiva, as Mahadeva, commands Indra on "one of the peaks of
+Himavat", where they met, to lift up a stone and join the Indras
+who had been before him. "And Indra on removing that stone beheld
+a cave on the breast of that king of mountains in which were four
+others resembling himself." Indra exclaimed in his grief, "Shall
+I be even like these?" These five Indras, like the "Seven
+Sleepers", awaited the time when they would be called forth. They
+were ultimately reborn as the five Pandava warriors.<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1132" href="#ftn.fnrex1132" id=
+"fnrex1132">132</a>]</span></p>
+<p>The ferocious, black-faced Scottish mother goddess, Cailleach
+Bheur, who appears to be identical with Mala Lith, "Grey
+Eyebrows" of Fingalian story, and the English "Black Annis",
+figures in Irish song and legend as "The Old Woman of Beare".
+This "old woman" (Cailleach) "had", says Professor Kuno Meyer,
+"seven <a id="page.anchor.102" name="page.anchor.102"></a>periods
+of youth one after another, so that every man who had lived with
+her came to die of old age, and her grandsons and great-grandsons
+were tribes and races". When old age at length came upon her she
+sang her "swan song", from which the following lines are
+extracted:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Ebb tide to me as of the
+sea!</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Old age causes me reproach
+...</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>It is riches</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Ye love, it is not men:</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>In the time when <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>we</em></span> lived</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>It was men we loved ...</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>My arms when they are seen</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Are bony and thin:</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Once they would fondle,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>They would be round glorious kings
+...</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>I must take my garment even in the
+sun:</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>The time is at hand that shall renew
+me.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1133" href="#ftn.fnrex1133"
+id="fnrex1133">133</a>]</span></tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>Freyja, the Germanic mother goddess, whose car was drawn by
+cats, had similarly many lovers. In the Icelandic poem
+"Lokasenna", Loki taunts her, saying:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Silence, Freyja! Full well I know
+thee,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>��And faultless art thou not
+found;</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Of the gods and elves who here are
+gathered</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>��Each one hast thou made thy
+mate.</tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>Idun, the keeper of the apples of immortal youth, which
+prevent the gods growing old, is similarly addressed:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Silence, Idun! I swear, of all
+women</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>��Thou the most wanton art;</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Who couldst fling those fair-washed
+arms of thine</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>��About thy brother's
+slayer.</tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.103" name="page.anchor.103"></a>Frigg, wife
+of Odin, is satirized as well:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Silence, Frigg! Earth's spouse for a
+husband,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>��And hast ever yearned after
+men!<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1134" href="#ftn.fnrex1134"
+id="fnrex1134">134</a>]</span></tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>The goddesses of classic mythology had similar reputations.
+Aphrodite (Venus) had many divine and mortal lovers. She links
+closely with Astarte and Ashtoreth (Ishtar), and reference has
+already been made to her relations with Adonis (Tammuz). These
+love deities were all as cruel as they were wayward. When Ishtar
+wooed the Babylonian hero, Gilgamesh, he spurned her advances, as
+has been indicated, saying:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>On Tammuz, the spouse of thy
+youth,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Thou didst lay affliction every
+year.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Thou didst love the brilliant Allalu
+bird</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>But thou didst smite him and break his
+wing;</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>He stands in the woods and cries "O my
+wing".</tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>He likewise charged her with deceiving the lion and the horse,
+making reference to obscure myths:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Thou didst also love a shepherd of the
+flock,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Who continually poured out for thee the
+libation,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>And daily slaughtered kids for
+thee;</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>But thou didst smite him and didst
+change him into a leopard,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>So that his own sheep boy hunted
+him,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>And his own hounds tore him to
+pieces.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1135" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1135" id="fnrex1135">135</a>]</span></tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>These goddesses were ever prone to afflict human beings who
+might offend them or of whom they wearied. Demeter (Ceres)
+changed Ascalaphus into an owl and Stellio into a lizard. Rhea
+(Ops) resembled</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>����The tow'red Cybele,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Mother of a hundred gods,</tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.104" name="page.anchor.104"></a>the wanton
+who loved Attis (Adonis). Artemis (Diana) slew her lover Orion,
+changed Actaeon into a stag, which was torn to pieces by his own
+dogs, and caused numerous deaths by sending a boar to ravage the
+fields of Oeneus, king of Calydon. Human sacrifices were
+frequently offered to the bloodthirsty "mothers". The most famous
+victim of Artemis was the daughter of Agamemnon, "divinely tall
+and most divinely fair".<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1136"
+href="#ftn.fnrex1136" id="fnrex1136">136</a>]</span> Agamemnon
+had slain a sacred stag, and the goddess punished him by sending
+a calm when the war fleet was about to sail for Troy, with the
+result that his daughter had to be sacrificed. Artemis thus sold
+breezes like the northern wind hags and witches.</p>
+<p>It used to be customary to account for the similarities
+manifested by the various mother goddesses by assuming that there
+was constant cultural contact between separate nationalities,
+and, as a result, a not inconsiderable amount of "religious
+borrowing". Greece was supposed to have received its great
+goddesses from the western Semites, who had come under the spell
+of Babylonian religion. Archaeological evidence, however, tends
+to disprove this theory. "The most recent researches into
+Mesopotamian history", writes Dr. Farnell, "establish with
+certainty the conclusion that there was no direct political
+contact possible between the powers in the valley of the
+Euphrates and the western shores of the Aegean in the second
+millennium B.C. In fact, between the nascent Hellas and the great
+world of Mesopotamia there were powerful and possibly independent
+strata of cultures interposing."<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1137" href="#ftn.fnrex1137" id=
+"fnrex1137">137</a>]</span></p>
+<p>The real connection appears to be the racial one. Among the
+Mediterranean Neolithic tribes of Sumeria, Arabia, and Europe,
+the goddess cult appears to have <a id="page.anchor.105" name=
+"page.anchor.105"></a>been influential. Mother worship was the
+predominant characteristic of their religious systems, so that
+the Greek goddesses were probably of pre-Hellenic origin, the
+Celtic of Iberian, the Egyptian of proto-Egyptian, and the
+Babylonian of Sumerian. The northern hillmen, on the other hand,
+who may be identified with the "Aryans" of the philologists, were
+father worshippers. The Vedic Aryo-Indians worshipped father
+gods,<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1138" href="#ftn.fnrex1138"
+id="fnrex1138">138</a>]</span> as did also the Germanic peoples
+and certain tribes in the "Hittite confederacy". Earth spirits
+were males, like the Teutonic elves, the Aryo-Indian Ribhus, and
+the Burkans, "masters", of the present-day Buriats, a Mongolian
+people. When the father-worshipping peoples invaded the dominions
+of the mother-worshipping peoples, they introduced their strongly
+individualized gods, but they did not displace the mother
+goddesses. "The Aryan Hellenes", says Dr. Farnell, "were able to
+plant their Zeus and Poseidon on the high hill of Athens, but not
+to overthrow the supremacy of Athena in the central shrine and in
+the aboriginal soul of the Athenian people."<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1139" href="#ftn.fnrex1139" id=
+"fnrex1139">139</a>]</span> As in Egypt, the beliefs of the
+father worshippers, represented by the self-created Ptah, were
+fused with the beliefs of the mother worshippers, who adored
+Isis, Mut, Neith, and others. In Babylonia this process of racial
+and religious fusion was well advanced before the dawn of
+history. Ea, who had already assumed manifold forms, may have
+originally been the son or child lover of Damkina, "Lady of the
+Deep", as was Tammuz of Ishtar. As the fish, Ea was the offspring
+of the mother river.</p>
+<p>The mother worshippers recognized male as well as female
+deities, but regarded the great goddess as the First Cause.
+Although the primeval spirits were grouped in <a id=
+"page.anchor.106" name="page.anchor.106"></a>four pairs in Egypt,
+and apparently in Babylonia also, the female in the first pair
+was more strongly individualized than the male. The Egyptian Nu
+is vaguer than his consort Nut, and the Babylonian Apsu than his
+consort Tiamat. Indeed, in the narrative of the Creation Tablets
+of Babylon, which will receive full treatment in a later chapter,
+Tiamat, the great mother, is the controlling spirit. She is more
+powerful and ferocious than Apsu, and lives longer. After Apsu's
+death she elevates one of her brood, named Kingu, to be her
+consort, a fact which suggests that in the Ishtar-Tammuz myth
+survives the influence of exceedingly ancient modes of thought.
+Like Tiamat, Ishtar is also a great battle heroine, and in this
+capacity she was addressed as "the lady of majestic rank exalted
+over all gods". This was no idle flattery on the part of
+worshippers, but a memory of her ancient supremacy.</p>
+<p>Reference has been made to the introduction of Tammuz worship
+into Jerusalem. Ishtar, as Queen of Heaven, was also adored by
+the backsliding Israelites as a deity of battle and harvest. When
+Jeremiah censured the people for burning incense and serving gods
+"whom they knew not", he said, "neither they, ye, nor your
+fathers", they made answer: "Since we left off to burn incense to
+the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, we
+have wanted all things, and have been consumed by the sword and
+the famine". The women took a leading part in these practices,
+but refused to accept all the blame, saying, "When we burned
+incense to the queen of heaven, and poured out drink offerings
+unto her, did we make our cakes and pour out drink offerings unto
+her without our men?"<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1140" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1140" id="fnrex1140">140</a>]</span> That the
+husbands, and the children even, assisted at the ceremony is made
+evident in another reference to goddess worship: <a id=
+"page.anchor.107" name="page.anchor.107"></a>"The children gather
+wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead the
+dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven".<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1141" href="#ftn.fnrex1141" id=
+"fnrex1141">141</a>]</span></p>
+<p><b>CYLINDER-SEAL IMPRESSIONS.�</b><span class=
+"emphasis"><em>(British Museum)</em></span></p>
+<div class="figure"><a id="id2523186" name="id2523186"></a>
+<p class="title"><b>Figure�V.2.�Female figure in adoration before
+a goddess</b></p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote"></blockquote>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="graphic"><img alt="" src="img/9.jpg" /></div>
+<div class="figure"><a id="id2523200" name="id2523200"></a>
+<p class="title"><b>Figure�V.3.�The winged Ishtar above the
+rising sun god, the river god, and other deities</b></p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote"></blockquote>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="graphic"><img alt="" src="img/10.jpg" /></div>
+<div class="figure"><a id="id2523214" name="id2523214"></a>
+<p class="title"><b>Figure�V.4.�Gilgamesh in conflict with bulls
+(see page <a href="#page.anchor.176">176</a>)</b></p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote"></blockquote>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="graphic"><img alt="" src="img/11.jpg" /></div>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>�</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>�</tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<div class="figure"><a id="id2523350" name="id2523350"></a>
+<p class="title"><b>Figure�V.5.�PLAQUE OF UR-NINA</b></p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<p><span class="emphasis"><em>In Limestone. From the original in
+the Louvre, Paris. (See pages <a href="#page.anchor.117">117</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.118">118</a>)</em></span></p>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="graphic"><img alt="" src="img/12.jpg" /></div>
+<p>Jastrow suggests that the women of Israel wept for Tammuz,
+offered cakes to the mother goddess, &amp;c., because "in all
+religious bodies ... women represent the conservative element;
+among them religious customs continue in practice after they have
+been abandoned by men".<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1142"
+href="#ftn.fnrex1142" id="fnrex1142">142</a>]</span> The evidence
+of Jeremiah, however, shows that the men certainly co-operated at
+the archaic ceremonials. In lighting the fires with the "vital
+spark", they apparently acted in imitation of the god of
+fertility. The women, on the other hand, represented the
+reproductive harvest goddess in providing the food supply. In
+recognition of her gift, they rewarded the goddess by offering
+her the cakes prepared from the newly ground wheat and
+barley--the "first fruits of the harvest". As the corn god came
+as a child, the children began the ceremony by gathering the wood
+for the sacred fire. When the women mourned for Tammuz, they did
+so evidently because the death of the god was lamented by the
+goddess Ishtar. It would appear, therefore, that the suggestion
+regarding the "conservative element" should really apply to the
+immemorial practices of folk religion. These differed from the
+refined ceremonies of the official cult in Babylonia, where there
+were suitable temples and organized bands of priests and
+priestesses. But the official cult received no recognition in
+Palestine; the cakes intended for a goddess were not offered up
+in the temple of Abraham's God, but "in the streets of Jerusalem"
+and those of other cities.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1143"
+href="#ftn.fnrex1143" id="fnrex1143">143</a>]</span></p>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.108" name="page.anchor.108"></a>The obvious
+deduction seems to be that in ancient times women everywhere
+played a prominent part in the ceremonial folk worship of the
+Great Mother goddess, while the men took the lesser part of the
+god whom she had brought into being and afterwards received as
+"husband of his mother". This may account for the high social
+status of women among goddess worshippers, like the
+representatives of the Mediterranean race, whose early religion
+was not confined to temples, but closely associated with the acts
+of everyday life.</p>
+<div class="footnotes"><br />
+<hr width="100" align="left" />
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1105" href="#fnrex1105" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1105">105</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Ezekiel</em></span>, viii.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1106" href="#fnrex1106" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1106">106</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Psalms</em></span>, cxxvi.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1107" href="#fnrex1107" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1107">107</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>The
+Burden of Isis</em></span>, J.T. Dennis <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>(Wisdom of the East</em></span> series), pp. 21,
+22.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1108" href="#fnrex1108" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1108">108</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Religion of the Semites</em></span>, pp. 412,
+414.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1109" href="#fnrex1109" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1109">109</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Egyptian Myth and Legend</em></span>, pp. 45 et
+seq.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1110" href="#fnrex1110" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1110">110</a>]</span> Langdon's <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Sumerian and Babylonian Psalms</em></span>, pp.
+319-321.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1111" href="#fnrex1111" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1111">111</a>]</span> Campbell's <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>West Highland Tales</em></span>, vol. iii, p.
+74.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1112" href="#fnrex1112" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1112">112</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>West
+Highland Tales</em></span>, vol. iii, pp. 85, 86.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1113" href="#fnrex1113" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1113">113</a>]</span> If Finn and his band were really
+militiamen--the original Fenians--as is believed in Ireland, they
+may have had attached to their memories the legends of archaic
+Iberian deities who differed from the Celtic Danann deities.
+Theodoric the Goth, as Dietrich von Bern, was identified, for
+instance, with Donar or Thunor (Thor), the thunder god. In
+Scotland Finn and his followers are all giants. Diarmid is the
+patriarch of the Campbell clan, the MacDiarmids being "sons of
+Diarmid".</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1114" href="#fnrex1114" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1114">114</a>]</span> Isaiah condemns a magical custom
+connected with the worship of Tammuz in the garden, <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Isaiah</em></span>, xvii, 9, 11. This "Garden of
+Adonis" is dealt with in the next chapter.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1115" href="#fnrex1115" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1115">115</a>]</span> Quotations are from <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Sumerian and Babylonian Psalms</em></span>,
+translated by Stephen Langdon, Ph.D. (Paris and London, 1909),
+pp. 299-341.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1116" href="#fnrex1116" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1116">116</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Beowulf</em></span>, translated by J.R. Clark Hall
+(London, 1911), pp. 9-11.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1117" href="#fnrex1117" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1117">117</a>]</span> For Frey's connection with the
+Ynglings see Morris and Magnusson's <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Heimskringla</em></span> (<span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Saga Library</em></span>, vol. iii), pp.
+23-71.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1118" href="#fnrex1118" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1118">118</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>The
+Religion of Babylonia and Assyria</em></span>, p. 72.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1119" href="#fnrex1119" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1119">119</a>]</span> Langdon's <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Sumerian and Babylonian Psalms</em></span>, pp.
+325, 339.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1120" href="#fnrex1120" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1120">120</a>]</span> Professor Oldenberg's
+translation.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1121" href="#fnrex1121" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1121">121</a>]</span> Osiris is also invoked to "remove
+storms and rain and give fecundity in the nighttime". As a spring
+sun god he slays demons; as a lunar god he brings
+fertility.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1122" href="#fnrex1122" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1122">122</a>]</span> Like the love-compelling girdle
+of Aphrodite.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1123" href="#fnrex1123" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1123">123</a>]</span> A wedding bracelet of crystal is
+worn by Hindu women; they break it when the husband dies.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1124" href="#fnrex1124" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1124">124</a>]</span> Quotations from the translation
+in <span class="emphasis"><em>The Chaldean Account of
+Genesis</em></span>, by George Smith.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1125" href="#fnrex1125" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1125">125</a>]</span> Langdon's <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Sumerian and Babylonian Psalms</em></span>, p. 329
+<span class="emphasis"><em>et seq.</em></span></div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1126" href="#fnrex1126" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1126">126</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>The
+Burden of Isis</em></span>, translated by J.T. Dennis
+(<span class="emphasis"><em>Wisdom of the East</em></span>
+series), pp. 24, 31, 32, 39, 45, 46, 49.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1127" href="#fnrex1127" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1127">127</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>The
+Burden of Isis</em></span>, pp. 22, 46.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1128" href="#fnrex1128" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1128">128</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Aspects of Religious Belief and Practice in
+Babylonia and Assyria</em></span>, p. 137, and <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Herodotus</em></span>, book i, 199.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1129" href="#fnrex1129" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1129">129</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>The
+Burden of Isis</em></span>, p. 47.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1130" href="#fnrex1130" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1130">130</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Original Sanskrit Texts</em></span>, J. Muir,
+London, 1890, vol. i, p. 67.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1131" href="#fnrex1131" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1131">131</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Original Sanskrit Texts</em></span>, vol. i, p.
+44.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1132" href="#fnrex1132" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1132">132</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>Adi
+Parva</em></span> section of <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Mah&agrave;bh&agrave;rata</em></span> (Roy's
+translation), pp. 553, 555.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1133" href="#fnrex1133" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1133">133</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Ancient Irish Poetry</em></span>, Kuno Meyer
+(London, 1911), pp. 88-90.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1134" href="#fnrex1134" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1134">134</a>]</span> Translations from <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>The Elder Edda</em></span>, by O. Bray (part i),
+London, 1908.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1135" href="#fnrex1135" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1135">135</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Babylonian Religion</em></span>, L.W. King, pp.
+160, 161.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1136" href="#fnrex1136" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1136">136</a>]</span> Tennyson's <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>A Dream of Fair Women.</em></span></div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1137" href="#fnrex1137" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1137">137</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>Greece
+and Babylon</em></span>, L.R. Farnell (Edinburgh, 1911), p.
+35.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1138" href="#fnrex1138" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1138">138</a>]</span> The goddesses did not become
+prominent until the "late invasion" of the post-Vedic
+Aryans.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1139" href="#fnrex1139" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1139">139</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>Greece
+and Babylon</em></span>, p. 96.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1140" href="#fnrex1140" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1140">140</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Jeremiah</em></span>, xliv.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1141" href="#fnrex1141" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1141">141</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Jeremiah, vii, 18.</em></span></div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1142" href="#fnrex1142" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1142">142</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Aspects of Religious Belief and Practice in
+Babylonia and Assyria</em></span>, pp. 348, 349.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1143" href="#fnrex1143" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1143">143</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Jeremiah, vii, 17.</em></span></div>
+</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="chapter" lang="en" xml:lang="en">
+<div class="titlepage">
+<div>
+<div>
+<h2 class="title"><a id="id2523463" name=
+"id2523463"></a>Chapter�VI.�Wars of the City States of Sumer and
+Akkad</h2>
+</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="abstract">
+<p class="title"><b>Abstract</b></p>
+<p>Civilization well advanced--The Patesi--Prominent City
+States--Surroundings of Babylonia--The Elamites--Biblical
+References to Susa--The Sumerian Temperament--Fragmentary
+Records--City States of Kish and Opis--A Shopkeeper who became a
+Queen--Goddess Worship--Tammuz as Nin-Girsu--Great Dynasty of
+Lagash--Ur-Nina and his Descendants--A Napoleonic
+Conqueror--Golden Age of Sumerian Art--The First Reformer in
+History--His Rise and Fall--The Dynasty of Erech--Sargon of
+Akkad--The Royal Gardener--Sargon Myth in India--A Great
+Empire--The King who Purchased Land--Naram Sin the
+Conqueror--Disastrous Foreign Raid--Lagash again Prominent--Gudea
+the Temple Builder--Dynasty of Ur--Dynasty of Isin--Another
+Gardener becomes King--Rise of Babylon--Humanized Deities--Why
+Sumerian Gods wore Beards.</p>
+</div>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.109" name="page.anchor.109"></a> When the
+curtain rises to reveal the drama of Babylonian civilization we
+find that we have missed the first act and its many fascinating
+scenes. Sumerians and Akkadians come and go, but it is not always
+possible to distinguish between them. Although most Semites are
+recognizable by their flowing beards, prominent noses, and long
+robes, some have so closely imitated the Sumerians as to suffer
+almost complete loss of identity. It is noticeable that in the
+north the Akkadians are more Semitic than their contemporaries in
+the south, but it is difficult at times to say whether a city is
+controlled by the descendants of the indigenous people or those
+of later settlers. Dynasties rise and fall, and, as in Egypt at
+times, the progress of the fragmentary narrative is interrupted
+by a sudden change <a id="page.anchor.110" name=
+"page.anchor.110"></a>of scene ere we have properly grasped a
+situation and realized its significance.</p>
+<p>What we know for certain is that civilization is well
+advanced. Both in the north and the south there are many
+organized and independent city states, and not unfrequently these
+wage war one against another. Occasionally ambitious rulers tower
+among their fellows, conduct vigorous military campaigns, and
+become overlords of wide districts. As a rule, a subjugated
+monarch who has perforce to acknowledge the suzerainty of a
+powerful king is allowed to remain in a state of
+semi-independence on condition that he pays a heavy annual
+tribute of grain. His own laws continue in force, and the city
+deities remain supreme, although recognition may also be given to
+the deities of his conqueror. He styles himself a Patesi--a
+"priest king", or more literally, "servant of the chief deity".
+But as an independent monarch may also be a pious Patesi, it does
+not always follow when a ruler is referred to by that title he is
+necessarily less powerful than his neighbours.</p>
+<p>When the historical narrative begins Akkad included the cities
+of Babylon, Cutha, Kish, Akkad, and Sippar, and north of
+Babylonia proper is Semitic Opis. Among the cities of Sumer were
+Eridu, Ur, Lagash, Larsa, Erech, Shuruppak, and probably Nippur,
+which was situated on the "border". On the north Assyria was yet
+"in the making", and shrouded in obscurity. A vague but vast area
+above Hit on the Euphrates, and extending to the Syrian coast,
+was known as the "land of the Amorites". The fish-shaped
+Babylonian valley lying between the rivers, where walled towns
+were surrounded by green fields and numerous canals flashed in
+the sunshine, was bounded on the west by the bleak wastes of the
+Arabian desert, where during the dry season "the rocks branded
+<a id="page.anchor.111" name="page.anchor.111"></a>the body" and
+occasional sandstorms swept in blinding folds towards the "plain
+of Shinar" (Sumer) like demon hosts who sought to destroy the
+world. To the east the skyline was fretted by the Persian
+Highlands, and amidst the southern mountains dwelt the fierce
+Elamites, the hereditary enemies of the Sumerians, although a
+people apparently of the same origin. Like the Nubians and the
+Libyans, who kept watchful eyes on Egypt, the Elamites seemed
+ever to be hovering on the eastern frontier of Sumeria, longing
+for an opportunity to raid and plunder.</p>
+<p>The capital of the Elamites was the city of Susa, where
+excavations have revealed traces of an independent civilization
+which reaches back to an early period in the Late Stone Age. Susa
+is referred to in the Old Testament--"The words of Nehemiah.... I
+was in Shushan the palace".<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1144"
+href="#ftn.fnrex1144" id="fnrex1144">144</a>]</span> An Assyrian
+plan of the city shows it occupying a strategic position at a
+bend of the Shawur river, which afforded protection against
+Sumerian attacks from the west, while a canal curved round its
+northern and eastern sides, so that Susa was completely
+surrounded by water. Fortifications had been erected on the river
+and canal banks, and between these and the high city walls were
+thick clumps of trees. That the kings of Elam imitated the
+splendours of Babylonian courts in the later days of Esther and
+Haman and Mordecai, is made evident by the Biblical references to
+the gorgeous palace, which had "white, green, and blue hangings,
+fastened with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rings and
+pillars of marble; the beds were of gold and silver, upon a
+pavement of red, and blue, and white, and black
+marble".<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1145" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1145" id="fnrex1145">145</a>]</span> Beyond Elam were
+the plains, plateaus, and grassy steppes occupied by the Medes
+and other <a id="page.anchor.112" name=
+"page.anchor.112"></a>peoples of Aryan speech. Cultural
+influences came and went like spring winds between the various
+ancient communities.</p>
+<p>For ten long centuries Sumer and Akkad flourished and
+prospered ere we meet with the great Hammurabi, whose name has
+now become almost as familiar as that of Julius Caesar. But our
+knowledge of the leading historical events of this vast period is
+exceedingly fragmentary. The Sumerians were not like the later
+Assyrians or their Egyptian contemporaries--a people with a
+passion for history. When inscriptions were composed and cut on
+stone, or impressed upon clay tablets and bricks, the kings
+selected as a general rule to record pious deeds rather than to
+celebrate their victories and conquests. Indeed, the average
+monarch had a temperament resembling that of Keats, who
+declared:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>�������������������The silver
+flow</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Of Hero's tears, the swoon of
+Imogen,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Fair Pastorella in the bandits'
+den,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Are things to brood on with more
+ardency</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Than the death day of
+empires.</tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>The Sumerian king was emotionally religious as the great
+English poet was emotionally poetical. The tears of Ishtar for
+Tammuz, and the afflictions endured by the goddess imprisoned in
+Hades, to which she had descended for love of her slain husband,
+seemed to have concerned the royal recorder to a greater degree
+than the memories of political upheavals and the social changes
+which passed over the land, like the seasons which alternately
+brought greenness and gold, barrenness and flood.</p>
+<p>City chronicles, as a rule, are but indices of obscure events,
+to which meagre references were sometimes also made on mace
+heads, vases, tablets, stelae, and sculptured <a id=
+"page.anchor.113" name="page.anchor.113"></a>monoliths.
+Consequently, present-day excavators and students have often
+reason to be grateful that the habit likewise obtained of
+inscribing on bricks in buildings and the stone sockets of doors
+the names of kings and others. These records render obscure
+periods faintly articulate, and are indispensable for comparative
+purposes. Historical clues are also obtained from lists of year
+names. Each city king named a year in celebration of a great
+event--his own succession to the throne, the erection of a new
+temple or of a city wall, or, mayhap, the defeat of an invading
+army from a rival state. Sometimes, too, a monarch gave the name
+of his father in an official inscription, or happily mentioned
+several ancestors. Another may be found to have made an
+illuminating statement regarding a predecessor, who centuries
+previously erected the particular temple that he himself has
+piously restored. A reckoning of this kind, however, cannot
+always be regarded as absolutely correct. It must be compared
+with and tested by other records, for in these ancient days
+calculations were not unfrequently based on doubtful
+inscriptions, or mere oral traditions, perhaps. Nor can implicit
+trust be placed on every reference to historical events, for the
+memoried deeds of great rulers were not always unassociated with
+persistent and cumulative myths. It must be recognized,
+therefore, that even portions of the data which had of late been
+sifted and systematized by Oriental scholars in Europe, may yet
+have to be subjected to revision. Many interesting and important
+discoveries, which will throw fresh light on this fascinating
+early period, remain to be made in that ancient and deserted
+land, which still lies under the curse of the Hebrew prophet, who
+exclaimed: "Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the
+Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and
+<a id="page.anchor.114" name="page.anchor.114"></a>Gomorrah. It
+shall never be inhabited; neither shall the Arabian pitch tent
+there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there. But
+wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall
+be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and
+satyrs shall dance there. And the wild beasts of the islands
+shall cry in their desolate houses and dragons in their pleasant
+palaces."<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1146" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1146" id="fnrex1146">146</a>]</span></p>
+<p>The curtain rises, as has been indicated, after civilization
+had been well advanced. To begin with, our interests abide with
+Akkad, and during a period dated approximately between 3000 B.C.
+and 2800 B.C., when Egypt was already a united kingdom, and the
+Cretans were at the dawn of the first early Minoan period, and
+beginning to use bronze. In Kish Sumerian and Akkadian elements
+had apparently blended, and the city was the centre of a powerful
+and independent government. After years have fluttered past
+dimly, and with them the shadow-shapes of vigorous rulers, it is
+found that Kish came under the sway of the pronouncedly Semitic
+city of Opis, which was situated "farthest north" and on the
+western bank of the river Tigris. A century elapsed ere Kish
+again threw off the oppressor's yoke and renewed the strength of
+its youth.</p>
+<p>The city of Kish was one of the many ancient centres of
+goddess worship. The Great Mother appears to have been the
+Sumerian Bau, whose chief seat was at Lagash. If tradition is to
+be relied upon, Kish owed its existence to that notable lady,
+Queen Azag-Bau. Although floating legends gathered round her
+memory as they have often gathered round the memories of famous
+men, like Sargon of Akkad, Alexander the Great, and Theodoric the
+Goth, who became Emperor of Rome, it is probable <a id=
+"page.anchor.115" name="page.anchor.115"></a>that the queen was a
+prominent historical personage. She was reputed to have been of
+humble origin, and to have first achieved popularity and
+influence as the keeper of a wine shop. Although no reference
+survives to indicate that she was believed to be of miraculous
+birth, the Chronicle of Kish gravely credits her with a prolonged
+and apparently prosperous reign of a hundred years. Her son, who
+succeeded her, sat on the throne for a quarter of a century.
+These calculations are certainly remarkable. If the Queen
+Azag-Bau founded Kish when she was only twenty, and gave birth to
+the future ruler in her fiftieth year, he must have been an
+elderly gentleman of seventy when he began to reign. When it is
+found, further, that the dynasty in which mother and son
+flourished was supposed to have lasted for 586 years, divided
+between eight rulers, one of whom reigned for only three years,
+two for six, and two for eleven, it becomes evident that the
+historian of Kish cannot be absolutely relied upon in detail. It
+seems evident that the memory of this lady of forceful character,
+who flourished about thirteen hundred years before the rise of
+Queen Hatshepsut of Egypt, has overshadowed the doubtful annals
+of ancient Kish at a period when Sumerian and Semite were
+striving in the various states to achieve political
+ascendancy.</p>
+<p>Meanwhile the purely Sumerian city of Lagash had similarly
+grown powerful and aggressive. For a time it acknowledged the
+suzerainty of Kish, but ultimately it threw off the oppressor's
+yoke and asserted its independence. The cumulative efforts of a
+succession of energetic rulers elevated Lagash to the position of
+a metropolis in Ancient Babylonia.</p>
+<p>The goddess Bau, "the mother of Lagash", was worshipped in
+conjunction with other deities, including the god Nin-Girsu, an
+agricultural deity, and therefore <a id="page.anchor.116" name=
+"page.anchor.116"></a>a deity of war, who had solar attributes.
+One of the titles of Nin-Girsu was En-Mersi, which, according to
+Assyrian evidence, was another name of Tammuz, the spring god who
+slew the storm and winter demons, and made the land fertile so
+that man might have food. Nin-Girsu was, it would seem, a
+developed form of Tammuz, like the Scandinavian Frey, god of
+harvest, or Heimdal, the celestial warrior. Bau was one of the
+several goddesses whose attributes were absorbed by the Semitic
+Ishtar. She was a "Great Mother", a creatrix, the source of all
+human and bestial life, and, of course, a harvest goddess. She
+was identified with Gula, "the great one", who cured diseases and
+prolonged life. Evidently the religion of Lagash was based on the
+popular worship of the "Queen of Heaven", and her son, the dying
+god who became "husband of his mother".</p>
+<p>The first great and outstanding ruler of Lagash was Ur-Nina,
+who appears to have owed his power to the successful military
+operations of his predecessors. It is uncertain whether or not he
+himself engaged in any great war. His records are silent in that
+connection, but, judging from what we know of him, it may be
+taken for granted that he was able and fully prepared to give a
+good account of himself in battle. He certainly took steps to
+make secure his position, for he caused a strong wall to be
+erected round Lagash. His inscriptions are eloquent of his piety,
+which took practical shape, for he repaired and built temples,
+dedicated offerings to deities, and increased the wealth of
+religious bodies and the prosperity of the State by cutting
+canals and developing agriculture. In addition to serving local
+deities, he also gave practical recognition to Ea at Eridu and
+Enlil at Nippur. He, however, overlooked Anu at Erech, a fact
+which suggests that he held sway over Eridu and <a id=
+"page.anchor.117" name="page.anchor.117"></a>Nippur, but had to
+recognize Erech as an independent city state.</p>
+<p>Among the deities of Lagash, Ur-Nina favoured most the goddess
+Nina, whose name he bore. As she was a water deity, and perhaps
+identical with Belit-sheri, sister of "Tammuz of the Abyss" and
+daughter of Ea, one of the canals was dedicated to her. She was
+also honoured with a new temple, in which was probably placed her
+great statue, constructed by special order of her royal
+worshipper. Like the Egyptian goddess, the "Mother of Mendes",
+Nina received offerings of fish, not only as a patroness of
+fishermen, but also as a corn spirit and a goddess of maternity.
+She was in time identified with Ishtar.</p>
+<p>A famous limestone plaque, which is preserved in the Louvre,
+Paris, depicts on its upper half the pious King Ur-Nina engaged
+in the ceremony of laying the foundations of a temple dedicated
+either to the goddess Nina or to the god Nin-Girsu. His face and
+scalp are clean shaven, and he has a prominent nose and firm
+mouth, eloquent of decision. The folds of neck and jaw suggest
+Bismarckian traits. He is bare to the waist, and wears a pleated
+kilt, with three flounces, which reaches almost to his ankles. On
+his long head he has poised deftly a woven basket containing the
+clay with which he is to make the first brick. In front of him
+stand five figures. The foremost is honoured by being sculptured
+larger than the others, except the prominent monarch. Apparently
+this is a royal princess, for her head is unshaven, and her
+shoulder dress or long hair drops over one of her arms. Her name
+is Lida, and the conspicuous part she took in the ceremony
+suggests that she was the representative of the goddess Nina. She
+is accompanied by her brothers, and at least one official, Anita,
+the cup-bearer, or high <a id="page.anchor.118" name=
+"page.anchor.118"></a>priest. The concluding part of this
+ceremony, or another ceremonial act, is illustrated on the lower
+part of the plaque. Ur-Nina is seated on his throne, not, as
+would seem at first sight, raising the wine cup to his lips and
+toasting to the success of the work, but pouring out a libation
+upon the ground. The princess is not present; the place of honour
+next to the king is taken by the crown prince. Possibly in this
+case it is the god Nin-Girsu who is being honoured. Three male
+figures, perhaps royal sons, accompany the prominent crown
+prince. The cup-bearer is in attendance behind the throne.</p>
+<p>The inscription on this plaque, which is pierced in the centre
+so as to be nailed to a sacred shrine, refers to the temples
+erected by Ur-Nina, including those of Nina and Nin-Girsu.</p>
+<p>After Ur-Nina's prosperous reign came to a close, his son
+Akurgal ascended the throne. He had trouble with Umma, a powerful
+city, which lay to the north-west of Lagash, between the
+Shatt-el-Kai and Shatt-el-Hai canals. An army of raiders invaded
+his territory and had to be driven back.</p>
+<p>The next king, whose name was Eannatum, had Napoleonic
+characteristics. He was a military genius with great ambitions,
+and was successful in establishing by conquest a small but
+brilliant empire. Like his grandfather, he strengthened the
+fortifications of Lagash; then he engaged in a series of
+successful campaigns. Umma had been causing anxiety in Lagash,
+but Eannatum stormed and captured that rival city, appropriated
+one of its fertile plains, and imposed an annual tribute to be
+paid in kind. An army of Elamites swept down from the hills, but
+Ur-Nina's grandson inflicted upon these bold foreigners a
+crushing defeat and pursued them over the frontier. Several
+cities were afterwards forced to <a id="page.anchor.119" name=
+"page.anchor.119"></a>come under the sway of triumphant Lagash,
+including Erech and Ur, and as his suzerainty was already
+acknowledged at Eridu, Eannatum's power in Sumeria became as
+supreme as it was firmly established.</p>
+<p>Evidently Zuzu, king of the northern city of Opis, considered
+that the occasion was opportune to overcome the powerful Sumerian
+conqueror, and at the same time establish Semitic rule over the
+subdued and war-wasted cities. He marched south with a large
+army, but the tireless and ever-watchful Eannatum hastened to the
+fray, scattered the forces of Opis, and captured the foolhardy
+Zuzu.</p>
+<p>Eannatum's activities, however, were not confined to
+battlefields. At Lagash he carried out great improvements in the
+interests of agriculture; he constructed a large reservoir and
+developed the canal system. He also extended and repaired
+existing temples in his native city and at Erech. Being a patron
+of the arts, he encouraged sculpture work, and the finest
+Sumerian examples belong to his reign.</p>
+<p>Eannatum was succeeded by his brother, Enannatum I. Apparently
+the new monarch did not share the military qualities of his royal
+predecessor, for there were signs of unrest in the loose
+confederacy of states. Indeed, Umma revolted. From that city an
+army marched forth and took forcible possession of the plain
+which Eannatum had appropriated, removing and breaking the
+landmarks, and otherwise challenging the supremacy of the sovran
+state. A Lagash force defeated the men of Umma, but appears to
+have done little more than hold in check their aggressive
+tendencies.</p>
+<p>No sooner had Entemena, the next king, ascended the throne
+than the flame of revolt burst forth again. The Patesi of Umma
+was evidently determined to free, once <a id="page.anchor.120"
+name="page.anchor.120"></a>and for all, his native state from the
+yoke of Lagash. But he had gravely miscalculated the strength of
+the vigorous young ruler. Entemena inflicted upon the rebels a
+crushing defeat, and following up his success, entered the walled
+city and captured and slew the patesi. Then he took steps to
+stamp out the embers of revolt in Umma by appointing as its
+governor one of his own officials, named Ili, who was duly
+installed with great ceremony. Other military successes followed,
+including the sacking of Opis and Kish, which assured the
+supremacy of Lagash for many years. Entemena, with characteristic
+vigour, engaged himself during periods of peace in strengthening
+his city fortifications and in continuing the work of improving
+and developing the irrigation system. He lived in the golden age
+of Sumerian art, and to his reign belongs the exquisite silver
+vase of Lagash, which was taken from the Tello mound, and is now
+in the Louvre. This votive offering was placed by the king in the
+temple of Nin-Girsu. It is exquisitely shaped, and has a base of
+copper. The symbolic decorations include the lion-headed eagle,
+which was probably a form of the spring god of war and fertility,
+the lion, beloved by the Mother goddess, and deer and ibexes,
+which recall the mountain herds of Astarte. In the dedicatory
+inscription the king is referred to as a patesi, and the fact
+that the name of the high priest, Dudu, is given may be taken as
+an indication of the growing power of an aggressive priesthood.
+After a brilliant reign of twenty-nine years the king died, and
+was succeeded by his son, Enannatum II, who was the last ruler of
+Ur-Nina's line. An obscure period ensued. Apparently there had
+been a city revolt, which may have given the enemies of Lagash
+the desired opportunity to gather strength for the coming
+conflict. There is a reference to <a id="page.anchor.121" name=
+"page.anchor.121"></a>an Elamite raid which, although repulsed,
+may be regarded as proof of disturbed political conditions.</p>
+<div class="figure"><a id="id2524106" name="id2524106"></a>
+<p class="title"><b>Figure�VI.1.�SILVER VASE DEDICATED TO THE GOD
+NIN-GIRSU BY ENTEMENA</b></p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<p>The finest example extant of Sumerian metal work. (See page
+120) <span class="emphasis"><em>Reproduced by permission from
+"D&eacute;couvertes en Chald&eacute;e" (E. Letoux,
+Paris)</em></span></p>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="graphic"><img alt="" src="img/13.jpg" /></div>
+<div class="figure"><a id="id2524128" name="id2524128"></a>
+<p class="title"><b>Figure�VI.2.�STELE OF NARAM SIN</b></p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<p>(<span class="emphasis"><em>Louvre, Paris</em></span>)</p>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="graphic"><img alt="" src="img/14.jpg" /></div>
+<p>One or two priests sat on the throne of Lagash in brief
+succession, and then arose to power the famous Urukagina, the
+first reformer in history. He began to rule as patesi, but
+afterwards styled himself king. What appears certain is that he
+was the leader of a great social upheaval, which received the
+support of a section of the priesthood, for he recorded that his
+elevation was due to the intercession of the god Nin-Girsu. Other
+deities, who were sons and daughters of Nin-Girsu and Nina, had
+been given recognition by his predecessors, and it is possible
+that the orthodox section of Lagash, and especially the
+agricultural classes, supported the new ruler in sweeping away
+innovations to which they were hostile.</p>
+<p>Like Khufu and his descendants, the Pyramid kings of Egypt's
+fourth dynasty, the vigorous and efficient monarchs of the
+Ur-Nina dynasty of Lagash were apparently remembered and
+execrated as tyrants and oppressors of the people. To maintain
+many endowed temples and a standing army the traders and
+agriculturists had been heavily taxed. Each successive monarch
+who undertook public works on a large scale for the purpose of
+extending and developing the area under cultivation, appears to
+have done so mainly to increase the revenue of the exchequer, so
+as to conserve the strength of the city and secure its
+pre-eminence as a metropolis. A leisured class had come into
+existence, with the result that culture was fostered and
+civilization advanced. Lagash seems to have been intensely modern
+in character prior to 2800 B.C., but with the passing of the old
+order of things there arose grave social problems which never
+appear to have been seriously dealt with. All indications <a id=
+"page.anchor.122" name="page.anchor.122"></a>of social unrest
+were, it would appear, severely repressed by the iron-gloved
+monarchs of Ur-Nina's dynasty.</p>
+<p>The people as a whole groaned under an ever-increasing burden
+of taxation. Sumeria was overrun by an army of officials who were
+notoriously corrupt; they do not appear to have been held in
+check, as in Egypt, by royal auditors. "In the domain of
+Nin-Girsu", one of Urukagina's tablets sets forth, "there were
+tax gatherers down to the sea." They not only attended to the
+needs of the exchequer, but enriched themselves by sheer robbery,
+while the priests followed their example by doubling their fees
+and appropriating temple offerings to their own use. The splendid
+organization of Lagash was crippled by the dishonesty of those
+who should have been its main support.</p>
+<p>Reforms were necessary and perhaps overdue, but, unfortunately
+for Lagash, Urukagina's zeal for the people's cause amounted to
+fanaticism. Instead of gradually readjusting the machinery of
+government so as to secure equality of treatment without
+impairing its efficiency as a defensive force in these perilous
+times, he inaugurated sweeping and revolutionary social changes
+of far-reaching character regardless of consequences. Taxes and
+temple fees were cut down, and the number of officials reduced to
+a minimum. Society was thoroughly disorganized. The army, which
+was recruited mainly from the leisured and official classes, went
+practically out of existence, so that traders and agriculturists
+obtained relief from taxation at the expense of their material
+security.</p>
+<p>Urukagina's motives were undoubtedly above reproach, and he
+showed an example to all who occupied positions of trust by
+living an upright life and denying himself luxuries. He was
+disinterestedly pious, and built and restored temples, and acted
+as the steward of his god <a id="page.anchor.123" name=
+"page.anchor.123"></a>with desire to promote the welfare and
+comfort of all true worshippers. His laws were similar to those
+which over two centuries afterwards were codified by Hammurabi,
+and like that monarch he was professedly the guardian of the weak
+and the helper of the needy; he sought to establish justice and
+liberty in the kingdom. But his social Arcadia vanished like a
+dream because he failed to recognize that Right must be supported
+by Might.</p>
+<p>In bringing about his sudden social revolution, Urukagina had
+at the same time unwittingly let loose the forces of disorder.
+Discontented and unemployed officials, and many representatives
+of the despoiled leisured and military classes of Lagash, no
+doubt sought refuge elsewhere, and fostered the spirit of revolt
+which ever smouldered in subject states. At any rate, Umma,
+remembering the oppressions of other days, was not slow to
+recognize that the iron hand of Lagash had become unnerved. The
+zealous and iconoclastic reformer had reigned but seven years
+when he was called upon to defend his people against the invader.
+He appears to have been utterly unprepared to do so. The
+victorious forces of Umma swept against the stately city of
+Lagash and shattered its power in a single day. Echoes of the
+great disaster which ensued rise from a pious tablet inscription
+left by a priest, who was convinced that the conquerors would be
+called to account for the sins they had committed against the
+great god Nin-Girsu. He lamented the butchery and robbery which
+had taken place. We gather from his composition that blood was
+shed by the raiders of Umma even in the sacred precincts of
+temples, that statues were shattered, that silver and precious
+stones were carried away, that granaries were plundered and
+standing crops destroyed, and that many buildings were set on
+fire. Amidst these horrors of savagery and vengeance, <a id=
+"page.anchor.124" name="page.anchor.124"></a>the now tragic
+figure of the great reformer suddenly vanishes from before our
+eyes. Perhaps he perished in a burning temple; perhaps he found a
+nameless grave with the thousands of his subjects whose bodies
+had lain scattered about the blood-stained streets. With
+Urukagina the glory of Lagash departed. Although the city was
+rebuilt in time, and was even made more stately than before, it
+never again became the metropolis of Sumeria.</p>
+<p>The vengeful destroyer of Lagash was Lugal-zaggisi, Patesi of
+Umma, a masterful figure in early Sumerian history. We gather
+from the tablet of the unknown scribe, who regarded him as a
+sinner against the god Nin-Girsu, that his city goddess was named
+Nidaba. He appears also to have been a worshipper of Enlil of
+Nippur, to whose influence he credited his military successes.
+But Enlil was not his highest god, he was the interceder who
+carried the prayers of Lugal-zaggisi to the beloved father, Anu,
+god of the sky. No doubt Nin-Girsu represented a school of
+theology which was associated with unpleasant memories in Umma.
+The sacking and burning of the temples of Lagash suggests as
+much.</p>
+<p>Having broken the power of Lagash, Lugal-zaggisi directed his
+attention to the rival city of Kish, where Semitic influence was
+predominating. When Nanizak, the last monarch of the line of the
+famous Queen Azag-Bau, had sat upon the throne for but three
+years, he perished by the sword of the Umma conqueror. Nippur
+likewise came under his sway, and he also subdued the southern
+cities.</p>
+<p>Lugal-zaggisi chose for his capital ancient Erech, the city of
+Anu, and of his daughter, the goddess Nana, who afterwards was
+identified with Ishtar. Anu's spouse was Anatu, and the pair
+subsequently became abstract deities, like Anshar and Kishar,
+their parents, who figure in the <a id="page.anchor.125" name=
+"page.anchor.125"></a>Babylonian Creation story. Nana was
+worshipped as the goddess of vegetation, and her relation to Anu
+was similar to that of Belit-sheri to Ea at Eridu. Anu and Ea
+were originally identical, but it would appear that the one was
+differentiated as the god of the waters above the heaven and the
+other as god of the waters beneath the earth, both being forms of
+Anshar. Elsewhere the chief god of the spring sun or the moon,
+the lover of the goddess, became pre-eminent, displacing the
+elder god, like Nin-Girsu at Lagash. At Sippar the sun god,
+Babbar, whose Semitic name was Shamash, was exalted as the chief
+deity, while the moon god remained supreme at Ur. This
+specializing process, which was due to local theorizing and the
+influence of alien settlers, has been dealt with in a previous
+chapter.</p>
+<p>In referring to himself as the favoured ruler of various city
+deities, Lugal-zaggisi appears as a ruler of all Sumeria. How far
+his empire extended it is impossible to determine with certainty.
+He appears to have overrun Akkad, and even penetrated to the
+Syrian coast, for in one inscription it is stated that he "made
+straight his path from the Lower Sea (the Persian Gulf) over the
+Euphrates and Tigris to the Upper Sea (the Mediterranean)". The
+allegiance of certain states, however, depended on the strength
+of the central power. One of his successors found it necessary to
+attack Kish, which was ever waiting for an opportunity to regain
+its independence.</p>
+<p>According to the Chronicle of Kish, the next ruler of Sumer
+and Akkad after Lugal-zaggisi was the famous Sargon I. It would
+appear that he was an adventurer or usurper, and that he owed his
+throne indirectly to Lugal-zaggisi, who had dethroned the ruler
+of Akkad. Later traditions, which have been partly confirmed by
+contemporary inscriptions, agree that Sargon was of humble <a id=
+"page.anchor.126" name="page.anchor.126"></a>birth. In the
+previous chapter reference was made to the Tammuz-like myth
+attached to his memory. His mother was a vestal virgin dedicated
+to the sun god, Shamash, and his father an unknown stranger from
+the mountains--a suggestion of immediate Semitic affinities.
+Perhaps Sargon owed his rise to power to the assistance received
+by bands of settlers from the land of the Amorites, which
+Lugal-zaggisi had invaded.</p>
+<p>According to the legend, Sargon's birth was concealed. He was
+placed in a vessel which was committed to the river. Brought up
+by a commoner, he lived in obscurity until the Semitic goddess,
+Ishtar, gave him her aid.</p>
+<p>A similar myth was attached in India to the memory of Karna,
+the Hector of that great Sanskrit epic the <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Mahabharata</em></span>. Kama's mother, the
+Princess Pritha, who afterwards became a queen, was loved by the
+sun god, Surya. When in secret she gave birth to her son she
+placed him in an ark of wickerwork, which was set adrift on a
+stream. Ultimately it reached the Ganges, and it was borne by
+that river to the country of Anga, where the child was rescued by
+a woman and afterwards reared by her and her husband, a
+charioteer. In time Karna became a great warrior, and was crowned
+King of Anga by the Kaurava warriors.<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1147" href="#ftn.fnrex1147" id=
+"fnrex1147">147</a>]</span></p>
+<p>Before he became king, Sargon of Akkad, the Sharrukin of the
+texts, was, according to tradition, a gardener and watchman
+attached to the temple of the war god Zamama of Kish. This deity
+was subsequently identified with Merodach, son of Ea; Ninip, son
+of Enlil; and Nin-Girsu of Lagash. He was therefore one of the
+many developed forms of Tammuz--a solar, corn, and military
+deity, and an interceder for mankind. The goddess of Kish appears
+to have been a form of Bau, as is <a id="page.anchor.127" name=
+"page.anchor.127"></a>testified by the name of Queen Azag-Bau,
+the legendary founder of the city.</p>
+<p>Unfortunately our knowledge of Sargon's reign is of meagre
+character. It is undoubted that he was a distinguished general
+and able ruler. He built up an empire which included Sumer and
+Akkad, and also Amurru, "the western land", or "land of the
+Amorites". The Elamites gave him an opportunity to extend his
+conquests eastward. They appear to have attacked Opis, but he
+drove them back, and on more than one occasion penetrated their
+country, over the western part of which, known as Anshan, he
+ultimately imposed his rule. Thither went many Semitic settlers
+who had absorbed the culture of Sumeria.</p>
+<p>During Sargon's reign Akkad attained to a splendour which
+surpassed that of Babylon. In an omen text the monarch is lauded
+as the "highly exalted one without a peer". Tradition relates
+that when he was an old man all the Babylonian states rose in
+revolt against him and besieged Akkad. But the old warrior led
+forth his army against the combined forces and achieved a
+shattering victory.</p>
+<p>Manishtusu, who succeeded Sargon I, had similarly to subdue a
+great confederacy of thirty-two city states, and must therefore
+have been a distinguished general. But he is best known as the
+monarch who purchased several large estates adjoining subject
+cities, his aim having been probably to settle on these Semitic
+allies who would be less liable to rebel against him than the
+workers they displaced. For the latter, however, he found
+employment elsewhere. These transactions, which were recorded on
+a monument subsequently carried off with other spoils by the
+Elamites and discovered at Susa, show that at this early period
+(about 2600 B.C.) even a <a id="page.anchor.128" name=
+"page.anchor.128"></a>conquering monarch considered it advisable
+to observe existing land laws. Urumush,<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1148" href="#ftn.fnrex1148" id=
+"fnrex1148">148</a>]</span> the next ruler, also achieved
+successes in Elam and elsewhere, but his life was cut short by a
+palace revolution.</p>
+<p>The prominent figure of Naram Sin, a later king of Akkad,
+bulks largely in history and tradition. According to the
+Chronicle of Kish, he was a son of Sargon. Whether he was or not,
+it is certain that he inherited the military and administrative
+genius of that famous ex-gardener. The arts flourished during his
+reign. One of the memorable products of the period was an
+exquisitely sculptured monument celebrating one of Naram Sin's
+victories, which was discovered at Susa. It is one of the most
+wonderful examples of Babylonian stone work which has come to
+light.</p>
+<p>A successful campaign had been waged against a mountain
+people. The stele shows the warrior king leading his army up a
+steep incline and round the base of a great peak surmounted by
+stars. His enemies flee in confusion before him. One lies on the
+ground clutching a spear which has penetrated his throat, two are
+falling over a cliff, while others apparently sue for mercy.
+Trees have been depicted to show that part of the conquered
+territory is wooded. Naram Sin is armed with battleaxe and bow,
+and his helmet is decorated with horns. The whole composition is
+spirited and finely grouped; and the military bearing of the
+disciplined troops contrasts sharply with the despairing
+attitudes of the fleeing remnants of the defending army.</p>
+<p>During this period the Semitized mountaineers to the
+north-east of Babylonia became the most aggressive opponents of
+the city states. The two most prominent were the Gutium, or men
+of Kutu, and the Lulubu. <a id="page.anchor.129" name=
+"page.anchor.129"></a>Naram Sin's great empire included the whole
+of Sumer and Akkad, Amurru and northern Palestine, and part of
+Elam, and the district to the north. He also penetrated Arabia,
+probably by way of the Persian Gulf, and caused diorite to be
+quarried there. One of his steles, which is now in the Imperial
+Ottoman Museum at Constantinople, depicts him as a fully bearded
+man with Semitic characteristics. During his lifetime he was
+deified--a clear indication of the introduction of foreign ideas,
+for the Sumerians were not worshippers of kings and
+ancestors.</p>
+<p>Naram Sin was the last great king of his line. Soon after his
+death the power of Akkad went to pieces, and the Sumerian city of
+Erech again became the centre of empire. Its triumph, however,
+was shortlived. After a quarter of a century had elapsed, Akkad
+and Sumer were overswept by the fierce Gutium from the
+north-eastern mountains. They sacked and burned many cities,
+including Babylon, where the memory of the horrors perpetrated by
+these invaders endured until the Grecian Age. An obscure period,
+like the Egyptian Hyksos Age, ensued, but it was of comparatively
+brief duration.</p>
+<p>When the mists cleared away, the city Lagash once more came to
+the front, having evidently successfully withstood the onslaughts
+of the Gutium, but it never recovered the place of eminence it
+occupied under the brilliant Ur-Nina dynasty. It is manifest that
+it must have enjoyed under the various overlords, during the
+interval, a considerable degree of independence, for its
+individuality remained unimpaired. Of all its energetic and
+capable patesis, the most celebrated was Gudea, who reigned
+sometime before 2400 B.C. In contrast to the Semitic Naram Sin,
+he was beardless and pronouncedly Sumerian in aspect. His
+favoured deity, the city god <a id="page.anchor.130" name=
+"page.anchor.130"></a>Nin-Girsu, again became prominent, having
+triumphed over his jealous rivals after remaining in obscurity
+for three or four centuries. Trade flourished, and the arts were
+fostered. Gudea had himself depicted, in one of the most
+characteristic sculptures of his age, as an architect, seated
+reverently with folded hands with a temple plan lying on his
+knees, and his head uplifted as if watching the builders engaged
+in materializing the dream of his life. The temple in which his
+interests were centred was erected in honour of Nin-Girsu. Its
+ruins suggest that it was of elaborate structure and great
+beauty. Like Solomon in later days, Gudea procured material for
+his temple from many distant parts--cedar from Lebanon, marble
+from Amurru, diorite from Arabia, copper from Elam, and so forth.
+Apparently the King of Lagash was strong enough or wealthy enough
+to command respect over a wide area.</p>
+<p>Another city which also rose into prominence, amidst the
+shattered Sumerian states, was Ur, the centre of moon worship.
+After Gudea's death, its kings exercised sway over Lagash and
+Nippur, and, farther south, over Erech and Larsa as well. This
+dynasty endured for nearly a hundred and twenty years, during
+which Ur flourished like Thebes in Egypt. Its monarchs styled
+themselves as "Kings of the Four Regions". The worship of Nannar
+(Sin) became officially recognized at Nippur, the seat of Enlil,
+during the reign of King Dungi of Ur; while at Erech, the high
+priest of Anu, the sky god, became the high priest of the moon
+god. Apparently matriarchal ideas, associated with lunar worship,
+again came into prominence, for the king appointed two of his
+daughters to be rulers of conquered states in Elam and Syria. In
+the latter half of his reign, Dungi, the conqueror, was installed
+as high priest at Eridu. It <a id="page.anchor.131" name=
+"page.anchor.131"></a>would thus appear that there was a
+renascence of early Sumerian religious ideas. Ea, the god of the
+deep, had long been overshadowed, but a few years before Dungi's
+death a temple was erected to him at Nippur, where he was
+worshipped as Dagan. Until the very close of his reign, which
+lasted for fifty-eight years, this great monarch of tireless
+activity waged wars of conquest, built temples and palaces, and
+developed the natural resources of Sumer and Akkad. Among his
+many reforms was the introduction of standards of weights, which
+received divine sanction from the moon god, who, as in Egypt, was
+the measurer and regulator of human transactions and human
+life.</p>
+<p>To this age also belongs many of the Sumerian business and
+legal records, which were ultimately carried off to Susa, where
+they have been recovered by French excavators.</p>
+<p>About half a century after Dungi's death the Dynasty of Ur
+came to an end, its last king having been captured by an Elamite
+force.</p>
+<p>At some time subsequent to this period, Abraham migrated from
+Ur to the northern city of Harran, where the moon god was also
+the chief city deity--the Baal, or "lord". It is believed by
+certain Egyptologists that Abraham sojourned in Egypt during its
+Twelfth Dynasty, which, according to the Berlin system of minimum
+dating, extended from about 2000 B.C. till 1780 B.C. The Hebrew
+patriarch may therefore have been a contemporary of Hammurabi's,
+who is identified with Amraphel, king of Shinar (Sumer) in the
+Bible.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1149" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1149" id="fnrex1149">149</a>]</span></p>
+<p>But after the decline of Ur's ascendancy, and long before
+Babylon's great monarch came to the throne, the centre of power
+in Sumeria was shifted to Isin, where <a id="page.anchor.132"
+name="page.anchor.132"></a>sixteen kings flourished for two and a
+quarter centuries. Among the royal names, recognition was given
+to Ea and Dagan, Sin, Enlil, and Ishtar, indicating that Sumerian
+religion in its Semitized form was receiving general recognition.
+The sun god was identical with Ninip and Nin-Girsu, a god of
+fertility, harvest, and war, but now more fully developed and
+resembling Babbar, "the shining one", the solar deity of Akkadian
+Sippar, whose Semitic name was Shamash. As Shamash was ultimately
+developed as the god of justice and righteousness, it would
+appear that his ascendancy occurred during the period when
+well-governed communities systematized their religious beliefs to
+reflect social conditions.</p>
+<p>The first great monarch of the Isin dynasty was Ishbi-Urra,
+who reigned for thirty-two years. Like his successors, he called
+himself "King of Sumer and Akkad", and it appears that his sway
+extended to the city of Sippar, where solar worship prevailed.
+Traces of him have also been found at Eridu, Ur, Erech, and
+Nippur, so that he must have given recognition to Ea, Sin, Anu,
+and Enlil. In this period the early national pantheon may have
+taken shape, Bel Enlil being the chief deity. Enlil was
+afterwards displaced by Merodach of Babylon.</p>
+<p>Before 2200 B.C. there occurred a break in the supremacy of
+Isin. Gungunu, King of Ur, combined with Larsa, whose sun temple
+he restored, and declared himself ruler of Sumer and Akkad. But
+Isin again gathered strength under Ur-Ninip, who was not related
+to his predecessor. Perhaps he came from Nippur, where the god
+Ninip was worshipped as the son of Bel Enlil.</p>
+<p>According to a Babylonian document, a royal grandson of
+Ur-Ninip's, having no direct heir, selected as his successor his
+gardener, Enlil-bani. He placed the crown on the head of this
+obscure individual, abdicated in his <a id="page.anchor.133"
+name="page.anchor.133"></a>favour, and then died a mysterious
+death within his palace.</p>
+<p>It is highly probable that Enlil-bani, whose name signifies
+"Enlil is my creator", was a usurper like Sargon of Akkad, and he
+may have similarly circulated a myth regarding his miraculous
+origin to justify his sudden rise to power. The truth appears to
+be that he came to the throne as the leader of a palace
+revolution at a time of great unrest. But he was not allowed to
+remain in undisputed possession. A rival named Sin-ikisha,
+evidently a moon worshipper and perhaps connected with Ur,
+displaced the usurper, and proclaimed himself king. After a brief
+reign of six months he was overthrown, however, by Enlil-bani,
+who piously credited his triumph over his enemy to the chief god
+of Nippur, whose name he bore. Although he took steps to secure
+his position by strengthening the fortifications of Isin, and
+reigned for about a quarter of a century, he was not succeeded by
+his heir, if he had one. King Zambia, who was no relation,
+followed him, but his reign lasted for only three years. The
+names of the next two kings are unknown. Then came Sin-magir, who
+was succeeded by Damik-ilishu, the last King of Isin.</p>
+<p>Towards the close of Damik-ilishu's reign of twenty-four years
+he came under the suzerainty of Larsa, whose ruler was Rim Sin.
+Then Isin was captured by Sin-muballit, King of Babylon, the
+father of the great Hammurabi. Rim Sin was an Elamite.</p>
+<p>Afterwards the old order of things passed away. Babylon became
+the metropolis, the names of Sumer and Akkad dropped out of use,
+and the whole country between the rivers was called
+Babylonia.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1150" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1150" id="fnrex1150">150</a>]</span> The various
+systems of <a id="page.anchor.134" name="page.anchor.134"></a>law
+which obtained in the different states were then codified by
+Hammurabi, who appointed governors in all the cities which came
+under his sway to displace the patesis and kings. A new national
+pantheon of representative character was also formed, over which
+Merodach (Marduk), the city god of Babylon, presided. How this
+younger deity was supposed to rise to power is related in the
+Babylonian legend of Creation, which is dealt with in the next
+chapter.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1151" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1151" id="fnrex1151">151</a>]</span> In framing this
+myth from the fragments of older myths, divine sanction was given
+to the supremacy achieved by Merodach's city. The allegiance of
+future generations was thus secured, not only by the strong arm
+of the law, but also by the combined influence of the reorganized
+priesthoods at the various centres of administration.</p>
+<p>An interesting problem, which should be referred to here,
+arises in connection with the sculptured representations of
+deities before and after the rise of Akkad as a great Power. It
+is found, although the Sumerians shaved their scalps and faces at
+the dawn of the historical age, that they worshipped gods who had
+long hair and also beards, which were sometimes square and
+sometimes pointed.</p>
+<p>At what period the Sumerian deities were given human shape it
+is impossible to determine. As has been shown (Chapters II and
+III) all the chief gods and goddesses had animal forms and
+composite monster forms before they became anthropomorphic
+deities. Ea had evidently a fish shape ere he was clad in the
+skin of a fish, as an Egyptian god was simply a bull before he
+was depicted in human shape wearing a bull's skin. The archaic
+Sumerian animal and composite monster gods of animistic <a id=
+"page.anchor.135" name="page.anchor.135"></a>and totemic origin
+survived after the anthropomorphic period as mythical figures,
+which were used for decorative or magical purposes and as
+symbols. A form of divine headdress was a cap enclosed in horns,
+between which appeared the soaring lion-headed eagle, which
+symbolized Nin-Girsu. This god had also lion and antelope forms,
+which probably figured in lost myths--perhaps they were like the
+animals loved by Ishtar and referred to in the Gilgamesh epic.
+Similarly the winged bull was associated with the moon god
+Nannar, or Sin, of Ur, who was "a horned steer". On various
+cylinder seals appear groups of composite monsters and rearing
+wild beasts, which were evidently representations of gods and
+demons in conflict.</p>
+<p>Suggestive data for comparative study is afforded in this
+connection by ancient Egypt. Sokar, the primitive Memphite deity,
+retained until the end his animal and composite monster forms.
+Other gods were depicted with human bodies and the heads of
+birds, serpents, and crocodiles, thus forming links between the
+archaic demoniac and the later anthropomorphic deities. A
+Sumerian example is the deified Ea-bani, who, like Pan, has the
+legs and hoofs of a goat.</p>
+<p>The earliest representations of Sumerian humanized deities
+appear on reliefs from Tello, the site of Lagash. These examples
+of archaic gods, however, are not bearded in Semitic fashion. On
+the contrary, their lips and cheeks are shaved, while an
+exaggerated chin tuft is retained. The explanation suggested is
+that the Sumerians gave their deities human shape before they
+themselves were clean shaven, and that the retention of the
+characteristic facial hair growth of the Mediterranean Race is
+another example of the conservatism of the religious instinct. In
+Egypt the clean-shaven Pharaohs, who represented gods, wore false
+chin-tuft beards; even Queen <a id="page.anchor.136" name=
+"page.anchor.136"></a>Hatshepsut considered it necessary to
+assume a beard on state occasions. Ptah-Osiris retained his
+archaic beard until the Ptolemaic period.</p>
+<p>It seems highly probable that in similarly depicting their
+gods with beards, the early Sumerians were not influenced by the
+practices of any alien people or peoples. Not until the period of
+Gudea, the Patesi of Lagash, did they give their gods heavy
+moustaches, side whiskers, and flowing beards of Semitic type. It
+may be, however, that by then they had completely forgotten the
+significance of an ancient custom. Possibly, too, the sculptors
+of Lagash were working under the influence of the Akkadian school
+of art, which had produced the exquisite stele of victory for
+Naram-Sin, and consequently adopted the conventional Semitic
+treatment of bearded figures. At any rate, they were more likely
+to study and follow the artistic triumphs of Akkad than the crude
+productions of the archaic period. Besides, they lived in an age
+when Semitic kings were deified and the Semitic overlords had
+attained to great distinction and influence.</p>
+<p>The Semitic folks were not so highly thought of in the early
+Sumerian period. It is not likely that the agricultural people
+regarded as models of gods the plunderers who descended from the
+hills, and, after achieving successes, returned home with their
+spoils. More probably they regarded them as "foreign devils".
+Other Semites, however, who came as traders, bringing wood,
+stone, and especially copper, and formed communities in cities,
+may well have influenced Sumerian religious thought. The god
+Ramman, for instance, who was given recognition all through
+Babylonia, was a god of hill folks as far north as Asia Minor and
+throughout Syria. He may have been introduced by settlers who
+adopted Sumerian <a id="page.anchor.137" name=
+"page.anchor.137"></a>habits of life and shaved scalp and face.
+But although the old cities could never have existed in a
+complete state of isolation from the outer world, it is unlikely
+that their inhabitants modelled their deities on those worshipped
+by groups of aliens. A severe strain is imposed on our credulity
+if we are expected to believe that it was due to the teachings
+and example of uncultured nomads that the highly civilized
+Sumerians developed their gods from composite monsters to
+anthropomorphic deities. Such a supposition, at any rate, is not
+supported by the evidence of Ancient Egypt.</p>
+<div class="footnotes"><br />
+<hr width="100" align="left" />
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1144" href="#fnrex1144" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1144">144</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Nehemiah</em></span>, i, 1.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1145" href="#fnrex1145" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1145">145</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Esther</em></span>, i, 6.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1146" href="#fnrex1146" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1146">146</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Isaiah</em></span>, xiii, 19-22.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1147" href="#fnrex1147" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1147">147</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>Indian
+Myth and Legend</em></span>, pp. 173-175 and 192-194.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1148" href="#fnrex1148" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1148">148</a>]</span> Or Rimush.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1149" href="#fnrex1149" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1149">149</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Genesis</em></span>, xiv.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1150" href="#fnrex1150" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1150">150</a>]</span> That is, the equivalent of
+Babylonia. During the Kassite period the name was
+Karduniash.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1151" href="#fnrex1151" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1151">151</a>]</span> The narrative follows
+<span class="emphasis"><em>The Seven Tablets of
+Creation</em></span> and other fragments, while the account given
+by Berosus is also drawn upon.</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="chapter" lang="en" xml:lang="en">
+<div class="titlepage">
+<div>
+<div>
+<h2 class="title"><a id="id2524978" name=
+"id2524978"></a>Chapter�VII.�Creation Legend: Merodach the Dragon
+Slayer</h2>
+</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="abstract">
+<p class="title"><b>Abstract</b></p>
+<p>Elder Spirits of the Primordial Deep--Apsu and the Tiamat
+Dragon--Plot to Destroy the Beneficent Gods--Ea overcomes Apsu
+and Muminu--The Vengeful Preparations of the Dragon--Anshar's
+Appeal to Merodach--The Festival of the High Gods--Merodach
+exalted as Ruler of the Universe--Dragon slain and Host taken
+captive--Merodach rearranges the Pantheon--Creation of
+Man--Merodach as Asari--The Babylonian Osiris--The Chief Purpose
+of Mankind--Tiamat as Source of Good and Evil--The Dragon as the
+Serpent or Worm--Folk Tale aspect of Creation Myth--British
+Neolithic Legends--German and Egyptian Contracts--Biblical
+references to Dragons--The Father and Son theme--Merodach and
+Tammuz--Monotheistic Tendency--Bi-sexual Deities.</p>
+</div>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.138" name="page.anchor.138"></a> In the
+beginning the whole universe was a sea. Heaven on high had not
+been named, nor the earth beneath. Their begetter was Apsu, the
+father of the primordial Deep, and their mother was Tiamat, the
+spirit of Chaos. No plain was yet formed, no marsh could be seen;
+the gods had no existence, nor had their fates been determined.
+Then there was a movement in the waters, and the deities issued
+forth. The first who had being were the god Lachmu and the
+goddess Lachamu. Long ages went past. Then were created the god
+Anshar and the goddess Kishar. When the days of these deities had
+increased and extended, they were followed by Anu, god of the
+sky, whose consort was Anatu; and Ea, most wise and all-powerful,
+who was without an equal. Now Ea, god of the deep, was also Enki,
+"lord of earth", and <a id="page.anchor.139" name=
+"page.anchor.139"></a>his eternal spouse, Damkina, was Gashan-ki,
+"lady of earth". The son of Ea and Damkina was Bel, the lord, who
+in time created mankind.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1152"
+href="#ftn.fnrex1152" id="fnrex1152">152</a>]</span> Thus were
+the high gods established in power and in glory.</p>
+<div class="figure"><a id="id2525050" name="id2525050"></a>
+<p class="title"><b>Figure�VII.1.�STATUE OF GUDEA</b></p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<p>(<span class="emphasis"><em>Louvre, Paris</em></span>)</p>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="graphic"><img alt="" src="img/15.jpg" /></div>
+<div class="figure"><a id="id2525068" name="id2525068"></a>
+<p class="title"><b>Figure�VII.2.�"THE SEVEN TABLETS OF
+CREATION"</b></p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<p><span class="emphasis"><em>From the Library of Ashur-bani-pal
+at Kouyunjik (Nineveh): now in the British Museum</em></span></p>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="graphic"><img alt="" src="img/16.jpg" /></div>
+<p>Now Apsu and Tiamat remained amidst confusion in the deeps of
+chaos. They were troubled because their offspring, the high gods,
+aspired to control the universe and set it in order.<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1153" href="#ftn.fnrex1153" id=
+"fnrex1153">153</a>]</span> Apsu was still powerful and fierce,
+and Tiamat snarled and raised tempests, smiting herself. Their
+purpose was to work evil amidst eternal confusion.</p>
+<p>Then Apsu called upon Mummu, his counsellor, the son who
+shared his desires, and said, "O Mummu, thou who art pleasing
+unto me, let us go forth together unto Tiamat and speak with
+her."</p>
+<p>So the two went forth and prostrated themselves before the
+Chaos Mother to consult with her as to what should be done to
+prevent the accomplishment of the purpose of the high gods.</p>
+<p>Apsu opened his mouth and spake, saying, "O Tiamat, thou
+gleaming one, the purpose of the gods troubles me. I cannot rest
+by day nor can I repose by night. I will thwart them and destroy
+their purpose. I will bring sorrow and mourning so that we may
+lie down undisturbed by them."</p>
+<p>Tiamat heard these words and snarled. She raised angry and
+roaring tempests; in her furious grief she uttered a curse, and
+then spake to Apsu, saying, "What shall we do so that their
+purpose may be thwarted and we may lie down undisturbed
+again?"</p>
+<p>Mummu, the counsellor, addressing Apsu, made answer, and said,
+"Although the gods are powerful, thou <a id="page.anchor.140"
+name="page.anchor.140"></a>canst overcome them; although their
+purpose is strong, thou canst thwart it. Then thou shalt have
+rest by day and peace by night to lie down."</p>
+<p>The face of Apsu grew bright when he heard these words spoken
+by Mummu, yet he trembled to think of the purpose of the high
+gods, to whom he was hostile. With Tiamat he lamented because the
+gods had changed all things; the plans of the gods filled their
+hearts with dread; they sorrowed and spake with Mummu, plotting
+evil.</p>
+<p>Then Ea, who knoweth all, drew near; he beheld the evil ones
+conspiring and muttering together. He uttered a pure incantation
+and accomplished the downfall of Apsu and Mummu, who were taken
+captive.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1154" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1154" id="fnrex1154">154</a>]</span></p>
+<p>Kingu, who shared the desires of Tiamat, spake unto her words
+of counsel, saying, "Apsu and Mummu have been overcome and we
+cannot repose. Thou shalt be their Avenger, O Tempestuous
+One."</p>
+<p>Tiamat heard the words of this bright and evil god, and made
+answer, saying, "On my strength thou canst trust. So let war be
+waged."</p>
+<p>Then were the hosts of chaos and the deep gathered together.
+By day and by night they plotted against the high gods, raging
+furiously, making ready for battle, fuming and storming and
+taking no rest.</p>
+<p>Mother Chuber,<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1155" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1155" id="fnrex1155">155</a>]</span> the creator of
+all, provided irresistible weapons. She also brought into being
+eleven kinds of fierce monsters--giant serpents, sharp of tooth
+with unsparing fangs, whose bodies were filled with poison
+instead of blood; snarling dragons, clad with terror, and of such
+lofty stature that whoever saw them was overwhelmed with fear,
+nor could any escape their attack when they <a id=
+"page.anchor.141" name="page.anchor.141"></a>lifted themselves
+up; vipers and pythons, and the Lachamu, hurricane monsters,
+raging hounds, scorpion men, tempest furies, fish men, and
+mountain rams. These she armed with fierce weapons and they had
+no fear of war.</p>
+<p>Then Tiamat, whose commands are unchangeable and mighty,
+exalted Kingu, who had come to her aid, above all the evil gods;
+she made him the leader to direct the army in battle, to go in
+front, to open the attack. Robing Kingu in splendour, she seated
+him on high and spoke, saying:</p>
+<p>"I have established thy command over all the gods. Thou shalt
+rule over them. Be mighty, thou my chosen husband, and let thy
+name be exalted over all the spirits of heaven and spirits of
+earth."</p>
+<p>Unto Kingu did Tiamat deliver the tablets of fate; she laid
+them in his bosom, and said, "Thy commands cannot be changed; thy
+words shall remain firm."</p>
+<p>Thus was Kingu exalted; he was vested with the divine power of
+Anu to decree the fate of the gods, saying, "Let thy mouth open
+to thwart the fire god; be mighty in battle nor brook
+resistance."</p>
+<p>Then had Ea knowledge of Tiamat's doings, how she had gathered
+her forces together, and how she had prepared to work evil
+against the high gods with purpose to avenge Apsu. The wise god
+was stricken with grief, and he moaned for many days. Thereafter
+he went and stood before his father, Anshar, and spake, saying,
+"Our mother, Tiamat, hath turned against us in her wrath. She
+hath gathered the gods about her, and those thou didst create are
+with her also."</p>
+<p>When Anshar heard all that Ea revealed regarding the
+preparations made by Tiamat, he smote his loins and clenched his
+teeth, and was ill at ease. In sorrow and anger he spoke and
+said, "Thou didst go forth aforetime <a id="page.anchor.142"
+name="page.anchor.142"></a>to battle; thou didst bind Mummu and
+smite Apsu. Now Kingu is exalted, and there is none who can
+oppose Tiamat."<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1156" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1156" id="fnrex1156">156</a>]</span></p>
+<p>Anshar called his son, Anu, before him, and spoke, saying: "O
+mighty one without fear, whose attack is irresistible, go now
+before Tiamat and speak so that her anger may subside and her
+heart be made merciful. But if she will not hearken unto thee,
+speak thou for me, so that she may be reconciled."</p>
+<p>Anu was obedient to the commands of Anshar. He departed, and
+descended by the path of Tiamat until he beheld her fuming and
+snarling, but he feared to approach her, and turned back.</p>
+<p>Then Ea was sent forth, but he was stricken with terror and
+turned back also.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1157" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1157" id="fnrex1157">157</a>]</span></p>
+<p>Anshar then called upon Merodach, son of Ea, and addressed
+him, saying, "My son, who softeneth my heart, thou shalt go forth
+to battle and none shall stand against thee."</p>
+<p>The heart of Merodach was made glad at these words. He stood
+before Anshar, who kissed him, because that he banished fear.
+Merodach spake, saying: "O lord of the gods, withdraw not thy
+words; let me go forth to do as is thy desire. What man hath
+challenged thee to battle?"</p>
+<p>Anshar made answer and said: "No man hath challenged me. It is
+Tiamat, the woman, who hath resolved to wage war against us. But
+fear not and make merry, for thou shalt bruise the head of
+Tiamat. O wise god, thou shalt overcome her with thy pure
+incantation. Tarry not but hasten forth; she cannot wound thee;
+thou shalt come back again." <a id="page.anchor.143" name=
+"page.anchor.143"></a>The words of Anshar delighted the heart of
+Merodach, who spake, saying: "O lord of the gods, O fate of the
+high gods, if I, the avenger, am to subdue Tiamat and save all,
+then proclaim my greatness among the gods. Let all the high gods
+gather together joyfully in Upshukinaku (the Council Hall), so
+that my words like thine may remain unchanged, and what I do may
+never be altered. Instead of thee I will decree the fates of the
+gods."</p>
+<p>Then Anshar called unto his counsellor, Gaga, and addressing
+him, said: "O thou who dost share my desires, thou who dost
+understand the purpose of my heart, go unto Lachmu and Lachamu
+and summon all the high gods to come before me to eat bread and
+drink wine. Repeat to them all I tell you of Tiamat's
+preparations for war, of my commands to Anu and Ea, who turned
+back, fearing the dragon, of my choice of Merodach to be our
+avenger, and his desire to be equipped with my power to decree
+fate, so that he may be made strong to combat against our
+enemy."</p>
+<p>As Anshar commanded so did Gaga do. He went unto Lachmu and
+Lachamu and prostrated himself humbly before them. Then he rose
+and delivered the message of Anshar, their son, adding: "Hasten
+and speedily decide for Merodach your fate. Permit him to depart
+to meet your powerful foe."</p>
+<p>When Lachmu and Lachamu heard all that Gaga revealed unto them
+they uttered lamentations, while the Igigi (heavenly spirits)
+sorrowed bitterly, and said: "What change hath happened that
+Tiamat hath become hostile to her own offspring? We cannot
+understand her deeds."</p>
+<p>All the high gods then arose and went unto Anshar, They filled
+his council chamber and kissed one another. <a id=
+"page.anchor.144" name="page.anchor.144"></a>Then they sat down
+to eat bread and drink sesame wine. And when they were made drunk
+and were merry and at their ease, they decreed the fate for
+Merodach.</p>
+<p>In the chamber of Anshar they honoured the Avenger. He was
+exalted as a prince over them all, and they said: "Among the high
+gods thou art the highest; thy command is the command of Anu.
+Henceforth thou wilt have power to raise up and to cast down.
+None of the gods will dispute thy authority. O Merodach, our
+avenger, we give thee sovereignty over the entire Universe. Thy
+weapon will ever be irresistible. Smite down the gods who have
+raised revolt, but spare the lives of those who repose their
+trust in thee."</p>
+<p>Then the gods laid down a garment before Merodach, saying:
+"Open thy mouth and speak words of command, so that the garment
+may be destroyed; speak again and it will be brought back."</p>
+<p>Merodach spake with his mouth and the garment vanished; he
+spake again and the garment was reproduced.</p>
+<p>All the gods rejoiced, and they prostrated themselves and
+cried out, "Merodach is King!"</p>
+<p>Thereafter they gave him the sceptre and the throne and the
+insignia of royalty, and also an irresistible weapon<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1158" href="#ftn.fnrex1158" id=
+"fnrex1158">158</a>]</span> with which to overcome his enemies,
+saying: "Now, O Merodach, hasten and slay Tiamat. Let the winds
+carry her blood to hidden places."</p>
+<p>So was the fate of Merodach decreed by the gods; so was a path
+of prosperity and peace prepared for him. He made ready for
+battle; he strung his bow and hung his quiver; he slung a dart
+over his shoulder, and he grasped a club in his right hand;
+before him he set lightning, and with flaming fire he filled his
+body. Anu gave unto him <a id="page.anchor.145" name=
+"page.anchor.145"></a>a great net with which to snare his enemies
+and prevent their escape. Then Merodach created seven winds--the
+wind of evil, the uncontrollable wind, the sandstorm, and the
+whirlwind, the fourfold wind, the sevenfold wind, and the wind
+that has no equal--and they went after him. Next he seized his
+mighty weapon, the thunderstone, and leapt into his storm
+chariot, to which were yoked four rushing and destructive steeds
+of rapid flight, with foam-flecked mouths and teeth full of
+venom, trained for battle, to overthrow enemies and trample them
+underfoot. A light burned on the head of Merodach, and he was
+clad in a robe of terror. He drove forth, and the gods, his
+fathers, followed after him: the high gods clustered around and
+followed him, hastening to battle.</p>
+<div class="figure"><a id="id2525477" name="id2525477"></a>
+<p class="title"><b>Figure�VII.3.�MERODACH SETS FORTH TO ATTACK
+TIAMAT</b></p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<p><span class="emphasis"><em>From the Painting by E.
+Wallcousins</em></span></p>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="graphic"><img alt="" src="img/17.jpg" /></div>
+<p>Merodach drove on, and at length he drew nigh to the secret
+lair of Tiamat, and he beheld her muttering with Kingu, her
+consort. For a moment he faltered, and when the gods who followed
+him beheld this, their eyes were troubled.</p>
+<p>Tiamat snarled nor turned her head. She uttered curses, and
+said: "O Merodach, I fear not thy advance as chief of the gods.
+My allies are assembled here, and are more powerful than thou
+art."</p>
+<p>Merodach uplifted his arm, grasping the dreaded thunderstone,
+and spake unto Tiamat, the rebellious one, saying: "Thou hast
+exalted thyself, and with wrathful heart hath prepared for war
+against the high gods and their fathers, whom thou dost hate in
+thy heart of evil. Unto Kingu thou hast given the power of Anu to
+decree fate, because thou art hostile to what is good and loveth
+what is sinful. Gather thy forces together, and arm thyself and
+come forth to battle."</p>
+<p>When Tiamat heard these mighty words she raved and cried aloud
+like one who is possessed; all her limbs <a id="page.anchor.146"
+name="page.anchor.146"></a>shook, and she muttered a spell. The
+gods seized their weapons.</p>
+<p>Tiamat and Merodach advanced to combat against one another.
+They made ready for battle. The lord of the high gods spread out
+the net which Anu had given him. He snared the dragon and she
+could not escape. Tiamat opened her mouth which was seven miles
+wide, and Merodach called upon the evil wind to smite her; he
+caused the wind to keep her mouth agape so that she could not
+close it. All the tempests and the hurricanes entered in, filling
+her body, and her heart grew weak; she gasped, overpowered. Then
+the lord of the high gods seized his dart and cast it through the
+lower part of her body; it tore her inward parts and severed her
+heart. So was Tiamat slain.</p>
+<p>Merodach overturned the body of the dead dragon and stood upon
+it. All the evil gods who had followed her were stricken with
+terror and broke into flight. But they were unable to escape.
+Merodach caught them in his great net, and they stumbled and fell
+uttering cries of distress, and the whole world resounded with
+their wailing and lamentations. The lord of the high gods broke
+the weapons of the evil gods and put them in bondage. Then he
+fell upon the monsters which Tiamat had created; he subdued them,
+divested them of their powers, and trampled them under his feet.
+Kingu he seized with the others. From this god great Merodach
+took the tablets of fate, and impressing upon them his own seal,
+placed them in his bosom.</p>
+<p>So were the enemies of the high gods overthrown by the
+Avenger. Ansar's commands were fulfilled and the desires of Ea
+fully accomplished.</p>
+<p>Merodach strengthened the bonds which he had laid upon the
+evil gods and then returned to Tiamat. He <a id="page.anchor.147"
+name="page.anchor.147"></a>leapt upon the dragon's body; he clove
+her skull with his great club; he opened the channels of her
+blood which streamed forth, and caused the north to carry her
+blood to hidden places. The high gods, his fathers, clustered
+around; they raised shouts of triumph and made merry. Then they
+brought gifts and offerings to the great Avenger.</p>
+<p>Merodach rested a while, gazing upon the dead body of the
+dragon. He divided the flesh of Ku-pu<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1159" href="#ftn.fnrex1159" id="fnrex1159">159</a>]</span>,
+and devised a cunning plan.</p>
+<p>Then the lord of the high gods split the body of the dragon
+like that of a mashde fish into two halves. With one half he
+enveloped the firmament; he fixed it there and set a watchman to
+prevent the waters falling down<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1160" href="#ftn.fnrex1160" id="fnrex1160">160</a>]</span>.
+With the other half he made the earth<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1161" href="#ftn.fnrex1161" id="fnrex1161">161</a>]</span>.
+Then he made the abode of Ea in the deep, and the abode of Anu in
+high heaven. The abode of Enlil was in the air.</p>
+<p>Merodach set all the great gods in their several stations. He
+also created their images, the stars of the Zodiac, and fixed
+them all. He measured the year and divided it into months; for
+twelve months he made three stars each. After he had given starry
+images of the gods separate control of each day of the year, he
+founded the station of Nibiru (Jupiter), his own star, to
+determine the limits of all stars, so that none might err or go
+astray. He placed beside his own the stations of Enlil and Ea,
+and on each side he opened mighty <a id="page.anchor.148" name=
+"page.anchor.148"></a>gates, fixing bolts on the left and on the
+right. He set the zenith in the centre.</p>
+<p>Merodach decreed that the moon god should rule the night and
+measure the days, and each month he was given a crown. Its
+various phases the great lord determined, and he commanded that
+on the evening of its fullest brilliancy it should stand opposite
+the sun.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1162" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1162" id="fnrex1162">162</a>]</span></p>
+<p>He placed his bow in heaven (as a constellation) and his net
+also.</p>
+<p>We have now reached the sixth tablet, which begins with a
+reference to words spoken to Merodach by the gods. Apparently Ea
+had conceived in his heart that mankind should be created. The
+lord of the gods read his thoughts and said: "I will shed my
+blood and fashion bone... I will create man to dwell on the earth
+so that the gods may be worshipped and shrines erected for them.
+I will change the pathways of the gods...."</p>
+<p>The rest of the text is fragmentary, and many lines are
+missing. Berosus states, however, that Belus (Bel Merodach)
+severed his head from his shoulders. His blood flowed forth, and
+the gods mixed it with earth and formed the first man and various
+animals.</p>
+<p>In another version of the creation of man, it is related that
+Merodach "laid a reed upon the face of the waters; he formed
+dust, and poured it out beside the reed.... That he might cause
+the gods to dwell in the habitation of their heart's desire, he
+formed mankind." The goddess Aruru, a deity of Sippar, and one of
+the forms of "the lady of the gods", is associated with Merodach
+as the creatrix of the seed of mankind. "The beasts of the field
+and living creatures in the field he formed." <a id=
+"page.anchor.149" name="page.anchor.149"></a>He also created the
+Tigris and Euphrates rivers, grass, reeds, herbs and trees,
+lands, marshes and swamps, cows, goats, &amp;c.<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1163" href="#ftn.fnrex1163" id=
+"fnrex1163">163</a>]</span></p>
+<p>In the seventh tablet Merodach is praised by the gods--the
+Igigi (spirits of heaven). As he has absorbed all their
+attributes, he is addressed by his fifty-one names; henceforth
+each deity is a form of Merodach. Bel Enlil, for instance, is
+Merodach of lordship and domination; Sin, the moon god, is
+Merodach as ruler of night; Shamash is Merodach as god of law and
+holiness; Nergal is Merodach of war; and so on. The tendency to
+monotheism appears to have been most marked among the priestly
+theorists of Babylon.</p>
+<p>Merodach is hailed to begin with as Asari, the introducer of
+agriculture and horticulture, the creator of grain and plants. He
+also directs the decrees of Anu, Bel, and Ea; but having rescued
+the gods from destruction at the hands of Kingu and Tiamat, he
+was greater than his "fathers", the elder gods. He set the
+Universe in order, and created all things anew. He is therefore
+Tutu, "the creator", a merciful and beneficent god. The following
+are renderings of lines 25 to 32:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Tutu: Aga-azaga (the glorious crown)
+may he make the crowns glorious--</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>The lord of the glorious incantation
+bringing the dead to life;</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>He who had mercy on the gods who had
+been overpowered;</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Made heavy the yoke which he had laid
+on the gods who were his enemies,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>(And) to redeem (?) them created
+mankind.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>"The merciful one", "he with whom is
+salvation",</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>May his word be established, and not
+forgotten,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>In the mouth of the black-headed ones
+whom his hands have made.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>�</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>��������<span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Pinches' Translation</em></span><span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1164" href="#ftn.fnrex1164" id=
+"fnrex1164">164</a>]</span></tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>�</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>�</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt><a id="page.anchor.150" name=
+"page.anchor.150"></a>Tutu as Aga-azag may mankind fourthly
+magnify!</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>"The Lord of the Pure Incantation",
+"the Quickener of the Dead",</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>"Who had mercy upon the captive
+gods",</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>"Who removed the yoke from upon the
+gods his enemies".</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>"For their forgiveness did he create
+mankind",</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>"The Merciful One, with whom it is to
+bestow life!"</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>May his deeds endure, may they never be
+forgotten</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>In the mouth of mankind whom his hands
+have made.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>�</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>��������<span class=
+"emphasis"><em>King's Translation.</em></span><span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1165" href="#ftn.fnrex1165" id=
+"fnrex1165">165</a>]</span></tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>Apparently the Babylonian doctrine set forth that mankind was
+created not only to worship the gods, but also to bring about the
+redemption of the fallen gods who followed Tiamat.</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Those rebel angels <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>(ili</em></span>, gods) He prohibited
+return;</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>He stopped their service; He removed
+them unto the gods <span class="emphasis"><em>(ili)</em></span>
+who were His enemies.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>In their room he created
+mankind.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1166" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1166" id="fnrex1166">166</a>]</span></tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>Tiamat, the chaos dragon, is the Great Mother. She has a dual
+character. As the origin of good she is the creatrix of the gods.
+Her beneficent form survived as the Sumerian goddess Bau, who was
+obviously identical with the Phoenician Baau, mother of the first
+man. Another name of Bau was Ma, and Nintu, "a form of the
+goddess Ma", was half a woman and half a serpent, and was
+depicted with "a babe suckling her breast" (Chapter IV). The
+Egyptian goddesses Neheb-kau and Uazit were serpents, and the
+goddesses Isis and Nepthys had also serpent forms. The serpent
+was a symbol of fertility, and as a mother was a protector.
+Vishnu, the Preserver of the Hindu Trinity, sleeps on the
+world-serpent's body. Serpent charms are protective and fertility
+charms.</p>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.151" name="page.anchor.151"></a>As the
+origin of evil Tiamat personified the deep and tempests. In this
+character she was the enemy of order and good, and strove to
+destroy the world.</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>��I have seen</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>The ambitious ocean swell and rage and
+foam</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>To be exalted with the threatening
+clouds.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1167" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1167" id="fnrex1167">167</a>]</span></tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>Tiamat was the dragon of the sea, and therefore the serpent or
+leviathan. The word "dragon" is derived from the Greek "drakon",
+the serpent known as "the seeing one" or "looking one", whose
+glance was the lightning. The Anglo-Saxon "fire drake" ("draca",
+Latin "draco") is identical with the "flying dragon".</p>
+<p>In various countries the serpent or worm is a destroyer which
+swallows the dead. "The worm shall eat them like wool", exclaimed
+Isaiah in symbolic language.<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1168" href="#ftn.fnrex1168" id="fnrex1168">168</a>]</span>
+It lies in the ocean which surrounds the world in Egyptian,
+Babylonian, Greek, Teutonic, Indian, and other mythologies. The
+Irish call it "mor&uacute;ach", and give it a mermaid form like
+the Babylonian Nintu. In a Scottish Gaelic poem Tiamat figures as
+"The Yellow Muilearteach", who is slain by Finn-mac-Coul,
+assisted by his warrior band.</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>There was seen coming on the top of the
+waves</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>The crooked, clamouring, shivering
+brave ...</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Her face was blue black of the lustre
+of coal,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>And her bone-tufted tooth was like
+rusted bone.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1169" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1169" id="fnrex1169">169</a>]</span></tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>The serpent figures in folk tales. When Alexander the Great,
+according to Ethiopic legend, was lowered in a glass cage to the
+depths of the ocean, he saw a great monster going past, and sat
+for two days "watching for its tail and hinder parts to
+appear".<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1170" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1170" id="fnrex1170">170</a>]</span> An <a id=
+"page.anchor.152" name="page.anchor.152"></a>Argyllshire
+Highlander had a similar experience. He went to fish one morning
+on a rock. "He was not long there when he saw the head of an eel
+pass. He continued fishing for an hour and the eel was still
+passing. He went home, worked in the field all day, and having
+returned to the same rock in the evening, the eel was still
+passing, and about dusk he saw her tail
+disappearing."<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1171" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1171" id="fnrex1171">171</a>]</span> Tiamat's
+sea-brood is referred to in the Anglo-Saxon epic <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Beowulf</em></span> as "nickers". The hero "slew
+by night sea monsters on the waves" (line 422).</p>
+<p>The well dragon--the French "draco"--also recalls the
+Babylonian water monsters. There was a "dragon well" near
+Jerusalem.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1172" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1172" id="fnrex1172">172</a>]</span> From China to
+Ireland rivers are dragons, or goddesses who flee from the well
+dragons. The demon of the Rhone is called the "drac". Floods are
+also referred to as dragons, and the Hydra, or water serpent,
+slain by Hercules, belongs to this category. Water was the source
+of evil as well as good. To the Sumerians, the ocean especially
+was the abode of monsters. They looked upon it as did
+Shakespeare's Ferdinand, when, leaping into the sea, he cried:
+"Hell is empty and all the devils are here".<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1173" href="#ftn.fnrex1173" id=
+"fnrex1173">173</a>]</span></p>
+<p>There can be little doubt but that in this Babylonian story of
+Creation we have a glorified variation of the widespread Dragon
+myth. Unfortunately, however, no trace can be obtained of the
+pre-existing Sumerian oral version which the theorizing priests
+infused with such sublime symbolism. No doubt it enjoyed as great
+popularity as the immemorial legend of Perseus and Andromeda,
+which the sages of Greece attempted to rationalize, and parts of
+which the poets made use of and developed as these appealed to
+their imaginations.</p>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.153" name="page.anchor.153"></a>The lost
+Sumerian story may be summarized as follows: There existed in the
+savage wilds, or the ocean, a family of monsters antagonistic to
+a group of warriors represented in the Creation legend by the
+gods. Ea, the heroic king, sets forth to combat with the enemies
+of man, and slays the monster father, Apsu, and his son, Mummu.
+But the most powerful demon remains to be dealt with. This is the
+mother Tiamat, who burns to avenge the deaths of her kindred. To
+wage war against her the hero makes elaborate preparations, and
+equips himself with special weapons. The queen of monsters cannot
+be overcome by ordinary means, for she has great cunning, and is
+less vulnerable than were her husband and son. Although Ea may
+work spells against her, she is able to thwart him by working
+counter spells. Only a hand-to-hand combat can decide the fray.
+Being strongly protected by her scaly hide, she must be wounded
+either on the under part of her body or through her mouth by a
+weapon which will pierce her liver, the seat of life. It will be
+noted in this connection that Merodach achieved success by
+causing the winds which followed him to distend the monster's
+jaws, so that he might be able to inflict the fatal blow and
+prevent her at the same time from uttering spells to weaken
+him.</p>
+<p>This type of story, in which the mother monster is greater and
+more powerful than her husband or son, is exceedingly common in
+Scottish folklore. In the legend which relates the adventures of
+"Finn in the Kingdom of Big Men", the hero goes forth at night to
+protect his allies against the attacks of devastating sea
+monsters. Standing on the beach, "he saw the sea advancing in
+fiery kilns and as a darting serpent.... A huge monster came up,
+and looking down below where he (Finn) was, exclaimed, 'What
+little speck do I see here?'" <a id="page.anchor.154" name=
+"page.anchor.154"></a>Finn, aided by his fairy dog, slew the
+water monster. On Finn, aided by his fairy dog, slew the water
+monster. On the following night a bigger monster, "the father",
+came ashore, and he also was slain. But the most powerful enemy
+had yet to be dealt with. "The next night a Big Hag came ashore,
+and the tooth in the front of her mouth would make a distaff.
+'You killed my husband and son,' she said." Finn acknowledged
+that he did, and they began to fight. After a prolonged struggle,
+in which Finn was almost overcome, the Hag fell and her head was
+cut off.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1174" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1174" id="fnrex1174">174</a>]</span></p>
+<p>The story of "Finlay the Changeling" has similar features. The
+hero slew first a giant and then the giant's father. Thereafter
+the Hag came against him and exclaimed, "Although with cunning
+and deceitfulness you killed my husband last night and my son on
+the night before last, I shall certainly kill you to-night." A
+fierce wrestling match ensued on the bare rock. The Hag was
+ultimately thrown down. She then offered various treasures to
+ransom her life, including "a gold sword in my cave", regarding
+which she says, "never was it drawn to man or to beast whom it
+did not overcome".<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1175" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1175" id="fnrex1175">175</a>]</span> In other Scottish
+stories of like character the hero climbs a tree, and says
+something to induce the hag to open her mouth, so that he may
+plunge his weapon down her throat.</p>
+<p>The Grendel story in <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Beowulf</em></span>,<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1176" href="#ftn.fnrex1176" id="fnrex1176">176</a>]</span>
+the Anglo-Saxon epic, is of like character. A male water monster
+preys nightly upon the warriors who sleep in the great hall of
+King Hrothgar. Beowulf comes over the sea, as did Finn to the
+"Kingdom of Big Men", to sky Grendel. He wrestles with this
+man-eater and mortally wounds him. Great rejoicings ensue, but
+they have to be brought to an abrupt conclusion, because the
+mother of Grendel has <a id="page.anchor.155" name=
+"page.anchor.155"></a>meanwhile resolved "to go a sorry journey
+and avenge the death of her son".</p>
+<p>The narrative sets forth that she enters the Hall in the
+darkness of night. "Quickly she grasped one of the nobles tight,
+and then she went towards the fen", towards her submarine cave.
+Beowulf follows in due course, and, fully armoured, dives through
+the waters and ultimately enters the monster's lair. In the
+combat the "water wife" proves to be a more terrible opponent
+than was her son. Indeed, Beowulf was unable to slay her until he
+possessed himself of a gigantic sword, "adorned with treasure",
+which was hanging in the cave. With this magic weapon he slays
+the mother monster, whose poisonous blood afterwards melts the
+"damasked blade". Like Finn, he subsequently returns with the
+head of one of the monsters.</p>
+<p>An interesting point about this story is that it does not
+appear in any form in the North German cycle of Romance. Indeed,
+the poet who included in his epic the fiery dragon story, which
+links the hero Beowulf with Sigurd and Siegfried, appears to be
+doubtful about the mother monster's greatness, as if dealing with
+unfamiliar material, for he says: "The terror (caused by
+Grendel's mother) was less by just so much as woman's strength,
+woman's war terror, is (measured) by fighting men".<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1177" href="#ftn.fnrex1177" id=
+"fnrex1177">177</a>]</span> Yet, in the narrative which follows
+the Amazon is proved to be the stronger monster of the two.
+Traces of the mother monster survive in English folklore,
+especially in the traditions about the mythical "Long Meg of
+Westminster", referred to by Ben Jonson in his masque of the
+"Fortunate Isles":</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Westminster Meg,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>With her long leg,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt><a id="page.anchor.156" name=
+"page.anchor.156"></a>As long as a crane;</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>And feet like a plane,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>With a pair of heels</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>As broad as two wheels.</tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>Meg has various graves. One is supposed to be marked by a huge
+stone in the south side of the cloisters of Westminster Abbey; it
+probably marks the trench in which some plague victims--regarded,
+perhaps, as victims of Meg--were interred. Meg was also reputed
+to have been petrified, like certain Greek and Irish giants and
+giantesses. At Little Salkeld, near Penrith, a stone circle is
+referred to as "Long Meg and her Daughters". Like "Long Tom", the
+famous giant, "Mons Meg" gave her name to big guns in early
+times, all hags and giants having been famous in floating folk
+tales as throwers of granite boulders, balls of hard clay,
+quoits, and other gigantic missiles.</p>
+<p>The stories about Grendel's mother and Long Meg are similar to
+those still repeated in the Scottish Highlands. These contrast
+sharply with characteristic Germanic legends, in which the giant
+is greater than the giantess, and the dragon is a male, like
+Fafner, who is slain by Sigurd, and Regin whom Siegfried
+overcomes. It is probable, therefore, that the British stories of
+female monsters who were more powerful than their husbands and
+sons, are of Neolithic and Iberian origin--immemorial relics of
+the intellectual life of the western branch of the Mediterranean
+race.</p>
+<p>In Egypt the dragon survives in the highly developed mythology
+of the sun cult of Heliopolis, and, as sun worship is believed to
+have been imported, and the sun deity is a male, it is not
+surprising to find that the night demon, Apep, was a
+personification of Set. This god, who is identical with Sutekh, a
+Syrian and Asia Minor deity, was <a id="page.anchor.157" name=
+"page.anchor.157"></a>apparently worshipped by a tribe which was
+overcome in the course of early tribal struggles in pre-dynastic
+times. Being an old and discredited god, he became by a familiar
+process the demon of the conquerors. In the eighteenth dynasty,
+however, his ancient glory was revived, for the Sutekh of Rameses
+II figures as the "dragon slayer".<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1178" href="#ftn.fnrex1178" id="fnrex1178">178</a>]</span>
+It is in accordance with Mediterranean modes of thought, however,
+to find that in Egypt there is a great celestial battle heroine.
+This is the goddess Hathor-Sekhet, the "Eye of Ra".<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1179" href="#ftn.fnrex1179" id=
+"fnrex1179">179</a>]</span> Similarly in India, the post-Vedic
+goddess Kali is a destroyer, while as Durga she is a guardian of
+heroes.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1180" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1180" id="fnrex1180">180</a>]</span> Kali, Durga, and
+Hathor-Sekhet link with the classical goddesses of war, and also
+with the Babylonian Ishtar, who, as has been shown, retained the
+outstanding characteristics of Tiamat, the fierce old "Great
+Mother" of primitive Sumerian folk religion.</p>
+<p>It is possible that in the Babylonian dragon myth the original
+hero was Ea. As much may be inferred from the symbolic references
+in the Bible to Jah's victory over the monster of the deep: "Art
+thou not it that hath cut Rahab and wounded the
+dragon?"<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1181" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1181" id="fnrex1181">181</a>]</span> "Thou brakest the
+heads of the dragons in the waters; thou brakest the heads of
+leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people
+inhabiting the wilderness";<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1182"
+href="#ftn.fnrex1182" id="fnrex1182">182</a>]</span> "He divideth
+the sea with his power, and by his understanding he smiteth
+through the proud (Rahab). By his spirit he hath garnished the
+heavens: his hand hath formed (or pierced) the crooked
+serpent";<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1183" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1183" id="fnrex1183">183</a>]</span> "Thou hast broken
+Rahab in pieces as one that is slain: thou hast scattered thine
+enemies with thy strong arm";<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1184" href="#ftn.fnrex1184" id="fnrex1184">184</a>]</span>
+"In that day the <a id="page.anchor.158" name=
+"page.anchor.158"></a>Lord with his sore and great and strong
+sword shall punish leviathan the piercing (or stiff) serpent,
+even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon
+that is in the sea".<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1185" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1185" id="fnrex1185">185</a>]</span></p>
+<p>In the Babylonian Creation legend Ea is supplanted as dragon
+slayer by his son Merodach. Similarly Ninip took the place of his
+father, Enlil, as the champion of the gods. "In other words,"
+writes Dr. Langdon, "later theology evolved the notion of the son
+of the earth god, who acquires the attributes of the father, and
+becomes the god of war. It is he who stood forth against the
+rebellious monsters of darkness, who would wrest the dominion of
+the world from the gods who held their conclave on the mountain.
+The gods offer him the Tablets of Fate; the right to utter
+decrees is given unto him." This development is "of extreme
+importance for studying the growth of the idea of father and son,
+as creative and active principles of the world".<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1186" href="#ftn.fnrex1186" id=
+"fnrex1186">186</a>]</span> In Indian mythology Indra similarly
+takes the place of his bolt-throwing father Dyaus, the sky god,
+who so closely resembles Zeus. Andrew Lang has shown that this
+myth is of widespread character.<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1187" href="#ftn.fnrex1187" id="fnrex1187">187</a>]</span>
+Were the Babylonian theorists guided by the folk-lore clue?</p>
+<p>Now Merodach, as the son of Ea whom he consulted and received
+spells from, was a brother of "Tammuz of the Abyss". It seems
+that in the great god of Babylon we should recognize one of the
+many forms of the primeval corn spirit and patriarch--the
+shepherd youth who was beloved by Ishtar. As the deity of the
+spring sun, Tammuz slew the winter demons of rain and tempest, so
+that he was an appropriate spouse for the goddess of harvest and
+war. Merodach may have been a development of Tammuz in his
+character as a demon slayer. <a id="page.anchor.159" name=
+"page.anchor.159"></a> When he was raised to the position of Bel,
+"the Lord" by the Babylonian conquerors, Merodach supplanted the
+older Bel--Enlil of Nippur. Now Enlil, who had absorbed all the
+attributes of rival deities, and become a world god, was the</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Lord of the harvest lands ... lord of
+the grain fields,</tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>being "lord of the anunnaki", or "earth spirits". As
+agriculturists in early times went to war so as to secure
+prisoners who could be sacrificed to feed the corn spirit, Enlil
+was a god of war and was adored as such:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>The haughty, the hostile land thou dost
+humiliate ...</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>With thee who ventureth to make
+war?</tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>He was also "the bull of goring horns ... Enlil the bull", the
+god of fertility as well as of battle.<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1188" href="#ftn.fnrex1188" id=
+"fnrex1188">188</a>]</span></p>
+<p>Asari, one of Merodach's names, links him with Osiris, the
+Egyptian Tammuz, who was supplanted by his son Horus. As the
+dragon slayer, he recalls, among others, Perseus, the Grecian
+hero, of whom it was prophesied that he would slay his
+grandfather. Perseus, like Tammuz and Osiris, was enclosed in a
+chest which was cast into the sea, to be rescued, however, by a
+fisherman on the island of Seriphos. This hero afterwards slew
+Medusa, one of the three terrible sisters, the Gorgons--a demon
+group which links with Tiamat. In time, Perseus returned home,
+and while an athletic contest was in progress, he killed his
+grandfather with a quoit. There is no evidence, however, to show
+that the displacement of Enlil by Merodach had any legendary
+sanction of like character. The god of Babylon absorbed all other
+deities, apparently for political purposes, and in accordance
+with the tendency of the thought of the times, <a id=
+"page.anchor.160" name="page.anchor.160"></a>when raised to
+supreme rank in the national pantheon; and he was depicted
+fighting the winged dragon, flapping his own storm wings, and
+carrying the thunder weapon associated with Ramman.</p>
+<p>Merodach's spouse Zer-panitu<span class='phonetic'>m</span>
+was significantly called "the lady of the Abyss", a title which
+connects her with Damkina, the mother, and Belit-sheri, the
+sister of Tammuz. Damkina was also a sky goddess like Ishtar.</p>
+<p>Zer-panitu<span class='phonetic'>m</span> was no pale
+reflection of her Celestial husband, but a goddess of sharply
+defined character with independent powers. Apparently she was
+identical with Aruru, creatrix of the seed of mankind, who was
+associated with Merodach when the first man and the first woman
+were brought into being. Originally she was one of the mothers in
+the primitive spirit group, and so identical with Ishtar and the
+other prominent goddesses.</p>
+<p>As all goddesses became forms of Ishtar, so did all gods
+become forms of Merodach. Sin was "Merodach as illuminator of
+night", Nergal was "Merodach of war", Addu (Ramman) was "Merodach
+of rain", and so on. A colophon which contains a text in which
+these identifications are detailed, appears to be "a copy", says
+Professor Pinches, "of an old inscription", which, he thinks,
+"may go back as far as 2000 B.C. This is the period at which the
+name <span class="emphasis"><em>Yau<span class=
+'phonetic'>m</span>-ilu</em></span>, 'Jah is god', is found,
+together with references to <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>ilu</em></span> as the name for the one great god,
+and is also, roughly, the date of Abraham, who, it may be noted,
+was a Babylonian of Ur of the Chaldees."<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1189" href="#ftn.fnrex1189" id=
+"fnrex1189">189</a>]</span></p>
+<p>In one of the hymns Merodach is addressed as follows:--</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt><a id="page.anchor.161" name=
+"page.anchor.161"></a>Who shall escape from before thy
+power?</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Thy will is an eternal
+mystery!</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Thou makest it plain in
+heaven</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>And in the earth,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Command the sea</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>And the sea obeyeth thee.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Command the tempest</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>And the tempest becometh a
+calm.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Command the winding course</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Of the Euphrates,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>And the will of Merodach</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Shall arrest the floods.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Lord, thou art holy!</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Who is like unto thee?</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Merodach thou art honoured</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Among the gods that bear a
+name.</tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>The monotheistic tendency, which was a marked feature of
+Merodach worship, had previously become pronounced in the worship
+of Bel Enlil of Nippur. Although it did not affect the religion
+of the masses, it serves to show that among the ancient scholars
+and thinkers of Babylonia religious thought had, at an early
+period, risen far above the crude polytheism of those who
+bargained with their deities and propitiated them with offerings
+and extravagant flattery, or exercised over them a magical
+influence by the performance of seasonal ceremonies, like the
+backsliders in Jerusalem, censured so severely by Jeremiah, who
+baked cakes to reward the Queen of Heaven for an abundant
+harvest, and wept with her for the slain Tammuz when he departed
+to Hades.</p>
+<p>Perhaps it was due to the monotheistic tendency, if not to the
+fusion of father-worshipping and mother-worshipping peoples, that
+bi-sexual deities were conceived of. Nannar, the moon god, was
+sometimes addressed as <a id="page.anchor.162" name=
+"page.anchor.162"></a> father and mother in one, and Ishtar as a
+god as well as a goddess. In Egypt Isis is referred to in a
+temple chant as "the woman who was made a male by her father
+Osiris", and the Nile god Hapi was depicted as a man with female
+breasts.</p>
+<div class="footnotes"><br />
+<hr width="100" align="left" />
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1152" href="#fnrex1152" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1152">152</a>]</span> The elder Bel was Enlil of Nippur
+and the younger Merodach of Babylon. According to Damascius the
+elder Bel came into existence before Ea, who as Enki shared his
+attributes.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1153" href="#fnrex1153" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1153">153</a>]</span> This is the inference drawn from
+fragmentary texts.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1154" href="#fnrex1154" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1154">154</a>]</span> A large portion of the narrative
+is awaiting here.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1155" href="#fnrex1155" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1155">155</a>]</span> A title of Tiamat; pron.
+<span class="emphasis"><em>ch</em></span> guttural.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1156" href="#fnrex1156" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1156">156</a>]</span> There is another gap here which
+interrupts the narrative.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1157" href="#fnrex1157" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1157">157</a>]</span> This may refer to Ea's first
+visit when he overcame Kingu, but did not attack Tiamat.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1158" href="#fnrex1158" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1158">158</a>]</span> The lightning trident or
+thunderstone.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1159" href="#fnrex1159" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1159">159</a>]</span> The authorities are not agreed as
+to the meaning of "Ku-pu." Jensen suggests "trunk, body". In
+European dragon stories the heroes of the Siegfried order roast
+and eat the dragon's heart. Then they are inspired with the
+dragon's wisdom and cunning. Sigurd and Siegfried immediately
+acquire the language of birds. The birds are the "Fates", and
+direct the heroes what next they should do. Apparently Merodach's
+"cunning plan" was inspired after he had eaten a part of the body
+of Tiamat.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1160" href="#fnrex1160" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1160">160</a>]</span> The waters above the
+firmament.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1161" href="#fnrex1161" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1161">161</a>]</span> According to Berosus.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1162" href="#fnrex1162" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1162">162</a>]</span> This portion is fragmentary and
+seems to indicate that the Babylonians had made considerable
+progress in the science of astronomy. It is suggested that they
+knew that the moon derived its light from the sun.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1163" href="#fnrex1163" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1163">163</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>The
+Seven Tablets of Creation</em></span>, L.W. King, pp. 134,
+135.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1164" href="#fnrex1164" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1164">164</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>The
+Religion of Babylonia and Assyria</em></span>, T.G. Pinches, p.
+43.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1165" href="#fnrex1165" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1165">165</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>The
+Seven Tablets of Creation</em></span>, L. W. King, vol. i, pp.
+98, 99.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1166" href="#fnrex1166" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1166">166</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>Trans.
+Soc. Bib. Arch</em></span>., iv, 251-2.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1167" href="#fnrex1167" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1167">167</a>]</span> Shakespeare's <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Julius Caesar</em></span>, i, 3, 8.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1168" href="#fnrex1168" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1168">168</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Isaiah</em></span>, li, 8.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1169" href="#fnrex1169" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1169">169</a>]</span> Campbell's <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>West Highland Tales</em></span>, pp. 136
+<span class="emphasis"><em>et seq</em></span>.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1170" href="#fnrex1170" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1170">170</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>The
+Life and Exploits of Alexander the Great</em></span>, E. A.
+Wallis Budge, pp. 284, 285.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1171" href="#fnrex1171" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1171">171</a>]</span> Campbell's <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>West Highland Tales</em></span>.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1172" href="#fnrex1172" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1172">172</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Nehemiah</em></span>, ii, 13.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1173" href="#fnrex1173" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1173">173</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>The
+Tempest</em></span>, i, 2, 212.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1174" href="#fnrex1174" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1174">174</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>Waifs
+and Strays of Celtic Tradition</em></span>, vol. iv, p. 176 et
+seq.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1175" href="#fnrex1175" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1175">175</a>]</span> From unpublished folk tale.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1176" href="#fnrex1176" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1176">176</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Beowulf</em></span>, translated by Clark Hall,
+London, 1911, p. 18 et seq.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1177" href="#fnrex1177" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1177">177</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Beowulf</em></span>, translated by Clark Hall,
+London, 1911, p. 69, lines 1280-1287.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1178" href="#fnrex1178" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1178">178</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Egyptian Myth and Legend</em></span>, pp. 260,
+261.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1179" href="#fnrex1179" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1179">179</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Egyptian Myth and Legend</em></span>, pp. 8,
+9.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1180" href="#fnrex1180" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1180">180</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>Indian
+Myth and Legend</em></span>, pp. xli, 149, 150.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1181" href="#fnrex1181" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1181">181</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Isaiah</em></span>, li, 9.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1182" href="#fnrex1182" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1182">182</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Psalms</em></span>, lxxiv, 13, 14. It will be
+noted that the Semitic dragon, like the Egyptian, is a
+male.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1183" href="#fnrex1183" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1183">183</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Job</em></span>, xxvi, 12, 13.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1184" href="#fnrex1184" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1184">184</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Psalms</em></span>, lxxxix, 10.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1185" href="#fnrex1185" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1185">185</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Isaiah</em></span>, xxvii, I.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1186" href="#fnrex1186" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1186">186</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Sumerian and Babylonian Psalms</em></span>, p.
+204.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1187" href="#fnrex1187" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1187">187</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>Custom
+and Myth</em></span>, pp. 45 et seq.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1188" href="#fnrex1188" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1188">188</a>]</span> Translation by Dr. Langdon, pp.
+199 <span class="emphasis"><em>et seq</em></span>.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1189" href="#fnrex1189" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1189">189</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>The
+Religion of Babylonia and Assyria</em></span>, T.G. Pinches, pp.
+118, 119.</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="chapter" lang="en" xml:lang="en">
+<div class="titlepage">
+<div>
+<div>
+<h2 class="title"><a id="id2526908" name=
+"id2526908"></a>Chapter�VIII.�Deified Heroes: Etana and
+Gilgamesh</h2>
+</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="abstract">
+<p class="title"><b>Abstract</b></p>
+<p>God and Heroes and the "Seven Sleepers"--Quests of Etana,
+Gilgamesh, Hercules, &amp;c.--The Plant of Birth--Eagle carries
+Etana to Heaven--Indian Parallel--Flights of Nimrod, Alexander
+the Great, and a Gaelic Hero--Eagle as a God--Indian Eagle
+identified with Gods of Creation, Fire, Fertility, and
+Death--Eagle carries Roman Emperor's Soul to Heaven--Fire and
+Agricultural Ceremonies--Nimrod of the <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Koran</em></span> and John Barleycorn--Gilgamesh
+and the Eagle--Sargon-Tammuz Garden Myth--Ea-bani compared to
+Pan, Bast, and Nebuchadnezzar--Exploits of Gilgamesh and
+Ea-bani--Ishtar's Vengeance--Gilgamesh journeys to
+Otherworld--Song of Sea Maiden and "Lay of the
+Harper"--Babylonian Noah and the Plant of Life--Teutonic
+Parallels--Alexander the Great as Gilgamesh--Water of Life in the
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Koran</em></span>--The Indian
+Gilgamesh and Hercules--The Mountain Tunnel in various
+Mythologies--Widespread Cultural Influences.</p>
+</div>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.163" name="page.anchor.163"></a> One of the
+oldest forms of folk stories relates to the wanderings of a hero
+in distant regions. He may set forth in search of a fair lady who
+has been taken captive, or to obtain a magic herb or stone to
+relieve a sufferer, to cure diseases, and to prolong life.
+Invariably he is a slayer of dragons and other monsters. A
+friendly spirit, or a group of spirits, may assist the hero, who
+acts according to the advice given him by a "wise woman", a
+magician, or a god. The spirits are usually wild beasts or
+birds--the "fates" of immemorial folk belief--and they may either
+carry the hero on their backs, instruct him from time to time, or
+come to his aid when called upon.</p>
+<p>When a great national hero appealed by reason of his
+achievements to the imagination of a people, all the <a id=
+"page.anchor.164" name="page.anchor.164"></a>floating legends of
+antiquity were attached to his memory, and he became identified
+with gods and giants and knight-errants "old in story". In
+Scotland, for instance, the boulder-throwing giant of Eildon
+hills bears the name of Wallace, the Edinburgh giant of Arthur's
+Seat is called after an ancient Celtic king,<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1190" href="#ftn.fnrex1190" id=
+"fnrex1190">190</a>]</span> and Thomas the Rhymer takes the
+place, in an Inverness fairy mound called Tom-na-hurich, of Finn
+(Fingal) as chief of the "Seven Sleepers". Similarly Napoleon
+sleeps in France and Skobeleff in Russia, as do also other heroes
+elsewhere. In Germany the myths of Thunor (Thor) were mingled
+with hazy traditions of Theodoric the Goth (Dietrich), while in
+Greece, Egypt, and Arabia, Alexander the Great absorbed a mass of
+legendary matter of great antiquity, and displaced in the
+memories of the people the heroes of other Ages, as those heroes
+had previously displaced the humanized spirits of fertility and
+growth who alternately battled fiercely against the demons of
+spring, made love, gorged and drank deep and went to sleep--the
+sleep of winter. Certain folk tales, and the folk beliefs on
+which they were based, seem to have been of hoary antiquity
+before the close of the Late Stone Age.</p>
+<p>There are two great heroes of Babylonian fame who link with
+Perseus and Hercules, Sigurd and Siegfried, Dietrich and
+Finn-mac-Coul. These are Etana and Gilgamesh, two legendary kings
+who resemble Tammuz the Patriarch referred to by Berosus, a form
+of Tammuz the Sleeper of the Sumerian psalms. One journeys to the
+Nether World to obtain the Plant of Birth and the other to obtain
+the Plant of Life. The floating legends with which they were
+associated were utilized <a id="page.anchor.165" name=
+"page.anchor.165"></a>and developed by the priests, when engaged
+in the process of systematizing and symbolizing religious
+beliefs, with purpose to unfold the secrets of creation and the
+Otherworld. Etana secures the assistance or a giant eagle who is
+an enemy of serpents like the Indian Garuda, half giant, half
+eagle. As Vishnu, the Indian god, rides on the back of Garuda, so
+does Etana ride on the back of the Babylonian Eagle. In one
+fragmentary legend which was preserved in the tablet-library of
+Ashur-banipal, the Assyrian monarch, Etana obtained the
+assistance of the Eagle to go in quest of the Plant of Birth. His
+wife was about to become a mother, and was accordingly in need of
+magical aid. A similar belief caused birth girdles of straw or
+serpent skins, and eagle stones found in eagles' nests, to be
+used in ancient Britain and elsewhere throughout Europe
+apparently from the earliest times.<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1191" href="#ftn.fnrex1191" id=
+"fnrex1191">191</a>]</span></p>
+<p>On this or another occasion Etana desired to ascend to highest
+heaven. He asked the Eagle to assist him, and the bird assented,
+saying: "Be glad, my friend. Let me bear thee to the highest
+heaven. Lay thy breast on mine and thine arms on my wings, and
+let my body be as thy body." Etana did as the great bird
+requested him, and together they ascended towards the firmament.
+After a flight which extended over two hours, the Eagle asked
+Etana to gaze downwards. He did so, and beheld the ocean
+surrounding the earth, and the earth seemed like a mountainous
+island. The Eagle resumed its flight, and when another two hours
+had elapsed, it again asked Etana to look downwards. Then the
+hero saw that the sea resembled a girdle which clasped the land.
+Two hours later Etana found that he had been raised to a height
+<a id="page.anchor.166" name="page.anchor.166"></a>from which the
+sea appeared to be no larger than a pond. By this time he had
+reached the heaven of Anu, Bel, and Ea, and found there rest and
+shelter.</p>
+<p>Here the text becomes fragmentary. Further on it is gathered
+from the narrative that Etana is being carried still higher by
+the Eagle towards the heaven of Ishtar, "Queen of Heaven", the
+supreme mother goddess. Three times, at intervals of two hours,
+the Eagle asks Etana to look downwards towards the shrinking
+earth. Then some disaster happens, for further onwards the broken
+tablet narrates that the Eagle is falling. Down and down eagle
+and man fall together until they strike the earth, and the
+Eagle's body is shattered.</p>
+<p>The Indian Garuda eagle<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1192"
+href="#ftn.fnrex1192" id="fnrex1192">192</a>]</span> never met
+with such a fate, but on one occasion Vishnu overpowered it with
+his right arm, which was heavier than the whole universe, and
+caused many feathers to fall <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>off</em></span>. In the story of Rama's
+wanderings, however, as told in the <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Ramayana</em></span> and the <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Mahabharata</em></span>, there are interesting
+references in this connection to Garuda's two "sons". One was
+mortally wounded by Ravana, the demon king of Ceylon. The other
+bird related to Rama, who found it disabled: "Once upon a time we
+two (brothers), with the desire of outstripping each other, flew
+towards the sun. My wings were burnt, but those of my brother
+were not.... I fell down on the top of this great mountain, where
+I still am."<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1193" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1193" id="fnrex1193">193</a>]</span></p>
+<p>Another version of the Etana story survives among the Arabian
+Moslems. In the "Al Fatihat" chapter of the <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Koran</em></span> it is related that a Babylonian
+king held a dispute with Abraham "concerning his Lord".
+Commentators <a id="page.anchor.167" name=
+"page.anchor.167"></a>identify the monarch with Nimrod, who
+afterwards caused the Hebrew patriarch to be cast into a fire
+from which he had miraculous deliverance. Nimrod then built a
+tower so as to ascend to heaven "to see Abraham's god", and make
+war against Him, but the tower was overthrown. He, however,
+persisted in his design. The narrative states that he was
+"carried to heaven in a chest borne by four monstrous birds; but
+after wandering for some time through the air, he fell down on a
+mountain with such a force that he made it shake". A reference in
+the <span class="emphasis"><em>Koran</em></span> to "contrivances
+... which make mountains tremble" is believed to allude to
+Nimrod's vain attempt.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1194"
+href="#ftn.fnrex1194" id="fnrex1194">194</a>]</span></p>
+<p>Alexander the Great was also reputed to have ascended on the
+back of an eagle. Among the myths attached to his memory in the
+Ethiopic "history" is one which explains how "he knew and
+comprehended the length and breadth of the earth", and how he
+obtained knowledge regarding the seas and mountains he would have
+to cross. "He made himself small and flew through the air on an
+eagle, and he arrived in the heights of the heavens and he
+explored them." Another Alexandrian version of the Etana myth
+resembles the Arabic legend of Nimrod. "In the Country of
+Darkness" Alexander fed and tamed great birds which were larger
+than eagles. Then he ordered four of his soldiers to mount them.
+The men were carried to the "Country of the Living", and when
+they returned they told Alexander "all that had happened and all
+that they had seen".<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1195" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1195" id="fnrex1195">195</a>]</span></p>
+<p>In a Gaelic story a hero is carried off by a Cromhineach, "a
+vast bird like an eagle". He tells that it "sprang to the clouds
+with me, and I was a while that I <a id="page.anchor.168" name=
+"page.anchor.168"></a>did not know which was heaven or earth for
+me". The hero died, but, curiously enough, remained conscious of
+what was happening. Apparently exhausted, the eagle flew to an
+island in the midst of the ocean. It laid the hero on the sunny
+side. The hero proceeds: "Sleep came upon herself (the eagle) and
+she slept. The sun was enlivening me pretty well though I was
+dead." Afterwards the eagle bathed in a healing well, and as it
+splashed in the water, drops fell on the hero and he came to
+life. "I grew stronger and more active", he adds, "than I had
+ever been before."<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1196" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1196" id="fnrex1196">196</a>]</span></p>
+<p>The eagle figures in various mythologies, and appears to have
+been at one time worshipped as the god or goddess of fertility,
+and storm and lightning, as the bringer of children, and the
+deity who carried souls to Hades. It was also the symbol of
+royalty, because the earthly ruler represented the controlling
+deity. Nin-Girsu, the god of Lagash, who was identified with
+Tammuz, was depicted as a lion-headed eagle. Zeus, the Greek sky
+and air god, was attended by an eagle, and may, at one time, have
+been simply an eagle. In Egypt the place of the eagle is taken by
+Nekhebit, the vulture goddess whom the Greeks identified with
+"Eileithyia, the goddess of birth; she was usually represented as
+a vulture hovering over the king".<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1197" href="#ftn.fnrex1197" id=
+"fnrex1197">197</a>]</span></p>
+<p>The double-headed eagle of the Hittites, which figures in the
+royal arms of Germany and Russia, appears to have symbolized the
+deity of whom the king was an incarnation or son. In Indian
+mythology Garuda, the eagle giant, which destroyed serpents like
+the Babylonian Etana eagle, issued from its egg like a flame of
+fire; its eyes flashed the lightning and its voice was the
+thunder. This bird is identified in a hymn with Agni, god of
+fire, who <a id="page.anchor.169" name="page.anchor.169"></a>has
+the attributes of Tammuz and Mithra, with Brahma, the creator,
+with Indra, god of thunder and fertility, and with Yama, god of
+the dead, who carries off souls to Hades. It is also called "the
+steed-necked incarnation of Vishnu", the "Preserver" of the Hindu
+trinity who rode on its back. The hymn referred to lauds Garuda
+as "the bird of life, the presiding spirit of the animate and
+inanimate universe ... destroyer of all, creator of all". It
+burns all "as the sun in his anger burneth all
+creatures".<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1198" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1198" id="fnrex1198">198</a>]</span></p>
+<p>Birds were not only fates, from whose movements in flight
+omens were drawn, but also spirits of fertility. When the
+childless Indian sage Mandapala of the <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Mahabharata</em></span> was refused admittance to
+heaven until a son was born to him, he "pondered deeply" and
+"came to know that of all creatures birds alone were blest with
+fecundity"; so he became a bird.</p>
+<p>It is of interest, therefore, to find the Etana eagle figuring
+as a symbol of royalty at Rome. The deified Roman Emperor's waxen
+image was burned on a pyre after his death, and an eagle was let
+loose from the great pile to carry his soul to
+heaven.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1199" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1199" id="fnrex1199">199</a>]</span> This custom was
+probably a relic of seasonal fire worship, which may have been
+introduced into Northern and Western Syria and Asia Minor by the
+mysterious Mitanni rulers, if it was not an archaic Babylonian
+custom<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1200" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1200" id="fnrex1200">200</a>]</span> associated with
+fire-and-water magical ceremonies, represented in the British
+Isles by May-Day and Midsummer fire-and-water festivals. Sandan,
+the mythical founder of Tarsus, was honoured <a id=
+"page.anchor.170" name="page.anchor.170"></a>each year at that
+city by burning a great bonfire, and he was identified with
+Hercules. Probably he was a form of Moloch and
+Melkarth.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1201" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1201" id="fnrex1201">201</a>]</span> Doves were burned
+to Adonis. The burning of straw figures, representing gods of
+fertility, on May-Day bonfires may have been a fertility rite,
+and perhaps explains the use of straw birth-girdles.</p>
+<p>According to the commentators of the <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Koran</em></span>, Nimrod, the Babylonian king,
+who cast victims in his annual bonfires at Cuthah, died on the
+eighth day of the Tammuz month, which, according to the Syrian
+calendar, fell on 13th July.<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1202" href="#ftn.fnrex1202" id="fnrex1202">202</a>]</span>
+It is related that gnats entered Nimrod's brain, causing the
+membrane to grow larger. He suffered great pain, and to relieve
+it had his head beaten with a mallet. Although he lived for
+several hundred years, like other agricultural patriarchs,
+including the Tammuz of Berosus, it is possible that he was
+ultimately sacrificed and burned. The beating of Nimrod recalls
+the beating of the corn spirit of the agricultural legend
+utilized by Burns in his ballad of "John Barleycorn", which gives
+a jocular account of widespread ancient customs that are not yet
+quite extinct even in Scotland:<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1203" href="#ftn.fnrex1203" id=
+"fnrex1203">203</a>]</span></p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>They laid him down upon his
+back</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>��And cudgelled him full
+sore;</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>They hung him up before a
+storm</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>��And turned him o'er and
+o'er.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>�</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>They filled up a darksome
+pit</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>��With water to the brim,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>They heaved in John
+Barleycorn--</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>��There let him sink or
+swim.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>�</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt><a id="page.anchor.171" name=
+"page.anchor.171"></a>They wasted o'er a scorching
+flame</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>��The marrow of his bones,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>But the miller used him worst of
+all,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>��For he crushed him between two
+stones.</tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>Hercules, after performing many mythical exploits, had himself
+burned alive on the pyre which he built upon Mount Oeta, and was
+borne to Olympus amidst peals of thunder.</p>
+<p>Gilgamesh, the Babylonian Hercules, who links with Etana,
+Nimrod, and Sandan, is associated with the eagle, which in India,
+as has been shown, was identified with the gods of fertility,
+fire, and death. According to a legend related by
+Aelian,<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1204" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1204" id="fnrex1204">204</a>]</span> "the guards of
+the citadel of Babylon threw down to the ground a child who had
+been conceived and brought forth in secret, and who afterwards
+became known as Gilgamos". This appears to be another version of
+the Sargon-Tammuz myth, and may also refer to the sacrifice of
+children to Melkarth and Moloch, who were burned or slain "in the
+valleys under the clefts of the rocks"<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1205" href="#ftn.fnrex1205" id="fnrex1205">205</a>]</span>
+to ensure fertility and feed the corn god. Gilgamesh, however,
+did not perish. "A keen-eyed eagle saw the child falling, and
+before it touched the ground the bird flew under it and received
+it on its back, and carried it away to a garden and laid it down
+gently." Here we have, it would appear, Tammuz among the flowers,
+and Sargon, the gardener, in the "Garden of Adonis". Mimic Adonis
+gardens were cultivated by women. Corn, &amp;c., was forced in
+pots and baskets, and thrown, with an image of the god, into
+streams. "Ignorant people", writes Professor Frazer, "suppose
+that by mimicking the effect which they desire to produce they
+actually help to produce it: thus by sprinkling water they <a id=
+"page.anchor.172" name="page.anchor.172"></a>make rain, by
+lighting a fire they make sunshine, and so on."<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1206" href="#ftn.fnrex1206" id=
+"fnrex1206">206</a>]</span> Evidently Gilgamesh was a heroic form
+of the god Tammuz, the slayer of the demons of winter and storm,
+who passed one part of the year in the world and another in Hades
+(Chapter VI).</p>
+<p>Like Hercules, Gilgamesh figured chiefly in legendary
+narrative as a mighty hero. He was apparently of great antiquity,
+so that it is impossible to identify him with any forerunner of
+Sargon of Akkad, or Alexander the Great. His exploits were
+depicted on cylinder seals of the Sumerian period, and he is
+shown wrestling with a lion as Hercules wrestled with the
+monstrous lion in the valley of Nemea. The story of his
+adventures was narrated on twelve clay tablets, which were
+preserved in the library of Ashur-banipal, the Assyrian emperor.
+In the first tablet, which is badly mutilated, Gilgamesh is
+referred to as the man who beheld the world, and had great wisdom
+because he peered into the mysteries. He travelled to distant
+places, and was informed regarding the flood and the primitive
+race which the gods destroyed; he also obtained the plant of
+life, which his enemy, the earth-lion, in the form of a serpent
+or well demon, afterwards carried away.</p>
+<p>Gilgamesh was associated with Erech, where he reigned as "the
+lord". There Ishtar had a great temple, but her worldly wealth
+had decreased. The fortifications of the city were crumbling, and
+for three years the Elamites besieged it. The gods had turned to
+flies and the winged bulls had become like mice. Men wailed like
+wild beasts and maidens moaned like doves. Ultimately the people
+prayed to the goddess Aruru to create a liberator. Bel, Shamash,
+and Ishtar also came to their aid.</p>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.173" name="page.anchor.173"></a>Aruru heard
+the cries of her worshippers. She dipped her hands in water and
+then formed a warrior with clay. He was named Ea-bani, which
+signifies "Ea is my creator". It is possible, therefore, that an
+ancient myth of Eridu forms the basis of the narrative.</p>
+<p>Ea-bani is depicted on the cylinder seals as a hairy
+man-monster resembling the god Pan. He ate grass with the
+gazelles and drank water with wild beasts, and he is compared to
+the corn god, which suggests that he was an early form of Tammuz,
+and of character somewhat resembling the Egyptian Bast, the
+half-bestial god of fertility. A hunter was sent out from Erech
+to search for the man-monster, and found him beside a stream in a
+savage place drinking with his associates, the wild animals. The
+description of Ea-bani recalls that of Nebuchadnezzar when he was
+stricken with madness. "He was driven from men, and did eat grass
+as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his
+hairs were grown like eagles' feathers, and his nails like birds'
+claws."<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1207" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1207" id="fnrex1207">207</a>]</span></p>
+<p>The hunter had no desire to combat with Ea-bani, so he had him
+lured from the wilds by a beautiful woman. Love broke the spell
+which kept Ea-bani in his savage state, and the wild beasts fled
+from him. Then the temptress pleaded with him to go with her to
+Erech, where Anu and Ishtar had their temples, and the mighty
+Gilgamesh lived in his palace. Ea-bani, deserted by his bestial
+companions, felt lonely and desired human friendship. So he
+consented to accompany his bride. Having heard of Gilgamesh from
+the hunter, he proposed to test his strength in single combat,
+but Shamash, god of the sun, warned Ea-bani that he was the
+protector of Gilgamesh, <a id="page.anchor.174" name=
+"page.anchor.174"></a>who had been endowed with great knowledge
+by Bel and Anu and Ea. Gilgamesh was also counselled in a vision
+of night to receive Ea-bani as an ally.</p>
+<p>Ea-bani was not attracted by city life and desired to return
+to the wilds, but Shamash prevailed upon him to remain as the
+friend of Gilgamesh, promising that he would be greatly honoured
+and exalted to high rank.</p>
+<p>The two heroes became close friends, and when the narrative
+becomes clear again, they are found to be setting forth to wage
+war against Chumbaba,<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1208" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1208" id="fnrex1208">208</a>]</span> the King of Elam.
+Their journey was long and perilous. In time they entered a thick
+forest, and wondered greatly at the numerous and lofty cedars.
+They saw the great road which the king had caused to be made, the
+high mountain, and the temple of the god. Beautiful were the
+trees about the mountain, and there were many shady retreats that
+were fragrant and alluring.</p>
+<p>At this point the narrative breaks off, for the tablet is
+mutilated. When it is resumed a reference is made to "the head of
+Chumbaba", who has apparently been slain by the heroes. Erech was
+thus freed from the oppression of its fierce enemy.</p>
+<p>Gilgamesh and Ea-bani appear to have become prosperous and
+happy. But in the hour of triumph a shadow falls. Gilgamesh is
+robed in royal splendour and wears his dazzling crown. He is
+admired by all men, but suddenly it becomes known that the
+goddess Ishtar has been stricken with love for him. She "loved
+him with that love which was his doom". Those who are loved by
+celestials or demons become, in folk tales, melancholy wanderers
+and "night wailers". The "wretched wight" in Keats' "La Belle
+Dame Sans Merci" is a typical example.</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt><a id="page.anchor.175" name=
+"page.anchor.175"></a>O what can ail thee,
+knight-at-arms,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>��Alone and palely
+loitering?</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>The sedge is withered from the
+lake</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>��And no birds sing.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>�</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line">
+<tt>�������*�������*�������*�������*�������*</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>�</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>I met a lady in the meads,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>��Full beautiful--a faery's
+child;</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Her hair was long, her foot was
+light,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>��And her eyes were wild.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>�</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line">
+<tt>�������*�������*�������*�������*�������*</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>�</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>She found me roots of relish
+sweet,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>��And honey wild and manna
+dew;</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>And sure in language strange she
+said,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>��"I love thee true".</tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>Having kissed her lover to sleep, the fairy woman vanished.
+The "knight" then saw in a dream the ghosts of knights and
+warriors, her previous victims, who warned him of his fate.</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>I saw their starved lips in the
+gloam,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>��With horrid warning gaped
+wide;</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>And I awoke and found me
+here</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>��On the cold hill's side.</tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>The goddess Ishtar appeared as "La Belle Dame Sans Merci"
+before Gilgamesh and addressed him tenderly, saying: "Come, O
+Gilgamesh, and be my consort. Gift thy strength unto me. Be thou
+my husband and I will be thy bride. Thou shalt have a chariot of
+gold and lapis lazuli with golden wheels and gem-adorned. Thy
+steeds shall be fair and white and powerful. Into my dwelling
+thou shalt come amidst the fragrant cedars. Every king and every
+prince will bow down before thee, O Gilgamesh, to kiss thy feet,
+and all people will become subject unto thee."</p>
+<p>Gilgamesh feared the fate which would attend him as <a id=
+"page.anchor.176" name="page.anchor.176"></a>the lover of Ishtar,
+and made answer saying: "To what husband hast thou ever remained
+faithful? Each year Tammuz, the lover of thy youth, is caused by
+thee to weep. Thou didst love the Allala bird and then broke his
+wings, and he moans in the woods crying, 'O my wings!' Thou didst
+love the lion and then snared him. Thou didst love the horse, and
+then laid harness on him and made him gallop half a hundred miles
+so that he suffered great distress, and thou didst oppress his
+mother Silili. Thou didst love a shepherd who sacrificed kids
+unto thee, and then thou didst smite him so that he became a
+jackal (or leopard); his own herd boy drove him away and his dogs
+rent him in pieces. Thou didst love Ishullanu, the gardener of
+Anu, who made offerings unto thee, and then smote him so that he
+was unable to move. Alas! if thou wouldst love me, my fate would
+be like unto the fates of those on whom thou hast laid
+affliction."</p>
+<p>Ishtar's heart was filled with wrath when she heard the words
+which Gilgamesh had spoken, and she prevailed upon her father Anu
+to create a fierce bull which she sent against the lord of
+Erech.</p>
+<p>This monster, however, was slain by Gilgamesh<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1209" href="#ftn.fnrex1209" id=
+"fnrex1209">209</a>]</span> and Ea-bani, but their triumph was
+shortlived. Ishtar cursed Gilgamesh. Ea-bani then defied her and
+threatened to deal with her as he had dealt with the bull, with
+the result that he was cursed by the goddess also.</p>
+<div class="figure"><a id="id2527990" name="id2527990"></a>
+<p class="title"><b>Figure�VIII.1.�THE SLAYING OF THE BULL OF
+ISHTAR</b></p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<p>From the Painting by E. Wallcousins</p>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="graphic"><img alt="" src="img/18.jpg" /></div>
+<p>Gilgamesh dedicated the horns of the bull to Shamash and
+returned with his friend to Erech, where they were received with
+great rejoicings. A festival was held, and afterwards the heroes
+lay down to sleep. Then Ea-bani dreamt a dream of ill omen. He
+met his death soon afterwards, apparently in a battle, and
+Gilgamesh lamented <a id="page.anchor.177" name=
+"page.anchor.177"></a>over him. From the surviving fragments of
+the narrative it would appear that Gilgamesh resolved to
+undertake a journey, for he had been stricken by disease. He wept
+and cried out, "Oh! let me not die like Ea-bani, for death is
+fearful. I will seek the aid of mine ancestor,
+Pir-napishtim"--the Babylonian Noah, who was believed to be
+dwelling on an island which corresponds to the Greek "Island of
+the Blessed". The Babylonian island lay in the ocean of the
+Nether World.</p>
+<p>It seems that Gilgamesh not only hoped to obtain the Water of
+Life and the Plant of Life to cure his own disease, but also to
+restore to life his dead friend, Ea-bani, whom he loved.</p>
+<p>Gilgamesh set out on his journey and in time reached a
+mountain chasm. Gazing on the rugged heights, he beheld fierce
+lions and his heart trembled. Then he cried upon the moon god,
+who took pity upon him, and under divine protection the hero
+pressed onward. He crossed the rocky range and then found himself
+confronted by the tremendous mountain of Mashi--"Sunset hill",
+which divided the land of the living from the western land of the
+dead. The mountain peak rose to heaven, and its foundations were
+in Aralu, the Underworld.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1210"
+href="#ftn.fnrex1210" id="fnrex1210">210</a>]</span> A dark
+tunnel pierced it and could be entered through a door, but the
+door was shut and on either side were two monsters of horrible
+aspect--the gigantic "scorpion man" and his wife, whose heads
+reached to the clouds. When Gilgamesh beheld them he swooned with
+terror. But they did him no harm, perceiving that he was a son of
+a god and had a body like a god.</p>
+<p>When Gilgamesh revived, he realized that the monsters <a id=
+"page.anchor.178" name="page.anchor.178"></a>regarded him with
+eyes of sympathy. Addressing the scorpion giant, he told that he
+desired to visit his ancestor, Pir-napishtim, who sat in the
+council of the gods and had divine attributes. The giant warned
+him of the dangers which he would encounter, saying that the
+mountain passage was twelve miles long and beamless and black.
+Gilgamesh, however, resolved to encounter any peril, for he was
+no longer afraid, and he was allowed to go forward. So he entered
+through the monster-guarded mountain door and plunged into thick
+unbroken darkness. For twice twelve hours he groped blindly
+onward, until he saw a ray of light. Quickening his steps, he
+then escaped from the dreadful tunnel and once more rejoiced in
+the rays of the sun. He found himself in an enchanted garden, and
+in the midst of it he saw a divine and beautiful tree towards
+which he hastened. On its gleaming branches hung clusters of
+precious stones and its leaves were of lapis lazuli. His eyes
+were dazzled, but he did not linger there. Passing many other
+wonderful trees, he came to a shoreland, and he knew that he was
+drawing nigh to the Sea of Death. The country which he entered
+was ruled over by the sea lady whose name was Sabitu. When she
+saw the pilgrim drawing nigh, she entered her palace and shut the
+door.</p>
+<p>Gilgamesh called out requesting that he should be allowed to
+enter, and mingled his entreaties with threats to break open the
+door. In the end Sabitu appeared and spoke, saying:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Gilgamesh, whither hurriest
+thou?</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>The life that thou seekest thou wilt
+not find.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>When the gods created man</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>They fixed death for
+mankind.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Life they took in their own
+hand.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Thou, O Gilgamesh, let thy belly be
+filled!</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt><a id="page.anchor.179" name=
+"page.anchor.179"></a>Day and night be merry,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Daily celebrate a feast,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Day and night dance and make
+merry!</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Clean be thy clothes,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Thy head be washed, bathe in
+water!</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Look joyfully on the child that grasps
+thy hand,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Be happy with the wife in thine
+arms!<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1211" href="#ftn.fnrex1211"
+id="fnrex1211">211</a>]</span></tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>This is the philosophy of the Egyptian "Lay of the Harper".
+The following quotations are from two separate versions:--</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>How rests this just prince!</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>The goodly destiny befalls,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>The bodies pass away</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Since the time of the god,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>And generations come into their
+places.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>�</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line">
+<tt>�������*�������*�������*�������*�������*</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>�</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>(Make) it pleasant for thee to follow
+thy desire</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>While thou livest.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Put myrrh upon thy head,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>And garments on thee of fine
+linen....</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Celebrate the glad day,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Be not weary therein....</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Thy sister (wife) who dwells in thy
+heart.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>She sits at thy side.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Put song and music before
+thee,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Behind thee all evil things,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>And remember thou (only)
+joy.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1212" href="#ftn.fnrex1212"
+id="fnrex1212">212</a>]</span></tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>Jastrow contrasts the Babylonian poem with the following
+quotation from Ecclesiastes:--</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and
+drink thy wine with</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>a merry heart.... Let thy garments be
+always white; and</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt><a id="page.anchor.180" name=
+"page.anchor.180"></a>let thy head lack no ointment. Live
+joyfully with the wife whom</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>thou lovest all the days of the life of
+thy vanity, which he [God]</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>hath given thee under the sun, all the
+days of thy vanity: for that</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>is thy portion in this life, and in thy
+labour which thou takest</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>under the sun.<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1213" href="#ftn.fnrex1213" id=
+"fnrex1213">213</a>]</span></tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>"The pious Hebrew mind", Jastrow adds, "found the corrective
+to this view of life in the conception of a stern but just God,
+acting according to self-imposed standards of right and wrong,
+whose rule extends beyond the grave." The final words of the
+Preacher are, "Fear God and keep his commandments".<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1214" href="#ftn.fnrex1214" id=
+"fnrex1214">214</a>]</span></p>
+<p>Gilgamesh did not accept the counsel of the fatalistic sea
+lady. He asked her how he could reach Pir-napishtim, his
+ancestor, saying he was prepared to cross the Sea of Death: if he
+could not cross it he would die of grief.</p>
+<p>Sabitu answered him, saying: "O Gilgamesh, no mortal is
+ferried over this great sea. Who can pass over it save Shamash
+alone? The way is full of peril. O Gilgamesh, how canst thou
+battle against the billows of death?"</p>
+<p>At length, however, the sea lady revealed to the pilgrim that
+he might obtain the aid of the sailor, Arad Ea, who served his
+ancestor Pir-napishtim.</p>
+<p>Gilgamesh soon found where Arad Ea dwelt, and after a time
+prevailed upon him to act as ferryman. Arad Ea required a helm
+for his boat, and Gilgamesh hastened to fashion one from a tree.
+When it was fixed on, the boat was launched and the voyage began.
+Terrible experiences were passed through as they crossed the Sea
+of Death, but at length they drew nigh to the "Island of the
+Blessed" on which dwelt Pir-napishtim and his wife. Wearied by
+his exertions and wasted by disease, Gilgamesh sat resting in the
+boat. He did not go ashore.</p>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.181" name=
+"page.anchor.181"></a>Pir-napishtim had perceived the vessel
+crossing the Sea of Death and marvelled greatly.</p>
+<p>The story is unfortunately interrupted again, but it appears
+that Gilgamesh poured into the ears of his ancestor the tale of
+his sufferings, adding that he feared death and desired to escape
+his fate.</p>
+<p>Pir-napishtim made answer, reminding the pilgrim that all men
+must die. Men built houses, sealed contracts, disputed one with
+another, and sowed seeds in the earth, but as long as they did so
+and the rivers rose in flood, so long would their fate endure.
+Nor could any man tell when his hour would come. The god of
+destiny measured out the span of life: he fixed the day of death,
+but never revealed his secrets.</p>
+<p>Gilgamesh then asked Pir-napishtim how it chanced that he was
+still alive. "Thou hast suffered no change," he said, "thou art
+even as I am. Harden not thy heart against me, but reveal how
+thou hast obtained divine life in the company of the gods."</p>
+<p>Pir-napishtim thereupon related to his descendant the story of
+the deluge, which is dealt with fully in the next chapter. The
+gods had resolved to destroy the world, and Ea in a dream
+revealed unto Pir-napishtim how he could escape. He built a ship
+which was tossed about on the waters, and when the world had been
+destroyed, Bel discovered him and transported him to that island
+in the midst of the Sea of Death.</p>
+<p>Gilgamesh sat in the boat listening to the words of his
+ancestor. When the narrative was ended, Pir-napishtim spoke
+sympathetically and said: "Who among the gods will restore thee
+to health, O Gilgamesh? Thou hast knowledge of my life, and thou
+shalt be given the life thou dost strive after. Take heed,
+therefore, to what I say unto thee. For six days and seven nights
+thou <a id="page.anchor.182" name="page.anchor.182"></a>shalt not
+lie down, but remain sitting like one in the midst of
+grief."<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1215" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1215" id="fnrex1215">215</a>]</span></p>
+<p>Gilgamesh sat in the ship, and sleep enveloped him like to a
+black storm cloud.</p>
+<p>Pir-napishtim spoke to his wife and said: "Behold the hero who
+desireth to have life. Sleep envelops him like to a black storm
+cloud."</p>
+<p>To that lone man his wife made answer: "Lay thine hand upon
+him so that he may have perfect health and be enabled to return
+to his own land. Give him power to pass through the mighty door
+by which he entered."</p>
+<p>Then Pir-napishtim addressed his wife, saying: "His sufferings
+make me sad. Prepare thou for him the magic food, and place it
+near his head."</p>
+<p>On the day when Gilgamesh lay down, the food was prepared by
+seven magic processes, and the woman administered it while yet he
+slept. Then Pir-napishtim touched him, and he awoke full of
+life.</p>
+<p>Gilgamesh spake unto Pir-napishtim and said: "I was suddenly
+overcome by sleep.... But thou didst awaken me by touching me,
+even thou.... Lo! I am bewitched. What hast thou done unto thy
+servant?"</p>
+<p>Then Pir-napishtim told Gilgamesh that he had been given to
+eat of the magic food. Afterwards he caused Arad Ea to carry
+Gilgamesh to a fountain of healing, where his disease-stricken
+body was cleansed. The blemished skin fell from him, and he was
+made whole.</p>
+<p>Thereafter Gilgamesh prepared to return to his own land. Ere
+he bade farewell, however, Pir-napishtim revealed unto him the
+secret of a magic plant which had power to renew life and give
+youth and strength unto those who were old.</p>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.183" name="page.anchor.183"></a>Arad Ea
+conducted the hero to the island where the plant grew, and when
+Gilgamesh found it he rejoiced, and said that he would carry it
+to Erech, his own city, where he would partake of it and restore
+his youth.</p>
+<p>So Gilgamesh and Arad Ea went on their way together, nor
+paused until they came to a well of pure water. The hero stooped
+down to draw water.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1216" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1216" id="fnrex1216">216</a>]</span> But while he was
+thus engaged that demon, the Earth Lion, crept forth as a
+serpent, and, seizing the magic plant of life, carried it away.
+Stricken with terror, Gilgamesh uttered a curse. Then he sat down
+and wept bitterly, and the tears streamed over his face. To Arad
+Ea he spake, saying: "Why has my health been restored to me? Why
+should I rejoice because that I live? The benefit which I should
+have derived for myself has now fallen to the Earth Lion."</p>
+<p>The two travellers then resumed their journey, performing
+religious acts from time to time; chanting dirges and holding
+feasts for the dead, and at length Gilgamesh returned to Erech.
+He found that the city walls were crumbling, and he spake
+regarding the ceremonies which had been performed while yet he
+was in a far-distant country.</p>
+<p>During the days which followed Gilgamesh sorrowed for his lost
+friend Ea-bani, whose spirit was in the Underworld, the captive
+of the spirits of death. "Thou canst not draw thy bow now," he
+cried, "nor raise the battle shout. Thou canst not kiss the woman
+thou hast loved; thou canst not kiss the child thou hast loved,
+nor canst thou smite those whom thou hast hated."</p>
+<p>In vain Gilgamesh appealed to his mother goddess to restore
+Ea-bani to him. Then he turned to the gods, and <a id=
+"page.anchor.184" name="page.anchor.184"></a>Ea heard him.
+Thereafter Nergal, god of death, caused the grave to yawn, and
+the spirit of Ea-bani arose like a wind gust.</p>
+<p>Gilgamesh, still dreading death, spoke to the ghost of his
+friend, saying: "Tell me, my friend, O tell me regarding the land
+in which thou dost dwell."</p>
+<p>Ea-bani made answer sorrowfully: "Alas! I cannot tell thee, my
+friend. If I were to tell thee all, thou wouldst sit down and
+weep."</p>
+<p>Said Gilgamesh: "Let me sit down and weep, but tell me
+regarding the land of spirits."</p>
+<p>The text is mutilated here, but it can be gathered that
+Ea-bani described the land where ill-doers were punished, where
+the young were like the old, where the worm devoured, and dust
+covered all. But the state of the warrior who had been given
+burial was better than that of the man who had not been buried,
+and had no one to lament or care for him. "He who hath been slain
+in battle," the ghost said, "reposeth on a couch drinking pure
+water--one slain in battle as thou hast seen and I have seen. His
+head is supported by his parents: beside him sits his wife. His
+spirit doth not haunt the earth. But the spirit of that man whose
+corpse has been left unburied and uncared for, rests not, but
+prowls through the streets eating scraps of food, the leavings of
+the feast, and drinking the dregs of vessels."</p>
+<p>So ends the story of Gilgamesh in the form which survives to
+us.</p>
+<p>The journey of Gilgamesh to the Island of the Blessed recalls
+the journeys made by Odin, Hermod, Svipdag, Hotherus and others
+to the Germanic Hela. When Hermod went to search for Balder, as
+the Prose Edda relates, he rode through thick darkness for nine
+days and nine nights ere he crossed the mountains. As Gilgamesh
+<a id="page.anchor.185" name="page.anchor.185"></a>met Sabitu,
+Hermod met Modgudur, "the maiden who kept the bridge" over the
+river Gj&otilde;ll. Svipdag, according to a Norse poem, was
+guided like the Babylonian hero by the moon god, Gevar, who
+instructed him what way he should take to find the irresistible
+sword. Saxo's Hother, who is instructed by "King Gewar", crosses
+dismal mountains "beset with extraordinary cold".<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1217" href="#ftn.fnrex1217" id=
+"fnrex1217">217</a>]</span> Thorkill crosses a stormy ocean to
+the region of perpetual darkness, where the ghosts of the dead
+are confined in loathsome and dusty caves. At the main entrance
+"the door posts were begrimed with the soot of ages".<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1218" href="#ftn.fnrex1218" id=
+"fnrex1218">218</a>]</span> In the <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Elder Edda</em></span> Svipdag is charmed against
+the perils he will be confronted by as he fares "o'er seas
+mightier than men do know", or is overtaken by night "wandering
+on the misty way".<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1219" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1219" id="fnrex1219">219</a>]</span> When Odin
+"downward rode into Misty Hel" he sang spells at a "witch's
+grave", and the ghost rose up to answer his questions regarding
+Balder. "Tell me tidings of Hel", he addressed her, as Gilgamesh
+addressed the ghost of Ea-bani.</p>
+<p>In the mythical histories of Alexander the Great, the hero
+searches for the Water of Life, and is confronted by a great
+mountain called Musas (Mashti). A demon stops him and says; "O
+king, thou art not able to march through this mountain, for in it
+dwelleth a mighty god who is like unto a monster serpent, and he
+preventeth everyone who would go unto him." In another part of
+the narrative Alexander and his army arrive at a place of
+darkness "where the blackness is not like the darkness of night,
+but is like unto the mists and clouds which descend at the break
+of day". A servant uses a shining jewel stone, which Adam had
+brought from Paradise, to guide him, and found the well. He drank
+<a id="page.anchor.186" name="page.anchor.186"></a>of the "waters
+of life" and bathed in them, with the result that he was
+strengthened and felt neither hunger nor thirst. When he came out
+of the well "all the flesh of his body became bluish-green and
+his garments likewise bluish-green". Apparently he assumed the
+colour of supernatural beings. Rama of India was blue, and
+certain of his monkey allies were green, like the fairies of
+England and Scotland. This fortunate man kept his secret. His
+name was Matun, but he was afterwards nicknamed "'El-Khidr', that
+is to say, 'Green'". What explanation he offered for his sudden
+change of appearance has not been recorded.<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1220" href="#ftn.fnrex1220" id=
+"fnrex1220">220</a>]</span> It is related that when Matun reached
+the Well of Life a dried fish which he dipped in the water was
+restored to life and swam away. In the <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Koran</em></span> a similar story is told
+regarding Moses and Joshua, who travelled "for a long space of
+time" to a place where two seas met. "They forgot their fish
+which they had taken with them, and the fish took its way freely
+to the sea." The Arabian commentators explain that Moses once
+agreed to the suggestion that he was the wisest of men. In a
+dream he was directed to visit Al Khedr, who was "more knowing
+than he", and to take a fish with him in a basket. On the
+seashore Moses fell asleep, and the fish, which had been roasted,
+leapt out of the basket into the sea. Another version sets forth
+that Joshua, "making the ablution at the fountain of life", some
+of the water happened to be sprinkled on the fish, which
+immediately leapt up.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1221" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1221" id="fnrex1221">221</a>]</span></p>
+<p>The Well of Life is found in Fingalian legends. When Diarmid
+was mortally wounded by the boar, he called upon Finn to carry
+water to him from the well:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt><a id="page.anchor.187" name=
+"page.anchor.187"></a>Give me a draught from thy palms, O
+Finn,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Son of my king for my
+succour,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>For my life and my dwelling.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>�</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>��������<span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Campbell's West Highland Tales</em></span>, vol.
+iii, 80.</tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>The quest of the plant, flower, or fruit of life is referred
+to in many folk tales. In the <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Mahabharata</em></span>, Bhima, the Indian
+Gilgamesh or Hercules, journeys to north-eastern Celestial
+regions to find the lake of the god Kuvera (Kubera), on which
+grow the "most beautiful and unearthly lotuses", which restore
+health and give strength to the weary. As Gilgamesh meets with
+Pir-napishtim, who relates the story of the Deluge which
+destroyed the "elder race", Bhima meets with Hanuman, who informs
+him regarding the Ages of the Universe and the races which were
+periodically destroyed by deluges. When Bhima reaches the lotus
+lake he fights with demons. To heal his wounds and recover
+strength he plunges into the lake. "As he drank of the waters,
+like unto nectar, his energy and strength were again fully
+restored."<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1222" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1222" id="fnrex1222">222</a>]</span></p>
+<p>Hercules similarly sets out to search for the golden apples
+which grow in</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>��those Hesperian gardens famed of
+old,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Fortunate fields, and groves and
+flowery vales.</tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>As Bhima slew Yakshas which guarded the lotuses, Hercules slew
+Ladon, the guardian of the apples. Other heroes kill
+treasure-protecting dragons of various kinds.</p>
+<p>There is a remarkable resemblance between the Babylonian
+account of Gilgamesh's journey through the mountain tunnel to the
+garden and seashore, and the Indian story of the demigod Hanuman
+passing through the long <a id="page.anchor.188" name=
+"page.anchor.188"></a>cavern to the shoreland palace of the
+female ascetic, when he was engaged searching for Sita, the wife
+of Rama, who had been carried away by Ravana, the demon king of
+Ceylon. In the version of the latter narrative which is given in
+the <span class="emphasis"><em>Mahabharata</em></span>, Hanuman
+says: "I bring thee good news, O Rama; for Janaka's daughter hath
+been seen by me. Having searched the southern region with all its
+hills, forests, and mines for some time, we became very weary. At
+length we beheld a great cavern. And having beheld it, we entered
+that cavern which extended over many <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>yojanas</em></span>. It was dark and deep, and
+overgrown with trees and infested by worms. And having gone a
+great way through it, we came upon sunshine and beheld a
+beautiful palace. It was the abode of the Daitya (sea demon)
+Maya. And there we beheld a female ascetic named
+Parbh&agrave;vati engaged in ascetic austerities. And she gave us
+food and drink of various kinds. And having refreshed ourselves
+therewith and regained our strength, we proceeded along the way
+shown by her. At last we came out of the cavern and beheld the
+briny sea, and on its shores, the <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Sahya</em></span>, the <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Malaya</em></span>, and the great <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Dardura</em></span> mountains. And ascending the
+mountains of <span class="emphasis"><em>Malaya</em></span>, we
+beheld before us the vast ocean (or, "the abode of Varuna"). And
+beholding it, we felt sorely grieved in mind.... We despaired of
+returning with our lives.... We then sat together, resolved to
+die there of starvation."</p>
+<p>Hanuman and his friends, having had, so far, experiences
+similar to those of Gilgamesh, next discovered the eagle giant
+which had burned its wings when endeavouring to soar to the sun.
+This great bird, which resembles the Etana eagle, expressed the
+opinion that Sita was in Lanka (Ceylon), whither she must have
+been carried by Ravana. But no one dared to cross the dangerous
+ocean. Hanuman <a id="page.anchor.189" name=
+"page.anchor.189"></a>at length, however, obtained the assistance
+of Vayu, the wind god, his divine father, and leapt over the sea,
+slaying monsters as he went. He discovered where the fair lady
+was concealed by the king of demons.<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1223" href="#ftn.fnrex1223" id=
+"fnrex1223">223</a>]</span></p>
+<p>The dark tunnel is met with in many British stories of daring
+heroes who set out to explore it, but never return. In the
+Scottish versions the adventurers are invariably pipers who are
+accompanied by dogs. The sound of the pipes is heard for a time;
+then the music ceases suddenly, and shortly afterwards the dog
+returns without a hair upon its body. It has evidently been in
+conflict with demons.</p>
+<p>The tunnel may run from a castle to the seashore, from a cave
+on one side of a hill to a cave on the other, or from a seashore
+cave to a distant island.</p>
+<p>It is possible that these widespread tunnel stories had origin
+among the cave dwellers of the Palaeolithic Age, who believed
+that deep caverns were the doors of the underground retreats of
+dragons and giants and other supernatural enemies of mankind.</p>
+<p>In Babylonia, as elsewhere, the priests utilized the floating
+material from which all mythologies were framed, and impressed
+upon it the stamp of their doctrines. The symbolized stories were
+afterwards distributed far and wide, as were those attached to
+the memory of Alexander the Great at a later period. Thus in many
+countries may be found at the present day different versions of
+immemorial folk tales, which represent various stages of culture,
+and direct and indirect contact at different periods with
+civilizations that have stirred the ocean of human thought, and
+sent their ideas rippling in widening circles to far-distant
+shores.</p>
+<div class="footnotes"><br />
+<hr width="100" align="left" />
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1190" href="#fnrex1190" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1190">190</a>]</span> It is suggested that Arthur is
+derived from the Celtic word for "bear". If so, the bear may have
+been the "totem" of the Arthur tribe represented by the Scottish
+clan of MacArthurs.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1191" href="#fnrex1191" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1191">191</a>]</span> See "Lady in the Straw" beliefs
+in <span class="emphasis"><em>Brand's Popular
+Antiquities</em></span>, vol. ii, 66 <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>et seq</em></span>. 1899 ed.).</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1192" href="#fnrex1192" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1192">192</a>]</span> Like the Etana "mother eagle"
+Garuda was a slayer of serpents (Chapter III).</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1193" href="#fnrex1193" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1193">193</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>Vana
+Parva</em></span> section of the <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Mah&aacute;bh&aacute;rata</em></span> (Roy's
+trans.), p. 818 <span class="emphasis"><em>et seq</em></span>.,
+and <span class="emphasis"><em>Indian Myth and
+Legend</em></span>, p. 413.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1194" href="#fnrex1194" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1194">194</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>The
+Koran</em></span> (with notes from approved commentators), trans.
+by George Sale, P-246, <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>n</em></span>.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1195" href="#fnrex1195" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1195">195</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>The
+Life and Exploits of Alexander the Great</em></span>, E. Wallis
+Budge (London, 1896), pp. 277-8, 474-5.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1196" href="#fnrex1196" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1196">196</a>]</span> Campbell's <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>West Highland Tales</em></span>, vol. iii, pp.
+251-4 (1892 ed.).</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1197" href="#fnrex1197" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1197">197</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Religion of the Ancient Egyptians</em></span>, A.
+Wiedemann, p. 141.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1198" href="#fnrex1198" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1198">198</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>Adi
+Parva</em></span> section of the <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Mah&agrave;bh&agrave;rata</em></span> (Hymn to
+Garuda), Roy's trans., p. 88, 89.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1199" href="#fnrex1199" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1199">199</a>]</span> Herodian, iv, 2.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1200" href="#fnrex1200" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1200">200</a>]</span> The image made by Nebuchadnezzar
+is of interest in this connection. He decreed that "whoso falleth
+not down and worshippeth" should be burned in the "fiery
+furnace". The Hebrews, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, were
+accordingly thrown into the fire, but were delivered by God.
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Daniel</em></span>, iii, 1-30.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1201" href="#fnrex1201" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1201">201</a>]</span> The Assyrian and Phoenician
+Hercules is discussed by Raoul Rochette in <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>M&eacute;moires de l'Acad&eacute;mie des
+Inscriptions et Belles Lettres</em></span> (Paris, 1848), pp. 178
+et seq.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1202" href="#fnrex1202" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1202">202</a>]</span> G. Sale's <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Koran</em></span>, p. 246, n.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1203" href="#fnrex1203" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1203">203</a>]</span> In the Eddic poem "Lokasenna" the
+god Byggvir (Barley) is addressed by Loki, "Silence, Barleycorn!"
+<span class="emphasis"><em>The Elder Edda</em></span>,
+translation by Olive Bray, pp. 262, 263.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1204" href="#fnrex1204" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1204">204</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>De
+Nat. Animal</em></span>., xii, 21, ed. Didot, p. 210, quoted by
+Professor Budge in <span class="emphasis"><em>The Life and
+Exploits of Alexander the Great</em></span>, p. 278, n.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1205" href="#fnrex1205" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1205">205</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Isaiah</em></span>, lvii, 4 and 5.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1206" href="#fnrex1206" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1206">206</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>The
+Golden Bough (Adonis, Attis, Osiris</em></span> vol.), "The
+Gardens of Adonis", pp. 194 <span class="emphasis"><em>et
+seq</em></span>. (3rd ed.).</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1207" href="#fnrex1207" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1207">207</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Daniel</em></span>, iv, 33. It is possible that
+Nebuchadnezzar, as the human representative of the god of corn
+and fertility, imitated the god by living a time in the wilds
+like Ea-bani.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1208" href="#fnrex1208" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1208">208</a>]</span> Pronounce <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>ch</em></span> guttural.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1209" href="#fnrex1209" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1209">209</a>]</span> On a cylinder seal the heroes
+each wrestle with a bull.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1210" href="#fnrex1210" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1210">210</a>]</span> Alexander the Great in the course
+of his mythical travels reached a mountain at the world-end. "Its
+peak reached to the first heaven and its base to the seventh
+earth."--<span class="emphasis"><em>Budge</em></span>.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1211" href="#fnrex1211" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1211">211</a>]</span> Jastrow's trans., <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Aspects of Religious Belief and Practice in
+Babylonia and Assyria</em></span>, p. 374.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1212" href="#fnrex1212" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1212">212</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Development of Religion and Thought in Ancient
+Egypt</em></span> (1912), J.H. Breasted, pp. 183-5.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1213" href="#fnrex1213" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1213">213</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Ecclesiastes</em></span>, ix, 7-9.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1214" href="#fnrex1214" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1214">214</a>]</span> Ibid., xii, 13.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1215" href="#fnrex1215" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1215">215</a>]</span> Perhaps brooding and undergoing
+penance like an Indian Rishi with purpose to obtain spiritual
+power.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1216" href="#fnrex1216" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1216">216</a>]</span> Probably to perform the ceremony
+of pouring out a libation.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1217" href="#fnrex1217" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1217">217</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Saxo</em></span>, iii, 71.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1218" href="#fnrex1218" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1218">218</a>]</span> Ibid., viii, 291.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1219" href="#fnrex1219" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1219">219</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>The
+Elder Edda</em></span>, O. Bray, pp. 157 et seq. See also
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Teutonic Myth and
+Legend</em></span>.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1220" href="#fnrex1220" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1220">220</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>The
+Life and Exploits of Alexander the Great</em></span>, E. Wallis
+Budge, pp. xl et seq., 167 et seq.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1221" href="#fnrex1221" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1221">221</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>The
+Koran</em></span>, trans, by G. Sale, pp. 222, 223 (chap.
+xviii).</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1222" href="#fnrex1222" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1222">222</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>Vana
+Parva</em></span> section of the <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Mah&agrave;bh&agrave;rata</em></span> (Roy's
+trans.), pp. 435-60, and <span class="emphasis"><em>Indian Myth
+and Legend</em></span>, pp. 105-9.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1223" href="#fnrex1223" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1223">223</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>Vana
+Parva</em></span> section of the <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Mah&agrave;bh&agrave;rata</em></span> (Roy's
+translation), pp. 832, 833.</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="chapter" lang="en" xml:lang="en">
+<div class="titlepage">
+<div>
+<div>
+<h2 class="title"><a id="id2529027" name=
+"id2529027"></a>Chapter�IX.�Deluge Legend, the Island of the
+Blessed, and Hades</h2>
+</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="abstract">
+<p class="title"><b>Abstract</b></p>
+<p>Babylonian Story of the Flood--The Two Immortals on the Island
+of the Blessed--Deluge Legends in the Old and New Worlds--How
+Babylonian Culture reached India--Theory of Cosmic
+Periods--Gilgamesh resembles the Indian Yama and Persian
+Yimeh--Links with Varuna and Mitra--The Great Winter in Persian
+and Teutonic Mythologies--Babylonian Hades compared with the
+Egyptian, Greek, Indian, Teutonic, and Celtic Otherworlds--Legend
+of Nergal and the Queen of Death--Underworld originally the
+Grave--Why Weapons, &amp;c., were Buried with the Dead--Japanese
+and Roman Beliefs--Palaeolithic Burial Customs--"Our Graves are
+our Houses"--Importance of Babylonian Funerary
+Ceremonies--Doctrine of Eternal Bliss in Egypt and India--Why
+Suppressed in Babylonia--Heavy Burial Fees--Various Burial
+Customs.</p>
+</div>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.190" name="page.anchor.190"></a> The story
+of the Deluge which was related to Gilgamesh by Pir-napishtim
+runs as follows:--</p>
+<p>"Hear me, O Gilgamesh, and I will make revelation regarding
+the hidden doings of the high gods. As thou knowest, the city of
+Shurippak is situated upon the bank of the Euphrates. The gods
+were within it: there they assembled together in council. Anu,
+the father, was there, and Bel the counsellor and warrior, Ninip
+the messenger, and Ennugi the governor. Ea, the wise lord, sat
+also with them. In their hearts the gods agreed together to send
+a great deluge.</p>
+<p>"Thereafter Ea made known the purpose of the divine rulers in
+the hut of reeds, saying:<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1224"
+href="#ftn.fnrex1224" id="fnrex1224">224</a>]</span> 'O hut of
+<a id="page.anchor.191" name="page.anchor.191"></a>reeds, hear; O
+wall, understand ... O man of Shurippak, son of Umbara Tutu, tear
+down thy house and build a ship; leave all thou dost possess and
+save thy life, and preserve in the ship the living seed of every
+kind. The ship that thou wilt build must be of goodly proportions
+in length and height. It must be floated on the great deep.'</p>
+<p>"I heard the command of Ea and understood, and I made answer,
+saying, 'O wise lord, as thou hast said so will I do, for thy
+counsel is most excellent. But how shall I give reason for my
+doings to the young men and the elders?'</p>
+<p>"Ea opened his mouth and said unto me, his servant: 'What thou
+shalt say unto them is this.... <span class="emphasis"><em>It
+hath been revealed unto me that Bel doth hate me, therefore I
+cannot remain any longer in his domain, this city of Shurippak,
+so I must depart unto the domain of Ea and dwell with him....
+Unto you will Bel send abundance of rain, so that you may obtain
+birds and fishes in plenty and have a rich harvest. But Shamash
+hath appointed a time for Ramman to pour down destruction from
+the heavens.</em></span>'"<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1225"
+href="#ftn.fnrex1225" id="fnrex1225">225</a>]</span></p>
+<p>Ea then gave instructions to Pir-napishtim how to build the
+ship in which he should find refuge. So far as can be gathered
+from the fragmentary text, it appears that this vessel was to
+have a deck house six stories high, with nine apartments in each
+story. According to another account, Ea drew a plan of the great
+ship upon the sand.</p>
+<p>Pir-napishtim set to work and made a flat-bottomed vessel,
+which was 120 cubits wide and 120 cubits in height. He smeared it
+with bitumen inside and pitch outside; and on the seventh day it
+was ready. Then <a id="page.anchor.192" name=
+"page.anchor.192"></a>he carried out Ea's further instructions.
+Continuing his narrative to Gilgamesh, he said:</p>
+<p>"I gathered together all that I possessed, my silver and gold
+and seeds of every kind, and my goods also. These I placed in the
+ship. Then I caused to go aboard all my family and house
+servants, the animals of the field and the beasts of the field
+and the workers--every one of them I sent up.</p>
+<p>"The god Shamash appointed the time, saying: 'I will cause the
+Night Lord to send much rain and bring destruction. Then enter
+thou the ship and shut thy door.'</p>
+<p>"At the appointed time the Night Lord sent at even-time much
+rain. I saw the beginning of the deluge and I was afraid to look
+up. I entered the ship and shut the door. I appointed
+Buzur-Kurgala, the sailor, to be captain, and put under his
+command the great vessel and all that it contained.</p>
+<p>"At the dawn of day I saw rising athwart the heavens a dark
+cloud, and in the midst of it Ramman thundered. Nebo and Merodach
+went in front, speeding like emissaries over hills and plains.
+The cables of the ship were let loose.</p>
+<div class="figure"><a id="id2529196" name="id2529196"></a>
+<p class="title"><b>Figure�IX.1.�THE BABYLONIAN DELUGE</b></p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<p><span class="emphasis"><em>From the Painting by E.
+Wallcousins</em></span></p>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="graphic"><img alt="" src="img/19.jpg" /></div>
+<p>"Then Ninip, the tempest god, came nigh, and the storm broke
+in fury before him. All the earth spirits leapt up with flaming
+torches and the whole land was aflare. The thunder god swept over
+the heavens, blotting out the sunlight and bringing thick
+darkness. Rain poured down the whole day long, and the earth was
+covered with water; the rivers were swollen; the land was in
+confusion; men stumbled about in the darkness, battling with the
+elements. Brothers were unable to see brothers; no man could
+recognize his friends.... The spirits above looked down and
+beheld the rising <a id="page.anchor.193" name=
+"page.anchor.193"></a>flood and were afraid: they fled away, and
+in the heaven of Anu they crouched like to hounds in the
+protecting enclosures.</p>
+<p>"In time Ishtar, the lady of the gods, cried out
+distressfully, saying: 'The elder race hath perished and turned
+to clay because that I have consented to evil counsel in the
+assembly of the gods. Alas! I have allowed my people to be
+destroyed. I gave being to man, but where is he? Like the
+offspring of fish he cumbers the deep.'</p>
+<p>"The earth spirits were weeping with Ishtar: they sat down
+cowering with tightened lips and spake not; they mourned in
+silence.</p>
+<p>"Six days and six nights went past, and the tempest raged over
+the waters which gradually covered the land. But when the seventh
+day came, the wind fell, the whirling waters grew peaceful, and
+the sea retreated. The storm was over and the rain of destruction
+had ceased. I looked forth. I called aloud over the waters. But
+all mankind had perished and turned to clay. Where fields had
+been I saw marshes only.</p>
+<p>"Then I opened wide the window of the ship, and the sunlight
+suffused my countenance. I was dazzled and sank down weeping and
+the tears streamed over my face. Everywhere I looked I saw
+water.</p>
+<p>"At length, land began to appear. The ship drifted towards the
+country of Nitsir, and then it was held fast by the mountain of
+Nitsir. Six days went past and the ship remained stedfast. On the
+seventh day I sent forth a dove, and she flew away and searched
+this way and that, but found no resting place, so she returned. I
+then sent forth a swallow, and she returned likewise. Next I sent
+forth a raven, and she flew away. She saw that the waters were
+shrinking, and gorged and croaked and waded, but <a id=
+"page.anchor.194" name="page.anchor.194"></a>did not come back.
+Then I brought forth all the animals into the air of heaven.</p>
+<p>"An offering I made on the mountain. I poured out a libation.
+I set up incense vessels seven by seven on heaped-up reeds and
+used cedar wood with incense. The gods smelt the sweet savour,
+and they clustered like flies about the sacrificer.</p>
+<p>"Thereafter Ishtar (Sirtu) drew nigh. Lifting up the jewels,
+which the god Anu had fashioned for her according to her desire,
+she spake, saying: 'Oh! these gods! I vow by the lapis lazuli
+gems upon my neck that I will never forget! I will remember these
+days for ever and ever. Let all the gods come hither to the
+offering, save Bel (Enlil) alone, because that he ignored my
+counsel, and sent a great deluge which destroyed my people.'</p>
+<p>"But Bel Enlil came also, and when he beheld the ship he
+paused. His heart was filled with wrath against the gods and the
+spirits of heaven. Angrily he spake and said: 'Hath one escaped?
+It was decreed that no human being should survive the
+deluge.'</p>
+<p>"Ninip, son of Bel, spoke, saying: 'Who hath done this save Ea
+alone? He knoweth all things.'</p>
+<p>"Ea, god of the deep, opened his mouth and said unto the
+warrior Bel: 'Thou art the lord of the gods, O warrior. But thou
+wouldst not hearken to my counsel and caused the deluge to be.
+Now punish the sinner for his sins and the evil doer for his evil
+deed, but be merciful and do not destroy all mankind. May there
+never again be a flood. Let the lion come and men will decrease.
+May there never again be a flood. Let the leopard come and men
+will decrease. May there never again be a flood. Let famine come
+upon the land; let Ura, god of pestilence, come and snatch off
+mankind.... I did not reveal the secret purpose of the mighty
+gods, <a id="page.anchor.195" name="page.anchor.195"></a>but I
+caused Atra-chasis (Pir-napishtim) to dream a dream in which he
+had knowledge of what the gods had decreed.'</p>
+<p>"Having pondered a time over these words, Bel entered the ship
+alone. He grasped my hand and led me forth, even me, and he led
+forth my wife also, and caused her to kneel down beside me. Then
+he stood between us and gave his blessing. He spoke, saying: 'In
+time past Pir-napishtim was a man. Henceforth Pir-napishtim and
+his wife will be like unto deities, even us. Let them dwell apart
+beyond the river mouths.'</p>
+<p>"Thereafter Bel carried me hither beyond the mouths of
+rivers."</p>
+<hr class="footnote" />
+<p>Flood myths are found in many mythologies both in the Old
+World and the New.</p>
+<p>The violent and deceitful men of the mythical Bronze Age of
+Greece were destroyed by a flood. It is related that Zeus said on
+one occasion to Hermes: "I will send a great rain, such as hath
+not been since the making of the world, and the whole race of men
+shall perish. I am weary of their iniquity."</p>
+<p>For receiving with hospitable warmth these two gods in human
+guise, Deucalion, an old man, and his wife Pyrrha were spared,
+however. Zeus instructed his host to build an ark of oak, and
+store it well with food. When this was done, the couple entered
+the vessel and shut the door. Then Zeus "broke up all the
+fountains of the deep, and opened the well springs of heaven, and
+it rained for forty days and forty nights continually". The
+Bronze folk perished: not even those who fled to the hilltops
+could escape. The ark rested on Parnassus, and when the waters
+ebbed the old couple descended the mountain and took up their
+abode in a cave.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1226" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1226" id="fnrex1226">226</a>]</span></p>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.196" name="page.anchor.196"></a>In Indian
+mythology the world is destroyed by a flood at the end of each
+Age of the Universe. There are four ages: the Krita or Perfect
+Age, the Treta Age, the Dwapara Age, and the Kali or Wicked Age.
+These correspond closely to the Greek and Celtic
+ages.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1227" href="#ftn.fnrex1227"
+id="fnrex1227">227</a>]</span> There are also references in
+Sanskrit literature to the destruction of the world because too
+many human beings lived upon it. "When the increase of population
+had been so frightful," a sage related, "the Earth, oppressed
+with the excessive burden, sank down for a hundred Yojanas.
+Suffering pain in all her limbs, and being deprived of her senses
+by excessive pressure, the Earth in distress sought the
+protection of Narayana, the foremost of the gods."<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1228" href="#ftn.fnrex1228" id=
+"fnrex1228">228</a>]</span></p>
+<p>Manu's account of the flood has been already referred to
+(Chapter II). The god in fish shape informed him: "The time is
+ripe for purging the world.... Build a strong and massive ark,
+and furnish it with a long rope...." When the waters rose the
+horned fish towed the ark over the roaring sea, until it grounded
+on the highest peak of the Himavat, which is still called
+Naubandha (the harbour). Manu was accompanied by seven
+rishis.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1229" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1229" id="fnrex1229">229</a>]</span></p>
+<p>In the Celtic (Irish) account of the flood, Cessair,
+granddaughter of Noah, was refused a chamber for herself in the
+ark, and fled to the western borders of the world as advised by
+her idol.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1230" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1230" id="fnrex1230">230</a>]</span> Her fleet
+consisted of three ships, but two foundered before Ireland was
+reached. The survivors in addition to Cessair were, her father
+Bith, two other men, Fintan and Ladru, and fifty women. All of
+these perished on the hills except Fintan, who slept on the crest
+of a great billow, and lived to see Partholon, the giant,
+arriving from Greece.</p>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.197" name="page.anchor.197"></a>There is a
+deluge also in Egyptian mythology. When Ra, the sun god, grew old
+as an earthly king, men began to mutter words against him. He
+called the gods together and said: "I will not slay them (his
+subjects) until I have heard what ye say concerning them." Nu,
+his father, who was the god of primeval waters, advised the
+wholesale destruction of mankind.</p>
+<p>Said Ra: "Behold men flee unto the hills; their heart is full
+of fear because of that which they said."</p>
+<p>The goddess Hathor-Sekhet, the Eye of Ra, then went forth and
+slew mankind on the hills. Thereafter Ra, desiring to protect the
+remnant of humanity, caused a great offering to be made to the
+goddess, consisting of corn beer mixed with herbs and human
+blood. This drink was poured out during the night. "And the
+goddess came in the morning; she found the fields inundated, she
+rejoiced thereat, she drank thereof, her heart was rejoiced, she
+went about drunken and took no more cognizance of
+men."<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1231" href="#ftn.fnrex1231"
+id="fnrex1231">231</a>]</span></p>
+<p>It is obvious that the Egyptian myth refers to the annual
+inundation of the Nile, the "human blood" in the "beer" being the
+blood of the slain corn god, or of his earthly representative. It
+is probable that the flood legends of North and South America
+similarly reflected local phenomena, although the possibility
+that they were of Asiatic origin, like the American Mongoloid
+tribes, cannot be overlooked. Whether or not Mexican
+civilization, which was flourishing about the time of the battle
+of Hastings, received any cultural stimulus from Asia is a
+question regarding which it would be unsafe to dogmatize, owing
+to the meagre character of the available data.</p>
+<p>The Mexican deluge was caused by the "water sun", which
+suddenly discharged the moisture it had been <a id=
+"page.anchor.198" name="page.anchor.198"></a>drawing from the
+earth in the form of vapour through long ages. All life was
+destroyed.</p>
+<p>A flood legend among the Nahua tribes resembles closely the
+Babylonian story as told by Pir-napishtim. The god Titlacahuan
+instructed a man named Nata to make a boat by hollowing out a
+cypress tree, so as to escape the coming deluge with his wife
+Nena. This pair escaped destruction. They offered up a fish
+sacrifice in the boat and enraged the deity who visited them,
+displaying as much indignation as did Bel when he discovered that
+Pir-napishtim had survived the great disaster. Nata and Nena had
+been instructed to take with them one ear of maize only, which
+suggests that they were harvest spirits.</p>
+<p>In Brazil, Monan, the chief god, sent a great fire to burn up
+the world and its wicked inhabitants. To extinguish the flames a
+magician caused so much rain to fall that the earth was
+flooded.</p>
+<p>The Californian Indians had a flood legend, and believed that
+the early race was diminutive; and the Athapascan Indians of the
+north-west professed to be descendants of a family who escaped
+the deluge. Indeed, deluge myths were widespread in the "New
+World".</p>
+<p>The American belief that the first beings who were created
+were unable to live on earth was shared by the Babylonians.
+According to Berosus the first creation was a failure, because
+the animals could not bear the light and they all
+died.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1232" href="#ftn.fnrex1232"
+id="fnrex1232">232</a>]</span> Here we meet with the germs of the
+Doctrine of the World's Ages, which reached its highest
+development in Indian, Greek, and Celtic (Irish) mythologies.</p>
+<p>The Biblical account of the flood is familiar to readers. "It
+forms", says Professor Pinches, "a good subject for <a id=
+"page.anchor.199" name="page.anchor.199"></a>comparison with the
+Babylonian account, with which it agrees so closely in all the
+main points, and from which it differs so much in many essential
+details."<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1233" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1233" id="fnrex1233">233</a>]</span></p>
+<p>The drift of Babylonian culture was not only directed westward
+towards the coast of Palestine, and from thence to Greece during
+the Phoenician period, but also eastward through Elam to the
+Iranian plateau and India. Reference has already been made to the
+resemblances between early Vedic and Sumerian mythologies. When
+the "new songs" of the Aryan invaders of India were being
+composed, the sky and ocean god, Varuna, who resembles Ea-Oannes,
+and Mitra, who links with Shamash, were already declining in
+splendour. Other cultural influences were at work. Certain of the
+Aryan tribes, for instance, buried their dead in Varuna's "house
+of clay", while a growing proportion cremated their dead and
+worshipped Agni, the fire god. At the close of the Vedic period
+there were fresh invasions into middle India, and the "late
+comers" introduced new beliefs, including the doctrines of the
+Transmigration of Souls and of the Ages of the Universe.
+Goddesses also rose into prominence, and the Vedic gods became
+minor deities, and subject to Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. These
+"late comers" had undoubtedly been influenced by Babylonian ideas
+before they entered India. In their Doctrine of the World's Ages
+or Yugas, for instance, we are forcibly reminded of the
+Euphratean ideas regarding space and time. Mr. Robert Brown,
+junr., who is an authority in this connection, shows that the
+system by which the "Day of Brahma" was calculated in India
+resembles closely an <a id="page.anchor.200" name=
+"page.anchor.200"></a>astronomical system which obtained in
+Babylonia, where apparently the theory of cosmic periods had
+origin.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1234" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1234" id="fnrex1234">234</a>]</span></p>
+<p>The various alien peoples, however, who came under the spell
+of Babylonian modes of thought did not remain in a state of
+intellectual bondage. Thought was stimulated rather than arrested
+by religious borrowing, and the development of ideas regarding
+the mysteries of life and death proceeded apace in areas over
+which the ritualistic and restraining priesthood of Babylonia
+exercised no sway. As much may be inferred from the contrasting
+conceptions of the Patriarchs of Vedic and Sumerian mythologies.
+Pir-napishtim, the Babylonian Noah, and the semi-divine Gilgamesh
+appear to be represented in Vedic mythology by Yama, god of the
+dead. Yama was "the first man", and, like Gilgamesh, he set out
+on a journey over mountains and across water to discover
+Paradise. He is lauded in the Vedic hymns as the explorer of "the
+path" or "way" to the "Land of the Pitris" (Fathers), the
+Paradise to which the Indian uncremated dead walked on foot. Yama
+never lost his original character. He is a traveller in the Epics
+as in the Vedas.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1235" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1235" id="fnrex1235">235</a>]</span></p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<p>Him who along the mighty heights departed, Him who searched
+and spied the path for many, Son of Vivasvat, gatherer of the
+people, Yama, the King, with sacrifices worship. <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Rigveda</em></span>, x, 14, 1.<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1236" href="#ftn.fnrex1236" id=
+"fnrex1236">236</a>]</span> To Yama, mighty King, be gifts and
+homage paid, He was the first of men that died, the first to
+brave Death's rapid rushing stream, the first to point the road
+To heaven, and welcome others to that bright abode. <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Sir M. Monier Williams'
+Translation</em></span>.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1237"
+href="#ftn.fnrex1237" id="fnrex1237">237</a>]</span></p>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>Yama and his sister Yami were the first human pair. <a id=
+"page.anchor.201" name="page.anchor.201"></a>They are identical
+with the Persian Celestial twins, Yima and Yimeh. Yima resembles
+Mitra (Mithra); Varuna, the twin brother of Mitra, in fact,
+carries the noose associated with the god of death.<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1238" href="#ftn.fnrex1238" id=
+"fnrex1238">238</a>]</span></p>
+<p>The Indian Yama, who was also called Pitripati, "lord of the
+fathers", takes Mitra's place in the Paradise of Ancestors beside
+Varuna, god of the sky and the deep. He sits below a tree,
+playing on a flute and drinking the Soma drink which gives
+immortality. When the descendants of Yama reached Paradise they
+assumed shining forms "refined and from all taint set
+free".<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1239" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1239" id="fnrex1239">239</a>]</span></p>
+<p>In Persian mythology "Yima", says Professor Moulton, "reigns
+over a community which may well have been composed of his own
+descendants, for he lived yet longer than Adam. To render them
+immortal, he gives them to eat forbidden food, being deceived by
+the Daevas (demons). What was this forbidden food? May we connect
+it with another legend whereby, at the Regeneration, Mithra is to
+make men immortal by giving them to eat the fat of the
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Ur-Kuh</em></span>, the primeval cow
+from whose slain body, according to the Aryan legends adopted by
+Mithraism, mankind was first created?"</p>
+<p>Yima is punished for "presumptuously grasping at immortality
+for himself and mankind, on the suggestion of an evil power,
+instead of waiting Ahura's good time". Professor Moulton wonders
+if this story, which he endeavours to reconstruct, "owed anything
+to Babylon?"</p>
+<p>Yima, like the Babylonian Pir-napishtim, is also a revealer of
+the secrets of creation. He was appointed to be "Guardian,
+Overseer, Watcher over my Creation" by Ahura, the supreme god.
+Three hundred years went past--</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt><a id="page.anchor.202" name=
+"page.anchor.202"></a>Then the earth became abounding,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Full of flocks and full of
+cattle,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Full of men, of birds, dogs
+likewise,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Full of fires all bright and
+blazing,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Nor did men, flocks, herds of
+cattle,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Longer find them places in
+it.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>�</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>��������<span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Jackson's Translation</em></span>.</tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>The earth was thereafter cloven with a golden arrow. Yima then
+built a refuge in which mankind and the domesticated animals
+might find shelter during a terrible winter. "The picture", says
+Professor Moulton, "strongly tempts us to recognize the influence
+of the Babylonian Flood-Legend."<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1240" href="#ftn.fnrex1240" id="fnrex1240">240</a>]</span>
+The "Fimbul winter" of Germanic mythology is also recalled. Odin
+asks in one of the Icelandic Eddie poems:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>What beings shall live when the long
+dread winter</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>��Comes o'er the people of
+earth?<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1241" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1241" id="fnrex1241">241</a>]</span></tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>In another Eddie poem, the Voluspa, the Vala tells of a Sword
+Age, an Axe Age, a Wind Age, and a Wolf Age which is to come "ere
+the world sinks". After the battle of the gods and demons,</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>The sun is darkened, earth sinks in the
+sea.</tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>In time, however, a new world appears.</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>I see uprising a second time</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Earth from the Ocean, green
+anew;</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>The waters fall, on high the
+eagle</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Flies o'er the fell and catches
+fish.</tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>When the surviving gods return, they will talk, according to
+the Vala (prophetess), of "the great world serpent" (Tiamat). The
+fields will be sown and "Balder will <a id="page.anchor.203"
+name="page.anchor.203"></a>come"<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1242" href="#ftn.fnrex1242" id=
+"fnrex1242">242</a>]</span>--apparently as Tammuz came. The
+association of Balder with corn suggests that, like Nata of the
+Nahua tribes, he was a harvest spirit, among other things.</p>
+<p>Leaving, meantime, the many problems which arise from
+consideration of the Deluge legends and their connection with
+primitive agricultural myths, the attention of readers may be
+directed to the Babylonian conception of the Otherworld.</p>
+<p>Pir-napishtim, who escaped destruction at the Flood, resides
+in an Island Paradise, which resembles the Greek "Islands of the
+Blessed", and the Irish "Tir nan og" or "Land of the Young",
+situated in the western ocean, and identical with the
+British<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1243" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1243" id="fnrex1243">243</a>]</span></p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>��island-valley of Avilion,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Where falls not hail, or rain, or any
+snow,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Nor ever wind blows loudly, but it
+lies</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Deep meadow'd, happy, fair with orchard
+lawns</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>And bowery hollows crowned with summer
+sea.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1244" href="#ftn.fnrex1244"
+id="fnrex1244">244</a>]</span></tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>Only two human beings were permitted to reside on the
+Babylonian island paradise, however. These were Pir-napishtim and
+his wife. Apparently Gilgamesh could not join them there. His
+gods did not transport heroes and other favoured individuals to a
+happy isle or isles like those of the Greeks and Celts and
+Aryo-Indians. There was no Heaven for the Babylonian dead. All
+mankind were doomed to enter the gloomy Hades of the Underworld,
+"the land of darkness and the shadow of death; a land of
+darkness, as darkness itself; and of the shadow of death, without
+any order, and where the light is darkness", as Job exclaimed in
+the hour of despair, lamenting his fate.<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1245" href="#ftn.fnrex1245" id=
+"fnrex1245">245</a>]</span></p>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.204" name="page.anchor.204"></a>This gloomy
+habitation of the dead resembles the Greek Hades, the Teutonic
+Nifelhel, and the Indian "Put". No detailed description of it has
+been found. The references, however, in the "Descent of Ishtar"
+and the Gilgamesh epic suggest that it resembled the hidden
+regions of the Egyptians, in which souls were tortured by demons
+who stabbed them, plunged them in pools of fire, and thrust them
+into cold outer darkness where they gnashed their teeth, or into
+places of horror swarming with poisonous reptiles.</p>
+<p>Ishtar was similarly tortured by the plague demon, Namtar,
+when she boldly entered the Babylonian Underworld to search for
+Tammuz. Other sufferings were, no doubt, in store for her,
+resembling those, perhaps, with which the giant maid in the Eddic
+poem "Skirnismal" was threatened when she refused to marry Frey,
+the god of fertility and harvest:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Trolls shall torment thee from morn
+till eve</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>��In the realms of the Jotun
+race,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Each day to the dwellings of Frost
+giants must thou</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>��Creep helpless, creep hopeless of
+love;</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Thou shalt weeping have in the stead of
+joy,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>��And sore burden bear with
+tears....</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>May madness and shrieking, bondage and
+yearning</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>��Burden thee with bondage and
+tears.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1246" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1246" id="fnrex1246">246</a>]</span></tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>In like manner, too, the inhabitants of the Indian Hell
+suffered endless and complicated tortures.<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1247" href="#ftn.fnrex1247" id=
+"fnrex1247">247</a>]</span></p>
+<p>The Persephone of the Babylonian Underworld was Eresh-ki-gal,
+who was also called Allatu. A myth, which was found among the
+Egyptian Tel-el-Amarna "Letters", sets forth that on one occasion
+the Babylonian gods held a feast. All the deities attended it,
+except Eresh-ki-gal. <a id="page.anchor.205" name=
+"page.anchor.205"></a>She was unable to leave her gloomy
+Underworld, and sent her messenger, the plague demon Namtar, to
+obtain her share. The various deities honoured Namtar, except
+Nergal, by standing up to receive him. When Eresh-ki-gal was
+informed of this slight she became very angry, and demanded that
+Nergal should be delivered up to her so that he might be put to
+death. The storm god at once hastened to the Underworld,
+accompanied by his own group of fierce demons, whom he placed as
+guardians at the various doors so as to prevent the escape of
+Eresh-ki-gal. Then he went boldly towards the goddess, clutched
+her by the hair, and dragged her from her throne. After a brief
+struggle, she found herself overpowered. Nergal made ready to cut
+off her head, but she cried for mercy and said: "Do not kill me,
+my brother! Let me speak to thee."</p>
+<p>This appeal indicated that she desired to ransom her
+life--like the hags in the European folk tales--so Nergal
+unloosed his hold.</p>
+<p>Then Eresh-ki-gal continued: "Be thou my husband and I will be
+thy wife. On thee I confer sovereignty over the wide earth,
+giving thee the tablet of wisdom. Thou shalt be my lord and I
+will be thy lady."</p>
+<p>Nergal accepted these terms by kissing the goddess.
+Affectionately drying her tears, he spoke, saying: "Thou shalt
+now have from me what thou hast demanded during these past
+months."</p>
+<p>In other words, Nergal promises to honour her as she desired,
+after becoming her husband and equal.</p>
+<p>In the "Descent of Ishtar" the Babylonian Underworld is called
+Cuthah. This city had a famous cemetery, like Abydos in Egypt,
+where many pious and orthodox worshippers sought sepulture. The
+local god was Nergal, who symbolized the destructive power of the
+sun and the <a id="page.anchor.206" name=
+"page.anchor.206"></a>sand storm; he was a gloomy, vengeful
+deity, attended by the spirits of tempest, weariness, pestilence,
+and disease, and was propitiated because he was dreaded.</p>
+<p>In Nether Cuthah, as Ea-bani informed Gilgamesh, the worm
+devoured the dead amidst the dust and thick darkness.</p>
+<p>It is evident that this Underworld was modelled on the grave.
+In early times men believed that the spirits of the dead hovered
+in or about the place of sepulture. They were therefore provided
+with "houses" to protect them, in the same manner as the living
+were protected in their houses above the ground.</p>
+<p>The enemies of the human ghosts were the earth spirits.
+Weapons were laid beside the dead in their graves so that they
+might wage war against demons when necessary. The corpse was also
+charmed, against attack, by the magical and protecting ornaments
+which were worn by the living--necklaces, armlets, ear-rings,
+&amp;c. Even face paint was provided, probably as a charm against
+the evil eye and other subtle influences.</p>
+<p>So long as corpses were left in their graves, the spirits of
+the dead were, it would appear, believed to be safe. But they
+required food and refreshment. Food vessels and drinking urns
+were therefore included in the funerary furniture, and the dead
+were given food offerings at regular intervals. Once a year the
+living held feasts in the burial ground, and invited the ghosts
+to share in the repast. This custom was observed in Babylonia,
+and is not yet obsolete in Egypt; Moslems and Coptic Christians
+alike hold annual all-night feasts in their cemeteries.</p>
+<p>The Japanese "Land of Yomi" is similarly an underworld, or
+great grave, where ghosts mingle with the demons of disease and
+destruction. Souls reach it by "the pass of Yomi". The Mikado,
+however, may be <a id="page.anchor.207" name=
+"page.anchor.207"></a>privileged to ascend to heaven and join the
+gods in the "Eternal Land".</p>
+<p>Among the ancient Romans the primitive belief survived that
+the spirit of the dead "just sank into the earth where it rested,
+and returned from time to time to the upper world through certain
+openings in the ground (mundi), whose solemn uncovering was one
+of the regular observances of the festal calendar".<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1248" href="#ftn.fnrex1248" id=
+"fnrex1248">248</a>]</span></p>
+<p>According to Babylonian belief, the dead who were not properly
+buried roamed through the streets searching for food, eating
+refuse and drinking impure water.</p>
+<p>Prior to the period of ceremonial burials, the dead were
+interred in the houses in which they had lived--a custom which
+has made it possible for present-day scientists to accumulate
+much valuable data regarding primitive races and their habits of
+life. The Palaeolithic cave-dwellers of Europe were buried in
+their caves. These were then deserted and became the haunts of
+wild animals. After a long interval a deserted cave was occupied
+by strangers. In certain characteristic caves the various layers
+containing human remains represent distinct periods of the vast
+Pleistocene Age.</p>
+<p>When Mediterranean man moved northward through Europe, he
+utilized some of these caves, and constructed in them well-built
+graves for his dead, digging down through older layers. In thus
+making a "house" within a "house", he has provided us with a link
+between an old custom and a new. Apparently he was influenced by
+local practices and beliefs, for he met and mingled in certain
+localities with the men of the Late Palaeolithic Age.</p>
+<p>The primitive house-burial rite is referred to in the Ethiopic
+version of the life of Alexander the Great. The <a id=
+"page.anchor.208" name="page.anchor.208"></a>"Two-horned", as the
+hero was called, conversed with Brahmans when he reached India.
+He spoke to one of them, "saying: 'Have ye no tombs wherein to
+bury any man among ye who may die?' And an interpreter made
+answer to him, saying: 'Man and woman and child grow up, and
+arrive at maturity, and become old, and when any one of them
+dieth we bury him in the place wherein he lived; thus our graves
+are our houses. And our God knoweth that we desire this more than
+the lust for food and meat which all men have: this is our life
+and manner of living in the darkness of our tombs.'" When
+Alexander desired to make a gift to these Brahmans, and asked
+them what they desired most, their answer was, "Give us
+immortality".<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1249" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1249" id="fnrex1249">249</a>]</span></p>
+<p>In the Gilgamesh epic the only ray of hope which relieves the
+gloomy closing passages is Ea-bani's suggestion that the
+sufferings endured by the dead may be alleviated by the
+performance of strict burial rites. Commenting on this point
+Professor Jastrow says: "A proper burial with an affectionate
+care of the corpse ensures at least a quiet repose.</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Such a one rests on a couch and drinks
+pure water;</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>But he whose shade has no rest in the
+earth, as I have seen and you will see,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>His shade has no rest in the
+earth</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Whose shade no one cares for
+...</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>What is left over in the pot, remains
+of food</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>That are thrown in the street, he
+eats."<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1250" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1250" id="fnrex1250">250</a>]</span></tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>�</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>��������<span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Gilgamesh Epic</em></span>.</tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.209" name="page.anchor.209"></a>By
+disseminating the belief that the dead must be buried with much
+ceremony, the priests secured great power over the people, and
+extracted large fees.</p>
+<p>In Egypt, on the other hand, the teachers of the sun cult sold
+charms and received rewards to perform ceremonies so that chosen
+worshippers might enter the sun-barque of Ra; while the Osirian
+priests promised the just and righteous that they would reach an
+agricultural Paradise where they could live and work as on earth,
+but receive a greater return for their labour, the harvests of
+the Otherworld being of unequalled abundance.</p>
+<p>In the sacred books of India a number of Paradises are
+referred to. No human beings, however, entered the Paradise of
+Varuna, who resembles the Sumerian Ea-Oannes. The souls of the
+dead found rest and enjoyment in the Paradise of Yama, while
+"those kings that yield up their lives, without turning their
+backs on the field of battle, attain", as the sage told a hero,
+"to the mansion of Indra", which recalls the Valhal of Odin. It
+will thus be seen that belief in immortality was a tenet of the
+Indian cults of Indra and Yama.</p>
+<p>It is possible that the Gilgamesh epic in one of its forms
+concluded when the hero reached the island of Pir-napishtim, like
+the Indian Yama who "searched and spied the path for many". The
+Indian "Land of the Pitris" (Ancestors), over which Yama
+presided, may be compared to the Egyptian heaven of Osiris. It
+contains, we are told, "all kinds of enjoyable articles", and
+also "sweet, juicy, agreeable and delicious edibles ... floral
+wreaths of the most delicious fragrance, and trees that yield
+fruits that are desired of them". Thither go "all sinners among
+human beings, as also (those) that have died during the winter
+solstice"<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1251" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1251" id="fnrex1251">251</a>]</span>--a suggestion
+that this <a id="page.anchor.210" name=
+"page.anchor.210"></a>Paradise was not unconnected with the
+Tammuz-like deity who took up his abode in the spirit land during
+the barren season.</p>
+<p>The view may be urged that in the Gilgamesh epic we have a
+development of the Tammuz legend in its heroic form. Like Ishtar,
+when she descended to Hades, the King of Erech could not return
+to earth until he had been sprinkled by the water of life. No
+doubt, an incident of this character occurred also in the
+original Tammuz legend. The life of the god had to be renewed
+before he could return. Did he slumber, like one of the Seven
+Sleepers, in Ea's house, and not awake again until he arrived as
+a child in his crescent moon boat--"the sunken boat" of the
+hymns--like Scef, who came over the waves to the land of the
+Scyldings?</p>
+<p>It seems remarkable that the doctrine of Eternal Bliss, which
+obtained in Egypt on the one hand and in India on the other,
+should never have been developed among the Babylonians. Of
+course, our knowledge in this connection is derived from the
+orthodox religious texts. Perhaps the great thinkers, whose
+influence can be traced in the tendencies towards monotheism
+which became marked at various periods, believed in a Heaven for
+the just and good. If they did, their teachings must have been
+suppressed by the mercenary priests. It was extremely profitable
+for these priests to perpetuate the belief that the spirits of
+the dead were consigned to a gloomy Hades, where the degree of
+suffering which they endured depended on the manner in which
+their bodies were disposed of upon earth. An orthodox funeral
+ceremony was costly at all times. This is made evident by the
+inscriptions which record the social reforms of Urukagina, the
+ill-fated patesi of Lagash. When he came to the throne he cut
+down the burial fees by more than a half. "In <a id=
+"page.anchor.211" name="page.anchor.211"></a>the case of an
+ordinary burial," writes Mr. King, "when a corpse was laid in a
+grave, it had been the custom for the presiding priest to demand
+as a fee for himself seven urns of wine or strong drink, four
+hundred and twenty loaves of bread, one hundred and twenty
+measures of corn, a garment, a kid, a bed, and a seat." The
+reformer reduced the perquisites to "three urns of wine, eighty
+loaves of bread, a bed, and a kid, while the fee of his (the
+priest's) assistant was cut down from sixty to thirty measures of
+corn".<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1252" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1252" id="fnrex1252">252</a>]</span></p>
+<p>The conservative element in Babylonian religion is reflected
+by the burial customs. These did not change greatly after the
+Neolithic period. Prehistoric Sumerian graves resemble closely
+those of pre-Dynastic Egypt. The bodies of the dead were laid on
+their sides in crouching posture, with a "beaker", or "drinking
+cup" urn, beside the right hand. Other vessels were placed near
+the head. In this connection it may be noted that the magic food
+prepared for Gilgamesh by Pir-napishtim's wife, when he lay
+asleep, was also placed near his head.</p>
+<p>The corpse was always decked with various ornaments, including
+rings, necklaces, and armlets. As has been indicated, these were
+worn by the living as charms, and, no doubt, they served the same
+purpose for the dead. This charm-wearing custom was condemned by
+the Hebrew teachers. On one occasion Jacob commanded his
+household to "put away the strange gods which were in their hand,
+and all the ear-rings which were in their ears; and Jacob buried
+them under the oak which was by Shechem".<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1253" href="#ftn.fnrex1253" id=
+"fnrex1253">253</a>]</span> To Jacob, personal ornaments had
+quite evidently an idolatrous significance.</p>
+<p>"A very typical class of grave furniture", writes Mr. <a id=
+"page.anchor.212" name="page.anchor.212"></a>King, "consisted of
+palettes, or colour dishes, made of alabaster, often of graceful
+shape, and sometimes standing on four feet.... There is no doubt
+as to their use, for colour still remains in many of them,
+generally black and yellow, but sometimes a light rose and light
+green." Palettes for face paint have also been found in many
+early Egyptian graves.</p>
+<p>The gods had their faces painted like the living and the dead
+and were similarly adorned with charms. In the course of the
+daily service in the Egyptian temples an important ceremony was
+"dressing the god with white, green, bright-red, and dark-red
+sashes, and supplying two kinds of ointment and black and green
+eye paint".<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1254" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1254" id="fnrex1254">254</a>]</span> In the
+word-picture of the Aryo-Indian Varuna's heaven in the
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Mahabharata</em></span> the deity is
+depicted "attired in celestial robes and decked with celestial
+ornaments and jewels". His attendants, the Adityas, appear
+"adorned with celestial garlands and perfumed with celestial
+scents and besmeared with paste of celestial
+fragrance".<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1255" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1255" id="fnrex1255">255</a>]</span> Apparently the
+"paste", like the face paint of the Babylonians and Egyptians,
+had protective qualities. The Picts of Scotland may have
+similarly painted themselves to charm their bodies against
+magical influences and the weapons of their enemies. A painted
+man was probably regarded as one who was likely to have good
+luck, being guarded against bad luck.</p>
+<p>Weapons and implements were also laid in the Sumerian graves,
+indicating a belief that the spirits of the dead could not only
+protect themselves against their enemies but also provide
+themselves with food. The funerary gifts of fish-hooks suggests
+that spirits were expected to catch fish and thus obtain clean
+food, instead <a id="page.anchor.213" name=
+"page.anchor.213"></a>of returning to disturb the living as they
+searched for the remnants of the feast, like the Scottish
+Gunna,</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>�������������perched alone</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>On a chilly old grey stone,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Nibbling, nibbling at a bone</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>��That we'll maybe throw
+away.</tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>Some bodies which were laid in Sumerian graves were wrapped up
+in reed matting, a custom which suggests that the reeds afforded
+protection or imparted magical powers. Magical ceremonies were
+performed in Babylonian reed huts. As we have seen, Ea revealed
+the "purpose" of the gods, when they resolved to send a flood, by
+addressing the reed hut in which Pir-napishtim lay asleep.
+Possibly it was believed that the dead might also have visions in
+their dreams which would reveal the "purpose" of demons who were
+preparing to attack them. In Syria it was customary to wrap the
+dead in a sheep skin.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1256" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1256" id="fnrex1256">256</a>]</span> As priests and
+gods were clad in the skins of animals from which their powers
+were derived, it is probable that the dead were similarly
+supposed to receive inspiration in their skin coverings. The
+Highland seer was wrapped in a bull's skin and left all night
+beside a stream so as to obtain knowledge of the future. This was
+a form of the Taghairm ceremony, which is referred to by Scott in
+his "Lady of the Lake".<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1257"
+href="#ftn.fnrex1257" id="fnrex1257">257</a>]</span> The belief
+in the magical influence of sacred clothing gave origin to the
+priestly robes. When David desired to ascertain what Saul
+intended to do he said, "Bring hither the ephod". <a id=
+"page.anchor.214" name="page.anchor.214"></a>Then he came to know
+that his enemy had resolved to attack Keilah.<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1258" href="#ftn.fnrex1258" id=
+"fnrex1258">258</a>]</span> Elisha became a prophet when he
+received Elijah's mantle.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1259"
+href="#ftn.fnrex1259" id="fnrex1259">259</a>]</span></p>
+<p>Sometimes the bodies of the Sumerians were placed in
+sarcophagi of clay. The earlier type was of "bath-tub" shape,
+round and flat-bottomed, with a rounded lid, while the later was
+the "slipper-shaped coffin", which was ornamented with charms.
+There is a close resemblance between the "bath-tub" coffins of
+Sumeria and the Egyptian pottery coffins of oval shape found in
+Third and Fourth Dynasty tombs in rock chambers near Nuerat.
+Certain designs on wooden coffins, and tombs as early as the
+First Dynasty, have direct analogies in Babylonia.<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1260" href="#ftn.fnrex1260" id=
+"fnrex1260">260</a>]</span></p>
+<p>No great tombs were erected in Sumeria. The coffins were
+usually laid in brick vaults below dwellings, or below temples,
+or in trenches outside the city walls. On the "stele of victory",
+which belongs to the period of Eannatum, patesi of Lagash, the
+dead bodies on the battlefield are piled up in pairs quite naked,
+and earth is being heaped over them; this is a specimen of mound
+burial.</p>
+<div class="figure"><a id="id2530933" name="id2530933"></a>
+<p class="title"><b>Figure�IX.2.�SLIPPER-SHAPED COFFIN MADE OF
+GLAZED EARTHENWARE</b></p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<p>(<span class="emphasis"><em>British Museum</em></span>)</p>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="graphic"><img alt="" src="img/20.jpg" /></div>
+<div class="figure"><a id="id2530951" name="id2530951"></a>
+<p class="title"><b>Figure�IX.3.�STELE OF HAMMURABI, WITH "CODE
+OF LAWS"</b></p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<p>(<span class="emphasis"><em>Louvre, Paris</em></span>)</p>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="graphic"><img alt="" src="img/21.jpg" /></div>
+<p>According to Herodotus the Babylonians "buried their dead in
+honey, and had funeral lamentations like the
+Egyptians".<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1261" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1261" id="fnrex1261">261</a>]</span> The custom of
+preserving the body in this manner does not appear to have been
+an ancient one, and may have resulted from cultural contact with
+the Nile valley during the late Assyrian period. So long as the
+bones were undisturbed, the spirit was supposed to be assured of
+rest in the Underworld. This archaic belief was widespread, and
+finds an echo in the quaint lines over Shakespeare's grave in
+Stratford church:--</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt><a id="page.anchor.215" name=
+"page.anchor.215"></a>Good friend, for Jesus' sake
+forbeare</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>To dig the dust enclosed
+heare;</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Blest be the man that spares these
+stones,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>And curst be he that moves my
+bones.</tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>In Babylonia the return of the spirits of the dead was greatly
+dreaded. Ishtar once uttered the terrible threat: "I will cause
+the dead to rise; they will then eat and live. The dead will be
+more numerous than the living." When a foreign country was
+invaded, it was a common custom to break open the tombs and
+scatter the bones they contained. Probably it was believed, when
+such acts of vandalism were committed, that the offended spirits
+would plague their kinsfolk. Ghosts always haunted the homes they
+once lived in, and were as malignant as demons. It is significant
+to find in this connection that the bodies of enemies who were
+slain in battle were not given decent burial, but mutilated and
+left for birds and beasts of prey to devour.</p>
+<p>The demons that plagued the dead might also attack the living.
+A fragmentary narrative, which used to be referred to as the
+"Cuthean Legend of Creation",<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1262" href="#ftn.fnrex1262" id="fnrex1262">262</a>]</span>
+and has been shown by Mr. L.W. King to have no connection with
+the struggle between Merodach and the dragon,<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1263" href="#ftn.fnrex1263" id=
+"fnrex1263">263</a>]</span> deals with a war waged by an ancient
+king against a horde of evil spirits, led by "the lord of
+heights, lord of the Anunaki (earth spirits)". Some of the
+supernatural warriors had bodies like birds; others had "raven
+faces", and all had been "suckled by Tiamat".</p>
+<p>For three years the king sent out great armies to attack the
+demons, but "none returned alive". Then he decided to go forth
+himself to save his country from destruction. So he prepared for
+the conflict, and took <a id="page.anchor.216" name=
+"page.anchor.216"></a>the precaution of performing elaborate and
+therefore costly religious rites so as to secure the co-operation
+of the gods. His expedition was successful, for he routed the
+supernatural army. On his return home, he recorded his great
+victory on tablets which were placed in the shrine of Nergal at
+Cuthah.</p>
+<p>This myth may be an echo of Nergal's raid against
+Eresh-ki-gal. Or, being associated with Cuthah, it may have been
+composed to encourage burial in that city's sacred cemetery,
+which had been cleared by the famous old king of the evil demons
+which tormented the dead and made seasonal attacks against the
+living.</p>
+<div class="footnotes"><br />
+<hr width="100" align="left" />
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1224" href="#fnrex1224" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1224">224</a>]</span> Ea addresses the hut in which his
+human favourite, Pir-napishtim, slept. His message was conveyed
+to this man in a dream.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1225" href="#fnrex1225" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1225">225</a>]</span> The second sentence of Ea's
+speech is conjectural, as the lines are mutilated.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1226" href="#fnrex1226" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1226">226</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>The
+Muses' Pageant</em></span>, W.M.L. Hutchinson, pp. 5 <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>et seq</em></span>.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1227" href="#fnrex1227" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1227">227</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>Indian
+Myth and Legend</em></span>, pp. 107 <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>et seq</em></span>.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1228" href="#fnrex1228" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1228">228</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>Vana
+Parva</em></span> section of the <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Mah&aacute;bh&aacute;rata</em></span> (Roy's
+trans.), p. 425.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1229" href="#fnrex1229" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1229">229</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>Indian
+Myth and Legend</em></span>, p. 141.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1230" href="#fnrex1230" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1230">230</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>Book
+of Leinster</em></span>, and Keating's <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>History of Ireland</em></span>, p. 150 (1811
+ed.).</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1231" href="#fnrex1231" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1231">231</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Religion of the Ancient Egyptians</em></span>, A.
+Wiedemann, pp. 58 <span class="emphasis"><em>et
+seq</em></span>.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1232" href="#fnrex1232" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1232">232</a>]</span> Pinches' <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria</em></span>,
+p. 42.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1233" href="#fnrex1233" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1233">233</a>]</span> The problems involved are
+discussed from different points of view by Mr. L.W. King in
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Babylonian Religion</em></span> (Books
+on Egypt and Chaldaea, vol. iv), Professor Pinches in
+<span class="emphasis"><em>The Old Testament in the Light of the
+Historical Records and Legends of Assyria and
+Babylonia,</em></span> and other vols.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1234" href="#fnrex1234" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1234">234</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Primitive Constellations</em></span>, vol. i, pp.
+334-5.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1235" href="#fnrex1235" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1235">235</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>Indian
+Myth and Legend</em></span>, chap. iii.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1236" href="#fnrex1236" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1236">236</a>]</span> Professor Macdonell's
+translation.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1237" href="#fnrex1237" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1237">237</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>Indian
+Wisdom</em></span>.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1238" href="#fnrex1238" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1238">238</a>]</span> "Varuna, the deity bearing the
+noose as his weapon", <span class="emphasis"><em>Sabha
+Parva</em></span> section of the <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Mah&aacute;bh&aacute;rata</em></span> (Roy's
+trans.), p. 29.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1239" href="#fnrex1239" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1239">239</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>Indian
+Myth and Legend</em></span>, pp. 38-42.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1240" href="#fnrex1240" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1240">240</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>Early
+Religious Poetry of Persia</em></span>, J.H. Moulton, pp. 41
+<span class="emphasis"><em>et seq</em></span>. and 154
+<span class="emphasis"><em>et seq</em></span>.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1241" href="#fnrex1241" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1241">241</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>The
+Elder Edda</em></span>, O. Bray, p. 55.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1242" href="#fnrex1242" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1242">242</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>The
+Elder Edda</em></span>, O. Bray, pp. 291 <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>et seq</em></span>.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1243" href="#fnrex1243" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1243">243</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>Celtic
+Myth and Legend</em></span>, pp. 133 <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>et seq</em></span>.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1244" href="#fnrex1244" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1244">244</a>]</span> Tennyson's <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>The Passing of Arthur</em></span>.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1245" href="#fnrex1245" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1245">245</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Job</em></span>, x, 1-22.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1246" href="#fnrex1246" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1246">246</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>The
+Elder Edda</em></span>, O. Bray, pp. 150-1.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1247" href="#fnrex1247" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1247">247</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>Indian
+Myth and Legend</em></span>, p. 326.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1248" href="#fnrex1248" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1248">248</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>The
+Religion of Ancient Rome</em></span>, Cyril Bailey, p. 50.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1249" href="#fnrex1249" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1249">249</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>The
+Life and Exploits of Alexander the Great (Ethiopic version of the
+Pseudo Callisthenes)</em></span>, pp. 133-4. The conversation
+possibly never took place, but it is of interest in so far as it
+reflects beliefs which were familiar to the author of this
+ancient work. His Brahmans evidently believed that immortality
+was denied to ordinary men, and reserved only for the king, who
+was the representative of the deity, of course.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1250" href="#fnrex1250" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1250">250</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Aspects of Religious Belief and Practice in
+Babylonia and Assyria</em></span>, Morris Jastrow, pp.
+358-9.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1251" href="#fnrex1251" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1251">251</a>]</span> The <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Mah&agrave;bh&agrave;rata</em></span>
+(<span class="emphasis"><em>Sabha Parva</em></span> section),
+Roy's translation, pp. 25-7.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1252" href="#fnrex1252" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1252">252</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>A
+History of Sumer and Akkad</em></span>, L.W. King, pp.
+181-2.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1253" href="#fnrex1253" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1253">253</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Genesis</em></span>, xxxv, 2-4.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1254" href="#fnrex1254" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1254">254</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>The
+Religion of Ancient Egypt</em></span>, W.M. Flinders Petrie, p.
+72.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1255" href="#fnrex1255" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1255">255</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>Sabha
+Parva</em></span> section of the <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Mah&agrave;bh&agrave;rata</em></span> (Roy's
+trans.), p. 29.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1256" href="#fnrex1256" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1256">256</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Egyptian Myth and Legend</em></span>, p.
+214.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1257" href="#fnrex1257" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1257">257</a>]</span> Canto iv:--</div>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>�������������Last eventide</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Brian an augury hath
+tried....</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>The Taghairm called; by which
+afar</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Our sires foresaw the events of
+war.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Duncraggan's milk-white bull they
+slew....</tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1258" href="#fnrex1258" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1258">258</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>1
+Samuel</em></span>, xxiii, 9-11.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1259" href="#fnrex1259" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1259">259</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>1
+Kings</em></span>, xix, 19 and <span class="emphasis"><em>2
+Kings</em></span>, ii, 13-15.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1260" href="#fnrex1260" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1260">260</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>The
+Burial Customs of Ancient Egypt</em></span>, John Garstang, pp.
+28, 29 (London, 1907).</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1261" href="#fnrex1261" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1261">261</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Herod.</em></span>, book i, 198.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1262" href="#fnrex1262" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1262">262</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Records of the Past</em></span> (old series), xi,
+pp. 109 et seq., and (new series), vol. i, pp. 149 et seq.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1263" href="#fnrex1263" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1263">263</a>]</span> L.W. King's <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>The Seven Tablets of Creation</em></span>.</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="chapter" lang="en" xml:lang="en">
+<div class="titlepage">
+<div>
+<div>
+<h2 class="title"><a id="id2531105" name=
+"id2531105"></a>Chapter�X.�Buildings and Laws and Customs of
+Babylon</h2>
+</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="abstract">
+<p class="title"><b>Abstract</b></p>
+<p>Decline and Fall of Sumerian Kingdoms--Elamites and Semites
+strive for Supremacy--Babylon's Walls, Gates, Streets, and
+Canals--The Hanging Gardens--Merodach's Great Temple--The Legal
+Code of Hammurabi--The Marriage Market--Position of
+Women--Marriage brought Freedom--Vestal Virgins--Breach of
+Promise and Divorce--Rights of Children--Female Publicans--The
+Land Laws--Doctors legislated out of Existence--Folk
+Cures--Spirits of Disease expelled by Magical Charms--The Legend
+of the Worm--"Touch Iron"--Curative Water--Magical Origin of
+Poetry and Music.</p>
+</div>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.217" name="page.anchor.217"></a> The rise
+of Babylon inaugurated a new era in the history of Western Asia.
+Coincidentally the political power of the Sumerians came to an
+end. It had been paralysed by the Elamites, who, towards the
+close of the Dynasty of Isin, successfully overran the southern
+district and endeavoured to extend their sway over the whole
+valley. Two Elamite kings, Warad-Sin and his brother Rim-Sin,
+struggled with the rulers of Babylon for supremacy, and for a
+time it appeared as if the intruders from the East were to
+establish themselves permanently as a military aristocracy over
+Sumer and Akkad. But the Semites were strongly reinforced by new
+settlers of the same blended stock who swarmed from the land of
+the Amorites. Once again Arabia was pouring into Syria vast
+hordes of its surplus population, with the result that ethnic
+disturbances were constant and widespread. This migration is
+termed the Canaanitic or Amorite: it flowed into Mesopotamia and
+across Assyria, while it supplied <a id="page.anchor.218" name=
+"page.anchor.218"></a>the "driving power" which secured the
+ascendancy of the Hammurabi Dynasty at Babylon. Indeed, the
+ruling family which came into prominence there is believed to
+have been of Canaanitic origin.</p>
+<p>Once Babylon became the metropolis it retained its
+pre-eminence until the end. Many political changes took place
+during its long and chequered history, but no rival city in the
+south ever attained to its splendour and greatness. Whether its
+throne was occupied by Amorite or Kassite, Assyrian or Chaldean,
+it was invariably found to be the most effective centre of
+administration for the lower Tigro-Euphrates valley. Some of the
+Kassite monarchs, however, showed a preference for Nippur.</p>
+<p>Of its early history little is known. It was overshadowed in
+turn by Kish and Umma, Lagash and Erech, and may have been little
+better than a great village when Akkad rose into prominence.
+Sargon I, the royal gardener, appears to have interested himself
+in its development, for it was recorded that he cleared its
+trenches and strengthened its fortifications. The city occupied a
+strategic position, and probably assumed importance on that
+account as well as a trading and industrial centre. Considerable
+wealth had accumulated at Babylon when the Dynasty of Ur reached
+the zenith of its power. It is recorded that King Dungi plundered
+its famous "Temple of the High Head", E-sagila, which some
+identify with the Tower of Babel, so as to secure treasure for
+Ea's temple at Eridu, which he specially favoured. His
+vandalistic raid, like that of the Gutium, or men of Kutu, was
+remembered for long centuries afterwards, and the city god was
+invoked at the time to cut short his days.</p>
+<p>No doubt, Hammurabi's Babylon closely resembled the later city
+so vividly described by Greek writers, although it was probably
+not of such great dimensions. <a id="page.anchor.219" name=
+"page.anchor.219"></a>According to Herodotus, it occupied an
+exact square on the broad plain, and had a circumference of sixty
+of our miles. "While such is its size," the historian wrote, "in
+magnificence there is no other city that approaches to it." Its
+walls were eighty-seven feet thick and three hundred and fifty
+feet high, and each side of the square was fifteen miles in
+length. The whole city was surrounded by a deep, broad canal or
+moat, and the river Euphrates ran through it.</p>
+<p>"Here", continued Herodotus, "I may not omit to tell the use
+to which the mould dug out of the great moat was turned, nor the
+manner in which the wall was wrought. As fast as they dug the
+moat the soil which they got from the cutting was made into
+bricks, and when a sufficient number were completed they baked
+the bricks in kilns. Then they set to building, and began with
+bricking the borders of the moat, after which they proceeded to
+construct the wall itself, using throughout for their cement hot
+bitumen, and interposing a layer of wattled reeds at every
+thirtieth course of the bricks. On the top, along the edges of
+the wall, they constructed buildings of a single chamber facing
+one another, leaving between them room for a four-horse chariot
+to turn. In the circuit of the wall are a hundred gates, all of
+brass, with brazen lintels and side posts."<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1264" href="#ftn.fnrex1264" id=
+"fnrex1264">264</a>]</span> These were the gates referred to by
+Isaiah when God called Cyrus:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>I will loose the loins of kings, to
+open before him the two</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>leaved gates; and the gates shall not
+be shut: I will go before</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>thee, and make the crooked places
+straight; I will break in pieces</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>the gates of brass, and cut in sunder
+the bars of iron.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1265" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1265" id="fnrex1265">265</a>]</span></tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>The outer wall was the main defence of the city, but there was
+also an inner wall less thick but not much <a id=
+"page.anchor.220" name="page.anchor.220"></a>inferior in
+strength. In addition, a fortress stood in each division of the
+city. The king's palace and the temple of Bel Merodach were
+surrounded by walls.</p>
+<p>All the main streets were perfectly straight, and each crossed
+the city from gate to gate, a distance of fifteen miles, half of
+them being interrupted by the river, which had to be ferried. As
+there were twenty-five gates on each side of the outer wall, the
+great thoroughfares numbered fifty in all, and there were six
+hundred and seventy-six squares, each over two miles in
+circumference. From Herodotus we gather that the houses were
+three or four stories high, suggesting that the tenement system
+was not unknown, and according to Q. Curtius, nearly half of the
+area occupied by the city was taken up by gardens within the
+squares.</p>
+<p>In Greek times Babylon was famous for the hanging or terraced
+gardens of the "new palace", which had been erected by
+Nebuchadnezzar II. These occupied a square which was more than a
+quarter of a mile in circumference. Great stone terraces, resting
+on arches, rose up like a giant stairway to a height of about
+three hundred and fifty feet, and the whole structure was
+strengthened by a surrounding wall over twenty feet in thickness.
+So deep were the layers of mould on each terrace that fruit trees
+were grown amidst the plants of luxuriant foliage and the
+brilliant Asian flowers. Water for irrigating the gardens was
+raised from the river by a mechanical contrivance to a great
+cistern situated on the highest terrace, and it was prevented
+from leaking out of the soil by layers of reeds and bitumen and
+sheets of lead. Spacious apartments, luxuriously furnished and
+decorated, were constructed in the spaces between the arches and
+were festooned by flowering creepers. A broad stairway ascended
+from terrace to terrace.</p>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.221" name="page.anchor.221"></a>The old
+palace stood in a square nearly four miles in circumference, and
+was strongly protected by three walls, which were decorated by
+sculptures in low relief, representing battle scenes and scenes
+of the chase and royal ceremonies. Winged bulls with human heads
+guarded the main entrance.</p>
+<p>Another architectural feature of the city was E-sagila, the
+temple of Bel Merodach, known to the Greeks as "Jupiter-Belus".
+The high wall which enclosed it had gates of solid brass. "In the
+middle of the precinct", wrote Herodotus, "there was a tower of
+solid masonry, a furlong in length and breadth, upon which was
+raised a second tower, and on that a third, and so on up to
+eight. The ascent to the top is on the outside, by a path which
+winds round all the towers. When one is about halfway up, one
+finds a resting-place and seats, where persons are wont to sit
+some time on their way to the summit. On the topmost tower there
+is a spacious temple, and inside the temple stands a couch of
+unusual size, richly adorned, with a golden table by its side.
+There is no statue of any kind set up in the place, nor is the
+chamber occupied of nights by anyone but a single native woman,
+who, as the Chaldaeans, the priests of this god, affirm, is
+chosen for himself by the deity out of all the women of the
+land."</p>
+<p>A woman who was the "wife of Amon" also slept in that god's
+temple at Thebes in Egypt. A similar custom was observed in
+Lycia.</p>
+<p>"Below, in the same precinct," continued Herodotus, "there is
+a second temple, in which is a sitting figure of Jupiter, all of
+gold. Before the figure stands a large golden table, and the
+throne whereon it sits, and the base on which the throne is
+placed, are likewise of pure gold.... Outside the temple are two
+altars, one of solid gold, on which it is only lawful to offer
+sucklings; <a id="page.anchor.222" name="page.anchor.222"></a>the
+other, a common altar, but of great size, on which the full-grown
+animals are sacrificed. It is also on the great altar that the
+Chaldaeans burn the frankincense, which is offered to the amount
+of a thousand talents' weight, every year, at the festival of the
+god. In the time of Cyrus there was likewise in this temple a
+figure of a man, twelve cubits high, entirely of solid gold....
+Besides the ornaments which I have mentioned, there are a large
+number of private offerings in this holy precinct."<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1266" href="#ftn.fnrex1266" id=
+"fnrex1266">266</a>]</span></p>
+<p>The city wall and river gates were closed every night, and
+when Babylon was besieged the people were able to feed
+themselves. The gardens and small farms were irrigated by canals,
+and canals also controlled the flow of the river Euphrates. A
+great dam had been formed above the town to store the surplus
+water during inundation and increase the supply when the river
+sank to its lowest.</p>
+<p>In Hammurabi's time the river was crossed by ferry boats, but
+long ere the Greeks visited the city a great bridge had been
+constructed. So completely did the fierce Sennacherib destroy the
+city, that most of the existing ruins date from the period of
+Nebuchadnezzar II.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1267" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1267" id="fnrex1267">267</a>]</span></p>
+<p>Our knowledge of the social life of Babylon and the territory
+under its control is derived chiefly from the Hammurabi Code of
+laws, of which an almost complete copy was discovered at Susa,
+towards the end of 1901, by the De Morgan expedition. The laws
+were inscribed on a stele of black diorite 7 ft. 3 in. high, with
+a circumference at the base of 6 ft. 2 in. and at the top of 5
+ft. 4 in. This important relic of an ancient law-abiding people
+had been broken in three pieces, but when these <a id=
+"page.anchor.223" name="page.anchor.223"></a>were joined together
+it was found that the text was not much impaired. On one side are
+twenty-eight columns and on the other sixteen. Originally there
+were in all nearly 4000 lines of inscriptions, but five columns,
+comprising about 300 lines, had been erased to give space, it is
+conjectured, for the name of the invader who carried the stele
+away, but unfortunately the record was never made.</p>
+<p>On the upper part of the stele, which is now one of the
+treasures of the Louvre, Paris, King Hammurabi salutes, with his
+right hand reverently upraised, the sun god Shamash, seated on
+his throne, at the summit of E-sagila, by whom he is being
+presented with the stylus with which to inscribe the legal code.
+Both figures are heavily bearded, but have shaven lips and chins.
+The god wears a conical headdress and a flounced robe suspended
+from his left shoulder, while the king has assumed a round
+dome-shaped hat and a flowing garment which almost sweeps the
+ground.</p>
+<p>It is gathered from the Code that there were three chief
+social grades--the aristocracy, which included landowners, high
+officials and administrators; the freemen, who might be wealthy
+merchants or small landholders; and the slaves. The fines imposed
+for a given offence upon wealthy men were much heavier than those
+imposed upon the poor. Lawsuits were heard in courts. Witnesses
+were required to tell the truth, "affirming before the god what
+they knew", and perjurers were severely dealt with; a man who
+gave false evidence in connection with a capital charge was put
+to death. A strict watch was also kept over the judges, and if
+one was found to have willingly convicted a prisoner on
+insufficient evidence he was fined and degraded.</p>
+<p>Theft was regarded as a heinous crime, and was invariably
+<a id="page.anchor.224" name="page.anchor.224"></a>punished by
+death. Thieves included those who made purchases from minors or
+slaves without the sanction of elders or trustees. Sometimes the
+accused was given the alternative of paying a fine, which might
+exceed by ten or even thirty fold the value of the article or
+animal he had appropriated. It was imperative that lost property
+should be restored. If the owner of an article of which he had
+been wrongfully deprived found it in possession of a man who
+declared that he had purchased it from another, evidence was
+taken in court. When it happened that the seller was proved to
+have been the thief, the capital penalty was imposed. On the
+other hand, the alleged purchaser was dealt with in like manner
+if he failed to prove his case. Compensation for property stolen
+by a brigand was paid by the temple, and the heirs of a man slain
+by a brigand within the city had to be compensated by the local
+authority.</p>
+<div class="figure"><a id="id2531547" name="id2531547"></a>
+<p class="title"><b>Figure�X.1.�THE BABYLONIAN MARRIAGE
+MARKET</b></p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<p><span class="emphasis"><em>From the Painting by Edwin Long,
+R.d., in the Royal Holloway College</em></span></p>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="graphic"><img alt="" src="img/22.jpg" /></div>
+<p>Of special interest are the laws which relate to the position
+of women. In this connection reference may first be made to the
+marriage-by-auction custom, which Herodotus described as follows:
+"Once a year in each village the maidens of age to marry were
+collected all together into one place, while the men stood round
+them in a circle. Then a herald called up the damsels one by one,
+and offered them for sale. He began with the most beautiful. When
+she was sold for no small sum of money, he offered for sale the
+one who came next to her in beauty. All of them were sold to be
+wives. The richest of the Babylonians who wished to wed bid
+against each other for the loveliest maidens, while the humbler
+wife-seekers, who were indifferent about beauty, took the more
+homely damsels with marriage portions. For the custom was that
+when the herald had gone through the whole number of the
+beautiful <a id="page.anchor.225" name=
+"page.anchor.225"></a>damsels, he should then call up the
+ugliest--a cripple, if there chanced to be one--and offer her to
+the men, asking who would agree to take her with the smallest
+marriage portion. And the man who offered to take the smallest
+sum had her assigned to him. The marriage portions were furnished
+by the money paid for the beautiful damsels, and thus the fairer
+maidens portioned out the uglier. No one was allowed to give his
+daughter in marriage to the man of his choice, nor might anyone
+carry away the damsel whom he had purchased without finding bail
+really and truly to make her his wife; if, however, it turned out
+that they did not agree, the money might be paid back. All who
+liked might come, even from distant villages, and bid for the
+women."<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1268" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1268" id="fnrex1268">268</a>]</span></p>
+<p>This custom is mentioned by other writers, but it is
+impossible to ascertain at what period it became prevalent in
+Babylonia and by whom it was introduced. Herodotus understood
+that it obtained also in "the Illyrian tribe of the Eneti", which
+was reputed to have entered Italy with Antenor after the fall of
+Troy, and has been identified with the Venetians of later times.
+But the ethnic clue thus afforded is exceedingly vague. There is
+no direct reference to the custom in the Hammurabi Code, which
+reveals a curious blending of the principles of "Father right"
+and "Mother right". A girl was subject to her father's will; he
+could dispose of her as he thought best, and she always remained
+a member of his family; after marriage she was known as the
+daughter of so and so rather than the wife of so and so. But
+marriage brought her freedom and the rights of citizenship. The
+power vested in her father was never transferred to her
+husband.</p>
+<p>A father had the right to select a suitable spouse for <a id=
+"page.anchor.226" name="page.anchor.226"></a>his daughter, and
+she could not marry without his consent. That this law did not
+prevent "love matches" is made evident by the fact that provision
+was made in the Code for the marriage of a free woman with a male
+slave, part of whose estate in the event of his wife's death
+could be claimed by his master.</p>
+<p>When a betrothal was arranged, the father fixed the "bride
+price", which was paid over before the contract could be
+concluded, and he also provided a dowry. The amount of the "bride
+price" might, however, be refunded to the young couple to give
+them a start in life. If, during the interval between betrothal
+and marriage, the man "looked upon another woman", and said to
+his father-in-law, "I will not marry your daughter", he forfeited
+the "bride price" for breach of promise of marriage.</p>
+<p>A girl might also obtain a limited degree of freedom by taking
+vows of celibacy and becoming one of the vestal virgins, or nuns,
+who were attached to the temple of the sun god. She did not,
+however, live a life of entire seclusion. If she received her due
+proportion of her father's estate, she could make business
+investments within certain limits. She was not, for instance,
+allowed to own a wineshop, and if she even entered one she was
+burned at the stake. Once she took these vows she had to observe
+them until the end of her days. If she married, as she might do
+to obtain the legal status of a married woman and enjoy the
+privileges of that position, she denied her husband conjugal
+rites, but provided him with a concubine who might bear him
+children, as Sarah did to Abraham. These nuns must not be
+confused with the unmoral women who were associated with the
+temples of Ishtar and other love goddesses of shady repute.</p>
+<p>The freedom secured by a married woman had its <a id=
+"page.anchor.227" name="page.anchor.227"></a>legal limitations.
+If she became a widow, for instance, she could not remarry
+without the consent of a judge, to whom she was expected to show
+good cause for the step she proposed to take. Punishments for
+breaches of the marriage law were severe. Adultery was a capital
+crime; the guilty parties were bound together and thrown into the
+river. If it happened, however, that the wife of a prisoner went
+to reside with another man on account of poverty, she was
+acquitted and allowed to return to her husband after his release.
+In cases where no plea of poverty could be urged the erring women
+were drowned. The wife of a soldier who had been taken prisoner
+by an enemy was entitled to a third part of her husband's estate
+if her son was a minor, the remainder was held in trust. The
+husband could enter into possession of all his property again if
+he happened to return home.</p>
+<p>Divorce was easily obtained. A husband might send his wife
+away either because she was childless or because he fell in love
+with another woman. Incompatibility of temperament was also
+recognized as sufficient reason for separation. A woman might
+hate her husband and wish to leave him. "If", the Code sets
+forth, "she is careful and is without blame, and is neglected by
+her husband who has deserted her", she can claim release from the
+marriage contract. But if she is found to have another lover, and
+is guilty of neglecting her duties, she is liable to be put to
+death.</p>
+<p>A married woman possessed her own property. Indeed, the value
+of her marriage dowry was always vested in her. When, therefore,
+she divorced her husband, or was divorced by him, she was
+entitled to have her dowry refunded and to return to her father's
+house. Apparently she could claim maintenance from her
+father.</p>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.228" name="page.anchor.228"></a>A woman
+could have only one husband, but a man could have more than one
+wife. He might marry a secondary wife, or concubine, because he
+was without offspring, but "the concubine", the Code lays down,
+"shall not rank with the wife". Another reason for second
+marriage recognized by law was a wife's state of health. In such
+circumstances a man could not divorce his sickly wife. He had to
+support her in his house as long as she lived.</p>
+<p>Children were the heirs of their parents, but if a man during
+his lifetime gifted his property to his wife, and confirmed it on
+"a sealed tablet", the children could have no claim, and the
+widow was entitled to leave her estate to those of her children
+she preferred; but she could not will any portion of it to her
+brothers. In ordinary cases the children of a first marriage
+shared equally the estate of a father with those of a second
+marriage. If a slave bore children to her employer, their right
+to inheritance depended on whether or not the father had
+recognized them as his offspring during his lifetime. A father
+might legally disown his son if the young man was guilty of
+criminal practices.</p>
+<p>The legal rights of a vestal virgin were set forth in detail.
+If she had received no dowry from her father when she took vows
+of celibacy, she could claim after his death one-third of the
+portion of a son. She could will her estate to anyone she
+favoured, but if she died intestate her brothers were her heirs.
+When, however, her estate consisted of fields or gardens allotted
+to her by her father, she could not disinherit her legal heirs.
+The fields or gardens might be worked during her lifetime by her
+brothers if they paid rent, or she might employ a manager on the
+"share system".</p>
+<p>Vestal virgins and married women were protected <a id=
+"page.anchor.229" name="page.anchor.229"></a>against the
+slanderer. Any man who "pointed the finger" against them
+unjustifiably was charged with the offence before a judge, who
+could sentence him to have his forehead branded. It was not
+difficult, therefore, in ancient Babylonia to discover the men
+who made malicious and unfounded statements regarding an innocent
+woman. Assaults on women were punished according to the victim's
+rank; even slaves were protected.</p>
+<p>Women appear to have monopolized the drink traffic. At any
+rate, there is no reference to male wine sellers. A female
+publican had to conduct her business honestly, and was bound to
+accept a legal tender. If she refused corn and demanded silver,
+when the value of the silver by "grand weight" was below the
+price of corn, she was prosecuted and punished by being thrown
+into the water. Perhaps she was simply ducked. As much may be
+inferred from the fact that when she was found guilty of allowing
+rebels to meet in her house, she was put to death.</p>
+<p>The land laws were strict and exacting. A tenant could be
+penalized for not cultivating his holding properly. The rent paid
+was a proportion of the crop, but the proportion could be fixed
+according to the average yield of a district, so that a careless
+or inefficient tenant had to bear the brunt of his neglect or
+want of skill. The punishment for allowing a field to lie fallow
+was to make a man hoe and sow it and then hand it over to his
+landlord, and this applied even to a man who leased unreclaimed
+land which he had contracted to cultivate. Damage done to fields
+by floods after the rent was paid was borne by the cultivator;
+but if it occurred before the corn was reaped the landlord's
+share was calculated in proportion to the amount of the yield
+which was recovered. Allowance was also made for poor harvests,
+when the <a id="page.anchor.230" name=
+"page.anchor.230"></a>shortage was not due to the neglect of the
+tenant, but to other causes, and no interest was paid for
+borrowed money even if the farm suffered from the depredations of
+the tempest god; the moneylender had to share risks with
+borrowers. Tenants who neglected their dykes, however, were not
+exempted from their legal liabilities, and their whole estates
+could be sold to reimburse their creditors.</p>
+<p>The industrious were protected against the careless. Men who
+were negligent about controlling the water supply, and caused
+floods by opening irrigation ditches which damaged the crops of
+their neighbours, had to pay for the losses sustained, the
+damages being estimated according to the average yield of a
+district. A tenant who allowed his sheep to stray on to a
+neighbour's pasture had to pay a heavy fine in corn at the
+harvest season, much in excess of the value of the grass cropped
+by his sheep. Gardeners were similarly subject to strict laws.
+All business contracts had to be conducted according to the
+provisions of the Code, and in every case it was necessary that a
+proper record should be made on clay tablets. As a rule a
+dishonest tenant or trader had to pay sixfold the value of the
+sum under dispute if the judge decided in court against his
+claim.</p>
+<p>The law of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth was
+strictly observed in Babylonia. A freeman who destroyed an eye of
+a freeman had one of his own destroyed; if he broke a bone, he
+had a bone broken. Fines were imposed, however, when a slave was
+injured. For striking a gentleman, a commoner received sixty
+lashes, and the son who smote his father had his hands cut off. A
+slave might have his ears cut off for assaulting his master's
+son.</p>
+<p>Doctors must have found their profession an extremely <a id=
+"page.anchor.231" name="page.anchor.231"></a>risky one. No
+allowance was made for what is nowadays known as a "professional
+error". A doctor's hands were cut off if he opened a wound with a
+metal knife and his patient afterwards died, or if a man lost his
+eye as the result of an operation. A slave who died under a
+doctor's hands had to be replaced by a slave, and if a slave lost
+his eye, the doctor had to pay half the man's market value to the
+owner. Professional fees were fixed according to a patient's
+rank. Gentlemen had to pay five shekels of silver to a doctor who
+set a bone or restored diseased flesh, commoners three shekels,
+and masters for their slaves two shekels. There was also a scale
+of fees for treating domesticated animals, and it was not
+over-generous. An unfortunate surgeon who undertook to treat an
+ox or ass suffering from a severe wound had to pay a quarter of
+its price to its owner if it happened to die. A shrewd farmer who
+was threatened with the loss of an animal must have been
+extremely anxious to engage the services of a surgeon.</p>
+<p>It is not surprising, after reviewing this part of the
+Hammurabi Code, to find Herodotus stating bluntly that the
+Babylonians had no physicians. "When a man is ill", he wrote,
+"they lay him in the public square, and the passers-by come up to
+him, and if they have ever had his disease themselves, or have
+known anyone who has suffered from it, they give him advice,
+recommending him to do whatever they found good in their own
+case, or in the case known to them; and no one is allowed to pass
+the sick man in silence without asking him what his ailment is."
+One might imagine that Hammurabi had legislated the medical
+profession out of existence, were it not that letters have been
+found in the Assyrian library of Ashur-banipal which indicate
+that skilled physicians were held in high repute. It is
+improbable, however, <a id="page.anchor.232" name=
+"page.anchor.232"></a>that they were numerous. The risks they ran
+in Babylonia may account for their ultimate disappearance in that
+country.</p>
+<p>No doubt patients received some benefit from exposure in the
+streets in the sunlight and fresh air, and perhaps, too, from
+some of the old wives' remedies which were gratuitously
+prescribed by passers-by. In Egypt, where certain of the folk
+cures were recorded on papyri, quite effective treatment was
+occasionally given, although the "medicines" were exceedingly
+repugnant as a rule; ammonia, for instance, was taken with the
+organic substances found in farmyards. Elsewhere some wonderful
+instances of excellent folk cures have come to light, especially
+among isolated peoples, who have received them interwoven in
+their immemorial traditions. A medical man who has investigated
+this interesting subject in the Scottish Highlands has shown that
+"the simple observation of the people was the starting-point of
+our fuller knowledge, however complete we may esteem it to be".
+For dropsy and heart troubles, foxglove, broom tops, and juniper
+berries, which have reputations "as old as the hills", are "the
+most reliable medicines in our scientific armoury at the present
+time". These discoveries of the ancient folks have been "merely
+elaborated in later days". Ancient cures for indigestion are
+still in use. "Tar water, which was a remedy for chest troubles,
+especially for those of a consumptive nature, has endless
+imitations in our day"; it was also "the favourite remedy for
+skin diseases". No doubt the present inhabitants of Babylonia,
+who utilize bitumen as a germicide, are perpetuating an ancient
+folk custom.</p>
+<p>This medical man who is being quoted adds: "The whole matter
+may be summed up, that we owe infinitely more to the simple
+nature study of our people in the <a id="page.anchor.233" name=
+"page.anchor.233"></a>great affair of health than we owe to all
+the later science."<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1269" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1269" id="fnrex1269">269</a>]</span></p>
+<p>Herodotus, commenting on the custom of patients taking a
+census of folk cures in the streets, said it was one of the
+wisest institutions of the Babylonian people. It is to be
+regretted that he did not enter into details regarding the
+remedies which were in greatest favour in his day. His data would
+have been useful for comparative purposes.</p>
+<p>So far as can be gathered from the clay tablets, faith cures
+were not unknown, and there was a good deal of quackery. If
+surgery declined, as a result of the severe restrictions which
+hampered progress in an honourable profession, magic flourished
+like tropical fungi. Indeed, the worker of spells was held in
+high repute, and his operations were in most cases allowed free
+play. There are only two paragraphs in the Hammurabi Code which
+deal with magical practices. It is set forth that if one man
+cursed another and the curse could not be justified, the
+perpetrator of it must suffer the death penalty. Provision was
+also made for discovering whether a spell had been legally
+imposed or not. The victim was expected to plunge himself in a
+holy river. If the river carried him away it was held as proved
+that he deserved his punishment, and "the layer of the spell" was
+given possession of the victim's house. A man who could swim was
+deemed to be innocent; he claimed the residence of "the layer of
+the spell", who was promptly put to death. With this interesting
+glimpse of ancient superstition the famous Code opens, and then
+strikes a modern note by detailing the punishments for perjury
+and the unjust administration of law in the courts.</p>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.234" name="page.anchor.234"></a>The poor
+sufferers who gathered at street corners in Babylon to make mute
+appeal for cures believed that they were possessed by evil
+spirits. Germs of disease were depicted by lively imaginations as
+invisible demons, who derived nourishment from the human body.
+When a patient was wasted with disease, growing thinner and
+weaker and more bloodless day by day, it was believed that a
+merciless vampire was sucking his veins and devouring his flesh.
+It had therefore to be expelled by performing a magical ceremony
+and repeating a magical formula. The demon was either driven or
+enticed away.</p>
+<p>A magician had to decide in the first place what particular
+demon was working evil. He then compelled its attention and
+obedience by detailing its attributes and methods of attack, and
+perhaps by naming it. Thereafter he suggested how it should next
+act by releasing a raven, so that it might soar towards the
+clouds like that bird, or by offering up a sacrifice which it
+received for nourishment and as compensation. Another popular
+method was to fashion a waxen figure of the patient and prevail
+upon the disease demon to enter it. The figure was then carried
+away to be thrown in the river or burned in a fire.</p>
+<p>Occasionally a quite effective cure was included in the
+ceremony. As much is suggested by the magical treatment of
+toothache. First of all the magician identified the toothache
+demon as "the worm". Then he recited its history, which is as
+follows: After Anu created the heavens, the heavens created the
+earth, the earth created the rivers, the rivers created the
+canals, the canals created the marshes, and last of all the
+marshes created "the worm".</p>
+<p>This display of knowledge compelled the worm to listen, and no
+doubt the patient was able to indicate to <a id="page.anchor.235"
+name="page.anchor.235"></a>what degree it gave evidence of its
+agitated mind. The magician continued:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Came the worm and wept before
+Shamash,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Before Ea came her tears:</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>"What wilt thou give me for my
+food,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>What wilt thou give me to
+devour?"</tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>One of the deities answered: "I will give thee dried bones and
+scented ... wood"; but the hungry worm protested:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>"Nay, what are these dried bones of
+thine to me?</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Let me drink among the
+teeth;</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>And set me on the gums</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>That I may devour the blood of the
+teeth,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>And of their gums destroy their
+strength--</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Then shall I hold the bolt of the
+door."</tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>The magician provided food for "the worm", and the following
+is his recipe: "Mix beer, the plant sa-kil-bir, and oil together;
+put it on the tooth and repeat Incantation." No doubt this
+mixture soothed the pain, and the sufferer must have smiled
+gladly when the magician finished his incantation by
+exclaiming:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>"So must thou say this, O
+Worm!</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>May Ea smite thee with the might of his
+fist."<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1270" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1270" id="fnrex1270">270</a>]</span></tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>Headaches were no doubt much relieved when damp cloths were
+wrapped round a patient's head and scented wood was burned beside
+him, while the magician, in whom so much faith was reposed,
+droned out a mystical incantation. The curative water was drawn
+from the confluence of two streams and was sprinkled with much
+ceremony. In like manner the evil-eye curers, who still <a id=
+"page.anchor.236" name="page.anchor.236"></a>operate in isolated
+districts in these islands, draw water from under bridges "over
+which the dead and the living pass",<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1271" href="#ftn.fnrex1271" id="fnrex1271">271</a>]</span>
+and mutter charms and lustrate victims.</p>
+<p>Headaches were much dreaded by the Babylonians. They were
+usually the first symptoms of fevers, and the demons who caused
+them were supposed to be bloodthirsty and exceedingly awesome.
+According to the charms, these invisible enemies of man were of
+the brood of Nergal. No house could be protected against them.
+They entered through keyholes and chinks of doors and windows;
+they crept like serpents and stank like mice; they had lolling
+tongues like hungry dogs.</p>
+<p>Magicians baffled the demons by providing a charm. If a
+patient "touched iron"--meteoric iron, which was the "metal of
+heaven"--relief could be obtained. Or, perhaps, the sacred water
+would dispel the evil one; as the drops trickled from the
+patient's face, so would the fever spirit trickle away. When a
+pig was offered up in sacrifice as a substitute for a patient,
+the wicked spirit was commanded to depart and allow a kindly
+spirit to take its place--an indication that the Babylonians,
+like the Germanic peoples, believed that they were guarded by
+spirits who brought good luck.</p>
+<p>The numerous incantations which were inscribed on clay tablets
+and treasured in libraries, do not throw much light on the
+progress of medical knowledge, for the genuine folk cures were
+regarded as of secondary importance, and were not as a rule
+recorded. But these metrical compositions are of special
+interest, in so far as they indicate how poetry originated and
+achieved widespread popularity among ancient peoples. Like the
+religious dance, the earliest poems were used for magical
+purposes. They were composed in the first place by men <a id=
+"page.anchor.237" name="page.anchor.237"></a>and women who were
+supposed to be inspired in the literal sense; that is, possessed
+by spirits. Primitive man associated "spirit" with "breath",
+which was the "air of life", and identical with wind. The
+poetical magician drew in a "spirit", and thus received
+inspiration, as he stood on some sacred spot on the mountain
+summit, amidst forest solitudes, beside a' whispering stream, or
+on the sounding shore. As Burns has sung:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>The muse, nae poet ever fand
+her,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Till by himsel' he learn'd to
+wander,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Adown some trottin' burn's
+meander,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>��An' no think lang:</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>O sweet to stray, an' pensive
+ponder</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>��A heart-felt sang!</tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>Or, perhaps, the bard received inspiration by drinking magic
+water from the fountain called Hippocrene, or the skaldic mead
+which dripped from the moon.</p>
+<p>The ancient poet did not sing for the mere love of singing: he
+knew nothing about "Art for Art's sake". His object in singing
+appears to have been intensely practical. The world was inhabited
+by countless hordes of spirits, which were believed to be ever
+exercising themselves to influence mankind. The spirits caused
+suffering; they slew victims; they brought misfortune; they were
+also the source of good or "luck". Man regarded spirits
+emotionally; he conjured them with emotion; he warded off their
+attacks with emotion; and his emotions were given rhythmical
+expression by means of metrical magical charms.</p>
+<p>Poetic imagery had originally a magical significance; if the
+ocean was compared to a dragon, it was because it was supposed to
+be inhabited by a storm-causing dragon; the wind whispered
+because a spirit whispered in it. <a id="page.anchor.238" name=
+"page.anchor.238"></a>Love lyrics were charms to compel the love
+god to wound or possess a maiden's heart--to fill it, as an
+Indian charm sets forth, with "the yearning of the Apsaras
+(fairies)"; satires conjured up evil spirits to injure a victim;
+and heroic narratives chanted at graves were statements made to
+the god of battle, so that he might award the mighty dead by
+transporting him to the Valhal of Odin or Swarga of Indra.</p>
+<p>Similarly, music had magical origin as an imitation of the
+voices of spirits--of the piping birds who were "Fates", of the
+wind high and low, of the thunder roll, of the bellowing sea. So
+the god Pan piped on his reed bird-like notes, Indra blew his
+thunder horn, Thor used his hammer like a drumstick, Neptune
+imitated on his "wreathed horn" the voice of the deep, the Celtic
+oak god Dagda twanged his windy wooden harp, and Angus, the
+Celtic god of spring and love, came through budding forest ways
+with a silvern harp which had strings of gold, echoing the
+tuneful birds, the purling streams, the whispering winds, and the
+rustling of scented fir and blossoming thorn.</p>
+<p>Modern-day poets and singers, who voice their moods and cast
+the spell of their moods over readers and audiences, are the
+representatives of ancient magicians who believed that moods were
+caused by the spirits which possessed them--the rhythmical wind
+spirits, those harpers of the forest and songsters of ocean.</p>
+<p>The following quotations from Mr. R.C. Thompson's translations
+of Babylonian charms will serve to illustrate their poetic
+qualities:--</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>��Fever like frost hath come upon the
+land.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>�</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Fever hath blown upon the man as the
+wind blast,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>It hath smitten the man and humbled his
+pride.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>�</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt><a id="page.anchor.239" name=
+"page.anchor.239"></a>Headache lieth like the stars of heaven in
+the desert and hath no praise;</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Pain in the head and shivering like a
+scudding cloud turn unto the form of man.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>�</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>����Headache whose course like the
+dread windstorm none knoweth.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>�</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>����Headache roareth over the desert,
+blowing like the wind,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>����Flashing like lightning, it is
+loosed above and below,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>����It cutteth off him, who feareth not
+his god, like a reed ...</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>����From amid mountains it hath
+descended upon the land.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>�</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>��������Headache ... a rushing
+hag-demon,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>��������Granting no rest, nor giving
+kindly sleep ...</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>��������Whose shape is as the
+whirlwind.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>��������Its appearance is as the
+darkening heavens,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>��������And its face as the deep shadow
+of the forest.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>�</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>����Sickness ... breaking the fingers
+as a rope of wind ...</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>����Flashing like a heavenly star, it
+cometh like the dew.</tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>These early poets had no canons of Art, and there were no
+critics to disturb their meditations. Many singers had to sing
+and die ere a critic could find much to say. In ancient times,
+therefore, poets had their Golden Age-- they were a law unto
+themselves. Even the "minors" were influential members of
+society.</p>
+<div class="footnotes"><br />
+<hr width="100" align="left" />
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1264" href="#fnrex1264" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1264">264</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Herodotus</em></span>, book i, 179 (Rawlinson's
+translation).</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1265" href="#fnrex1265" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1265">265</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Isaiah</em></span>, xlv, 1, 2.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1266" href="#fnrex1266" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1266">266</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Herodotus</em></span>, book i, 181-3 (Rawlinson's
+translation).</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1267" href="#fnrex1267" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1267">267</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>History of Sumer and Akkad</em></span>, L.W. King,
+p. 37.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1268" href="#fnrex1268" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1268">268</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Herodotus</em></span>, book i, 196 (Rawlinson's
+translation).</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1269" href="#fnrex1269" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1269">269</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>Home
+Life of the Highlanders</em></span> (Dr. Cameron Gillies on
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Medical Knowledge</em></span>,) pp. 85
+<span class="emphasis"><em>et seq.</em></span> Glasgow,
+1911.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1270" href="#fnrex1270" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1270">270</a>]</span> Translations by R.C. Thompson in
+<span class="emphasis"><em>The Devils and Spirits of
+Babylon</em></span>, vol. i, pp. lxiii <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>et seq</em></span>.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1271" href="#fnrex1271" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1271">271</a>]</span> Bridges which lead to
+graveyards.</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="chapter" lang="en" xml:lang="en">
+<div class="titlepage">
+<div>
+<div>
+<h2 class="title"><a id="id2532489" name=
+"id2532489"></a>Chapter�XI.�The Golden Age of Babylonia</h2>
+</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="abstract">
+<p class="title"><b>Abstract</b></p>
+<p>Rise of the Sun God--Amorites and Elamites struggle for
+Ascendancy--The Conquering Ancestors of Hammurabi--Sumerian
+Cities Destroyed--Widespread Race Movements--Phoenician Migration
+from Persian Gulf--Wanderings of Abraham and Lot--Biblical
+References to Hittites and Amorites--Battles of Four Kings with
+Five--Amraphel, Arioch, and Tidal--Hammurabi's Brilliant
+Reign--Elamite Power Stamped Out--Babylon's Great General and
+Statesman--The Growth of Commerce, Agriculture, and Education--An
+Ancient School--Business and Private Correspondence--A Love
+Letter--Postal System--Hammurabi's Successors--The Earliest
+Kassites--The Sealand Dynasty--Hittite Raid on Babylon and Hyksos
+Invasion of Egypt.</p>
+</div>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.240" name="page.anchor.240"></a> Sun
+worship came into prominence in its most fully developed form
+during the obscure period which followed the decline of the
+Dynasty of Isin. This was probably due to the changed political
+conditions which brought about the ascendancy for a time of
+Larsa, the seat of the Sumerian sun cult, and of Sippar, the seat
+of the Akkadian sun cult. Larsa was selected as the capital of
+the Elamite conquerors, while their rivals, the Amorites, appear
+to have first established their power at Sippar.</p>
+<p>Babbar, the sun god of Sippar, whose Semitic name was Shamash,
+must have been credited with the early successes of the Amorites,
+who became domiciled under his care, and it was possibly on that
+account that the ruling family subsequently devoted so much
+attention to his worship in Merodach's city of Babylon, where a
+sun temple was erected, and Shamash received devout recognition
+<a id="page.anchor.241" name="page.anchor.241"></a>as an abstract
+deity of righteousness and law, who reflected the ideals of well
+organized and firmly governed communities.</p>
+<p>The first Amoritic king was Sumu-abum, but little is known
+regarding him except that he reigned at Sippar. He was succeeded
+by Sumu-la-ilu, a deified monarch, who moved from Sippar to
+Babylon, the great wall of which he either repaired or entirely
+reconstructed in his fifth year. With these two monarchs began
+the brilliant Hammurabi, or First Dynasty of Babylonia, which
+endured for three centuries. Except Sumu-abum, who seems to stand
+alone, all its kings belonged to the same family, and son
+succeeded father in unbroken succession.</p>
+<p>Sumu-la-ilu was evidently a great general and conqueror of the
+type of Thothmes III of Egypt. His empire, it is believed,
+included the rising city states of Assyria, and extended
+southward as far as ancient Lagash.</p>
+<p>Of special interest on religious as well as political grounds
+was his association with Kish. That city had become the
+stronghold of a rival family of Amoritic kings, some of whom were
+powerful enough to assert their independence. They formed the
+Third Dynasty of Kish. The local god was Zamama, the Tammuz-like
+deity, who, like Nin-Girsu of Lagash, was subsequently identified
+with Merodach of Babylon. But prominence was also given to the
+moon god Nannar, to whom a temple had been erected, a fact which
+suggests that sun worship was not more pronounced among the
+Semites than the Arabians, and may not, indeed, have been of
+Semitic origin at all. Perhaps the lunar temple was a relic of
+the influential Dynasty of Ur.</p>
+<p>Sumu-la-ilu attacked and captured Kish, but did not slay
+Bunutakhtunila, its king, who became his vassal. Under the
+overlordship of Sumu-la-ilu, the next ruler of <a id=
+"page.anchor.242" name="page.anchor.242"></a>Kish, whose name was
+Immerum, gave prominence to the public worship of Shamash.
+Politics and religion went evidently hand in hand.</p>
+<p>Sumu-la-ilu strengthened the defences of Sippar, restored the
+wall and temple of Cuthah, and promoted the worship of Merodach
+and his consort Zerpanitu<span class='phonetic'>m</span> at
+Babylon. He was undoubtedly one of the forceful personalities of
+his dynasty. His son, Zabium, had a short but successful reign,
+and appears to have continued the policy of his father in
+consolidating the power of Babylon and securing the allegiance of
+subject cities. He enlarged Merodach's temple, E-sagila, restored
+the Kish temple of Zamama, and placed a golden image of himself
+in the temple of the sun god at Sippar. Apil-Sin, his son,
+surrounded Babylon with a new wall, erected a temple to Ishtar,
+and presented a throne of gold and silver to Shamash in that
+city, while he also strengthened Borsippa, renewed Nergal's
+temple at Cuthah, and dug canals.</p>
+<p>The next monarch was Sin-muballit, son of Apil-Sin and father
+of Hammurabi. He engaged himself in extending and strengthening
+the area controlled by Babylon by building city fortifications
+and improving the irrigation system. It is recorded that he
+honoured Shamash with the gift of a shrine and a golden altar
+adorned with jewels. Like Sumu-la-ilu, he was a great battle
+lord, and was specially concerned in challenging the supremacy of
+Elam in Sumeria and in the western land of the Amorites.</p>
+<p>For a brief period a great conqueror, named Rim-Anum, had
+established an empire which extended from Kish to Larsa, but
+little is known regarding him. Then several kings flourished at
+Larsa who claimed to have ruled over Ur. The first monarch with
+an Elamite name who became connected with Larsa was Kudur-Mabug,
+<a id="page.anchor.243" name="page.anchor.243"></a>son of
+Shimti-Shilkhak, the father of Warad-Sin and Rim-Sin.</p>
+<p>It was from one of these Elamite monarchs that Sin-muballit
+captured Isin, and probably the Elamites were also the leaders of
+the army of Ur which he had routed before that event took place.
+He was not successful, however, in driving the Elamites from the
+land, and possibly he arranged with them a treaty of peace or
+perhaps of alliance.</p>
+<p>Much controversy has been waged over the historical problems
+connected with this disturbed age. The records are exceedingly
+scanty, because the kings were not in the habit of commemorating
+battles which proved disastrous to them, and their fragmentary
+references to successes are not sufficient to indicate what
+permanent results accrued from their various campaigns. All we
+know for certain is that for a considerable period, extending
+perhaps over a century, a tremendous and disastrous struggle was
+waged at intervals, which desolated middle Babylonia. At least
+five great cities were destroyed by fire, as is testified by the
+evidence accumulated by excavators. These were Lagash, Umma,
+Shurruppak, Kisurra, and Adab. The ancient metropolis of Lagash,
+whose glory had been revived by Gudea and his kinsmen, fell soon
+after the rise of Larsa, and lay in ruins until the second
+century B.C., when, during the Seleucid Period, it was again
+occupied for a time. From its mound at Tello, and the buried
+ruins of the other cities, most of the relics of ancient Sumerian
+civilization have been recovered.</p>
+<p>It was probably during one of the intervals of this stormy
+period that the rival kings in Babylonia joined forces against a
+common enemy and invaded the Western Land. Probably there was
+much unrest there. Great ethnic disturbances were in progress
+which were changing <a id="page.anchor.244" name=
+"page.anchor.244"></a>the political complexion of Western Asia.
+In addition to the outpourings of Arabian peoples into Palestine
+and Syria, which propelled other tribes to invade Mesopotamia,
+northern Babylonia, and Assyria, there was also much unrest all
+over the wide area to north and west of Elam. Indeed, the Elamite
+migration into southern Babylonia may not have been unconnected
+with the southward drift of roving bands from Media and the
+Iranian plateau.</p>
+<p>It is believed that these migrations were primarily due to
+changing climatic conditions, a prolonged "Dry Cycle" having
+caused a shortage of herbage, with the result that pastoral
+peoples were compelled to go farther and farther afield in quest
+of "fresh woods and pastures new". Innumerable currents and cross
+currents were set in motion once these race movements swept
+towards settled districts either to flood them with human waves,
+or surround them like islands in the midst of tempest-lashed
+seas, fretting the frontiers with restless fury, and ever groping
+for an inlet through which to flow with irresistible force.</p>
+<p>The Elamite occupation of Southern Babylonia appears to have
+propelled migrations of not inconsiderable numbers of its
+inhabitants. No doubt the various sections moved towards
+districts which were suitable for their habits of life.
+Agriculturists, for instance, must have shown preference for
+those areas which were capable of agricultural development, while
+pastoral folks sought grassy steppes and valleys, and seafarers
+the shores of alien seas.</p>
+<p>Northern Babylonia and Assyria probably attracted the tillers
+of the soil. But the movements of seafarers must have followed a
+different route. It is possible that about this time the
+Phoenicians began to migrate towards the "Upper Sea". According
+to their own traditions their racial cradle was on the northern
+shore of the Persian <a id="page.anchor.245" name=
+"page.anchor.245"></a>Gulf. So far as we know, they first made
+their appearance on the Mediterranean coast about 2000 B.C.,
+where they subsequently entered into competition as sea traders
+with the mariners of ancient Crete. Apparently the pastoral
+nomads pressed northward through Mesopotamia and towards Canaan.
+As much is suggested by the Biblical narrative which deals with
+the wanderings of Terah, Abraham, and Lot. Taking with them their
+"flocks and herds and tents", and accompanied by wives, and
+families, and servants, they migrated, it is stated, from the
+Sumerian city of Ur northwards to Haran "and dwelt there". After
+Terah's death the tribe wandered through Canaan and kept moving
+southward, unable, it would seem, to settle permanently in any
+particular district. At length "there was a famine in the
+land"--an interesting reference to the "Dry Cycle"--and the
+wanderers found it necessary to take refuge for a time in Egypt.
+There they appear to have prospered. Indeed, so greatly did their
+flocks and herds increase that when they returned to Canaan they
+found that "the land was not able to bear them", although the
+conditions had improved somewhat during the interval. "There
+was", as a result, "strife between the herdmen of Abram's cattle
+and the herdmen of Lot's cattle."</p>
+<p>It is evident that the area which these pastoral flocks were
+allowed to occupy must have been strictly circumscribed, for more
+than once it is stated significantly that "the Canaanite and the
+Perizzite dwelled in the land". The two kinsmen found it
+necessary, therefore, to part company. Lot elected to go towards
+Sodom in the plain of Jordan, and Abraham then moved towards the
+plain of Mamre, the Amorite, in the Hebron district.<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1272" href="#ftn.fnrex1272" id=
+"fnrex1272">272</a>]</span> With Mamre, and his brothers, Eshcol
+and Aner, the <a id="page.anchor.246" name=
+"page.anchor.246"></a>Hebrew patriarch formed a confederacy for
+mutual protection.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1273" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1273" id="fnrex1273">273</a>]</span></p>
+<p>Other tribes which were in Palestine at this period included
+the Horites, the Rephaims, the Zuzims, the Zamzummims, and the
+Emims. These were probably representatives of the older stocks.
+Like the Amorites, the Hittites or "children of Heth" were
+evidently "late comers", and conquerors. When Abraham purchased
+the burial cave at Hebron, the landowner with whom he had to deal
+was one Ephron, son of Zohar, the Hittite.<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1274" href="#ftn.fnrex1274" id=
+"fnrex1274">274</a>]</span> This illuminating statement agrees
+with what we know regarding Hittite expansion about 2000 B.C. The
+"Hatti" or "Khatti" had constituted military aristocracies
+throughout Syria and extended their influence by forming
+alliances. Many of their settlers were owners of estates, and
+traders who intermarried with the indigenous peoples and the
+Arabian invaders. As has been indicated (Chapter I), the
+large-nosed Armenoid section of the Hittite confederacy appear to
+have contributed to the racial blend known vaguely as the
+Semitic. Probably the particular group of Amorites with whom
+Abraham became associated had those pronounced Armenoid traits
+which can still be traced in representatives of the Hebrew
+people. Of special interest in this connection is Ezekiel's
+declaration regarding the ethnics of Jerusalem: "Thy birth and
+thy nativity", he said, "is of the land of Canaan; thy father was
+an Amorite, and thy mother an Hittite."<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1275" href="#ftn.fnrex1275" id=
+"fnrex1275">275</a>]</span></p>
+<p>It was during Abraham's residence in Hebron that the Western
+Land was raided by a confederacy of Babylonian and Elamite battle
+lords. The Biblical narrative which deals with this episode is of
+particular interest and has long engaged the attention of
+European scholars:</p>
+<p>"And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel <a id=
+"page.anchor.247" name="page.anchor.247"></a>(Hammurabi) king of
+Shinar (Sumer), Arioch (Eri-aku or Warad-Sin) king of Ellasar
+(Larsa), Chedor-laomer (Kudur-Mabug) king of Elam, and Tidal
+(Tudhula) king of nations; that these made war with Bera king of
+Sodom, and with Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah,
+and Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, which is
+Zoar. All these joined together in the vale of Siddim, which is
+the salt sea. Twelve years they served Chedor-laomer, and in the
+thirteenth year they rebelled."<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1276" href="#ftn.fnrex1276" id="fnrex1276">276</a>]</span>
+Apparently the Elamites had conquered part of Syria after
+entering southern Babylonia.</p>
+<p>Chedor-laomer and his allies routed the Rephaims, the Zuzims,
+the Emims, the Horites and others, and having sacked Sodom and
+Gomorrah, carried away Lot and "his goods". On hearing of this
+disaster, Abraham collected a force of three hundred and eighteen
+men, all of whom were no doubt accustomed to guerrilla warfare,
+and delivered a night attack on the tail of the victorious army
+which was withdrawing through the area afterwards allotted to the
+Hebrew tribe of Dan. The surprise was complete; Abraham "smote"
+the enemy and "pursued them unto Hobah, which is on the left hand
+of Damascus. And he brought back all the goods, and also brought
+again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the
+people."<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1277" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1277" id="fnrex1277">277</a>]</span></p>
+<p>The identification of Hammurabi with Amraphel is now generally
+accepted. At first the guttural "h", which gives the English
+rendering "Khammurabi", presented a serious difficulty, but in
+time the form "Ammurapi" which appears on a tablet became known,
+and the conclusion was reached that the softer "h" sound was used
+and not the guttural. The "l" in the Biblical Amraphel <a id=
+"page.anchor.248" name="page.anchor.248"></a>has suggested
+"Ammurapi-ilu", "Hammurabi, the god", but it has been argued, on
+the other hand, that the change may have been due to western
+habitual phonetic conditions, or perhaps the slight alteration of
+an alphabetical sign. Chedor-laomer, identified with Kudur-Mabug,
+may have had several local names. One of his sons, either
+Warad-Sin or Rim-Sin, but probably the former, had his name
+Semitized as Eri-Aku, and this variant appears in inscriptions.
+"Tidal, king of nations", has not been identified. The suggestion
+that he was "King of the Gutium" remains in the realm of
+suggestion. Two late tablets have fragmentary inscriptions which
+read like legends with some historical basis. One mentions
+Kudur-lahmal (?Chedor-laomer) and the other gives the form
+"Kudur-lahgumal", and calls him "King of the land of Elam".
+Eri-Eaku (?Eri-aku) and Tudhula (?Tidal) are also mentioned.
+Attacks had been delivered on Babylon, and the city and its great
+temple E-sagila were flooded. It is asserted that the Elamites
+"exercised sovereignty in Babylon" for a period. These
+interesting tablets have been published by Professor Pinches.</p>
+<p>The fact that the four leaders of the expedition to Canaan are
+all referred to as "kings" in the Biblical narrative need not
+present any difficulty. Princes and other subject rulers who
+governed under an overlord might be and, as a matter of fact,
+were referred to as kings. "I am a king, son of a king", an
+unidentified monarch recorded on one of the two tablets just
+referred to. Kudur-Mabug, King of Elam, during his lifetime
+called his son Warad-Sin (Eri-Aku = Arioch) "King of Larsa". It
+is of interest to note, too, in connection with the Biblical
+narrative regarding the invasion of Syria and Palestine, that he
+styled himself "overseer of the Amurru (Amorites)".</p>
+<div class="figure"><a id="id2532989" name="id2532989"></a>
+<p class="title"><b>Figure�XI.1.�HAMMURABI RECEIVING THE "CODE OF
+LAWS" FROM THE SUN GOD</b></p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<p>(<span class="emphasis"><em>Louvre, Paris</em></span>)</p>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="graphic"><img alt="" src="img/23.jpg" /></div>
+<div class="figure"><a id="id2533007" name="id2533007"></a>
+<p class="title"><b>Figure�XI.2.�THE HORSE IN WARFARE</b></p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<p>Marble slab showing Ashur-natsir-pal and army advancing
+against a besieged town. A battering ram is being drawn on a
+six-wheeled carriage <span class="emphasis"><em>From N.W. Palace
+of Nimroud: now in the British Museum</em></span></p>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="graphic"><img alt="" src="img/24.jpg" /></div>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.249" name="page.anchor.249"></a>No traces
+have yet been found in Palestine of its conquest by the Elamites,
+nor have the excavators been able to substantiate the claim of
+Lugal-zaggizi of a previous age to have extended his empire to
+the shores of the Mediterranean. Any relics which these and other
+eastern conquerors may have left were possibly destroyed by the
+Egyptians and Hittites.</p>
+<p>When Hammurabi came to the throne he had apparently to
+recognize the overlordship of the Elamite king or his royal son
+at Larsa. Although Sin-muballit had captured Isin, it was
+retaken, probably after the death of the Babylonian war-lord, by
+Rim-Sin, who succeeded his brother Warad-Sin, and for a time held
+sway in Lagash, Nippur, and Erech, as well as Larsa.</p>
+<p>It was not until the thirty-first year of his reign that
+Hammurabi achieved ascendancy over his powerful rival. Having
+repulsed an Elamite raid, which was probably intended to destroy
+the growing power of Babylon, he "smote down Rim-Sin", whose
+power he reduced almost to vanishing point. For about twenty
+years afterwards that subdued monarch lived in comparative
+obscurity; then he led a force of allies against Hammurabi's son
+and successor, Samsu-iluna, who defeated him and put him to
+death, capturing, in the course of his campaign, the revolting
+cities of Emutbalum, Erech, and Isin. So was the last smouldering
+ember of Elamite power stamped out in Babylonia.</p>
+<p>Hammurabi, statesman and general, is one of the great
+personalities of the ancient world. No more celebrated monarch
+ever held sway in Western Asia. He was proud of his military
+achievements, but preferred to be remembered as a servant of the
+gods, a just ruler, a father of his people, and "the shepherd
+that gives peace". In the epilogue to his code of laws he refers
+to "the burden <a id="page.anchor.250" name=
+"page.anchor.250"></a>of royalty", and declares that he "cut off
+the enemy" and "lorded it over the conquered" so that his
+subjects might have security. Indeed, his anxiety for their
+welfare was the most pronounced feature of his character. "I
+carried all the people of Sumer and Akkad in my bosom", he
+declared in his epilogue. "By my protection, I guided in peace
+its brothers. By my wisdom I provided for them." He set up his
+stele, on which the legal code was inscribed, so "that the great
+should not oppress the weak" and "to counsel the widow and
+orphan", and "to succour the injured.... The king that is gentle,
+king of the city, exalted am I."<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1278" href="#ftn.fnrex1278" id=
+"fnrex1278">278</a>]</span></p>
+<p>Hammurabi was no mere framer of laws but a practical
+administrator as well. He acted as supreme judge, and his
+subjects could appeal to him as the Romans could to Caesar. Nor
+was any case too trivial for his attention. The humblest man was
+assured that justice would be done if his grievance were laid
+before the king. Hammurabi was no respecter of persons, and
+treated alike all his subjects high and low. He punished corrupt
+judges, protected citizens against unjust governors, reviewed the
+transactions of moneylenders with determination to curb
+extortionate demands, and kept a watchful eye on the operations
+of taxgatherers.</p>
+<p>There can be little doubt but that he won the hearts of his
+subjects, who enjoyed the blessings of just administration under
+a well-ordained political system. He must also have endeared
+himself to them as an exemplary exponent of religious tolerance.
+He respected the various deities in whom the various groups of
+people reposed their faith, restored despoiled temples, and
+re-endowed them with characteristic generosity. By so doing he
+not only <a id="page.anchor.251" name=
+"page.anchor.251"></a>afforded the pious full freedom and
+opportunity to perform their religious ordinances, but also
+promoted the material welfare of his subjects, for the temples
+were centres of culture and the priests were the teachers of the
+young. Excavators have discovered at Sippar traces of a school
+which dates from the Hammurabi Dynasty. Pupils learned to read
+and write, and received instruction in arithmetic and
+mensuration. They copied historical tablets, practised the art of
+composition, and studied geography.</p>
+<p>Although there were many professional scribes, a not
+inconsiderable proportion of the people of both sexes were able
+to write private and business letters. Sons wrote from a distance
+to their fathers when in need of money then as now, and with the
+same air of undeserved martyrdom and subdued but confident
+appeal. One son indited a long complaint regarding the quality of
+the food he was given in his lodgings. Lovers appealed to
+forgetful ladies, showing great concern regarding their health.
+"Inform me how it fares with thee," one wrote four thousand years
+ago. "I went up to Babylon so that I might meet thee, but did
+not, and was much depressed. Let me know why thou didst go away
+so that I may be made glad. And do come hither. Ever have care of
+thy health, remembering me." Even begging-letter writers were not
+unknown. An ancient representative of this class once wrote to
+his employer from prison. He expressed astonishment that he had
+been arrested, and, having protested his innocence, he made
+touching appeal for little luxuries which were denied to him,
+adding that the last consignment which had been forwarded had
+never reached him.</p>
+<p>Letters were often sent by messengers who were named, but
+there also appears to have been some sort of postal system.
+Letter carriers, however, could not <a id="page.anchor.252" name=
+"page.anchor.252"></a>have performed their duties without the
+assistance of beasts of burden. Papyri were not used as in Egypt.
+Nor was ink required. Babylonian letters were shapely little
+bricks resembling cushions. The angular alphabetical characters,
+bristling with thorn-like projections, were impressed with a
+wedge-shaped stylus on tablets of soft clay which were afterwards
+carefully baked in an oven. Then the letters were placed in baked
+clay envelopes, sealed and addressed, or wrapped in pieces of
+sacking transfixed by seals. If the ancient people had a festive
+season which was regarded, like the European Yuletide or the
+Indian Durga fortnight, as an occasion suitable for the general
+exchange of expressions of goodwill, the Babylonian streets and
+highways must have been greatly congested by the postal traffic,
+while muscular postmen worked overtime distributing the contents
+of heavy and bulky letter sacks. Door to door deliveries would
+certainly have presented difficulties. Wood being dear, everyone
+could not afford doors, and some houses were entered by stairways
+leading to the flat and partly open roofs.</p>
+<p>King Hammurabi had to deal daily with a voluminous
+correspondence. He received reports from governors in all parts
+of his realm, legal documents containing appeals, and private
+communications from relatives and others. He paid minute
+attention to details, and was probably one of the busiest men in
+Babylonia. Every day while at home, after worshipping Merodach at
+E-sagila, he dictated letters to his scribes, gave audiences to
+officials, heard legal appeals and issued interlocutors, and
+dealt with the reports regarding his private estates. He looks a
+typical man of affairs in sculptured representations-- shrewd,
+resolute, and unassuming, feeling "the burden of royalty", but
+ever ready and well qualified to discharge <a id=
+"page.anchor.253" name="page.anchor.253"></a>his duties with
+thoroughness and insight. His grasp of detail was equalled only
+by his power to conceive of great enterprises which appealed to
+his imagination. It was a work of genius on his part to weld
+together that great empire of miscellaneous states extending from
+southern Babylonia to Assyria, and from the borders of Elam to
+the Mediterranean coast, by a universal legal Code which secured
+tranquillity and equal rights to all, promoted business, and set
+before his subjects the ideals of right thinking and right
+living.</p>
+<p>Hammurabi recognized that conquest was of little avail unless
+followed by the establishment of a just and well-arranged
+political system, and the inauguration of practical measures to
+secure the domestic, industrial, and commercial welfare of the
+people as a whole. He engaged himself greatly, therefore, in
+developing the natural resources of each particular district. The
+network of irrigating canals was extended in the homeland so that
+agriculture might prosper: these canals also promoted trade, for
+they were utilized for travelling by boat and for the
+distribution of commodities. As a result of his activities
+Babylon became not only the administrative, but also the
+commercial centre of his Empire--the London of Western Asia--and
+it enjoyed a spell of prosperity which was never surpassed in
+subsequent times. Yet it never lost its pre-eminent position
+despite the attempts of rival states, jealous of its glory and
+influence, to suspend its activities. It had been too firmly
+established during the Hammurabi Age, which was the Golden Age of
+Babylonia, as the heartlike distributor and controller of
+business life through a vast network of veins and arteries, to be
+displaced by any other Mesopotamian city to pleasure even a
+mighty monarch. For two thousand years, from the time of
+Hammurabi until the dawn of the <a id="page.anchor.254" name=
+"page.anchor.254"></a>Christian era, the city of Babylon remained
+amidst many political changes the metropolis of Western Asiatic
+commerce and culture, and none was more eloquent in its praises
+than the scholarly pilgrim from Greece who wondered at its
+magnificence and reverenced its antiquities.</p>
+<p>Hammurabi's reign was long as it was prosperous. There is no
+general agreement as to when he ascended the throne--some say in
+2123 B.C., others hold that it was after 2000 B.C.--but it is
+certain that he presided over the destinies of Babylon for the
+long period of forty-three years.</p>
+<p>There are interesting references to the military successes of
+his reign in the prologue to the legal Code. It is related that
+when he "avenged Larsa", the seat of Rim-Sin, he restored there
+the temple of the sun god. Other temples were built up at various
+ancient centres, so that these cultural organizations might
+contribute to the welfare of the localities over which they held
+sway. At Nippur he thus honoured Enlil, at Eridu the god Ea, at
+Ur the god Sin, at Erech the god Anu and the goddess Nana
+(Ishtar), at Kish the god Zamama and the goddess Ma-ma, at Cuthah
+the god Nergal, at Lagash the god Nin-Girsu, while at Adab and
+Akkad, "celebrated for its wide squares", and other centres he
+carried out religious and public works. In Assyria he restored
+the colossus of Ashur, which had evidently been carried away by a
+conqueror, and he developed the canal system of Nineveh.</p>
+<p>Apparently Lagash and Adab had not been completely deserted
+during his reign, although their ruins have not yielded evidence
+that they flourished after their fall during the long struggle
+with the aggressive and plundering Elamites.</p>
+<p>Hammurabi referred to himself in the Prologue as "a king who
+commanded obedience in all the four <a id="page.anchor.255" name=
+"page.anchor.255"></a>quarters". He was the sort of benevolent
+despot whom Carlyle on one occasion clamoured vainly for--not an
+Oriental despot in the commonly accepted sense of the term. As a
+German writer puts it, his despotism was a form of Patriarchal
+Absolutism. "When Marduk (Merodach)", as the great king recorded,
+"brought me to direct all people, and commissioned me to give
+judgment, I laid down justice and right in the provinces, I made
+all flesh to prosper."<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1279"
+href="#ftn.fnrex1279" id="fnrex1279">279</a>]</span> That was the
+keynote of his long life; he regarded himself as the earthly
+representative of the Ruler of all--Merodach, "the lord god of
+right", who carried out the decrees of Anu, the sky god of
+Destiny.</p>
+<p>The next king, Samsu-iluna, reigned nearly as long as his
+illustrious father, and similarly lived a strenuous and pious
+life. Soon after he came to the throne the forces of disorder
+were let loose, but, as has been stated, he crushed and slew his
+most formidable opponent, Rim-Sin, the Elamite king, who had
+gathered together an army of allies. During his reign a Kassite
+invasion was repulsed. The earliest Kassites, a people of
+uncertain racial affinities, began to settle in the land during
+Hammurabi's lifetime. Some writers connect them with the
+Hittites, and others with the Iranians, vaguely termed as
+Indo-European or Indo-Germanic folk. Ethnologists as a rule
+regard them as identical with the Cossaei, whom the Greeks found
+settled between Babylon and Media, east of the Tigris and north
+of Elam. The Hittites came south as raiders about a century
+later. It is possible that the invading Kassites had overrun Elam
+and composed part of Rim-Sin's army. After settled conditions
+were secured many of them remained in Babylonia, where they
+engaged like <a id="page.anchor.256" name=
+"page.anchor.256"></a>their pioneers in agricultural pursuits. No
+doubt they were welcomed in that capacity, for owing to the
+continuous spread of culture and the development of commerce,
+rural labour had become scarce and dear. Farmers had a
+long-standing complaint, "The harvest truly is plenteous, but the
+labourers are few".<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1280" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1280" id="fnrex1280">280</a>]</span> "Despite the
+existence of slaves, who were for the most part domestic
+servants, there was", writes Mr. Johns, "considerable demand for
+free labour in ancient Babylonia. This is clear from the large
+number of contracts relating to hire which have come down to
+us.... As a rule, the man was hired for the harvest and was free
+directly after. But there are many examples in which the term of
+service was different--one month, half a year, or a whole
+year.... Harvest labour was probably far dearer than any other,
+because of its importance, the skill and exertion demanded, and
+the fact that so many were seeking for it at once." When a farm
+worker was engaged he received a shekel for "earnest money" or
+arles, and was penalized for non-appearance or late
+arrival.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1281" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1281" id="fnrex1281">281</a>]</span></p>
+<p>So great was the political upheaval caused by Rim-Sin and his
+allies and imitators in southern Babylonia, that it was not until
+the seventeenth year of his reign that Samsu-iluna had recaptured
+Erech and Ur and restored their walls. Among other cities which
+had to be chastised was ancient Akkad, where a rival monarch
+endeavoured to establish himself. Several years were afterwards
+spent in building new fortifications, setting up memorials in
+temples, and cutting and clearing canals. On more than one
+occasion during the latter part of his reign he had to deal with
+aggressive bands of Amorites.</p>
+<p>The greatest danger to the Empire, however, was threatened by
+a new kingdom which had been formed in <a id="page.anchor.257"
+name="page.anchor.257"></a>Bit-Jakin, a part of Sealand which was
+afterwards controlled by the mysterious Chaldeans. Here may have
+collected evicted and rebel bands of Elamites and Sumerians and
+various "gentlemen of fortune" who were opposed to the Hammurabi
+regime. After the fall of Rim-Sin it became powerful under a king
+called Ilu-ma-ilu. Samsu-iluna conducted at least two campaigns
+against his rival, but without much success. Indeed, he was in
+the end compelled to retreat with considerable loss owing to the
+difficult character of that marshy country.</p>
+<p>Abeshu, the next Babylonian king, endeavoured to shatter the
+cause of the Sealanders, and made it possible for himself to
+strike at them by damming up the Tigris canal. He achieved a
+victory, but the wily Ilu-ma-ilu eluded him, and after a reign of
+sixty years was succeeded by his son, Kiannib. The Sealand
+Dynasty, of which little is known, lasted for over three and a
+half centuries, and certain of its later monarchs were able to
+extend their sway over part of Babylonia, but its power was
+strictly circumscribed so long as Hammurabi's descendants held
+sway.</p>
+<p>During Abeshu's reign of twenty-eight years, of which but
+scanty records survive, he appears to have proved an able
+statesman and general. He founded a new city called Lukhaia, and
+appears to have repulsed a Kassite raid.</p>
+<p>His son, Ammiditana, who succeeded him, apparently inherited a
+prosperous and well-organized Empire, for during the first
+fifteen years of his reign he attended chiefly to the adornment
+of temples and other pious undertakings. He was a patron of the
+arts with archaeological leanings, and displayed traits which
+suggest that he inclined, like Sumu-la-ilu, to ancestor worship.
+Entemena, the pious patesi of Lagash, whose memory is <a id=
+"page.anchor.258" name="page.anchor.258"></a>associated with the
+famous silver vase decorated with the lion-headed eagle form of
+Nin-Girsu, had been raised to the dignity of a god, and
+Ammiditana caused his statue to be erected so that offerings
+might be made to it. He set up several images of himself also,
+and celebrated the centenary of the accession to the throne of
+his grandfather, Samsu-iluna, "the warrior lord", by unveiling
+his statue with much ceremony at Kish. About the middle of his
+reign he put down a Sumerian rising, and towards its close had to
+capture a city which is believed to be Isin, but the reference is
+too obscure to indicate what political significance attached to
+this incident. His son, Ammizaduga, reigned for over twenty years
+quite peacefully so far as is known, and was succeeded by
+Samsuditana, whose rule extended over a quarter of a century.
+Like Ammiditana, these two monarchs set up images of themselves
+as well as of the gods, so that they might be worshipped, no
+doubt. They also promoted the interests of agriculture and
+commerce, and incidentally increased the revenue from taxation by
+paying much attention to the canals and extending the
+cultivatable areas.</p>
+<p>But the days of the brilliant Hammurabi Dynasty were drawing
+to a close. It endured for about a century longer than the
+Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt, which came to an end, according to the
+Berlin calculations, in 1788 B.C. Apparently some of the
+Hammurabi and Amenemhet kings were contemporaries, but there is
+no evidence that they came into direct touch with one another. It
+was not until at about two centuries after Hammurabi's day that
+Egypt first invaded Syria, with which, however, it had for a long
+period previously conducted a brisk trade. Evidently the
+influence of the Hittites and their Amoritic allies predominated
+between Mesopotamia and the Delta <a id="page.anchor.259" name=
+"page.anchor.259"></a>frontier of Egypt, and it is significant to
+find in this connection that the "Khatti" or "Hatti" were
+referred to for the first time in Egypt during the Twelfth
+Dynasty, and in Babylonia during the Hammurabi Dynasty, sometime
+shortly before or after 2000 B.C. About 1800 B.C. a Hittite raid
+resulted in the overthrow of the last king of the Hammurabi
+family at Babylon. The Hyksos invasion of Egypt took place after
+1788 B.C.</p>
+<div class="footnotes"><br />
+<hr width="100" align="left" />
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1272" href="#fnrex1272" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1272">272</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Genesis</em></span>, xii and xiii.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1273" href="#fnrex1273" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1273">273</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Genesis</em></span>, xiv, 13.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1274" href="#fnrex1274" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1274">274</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Ibid</em></span>., xxiii.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1275" href="#fnrex1275" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1275">275</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Ezekiel</em></span>, xvi, 3.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1276" href="#fnrex1276" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1276">276</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Genesis</em></span>, xiv, 1-4.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1277" href="#fnrex1277" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1277">277</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Ibid</em></span>., 5-24.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1278" href="#fnrex1278" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1278">278</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Babylonian and Assyrian Laws, Contracts, and
+Letters</em></span>, C.H.W. Johns, pp. 392 <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>et seq</em></span>.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1279" href="#fnrex1279" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1279">279</a>]</span> Translation by Johns in
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Babylonian and Assyrian Laws,
+Contracts, and Letters</em></span>, pp. 390 <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>et seq.</em></span></div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1280" href="#fnrex1280" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1280">280</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Matthew</em></span>, ix, 37.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1281" href="#fnrex1281" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1281">281</a>]</span> Johns's <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Babylonian and Assyrian Laws, &amp;c.</em></span>,
+pp. 371-2.</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="chapter" lang="en" xml:lang="en">
+<div class="titlepage">
+<div>
+<div>
+<h2 class="title"><a id="id2533567" name=
+"id2533567"></a>Chapter�XII.�Rise of the Hittites, Mitannians,
+Kassites, Hyksos, and Assyrians</h2>
+</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="abstract">
+<p class="title"><b>Abstract</b></p>
+<p>The War God of Mountaineers--Antiquity of Hittite
+Civilization--Prehistoric Movements of "Broad Heads"--Evidence of
+Babylon and Egypt--Hittites and Mongolians--Biblical References
+to Hittites in Canaan--Jacob's Mother and her
+Daughters-in-law--Great Father and Great Mother Cults--History in
+Mythology--The Kingdom of Mitanni--Its Aryan Aristocracy--The
+Hyksos Problem--The Horse in Warfare--Hittites and
+Mitannians--Kassites and Mitannians--Hyksos Empire in
+Asia--Kassites overthrow Sealand Dynasty--Egyptian Campaigns in
+Syria--Assyria in the Making--Ethnics of Genesis--Nimrod as
+Merodach--Early Conquerors of Assyria--Mitannian
+Overlords--Tell-el-Amarna Letters--Fall of Mitanni--Rise of
+Hittite and Assyrian Empires--Egypt in Eclipse--Assyrian and
+Babylonian Rivalries.</p>
+</div>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.260" name="page.anchor.260"></a> When the
+Hammurabi Dynasty, like the Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt, is found to
+be suffering languid decline, the gaps in the dulled historical
+records are filled with the echoes of the thunder god, whose
+hammer beating resounds among the northern mountains. As this
+deity comes each year in Western Asia when vegetation has
+withered and after fruits have dropped from trees, bringing
+tempests and black rainclouds to issue in a new season of growth
+and fresh activity, so he descended from the hills in the second
+millennium before the Christian era as the battle lord of
+invaders and the stormy herald of a new age which was to dawn
+upon the ancient world.</p>
+<p>He was the war god of the Hittites as well as of the <a id=
+"page.anchor.261" name="page.anchor.261"></a>northern Amorites,
+the Mitannians, and the Kassites; and he led the Aryans from the
+Iranian steppes towards the verdurous valley of the Punjab. His
+worshippers engraved his image with grateful hands on the
+beetling cliffs of Cappadocian chasms in Asia Minor, where his
+sway was steadfast and pre-eminent for long centuries. In one
+locality he appears mounted on a bull wearing a fringed and
+belted tunic with short sleeves, a conical helmet, and upturned
+shoes, while he grasps in one hand the lightning symbol, and in
+the other a triangular bow resting on his right shoulder. In
+another locality he is the bringer of grapes and barley sheaves.
+But his most familiar form is the bearded and thick-set
+mountaineer, armed with a ponderous thunder hammer, a flashing
+trident, and a long two-edged sword with a hemispherical knob on
+the hilt, which dangles from his belt, while an antelope or goat
+wearing a pointed tiara prances beside him. This deity is
+identical with bluff, impetuous Thor of northern Europe, Indra of
+the Himalayas, Tarku of Phrygia, and Teshup or Teshub of Armenia
+and northern Mesopotamia, Sandan, the Hercules of Cilicia, Adad
+or Hadad of Amurru and Assyria, and Ramman, who at an early
+period penetrated Akkad and Sumer in various forms. His Hittite
+name is uncertain, but in the time of Rameses II he was
+identified with Sutekh (Set). He passed into southern Europe as
+Zeus, and became "the lord" of the deities of the Aegean and
+Crete.</p>
+<p>The Hittites who entered Babylon about 1800 B.C., and
+overthrew the last king of the Hammurabi Dynasty, may have been
+plundering raiders, like the European Gauls of a later age, or a
+well-organized force of a strong, consolidated power, which
+endured for a period of uncertain duration. They were probably
+the latter, for although they carried off Merodach and
+Zerpanitu<span class='phonetic'>m</span>, these <a id=
+"page.anchor.262" name="page.anchor.262"></a>idols were not
+thrust into the melting pot, but retained apparently for
+political reasons.</p>
+<p>These early Hittites are "a people of the mist". More than
+once in ancient history casual reference is made to them; but on
+most of these occasions they soon vanish suddenly behind their
+northern mountains. The explanation appears to be that at various
+periods great leaders arose who were able to weld together the
+various tribes, and make their presence felt in Western Asia. But
+when once the organization broke down, either on account of
+internal rivalries or the influence of an outside power, they
+lapsed back again into a state of political insignificance in the
+affairs of the ancient world. It is possible that about 1800 B.C.
+the Hittite confederacy was controlled by an ambitious king who
+had dreams of a great empire, and was accordingly pursuing a
+career of conquest.</p>
+<p>Judging from what we know of the northern worshippers of the
+hammer god in later times, it would appear that when they were
+referred to as the Hatti or Khatti, the tribe of that name was
+the dominating power in Asia Minor and north Syria. The Hatti are
+usually identified with the broad-headed mountaineers of Alpine
+or Armenoid type--the ancestors of the modern Armenians. Their
+ancient capital was at Boghaz-K&ouml;i, the site of Pteria, which
+was destroyed, according to the Greeks, by Croesus, the last King
+of Lydia, in the sixth century B.C. It was strongly situated in
+an excellent pastoral district on the high, breezy plateau of
+Cappadocia, surrounded by high mountains, and approached through
+narrow river gorges, which in winter were blocked with snow.</p>
+<p>Hittite civilization was of great antiquity. Excavations which
+have been conducted at an undisturbed artificial <a id=
+"page.anchor.263" name="page.anchor.263"></a>mound at Sakje-Geuzi
+have revealed evidences of a continuous culture which began to
+flourish before 3000 B.C.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1282"
+href="#ftn.fnrex1282" id="fnrex1282">282</a>]</span> In one of
+the lower layers occurred that particular type of Neolithic
+yellow-painted pottery, with black geometric designs, which
+resembles other specimens of painted fabrics found in Turkestan
+by the Pumpelly expedition; in Susa, the capital of Elam, and its
+vicinity, by De Morgan; in the Balkan peninsula by Schliemann; in
+a First Dynasty tomb at Abydos in Egypt by Petrie; and in the
+late Neolithic and early Bronze Age (Minoan) strata of Crete by
+Evans. It may be that these interesting relics were connected
+with the prehistoric drift westward of the broad-headed pastoral
+peoples who ultimately formed the Hittite military
+aristocracy.</p>
+<p>According to Professor Elliot Smith, broad-headed aliens from
+Asia Minor first reached Egypt at the dawn of history. There they
+blended with the indigenous tribes of the Mediterranean or Brown
+Race. A mesocephalic skull then became common. It is referred to
+as the Giza type, and has been traced by Professor Elliot Smith
+from Egypt to the Punjab, but not farther into India.<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1283" href="#ftn.fnrex1283" id=
+"fnrex1283">283</a>]</span></p>
+<p>During the early dynasties this skull with alien traits was
+confined chiefly to the Delta region and the vicinity of Memphis,
+the city of the pyramid builders. It is not improbable that the
+Memphite god Ptah may have been introduced into Egypt by the
+invading broad heads. This deity is a world artisan like Indra,
+and is similarly associated with dwarfish artisans; he hammers
+out the copper sky, and therefore links with the various thunder
+gods--Tarku, Teshup, Adad, Ramman, &amp;c, of the Asian
+mountaineers. Thunderstorms were of too rare occurrence in Egypt
+to be connected with the food supply, <a id="page.anchor.264"
+name="page.anchor.264"></a>which has always depended on the river
+Nile. Ptah's purely Egyptian characteristics appear to have been
+acquired after fusion with Osiris-Seb, the Nilotic gods of
+inundation, earth, and vegetation. The ancient god Set (Sutekh),
+who became a demon, and was ultimately re-exalted as a great
+deity during the Nineteenth Dynasty, may also have had some
+connection with the prehistoric Hatti.</p>
+<p>Professor Elliot Smith, who has found alien traits in the
+mummies of the Rameses kings, is convinced that the broad-headed
+folks who entered Europe by way of Asia Minor, and Egypt through
+the Delta, at the close of the Neolithic Age, represent "two
+streams of the same Asiatic folk".<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1284" href="#ftn.fnrex1284" id="fnrex1284">284</a>]</span>
+The opinion of such an authority cannot be lightly set aside.</p>
+<p>The earliest Egyptian reference to the Kheta, as the Hittites
+were called, was made in the reign of the first Amenemhet of the
+Twelfth Dynasty, who began to reign about 2000 B.C. Some
+authorities, including Maspero,<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1285" href="#ftn.fnrex1285" id="fnrex1285">285</a>]</span>
+are of opinion that the allusion to the Hatti which is found in
+the Babylonian <span class="emphasis"><em>Book of
+Omens</em></span> belongs to the earlier age of Sargon of Akkad
+and Naram-Sin, but Sayce favours the age of Hammurabi. Others
+would connect the Gutium, or men of Kutu, with the Kheta or
+Hatti. Sayce has expressed the opinion that the Biblical Tidal,
+identified with Tudkhul or Tudhula, "king of nations", the ally
+of Arioch, Amraphel, and Chedor-laomer, was a Hittite king, the
+"nations" being the confederacy of Asia Minor tribes controlled
+by the Hatti. "In the fragments of the Babylonian story of
+Chedor-laomer published by Dr. Pinches", says Professor Sayce,
+"the name of Tid^{c}al is written Tudkhul, and he is described as
+King of the <span class="emphasis"><em>Umman Manda</em></span>,
+or Nations of the North, <a id="page.anchor.265" name=
+"page.anchor.265"></a>of which the Hebrew <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Goyyim</em></span> is a literal translation. Now
+the name is Hittite. In the account of the campaign of Rameses II
+against the Hittites it appears as Tid^{c}al, and one of the
+Hittite kings of Boghaz-K&ouml;i bears the same name, which is
+written as Dud-khaliya in cuneiform.<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1286" href="#ftn.fnrex1286" id=
+"fnrex1286">286</a>]</span></p>
+<p>One of the racial types among the Hittites wore pigtails.
+These head adornments appear on figures in certain Cappadocian
+sculptures and on Hittite warriors in the pictorial records of a
+north Syrian campaign of Rameses II at Thebes. It is suggestive,
+therefore, to find that on the stele of Naram-Sin of Akkad, the
+mountaineers who are conquered by that battle lord wear pigtails
+also. Their split robes are unlike the short fringed tunics of
+the Hittite gods, but resemble the long split mantles worn over
+their tunics by high dignitaries like King Tarku-dimme, who
+figures on a famous silver boss of an ancient Hittite dagger.
+Naram-Sin inherited the Empire of Sargon of Akkad, which extended
+to the Mediterranean Sea. If his enemies were not natives of
+Cappadocia, they may have been the congeners of the Hittite
+pigtailed type in another wooded and mountainous country.</p>
+<p>It has been suggested that these wearers of pigtails were
+Mongolians. But although high cheek bones and oblique eyes
+occurred in ancient times, and still occur, in parts of Asia
+Minor, suggesting occasional Mongolian admixture with Ural-Altaic
+broad heads, the Hittite pigtailed warriors must not be confused
+with the true small-nosed Mongols of north-eastern Asia. The
+Egyptian sculptors depicted them with long and prominent noses,
+which emphasize their strong Armenoid affinities.</p>
+<p>Other tribes in the Hittite confederacy included the <a id=
+"page.anchor.266" name="page.anchor.266"></a>representatives of
+the earliest settlers from North Africa of Mediterranean racial
+stock. These have been identified with the Canaanites, and
+especially the agriculturists among them, for the Palestinian
+Hittites are also referred to as Canaanites in the Bible, and in
+one particular connection under circumstances which afford an
+interesting glimpse of domestic life in those far-off times. When
+Esau, Isaac's eldest son, was forty years of age, "he took to
+wife Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Bashemath the
+daughter of Elon the Hittite"<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1287" href="#ftn.fnrex1287" id="fnrex1287">287</a>]</span>.
+Apparently the Hittite ladies considered themselves to be of
+higher caste than the indigenous peoples and the settlers from
+other countries, for when Ezekiel declared that the mother of
+Jerusalem was a Hittite he said: "Thou art thy mother's daughter,
+that lotheth her husband and her children."<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1288" href="#ftn.fnrex1288" id=
+"fnrex1288">288</a>]</span> Esau's marriage was "a grief of mind
+unto Isaac and to Rebekah".<span class="sub">[<a href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1287">287</a>]</span> The Hebrew mother seems to have
+entertained fears that her favourite son Jacob would fall a
+victim to the allurements of other representatives of the same
+stock as her superior and troublesome daughters-in-law, for she
+said to Isaac: "I am weary of my life because of the daughters of
+Heth; if Jacob take a wife of the daughters of Heth, such as
+these which are of the daughters of the land, what good shall my
+life do me?"<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1289" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1289" id="fnrex1289">289</a>]</span> Isaac sent for
+Jacob, "and charged him, and said unto him, Thou shalt not take a
+wife of the daughters of Canaan. Arise, go to Padan-aram, to the
+house of Bethuel, thy mother's father; and take thee a wife from
+thence of the daughters of Laban, thy mother's
+brother."<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1290" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1290" id="fnrex1290">290</a>]</span> From these
+quotations two obvious deductions may be drawn: the Hebrews
+regarded the Hittites "of the land" as one with the Canaanites,
+the stocks having probably <a id="page.anchor.267" name=
+"page.anchor.267"></a>been so well fused, and the worried Rebekah
+had the choosing of Jacob's wife or wives from among her own
+relations in Mesopotamia who were of Sumerian stock and kindred
+of Abraham.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1291" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1291" id="fnrex1291">291</a>]</span> It is not
+surprising to find traces of Sumerian pride among the descendants
+of the evicted citizens of ancient Ur, especially when brought
+into association with the pretentious Hittites.</p>
+<p>Evidence of racial blending in Asia Minor is also afforded by
+Hittite mythology. In the fertile agricultural valleys and round
+the shores of that great Eur-Asian "land bridge" the indigenous
+stock was also of the Mediterranean race, as Sergi and other
+ethnologists have demonstrated. The Great Mother goddess was
+worshipped from the earliest times, and she bore various local
+names. At Comana in Pontus she was known to the Greeks as Ma, a
+name which may have been as old as that of the Sumerian Mama (the
+creatrix), or Mamitu<span class='phonetic'>m</span> (goddess of
+destiny); in Armenia she was Anaitis; in Cilicia she was Ate
+('Atheh of Tarsus); while in Phrygia she was best known as
+Cybele, mother of Attis, who links with Ishtar as mother and wife
+of Tammuz, Aphrodite as mother and wife of Adonis, and Isis as
+mother and wife of Osiris. The Great Mother was in Phoenicia
+called Astarte; she was a form of Ishtar, and identical with the
+Biblical Ashtoreth. In the Syrian city of Hierapolis she bore the
+name of Atargatis, which Meyer, with whom Frazer agrees,
+considers to be the Greek rendering of the Aramaic
+'Athar-'Atheh--the god 'Athar and the goddess 'Atheh. Like the
+"bearded Aphrodite", Atargatis may have been regarded as a
+bisexual deity. Some of the specialized mother goddesses, whose
+outstanding attributes reflected the history and politics of the
+states they represented, were imported into Egypt--the land of
+<a id="page.anchor.268" name="page.anchor.268"></a>ancient mother
+deities--during the Empire period, by the half-foreign Rameses
+kings; these included the voluptuous Kadesh and the warlike
+Anthat. In every district colonized by the early representatives
+of the Mediterranean race, the goddess cult came into prominence,
+and the gods and the people were reputed to be descendants of the
+great Creatrix. This rule obtained as far distant as Ireland,
+where the Danann folk and the Danann gods were the children of
+the goddess Danu.</p>
+<p>Among the Hatti proper--that is, the broad-headed military
+aristocracy--the chief deity of the pantheon was the Great
+Father, the creator, "the lord of Heaven", the Baal. As Sutekh,
+Tarku, Adad, or Ramman, he was the god of thunder, rain,
+fertility, and war, and he ultimately acquired solar attributes.
+A famous rock sculpture at Boghaz-K&ouml;i depicts a mythological
+scene which is believed to represent the Spring marriage of the
+Great Father and the Great Mother, suggesting a local fusion of
+beliefs which resulted from the union of tribes of the god cult
+with tribes of the goddess cult. So long as the Hatti tribe
+remained the predominant partner in the Hittite confederacy, the
+supremacy was assured of the Great Father who symbolized their
+sway. But when, in the process of time, the power of the Hatti
+declined, their chief god "fell... from his predominant place in
+the religion of the interior", writes Dr. Garstang. "But the
+Great Mother lived on, being the goddess of the
+land."<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1292" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1292" id="fnrex1292">292</a>]</span></p>
+<p>In addition to the Hittite confederacy of Asia Minor and North
+Syria, another great power arose in northern Mesopotamia. This
+was the Mitanni Kingdom. Little is known regarding it, except
+what is derived from indirect sources. Winckler believes that it
+was first established <a id="page.anchor.269" name=
+"page.anchor.269"></a>by early "waves" of Hatti people who
+migrated from the east.</p>
+<p>The Hittite connection is based chiefly on the following
+evidence. One of the gods of the Mitanni rulers was Teshup, who
+is identical with Tarku, the Thor of Asia Minor. The raiders who
+in 1800 B.C. entered Babylon, set fire to E-sagila, and carried
+off Merodach and his consort Zerpanitu<span class=
+'phonetic'>m</span>, were called the Hatti. The images of these
+deities were afterwards obtained from Khani (Mitanni).</p>
+<p>At a later period, when we come to know more about Mitanni
+from the letters of one of its kings to two Egyptian Pharaohs,
+and the Winckler tablets from Bog-haz-K&ouml;i, it is found that
+its military aristocracy spoke an Indo-European language, as is
+shown by the names of their kings--Saushatar, Artatama, Sutarna,
+Artashshumara, Tushratta, and Mattiuza. They worshipped the
+following deities:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Mi-it-ra, Uru-w-na, In-da-ra, and
+Na-sa-at-ti-ia--</tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>Mitra, Varuna, Indra, and Nasatyau (the "Twin Aswins" = Castor
+and Pollux)--whose names have been deciphered by Winckler. These
+gods were also imported into India by the Vedic Aryans. The
+Mitanni tribe (the military aristocracy probably) was called
+"Kharri", and some philologists are of opinion that it is
+identical with "Arya", which was "the normal designation in Vedic
+literature from the Rigveda onwards of an Aryan of the three
+upper classes".<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1293" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1293" id="fnrex1293">293</a>]</span> Mitanni signifies
+"the river lands", and the descendants of its inhabitants, who
+lived in Cappadocia, were called by the Greeks "Mattienoi". "They
+are possibly", says Dr. Haddon, "the ancestors <a id=
+"page.anchor.270" name="page.anchor.270"></a>of the modern
+Kurds",<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1294" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1294" id="fnrex1294">294</a>]</span> a conspicuously
+long-headed people, proverbial, like the ancient Aryo-Indians and
+the Gauls, for their hospitality and their raiding
+propensities.</p>
+<p>It would appear that the Mitannian invasion of northern
+Mesopotamia and the Aryan invasion of India represented two
+streams of diverging migrations from a common cultural centre,
+and that the separate groups of wanderers mingled with other
+stocks with whom they came into contact. Tribes of Aryan speech
+were associated with the Kassite invaders of Babylon, who took
+possession of northern Babylonia soon after the disastrous
+Hittite raid. It is believed that they came from the east through
+the highlands of Elam.</p>
+<p>For a period, the dating of which is uncertain, the Mitannians
+were overlords of part of Assyria, including Nineveh and even
+Asshur, as well as the district called "Musri" by the Assyrians,
+and part of Cappadocia. They also occupied the cities of Harran
+and Kadesh. Probably they owed their great military successes to
+their cavalry. The horse became common in Babylon during the
+Kassite Dynasty, which followed the Hammurabi, and was there
+called "the ass of the east", a name which suggests whence the
+Kassites and Mitannians came.</p>
+<p>The westward movement of the Mitannians in the second
+millennium B.C. may have been in progress prior to the Kassite
+conquest of Babylon and the Hyksos invasion of Egypt. Their
+relations in Mesopotamia and Syria with the Hittites and the
+Amorites are obscure. Perhaps they were for a time the overlords
+of the Hittites. At any rate it is of interest to note that when
+Thothmes III struck at the last Hyksos stronghold during his long
+Syrian campaign of about twenty years' duration, his <a id=
+"page.anchor.271" name="page.anchor.271"></a>operations were
+directly against Kadesh on the Orontes, which was then held by
+his fierce enemies the Mitannians of Naharina.<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1295" href="#ftn.fnrex1295" id=
+"fnrex1295">295</a>]</span></p>
+<p>During the Hyksos Age the horse was introduced into Egypt.
+Indeed the Hyksos conquest was probably due to the use of the
+horse, which was domesticated, as the Pumpelly expedition has
+ascertained, at a remote period in Turkestan, whence it may have
+been obtained by the horse-sacrificing Aryo-Indians and the
+horse-sacrificing ancestors of the Siberian Buriats.</p>
+<p>If the Mitanni rulers were not overlords of the Hittites about
+1800 B.C., the two peoples may have been military allies of the
+Kassites. Some writers suggest, indeed, that the Kassites came
+from Mitanni. Another view is that the Mitannians were the Aryan
+allies of the Kassites who entered Babylon from the Elamite
+highlands, and that they afterwards conquered Mesopotamia and
+part of Cappadocia prior to the Hyksos conquest of Egypt. A third
+solution of the problem is that the Aryan rulers of the Mitannian
+Hittites were the overlords of northern Babylonia, which they
+included in their Mesopotamian empire for a century before the
+Kassites achieved political supremacy in the Tigro-Euphrates
+valley, and that they were also the leaders of the Hyksos
+invasion of Egypt, which they accomplished with the assistance of
+their Hittite and Amoritic allies.</p>
+<p>The first Kassite king of Babylonia of whom we have knowledge
+was Gandash. He adopted the old Akkadian title, "king of the four
+quarters", as well as the title "king of Sumer and Akkad", first
+used by the rulers of the Dynasty of Ur. Nippur appears to have
+been selected by Gandash as his capital, which suggests that his
+war and storm god, Shuqamuna, was identified with Bel Enlil, who
+<a id="page.anchor.272" name="page.anchor.272"></a>as a "world
+giant" has much in common with the northern hammer gods. After
+reigning for sixteen years, Gandash was succeeded by his son,
+Agum the Great, who sat on the throne for twenty-two years. The
+great-grandson of Agum the Great was Agum II, and not until his
+reign were the statues of Merodach and his consort
+Zerpanitu<span class='phonetic'>m</span> brought back to the city
+of Babylon. This monarch recorded that, in response to the oracle
+of Shamash, the sun god, he sent to the distant land of Khani
+(Mitanni) for the great deity and his consort. Babylon would
+therefore appear to have been deprived of Merodach for about two
+centuries. The Hittite-Mitanni raid is dated about 1800 B.C., and
+the rise of Gandash, the Kassite, about 1700 B.C. At least a
+century elapsed between the reigns of Gandash and Agum II. These
+calculations do not coincide, it will be noted, with the
+statement in a Babylonian hymn, that Merodach remained in the
+land of the Hatti for twenty-four years, which, however, may be
+either a priestly fiction or a reference to a later conquest. The
+period which followed the fall of the Hammurabi Dynasty of
+Babylonia is as obscure as the Hyksos Age of Egypt.</p>
+<p>Agum II, the Kassite king, does not state whether or not he
+waged war against Mitanni to recover Babylon's god Merodach. If,
+however, he was an ally of the Mitanni ruler, the transference of
+the deity may have been an ordinary diplomatic transaction. The
+possibility may also be suggested that the Hittites of Mitanni
+were not displaced by the Aryan military aristocracy until after
+the Kassites were firmly established in northern Babylonia
+between 1700 B.C. and 1600 B.C. This may account for the
+statements that Merodach was carried off by the Hatti and
+returned from the land of Khani.</p>
+<p>The evidence afforded by Egypt is suggestive in this <a id=
+"page.anchor.273" name="page.anchor.273"></a>connection. There
+was a second Hyksos Dynasty in that country. The later rulers
+became "Egyptianized" as the Kassites became "Babylonianized",
+but they were all referred to by the exclusive and
+sullen-Egyptians as "barbarians" and "Asiatics". They recognized
+the sun god of Heliopolis, but were also concerned in promoting
+the worship of Sutekh, a deity of sky and thunder, with solar
+attributes, whom Rameses II identified with the "Baal" of the
+Hittites. The Mitannians, as has been stated, recognized a Baal
+called Teshup, who was identical with Tarku of the Western
+Hittites and with their own tribal Indra also. One of the Hyksos
+kings, named Ian or Khian, the Ianias of Manetho, was either an
+overlord or the ally of an overlord, who swayed a great empire in
+Asia. His name has been deciphered on relics found as far apart
+as Knossos in Crete and Baghdad on the Tigris, which at the time
+was situated within the area of Kassite control. Apparently
+peaceful conditions prevailed during his reign over a wide extent
+of Asia and trade was brisk between far-distant centres of
+civilization. The very term Hyksos is suggestive in this
+connection. According to Breasted it signifies "rulers of
+countries", which compares with the Biblical "Tidal king of
+nations", whom Sayce, as has been indicated, regards as a Hittite
+monarch. When the Hittite hieroglyphics have been read and
+Mesopotamia thoroughly explored, light may be thrown on the
+relations of the Mitannians, the Hittites, the Hyksos, and the
+Kassites between 1800 B.C. and 1500 B.C. It is evident that a
+fascinating volume of ancient history has yet to be written.</p>
+<p>The Kassites formed the military aristocracy of Babylonia,
+which was called Karduniash, for nearly six centuries. Agum II
+was the first of their kings who became thoroughly
+Babylonianized, and although he still gave <a id=
+"page.anchor.274" name="page.anchor.274"></a>recognition to
+Shuqamuna, the Kassite god of battle, he re-exalted Merodach,
+whose statue he had taken back from "Khani", and decorated
+E-sagila with gifts of gold, jewels, rare woods, frescoes, and
+pictorial tiles; he also re-endowed the priesthood. During the
+reign of his successor, Burnaburiash I, the Dynasty of Sealand
+came to an end.</p>
+<p>Little is known regarding the relations between Elam and
+Babylonia during the Kassite period. If the Kassite invaders
+crossed the Tigris soon after the raid of the Mitannian Hittites
+they must have previously overrun a great part of Elam, but
+strongly situated Susa may have for a time withstood their
+attacks. At first the Kassites held northern Babylonia only,
+while the ancient Sumerian area was dominated by the Sealand
+power, which had gradually regained strength during the closing
+years of the Hammurabi Dynasty. No doubt many northern Babylonian
+refugees reinforced its army.</p>
+<p>The Elamites, or perhaps the Kassites of Elam, appear to have
+made frequent attacks on southern Babylonia. At length Ea-gamil,
+king of Sealand, invaded Elam with purpose, no doubt, to shatter
+the power of his restless enemies. He was either met there,
+however, by an army from Babylon, or his country was invaded
+during his absence. Prince Ulamburiash, son of Burnaburiash I,
+defeated Ea-gamil and brought to an end the Sealand Dynasty which
+had been founded by Ilu-ma-ilu, the contemporary and enemy of
+Samsu-la-ilu, son of Hammurabi. Ulamburiash is referred to on a
+mace-head which was discovered at Babylon as "king of Sealand",
+and he probably succeeded his father at the capital. The whole of
+Babylonia thus came under Kassite sway.</p>
+<p>Agum III, a grandson of Ulamburiash, found it necessary,
+however, to invade Sealand, which must <a id="page.anchor.275"
+name="page.anchor.275"></a>therefore have revolted. It was
+probably a centre of discontent during the whole period of
+Kassite ascendancy.</p>
+<p>After a long obscure interval we reach the period when the
+Hyksos power was broken in Egypt, that is, after 1580 B.C. The
+great Western Asiatic kingdoms at the time were the Hittite, the
+Mitannian, the Assyrian, and the Babylonian (Kassite). Between
+1557 B.C. and 1501 B.C. Thothmes I of Egypt was asserting his
+sway over part of Syria. Many years elapsed, however, before
+Thothmes III, who died in 1447 B.C., established firmly, after
+waging a long war of conquest, the supremacy of Egypt between the
+Euphrates and the Mediterranean coast as far north as the borders
+of Asia Minor.</p>
+<p>"At this period", as Professor Flinders Petrie emphasizes,
+"the civilization of Syria was equal or superior to that of
+Egypt." Not only was there in the cities "luxury beyond that of
+the Egyptians", but also "technical work which could teach them".
+The Syrian soldiers had suits of scale armour, which afterwards
+were manufactured in Egypt, and they had chariots adorned with
+gold and silver and highly decorated, which were greatly prized
+by the Egyptians when they captured them, and reserved for
+royalty. "In the rich wealth of gold and silver vases", obtained
+from captured cities by the Nilotic warriors, "we see also", adds
+Petrie, "the sign of a people who were their (the Egyptians')
+equals, if not their superiors in taste and skill."<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1296" href="#ftn.fnrex1296" id=
+"fnrex1296">296</a>]</span> It is not to be wondered at,
+therefore, when the Pharaohs received tribute from Syria that
+they preferred it to be carried into Egypt by skilled workmen.
+"The keenness with which the Egyptians record all the beautiful
+and luxurious products of the Syrians shows that the workmen
+would <a id="page.anchor.276" name="page.anchor.276"></a>probably
+be more in demand than other kinds or slave tribute."<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1297" href="#ftn.fnrex1297" id=
+"fnrex1297">297</a>]</span></p>
+<p>One of the monarchs with whom Thothmes III corresponded was
+the king of Assyria. The enemies of Egypt in northern Mesopotamia
+were the Hittites and Mitannians, and their allies, and these
+were also the enemies of Assyria. But to enable us to deal with
+the new situation which was created by Egypt in Mesopotamia, it
+is necessary in the first place to trace the rise of Assyria,
+which was destined to become for a period the dominating power in
+Western Asia, and ultimately in the Nile valley also.</p>
+<p>The Assyrian group of cities grew up on the banks of the
+Tigris to the north of Babylonia, the mother country. The
+following Biblical references regarding the origins of the two
+states are of special interest:--</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<p>Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah: Shem, Ham,
+and Japheth.... The sons of Ham: Cush, and Mizraim, and Phut, and
+Canaan.... And Cush begat Nimrod; he began to be a mighty one in
+the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the Lord; wherefore it
+is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord. And
+the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and
+Calneh, in the land of Shinar. Out of that land went forth Asshur
+and builded Nineveh, and the city Rehoboth, and Calah, and Resen
+between Nineveh and Calah: the same is a great city. The children
+of Shem: Elam and Asshur ... (<span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Genesis</em></span>, x, 1-22). The land of Assyria
+... and the land of Nimrod in the entrances thereof (<span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Micah</em></span>, v, 6).</p>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>It will be observed that the Sumero-Babylonians are Cushites
+or Hamites, and therefore regarded as racially akin to the
+proto-Egyptians of the Mediterranean race--an interesting
+confirmation of recent ethnological conclusions.</p>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.277" name="page.anchor.277"></a>Nimrod, the
+king of Babel (Babylon), in Shinar (Sumer), was, it would appear,
+a deified monarch who became ultimately identified with the
+national god of Babylonia. Professor Pinches has
+shown<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1298" href="#ftn.fnrex1298"
+id="fnrex1298">298</a>]</span> that his name is a rendering of
+that of Merodach. In Sumerian Merodach was called Amaruduk or
+Amarudu, and in the Assyro-Babylonian language Marduk. By a
+process familiar to philologists the suffix "uk" was dropped and
+the rendering became Marad. The Hebrews added "ni" = "ni-marad",
+assimilating the name "to a certain extent to the 'niphal forms'
+of the Hebrew verbs and making a change", says Pinches, "in
+conformity with the genius of the Hebrew language".</p>
+<p>Asshur, who went out of Nimrod's country to build Nineveh, was
+a son of Shem--a Semite, and so far as is known it was after the
+Semites achieved political supremacy in Akkad that the Assyrian
+colonies were formed. Asshur may have been a subject ruler who
+was deified and became the god of the city of Asshur, which
+probably gave its name to Assyria.</p>
+<p>According to Herodotus, Nineveh was founded by King Ninus and
+Queen Semiramis. This lady was reputed to be the daughter of
+Derceto, the fish goddess, whom Pliny identified with Atargatis.
+Semiramis was actually an Assyrian queen of revered memory. She
+was deified and took the place of a goddess, apparently Nina, the
+prototype of Derceto. This Nina, perhaps a form of Damkina, wife
+of Ea, was the great mother of the Sumerian city of Nina, and
+there, and also at Lagash, received offerings of fish. She was
+one of the many goddesses of maternity absorbed by Ishtar. The
+Greek Ninus is regarded as a male form of her name; like <a id=
+"page.anchor.278" name="page.anchor.278"></a>Atargatis, she may
+have become a bisexual deity, if she was not always accompanied
+by a shadowy male form. Nineveh (Ninua) was probably founded or
+conquered by colonists from Nina or Lagash, and called after the
+fish goddess.</p>
+<p>All the deities of Assyria were imported from Babylonia
+except, as some hold, Ashur, the national god.<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1299" href="#ftn.fnrex1299" id=
+"fnrex1299">299</a>]</span> The theory that Ashur was identical
+with the Aryo-Indian Asura and the Persian Ahura is not generally
+accepted. One theory is that he was an eponymous hero who became
+the city god of Asshur, although the early form of his name,
+Ashir, presents a difficulty in this connection. Asshur was the
+first capital of Assyria. Its city god may have become the
+national god on that account.</p>
+<p>At an early period, perhaps a thousand years before Thothmes
+III battled with the Mitannians in northern Syria, an early wave
+of one of the peoples of Aryan speech may have occupied the
+Assyrian cities. Mr. Johns points out in this connection that the
+names of Ushpia, Kikia, and Adasi, who, according to Assyrian
+records, were early rulers in Asshur, "are neither Semitic nor
+Sumerian". An ancient name of the goddess of Nineveh was
+Shaushka, which compares with Shaushkash, the consort of Teshup,
+the Hittite-Mitanni hammer god. As many of the Mitannian names
+"are", according to Mr. Johns, "really Elamitic", he suggests an
+ethnic connection between the early conquerors of Assyria and the
+people of Elam.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1300" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1300" id="fnrex1300">300</a>]</span> Were the
+pre-Semitic Elamites originally speakers of an agglutinative
+language, like the Sumerians and present-day Basques, who were
+conquered in prehistoric times by a people of Aryan speech?</p>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.279" name="page.anchor.279"></a>The
+possibility is urged by Mr. Johns's suggestion that Assyria may
+have been dominated in pre-Semitic times by the congeners of the
+Aryan military aristocracy of Mitanni. As has been shown, it was
+Semitized by the Amoritic migration which, about 2000 B.C.,
+brought into prominence the Hammurabi Dynasty of Babylon.</p>
+<p>A long list of kings with Semitic names held sway in the
+Assyrian cities during and after the Hammurabi Age. But not until
+well on in the Kassite period did any of them attain prominence
+in Western Asia. Then Ashur-bel-nish-eshu, King of Asshur, was
+strong enough to deal on equal terms with the Kassite ruler
+Kara-indash I, with whom he arranged a boundary treaty. He was a
+contemporary of Thothmes III of Egypt.</p>
+<p>After Thothmes III had secured the predominance of Egypt in
+Syria and Palestine he recognized Assyria as an independent
+power, and supplied its king with Egyptian gold to assist him, no
+doubt, in strengthening his territory against their common enemy.
+Gifts were also sent from Assyria to Egypt to fan the flame of
+cordial relations.</p>
+<p>The situation was full of peril for Saushatar, king of
+Mitanni. Deprived by Egypt of tribute-paying cities in Syria, his
+exchequer must have been sadly depleted. A standing army had to
+be maintained, for although Egypt made no attempt to encroach
+further on his territory, the Hittites were ever hovering on his
+north-western frontier, ready when opportunity offered to win
+back Cappadocia. Eastward, Assyria was threatening to become a
+dangerous rival. He had himself to pay tribute to Egypt, and
+Egypt was subsidizing his enemy. It was imperative on his part,
+therefore, to take action without delay. The power of Assyria had
+to be crippled; its revenues were required for the Mitannian
+exchequer. So <a id="page.anchor.280" name=
+"page.anchor.280"></a>Saushatar raided Assyria during the closing
+years of the reign of Thothmes III, or soon after his successor,
+Amenhotep II, ascended the Egyptian throne.</p>
+<p>Nothing is known from contemporary records regarding this
+campaign; but it can be gathered from the references of a later
+period that the city of Asshur was captured and plundered; its
+king, Ashur-nadin-akhe, ceased corresponding and exchanging gifts
+with Egypt. That Nineveh also fell is made clear by the fact that
+a descendant of Saushatar (Tushratta) was able to send to a
+descendant of Thothmes III at Thebes (Amenhotep III) the image of
+Ishtar (Shaushka) of Nineveh. Apparently five successive
+Mitannian kings were overlords of Assyria during a period which
+cannot be estimated at much less than a hundred years.</p>
+<p>Our knowledge regarding these events is derived chiefly from
+the Tell-el-Amarna letters, and the tablets found by Professor
+Hugo Winckler at Boghaz-K&ouml;i in Cappadocia, Asia Minor.</p>
+<p>The Tell-el-Amarna letters were discovered among the ruins of
+the palace of the famous Egyptian Pharaoh, Akhenaton, of the
+Eighteenth Dynasty, who died about 1358 B.C. During the winter of
+1887-8 an Egyptian woman was excavating soil for her garden, when
+she happened upon the cellar of Akhenaton's foreign office in
+which the official correspondence had been stored. The "letters"
+were baked clay tablets inscribed with cuneiform alphabetical
+signs in the Babylonian-Assyrian language, which, like French in
+modern times, was the language of international diplomacy for
+many centuries in Western Asia after the Hyksos period.</p>
+<div class="figure"><a id="id2534935" name="id2534935"></a>
+<p class="title"><b>Figure�XII.1.�LETTER FROM TUSHRATTA, KING OF
+MITANNI, TO AMENHOTEP III, KING OF EGYPT</b></p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<p><span class="emphasis"><em>One of the Tell-el-Amarna tablets,
+now in the British Museum. (See pages <a href=
+"#page.anchor.280">280</a>-<a href=
+"#page.anchor.282">282</a>)</em></span></p>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="graphic"><img alt="" src="img/25.jpg" /></div>
+<div class="figure"><a id="id2534970" name="id2534970"></a>
+<p class="title"><b>Figure�XII.2.�THE GOD NINIP AND ANOTHER
+DEITY</b></p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<p><span class="emphasis"><em>Marble slab from Kouyunjik
+(Nineveh): now in the British Museum</em></span></p>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="graphic"><img alt="" src="img/26.jpg" /></div>
+<p>The Egyptian natives, ever so eager to sell antiquities so as
+to make a fortune and retire for life, offered some specimens of
+the tablets for sale. One or two were sent <a id=
+"page.anchor.281" name="page.anchor.281"></a>to Paris, where they
+were promptly declared to be forgeries, with the result that for
+a time the inscribed bricks were not a marketable commodity. Ere
+their value was discovered, the natives had packed them into
+sacks, with the result that many were damaged and some completely
+destroyed. At length, however, the majority of them reached the
+British Museum and the Berlin Museum, while others drifted into
+the museums at Cairo, St. Petersburg, and Paris. When they were
+deciphered, Mitanni was discovered, and a flood of light thrown
+on the internal affairs of Egypt and its relations with various
+kingdoms in Asia, while glimpses were also afforded of the life
+and manners of the times.</p>
+<p>The letters covered the reigns of Amenhotep III, the
+great-grandson of Thothmes III, and of his son Akhenaton, "the
+dreamer king", and included communications from the kings of
+Babylonia, Assyria, Mitanni, Cyprus, the Hittites, and the
+princes of Phoenicia and Canaan. The copies of two letters from
+Amenhotep III to Kallima-Sin, King of Babylonia, had also been
+preserved. One deals with statements made by Babylonian
+ambassadors, whom the Pharaoh stigmatizes as liars. Kallima-Sin
+had sent his daughter to the royal harem of Egypt, and desired to
+know if she was alive and well. He also asked for "much gold" to
+enable him to carry on the work of extending his temple. When
+twenty minas of gold was sent to him, he complained in due course
+that the quantity received was not only short but that the gold
+was not pure; it had been melted in the furnace, and less than
+five minas came out. In return he sent to Akhenaton two minas of
+enamel, and some jewels for his daughter, who was in the Egyptian
+royal harem.</p>
+<p>Ashur-uballit, king of Ashur, once wrote intimating to
+Akhenaton that he was gifting him horses and chariots <a id=
+"page.anchor.282" name="page.anchor.282"></a>and a jewel seal. He
+asked for gold to assist in building his palace. "In your
+country", he added, "gold is as plentiful as dust." He also made
+an illuminating statement to the effect that no ambassador had
+gone from Assyria to Egypt since the days of his ancestor
+Ashur-nadin-akhe. It would therefore appear that Ashur-uballit
+had freed part of Assyria from the yoke of Mitanni.</p>
+<p>The contemporary king of Mitanni was Tushratta. He
+corresponded both with his cousin Amenhotep III and his
+son-in-law Akhenaton. In his correspondence with Amenhotep III
+Tushratta tells that his kingdom had been invaded by the
+Hittites, but his god Teshup had delivered them into his hand,
+and he destroyed them; "not one of them", he declared, "returned
+to his own country". Out of the booty captured he sent Amenhotep
+several chariots and horses, and a boy and a girl. To his sister
+Gilu-khipa, who was one of the Egyptian Pharaoh's wives, he
+gifted golden ornaments and a jar of oil. In another letter
+Tushratta asked for a large quantity of gold "without measure".
+He complained that he did not receive enough on previous
+occasions, and hinted that some of the Egyptian gold looked as if
+it were alloyed with copper. Like the Assyrian king, he hinted
+that gold was as plentiful as dust in Egypt. His own presents to
+the Pharaoh included precious stones, gold ornaments, chariots
+and horses, and women (probably slaves). This may have been
+tribute. It was during the third Amenhotep's illness that
+Tushratta forwarded the Nineveh image of Ishtar to Egypt, and he
+made reference to its having been previously sent thither by his
+father, Sutarna.</p>
+<p>When Akhenaton came to the throne Tushratta wrote to him,
+desiring to continue the friendship which had existed for two or
+three generations between the kings of Mitanni and Egypt, and
+made complimentary references <a id="page.anchor.283" name=
+"page.anchor.283"></a>to "the distinguished Queen Tiy",
+Akhenaton's mother, who evidently exercised considerable
+influence in shaping Egypt's foreign policy. In the course of his
+long correspondence with the Pharaohs, Tushratta made those
+statements regarding his ancestors which have provided so much
+important data for modern historians of his kingdom.</p>
+<p>During the early part of the Tell-el-Amarna period, Mitanni
+was the most powerful kingdom in Western Asia. It was chiefly on
+that account that the daughters of its rulers were selected to be
+the wives and mothers of great Egyptian Pharaohs. But its
+numerous enemies were ever plotting to accomplish its downfall.
+Among these the foremost and most dangerous were the Hittites and
+the Assyrians.</p>
+<p>The ascendancy of the Hittites was achieved in northern Syria
+with dramatic suddenness. There arose in Asia Minor a great
+conqueror, named Subbi-luliuma, the successor of Hattusil I, who
+established a strong Hittite empire which endured for about two
+centuries. His capital was at Boghaz-K&ouml;i. Sweeping through
+Cappadocia, at the head of a finely organized army, remarkable
+for its mobility, he attacked the buffer states which owed
+allegiance to Mitanni and Egypt. City after city fell before him,
+until at length he invaded Mitanni; but it is uncertain whether
+or not Tushratta met him in battle. Large numbers of the
+Mitannians were, however, evicted and transferred to the land of
+the Hittites, where the Greeks subsequently found them, and where
+they are believed to be represented by the modern Kurds, the
+hereditary enemies of the Armenians.</p>
+<p>In the confusion which ensued, Tushratta was murdered by
+Sutarna II, who was recognized by Subbi-luliuma. The crown
+prince, Mattiuza, fled to Babylon, <a id="page.anchor.284" name=
+"page.anchor.284"></a>where he found protection, but was unable
+to receive any assistance. Ultimately, when the Hittite emperor
+had secured his sway over northern Syria, he deposed Sutarna II
+and set Mattiuza as his vassal on the throne of the shrunken
+Mitanni kingdom.</p>
+<p>Meanwhile the Egyptian empire in Asia had gone to pieces. When
+Akhenaton, the dreamer king, died in his palace at
+Tell-el-Amarna, the Khabiri were conquering the Canaanite cities
+which had paid him tribute, and the Hittite ruler was the
+acknowledged overlord of the Amorites.</p>
+<p>The star of Assyria was also in the ascendant. Its king,
+Ashur-uballit, who had corresponded with Akhenaton, was, like the
+Hittite king, Subbi-luliuma, a distinguished statesman and
+general, and similarly laid the foundations of a great empire.
+Before or after Subbi-luliuma invaded Tushratta's domains, he
+drove the Mitannians out of Nineveh, and afterwards overcame the
+Shubari tribes of Mitanni on the north-west, with the result that
+he added a wide extent of territory to his growing empire.</p>
+<p>He had previously thrust southward the Assyro-Babylonian
+frontier. In fact, he had become so formidable an opponent of
+Babylonia that his daughter had been accepted as the wife of
+Karakhardash, the Kassite king of that country. In time his
+grandson, Kadashman-Kharbe, ascended the Babylonian throne. This
+young monarch co-operated with his grandfather in suppressing the
+Suti, who infested the trade routes towards the west, and
+plundered the caravans of merchants and the messengers of great
+monarchs with persistent impunity.</p>
+<p>A reference to these bandits appears in one of the
+Tell-el-Amarna letters. Writing to Akhenaton, Ashur-uballit said:
+"The lands (of Assyria and Egypt) are <a id="page.anchor.285"
+name="page.anchor.285"></a>remote, therefore let our messengers
+come and go. That your messengers were late in reaching you, (the
+reason is that) if the Suti had waylaid them, they would have
+been dead men. For if I had sent them, the Suti would have sent
+bands to waylay them; therefore I have retained them. My
+messengers (however), may they not (for this reason) be
+delayed."<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1301" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1301" id="fnrex1301">301</a>]</span></p>
+<p>Ashur-uballit's grandson extended his Babylonian frontier into
+Amurru, where he dug wells and erected forts to protect traders.
+The Kassite aristocracy, however, appear to have entertained
+towards him a strong dislike, perhaps because he was so closely
+associated with their hereditary enemies the Assyrians. He had
+not reigned for long when the embers of rebellion burst into
+flame and he was murdered in his palace. The Kassites then
+selected as their king a man of humble origin, named Nazibugash,
+who was afterwards referred to as "the son of nobody".
+Ashur-uballit deemed the occasion a fitting one to interfere in
+the affairs of Babylonia. He suddenly appeared at the capital
+with a strong army, overawed the Kassites, and seized and slew
+Nazibugash. Then he set on the throne his great grandson the
+infant Kurigalzu II, who lived to reign for fifty-five years.</p>
+<p>Ashur-uballit appears to have died soon after this event. He
+was succeeded by his son Bel-nirari, who carried on the policy of
+strengthening and extending the Assyrian empire. For many years
+he maintained excellent relations with his kinsman Kurigalzu II,
+but ultimately they came into conflict apparently over disputed
+territory. A sanguinary battle was fought, in which the
+Babylonians suffered heavily and were put to rout. A treaty of
+peace was afterwards arranged, which secured for the Assyrians a
+further extension of their frontier "from <a id="page.anchor.286"
+name="page.anchor.286"></a>the borders of Mitanni as far as
+Babylonia". The struggle of the future was to be for the
+possession of Mesopotamia, so as to secure control over the trade
+routes.</p>
+<p>Thus Assyria rose from a petty state in a comparatively brief
+period to become the rival of Babylonia, at a time when Egypt at
+the beginning of its Nineteenth Dynasty was endeavouring to win
+back its lost empire in Syria, and the Hittite empire was being
+consolidated in the north.</p>
+<div class="footnotes"><br />
+<hr width="100" align="left" />
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1282" href="#fnrex1282" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1282">282</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>The
+Land of the Hittites</em></span>, John Garstang, pp. 312
+<span class="emphasis"><em>et seq</em></span>. and 315
+<span class="emphasis"><em>et seq.</em></span></div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1283" href="#fnrex1283" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1283">283</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>The
+Ancient Egyptian</em></span>, pp. 106 <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>et seq</em></span>.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1284" href="#fnrex1284" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1284">284</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>The
+Ancient Egyptians</em></span>, p. 130.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1285" href="#fnrex1285" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1285">285</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Struggle of the Nations</em></span> (1896), p.
+19.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1286" href="#fnrex1286" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1286">286</a>]</span> Note contributed to <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>The Land of the Hittites</em></span>, J. Garstang,
+p. 324.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1287" href="#fnrex1287" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1287">287</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Genesis</em></span>, xxvi, 34, 35.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1288" href="#fnrex1288" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1288">288</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Ezekiel</em></span>, xvi, 45.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1289" href="#fnrex1289" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1289">289</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Genesis</em></span>, xxvii, 46.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1290" href="#fnrex1290" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1290">290</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Genesis</em></span>, xxviii, 1, 2.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1291" href="#fnrex1291" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1291">291</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Genesis</em></span>, xxiv.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1292" href="#fnrex1292" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1292">292</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>The
+Syrian Goddess</em></span>, John Garstang (London, 1913), pp.
+17-8.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1293" href="#fnrex1293" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1293">293</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>Vedic
+Index of Names and Subjects</em></span>, Macdonald &amp; Keith,
+vol. i, pp. 64-5 (London, 1912).</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1294" href="#fnrex1294" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1294">294</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>The
+Wanderings of Peoples</em></span>, p. 21.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1295" href="#fnrex1295" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1295">295</a>]</span> Breasted's <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>History of Egypt</em></span>, pp. 219-20.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1296" href="#fnrex1296" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1296">296</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>A
+History of Egypt</em></span>, W.M. Flinders Petrie, vol. ii, p.
+146 <span class="emphasis"><em>et seq.</em></span> (1904
+ed.).</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1297" href="#fnrex1297" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1297">297</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>A
+History of Egypt</em></span>, W.M. Flinders Petrie, vol. ii, p.
+147 (1904 ed.).</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1298" href="#fnrex1298" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1298">298</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>The
+Old Testament in the Light of the Historical Records and Legends
+of Assyria and Babylonia,</em></span> pp. 126 <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>et seq</em></span>.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1299" href="#fnrex1299" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1299">299</a>]</span> His connection with Anu is
+discussed in chapter xiv.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1300" href="#fnrex1300" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1300">300</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Ancient Assyria</em></span>, C.H.W. Johns, p. 11
+(London, 1912).</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1301" href="#fnrex1301" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1301">301</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>The
+Tell-el-Amarna Letters</em></span>, Hugo Winckler, p. 31.</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="chapter" lang="en" xml:lang="en">
+<div class="titlepage">
+<div>
+<div>
+<h2 class="title"><a id="id2535270" name=
+"id2535270"></a>Chapter�XIII.�Astrology and Astronomy</h2>
+</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="abstract">
+<p class="title"><b>Abstract</b></p>
+<p>Culture and Superstition--Primitive Star Myths--Naturalism,
+Totemism, and Animism--Stars as Ghosts of Men, Giants, and Wild
+Animals--Gods as Constellations and Planets--Babylonian and
+Egyptian Mysticism--Osiris, Tammuz, and Merodach--Ishtar and Isis
+as Bisexual Deities--The Babylonian Planetary Deities--Planets as
+Forms of Tammuz and Ghosts of Gods--The Signs of the Zodiac--The
+"Four Quarters"--Cosmic Periods in Babylonia, India, Greece, and
+Ireland--Babylonian System of Calculation--Traced in Indian Yuga
+System--Astrology--Beliefs of the Masses--Rise of
+Astronomy--Conflicting Views of Authorities--Greece and
+Babylonia--Eclipses Foretold--The Dial of Ahaz--Omens of Heaven
+and Air--Biblical References to Constellations--The Past in the
+Present.</p>
+</div>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.287" name="page.anchor.287"></a> The empire
+builders of old who enriched themselves with the spoils of war
+and the tribute of subject States, not only satisfied personal
+ambition and afforded protection for industrious traders and
+workers, but also incidentally promoted culture and endowed
+research. When a conqueror returned to his capital laden with
+treasure, he made generous gifts to the temples. He believed that
+his successes were rewards for his piety, that his battles were
+won for him by his god or goddess of war. It was necessary,
+therefore, that he should continue to find favour in the eyes of
+the deity who had been proved to be more powerful than the god of
+his enemies. Besides, he had to make provision during his absence
+on long campaigns, or while absorbed in administrative work, for
+the constant performance of religious rites, so that the various
+deities of water, earth, weather, and corn might be <a id=
+"page.anchor.288" name="page.anchor.288"></a>sustained or
+propitiated with sacrificial offerings, or held in magical
+control by the performance of ceremonial rites. Consequently an
+endowed priesthood became a necessity in all powerful and
+well-organized states.</p>
+<p>Thus came into existence in Babylonia, as elsewhere, as a
+result of the accumulation of wealth, a leisured official class,
+whose duties tended to promote intellectual activity, although
+they were primarily directed to perpetuate gross superstitious
+practices. Culture was really a by-product of temple activities;
+it flowed forth like pure gold from furnaces of thought which
+were walled up by the crude ores of magic and immemorial
+tradition.</p>
+<p>No doubt in ancient Babylonia, as in Europe during the Middle
+Ages, the men of refinement and intellect among the upper classes
+were attracted to the temples, while the more robust types
+preferred the outdoor life, and especially the life of the
+soldier.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1302" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1302" id="fnrex1302">302</a>]</span> The permanent
+triumphs of Babylonian civilization were achieved either by the
+priests, or in consequence of the influence they exercised. They
+were the grammarians and the scribes, the mathematicians and the
+philosophers of that ancient country, the teachers of the young,
+and the patrons of the arts and crafts. It was because the
+temples were centres of intellectual activity that the Sumerian
+language remained the language of culture for long centuries
+after it ceased to be the everyday speech of the people.</p>
+<p>Reference has already been made to the growth of art, and the
+probability that all the arts had their origin in magical
+practices, and to the growth of popular education necessitated by
+the centralization of business in the <a id="page.anchor.289"
+name="page.anchor.289"></a>temples. It remains with us to deal
+now with priestly contributions to the more abstruse sciences. In
+India the ritualists among the Brahmans, who concerned themselves
+greatly regarding the exact construction and measurements of
+altars, gave the world algebra; the pyramid builders of Egypt,
+who erected vast tombs to protect royal mummies, had perforce to
+lay the groundwork of the science of geometry; and the Babylonian
+priests who elaborated the study of astrology became great
+astronomers because they found it necessary to observe and record
+accurately the movements of the heavenly bodies.</p>
+<p>From the earliest times of which we have knowledge, the
+religious beliefs of the Sumerians had vague stellar
+associations. But it does not follow that their myths were star
+myths to begin with. A people who called constellations "the
+ram", "the bull", "the lion", or "the scorpion", did not do so
+because astral groups suggested the forms of animals, but rather
+because the animals had an earlier connection with their
+religious life.</p>
+<p>At the same time it should be recognized that the mystery of
+the stars must ever have haunted the minds of primitive men.
+Night with all its terrors appealed more strongly to their
+imaginations than refulgent day when they felt more secure; they
+were concerned most regarding what they feared most. Brooding in
+darkness regarding their fate, they evidently associated the
+stars with the forces which influenced their lives--the ghosts of
+ancestors, of totems, the spirits that brought food or famine and
+controlled the seasons. As children see images in a fire, so they
+saw human life reflected in the starry sky. To the simple minds
+of early folks the great moon seemed to be the parent of the
+numerous twinkling and moving orbs. In Babylon, indeed, the moon
+was regarded as the father not only of the stars but of the sun
+<a id="page.anchor.290" name="page.anchor.290"></a>also; there,
+as elsewhere, lunar worship was older than solar worship.</p>
+<p>Primitive beliefs regarding the stars were of similar
+character in various parts of the world. But the importance which
+they assumed in local mythologies depended in the first place on
+local phenomena. On the northern Eur-Asian steppes, for instance,
+where stars vanished during summer's blue nights, and were often
+obscured by clouds in winter, they did not impress men's minds so
+persistently and deeply as in Babylonia, where for the greater
+part of the year they gleamed in darkness through a dry
+transparent atmosphere with awesome intensity. The development of
+an elaborate system of astral myths, besides, was only possible
+in a country where the people had attained to a high degree of
+civilization, and men enjoyed leisure and security to make
+observations and compile records. It is not surprising,
+therefore, to find that Babylonia was the cradle of astronomy.
+But before this science had destroyed the theory which it was
+fostered to prove, it lay smothered for long ages in the debris
+of immemorial beliefs. It is necessary, therefore, in dealing
+with Babylonian astral myths to endeavour to approach within
+reasonable distance of the point of view, or points of view, of
+the people who framed them.</p>
+<p>Babylonian religious thought was of highly complex character.
+Its progress was ever hampered by blended traditions. The
+earliest settlers in the Tigro-Euphrates valley no doubt imported
+many crude beliefs which they had inherited from their
+Palaeolithic ancestors--the modes of thought which were the
+moulds of new theories arising from new experiences. When
+consideration is given to the existing religious beliefs of
+various peoples throughout the world, in low stages of culture,
+it is found that the highly developed creeds of Babylonia, <a id=
+"page.anchor.291" name="page.anchor.291"></a>Egypt and other
+countries where civilization flourished were never divested
+wholly of their primitive traits.</p>
+<p>Among savage peoples two grades of religious ideas have been
+identified, and classified as Naturalism and Animism. In the
+plane of Naturalism the belief obtains that a vague impersonal
+force, which may have more than one manifestation and is yet
+manifested in everything, controls the world and the lives of
+human beings. An illustration of this stage of religious
+consciousness is afforded by Mr. Risley, who, in dealing with the
+religion of the jungle dwellers of Chota Nagpur, India, says that
+"in most cases the indefinite something which they fear and
+attempt to propitiate is not a person at all in any sense of the
+word; if one must state the case in positive terms, I should say
+that the idea which lies at the root of their religion is that of
+a power rather than many powers".<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1303" href="#ftn.fnrex1303" id=
+"fnrex1303">303</a>]</span></p>
+<p>Traces of Naturalism appear to have survived in Sumeria in the
+belief that "the spiritual, the Zi, was that which manifested
+life.... The test of the manifestation of life was
+movement."<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1304" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1304" id="fnrex1304">304</a>]</span> All things that
+moved, it was conceived in the plane of Naturalism, possessed
+"self power"; the river was a living thing, as was also the
+fountain; a stone that fell from a hill fell of its own accord; a
+tree groaned because the wind caused it to suffer pain. This idea
+that inanimate objects had conscious existence survived in the
+religion of the Aryo-Indians. In the Nala story of the Indian
+epic, the <span class="emphasis"><em>Mahabharata</em></span>, the
+disconsolate wife Damayanti addresses a mountain when searching
+for her lost husband:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>"This, the monarch of all mountains,
+ask I of the king of men;</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>O all-honoured Prince of Mountains,
+with thy heavenward soaring peaks ...</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt><a id="page.anchor.292" name=
+"page.anchor.292"></a>Hast thou seen the kingly Nala in this dark
+and awful wood....</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Why repliest thou not, O
+Mountain?"</tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>She similarly addresses the Asoka tree:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>"Hast thou seen Nishadha's monarch,
+hast thou seen my only love?...</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>That I may depart ungrieving, fair
+Asoka, answer me...."</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Many a tree she stood and gazed
+on....<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1305" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1305" id="fnrex1305">305</a>]</span></tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>It will be recognized that when primitive men gave names to
+mountains, rivers, or the ocean, these possessed for them a
+deeper significance than they do for us at the present day. The
+earliest peoples of Indo-European speech who called the sky
+"dyeus", and those of Sumerian speech who called it "ana",
+regarded it not as the sky "and nothing more", but as something
+which had conscious existence and "self power". Our remote
+ancestors resembled, in this respect, those imaginative children
+who hold conversations with articles of furniture, and administer
+punishment to stones which, they believe, have tripped them up
+voluntarily and with desire to commit an offence.</p>
+<p>In this early stage of development the widespread totemic
+beliefs appear to have had origin. Families or tribes believed
+that they were descended from mountains, trees, or wild
+animals.</p>
+<p>Aesop's fable about the mountain which gave birth to a mouse
+may be a relic of Totemism; so also may be the mountain symbols
+on the standards of Egyptian ships which appear on pre-dynastic
+pottery; the black dwarfs of Teutonic mythology were earth
+children.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1306" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1306" id="fnrex1306">306</a>]</span></p>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.293" name="page.anchor.293"></a>Adonis
+sprang from a tree; his mother may have, according to primitive
+belief, been simply a tree; Dagda, the patriarchal Irish corn
+god, was an oak; indeed, the idea of a "world tree", which occurs
+in Sumerian, Vedic-Indian, Teutonic, and other mythologies, was
+probably a product of Totemism.</p>
+<p>Wild animals were considered to be other forms of human beings
+who could marry princes and princesses as they do in so many
+fairy tales. Damayanti addressed the tiger, as well as the
+mountain and tree, saying:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>I approach him without fear.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>"Of the beasts art thou the monarch,
+all this forest thy domain;...</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Thou, O king of beasts, console me, if
+my Nala thou hast seen."<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1307"
+href="#ftn.fnrex1307" id="fnrex1307">307</a>]</span></tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>A tribal totem exercised sway over a tribal district. In
+Egypt, as Herodotus recorded, the crocodile was worshipped in one
+district and hunted down in another. Tribes fought against tribes
+when totemic animals were slain. The Babylonian and Indian myths
+about the conflicts between eagles and serpents may have
+originated as records of battles between eagle clans and serpent
+clans. Totemic animals were tabooed. The Set pig of Egypt and the
+devil pig of Ireland, Scotland, and Wales were not eaten except
+sacrificially. Families were supposed to be descended from swans
+and were named Swans, or from seals and were named Seals, like
+the Gaelic "Mac Codrums", whose surname signifies "son of the
+seal"; the nickname of the Campbells, "sons of the pig", may
+refer to their totemic boar's head crest, which commemorated the
+slaying, perhaps the sacrificial slaying, of the boar by their
+ancestor Diarmid. Mr. Garstang, in <span class="emphasis"><em>The
+Syrian Goddess</em></span>, thinks it possible that the boar
+which killed <a id="page.anchor.294" name=
+"page.anchor.294"></a>Adonis was of totemic origin. So may have
+been the fish form of the Sumerian god Ea. When an animal totem
+was sacrificed once a year, and eaten sacrificially so that the
+strength of the clan might be maintained, the priest who wrapped
+himself in its skin was supposed to have transmitted to him
+certain magical powers; he became identified with the totem and
+prophesied and gave instruction as the totem. Ea was depicted
+clad in the fish's skin.</p>
+<p>Animism, the other early stage of human development, also
+produced distinctive modes of thought. Men conceived that the
+world swarmed with spirits, that a spirit groaned in the
+wind-shaken tree, that the howling wind was an invisible spirit,
+that there were spirits in fountains, rivers, valleys, hills, and
+in ocean, and in all animals; and that a hostile spirit might
+possess an individual and change his nature. The sun and the moon
+were the abodes of spirits, or the vessels in which great spirits
+sailed over the sea of the sky; the stars were all spirits, the
+"host of heaven". These spirits existed in groups of seven, or
+groups of three, and the multiple of three, or in pairs, or
+operated as single individuals.</p>
+<p>Although certain spirits might confer gifts upon mankind, they
+were at certain seasons and in certain localities hostile and
+vengeful, like the grass-green fairies in winter, or the
+earth-black elves when their gold was sought for in forbidden and
+secret places. These spirits were the artisans of creation and
+vegetation, like the Egyptian Khnumu and the Indian Rhibus; they
+fashioned the grass blades and the stalks of corn, but at times
+of seasonal change they might ride on their tempest steeds, or
+issue forth from flooding rivers and lakes. Man was greatly
+concerned about striking <a id="page.anchor.295" name=
+"page.anchor.295"></a>bargains with them to secure their
+services, and about propitiating them, or warding off their
+attacks with protective charms, and by performing "ceremonies of
+riddance". The ghosts of the dead, being spirits, were similarly
+propitious or harmful on occasion; as emissaries of Fate they
+could injure the living.</p>
+<p>Ancestor worship, the worship of ghosts, had origin in the
+stage of Animism. But ancestor worship was not developed in
+Babylonia as in China, for instance, although traces of it
+survived in the worship of stars as ghosts, in the deification of
+kings, and the worship of patriarchs, who might be exalted as
+gods or identified with a supreme god. The Egyptian Pharaoh Unas
+became the sun god and the constellation of Orion by devouring
+his predecessors<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1308" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1308" id="fnrex1308">308</a>]</span>. He ate his god
+as a tribe ate its animal totem; he became the "bull of
+heaven".</p>
+<p>There were star totems as well as mountain totems. A St.
+Andrew's cross sign, on one of the Egyptian ship standards
+referred to, may represent a star. The Babylonian goddess Ishtar
+was symbolized as a star, and she was the "world mother". Many
+primitive currents of thought shaped the fretted rocks of ancient
+mythologies.</p>
+<p>In various countries all round the globe the belief prevailed
+that the stars were ghosts of the mighty dead--of giants, kings,
+or princes, or princesses, or of pious people whom the gods
+loved, or of animals which were worshipped. A few instances may
+be selected at random. When the Teutonic gods slew the giant
+Thjasse, he appeared in the heavens as Sirius. In India the
+ghosts of the "seven Rishis", who were semi-divine Patriarchs,
+formed the constellation of the Great Bear, which in Vedic times
+was called the "seven bears". The wives of the seven Rishis were
+the stars of the Pleiades. In Greece <a id="page.anchor.296"
+name="page.anchor.296"></a>the Pleiades were the ghosts of the
+seven daughters of Atlas and Pleione, and in Australia they were
+and are a queen and six handmaidens. In these countries, as
+elsewhere, stories were told to account for the "lost Pleiad", a
+fact which suggests that primitive men were more constant
+observers of the heavenly bodies than might otherwise be
+supposed. The Arcadians believed that they were descended, as
+Hesiod recorded, from a princess who was transformed by Zeus into
+a bear; in this form Artemis slew her and she became the "Great
+Bear" of the sky. The Egyptian Isis was the star Sirius, whose
+rising coincided with the beginning of the Nile inundation. Her
+first tear for the dead Osiris fell into the river on "the night
+of the drop". The flood which ensued brought the food supply.
+Thus the star was not only the Great Mother of all, but the
+sustainer of all.</p>
+<p>The brightest stars were regarded as being the greatest and
+most influential. In Babylonia all the planets were identified
+with great deities. Jupiter, for instance, was Merodach, and one
+of the astral forms of Ishtar was Venus. Merodach was also
+connected with "the fish of Ea" (Pisces), so that it is not
+improbable that Ea worship had stellar associations.
+Constellations were given recognition before the planets were
+identified.</p>
+<p>A strange blending of primitive beliefs occurred when the
+deities were given astral forms. As has been shown (Chapter III)
+gods were supposed to die annually. The Egyptian priests pointed
+out to Herodotus the grave of Osiris and also his star. There are
+"giants' graves" also in those countries in which the gods were
+simply ferocious giants. A god might assume various forms; he
+might take the form of an insect, like Indra, and hide in a
+plant, or become a mouse, or a serpent, like the gods of Erech in
+the Gilgamesh epic. The further theory that a god <a id=
+"page.anchor.297" name="page.anchor.297"></a>could exist in
+various forms at one and the same time suggests that it had its
+origin among a people who accepted the idea of a personal god
+while yet in the stage of Naturalism. In Egypt Osiris, for
+instance, was the moon, which came as a beautiful child each
+month and was devoured as the wasting "old moon" by the demon
+Set; he was the young god who was slain in his prime each year;
+he was at once the father, husband, and son of Isis; he was the
+Patriarch who reigned over men and became the Judge of the Dead;
+he was the earth spirit, he was the bisexual Nile spirit, he was
+the spring sun; he was the Apis bull of Memphis, and the ram of
+Mendes; he was the reigning Pharaoh. In his fusion with Ra, who
+was threefold--Khepera, Ra, and Tum--he died each day as an old
+man; he appeared in heaven at night as the constellation Orion,
+which was his ghost, or was, perhaps, rather the Sumerian Zi, the
+spiritual essence of life. Osiris, who resembled Tammuz, a god of
+many forms also, was addressed as follows in one of the Isis
+chants:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>There proceedeth from thee the strong
+Orion in heaven at evening, at the resting of every
+day!</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Lo it is I (Isis), at the approach of
+the Sothis (Sirius) period, who doth watch for him (the child
+Osiris),</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Nor will I leave off watching for him;
+for that which proceedeth from thee (the living Osiris) is
+revered.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>An emanation from thee causeth life to
+gods and men, reptiles and animals, and they live by means
+thereof.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Come thou to us from thy chamber, in
+the day when thy soul begetteth emanations,--</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>The day when offerings upon offerings
+are made to thy spirit, which causeth the gods and men likewise
+to live.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1309" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1309" id="fnrex1309">309</a>]</span></tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>This extract emphasizes how unsafe it is to confine certain
+deities within narrow limits by terming them simply <a id=
+"page.anchor.298" name="page.anchor.298"></a>"solar gods", "lunar
+gods", "astral gods", or "earth gods". One deity may have been
+simultaneously a sun god and moon god, an air god and an earth
+god, one who was dead and also alive, unborn and also old. The
+priests of Babylonia and Egypt were less accustomed to concrete
+and logical definitions than their critics and expositors of the
+twentieth century. Simple explanations of ancient beliefs are
+often by reason of their very simplicity highly improbable.
+Recognition must ever be given to the puzzling complexity of
+religious thought in Babylonia and Egypt, and to the possibility
+that even to the priests the doctrines of a particular cult,
+which embraced the accumulated ideas of centuries, were
+invariably confusing and vague, and full of inconsistencies; they
+were mystical in the sense that the understanding could not grasp
+them although it permitted their acceptance. A god, for instance,
+might be addressed at once in the singular and plural, perhaps
+because he had developed from an animistic group of spirits, or,
+perhaps, for reasons we cannot discover. This is shown clearly by
+the following pregnant extract from a Babylonian tablet:
+"<span class="emphasis"><em>Powerful, O Sevenfold, one are
+ye</em></span>". Mr. L.W. King, the translator, comments upon it
+as follows: "There is no doubt that the name was applied to a
+group of gods who were so closely connected that, though
+addressed in the plural, they could in the same sentence be
+regarded as forming a single personality".<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1310" href="#ftn.fnrex1310" id=
+"fnrex1310">310</a>]</span></p>
+<p>Like the Egyptian Osiris, the Babylonian Merodach was a highly
+complex deity. He was the son of Ea, god of the deep; he died to
+give origin to human life when he commanded that his head should
+be cut off so that the first human beings might be fashioned by
+mixing his blood with the earth; he was the wind god, who gave
+<a id="page.anchor.299" name="page.anchor.299"></a>"the air of
+life"; he was the deity of thunder and the sky; he was the sun of
+spring in his Tammuz character; he was the daily sun, and the
+planets Jupiter and Mercury as well as Sharru (Regulus); he had
+various astral associations at various seasons. Ishtar, the
+goddess, was Iku (Capella), the water channel star, in
+January-February, and Merodach was Iku in May-June. This strange
+system of identifying the chief deity with different stars at
+different periods, or simultaneously, must not be confused with
+the monotheistic identification of him with other gods. Merodach
+changed his forms with Ishtar, and had similarly many forms. This
+goddess, for instance, was, even when connected with one
+particular heavenly body, liable to change. According to a tablet
+fragment she was, as the planet Venus, "a female at sunset and a
+male at sunrise<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1311" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1311" id="fnrex1311">311</a>]</span>"--that is, a
+bisexual deity like Nannar of Ur, the father and mother deity
+combined, and Isis of Egypt. Nannar is addressed in a famous
+hymn:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Father Nannar, Lord, God Sin, ruler
+among the gods....</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt><span class="emphasis"><em>Mother body
+which produceth all things</em></span>....</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Merciful, gracious Father, in whose
+hand the life of the whole land is contained.</tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>One of the Isis chants of Egypt sets forth, addressing
+Osiris:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>There cometh unto thee Isis, lady of
+the horizon, who hath begotten herself alone in the image of the
+gods....</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>She hath taken vengeance before Horus,
+<span class="emphasis"><em>the woman who was made a male by her
+father Osiris</em></span>.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1312"
+href="#ftn.fnrex1312" id="fnrex1312">312</a>]</span></tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>Merodach, like Osiris-Sokar, was a "lord of many existences",
+and likewise "the mysterious one, he who is unknown to
+mankind<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1313" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1313" id="fnrex1313">313</a>]</span>". It was
+impossible for the human mind "a greater than itself to
+know".</p>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.300" name="page.anchor.300"></a>Evidence
+has not yet been forthcoming to enable us to determine the period
+at which the chief Babylonian deities were identified with the
+planets, but it is clear that Merodach's ascendancy in astral
+form could not have occurred prior to the rise of that city god
+of Babylon as chief of the pantheon by displacing Enlil. At the
+same time it must be recognized that long before the Hammurabi
+age the star-gazers of the Tigro-Euphrates valley must have been
+acquainted with the movements of the chief planets and stars,
+and, no doubt, they connected them with seasonal changes as in
+Egypt, where Isis was identified with Sirius long before the
+Ptolemaic age, when Babylonian astronomy was imported. Horus was
+identified not only with the sun but also with Saturn, Jupiter,
+and Mars.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1314" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1314" id="fnrex1314">314</a>]</span> Even the
+primitive Australians, as has been indicated, have their star
+myths; they refer to the stars Castor and Pollux as two young
+men, like the ancient Greeks, while the African Bushmen assert
+that these stars are two girls. It would be a mistake, however,
+to assume that the prehistoric Sumerians were exact astronomers.
+Probably they were, like the Aryo-Indians of the Vedic period,
+"not very accurate observers".<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1315" href="#ftn.fnrex1315" id=
+"fnrex1315">315</a>]</span></p>
+<p>It is of special interest to find that the stars were grouped
+by the Babylonians at the earliest period in companies of seven.
+The importance of this magical number is emphasized by the group
+of seven demons which rose from the deep to rage over the land
+(p. <a href="#page.anchor.71">71</a>). Perhaps the sanctity of
+Seven was suggested by Orion, the Bears, and the Pleiad, one of
+which constellations may have been the "Sevenfold" deity
+addressed as "one". At any rate arbitrary groupings of other
+stars into companies of seven took place, for references are made
+to <a id="page.anchor.301" name="page.anchor.301"></a>the seven
+Tikshi, the seven Lumashi, and the seven Mashi, which are older
+than the signs of the Zodiac; so far as can be ascertained these
+groups were selected from various constellations. When the five
+planets were identified, they were associated with the sun and
+moon and connected with the chief gods of the Hammurabi pantheon.
+A bilingual list in the British Museum arranges the sevenfold
+planetary group in the following order:--</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>The moon, Sin.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>The sun, Shamash.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Jupiter, Merodach.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Venus, Ishtar.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Saturn, Ninip (Nirig).</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Mercury, Nebo.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Mars, Nergal.</tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>An ancient name of the moon was Aa, &Acirc;, or Ai, which
+recalls the Egyptian A&acirc;h or Ah. The Sumerian moon was Aku,
+"the measurer", like Thoth of Egypt, who in his lunar character
+as a Fate measured out the lives of men, and was a god of
+architects, mathematicians, and scribes. The moon was the parent
+of the sun or its spouse; and might be male, or female, or both
+as a bisexual deity.</p>
+<p>As the "bull of light" Jupiter had solar associations; he was
+also the shepherd of the stars, a title shared by Tammuz as
+Orion; Nin-Girsu, a developed form of Tammuz, was identified with
+both Orion and Jupiter.</p>
+<p>Ishtar's identification with Venus is of special interest.
+When that planet was at its brightest phase, its rays were
+referred to as "the beard" of the goddess; she was the "bearded
+Aphrodite"--a bisexual deity evidently. The astrologers regarded
+the bright Venus as lucky and the rayless Venus as unlucky.</p>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.302" name="page.anchor.302"></a>Saturn was
+Nirig, who is best known as Ninip, a deity who was displaced by
+Enlil, the elder Bel, and afterwards regarded as his son. His
+story has not been recovered, but from the references made to it
+there is little doubt that it was a version of the widespread
+myth about the elder deity who was slain by his son, as Saturn
+was by Jupiter and Dyaus by Indra. It may have resembled the lost
+Egyptian myth which explained the existence of the two
+Horuses--Horus the elder, and Horus, the posthumous son of
+Osiris. At any rate, it is of interest to find in this connection
+that in Egypt the planet Saturn was Her-Ka, "Horus the Bull".
+Ninip was also identified with the bull. Both deities were also
+connected with the spring sun, like Tammuz, and were terrible
+slayers of their enemies. Ninip raged through Babylonia like a
+storm flood, and Horus swept down the Nile, slaying the followers
+of Set. As the divine sower of seed, Ninip may have developed
+from Tammuz as Horus did from Osiris. Each were at once the
+father and the son, different forms of the same deity at various
+seasons of the year. The elder god was displaced by the son
+(spring), and when the son grew old his son slew him in turn. As
+the planet Saturn, Ninip was the ghost of the elder god, and as
+the son of Bel he was the solar war god of spring, the great wild
+bull, the god of fertility. He was also as Ber "lord of the wild
+boar", an animal associated with Rimmon<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1316" href="#ftn.fnrex1316" id=
+"fnrex1316">316</a>]</span>.</p>
+<p>Nebo (Nabu), who was identified with Mercury, was a god of
+Borsippa. He was a messenger and "announcer" of the gods, as the
+Egyptian Horus in his connection with Jupiter was Her-ap-sheta,
+"Horus the opener of that which is secret<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1317" href="#ftn.fnrex1317" id=
+"fnrex1317">317</a>]</span>". Nebo's original character is
+obscure. <a id="page.anchor.303" name="page.anchor.303"></a>He
+appears to have been a highly developed deity of a people well
+advanced in civilization when he was exalted as the divine patron
+of Borsippa. Although Hammurabi ignored him, he was subsequently
+invoked with Merodach, and had probably much in common with
+Merodach. Indeed, Merodach was also identified with the planet
+Mercury. Like the Greek Hermes, Nebo was a messenger of the gods
+and an instructor of mankind. Jastrow regards him as "a
+counterpart of Ea", and says: "Like Ea, he is the embodiment and
+source of wisdom. The art of writing--and therefore of all
+literature--is more particularly associated with him. A common
+form of his name designates him as the 'god of the
+stylus'."<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1318" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1318" id="fnrex1318">318</a>]</span> He appears also
+to have been a developed form of Tammuz, who was an incarnation
+of Ea. Professor Pinches shows that one of his names, Mermer, was
+also a non-Semitic name of Ramman.<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1319" href="#ftn.fnrex1319" id="fnrex1319">319</a>]</span>
+Tammuz resembled Ramman in his character as a spring god of war.
+It would seem that Merodach as Jupiter displaced at Babylon Nebo
+as Saturn, the elder god, as Bel Enlil displaced the elder Ninip
+at Nippur.</p>
+<p>The god of Mars was Nergal, the patron deity of
+Cuthah,<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1320" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1320" id="fnrex1320">320</a>]</span> who descended
+into the Underworld and forced into submission Eresh-ki-gal
+(Persephone), with whom he was afterwards associated. His "name",
+says Professor Pinches, "is supposed to mean 'lord of the great
+habitation', which would be a parallel to that of his spouse,
+Eresh-ki-gal".<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1321" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1321" id="fnrex1321">321</a>]</span> At Erech he
+symbolized the destroying influence of the sun, and was
+accompanied by the demons of pestilence. Mars was a planet of
+evil, plague, and death; its animal form was the wolf. In Egypt
+it was <a id="page.anchor.304" name="page.anchor.304"></a>called
+Herdesher, "the Red Horus", and in Greece it was associated with
+Ares (the Roman Mars), the war god, who assumed his boar form to
+slay Adonis (Tammuz).</p>
+<p>Nergal was also a fire god like the Aryo-Indian Agni, who, as
+has been shown, links with Tammuz as a demon slayer and a god of
+fertility. It may be that Nergal was a specialized form of
+Tammuz, who, in a version of the myth, was reputed to have
+entered the Underworld as a conqueror when claimed by
+Eresh-ki-gal, and to have become, like Osiris, the lord of the
+dead. If so, Nergal was at once the slayer and the slain.</p>
+<p>The various Babylonian deities who were identified with the
+planets had their characters sharply defined as members of an
+organized pantheon. But before this development took place
+certain of the prominent heavenly bodies, perhaps all the
+planets, were evidently regarded as manifestations of one deity,
+the primeval Tammuz, who was a form of Ea, or of the twin deities
+Ea and Anu. Tammuz may have been the "sevenfold one" of the
+hymns. At a still earlier period the stars were manifestations of
+the Power whom the jungle dwellers of Chota Nagpur attempt to
+propitiate--the "world soul" of the cultured Brahmans of the
+post-Vedic Indian Age. As much is suggested by the resemblances
+which the conventionalized planetary deities bear to Tammuz,
+whose attributes they symbolized, and by the Egyptian conception
+that the sun, Jupiter, Saturn, and Mars were manifestations of
+Horus. Tammuz and Horus may have been personifications of the
+Power or World Soul vaguely recognized in the stage of
+Naturalism.</p>
+<p>The influence of animistic modes of thought may be traced in
+the idea that the planets and stars were the ghosts of gods who
+were superseded by their sons. These sons were identical with
+their fathers; they became, as <a id="page.anchor.305" name=
+"page.anchor.305"></a>in Egypt, "husbands of their mothers". This
+idea was perpetuated in the Aryo-Indian <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Laws of Manu</em></span>, in which it is set forth
+that "the husband, after conception by his wife, becomes an
+embryo and is born again of her<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1322" href="#ftn.fnrex1322" id=
+"fnrex1322">322</a>]</span>". The deities died every year, but
+death was simply change. Yet they remained in the separate forms
+they assumed in their progress round "the wide circle of
+necessity". Horus was remembered as various planets--as the
+falcon, as the elder sun god, and as the son of Osiris; and
+Tammuz was the spring sun, the child, youth, warrior, the deity
+of fertility, and the lord of death (Orion-Nergal), and, as has
+been suggested, all the planets.</p>
+<p>The stars were also the ghosts of deities who died daily. When
+the sun perished as an old man at evening, it rose in the heavens
+as Orion, or went out and in among the stars as the shepherd of
+the flock, Jupiter, the planet of Merodach in Babylonia, and
+Attis in Asia Minor. The flock was the group of heavenly spirits
+invisible by day, the "host of heaven"--manifestations or ghosts
+of the emissaries of the controlling power or powers.</p>
+<p>The planets presided over various months of the year. Sin (the
+moon) was associated with the third month; it also controlled the
+calendar; Ninip (Saturn) was associated with the fourth month,
+Ishtar (Venus) with the sixth, Shamash (the sun) with the
+seventh, Merodach (Jupiter) with the eighth, Nergal (Mars) with
+the ninth, and a messenger of the gods, probably Nebo (Mercury),
+with the tenth.</p>
+<p>Each month was also controlled by a zodiacal constellation. In
+the Creation myth of Babylon it is stated that when Merodach
+engaged in the work of setting the Universe in order he "set all
+the great gods in their <a id="page.anchor.306" name=
+"page.anchor.306"></a>several stations", and "also created their
+images, the stars of the Zodiac,<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1323" href="#ftn.fnrex1323" id="fnrex1323">323</a>]</span>
+and fixed them all" (p. <a href="#page.anchor.147">147</a>).</p>
+<p>Our signs of the Zodiac are of Babylonian origin. They were
+passed on to the Greeks by the Phoenicians and Hittites. "There
+was a time", says Professor Sayce, "when the Hittites were
+profoundly affected by Babylonian civilization, religion, and
+art...." They "carried the time-worn civilizations of Babylonia
+and Egypt to the furthest boundary of Egypt, and there handed
+them over to the West in the grey dawn of European history....
+Greek traditions affirmed that the rulers of Mykenae had come
+from Lydia, bringing with them the civilization and treasures of
+Asia Minor. The tradition has been confirmed by modern research.
+While certain elements belonging to the prehistoric culture of
+Greece, as revealed at Mykenae and elsewhere, were derived from
+Egypt and Phoenicia, there are others which point to Asia Minor
+as their source. And the culture of Asia Minor was
+Hittite."<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1324" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1324" id="fnrex1324">324</a>]</span></p>
+<p>The early Babylonian astronomers did not know, of course, that
+the earth revolved round the sun. They believed that the sun
+travelled across the heavens flying like a bird or sailing like a
+boat.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1325" href="#ftn.fnrex1325"
+id="fnrex1325">325</a>]</span> In studying its movements they
+observed that it always travelled from west to east along a broad
+path, swinging from side to side of it in the course of the year.
+This path is the Zodiac--the celestial "circle of necessity". The
+middle <a id="page.anchor.307" name="page.anchor.307"></a>line of
+the sun's path is the Ecliptic. The Babylonian scientists divided
+the Ecliptic into twelve equal parts, and grouped in each part
+the stars which formed their constellations; these are also
+called "Signs of the Zodiac". Each month had thus its sign or
+constellation.</p>
+<div class="figure"><a id="id2536676" name="id2536676"></a>
+<p class="title"><b>Figure�XIII.1.�SYMBOLS OF DEITIES AS
+ASTRONOMICAL SIGNS</b></p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<p>Sculptured on a stone recording privileges granted to
+Ritti-Marduk by Nebuchadnezzar I (<span class=
+"emphasis"><em>British Museum</em></span>)</p>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="graphic"><img alt="" src="img/27.jpg" /></div>
+<div class="figure"><a id="id2536696" name="id2536696"></a>
+<p class="title"><b>Figure�XIII.2.�ASHUR SYMBOLS</b></p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<p>The two symbols with feather-robed archers, shown on the left,
+are described on page 335. The winged disk on the right appears
+on a Babylonian "boundary stone" which dates from the reign of
+Marduk-batatsu-ikbi. (See pages <a href=
+"#page.anchor.415">415</a>,<a href=
+"#page.anchor.416">416</a>)</p>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="graphic"><img alt="" src="img/28.jpg" /></div>
+<p>The names borne at the present day by the signs of the Zodiac
+are easily remembered even by children, who are encouraged to
+repeat the following familiar lines:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>The <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Ram</em></span>, the <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Bull</em></span>, the heavenly <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Twins</em></span>,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>And next the <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Crab</em></span>, the <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Lion</em></span> shines.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>����The <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Virgin</em></span> and the <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Scales</em></span>;</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>The <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Scorpion, Archer</em></span>, and <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Sea goat</em></span>,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>The man that holds the <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>water pot</em></span>,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>����And <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Fish</em></span> with glitt'ring<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1326" href="#ftn.fnrex1326" id=
+"fnrex1326">326</a>]</span> tails.</tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>The table on p. <a href="#page.anchor.308">308</a> shows that
+our signs are derived from ancient Babylonia.</p>
+<p>The celestial regions were also divided into three or more
+parts. Three "fields" were allotted to the ancient triad formed
+by Ea, Anu, and Bel. The zodiacal "path" ran through these
+"fields". Ea's field was in the west, and was associated with
+Amurru, the land of the Amorites; Anu's field was in the south,
+and was associated with Elam; and Bel's central "field" was
+associated with the land of Akkad. When the rulers of Akkad
+called themselves "kings of the four quarters", the reference was
+to the countries associated with the three divine fields and to
+Gutium<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1327" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1327" id="fnrex1327">327</a>]</span>(east = our
+north-east). Was Gutium associated with demons, as in Scandinavia
+the north-east was associated with the giants against whom Thor
+waged war?</p>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.308" name="page.anchor.308"></a></p>
+<div class="table"><a id="id2536859" name="id2536859"></a>
+<p class="title"><b>Table�XIII.1.�</b></p>
+<table summary="" border="1">
+<colgroup>
+<col />
+<col />
+<col /></colgroup>
+<thead>
+<tr>
+<th>Constellations.</th>
+<th>Date of Sun's Entry (Babylonian Month in brackets).</th>
+<th>Babylonian Equivalent.</th>
+</tr>
+</thead>
+<tbody>
+<tr>
+<td>Aries (the Ram).</td>
+<td>20th March (Nisan = March-April)</td>
+<td>The Labourer or Messenger.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>Taurus (the Bull).</td>
+<td>20th April (Iyyar = April-May)</td>
+<td>A divine figure and the "bull of heaven".</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>Gemini (the Twins).</td>
+<td>21st May (Sivan = May-June).</td>
+<td>The Faithful Shepherd and Twins side by side, or head to head
+and feet to teet.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>Cancer (the Crab).</td>
+<td>21st June (Tammuz = June-July).</td>
+<td>Crab or Scorpion.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>Leo (the Lion).</td>
+<td>22nd July (Ab = July-August).</td>
+<td>The big dog (Lion).</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>Virgo (the Virgin).</td>
+<td>23rd August (Elul = August-Sept.).</td>
+<td>Ishtar, the Virgin's ear of corn.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>Libra (the Balance).</td>
+<td>23rd September (Tisri = Sept.-Oct.).</td>
+<td>The Balance.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>Scorpio (the Scorpion).</td>
+<td>23rd October (Marcheswan = Oct.-Nov.).</td>
+<td>Scorpion of darkness.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>Sagittarius (the Archer).</td>
+<td>22nd November (Chisleu = Nov.-Dec.).</td>
+<td>Man or man-horse with bow, or an arrow symbol.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>Capricornus (the Goat).</td>
+<td>21st December (Tebet = Dec.-Jan.).</td>
+<td>Ea's goat-fish.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>Aquarius (the Water Carrier).</td>
+<td>19th January (Sebat = Jan.-Feb.).</td>
+<td>God with water urn.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>Pisces (the Fishes).</td>
+<td>18th February (Adar = Feb.-March).</td>
+<td>Fish tails in canal.</td>
+</tr>
+</tbody>
+</table>
+</div>
+<p>The Babylonian Creation myth states that Merodach, having
+fixed the stars of the Zodiac, made three stars for each month
+(p. <a href="#page.anchor.147">147</a>). Mr. Robert Brown, jun.,
+who has dealt as exhaustively with the astronomical problems of
+Babylonia as the available data permitted him, is of opinion that
+the leading stars of three constellations are referred <a id=
+"page.anchor.309" name="page.anchor.309"></a>to, viz.: (1) the
+central or zodiacal constellations, (2) the northern
+constellations, and (3) the southern constellations. We have thus
+a scheme of thirty-six constellations. The "twelve zodiacal stars
+were flanked on either side by twelve non-zodiacal stars". Mr.
+Brown quotes Diodorus, who gave a r&eacute;sum&eacute; of
+Babylonian astronomico-astrology, in this connection. He said
+that "the five planets were called 'Interpreters'; and in
+subjection to these were marshalled 'Thirty Stars', which were
+styled 'Divinities of the Council'.... The chiefs of the
+Divinities are twelve in number, to each of whom they assign a
+month and one of the twelve signs of the Zodiac." Through these
+twelve signs sun, moon, and planets run their courses. "And with
+the zodiacal circle they mark out twenty-four stars, half of
+which they say are arranged in the north and half in the
+south."<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1328" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1328" id="fnrex1328">328</a>]</span> Mr. Brown shows
+that the thirty stars referred to "constituted the original
+Euphratean Lunar Zodiac, the parent of the seven ancient lunar
+zodiacs which have come down to us, namely, the Persian, Sogdian,
+Khorasmian, Chinese, Indian, Arab, and Coptic schemes".</p>
+<p>The three constellations associated with each month had each a
+symbolic significance: they reflected the characters of their
+months. At the height of the rainy season, for instance, the
+month of Ramman, the thunder god, was presided over by the
+zodiacal constellation of the water urn, the northern
+constellation "Fish of the Canal", and the southern "the Horse".
+In India the black horse was sacrificed at rain-getting and
+fertility ceremonies. The months of growth, pestilence, and
+scorching sun heat were in turn symbolized. The "Great Bear" was
+the "chariot" = "Charles's Wain", and the "Milky Way" the "river
+of the high cloud", the Celestial Euphrates, as in Egypt it was
+the Celestial Nile.</p>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.310" name="page.anchor.310"></a>Of special
+interest among the many problems presented by Babylonian
+astronomical lore is the theory of Cosmic periods or Ages of the
+Universe. In the Indian, Greek, and Irish mythologies there are
+four Ages--the Silvern (white), Golden (yellow), the Bronze
+(red), and the Iron (black). As has been already indicated, Mr.
+R. Brown, jun., shows that "the Indian system of Yugas, or ages
+of the world, presents many features which forcibly remind us of
+the Euphratean scheme". The Babylonians had ten antediluvian
+kings, who were reputed to have reigned for vast periods, the
+total of which amounted to 120 saroi, or 432,000 years. These
+figures at once recall the Indian Maha-yuga of 4,320,000 years =
+432,000 x 10. Apparently the Babylonian and Indian systems of
+calculation were of common origin. In both countries the
+measurements of time and space were arrived at by utilizing the
+numerals 10 and 6.</p>
+<p>When primitive man began to count he adopted a method which
+comes naturally to every schoolboy; he utilized his fingers.
+Twice five gave him ten, and from ten he progressed to twenty,
+and then on to a hundred and beyond. In making measurements his
+hands, arms, and feet were at his service. We are still measuring
+by feet and yards (standardized strides) in this country, while
+those who engage in the immemorial art of knitting, and, in doing
+so, repeat designs found on neolithic pottery, continue to
+measure in finger breadths, finger lengths, and hand breadths as
+did the ancient folks who called an arm length a cubit. Nor has
+the span been forgotten, especially by boys in their games with
+marbles; the space from the end of the thumb to the end of the
+little finger when the hand is extended must have been an
+important measurement from the earliest times.</p>
+<p>As he made progress in calculations, the primitive <a id=
+"page.anchor.311" name="page.anchor.311"></a>Babylonian appears
+to have been struck by other details in his anatomy besides his
+sets of five fingers and five toes. He observed, for instance,
+that his fingers were divided into three parts and his thumb into
+two parts only;<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1329" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1329" id="fnrex1329">329</a>]</span> four fingers
+multiplied by three gave him twelve, and multiplying 12 by 3 he
+reached 36. Apparently the figure 6 attracted him. His body was
+divided into 6 parts--2 arms, 2 legs, the head, and the trunk;
+his 2 ears, 2 eyes, and mouth, and nose also gave him 6. The
+basal 6, multiplied by his 10 fingers, gave him 60, and 60 x 2
+(for his 2 hands) gave him 120. In Babylonian arithmetic 6 and 60
+are important numbers, and it is not surprising to find that in
+the system of numerals the signs for 1 and 10 combined represent
+60.</p>
+<p>In fixing the length of a mythical period his first great
+calculation of 120 came naturally to the Babylonian, and when he
+undertook to measure the Zodiac he equated time and space by
+fixing on 120 degrees. His first zodiac was the Sumerian lunar
+zodiac, which contained thirty moon chambers associated with the
+"Thirty Stars" of the tablets, and referred to by Diodorus as
+"Divinities of the Council". The chiefs of the Thirty numbered
+twelve. In this system the year began in the winter solstice. Mr.
+Hewitt has shown that the chief annual <a id="page.anchor.312"
+name="page.anchor.312"></a>festival of the Indian Dravidians
+begins with the first full moon after the winter festival, and
+Mr. Brown emphasizes the fact that the list of Tamil (Dravidian)
+lunar and solar months are named like the Babylonian
+constellations.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1330" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1330" id="fnrex1330">330</a>]</span> "Lunar
+chronology", wrote Professor Max Mailer, "seems everywhere to
+have preceded solar chronology."<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1331" href="#ftn.fnrex1331" id="fnrex1331">331</a>]</span>
+The later Semitic Babylonian system had twelve solar chambers and
+the thirty-six constellations.</p>
+<p>Each degree was divided into sixty minutes, and each minute
+into sixty seconds. The hours of the day and night each numbered
+twelve.</p>
+<p>Multiplying 6 by 10 (pur), the Babylonian arrived at 60
+(soss); 60x10 gave him 600 (ner), and 600x6, 3600 (sar), while
+3600x10 gave him 36,000, and 36,000x12, 432,000 years, or 120
+saroi, which is equal to the "sar" multiplied by the "soss"x2.
+"Pur" signifies "heap"--the ten fingers closed after being
+counted; and "ner" signifies "foot". Mr. George Bertin suggests
+that when 6x10 fingers gave 60 this number was multiplied by the
+ten toes, with the result that 600 was afterwards associated with
+the feet (ner). The Babylonian sign for 10 resembles the
+impression of two feet with heels closed and toes apart. This
+suggests a primitive record of the first round of finger
+counting.</p>
+<p>In India this Babylonian system of calculation was developed
+during the Brahmanical period. The four Yugas or Ages,
+representing the four fingers used by the primitive
+mathematicians, totalled 12,000 divine years, a period which was
+called a Maha-yuga; it equalled the Babylonian 120 saroi,
+multiplied by 100. Ten times a hundred of these periods gave a
+"Day of Brahma".</p>
+<p>Each day of the gods, it was explained by the <a id=
+"page.anchor.313" name="page.anchor.313"></a>Brahmans, was a year
+to mortals. Multiplied by 360 days, 12,000 divine years equalled
+4,320,000 human years. This Maha-yuga, multiplied by 1000, gave
+the "Day of Brahma" as 4,320,000,000 human years.</p>
+<p>The shortest Indian Yuga is the Babylonian 120 saroi
+multiplied by 10=1200 divine years for the Kali Yuga; twice that
+number gives the Dvapara Yuga of 2400 divine years; then the
+Treta Yuga is 2400 + 1200 = 3600 divine years, and Krita Yuga
+3600 + 1200 = 4800 divine years.</p>
+<p>The influence of Babylonia is apparent in these calculations.
+During the Vedic period "Yuga" usually signified a "generation",
+and there are no certain references to the four Ages as such. The
+names "Kali", "Dvapara", "Treta", and "Krita" "occur as the
+designations of throws of dice".<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1332" href="#ftn.fnrex1332" id="fnrex1332">332</a>]</span>
+It was after the arrival of the "late comers", the post-Vedic
+Aryans, that the Yuga system was developed in India.<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1333" href="#ftn.fnrex1333" id=
+"fnrex1333">333</a>]</span></p>
+<p>In <span class="emphasis"><em>Indian Myth and
+Legend<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1334" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1334" id="fnrex1334">334</a>]</span></em></span> it is
+shown that the Indian and Irish Ages have the same colour
+sequence: (1) White or Silvern, (2) Red or Bronze, (3) Yellow or
+Golden, and (4) Black or Iron. The Greek order is: (1) Golden,
+(2) Silvern, (3) Bronze, and (4) Iron.</p>
+<p>The Babylonians coloured the seven planets as follows: the
+moon, silvern; the sun, golden; Mars, red; Saturn, black;
+Jupiter, orange; Venus, yellow; and Mercury, blue.</p>
+<p>As the ten antediluvian kings who reigned for 120 saroi had an
+astral significance, their long reigns corresponding "with the
+distances separating certain of the principal stars in or near
+the ecliptic",<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1335" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1335" id="fnrex1335">335</a>]</span>) it seems highly
+<a id="page.anchor.314" name="page.anchor.314"></a>probable that
+the planets were similarly connected with mythical ages which
+were equated with the "four quarters" of the celestial regions
+and the four regions of the earth, which in Gaelic story are
+called "the four red divisions of the world".</p>
+<p>Three of the planets may have been heralds of change. Venus,
+as "Dilbat", was the "Proclaimer", and both Jupiter and Mercury
+were called "Face voices of light", and "Heroes of the rising
+sun" among other names. Jupiter may have been the herald of the
+"Golden Age" as a morning star. This planet was also associated
+with bronze, as "Kakkub Urud", "the star of bronze", while Mars
+was "Kakkub Aban Kha-urud," "the star of the bronze fish stone".
+Mercury, the lapis lazuli planet, may have been connected with
+the black Saturn, the ghost of the dead sun, the demoniac elder
+god; in Egypt lapis lazuli was the hair colour of Ra when he grew
+old, and Egyptologists translate it as black.<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1336" href="#ftn.fnrex1336" id=
+"fnrex1336">336</a>]</span> The rare and regular appearances of
+Mercury may have suggested the planet's connection with a
+recurring Age. Venus as an evening star might be regarded as the
+herald of the lunar or silver age; she was propitious as a
+bearded deity and interchanged with Merodach as a seasonal
+herald.</p>
+<p>Connecting Jupiter with the sun as a propitious planet, and
+with Mars as a destroying planet, Venus with the moon, and
+Mercury with Saturn, we have left four colour schemes which
+suggest the Golden, Silvern, Bronze, and Iron Ages. The Greek
+order of mythical ages may have had a solar significance,
+beginning as it does with the "golden" period. On the other hand
+the Indian and Irish systems begin with the Silvern or white
+lunar period. <a id="page.anchor.315" name=
+"page.anchor.315"></a>In India the White Age (Treta Yuga) was the
+age of perfect men, and in Greece the Golden Age was the age of
+men who lived like gods. Thus the first ages in both cases were
+"Perfect" Ages. The Bronze Age of Greece was the age of notorious
+fighters and takers of life; in Babylonia the bronze planet Mars
+was the symbol of the destroying Nergal, god of war and
+pestilence, while Jupiter was also a destroyer as Merodach, the
+slayer of Tiamat. In India the Black Age is the age of
+wickedness. The Babylonian Saturn, as we have seen, is black, and
+its god, Ninip, was the destroying boar, which recalls the black
+boar of the Egyptian demon (or elder god) Set. The Greek Cronos
+was a destroyer even of his own children. All the elder gods had
+demoniac traits like the ghosts of human beings.</p>
+<p>As the Babylonian lunar zodiac was imported into India before
+solar worship and the solar zodiac were developed, so too may
+have been the germs of the Yuga doctrine, which appears to have a
+long history. Greece, on the other hand, came under the influence
+of Babylon at a much later period. In Egypt Ra, the sun god, was
+an antediluvian king, and he was followed by Osiris. Osiris was
+slain by Set, who was depicted sometimes red and sometimes black.
+There was also a Horus Age.</p>
+<p>The Irish system of ages suggests an early cultural drift into
+Europe, through Asia Minor, and along the uplands occupied by the
+representatives of the Alpine or Armenoid peoples who have been
+traced from Hindu Kush to Brittany. The culture of Gaul resembles
+that of India in certain particulars; both the Gauls and the
+post-Vedic Aryans, for instance, believed in the doctrine of
+Transmigration of Souls, and practised "suttee". After the Roman
+occupation of Gaul, Ireland appears to have been the refuge of
+Gaulish scholars, who imported <a id="page.anchor.316" name=
+"page.anchor.316"></a>their beliefs and traditions and laid the
+foundations of that brilliant culture which shed lustre on the
+Green Isle in late Pagan and early Christian times.</p>
+<p>The part played by the Mitanni people of Aryan speech in
+distributing Asiatic culture throughout Europe may have been
+considerable, but we know little or nothing regarding their
+movements and influence, nor has sufficient evidence been
+forthcoming to connect them with the cremating invaders of the
+Bronze Age, who penetrated as far as northern Scotland and
+Scandinavia. On the other hand it is certain that the Hittites
+adopted the planetary system of Babylonia and passed it on to
+Europeans, including the Greeks. The five planets Ninip,
+Merodach, Nergal, Ishtar, and Nebo were called by the Greeks
+after their gods Kronos, Zeus, Ares, Aphrodite, and Hermes, and
+by the Romans Saturnus, Jupiter, Mars, Venus, and Mercurius. It
+must be recognized, however, that these equations were somewhat
+arbitrary. Ninip resembled Kronos and Saturnus as a father, but
+he was also at the same time a son; he was the Egyptian Horus the
+elder and Horus the younger in one. Merodach was similarly of
+complex character--a combination of Ea, Anu, Enlil, and Tammuz,
+who acquired, when exalted by the Amoritic Dynasty of Babylon,
+the attributes of the thunder god Adad-Ramman in the form of
+Amurru, "lord of the mountains". During the Hammurabi Age Amurru
+was significantly popular in personal names. It is as
+Amurru-Ramman that Merodach bears comparison with Zeus. He also
+links with Hercules. Too much must not be made, therefore, of the
+Greek and Roman identifications of alien deities with their own.
+Mulla, the Gaulish mule god, may have resembled Mars somewhat,
+but it is a "far cry" from Mars-Mulla to Mars-Nergal, as it is
+also from the Gaulish Moccus, the boar, called <a id=
+"page.anchor.317" name="page.anchor.317"></a>"Mercury", to Nebo,
+the god of culture, who was the "Mercury" of the Tigro-Euphrates
+valley. Similarly the differences between "Jupiter-Amon" of Egypt
+and "Jupiter-Merodach" of Babylon were more pronounced than the
+resemblances.</p>
+<p>The basal idea in Babylonian astrology appears to be the
+recognition of the astral bodies as spirits or fates, who
+exercised an influence over the gods, the world, and mankind.
+These were worshipped in groups when they were yet nameless. The
+group addressed, "Powerful, O sevenfold, one are ye", may have
+been a constellation consisting of seven stars.<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1337" href="#ftn.fnrex1337" id=
+"fnrex1337">337</a>]</span> The worship of stars and planets,
+which were identified and named, "seems never to have spread",
+says Professor Sayce, "beyond the learned classes, and to have
+remained to the last an artificial system. The mass of the people
+worshipped the stars as a whole, but it was only as a whole and
+not individually."<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1338" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1338" id="fnrex1338">338</a>]</span> The masses
+perpetuated ancient animistic beliefs, like the pre-Hellenic
+inhabitants of Greece. "The Pelasgians, as I was informed at
+Dodona," wrote Herodotus, "formerly offered all things
+indiscriminately to the gods. They distinguished them by no name
+or surname, for they were hitherto unacquainted with either; but
+they called them gods, which by its etymology means disposers,
+from observing the orderly disposition and distribution of the
+various parts of the universe."<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1339" href="#ftn.fnrex1339" id="fnrex1339">339</a>]</span>
+The oldest deities are those which bore no individual names. They
+were simply "Fates" or groups called "Sevenfold". The crude giant
+gods of Scotland are "Fomhairean" (Fomorians), and do not have
+individual names as in Ireland. Families and tribes were
+controlled by the Fates or nameless gods, <a id="page.anchor.318"
+name="page.anchor.318"></a>which might appear as beasts or birds,
+or be heard knocking or screaming.</p>
+<p>In the Babylonian astral hymns, the star spirits are
+associated with the gods, and are revealers of the decrees of
+Fate. "Ye brilliant stars... ye bright ones... to destroy evil
+did Anu create you.... At thy command mankind was named
+(created)! Give thou the Word, and with thee let the great gods
+stand! Give thou my judgment, make my decision!"<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1340" href="#ftn.fnrex1340" id=
+"fnrex1340">340</a>]</span></p>
+<p>The Indian evidence shows that the constellations, and
+especially the bright stars, were identified before the planets.
+Indeed, in Vedic literature there is no certain reference to a
+single planet, although constellations are named. It seems highly
+probable that before the Babylonian gods were associated with the
+astral bodies, the belief obtained that the stars exercised an
+influence over human lives. In one of the Indian "Forest Books",
+for instance, reference is made to a man who was "born under the
+Nakshatra Rohini".<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1341" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1341" id="fnrex1341">341</a>]</span> "Nakshatras" are
+stars in the <span class="emphasis"><em>Rigveda</em></span> and
+later, and "lunar mansions" in Brahmanical
+compositions.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1342" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1342" id="fnrex1342">342</a>]</span> "Rohini, 'ruddy',
+is the name of a conspicuously reddish star, &#593; Tauri or
+Aldebaran, and denotes the group of the Hyades."<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1343" href="#ftn.fnrex1343" id=
+"fnrex1343">343</a>]</span> This reference may be dated before
+600 B.C., perhaps 800 B.C.</p>
+<p>From Greece comes the evidence of Plutarch regarding the
+principles of Babylonian astrology. "Respecting the planets,
+which they call <span class="emphasis"><em>the birth-ruling
+divinities</em></span>, the Chaldeans", he wrote, "lay down that
+two (Venus and Jupiter) are propitious, and two (Mars and Saturn)
+malign, and three (Sun, Moon, and Mercury) of a middle nature,
+and one common." "That is," Mr. Brown comments, <a id=
+"page.anchor.319" name="page.anchor.319"></a>"an astrologer would
+say, these three are propitious with the good, and may be malign
+with the bad."<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1344" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1344" id="fnrex1344">344</a>]</span></p>
+<p>Jastrow's views in this connection seem highly controversial.
+He holds that Babylonian astrology dealt simply with national
+affairs, and had no concern with "the conditions under which the
+individual was born"; it did not predict "the fate in store for
+him". He believes that the Greeks transformed Babylonian
+astrology and infused it with the spirit of individualism which
+is a characteristic of their religion, and that they were the
+first to give astrology a personal significance.</p>
+<p>Jastrow also perpetuates the idea that astronomy began with
+the Greeks. "Several centuries before the days of Alexander the
+Great," he says, "the Greeks had begun to cultivate the study of
+the heavens, not for purposes of divination, but prompted by a
+scientific spirit as an intellectual discipline that might help
+them to solve the mysteries of the universe." It is possible,
+however, to overrate the "scientific spirit" of the Greeks, who,
+like the Japanese in our own day, were accomplished borrowers
+from other civilizations. That astronomy had humble beginnings in
+Greece as elsewhere is highly probable. The late Mr. Andrew Lang
+wrote in this connection: "The very oddest example of the
+survival of the notion that the stars are men and women is found
+in the <span class="emphasis"><em>Pax</em></span> of
+Aristophanes. Trygaeus in that comedy has just made an expedition
+to heaven. A slave meets him, and asks him: 'Is not the story
+true, then, that we become stars when we die?' The answer is,
+'Certainly'; and Trygaeus points out the star into which Ion of
+Chios has just been metamorphosed." Mr. Lang added: "Aristophanes
+is making fun of some popular Greek superstition". The Eskimos,
+Persians, Aryo-Indians, <a id="page.anchor.320" name=
+"page.anchor.320"></a>Germans, New Zealanders, and others had a
+similar superstition.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1345" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1345" id="fnrex1345">345</a>]</span></p>
+<p>Jastrow goes on to say that the Greeks "imparted their
+scientific view of the Universe to the East. They became the
+teachers of the East in astronomy as in medicine and other
+sciences, and the credit of having discovered the law of the
+precession of the equinoxes belongs to Hipparchus, the Greek
+astronomer, who announced this important theory about the year
+130 B.C."<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1346" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1346" id="fnrex1346">346</a>]</span> Undoubtedly the
+Greeks contributed to the advancement of the science of
+astronomy, with which, as other authorities believe, they became
+acquainted after it had become well developed as a science by the
+Assyrians and Babylonians.</p>
+<p>"In return for improved methods of astronomical calculation
+which," Jastrow says, "<span class="emphasis"><em>it may be
+assumed</em></span> (the italics are ours), contact with Greek
+science gave to the Babylonian astronomers, the Greeks accepted
+from the Babylonians the names of the constellations of the
+ecliptic."<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1347" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1347" id="fnrex1347">347</a>]</span> This is a
+grudging admission; they evidently accepted more than the mere
+names.</p>
+<p>Jastrow's hypothesis is certainly interesting, especially as
+he is an Oriental linguist of high repute. But it is not
+generally accepted. The sudden advance made by the
+Tigro-Euphratean astronomers when Assyria was at the height of
+its glory, may have been due to the discoveries made by great
+native scientists, the Newtons and the Herschels of past ages,
+who had studied the data accumulated by generations of
+astrologers, the earliest recorders of the movements of the
+heavenly bodies. It is hard to believe that the Greeks made much
+progress <a id="page.anchor.321" name="page.anchor.321"></a>as
+scientists before they had identified the planets, and become
+familiar with the Babylonian constellations through the medium of
+the Hittites or the Phoenicians. What is known for certain is
+that long centuries before the Greek science was heard of, there
+were scientists in Babylonia. During the Sumerian period "the
+forms and relations of geometry", says Professor Goodspeed, "were
+employed for purposes of augury. The heavens were mapped out, and
+the courses of the heavenly bodies traced to determine the
+bearing of their movements upon human destinies."<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1348" href="#ftn.fnrex1348" id=
+"fnrex1348">348</a>]</span></p>
+<p>Several centuries before Hipparchus was born, the Assyrian
+kings had in their palaces official astronomers who were able to
+foretell, with varying degrees of accuracy, when eclipses would
+take place. Instructions were sent to various observatories, in
+the king's name, to send in reports of forthcoming eclipses. A
+translation of one of these official documents sent from the
+observatory of Babylon to Nineveh, has been published by
+Professor Harper. The following are extracts from it: "As for the
+eclipse of the moon about which the king my lord has written to
+me, a watch was kept for it in the cities of Akkad, Borsippa, and
+Nippur. We observed it ourselves in the city of Akkad.... And
+whereas the king my lord ordered me to observe also the eclipse
+of the sun, I watched to see whether it took place or not, and
+what passed before my eyes I now report to the king my lord. It
+was an eclipse of the moon that took place.... It was total over
+Syria, and the shadow fell on the land of the Amorites, the land
+of the Hittites, and in part on the land of the Chaldees."
+Professor Sayce comments: "We gather from this letter that there
+were no less than three observatories in Northern Babylonia: one
+at Akkad, <a id="page.anchor.322" name="page.anchor.322"></a>near
+Sippara; one at Nippur, now Niffer; and one at Borsippa, within
+sight of Babylon. As Borsippa possessed a university, it was
+natural that one of the three observatories should be established
+there."<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1349" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1349" id="fnrex1349">349</a>]</span></p>
+<p>It is evident that before the astronomers at Nineveh could
+foretell eclipses, they had achieved considerable progress as
+scientists. The data at their disposal probably covered nearly
+two thousand years. Mr. Brown, junior, calculates that the signs
+of the Zodiac were fixed in the year 2084 B.C.<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1350" href="#ftn.fnrex1350" id=
+"fnrex1350">350</a>]</span> These star groups do not now occupy
+the positions in which they were observed by the early
+astronomers, because the revolving earth is rocking like a top,
+with the result that the pole does not always keep pointing at
+the same spot in the heavens. Each year the meeting-place of the
+imaginary lines of the ecliptic and equator is moving westward at
+the rate of about fifty seconds. In time--ages hence--the pole
+will circle round to the point it spun at when the constellations
+were named by the Babylonians. It is by calculating the period
+occupied by this world-curve that the date 2084 B.C. has been
+arrived at.</p>
+<p>As a result of the world-rocking process, the present-day
+"signs of the Zodiac" do not correspond with the constellations.
+In March, for instance, when the sun crosses the equator it
+enters the sign of the Ram (Aries), but does not reach the
+constellation till the 20th, as the comparative table shows on p.
+<a href="#page.anchor.308">308</a>.</p>
+<p>When "the ecliptic was marked off into the twelve regions" and
+the signs of the Zodiac were designated, "the year of three
+hundred sixty-five and one-fourth days was known", says
+Goodspeed, "though the common year was reckoned according to
+twelve months of thirty <a id="page.anchor.323" name=
+"page.anchor.323"></a>days each<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1351" href="#ftn.fnrex1351" id="fnrex1351">351</a>]</span>,
+and equated with the solar year by intercalating a month at the
+proper times.... The month was divided into weeks of seven
+days.... The clepsydra and the sundial were Babylonian inventions
+for measuring time."<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1352" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1352" id="fnrex1352">352</a>]</span></p>
+<p>The sundial of Ahaz was probably of Babylonian design. When
+the shadow went "ten degrees backward" (<span class=
+"emphasis"><em>2 Kings</em></span>, xx, II) ambassadors were sent
+from Babylon "to enquire of the wonder that was done in the land"
+(<span class="emphasis"><em>2 Chron.</em></span> xxxii, 31). It
+was believed that the king's illness was connected with the
+incident. According to astronomical calculation there was a
+partial eclipse of the sun which was visible at Jerusalem on 11th
+January, 689 B.C, about 11.30 a.m. When the upper part of the
+solar disc was obscured, the shadow on the dial was strangely
+affected.</p>
+<p>The Babylonian astrologers in their official documents were
+more concerned regarding international omens than those which
+affected individuals. They made observations not only of the
+stars, but also the moon, which, as has been shown, was one of
+their planets, and took note of the clouds and the wind
+likewise.</p>
+<p>As portions of the heavens were assigned to various countries,
+so was the moon divided into four quarters for the same
+purpose--the upper part for the north, Gutium, the lower for the
+south, Akkad or Babylonia, the eastern part for Elam, and the
+western for Amurru. The crescent was also divided in like manner;
+looking southward the astrologers assigned the right horn to the
+west and the left to the east. In addition, certain days and
+certain months were connected with the different regions. Lunar
+astrology was therefore of complicated character. When <a id=
+"page.anchor.324" name="page.anchor.324"></a>the moon was dim at
+the particular phase which was connected with Amurru, it was
+believed that the fortunes of that region were in decline, and if
+it happened to shine brightly in the Babylonian phase the time
+was considered auspicious to wage war in the west. Great
+importance was attached to eclipses, which were fortunately
+recorded, with the result that the ancient astronomers were
+ultimately enabled to forecast them.</p>
+<p>The destinies of the various states in the four quarters were
+similarly influenced by the planets. When Venus, for instance,
+rose brightly in the field of Anu, it was a "prosperor" for Elam;
+if it were dim it foretold misfortune. Much importance was also
+attached to the positions occupied by the constellations when the
+planets were propitious or otherwise; no king would venture forth
+on an expedition under a "yoke of inauspicious stars".</p>
+<p>Biblical references to the stars make mention of well-known
+Babylonian constellations:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<p>Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the
+bands of Orion? Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth (? the Zodiac)
+in his season? or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons?
+Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? canst thou set the
+dominion thereof in the earth? <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Job</em></span>, xxxviii, 31-33. Which maketh
+Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the chambers of the south.
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Job</em></span>, ix, 9. Seek him that
+maketh the seven stars and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death
+into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night.
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Amos</em></span>, v, 8.</p>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>The so-called science of astrology, which had origin in
+ancient Babylonia and spread eastward and west, is not yet
+extinct, and has its believers even in our own country at the
+present day, although they are not nearly so numerous as when
+Shakespeare made Malvolio read:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<p><a id="page.anchor.325" name="page.anchor.325"></a>In my stars
+I am above thee; but be not afraid of greatness: some are born
+great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust
+upon 'em. Thy Fates open their hands....<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1353" href="#ftn.fnrex1353" id=
+"fnrex1353">353</a>]</span></p>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>or when Byron wrote:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Ye stars! which are the poetry of
+heaven!</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>If in your bright leaves we would read
+the fate</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Of men and empires--'t is to be
+forgiven</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>That in our aspirations to be
+great,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Our destinies o'erleap their mortal
+state</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>And claim a kindred with
+you....<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1354" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1354" id="fnrex1354">354</a>]</span></tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>Our grave astronomers are no longer astrologers, but they
+still call certain constellations by the names given them in
+Babylonia. Every time we look at our watches we are reminded of
+the ancient mathematicians who counted on their fingers and
+multiplied 10 by 6, to give us minutes and seconds, and divided
+the day and the night into twelve hours by multiplying six by the
+two leaden feet of Time. The past lives in the present.</p>
+<div class="footnotes"><br />
+<hr width="100" align="left" />
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1302" href="#fnrex1302" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1302">302</a>]</span> "It may be worth while to note
+again", says Beddoe, "how often finely developed skulls are
+discovered in the graveyards of old monasteries, and how likely
+seems Galton's conjecture, that progress was arrested in the
+Middle Ages, because the celibacy of the clergy brought about the
+extinction of the best strains of blood." <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>The Anthropological History of Europe</em></span>,
+p. 161 (1912).</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1303" href="#fnrex1303" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1303">303</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>Census
+of India</em></span>, vol. I, part i, pp. 352 et seq.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1304" href="#fnrex1304" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1304">304</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Hibbert Lectures</em></span>, Professor Sayce, p.
+328.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1305" href="#fnrex1305" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1305">305</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>The
+Story of Nala</em></span>, Monier Williams, pp. 68-9 and
+77.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1306" href="#fnrex1306" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1306">306</a>]</span> "In Ymer's flesh (the earth) the
+dwarfs were engendered and began to move and live.... The dwarfs
+had been bred in the mould of the earth, just as worms are in a
+dead body." <span class="emphasis"><em>The Prose
+Edda</em></span>. "The gods ... took counsel whom they should
+make the lord of dwarfs out of Ymer's blood (the sea) and his
+swarthy limbs (the earth)." <span class="emphasis"><em>The Elder
+Edda (Voluspa</em></span>, stanza 9).</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1307" href="#fnrex1307" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1307">307</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>The
+Story of Nala</em></span>, Monier Williams, p. 67.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1308" href="#fnrex1308" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1308">308</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Egyptian Myth and Legend</em></span>, pp. 168
+<span class="emphasis"><em>it seq</em></span>.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1309" href="#fnrex1309" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1309">309</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>The
+Burden of Isis</em></span>, Dennis, p. 24.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1310" href="#fnrex1310" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1310">310</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Babylonian Magic and Sorcery</em></span>, p.
+117.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1311" href="#fnrex1311" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1311">311</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Babylonian and Assyrian Religion</em></span>, T.G.
+Pinches, p. l00.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1312" href="#fnrex1312" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1312">312</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>The
+Burden of Isis</em></span>, J.T. Dennis, p. 49.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1313" href="#fnrex1313" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1313">313</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Ibid</em></span>., p. 52.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1314" href="#fnrex1314" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1314">314</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Religion of the Ancient Egyptians</em></span>, A.
+Wiedemann, p. 30.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1315" href="#fnrex1315" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1315">315</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>Vedic
+Index</em></span>, Macdonell &amp; Keith, vol. i, pp. 423
+<span class="emphasis"><em>et seq</em></span>.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1316" href="#fnrex1316" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1316">316</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Religion of the Ancient Babylonians</em></span>,
+Sayce, p. 153, n. 6.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1317" href="#fnrex1317" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1317">317</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Religion of the Ancient Egyptians</em></span>, A.
+Wiedemann, p. 30.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1318" href="#fnrex1318" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1318">318</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Aspects of Religious Belief and Practice in
+Babylonia and Assyria</em></span>, p. 95.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1319" href="#fnrex1319" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1319">319</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Babylonian and Assyrian Religion</em></span>, pp.
+63 and 83.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1320" href="#fnrex1320" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1320">320</a>]</span> When the King of Assyria
+transported the Babylonians, &amp;c., to Samaria "the men of Cuth
+made Nergal", <span class="emphasis"><em>2 Kings</em></span>,
+xvii, 30.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1321" href="#fnrex1321" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1321">321</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Babylonian and Assyrian Religion</em></span>, p.
+80.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1322" href="#fnrex1322" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1322">322</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>Indian
+Myth and Legend</em></span>, p. 13.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1323" href="#fnrex1323" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1323">323</a>]</span> Derived from the Greek z&#333;on,
+an animal.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1324" href="#fnrex1324" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1324">324</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>The
+Hittites</em></span>, pp. 116, 119, 120, 272.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1325" href="#fnrex1325" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1325">325</a>]</span> "The sun... is as a bridegroom
+coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a
+race." (<span class="emphasis"><em>Psalm</em></span> xix, 4
+<span class="emphasis"><em>et seq</em></span>.) The marriage of
+the sun bridegroom with the moon bride appears to occur in
+Hittite mythology. In Aryo-Indian Vedic mythology the bride of
+the sun (Surya) is Ushas, the Dawn. The sun maiden also married
+the moon god. The Vedic gods ran a race and Indra and Agni were
+the winners. The sun was "of the nature of Agni". <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Indian Myth and Legend</em></span>, pp. 14, 36,
+37.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1326" href="#fnrex1326" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1326">326</a>]</span> Or golden.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1327" href="#fnrex1327" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1327">327</a>]</span> The later reference is to
+Assyria. There was no Assyrian kingdom when these early beliefs
+were developed.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1328" href="#fnrex1328" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1328">328</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Primitive Constellations</em></span>, R. Brown,
+jun., vol. ii, p. 1 <span class="emphasis"><em>et
+seq</em></span>.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1329" href="#fnrex1329" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1329">329</a>]</span> In India "finger counting" (Kaur
+guna) is associated with prayer or the repeating of mantras. The
+counting is performed by the thumb, which, when the hand is drawn
+up, touches the upper part of the third finger. The two upper
+"chambers" of the third finger are counted, then the two upper
+"chambers" of the little finger; the thumb then touches the tip
+of each finger from the little finger to the first; when it comes
+down into the upper chamber of the first finger 9 is counted. By
+a similar process each round of 9 on the right hand is recorded
+by the left up to 12; 12 X 9 = 108 repetitions of a mantra. The
+upper "chambers" of the fingers are the "best" or "highest"
+(uttama), the lower (adhama) chambers are not utilized in the
+prayer-counting process. When Hindus sit cross-legged at prayers,
+with closed eyes, the right hand is raised from the elbow in
+front of the body, and the thumb moves each time a mantra is
+repeated; the left hand lies palm upward on the left knee, and
+the thumb moves each time nine mantras have been counted.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1330" href="#fnrex1330" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1330">330</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Primitive Constellations</em></span>, R. Brown,
+jun., vol. ii, p. 61; and <span class="emphasis"><em>Early
+History of Northern India,</em></span> J.F. Hewitt, pp.
+551-2.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1331" href="#fnrex1331" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1331">331</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Rigveda-Samhita,</em></span> vol. iv (1892), p.
+67.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1332" href="#fnrex1332" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1332">332</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>Vedic
+Index</em></span>, Macdonell &amp; Keith, vol. ii, pp. 192
+<span class="emphasis"><em>el seq</em></span>.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1333" href="#fnrex1333" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1333">333</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>Indian
+Myth and Legend</em></span></div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1334" href="#fnrex1334" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1334">334</a>]</span> Pp. 107 <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>et seq</em></span>.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1335" href="#fnrex1335" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1335">335</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Primitive Constellation</em></span>, R. Brown,
+jun., vol. i, 1. 333. A table is given showing how 120 saroi
+equals 360 degrees, each king being identified with a star.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1336" href="#fnrex1336" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1336">336</a>]</span> "Behold, his majesty the god Ra
+is grown old; his bones are become silver, his limbs gold, and
+his hair pure lapis lazuli." <span class="emphasis"><em>Religion
+of the Ancient Egyptians,</em></span> A. Wiedemann, p. 58. Ra
+became a destroyer after completing his reign as an earthly
+king.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1337" href="#fnrex1337" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1337">337</a>]</span> As Nin-Girau, Tammuz was
+associated with "sevenfold" Orion.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1338" href="#fnrex1338" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1338">338</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Babylonian and Assyrian Life</em></span>, pp. 61,
+62.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1339" href="#fnrex1339" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1339">339</a>]</span> Herodotus (ii, 52) as quoted in
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Egypt and Scythia</em></span> (London,
+1886), p. 49.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1340" href="#fnrex1340" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1340">340</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Babylonian Magic and Sorcery</em></span>, L.W.
+King (London, 1896), pp. 43 and 115.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1341" href="#fnrex1341" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1341">341</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>Vedic
+Index</em></span>, Macdonell &amp; Keith, vol. ii, p. 229.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1342" href="#fnrex1342" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1342">342</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Ibid</em></span> vol. i, pp. 409, 410.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1343" href="#fnrex1343" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1343">343</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Ibid</em></span> vol. i, p. 415.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1344" href="#fnrex1344" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1344">344</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Primitive Constellations</em></span>, vol. i, p.
+343.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1345" href="#fnrex1345" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1345">345</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>Custom
+and Myth</em></span>, pp. 133 <span class="emphasis"><em>et
+seq</em></span>.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1346" href="#fnrex1346" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1346">346</a>]</span> Dr. Alfred Jeremias gives very
+forcible reasons for believing that the ancient Babylonians were
+acquainted with the precession of the equinoxes. <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Das Alter der Babylonischen Astronomie</em></span>
+(Hinrichs, Leipzig, 1908), pp. 47 <span class="emphasis"><em>et
+seq</em></span>.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1347" href="#fnrex1347" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1347">347</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Aspects of Religious Belief and Practice in
+Babylonia and Assyria</em></span>, pp. 207 <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>et seq</em></span>.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1348" href="#fnrex1348" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1348">348</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>A
+History of the Babylonians and Assyrians</em></span>, p.
+93.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1349" href="#fnrex1349" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1349">349</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Babylonians and Assyrians: Life and
+Customs</em></span>, pp. 219, 220.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1350" href="#fnrex1350" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1350">350</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Primitive Constellations</em></span>, vol. ii, pp.
+147 et seq.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1351" href="#fnrex1351" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1351">351</a>]</span> The Aryo-Indians had a lunar year
+of 360 days (<span class="emphasis"><em>Vedic Index</em></span>,
+ii, 158).</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1352" href="#fnrex1352" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1352">352</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>A
+History of the Babylonians and Assyrians</em></span>, p.
+94.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1353" href="#fnrex1353" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1353">353</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Twelfth Night</em></span>, act ii, scene 5.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1354" href="#fnrex1354" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1354">354</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>Childe
+Harold</em></span>, canto iii, v, 88.</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="chapter" lang="en" xml:lang="en">
+<div class="titlepage">
+<div>
+<div>
+<h2 class="title"><a id="id2538332" name=
+"id2538332"></a>Chapter�XIV.�Ashur the National God of
+Assyria</h2>
+</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="abstract">
+<p class="title"><b>Abstract</b></p>
+<p>Derivation of Ashur--Ashur as Anshar and Anu--Animal forms of
+Sky God--Anshar as Star God on the Celestial Mount--Isaiah's
+Parable--Symbols of World God and World Hill--Dance of the
+Constellations and Dance of Satyrs--Goat Gods and Bull
+Gods--Symbols of Gods as "High Heads"--The Winged Disc--Human
+Figure as Soul of the Sun--Ashur as Hercules and Gilgamesh--Gods
+differentiated by Cults--Fertility Gods as War Gods--Ashur's Tree
+and Animal forms--Ashur as Nisroch--Lightning Symbol in
+Disc--Ezekiel's Reference to Life Wheel--Indian Wheel and
+Discus--Wheels of Shamash and Ahura-Mazda--Hittite Winged
+Disc--Solar Wheel causes Seasonal Changes--Bonfires to stimulate
+Solar Deity--Burning of Gods and Kings--Magical Ring and other
+Symbols of Scotland--Ashur's Wheel of Life and Eagle Wings--King
+and Ashur--Ashur associated with Lunar, Fire, and Star Gods--The
+Osirian Clue--Hittite and Persian Influences.</p>
+</div>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.326" name="page.anchor.326"></a> The rise
+of Assyria brings into prominence the national god Ashur, who had
+been the city god of Asshur, the ancient capital. When first met
+with, he is found to be a complex and mystical deity, and the
+problem of his origin is consequently rendered exceedingly
+difficult. Philologists are not agreed as to the derivation of
+his name, and present as varied views as they do when dealing
+with the name of Osiris. Some give Ashur a geographical
+significance, urging that its original form was Aushar, "water
+field"; others prefer the renderings "Holy", "the Beneficent
+One", or "the Merciful One"; while not a few regard Ashur as
+simply a dialectic form of the name of Anshar, the god who, in
+the Assyrian version, or copy, of the Babylonian Creation myth,
+is chief of the "host of heaven", and the father of Anu, Ea, and
+Enlil.</p>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.327" name="page.anchor.327"></a>If Ashur is
+to be regarded as an abstract solar deity, who was developed from
+a descriptive place name, it follows that he had a history, like
+Anu or Ea, rooted in Naturalism or Animism. We cannot assume that
+his strictly local character was produced by modes of thought
+which did not obtain elsewhere. The colonists who settled at
+Asshur no doubt imported beliefs from some cultural area; they
+must have either given recognition to a god, or group of gods, or
+regarded the trees, hills, rivers, sun, moon, and stars, and the
+animals as manifestations of the "self power" of the Universe,
+before they undertook the work of draining and cultivating the
+"water field" and erecting permanent homes. Those who settled at
+Nineveh, for instance, believed that they were protected by the
+goddess Nina, the patron deity of the Sumerian city of Nina. As
+this goddess was also worshipped at Lagash, and was one of the
+many forms of the Great Mother, it would appear that in ancient
+times deities had a tribal rather than a geographical
+significance.</p>
+<p>If the view is accepted that Ashur is Anshar, it can be urged
+that he was imported from Sumeria. "Out of that land (Shinar)",
+according to the Biblical reference, "went forth Asshur, and
+builded Nineveh."<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1355" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1355" id="fnrex1355">355</a>]</span> Asshur, or Ashur
+(identical, Delitzsch and Jastrow believe, with
+Ashir),<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1356" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1356" id="fnrex1356">356</a>]</span> may have been an
+eponymous hero--a deified king like Etana, or Gilgamesh, who was
+regarded as an incarnation of an ancient god. As Anshar was an
+astral or early form of Anu, the Sumerian city of origin may have
+been Erech, <a id="page.anchor.328" name=
+"page.anchor.328"></a>where the worship of the mother goddess was
+also given prominence.</p>
+<p>Damascius rendered Anshar's name as "Ass&#333;ros", a fact
+usually cited to establish Ashur's connection with that deity.
+This writer stated that the Babylonians passed over
+"Sige,<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1357" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1357" id="fnrex1357">357</a>]</span> the mother, that
+has begotten heaven and earth", and made two--Apason (Apsu), the
+husband, and Tauthe (Tiawath or Tiamat), whose son was Moymis
+(Mummu). From these another progeny came forth--Lache and Lachos
+(Lachmu and Lachamu). These were followed by the progeny Kissare
+and Ass&#333;ros (Kishar and Anshar), "from which were produced
+Anos (Anu), Illillos (Enlil) and Aos (Ea). And of Aos and Dauke
+(Dawkina or Damkina) was born Belos (Bel Merodach), whom they say
+is the Demiurge"<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1358" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1358" id="fnrex1358">358</a>]</span> (the world
+artisan who carried out the decrees of a higher being).</p>
+<p>Lachmu and Lachamu, like the second pair of the ancient group
+of Egyptian deities, probably symbolized darkness as a
+reproducing and sustaining power. Anshar was apparently an
+impersonation of the night sky, as his son Anu was of the day
+sky. It may have been believed that the soul of Anshar was in the
+moon as Nannar (Sin), or in a star, or that the moon and the
+stars were manifestations of him, and that the soul of Anu was in
+the sun or the firmament, or that the sun, firmament, and the
+wind were forms of this "self power".</p>
+<p>If Ashur combined the attributes of Anshar and Anu, his early
+mystical character may be accounted for. Like the Indian Brahma,
+he may have been in his highest form an impersonation, or symbol,
+of the "self power" or "world soul" of developed Naturalism--the
+"creator", "preserver", and "destroyer" in one, a god of water,
+earth, <a id="page.anchor.329" name="page.anchor.329"></a>air,
+and sky, of sun, moon, and stars, fire and lightning, a god of
+the grove, whose essence was in the fig, or the fir cone, as it
+was in all animals. The Egyptian god Amon of Thebes, who was
+associated with water, earth, air, sky, sun and moon, had a ram
+form, and was "the hidden one", was developed from one of the
+elder eight gods; in the Pyramid Texts he and his consort are the
+fourth pair. When Amon was fused with the specialized sun god Ra,
+he was placed at the head of the Ennead as the Creator. "We have
+traces", says Jastrow, "of an Assyrian myth of Creation in which
+the sphere of creator is given to Ashur."<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1359" href="#ftn.fnrex1359" id=
+"fnrex1359">359</a>]</span></p>
+<p>Before a single act of creation was conceived of, however, the
+early peoples recognized the eternity of matter, which was
+permeated by the "self power" of which the elder deities were
+vague phases. These were too vague, indeed, to be worshipped
+individually. The forms of the "self power" which were
+propitiated were trees, rivers, hills, or animals. As indicated
+in the previous chapter, a tribe worshipped an animal or natural
+object which dominated its environment. The animal might be the
+source of the food supply, or might have to be propitiated to
+ensure the food supply. Consequently they identified the self
+power of the Universe with the particular animal with which they
+were most concerned. One section identified the spirit of the
+heavens with the bull and another with the goat. In India Dyaus
+was a bull, and his spouse, the earth mother, Prithivi, was a
+cow. The Egyptian sky goddess Hathor was a cow, and other
+goddesses were identified with the hippopotamus, the serpent, the
+cat, or the vulture. Ra, the sun god, was identified in turn with
+the cat, the ass, the bull, the ram, and the crocodile, the
+various animal forms of the local deities he had absorbed. The
+eagle in <a id="page.anchor.330" name=
+"page.anchor.330"></a>Babylonia and India, and the vulture,
+falcon, and mysterious Phoenix in Egypt, were identified with the
+sun, fire, wind, and lightning. The animals associated with the
+god Ashur were the bull, the eagle, and the lion. He either
+absorbed the attributes of other gods, or symbolized the "Self
+Power" of which the animals were manifestations.</p>
+<p>The earliest germ of the Creation myth was the idea that night
+was the parent of day, and water of the earth. Out of darkness
+and death came light and life. Life was also motion. When the
+primordial waters became troubled, life began to be. Out of the
+confusion came order and organization. This process involved the
+idea of a stable and controlling power, and the succession of a
+group of deities--passive deities and active deities. When the
+Babylonian astrologers assisted in developing the Creation myth,
+they appear to have identified with the stable and controlling
+spirit of the night heaven that steadfast orb the Polar Star.
+Anshar, like Shakespeare's Caesar, seemed to say:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<p>I am constant as the northern star, Of whose true-fixed and
+resting quality There is no fellow in the firmament. The skies
+are painted with unnumbered sparks; They are all fire, and every
+one doth shine; But there's but one in all doth hold his
+place.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1360" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1360" id="fnrex1360">360</a>]</span></p>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>Associated with the Polar Star was the constellation Ursa
+Minor, "the Little Bear", called by the Babylonian astronomers,
+"the Lesser Chariot". There were chariots before horses were
+introduced. A patesi of Lagash had a chariot which was drawn by
+asses.</p>
+<p>The seemingly steadfast Polar Star was called "Ilu Sar", "the
+god Shar", or Anshar, "star of the height", <a id=
+"page.anchor.331" name="page.anchor.331"></a>or "Shar the most
+high". It seemed to be situated at the summit of the vault of
+heaven. The god Shar, therefore, stood upon the Celestial
+mountain, the Babylonian Olympus. He was the ghost of the elder
+god, who in Babylonia was displaced by the younger god, Merodach,
+as Mercury, the morning star, or as the sun, the planet of day;
+and in Assyria by Ashur, as the sun, or Regulus, or Arcturus, or
+Orion. Yet father and son were identical. They were phases of the
+One, the "self power".</p>
+<p>A deified reigning king was an incarnation of the god; after
+death he merged in the god, as did the Egyptian Unas. The
+eponymous hero Asshur may have similarly merged in the universal
+Ashur, who, like Horus, an incarnation of Osiris, had many phases
+or forms.</p>
+<p>Isaiah appears to have been familiar with the Tigro-Euphratean
+myths about the divinity of kings and the displacement of the
+elder god by the younger god, of whom the ruling monarch was an
+incarnation, and with the idea that the summit of the Celestial
+mountain was crowned by the "north star", the symbol of Anshar.
+"Thou shalt take up this parable", he exclaimed, making use of
+Babylonian symbolism, "against the king of Babylon and say, How
+hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased!... How art
+thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art
+thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For
+thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend unto heaven, I will
+exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will sit also upon the
+mount of the congregation, <span class="emphasis"><em>in the
+sides of the north</em></span>; I will ascend above the heights
+of the clouds; I will be like the most High."<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1361" href="#ftn.fnrex1361" id=
+"fnrex1361">361</a>]</span> The king is identified with Lucifer
+as the deity of fire and the morning star; he is the younger god
+who aspired to occupy the <a id="page.anchor.332" name=
+"page.anchor.332"></a>mountain throne of his father, the god
+Shar--the Polar or North Star.</p>
+<p>It is possible that the Babylonian idea of a Celestial
+mountain gave origin to the belief that the earth was a mountain
+surrounded by the outer ocean, beheld by Etana when he flew
+towards heaven on the eagle's back. In India this hill is Mount
+Meru, the "world spine", which "sustains the earth"; it is
+surmounted by Indra's Valhal, or "the great city of Brahma". In
+Teutonic mythology the heavens revolve round the Polar Star,
+which is called "Veraldar nagli",<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1362" href="#ftn.fnrex1362" id="fnrex1362">362</a>]</span>
+the "world spike"; while the earth is sustained by the "world
+tree". The "ded" amulet of Egypt symbolized the backbone of
+Osiris as a world god: "ded" means "firm",
+"established";<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1363" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1363" id="fnrex1363">363</a>]</span> while at burial
+ceremonies the coffin was set up on end, inside the tomb, "on a
+small sandhill intended to represent the Mountain of the
+West--the realm of the dead".<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1364" href="#ftn.fnrex1364" id="fnrex1364">364</a>]</span>
+The Babylonian temple towers were apparently symbols of the
+"world hill". At Babylon, the Du-azaga, "holy mound", was
+Merodach's temple E-sagila, "the Temple of the High Head". E-kur,
+rendered "the house or temple of the Mountain", was the temple of
+Bel Enlil at Nippur. At Erech, the temple of the goddess Ishtar
+was E-anna, which connects her, as Nina or Ninni, with Anu,
+derived from "ana", "heaven". Ishtar was "Queen of heaven".</p>
+<p>Now Polaris, situated at the summit of the celestial mountain,
+was identified with the sacred goat, "the highest of the flock of
+night".<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1365" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1365" id="fnrex1365">365</a>]</span> Ursa Minor (the
+"Little Bear" constellation) may have been "the goat with six
+heads", <a id="page.anchor.333" name=
+"page.anchor.333"></a>referred to by Professor Sayce.<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1366" href="#ftn.fnrex1366" id=
+"fnrex1366">366</a>]</span> The six astral goats or goat-men were
+supposed to be dancing round the chief goat-man or Satyr
+(Anshar). Even in the dialogues of Plato the immemorial belief
+was perpetuated that the constellations were "moving as in a
+dance". Dancing began as a magical or religious practice, and the
+earliest astronomers saw their dancing customs reflected in the
+heavens by the constellations, whose movements were rhythmical.
+No doubt, Isaiah had in mind the belief of the Babylonians
+regarding the dance of their goat-gods when he foretold: "Their
+houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls (ghosts)
+shall dwell there, and <span class="emphasis"><em>satyrs shall
+dance there</em></span>".<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1367"
+href="#ftn.fnrex1367" id="fnrex1367">367</a>]</span> In other
+words, there would be no people left to perform religious dances
+beside the "desolate houses"; the stars only would be seen
+dancing round Polaris.</p>
+<p>Tammuz, like Anshar, as sentinel of the night heaven, was a
+goat, as was also Nin-Girsu of Lagash. A Sumerian reference to "a
+white kid of En Mersi (Nin-Girsu)" was translated into Semitic,
+"a white kid of Tammuz". The goat was also associated with
+Merodach. Babylonians, having prayed to that god to take away
+their diseases or their sins, released a goat, which was driven
+into the desert. The present Polar Star, which was not, of
+course, the Polar star of the earliest astronomers, the world
+having rocked westward, is called in Arabic Al-Jedy, "the kid".
+In India, the goat was connected with Agni and Varuna; it was
+slain at funeral ceremonies to inform the gods that a soul was
+about to enter heaven. Ea, the Sumerian lord of water, earth, and
+heaven, was symbolized as a "goat fish". Thor, the <a id=
+"page.anchor.334" name="page.anchor.334"></a>Teutonic fertility
+and thunder god, had a chariot drawn by goats. It is of interest
+to note that the sacred Sumerian goat bore on its forehead the
+same triangular symbol as the Apis bull of Egypt.</p>
+<p>Ashur was not a "goat of heaven", but a "bull of heaven", like
+the Sumerian Nannar (Sin), the moon god of Ur, Ninip of Saturn,
+and Bel Enlil. As the bull, however, he was, like Anshar, the
+ruling animal of the heavens; and like Anshar he had associated
+with him "six divinities of council".</p>
+<p>Other deities who were similarly exalted as "high heads" at
+various centres and at various periods, included Anu, Bel Enlil,
+and Ea, Merodach, Nergal, and Shamash. A symbol of the first
+three was a turban on a seat, or altar, which may have
+represented the "world mountain". Ea, as "the world spine", was
+symbolized as a column, with ram's head, standing on a throne,
+beside which crouched a "goat fish". Merodach's column terminated
+in a lance head, and the head of a lion crowned that of Nergal.
+These columns were probably connected with pillar worship, and
+therefore with tree worship, the pillar being the trunk of the
+"world tree". The symbol of the sun god Shamash was a disc, from
+which flowed streams of water; his rays apparently were
+"fertilizing tears", like the rays of the Egyptian sun god Ra.
+Horus, the Egyptian falcon god, was symbolized as the winged
+solar disc.</p>
+<p>It is necessary to accumulate these details regarding other
+deities and their symbols before dealing with Ashur. The symbols
+of Ashur must be studied, because they are one of the sources of
+our knowledge regarding the god's origin and character. These
+include (1) a winged disc with horns, enclosing four circles
+revolving round a middle circle; rippling rays fall down from
+either <a id="page.anchor.335" name="page.anchor.335"></a>side of
+the disc; (2) a circle or wheel, suspended from wings, and
+enclosing a warrior drawing his bow to discharge an arrow; and
+(3) the same circle; the warrior's bow, however, is carried in
+his left hand, while the right hand is uplifted as if to bless
+his worshippers. These symbols are taken from seal cylinders.</p>
+<p>An Assyrian standard, which probably represented the "world
+column", has the disc mounted on a bull's head with horns. The
+upper part of the disc is occupied by a warrior, whose head, part
+of his bow, and the point of his arrow protrude from the circle.
+The rippling water rays are <b class="b">V</b>-shaped, and two
+bulls, treading river-like rays, occupy the divisions thus
+formed. There are also two heads--a lion's and a man's--with
+gaping mouths, which may symbolize tempests, the destroying power
+of the sun, or the sources of the Tigris and Euphrates.</p>
+<p>Jastrow regards the winged disc as "the purer and more genuine
+symbol of Ashur as a solar deity". He calls it "a sun disc with
+protruding rays", and says: "To this symbol the warrior with the
+bow and arrow was added--a despiritualization that reflects the
+martial spirit of the Assyrian empire".<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1368" href="#ftn.fnrex1368" id=
+"fnrex1368">368</a>]</span></p>
+<p>The sun symbol on the sun boat of Ra encloses similarly a
+human figure, which was apparently regarded as the soul of the
+sun: the life of the god was in the "sun egg". In an Indian prose
+treatise it is set forth: "Now that man in yonder orb (the sun)
+and that man in the right eye truly are no other than Death (the
+soul). His feet have stuck fast in the heart, and having pulled
+them out he comes forth; and when he comes forth then that man
+dies; whence they say of him who has passed <a id=
+"page.anchor.336" name="page.anchor.336"></a>away, 'he has been
+cut off (his life or life string has been severed)'."<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1369" href="#ftn.fnrex1369" id=
+"fnrex1369">369</a>]</span> The human figure did not indicate a
+process of "despiritualization" either in Egypt or in India. The
+Horus "winged disc" was besides a symbol of destruction and
+battle, as well as of light and fertility. Horus assumed that
+form in one legend to destroy Set and his followers.<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1370" href="#ftn.fnrex1370" id=
+"fnrex1370">370</a>]</span> But, of course, the same symbols may
+not have conveyed the same ideas to all peoples. As Blake put
+it:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<p>What to others a trifle appears Fills me full of smiles and
+tears.... With my inward Eye, 't is an old Man grey, With my
+outward, a Thistle across my way.</p>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>Indeed, it is possible that the winged disc meant one thing to
+an Assyrian priest, and another thing to a man not gifted with
+what Blake called "double vision".</p>
+<p>What seems certain, however, is that the archer was as truly
+solar as the "wings" or "rays". In Babylonia and Assyria the sun
+was, among other things, a destroyer from the earliest times. It
+is not surprising, therefore, to find that Ashur, like Merodach,
+resembled, in one of his phases, Hercules, or rather his
+prototype Gilgamesh. One of Gilgamesh's mythical feats was the
+slaying of three demon birds. These may be identical with the
+birds of prey which Hercules, in performing his sixth labour,
+hunted out of Stymphalus.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1371"
+href="#ftn.fnrex1371" id="fnrex1371">371</a>]</span> In the Greek
+Hipparcho-Ptolemy star list Hercules was the constellation of the
+"Kneeler", and in Babylonian-Assyrian astronomy he was (as
+Gilgamesh or Merodach) "Sarru", "the king". The astral "Arrow"
+(constellation of Sagitta) <a id="page.anchor.337" name=
+"page.anchor.337"></a>was pointed against the constellations of
+the "Eagle", "Vulture", and "Swan". In Phoenician astronomy the
+Vulture was "Zither" (Lyra), a weapon with which Hercules
+(identified with Melkarth) slew Linos, the musician. Hercules
+used a solar arrow, which he received from Apollo. In various
+mythologies the arrow is associated with the sun, the moon, and
+the atmospheric deities, and is a symbol of lightning, rain, and
+fertility, as well as of famine, disease, war, and death. The
+green-faced goddess Neith of Libya, compared by the Greeks to
+Minerva, carries in one hand two arrows and a bow.<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1372" href="#ftn.fnrex1372" id=
+"fnrex1372">372</a>]</span> If we knew as little of Athena
+(Minerva), who was armed with a lance, a breastplate made of the
+skin of a goat, a shield, and helmet, as we do of Ashur, it might
+be held that she was simply a goddess of war. The archer in the
+sun disc of the Assyrian standard probably represented Ashur as
+the god of the people--a deity closely akin to Merodach, with
+pronounced Tammuz traits, and therefore linking with other local
+deities like Ninip, Nergal, and Shamash, and partaking also like
+these of the attributes of the elder gods Anu, Bel Enlil, and
+Ea.</p>
+<p>All the other deities worshipped by the Assyrians were of
+Babylonian origin. Ashur appears to have differed from them just
+as one local Babylonian deity differed from another. He reflected
+Assyrian experiences and aspirations, but it is difficult to
+decide whether the sublime spiritual aspect of his character was
+due to the beliefs of alien peoples, by whom the early Assyrians
+were influenced, or to the teachings of advanced Babylonian
+thinkers, whose doctrines found readier acceptance in a "new
+country" than among the conservative ritualists <a id=
+"page.anchor.338" name="page.anchor.338"></a>of ancient Sumerian
+and Akkadian cities. New cults were formed from time to time in
+Babylonia, and when they achieved political power they gave a
+distinctive character to the religion of their city states.
+Others which did not find political support and remained in
+obscurity at home, may have yet extended their influence far and
+wide. Buddhism, for instance, originated in India, but now
+flourishes in other countries, to which it was introduced by
+missionaries. In the homeland it was submerged by the revival of
+Brahmanism, from which it sprung, and which it was intended
+permanently to displace. An instance of an advanced cult suddenly
+achieving prominence as a result of political influence is
+afforded by Egypt, where the fully developed Aton religion was
+embraced and established as a national religion by Akhenaton, the
+so-called "dreamer". That migrations were sometimes propelled by
+cults, which sought new areas in which to exercise religious
+freedom and propagate their beliefs, is suggested by the invasion
+of India at the close of the Vedic period by the "later comers",
+who laid the foundations of Brahmanism. They established
+themselves in Madhyadesa, "the Middle Country", "the land where
+the Brahmanas and the later Samhitas were produced". From this
+centre went forth missionaries, who accomplished the
+Brahmanization of the rest of India.<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1373" href="#ftn.fnrex1373" id=
+"fnrex1373">373</a>]</span></p>
+<p>It may be, therefore, that the cult of Ashur was influenced in
+its development by the doctrines of advanced teachers from
+Babylonia, and that Persian Mithraism was also the product of
+missionary efforts extended from that great and ancient cultural
+area. Mitra, as has been stated, was one of the names of the
+Babylonian sun god, who was also a god of fertility. But Ashur
+could not have been to <a id="page.anchor.339" name=
+"page.anchor.339"></a>begin with merely a battle and solar deity.
+As the god of a city state he must have been worshipped by
+agriculturists, artisans, and traders; he must have been
+recognized as a deity of fertility, culture, commerce, and law.
+Even as a national god he must have made wider appeal than to the
+cultured and ruling classes. Bel Enlil of Nippur was a "world
+god" and war god, but still remained a local corn god.</p>
+<p>Assyria's greatness was reflected by Ashur, but he also
+reflected the origin and growth of that greatness. The
+civilization of which he was a product had an agricultural basis.
+It began with the development of the natural resources of
+Assyria, as was recognized by the Hebrew prophet, who said:
+"Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with fair
+branches.... The waters made him great, the deep set him up on
+high with her rivers running round about his plants, and sent out
+her little rivers unto all the trees of the field. Therefore his
+height was exalted above all the trees of the field, and his
+boughs were multiplied, and his branches became long because of
+the multitude of waters when he shot forth. All the fowls of
+heaven made their nests in his boughs, and under his branches did
+all the beasts of the field bring forth their young, and under
+his shadow dwelt all great nations. Thus was he fair in his
+greatness, in the length of his branches; for his root was by
+great waters. The cedars in the garden of God could not hide him:
+the fir trees were not like his boughs, and the chestnut trees
+were not like his branches; nor any tree in the garden of God was
+like unto him in his beauty."<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1374" href="#ftn.fnrex1374" id=
+"fnrex1374">374</a>]</span></p>
+<p>Asshur, the ancient capital, was famous for its merchants. It
+is referred to in the Bible as one of the cities which traded
+with Tyre "in all sorts of things, in blue <a id=
+"page.anchor.340" name="page.anchor.340"></a>clothes, and
+broidered work, and in chests of rich apparel, bound with cords,
+and made of cedar".<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1375" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1375" id="fnrex1375">375</a>]</span></p>
+<p>As a military power, Assyria's name was dreaded. "Behold,"
+Isaiah said, addressing King Hezekiah, "thou hast heard what the
+kings of Assyria have done to all lands by destroying them
+utterly."<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1376" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1376" id="fnrex1376">376</a>]</span> The same prophet,
+when foretelling how Israel would suffer, exclaimed: "O Assyrian,
+the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine
+indignation. I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and
+against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take
+the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the
+mire of the streets."<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1377" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1377" id="fnrex1377">377</a>]</span></p>
+<p>We expect to find Ashur reflected in these three phases of
+Assyrian civilization. If we recognize him in the first place as
+a god of fertility, his other attributes are at once included. A
+god of fertility is a corn god and a water god. The river as a
+river was a "creator" (p. <a href="#page.anchor.29">29</a>), and
+Ashur was therefore closely associated with the "watery place",
+with the canals or "rivers running round about his plants". The
+rippling water-rays, or fertilizing tears, appear on the solar
+discs. As a corn god, he was a god of war. Tammuz's first act was
+to slay the demons of winter and storm, as Indra's in India was
+to slay the demons of drought, and Thor's in Scandinavia was to
+exterminate the frost giants. The corn god had to be fed with
+human sacrifices, and the people therefore waged war against
+foreigners to obtain victims. As the god made a contract with his
+people, he was a deity of commerce; he provided them with food
+and they in turn fed him with offerings.</p>
+<div class="figure"><a id="id2539353" name="id2539353"></a>
+<p class="title"><b>Figure�XIV.1.�WINGED DEITIES KNEELING BESIDE
+A SACRED TREE</b></p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<p><span class="emphasis"><em>Marble Slab from N.W. Palace of
+Nimroud; now in British Museum</em></span></p>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="graphic"><img alt="" src="img/29.jpg" /></div>
+<div class="figure"><a id="id2539371" name="id2539371"></a>
+<p class="title"><b>Figure�XIV.2.�EAGLE-HEADED WINGED DEITY
+(ASHUR)</b></p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<p><span class="emphasis"><em>Marble Slab, British
+Museum</em></span></p>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="graphic"><img alt="" src="img/30.jpg" /></div>
+<p>In Ezekiel's comparison of Assyria to a mighty tree, there is
+no doubt a mythological reference. The Hebrew <a id=
+"page.anchor.341" name="page.anchor.341"></a>prophets invariably
+utilized for their poetic imagery the characteristic beliefs of
+the peoples to whom they made direct reference. The "owls",
+"satyrs", and "dragons" of Babylon, mentioned by Isaiah, were
+taken from Babylonian mythology, as has been indicated. When,
+therefore, Assyria is compared to a cedar, which is greater than
+fir or chestnut, and it is stated that there are nesting birds in
+the branches, and under them reproducing beasts of the field, and
+that the greatness of the tree is due to "the multitude of
+waters", the conclusion is suggested that Assyrian religion,
+which Ashur's symbols reflect, included the worship of trees,
+birds, beasts, and water. The symbol of the Assyrian
+tree--probably the "world tree" of its religion--appears to be
+"the rod of mine anger ... the staff in their hand"; that is, the
+battle standard which was a symbol of Ashur. Tammuz and Osiris
+were tree gods as well as corn gods.</p>
+<p>Now, as Ashur was evidently a complex deity, it is futile to
+attempt to read his symbols without giving consideration to the
+remnants of Assyrian mythology which are found in the ruins of
+the ancient cities. These either reflect the attributes of Ashur,
+or constitute the material from which he evolved.</p>
+<p>As Layard pointed out many years ago, the Assyrians had a
+sacred tree which became conventionalized. It was "an elegant
+device, in which curved branches, springing from a kind of scroll
+work, terminated in flowers of graceful form. As one of the
+figures last described<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1378"
+href="#ftn.fnrex1378" id="fnrex1378">378</a>]</span> was turned,
+as if in act of adoration, towards this device, it was evidently
+a sacred emblem; and I recognized in it the holy tree, or tree of
+life, so universally adored at the remotest period in the East,
+and which was preserved in the religious systems of the Persians
+to the final overthrow <a id="page.anchor.342" name=
+"page.anchor.342"></a>of their Empire.... The flowers were formed
+by seven petals."<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1379" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1379" id="fnrex1379">379</a>]</span></p>
+<p>This tree looks like a pillar, and is thrice crossed by
+conventionalized bull's horns tipped with ring symbols which may
+be stars, the highest pair of horns having a larger ring between
+them, but only partly shown as if it were a crescent. The tree
+with its many "sevenfold" designs may have been a symbol of the
+"Sevenfold-one-are-ye" deity. This is evidently the Assyrian tree
+which was called "the rod" or "staff".</p>
+<p>What mythical animals did this tree shelter? Layard found that
+"the four creatures continually introduced on the sculptured
+walls", were "a man, a lion, an ox, and an eagle".<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1380" href="#ftn.fnrex1380" id=
+"fnrex1380">380</a>]</span></p>
+<p>In Sumeria the gods were given human form, but before this
+stage was reached the bull symbolized Nannar (Sin), the moon god,
+Ninip (Saturn, the old sun), and Enlil, while Nergal was a lion,
+as a tribal sun god. The eagle is represented by the Zu bird,
+which symbolized the storm and a phase of the sun, and was also a
+deity of fertility. On the silver vase of Lagash the lion and
+eagle were combined as the lion-headed eagle, a form of Nin-Girsu
+(Tammuz), and it was associated with wild goats, stags, lions,
+and bulls. On a mace head dedicated to Nin-Girsu, a lion slays a
+bull as the Zu bird slays serpents in the folk tale, suggesting
+the wars of totemic deities, according to one "school", and the
+battle of the sun with the storm clouds according to another.
+Whatever the explanation may be of one animal deity of fertility
+slaying another, it seems certain that the conflict was
+associated with the idea of sacrifice to procure the food
+supply.</p>
+<p>In Assyria the various primitive gods were combined as a
+winged bull, a winged bull with human head (the <a id=
+"page.anchor.343" name="page.anchor.343"></a>king's), a winged
+lion with human head, a winged man, a deity with lion's head,
+human body, and eagle's legs with claws, and also as a deity with
+eagle's head and feather headdress, a human body, wings, and
+feather-fringed robe, carrying in one hand a metal basket on
+which two winged men adored the holy tree, and in the other a fir
+cone.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1381" href="#ftn.fnrex1381"
+id="fnrex1381">381</a>]</span></p>
+<p>Layard suggested that the latter deity, with eagle's head, was
+Nisroch, "the word Nisr signifying, in all Semitic languages, an
+eagle".<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1382" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1382" id="fnrex1382">382</a>]</span> This deity is
+referred to in the Bible: "Sennacherib, king of Assyria, ... was
+worshipping in the house of Nisroch, his god".<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1383" href="#ftn.fnrex1383" id=
+"fnrex1383">383</a>]</span> Professor Pinches is certain that
+Nisroch is Ashur, but considers that the "ni" was attached to
+"Ashur" (Ashuraku or Ashurachu), as it was to "Marad" (Merodach)
+to give the reading Ni-Marad = Nimrod. The names of heathen
+deities were thus made "unrecognizable, and in all probability
+ridiculous as well.... Pious and orthodox lips could pronounce
+them without fear of defilement."<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1384" href="#ftn.fnrex1384" id="fnrex1384">384</a>]</span>
+At the same time the "Nisr" theory is probable: it may represent
+another phase of this process. The names of heathen gods were not
+all treated in like manner by the Hebrew teachers.
+Abed-<span class="emphasis"><em>nebo</em></span>, for instance,
+became Abed-<span class="emphasis"><em>nego</em></span>,
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Daniel</em></span>, i, 7), as
+Professor Pinches shows.</p>
+<p>Seeing that the eagle received prominence in the mythologies
+of Sumeria and Assyria, as a deity of fertility with solar and
+atmospheric attributes, it is highly probable that the Ashur
+symbol, like the Egyptian Horus solar disk, is a winged symbol of
+life, fertility, and destruction. The idea that it represents the
+sun in eclipse, with protruding <a id="page.anchor.344" name=
+"page.anchor.344"></a>rays, seems rather far-fetched, because
+eclipses were disasters and indications of divine
+wrath;<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1385" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1385" id="fnrex1385">385</a>]</span> it certainly does
+not explain why the "rays" should only stretch out sideways, like
+wings, and downward like a tail, why the "rays" should be double,
+like the double wings of cherubs, bulls, &amp;c, and divided into
+sections suggesting feathers, or why the disk is surmounted by
+conventionalized horns, tipped with star-like ring symbols,
+identical with those depicted in the holy tree. What particular
+connection the five small rings within the disk were supposed to
+have with the eclipse of the sun is difficult to discover.</p>
+<p>In one of the other symbols in which appears a feather-robed
+archer, it is significant to find that the arrow he is about to
+discharge has a head shaped like a trident; it is evidently a
+lightning symbol.</p>
+<p>When Ezekiel prophesied to the Israelitish captives at
+Tel-abib, "by the river of Chebar" in Chaldea (Kheber, near
+Nippur), he appears to have utilized Assyrian symbolism. Probably
+he came into contact in Babylonia with fugitive priests from
+Assyrian cities.</p>
+<p>This great prophet makes interesting references to "four
+living creatures", with "four faces"--the face of a man, the face
+of a lion, the face of an ox, and the face of an eagle; "they had
+the hands of a man under their wings, ... their wings were joined
+one to another; ... their wings were stretched upward: two wings
+of every one were joined one to another.... Their appearance was
+like burning coals of fire and like the appearance of lamps....
+The living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a
+flash of lightning."<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1386" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1386" id="fnrex1386">386</a>]</span></p>
+<p>Elsewhere, referring to the sisters, Aholah and Aholibah, who
+had been in Egypt and had adopted unmoral ways of <a id=
+"page.anchor.345" name="page.anchor.345"></a>life Ezekiel tells
+that when Aholibah "doted upon the Assyrians" she "saw men
+pourtrayed upon the wall, the images of the Chaldeans pourtrayed
+with vermilion, girded with girdles upon their
+loins".<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1387" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1387" id="fnrex1387">387</a>]</span> Traces of the red
+colour on the walls of Assyrian temples and palaces have been
+observed by excavators. The winged gods "like burning coals" were
+probably painted in vermilion.</p>
+<p>Ezekiel makes reference to "ring" and "wheel" symbols. In his
+vision he saw "one wheel upon the earth by the living creatures,
+with his four faces. The appearance of the wheels and their work
+was like unto the colour of beryl; and they four had one
+likeness; and their appearance and their work was as it were a
+wheel in the middle of a wheel.... As for their rings, they were
+so high that they were dreadful; and their rings were full of
+eyes round about them four. And when the living creatures went,
+the wheels went by them; and when the living creatures were
+lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up.
+Whithersoever the spirit was to go, they went, thither was their
+spirit to go; and the wheels were lifted up over against them;
+<span class="emphasis"><em>for the spirit of the living creature
+was in the wheels....</em></span><span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1388" href="#ftn.fnrex1388" id="fnrex1388">388</a>]</span>
+And the likeness of the firmament upon the heads of the living
+creature was as the colour of terrible crystal, stretched forth
+over their heads above.... And when they went I heard the noise
+of their wings, like the noise of great waters, as the voice of
+the Almighty, the voice of speech, as the noise of an host; when
+they stood they let down their wings...."<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1389" href="#ftn.fnrex1389" id=
+"fnrex1389">389</a>]</span></p>
+<p>Another description of the cherubs states: "Their whole body,
+and their backs, and their hands, and their wings, and the
+wheels, were full of eyes (? stars) round <a id="page.anchor.346"
+name="page.anchor.346"></a>about, even the wheels that they four
+had. As for the wheels, it was cried unto them in my hearing, O
+wheel!" --or, according to a marginal rendering, "they were
+called in my hearing, wheel, or Gilgal," i.e. move round.... "And
+the cherubims were lifted up."<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1390" href="#ftn.fnrex1390" id=
+"fnrex1390">390</a>]</span></p>
+<p>It would appear that the wheel (or hoop, a variant rendering)
+was a symbol of life, and that the Assyrian feather-robed figure
+which it enclosed was a god, not of war only, but also of
+fertility. His trident-headed arrow resembles, as has been
+suggested, a lightning symbol. Ezekiel's references are
+suggestive in this connection. When the cherubs "ran and
+returned" they had "the appearance of a flash of lightning", and
+"the noise of their wings" resembled "the noise of great waters".
+Their bodies were "like burning coals of fire". Fertility gods
+were associated with fire, lightning, and water. Agni of India,
+Sandan of Asia Minor, and Melkarth of Phoenicia were highly
+developed fire gods of fertility. The fire cult was also
+represented in Sumeria (pp. <a href=
+"#page.anchor.49">49</a>-<a href="#page.anchor.51">51</a>).</p>
+<p>In the Indian epic, the <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Mahabharata</em></span>, the revolving ring or
+wheel protects the Soma<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1391"
+href="#ftn.fnrex1391" id="fnrex1391">391</a>]</span> (ambrosia)
+of the gods, on which their existence depends. The eagle giant
+Garuda sets forth to steal it. The gods, fully armed, gather
+round to protect the life-giving drink. Garuda approaches
+"darkening the worlds by the dust raised by the hurricane of his
+wings". The celestials, "overwhelmed by that dust", swoon away.
+Garuda afterwards assumes a fiery shape, then looks "like masses
+of black clouds", and in the end its body becomes golden and
+bright "as the rays of the sun". The Soma is protected by fire,
+which the bird quenches after "drinking in many rivers" with the
+numerous mouths it has assumed. Then Garuda finds that right
+above the Soma is "a wheel of steel, keen <a id="page.anchor.347"
+name="page.anchor.347"></a>edged, and sharp as a razor, revolving
+incessantly. That fierce instrument, of the lustre of the blazing
+sun and of terrible form, was devised by the gods for cutting to
+pieces all robbers of the Soma." Garuda passes "through the
+spokes of the wheel", and has then to contend against "two great
+snakes of the lustre of blazing fire, of tongues bright as the
+lightning flash, of great energy, of mouth emitting fire, of
+blazing eyes". He slays the snakes.... The gods afterwards
+recover the stolen Soma.</p>
+<p>Garuda becomes the vehicle of the god Vishnu, who carries the
+discus, another fiery wheel which revolves and returns to the
+thrower like lightning. "And he (Vishnu) made the bird sit on the
+flagstaff of his car, saying: 'Even thus thou shalt stay above
+me'."<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1392" href="#ftn.fnrex1392"
+id="fnrex1392">392</a>]</span></p>
+<p>The Persian god Ahura Mazda hovers above the king in
+sculptured representations of that high dignitary, enclosed in a
+winged wheel, or disk, like Ashur, grasping a ring in one hand,
+the other being lifted up as if blessing those who adore him.</p>
+<p>Shamash, the Babylonian sun god; Ishtar, the goddess of
+heaven; and other Babylonian deities carried rings as the
+Egyptian gods carried the ankh, the symbol of life. Shamash was
+also depicted sitting on his throne in a pillar-supported
+pavilion, in front of which is a sun wheel. The spokes of the
+wheel are formed by a star symbol and threefold rippling "water
+rays".</p>
+<p>In Hittite inscriptions there are interesting winged emblems;
+"the central portion" of one "seems to be composed of two
+crescents underneath a disk (which is also divided like a
+crescent). Above the emblem there appear the symbol of sanctity
+(the divided oval) and the hieroglyph which Professor Sayce
+interprets as the name of the god Sandes." In another instance
+"the centre of <a id="page.anchor.348" name=
+"page.anchor.348"></a>the winged emblem may be seen to be a
+rosette, with a curious spreading object below. Above, two dots
+follow the name of Sandes, and a human arm bent 'in adoration' is
+by the side...." Professor Garstang is here dealing with sacred
+places "on rocky points or hilltops, bearing out the suggestion
+of the sculptures near Boghaz-Keui<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1393" href="#ftn.fnrex1393" id="fnrex1393">393</a>]</span>,
+in which there may be reasonably suspected the surviving traces
+of mountain cults, or cults of mountain deities, underlying the
+newer religious symbolism". Who the deity is it is impossible to
+say, but "he was identified at some time or other with
+Sandes".<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1394" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1394" id="fnrex1394">394</a>]</span> It would appear,
+too, that the god may have been "called by a name which was that
+used also by the priest". Perhaps the priest king was believed to
+be an incarnation of the deity.</p>
+<p>Sandes or Sandan was identical with Sandon of Tarsus, "the
+prototype of Attis",<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1395" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1395" id="fnrex1395">395</a>]</span> who links with
+the Babylonian Tammuz. Sandon's animal symbol was the lion, and
+he carried the "double axe" symbol of the god of fertility and
+thunder. As Professor Frazer has shown in <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>The Golden Bough</em></span>, he links with
+Hercules and Melkarth.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1396"
+href="#ftn.fnrex1396" id="fnrex1396">396</a>]</span></p>
+<p>All the younger gods, who displaced the elder gods as one year
+displaces another, were deities of fertility, battle, lightning,
+fire, and the sun; it is possible, therefore, that Ashur was like
+Merodach, son of Ea, god of the deep, a form of Tammuz in origin.
+His spirit was in the solar wheel which revolved at times of
+seasonal change. In Scotland it was believed that on the morning
+of May Day (Beltaine) the rising sun revolved three times. The
+younger god was a spring sun god and fire god. Great <a id=
+"page.anchor.349" name="page.anchor.349"></a>bonfires were lit to
+strengthen him, or as a ceremony of riddance; the old year was
+burned out. Indeed the god himself might be burned (that is, the
+old god), so that he might renew his youth. Melkarth was burned
+at Tyre. Hercules burned himself on a mountain top, and his soul
+ascended to heaven as an eagle.</p>
+<p>These fiery rites were evidently not unknown in Babylonia and
+Assyria. When, according to Biblical narrative, Nebuchadnezzar
+"made an image of gold" which he set up "in the plain of Dura, in
+the province of Babylon", he commanded: "O people, nations, and
+languages... at the time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute,
+harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of musick...
+fall down and worship the golden image". Certain Jews who had
+been "set over the affairs of the province of Babylonia", namely,
+"Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego", refused to adore the idol.
+They were punished by being thrown into "a burning fiery
+furnace", which was heated "seven times more than it was wont to
+be heated". They came forth uninjured.<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1397" href="#ftn.fnrex1397" id=
+"fnrex1397">397</a>]</span></p>
+<p>In the Koran it is related that Abraham destroyed the images
+of Chaldean gods; he "brake them all in pieces except the biggest
+of them; that they might lay the blame on that".<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1398" href="#ftn.fnrex1398" id=
+"fnrex1398">398</a>]</span> According to the commentators the
+Chaldaeans were at the time "abroad in the fields, celebrating a
+great festival". To punish the offender Nimrod had a great pyre
+erected at Cuthah. "Then they bound Abraham, and putting him into
+an engine, shot him into the midst of the fire, from which he was
+preserved by the angel Gabriel, who was sent to his assistance."
+Eastern Christians were wont to set apart in the Syrian calendar
+the <a id="page.anchor.350" name="page.anchor.350"></a>25th of
+January to commemorate Abraham's escape from Nimrod's
+pyre.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1399" href="#ftn.fnrex1399"
+id="fnrex1399">399</a>]</span></p>
+<p>It is evident that the Babylonian fire ceremony was observed
+in the spring season, and that human beings were sacrificed to
+the sun god. A mock king may have been burned to perpetuate the
+ancient sacrifice of real kings, who were incarnations of the
+god.</p>
+<p>Isaiah makes reference to the sacrificial burning of kings in
+Assyria: "For through the voice of the Lord shall the Assyrian be
+beaten down, which smote with a rod. And in every place where the
+grounded staff shall pass, which the Lord shall lay upon him, it
+shall be with tabrets and harps: and in battles of shaking will
+he fight with it. For Tophet is ordained of old; yea, for the
+king it is prepared: he hath made it deep and large: the pile
+thereof is fire and much wood: the breath of the Lord, like a
+stream of brimstone, doth kindle it."<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1400" href="#ftn.fnrex1400" id="fnrex1400">400</a>]</span>
+When Nineveh was about to fall, and with it the Assyrian Empire,
+the legendary king, Sardanapalus, who was reputed to have founded
+Tarsus, burned himself, with his wives, concubines, and eunuchs,
+on a pyre in his palace. Zimri, who reigned over Israel for seven
+days, "burnt the king's house over him with fire"<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1401" href="#ftn.fnrex1401" id=
+"fnrex1401">401</a>]</span>. Saul, another fallen king, was
+burned after death, and his bones were buried "under the oak in
+Jabesh".<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1402" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1402" id="fnrex1402">402</a>]</span> In Europe the oak
+was associated with gods of fertility and lightning, including
+Jupiter and Thor. The ceremony of burning Saul is of special
+interest. Asa, the orthodox king of Judah, was, after death,
+"laid in the bed which was filled with sweet odours and divers
+kinds of spices prepared by the apothecaries' art: and they made
+a very great burning for him" (<span class="emphasis"><em>2
+Chronicles</em></span>, <a id="page.anchor.351" name=
+"page.anchor.351"></a>xvi, 14). Jehoram, the heretic king of
+Judah, who "walked in the way of the kings of Israel", died of
+"an incurable disease. And his people made no burning for him
+like the burning of his fathers" (<span class="emphasis"><em>2
+Chronicles</em></span>, xxi, 18, 19).</p>
+<p>The conclusion suggested by the comparative study of the
+beliefs of neighbouring peoples, and the evidence afforded by
+Assyrian sculptures, is that Ashur was a highly developed form of
+the god of fertility, who was sustained, or aided in his
+conflicts with demons, by the fires and sacrifices of his
+worshippers.</p>
+<p>It is possible to read too much into his symbols. These are
+not more complicated and vague than are the symbols on the
+standing stones of Scotland--the crescent with the "broken"
+arrow; the trident with the double rings, or wheels, connected by
+two crescents; the circle with the dot in its centre; the
+triangle with the dot; the large disk with two small rings on
+either side crossed by double straight lines; the so-called
+"mirror", and so on. Highly developed symbolism may not indicate
+a process of spiritualization so much, perhaps, as the
+persistence of magical beliefs and practices. There is really no
+direct evidence to support the theory that the Assyrian winged
+disk, or disk "with protruding rays", was of more spiritual
+character than the wheel which encloses the feather-robed archer
+with his trident-shaped arrow.</p>
+<p>The various symbols may have represented phases of the god.
+When the spring fires were lit, and the god "renewed his life
+like the eagle", his symbol was possibly the solar wheel or disk
+with eagle's wings, which became regarded as a symbol of life.
+The god brought life and light to the world; he caused the crops
+to grow; he gave increase; he sustained his worshippers. But he
+was also the god who slew the demons of darkness and storm.
+<a id="page.anchor.352" name="page.anchor.352"></a>The Hittite
+winged disk was Sandes or Sandon, the god of lightning, who stood
+on the back of a bull. As the lightning god was a war god, it was
+in keeping with his character to find him represented in Assyria
+as "Ashur the archer" with the bow and lightning arrow. On the
+disk of the Assyrian standard the lion and the bull appear with
+"the archer" as symbols of the war god Ashur, but they were also
+symbols of Ashur the god of fertility.</p>
+<p>The life or spirit of the god was in the ring or wheel, as the
+life of the Egyptian and Indian gods, and of the giants of folk
+tales, was in "the egg". The "dot within the circle", a
+widespread symbol, may have represented the seed within "the egg"
+of more than one mythology, or the thorn within the egg of more
+than one legendary story. It may be that in Assyria, as in India,
+the crude beliefs and symbols of the masses were spiritualized by
+the speculative thinkers in the priesthood, but no literary
+evidence has survived to justify us in placing the Assyrian
+teachers on the same level as the Brahmans who composed the
+Upanishads.</p>
+<p>Temples were erected to Ashur, but he might be worshipped
+anywhere, like the Queen of Heaven, who received offerings in the
+streets of Jerusalem, for "he needed no temple", as Professor
+Pinches says. Whether this was because he was a highly developed
+deity or a product of folk religion it is difficult to decide.
+One important fact is that the ruling king of Assyria was more
+closely connected with the worship of Ashur than the king of
+Babylonia was with the worship of Merodach. This may be because
+the Assyrian king was regarded as an incarnation of his god, like
+the Egyptian Pharaoh. Ashur accompanied the monarch on his
+campaigns: he was their conquering war god. Where the king was,
+there was Ashur also. No images were made of him, <a id=
+"page.anchor.353" name="page.anchor.353"></a>but his symbols were
+carried aloft, as were the symbols of Indian gods in the great
+war of the <span class="emphasis"><em>Mahabharata</em></span>
+epic.</p>
+<p>It would appear that Ashur was sometimes worshipped in the
+temples of other gods. In an interesting inscription he is
+associated with the moon god Nannar (Sin) of Haran. Esarhaddon,
+the Assyrian king, is believed to have been crowned in that city.
+"The writer", says Professor Pinches, "is apparently addressing
+Assur-bani-apli, 'the great and noble Asnapper':</p>
+<p>"When the father of my king my lord went to Egypt, he was
+crowned (?) in the <span class="emphasis"><em>ganni</em></span>
+of Harran, the temple (lit. 'Bethel') of cedar. The god Sin
+remained over the (sacred) standard, two crowns upon his head,
+(and) the god Nusku stood beside him. The father of the king my
+lord entered, (and) he (the priest of Sin) placed (the crown?)
+upon his head, (saying) thus: 'Thou shalt go and capture the
+lands in the midst'. (He we)nt, he captured the land of Egypt.
+The rest of the lands not submitting (?) to Assur (Ashur) and
+Sin, the king, the lord of kings, shall capture
+(them)."<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1403" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1403" id="fnrex1403">403</a>]</span></p>
+<p>Ashur and Sin are here linked as equals. Associated with them
+is Nusku, the messenger of the gods, who was given prominence in
+Assyria. The kings frequently invoked him. As the son of Ea he
+acted as the messenger between Merodach and the god of the deep.
+He was also a son of Bel Enlil, and like Anu was guardian or
+chief of the Igigi, the "host of heaven". Professor Pinches
+suggests that he may have been either identical with the Sumerian
+fire god Gibil, or a brother of the fire god, and an
+impersonation of the light of fire and sun. In Haran he
+accompanied the moon god, and may, therefore, have symbolized the
+light of the moon also. Professor <a id="page.anchor.354" name=
+"page.anchor.354"></a>Pinches adds that in one inscription "he is
+identified with Nirig or En-reshtu" (Nin-Girsu =
+Tammuz).<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1404" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1404" id="fnrex1404">404</a>]</span> The Babylonians
+and Assyrians associated fire and light with moisture and
+fertility.</p>
+<p>The astral phase of the character of Ashur is highly probable.
+As has been indicated, the Greek rendering of Anshar as
+"Assoros", is suggestive in this connection. Jastrow, however,
+points out that the use of the characters Anshar for Ashur did
+not obtain until the eighth century B.C. "Linguistically", he
+says, "the change of Ashir to Ashur can be accounted for, but not
+the transformation of An-shar to Ashur or Ashir; so that we must
+assume the 'etymology' of Ashur, proposed by some learned scribe,
+to be the nature of a play upon the name."<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1405" href="#ftn.fnrex1405" id=
+"fnrex1405">405</a>]</span> On the other hand, it is possible
+that what appears arbitrary to us may have been justified in
+ancient Assyria on perfectly reasonable, or at any rate
+traditional, grounds. Professor Pinches points out that as a sun
+god, and "at the same time not Shamash", Ashur resembled
+Merodach. "His identification with Merodach, if that was ever
+accepted, may have been due to the likeness of the word to Asari,
+one of the deities' names."<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1406"
+href="#ftn.fnrex1406" id="fnrex1406">406</a>]</span> As Asari,
+Merodach has been compared to the Egyptian Osiris, who, as the
+Nile god, was Asar-Hapi. Osiris resembles Tammuz and was
+similarly a corn deity and a ruler of the living and the dead,
+associated with sun, moon, stars, water, and vegetation. We may
+consistently connect Ashur with Aushar, "water field", Anshar,
+"god of the height", or "most high", and with the eponymous King
+Asshur who went out on the land of Nimrod and "builded Nineveh",
+if we regard him as of common origin with Tammuz, Osiris, <a id=
+"page.anchor.355" name="page.anchor.355"></a>and Attis--a
+developed and localized form of the ancient deity of fertility
+and corn.</p>
+<p>Ashur had a spouse who is referred to as Ashuritu, or Beltu,
+"the lady". Her name, however, is not given, but it is possible
+that she was identified with the Ishtar of Nineveh. In the
+historical texts Ashur, as the royal god, stands alone. Like the
+Hittite Great Father, he was perhaps regarded as the origin of
+life. Indeed, it may have been due to the influence of the
+northern hillmen in the early Assyrian period, that Ashur was
+developed as a father god--a Baal. When the Hittite inscriptions
+are read, more light may be thrown on the Ashur problem. Another
+possible source of cultural influence is Persia. The supreme god
+Ahura-Mazda (Ormuzd) was, as has been indicated, represented,
+like Ashur, hovering over the king's head, enclosed in a winged
+disk or wheel, and the sacred tree figured in Persian mythology.
+The early Assyrian kings had non-Semitic and non-Sumerian names.
+It seems reasonable to assume that the religious culture of the
+ethnic elements they represented must have contributed to the
+development of the city god of Asshur.</p>
+<div class="footnotes"><br />
+<hr width="100" align="left" />
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1355" href="#fnrex1355" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1355">355</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Genesis</em></span>, x, 11.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1356" href="#fnrex1356" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1356">356</a>]</span> "A number of tablets have been
+found in Cappadocia of the time of the Second Dynasty of Ur which
+show marked affinities with Assyria. The divine name Ashir, as in
+early Assyrian texts, the institution of eponyms and many
+personal names which occur in Assyria, are so characteristic that
+we must assume kinship of peoples. But whether they witness to a
+settlement in Cappadocia from Assyria, or vice versa, is not yet
+clear." <span class="emphasis"><em>Ancient Assyria</em></span>,
+C.H.W. Johns (Cambridge, 1912), pp. 12-13.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1357" href="#fnrex1357" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1357">357</a>]</span> Sumerian Ziku, apparently derived
+from Zi, the spiritual essence of life, the "self power" of the
+Universe.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1358" href="#fnrex1358" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1358">358</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>Peri
+Archon</em></span>, cxxv.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1359" href="#fnrex1359" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1359">359</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Religion of Babylonia and Assyria</em></span>, p.
+197 et seq.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1360" href="#fnrex1360" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1360">360</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>Julius
+Caesar</em></span>, act iii, scene I.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1361" href="#fnrex1361" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1361">361</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Isaiah</em></span>, xiv, 4-14.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1362" href="#fnrex1362" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1362">362</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Eddubrott</em></span>, ii.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1363" href="#fnrex1363" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1363">363</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Religion of the Ancient Egyptians</em></span>, A.
+Wiedemann, pp. 289-90.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1364" href="#fnrex1364" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1364">364</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Ibid</em></span>., p. 236. Atlas was also believed
+to be in the west.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1365" href="#fnrex1365" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1365">365</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Primitive Constellations</em></span>, vol. ii, p.
+184.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1366" href="#fnrex1366" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1366">366</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western
+Asia,</em></span> xxx, II.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1367" href="#fnrex1367" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1367">367</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Isaiah</em></span>, xiii, 21. For "Satyrs" the
+Revised Version gives the alternative translation, "or
+he-goats".</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1368" href="#fnrex1368" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1368">368</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Aspects of Religious Belief and Practice in
+Babylonia and Assyria</em></span>, p. 120, plate 18 and
+note.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1369" href="#fnrex1369" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1369">369</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Satapatha Brahmana</em></span>, translated by
+Professor Eggeling, part iv, 1897, p. 371. <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>(Sacred Books of the East</em></span>.)</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1370" href="#fnrex1370" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1370">370</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Egyptian Myth and Legend</em></span>, pp. 165 et
+seq.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1371" href="#fnrex1371" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1371">371</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Classic Myth and Legend</em></span>, p. 105. The
+birds were called "Stymphalides".</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1372" href="#fnrex1372" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1372">372</a>]</span> The so-called "shuttle" of Neith
+may be a thunderbolt. Scotland's archaic thunder deity is a
+goddess. The bow and arrows suggest a lightning goddess who was a
+deity of war because she was a deity of fertility.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1373" href="#fnrex1373" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1373">373</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>Vedic
+Index</em></span>, Macdonell &amp; Keith, vol. ii, pp. 125-6, and
+vol. i, 168-9.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1374" href="#fnrex1374" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1374">374</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Ezekiel</em></span>, xxxi, 3-8.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1375" href="#fnrex1375" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1375">375</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Ezekiel</em></span>, xxvii, 23, 24.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1376" href="#fnrex1376" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1376">376</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Isaiah</em></span>, xxxvii, 11.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1377" href="#fnrex1377" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1377">377</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Ibid</em></span>., x, 5, 6.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1378" href="#fnrex1378" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1378">378</a>]</span> A winged human figure, carrying
+in one hand a basket and in another a fir cone.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1379" href="#fnrex1379" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1379">379</a>]</span> Layard's <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Nineveh</em></span> (1856), p. 44.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1380" href="#fnrex1380" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1380">380</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Ibid</em></span>., p. 309.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1381" href="#fnrex1381" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1381">381</a>]</span> The fir cone was offered to Attis
+and Mithra. Its association with Ashur suggests that the great
+Assyrian deity resembled the gods of corn and trees and
+fertility.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1382" href="#fnrex1382" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1382">382</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Nineveh</em></span>, p. 47.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1383" href="#fnrex1383" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1383">383</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Isaiah</em></span>, xxxvii, 37-8.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1384" href="#fnrex1384" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1384">384</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>The
+Old Testament in the Light of the Historical Records and Legends
+of Assyria and Babylonia,</em></span> pp. 129-30.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1385" href="#fnrex1385" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1385">385</a>]</span> An eclipse of the sun in Assyria
+on June 15, 763 B.C., was followed by an outbreak of civil
+war.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1386" href="#fnrex1386" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1386">386</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Ezekiel</em></span>, i, 4-14.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1387" href="#fnrex1387" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1387">387</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Ezekiel,</em></span> xxiii, 1-15.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1388" href="#fnrex1388" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1388">388</a>]</span> As the soul of the Egyptian god
+was in the sun disk or sun egg.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1389" href="#fnrex1389" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1389">389</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Ezekiel,</em></span>, i, 15-28.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1390" href="#fnrex1390" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1390">390</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Ezekiel</em></span>, x, 11-5.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1391" href="#fnrex1391" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1391">391</a>]</span> Also called "Amrita".</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1392" href="#fnrex1392" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1392">392</a>]</span> The <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Mahabharata</em></span> (<span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Adi Parva</em></span>), Sections xxxiii-iv.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1393" href="#fnrex1393" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1393">393</a>]</span> Another way of spelling the
+Turkish name which signifies "village of the pass". The deep "gh"
+guttural is not usually attempted by English speakers. A common
+rendering is "Bog-haz' Kay-ee", a slight "oo" sound being given
+to the "a" in "Kay"; the "z" sound is hard and hissing.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1394" href="#fnrex1394" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1394">394</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>The
+Land of the Hittites</em></span>, J. Garstang, pp. 178
+<span class="emphasis"><em>et seq</em></span>.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1395" href="#fnrex1395" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1395">395</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Ibid</em></span>., p. 173.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1396" href="#fnrex1396" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1396">396</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Adonis, Attis, Osiris</em></span>, chaps. v and
+vi.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1397" href="#fnrex1397" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1397">397</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Daniel</em></span>, iii, 1-26.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1398" href="#fnrex1398" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1398">398</a>]</span> The story that Abraham hung an
+axe round the neck of Baal after destroying the other idols is of
+Jewish origin.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1399" href="#fnrex1399" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1399">399</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>The
+Koran</em></span>, George Sale, pp. 245-6.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1400" href="#fnrex1400" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1400">400</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Isaiah</em></span>, xxx, 31-3. See also for Tophet
+customs <span class="emphasis"><em>2 Kings</em></span>, xxiii,
+10; <span class="emphasis"><em>Jeremiah</em></span>, vii, 31, 32
+and xix, 5-12.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1401" href="#fnrex1401" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1401">401</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>1
+Kings</em></span>, xvi, 18.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1402" href="#fnrex1402" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1402">402</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>1
+Samuel</em></span>, xxxi, 12, 13 and <span class="emphasis"><em>1
+Chronicles</em></span>, x, 11, 12.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1403" href="#fnrex1403" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1403">403</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>The
+Old Testament in the Light of the Historical Records and Legends
+of Assyria and Babylonia,</em></span> pp. 201-2.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1404" href="#fnrex1404" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1404">404</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Babylonian and Assyrian Religion</em></span>, pp.
+57-8.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1405" href="#fnrex1405" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1405">405</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Aspects of Religious Belief and Practice in
+Babylonia and Assyria</em></span>, p. 121.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1406" href="#fnrex1406" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1406">406</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Babylonian and Assyrian Religion</em></span>, p.
+86.</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="chapter" lang="en" xml:lang="en">
+<div class="titlepage">
+<div>
+<div>
+<h2 class="title"><a id="id2540528" name=
+"id2540528"></a>Chapter�XV.�Conflicts for Trade and
+Supremacy</h2>
+</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="abstract">
+<p class="title"><b>Abstract</b></p>
+<p>Modern Babylonia--History repeating itself--Babylonian Trade
+Route in Mesopotamia--Egyptian Supremacy in Syria--Mitanni and
+Babylonia--Bandits who plundered Caravans--Arabian Desert Trade
+Route opened--Assyrian and Elamite Struggles with
+Babylonia--Rapid Extension of Assyrian Empire--Hittites control
+Western Trade Routes--Egypt's Nineteenth Dynasty
+Conquests--Campaigns of Rameses II--Egyptians and Hittites become
+Allies--Babylonian Fears of Assyria--Shalmaneser's
+Triumphs--Assyria Supreme in Mesopotamia--Conquest of
+Babylonia--Fall of a Great King--Civil War in Assyria--Its Empire
+goes to pieces--Babylonian Wars with Elam--Revival of Babylonian
+Power--Invasions of Assyrians and Elamites--End of the Kassite
+Dynasty--Babylonia contrasted with Assyria.</p>
+</div>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.356" name="page.anchor.356"></a> It is
+possible that during the present century Babylonia may once again
+become one of the great wheat-producing countries of the world. A
+scheme of land reclamation has already been inaugurated by the
+construction of a great dam to control the distribution of the
+waters of the Euphrates, and, if it is energetically promoted on
+a generous scale in the years to come, the ancient canals, which
+are used at present as caravan roads, may yet be utilized to make
+the whole country as fertile and prosperous as it was in ancient
+days. When that happy consummation is reached, new cities may
+grow up and flourish beside the ruins of the old centres of
+Babylonian culture.</p>
+<p>With the revival of agriculture will come the revival of
+commerce. Ancient trade routes will then be reopened, and the
+slow-travelling caravans supplanted by <a id="page.anchor.357"
+name="page.anchor.357"></a>speedy trains. A beginning has already
+been made in this direction. The first modern commercial highway
+which is crossing the threshold of Babylonia's new Age is the
+German railway through Asia Minor, North Syria, and Mesopotamia
+to Baghdad.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1407" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1407" id="fnrex1407">407</a>]</span> It brings the
+land of Hammurabi into close touch with Europe, and will solve
+problems which engaged the attention of many rival monarchs for
+long centuries before the world knew aught of "the glory that was
+Greece and the grandeur that was Rome".</p>
+<p>These sudden and dramatic changes are causing history to
+repeat itself. Once again the great World Powers are evincing
+much concern regarding their respective "spheres of influence" in
+Western Asia, and pressing together around the ancient land of
+Babylon. On the east, where the aggressive Elamites and Kassites
+were followed by the triumphant Persians and Medes, Russia and
+Britain have asserted themselves as protectors of Persian
+territory, and the influence of Britain is supreme in the Persian
+Gulf. Turkey controls the land of the Hittites, while Russia
+looms like a giant across the Armenian highlands; Turkey is also
+the governing power in Syria and Mesopotamia, which are being
+crossed by Germany's Baghdad railway. France is constructing
+railways in Syria, and will control the ancient "way of the
+Philistines". Britain occupies Cyprus on the Mediterranean coast,
+and presides over the destinies of the ancient land of Egypt,
+which, during the brilliant Eighteenth Dynasty, extended its
+sphere of influence to the borders of Asia Minor. Once again,
+after the lapse of many centuries, international <a id=
+"page.anchor.358" name="page.anchor.358"></a>politics is being
+strongly influenced by the problems connected with the
+development of trade in Babylonia and its vicinity.</p>
+<p>The history of the ancient rival States, which is being pieced
+together by modern excavators, is, in view of present-day
+political developments, invested with special interest to us. We
+have seen Assyria rising into prominence. It began to be a great
+Power when Egypt was supreme in the "Western Land" (the land of
+the Amorites) as far north as the frontiers of Cappadocia. Under
+the Kassite regime Babylonia's political influence had declined
+in Mesopotamia, but its cultural influence remained, for its
+language and script continued in use among traders and
+diplomatists.</p>
+<p>At the beginning of the Pharaoh Akhenaton period, the supreme
+power in Mesopotamia was Mitanni. As the ally of Egypt it
+constituted a buffer state on the borders of North Syria, which
+prevented the southern expansion from Asia Minor of the Hittite
+confederacy and the western expansion of aggressive Assyria,
+while it also held in check the ambitions of Babylonia, which
+still claimed the "land of the Amorites". So long as Mitanni was
+maintained as a powerful kingdom the Syrian possessions of Egypt
+were easily held in control, and the Egyptian merchants enjoyed
+preferential treatment compared with those of Babylonia. But when
+Mitanni was overcome, and its territories were divided between
+the Assyrians and the Hittites, the North Syrian Empire of Egypt
+went to pieces. A great struggle then ensued between the nations
+of western Asia for political supremacy in the "land of the
+Amorites".</p>
+<p>Babylonia had been seriously handicapped by losing control of
+its western caravan road. Prior to the Kassite period its
+influence was supreme in Mesopotamia and <a id="page.anchor.359"
+name="page.anchor.359"></a>middle Syria; from the days of Sargon
+of Akkad and of Naram-Sin until the close of the Hammurabi Age
+its merchants had naught to fear from bandits or petty kings
+between the banks of the Euphrates and the Mediterranean coast.
+The city of Babylon had grown rich and powerful as the commercial
+metropolis of Western Asia.</p>
+<p>Separated from the Delta frontier by the broad and perilous
+wastes of the Arabian desert, Babylonia traded with Egypt by an
+indirect route. Its caravan road ran northward along the west
+bank of the Euphrates towards Haran, and then southward through
+Palestine. This was a long detour, but it was the only possible
+way.</p>
+<p>During the early Kassite Age the caravans from Babylon had to
+pass through the area controlled by Mitanni, which was therefore
+able to impose heavy duties and fill its coffers with Babylonian
+gold. Nor did the situation improve when the influence of Mitanni
+suffered decline in southern Mesopotamia. Indeed the difficulties
+under which traders operated were then still further increased,
+for the caravan roads were infested by plundering bands of
+"Suti", to whom references are made in the Tell-el-Amarna
+letters. These bandits defied all the great powers, and became so
+powerful that even the messengers sent from one king to another
+were liable to be robbed and murdered without discrimination.
+When war broke out between powerful States they harried live
+stock and sacked towns in those areas which were left
+unprotected.</p>
+<p>The "Suti" were Arabians of Aramaean stock. What is known as
+the "Third Semitic Migration" was in progress during this period.
+The nomads gave trouble to Babylonia and Assyria, and,
+penetrating Mesopotamia and Syria, sapped the power of Mitanni,
+until it was unable to resist the onslaughts of the Assyrians and
+the Hittites.</p>
+<p>The Aramaean tribes are referred to, at various periods <a id=
+"page.anchor.360" name="page.anchor.360"></a>and by various
+peoples, not only as the "Suti", but also as the "Achlame", the
+"Arimi", and the "Khabiri". Ultimately they were designated
+simply as "Syrians", and under that name became the hereditary
+enemies of the Hebrews, although Jacob was regarded as being of
+their stock: "A Syrian ready to perish", runs a Biblical
+reference, "was my father (ancestor), and he went down into Egypt
+and sojourned there with a few, and became there a nation, great,
+mighty, and populous".<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1408"
+href="#ftn.fnrex1408" id="fnrex1408">408</a>]</span></p>
+<p>An heroic attempt was made by one of the Kassite kings of
+Babylonia to afford protection to traders by stamping out
+brigandage between Arabia and Mesopotamia, and opening up a new
+and direct caravan road to Egypt across the Arabian desert. The
+monarch in question was Kadashman-Kharbe, the grandson of
+Ashur-uballit of Assyria. As we have seen, he combined forces
+with his distinguished and powerful kinsman, and laid a heavy
+hand on the "Suti". Then he dug wells and erected a chain of
+fortifications, like "block-houses", so that caravans might come
+and go without interruption, and merchants be freed from the
+imposts of petty kings whose territory they had to penetrate when
+travelling by the Haran route.</p>
+<p>This bold scheme, however, was foredoomed to failure. It was
+shown scant favour by the Babylonian Kassites. No record survives
+to indicate the character of the agreement between
+Kadashman-Kharbe and Ashur-uballit, but there can be little doubt
+that it involved the abandonment by Babylonia of its historic
+claim upon Mesopotamia, or part of it, and the recognition of an
+Assyrian sphere of influence in that region. It was probably on
+account of his pronounced pro-Assyrian tendencies that the
+Kassites murdered Kadashman-Kharbe, <a id="page.anchor.361" name=
+"page.anchor.361"></a>and set the pretender, known as "the son of
+nobody", on the throne for a brief period.</p>
+<p>Kadashman-Kharbe's immediate successors recognized in Assyria
+a dangerous and unscrupulous rival, and resumed the struggle for
+the possession of Mesopotamia. The trade route across the Arabian
+desert had to be abandoned. Probably it required too great a
+force to keep it open. Then almost every fresh conquest achieved
+by Assyria involved it in war with Babylonia, which appears to
+have been ever waiting for a suitable opportunity to cripple its
+northern rival.</p>
+<p>But Assyria was not the only power which Babylonia had to
+guard itself against. On its eastern frontier Elam was also
+panting for expansion. Its chief caravan roads ran from Susa
+through Assyria towards Asia Minor, and through Babylonia towards
+the Phoenician coast. It was probably because its commerce was
+hampered by the growth of Assyrian power in the north, as
+Servia's commerce in our own day has been hampered by Austria,
+that it cherished dreams of conquering Babylonia. In fact, as
+Kassite influence suffered decline, one of the great problems of
+international politics was whether Elam or Assyria would enter
+into possession of the ancient lands of Sumer and Akkad.</p>
+<p>Ashur-uballit's vigorous policy of Assyrian expansion was
+continued, as has been shown, by his son Bel-nirari. His
+grandson, Arik-den-ilu, conducted several successful campaigns,
+and penetrated westward as far as Haran, thus crossing the
+Babylonian caravan road. He captured great herds of cattle and
+flocks of sheep, which were transported to Asshur, and on one
+occasion carried away 250,000 prisoners.</p>
+<p>Meanwhile Babylonia waged war with Elam. It is related that
+Khur-batila, King of Elam, sent a challenge <a id=
+"page.anchor.362" name="page.anchor.362"></a>to Kurigalzu III, a
+descendant of Kadashman-Kharbe, saying: "Come hither; I will
+fight with thee". The Babylonian monarch accepted the challenge,
+invaded the territory of his rival, and won a great victory.
+Deserted by his troops, the Elamite king was taken prisoner, and
+did not secure release until he had ceded a portion of his
+territory and consented to pay annual tribute to Babylonia.</p>
+<p>Flushed with his success, the Kassite king invaded Assyria
+when Adad-nirari I died and his son Arik-den-ilu came to the
+throne. He found, however, that the Assyrians were more powerful
+than the Elamites, and suffered defeat. His son,
+Na&acute;zi-mar-ut&acute;tash<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1409" href="#ftn.fnrex1409" id="fnrex1409">409</a>]</span>,
+also made an unsuccessful attempt to curb the growing power of
+the northern Power.</p>
+<p>These recurring conflicts were intimately associated with the
+Mesopotamian question. Assyria was gradually expanding westward
+and shattering the dreams of the Babylonian statesmen and traders
+who hoped to recover control of the caravan routes and restore
+the prestige of their nation in the west.</p>
+<p>Like his father, Adad-nirari I of Assyria had attacked the
+Aramaean "Suti" who were settling about Haran. He also acquired a
+further portion of the ancient kingdom of Mitanni, with the
+result that he exercised sway over part of northern Mesopotamia.
+After defeating Na&acute;zi-mar-ut&acute;tash, he fixed the
+boundaries of the Assyrian and Babylonian spheres of influence
+much to the advantage of his own country.</p>
+<p>At home Adad-nirari conducted a vigorous policy. He developed
+the resources of the city state of Asshur by constructing a great
+dam and quay wall, while he contributed to the prosperity of the
+priesthood and the <a id="page.anchor.363" name=
+"page.anchor.363"></a>growth of Assyrian culture by extending the
+temple of the god Ashur. Ere he died, he assumed the proud title
+of "Shar Kishshate", "king of the world", which was also used by
+his son Shalmaneser I. His reign extended over a period of thirty
+years and terminated about 1300 B.C.</p>
+<p>Soon after Shalmaneser came to the throne his country suffered
+greatly from an earthquake, which threw down Ishtar's temple at
+Nineveh and Ashur's temple at Asshur. Fire broke out in the
+latter building and destroyed it completely.</p>
+<p>These disasters did not dismay the young monarch. Indeed, they
+appear to have stimulated him to set out on a career of conquest,
+to secure treasure and slaves, so as to carry out the work of
+reconstructing the temples without delay. He became as great a
+builder, and as tireless a campaigner as Thothmes III of Egypt,
+and under his guidance Assyria became the most powerful nation in
+Western Asia. Ere he died his armies were so greatly dreaded that
+the Egyptians and Assyrians drew their long struggle for
+supremacy in Syria to a close, and formed an alliance for mutual
+protection against their common enemy.</p>
+<p>It is necessary at this point to review briefly the history of
+Palestine and north Syria after the period of Hittite expansion
+under King Subbi-luliuma and the decline of Egyptian power under
+Akhenaton. The western part of Mitanni and the most of northern
+Syria had been colonized by the Hittites.<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1410" href="#ftn.fnrex1410" id=
+"fnrex1410">410</a>]</span> Farther south, their allies, the
+Amorites, formed a buffer State on the borders of Egypt's limited
+sphere of influence in southern Palestine, and of Babylonia's
+sphere in southern Mesopotamia. Mitanni <a id="page.anchor.364"
+name="page.anchor.364"></a>was governed by a subject king who was
+expected to prevent the acquisition by Assyria of territory in
+the north-west.</p>
+<p>Subbi-luliuma was succeeded on the Hittite throne by his son,
+King Mursil, who was known to the Egyptians as "Meraser", or
+"Maurasar". The greater part of this monarch's reign appears to
+have been peaceful and prosperous. His allies protected his
+frontiers, and he was able to devote himself to the work of
+consolidating his empire in Asia Minor and North Syria. He
+erected a great palace at Boghaz K&ouml;i, and appears to have
+had dreams of imitating the splendours of the royal Courts of
+Egypt, Assyria, and Babylon.</p>
+<p>At this period the Hittite Empire was approaching the zenith
+of its power. It controlled the caravan roads of Babylonia and
+Egypt, and its rulers appear not only to have had intimate
+diplomatic relations with both these countries, but even to have
+concerned themselves regarding their internal affairs. When
+Rameses I came to the Egyptian throne, at the beginning of the
+Nineteenth Dynasty, he sealed an agreement with the Hittites, and
+at a later date the Hittite ambassador at Babylon, who
+represented Hattusil II, the second son of King Mursil, actually
+intervened in a dispute regarding the selection of a successor to
+the throne.</p>
+<p>The closing years of King Mursil's reign were disturbed by the
+military conquests of Egypt, which had renewed its strength under
+Rameses I. Seti I, the son of Rameses I, and the third Pharaoh of
+the powerful Nineteenth Dynasty, took advantage of the inactivity
+of the Hittite ruler by invading southern Syria. He had first to
+grapple with the Amorites, whom he successfully defeated. Then he
+pressed northward as far as Tunip, and won a decisive victory
+over a Hittite army, which <a id="page.anchor.365" name=
+"page.anchor.365"></a>secured to Egypt for a period the control
+of Palestine as far north as Phoenicia.</p>
+<p>When Mursil died he was succeeded on the Hittite throne by his
+son Mutallu, whom the Egyptians referred to as "Metella" or
+"Mautinel". He was a vigorous and aggressive monarch, and appears
+to have lost no time in compelling the Amorites to throw off
+their allegiance to Egypt and recognize him as their overlord. As
+a result, when Rameses II ascended the Egyptian throne he had to
+undertake the task of winning back the Asiatic possessions of his
+father.</p>
+<p>The preliminary operations conducted by Rameses on the
+Palestinian coast were attended with much success. Then, in his
+fifth year, he marched northward with a great army, with purpose,
+it would appear, to emulate the achievements of Thothmes III and
+win fame as a mighty conqueror. But he underestimated the
+strength of his rival and narrowly escaped disaster. Advancing
+impetuously, with but two of his four divisions, he suddenly
+found himself surrounded by the army of the wily Hittite, King
+Mutallu, in the vicinity of the city of Kadesh, on the Orontes.
+His first division remained intact, but his second was put to
+flight by an intervening force of the enemy. From this perilous
+position Rameses extricated himself by leading a daring charge
+against the Hittite lines on the river bank, which proved
+successful. Thrown into confusion, his enemies sought refuge in
+the city, but the Pharaoh refrained from attacking them
+there.</p>
+<p>Although Rameses boasted on his return home of having achieved
+a great victory, there is nothing more certain than that this
+campaign proved a dismal failure. He was unable to win back for
+Egypt the northern territories which had acknowledged the
+suzerainty of Egypt during the Eighteenth Dynasty. Subsequently
+he was <a id="page.anchor.366" name="page.anchor.366"></a>kept
+fully engaged in maintaining his prestige in northern Palestine
+and the vicinity of Phoenicia. Then his Asiatic military
+operations, which extended altogether over a period of about
+twenty years, were brought to a close in a dramatic and
+unexpected manner. The Hittite king Mutallu had died in battle,
+or by the hand of an assassin, and was succeeded by his brother
+Hattusil II (Khetasar), who sealed a treaty of peace with the
+great Rameses.</p>
+<p>An Egyptian copy of this interesting document can still be
+read on the walls of a Theban temple, but it is lacking in
+certain details which interest present-day historians. No
+reference, for instance, is made to the boundaries of the
+Egyptian Empire in Syria, so that it is impossible to estimate
+the degree of success which attended the campaigns of Rameses. An
+interesting light, however, is thrown on the purport of the
+treaty by a tablet letter which has been discovered by Professor
+Hugo Winckler at Boghaz K&ouml;i. It is a copy of a communication
+addressed by Hattusil II to the King of Babylonia, who had made
+an enquiry regarding it. "I will inform my brother," wrote the
+Hittite monarch; "the King of Egypt and I have made an alliance,
+and made ourselves brothers. Brothers we are and will [unite
+against] a common foe, and with friends in common."<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1411" href="#ftn.fnrex1411" id=
+"fnrex1411">411</a>]</span> The common foe could have been no
+other than Assyria, and the Hittite king's letter appears to
+convey a hint to Kadashman-turgu of Babylon that he should make
+common cause with Rameses II and Hattusil.</p>
+<p>Shalmaneser I of Assyria was pursuing a determined policy of
+western and northern expansion. He struck boldly at the eastern
+Hittite States and conquered Malatia, where he secured great
+treasure for the god Ashur. He even founded colonies within the
+Hittite sphere of influence <a id="page.anchor.367" name=
+"page.anchor.367"></a>on the borders of Armenia. Shalmaneser's
+second campaign was conducted against the portion of ancient
+Mitanni which was under Hittite control. The vassal king,
+Sattuari, apparently a descendant of Tushratta's, endeavoured to
+resist the Assyrians with the aid of Hittites and Aramaeans, but
+his army of allies was put to flight. The victorious Shalmaneser
+was afterwards able to penetrate as far westward as Carchemish on
+the Euphrates.</p>
+<p>Having thus secured the whole of Mitanni, the Assyrian
+conqueror attacked the Aramaean hordes which were keeping the
+territory round Haran in a continuous state of unrest, and forced
+them to recognize him as their overlord.</p>
+<p>Shalmaneser thus, it would appear, gained control of northern
+Mesopotamia and consequently of the Babylonian caravan route to
+Haran. As a result Hittite prestige must have suffered decline in
+Babylon. For a generation the Hittites had had the Babylonian
+merchants at their mercy, and apparently compelled them to pay
+heavy duties. Winckler has found among the Boghaz K&ouml;i
+tablets several letters from the king of Babylon, who made
+complaints regarding robberies committed by Amoritic bandits, and
+requested that they should be punished and kept in control. Such
+a communication is a clear indication that he was entitled, in
+lieu of payment, to have an existing agreement fulfilled.</p>
+<p>Shalmaneser found that Asshur, the ancient capital, was
+unsuitable for the administration of his extended empire, so he
+built a great city at Kalkhi (Nimrud), the Biblical Calah, which
+was strategically situated amidst fertile meadows on the angle of
+land formed by the Tigris and the Upper Zab. Thither to a new
+palace he transferred his brilliant Court.</p>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.368" name="page.anchor.368"></a>He was
+succeeded by his son, Tukulti-Ninip I, who was the most powerful
+of the Assyrian monarchs of the Old Empire. He made great
+conquests in the north and east, extended and strengthened
+Assyrian influence in Mesopotamia, and penetrated into Hittite
+territory, bringing into subjection no fewer than forty kings,
+whom he compelled to pay annual tribute. It was inevitable that
+he should be drawn into conflict with the Babylonian king, who
+was plotting with the Hittites against him. One of the tablet
+letters found by Winckler at Boghaz K&ouml;i is of special
+interest in this connection. Hattusil advises the young monarch
+of Babylonia to "go and plunder the land of the foe". Apparently
+he sought to be freed from the harassing attention of the
+Assyrian conqueror by prevailing on his Babylonian royal friend
+to act as a "cat's paw".</p>
+<p>It is uncertain whether or not Kashtiliash II of Babylonia
+invaded Assyria with purpose to cripple his rival. At any rate
+war broke out between the two countries, and Tukulti-Ninip proved
+irresistible in battle. He marched into Babylonia, and not only
+defeated Kashtiliash, but captured him and carried him off to
+Asshur, where he was presented in chains to the god Ashur.</p>
+<p>The city of Babylon was captured, its wall was demolished, and
+many of its inhabitants were put to the sword. Tukulti-Ninip was
+evidently waging a war of conquest, for he pillaged E-sagila,
+"the temple of the high head", and removed the golden statue of
+the god Merodach to Assyria, where it remained for about sixteen
+years. He subdued the whole of Babylonia as far south as the
+Persian Gulf, and ruled it through viceroys.</p>
+<p>Tukulti-Ninip, however, was not a popular emperor even in his
+own country. He offended national susceptibilities by showing
+preference for Babylonia, and founding <a id="page.anchor.369"
+name="page.anchor.369"></a>a new city which has not been located.
+There he built a great palace and a temple for Ashur and his
+pantheon. He called the city after himself,
+Kar-Tukulti-Ninip<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1412" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1412" id="fnrex1412">412</a>]</span>.</p>
+<p>Seven years after the conquest of Babylonia revolts broke out
+against the emperor in Assyria and Babylonia, and he was murdered
+in his palace, which had been besieged and captured by an army
+headed by his own son, Ashur-natsir-pal I, who succeeded him. The
+Babylonian nobles meantime drove the Assyrian garrisons from
+their cities, and set on the throne the Kassite prince
+Adad-shum-utsur.</p>
+<p>Thus in a brief space went to pieces the old Assyrian Empire,
+which, at the close of Tukulti-Ninip's thirty years' reign,
+embraced the whole Tigro-Euphrates valley from the borders of
+Armenia to the Persian Gulf. An obscure century followed, during
+which Assyria was raided by its enemies and broken up into petty
+States.</p>
+<p>The Elamites were not slow to take advantage of the state of
+anarchy which prevailed in Babylonia during the closing years of
+Assyrian rule. They overran a part of ancient Sumer, and captured
+Nippur, where they slew a large number of inhabitants and
+captured many prisoners. On a subsequent occasion they pillaged
+Isin. When, however, the Babylonian king had cleared his country
+of the Assyrians, he attacked the Elamites and drove them across
+the frontier.</p>
+<p>Nothing is known regarding the reign of the parricide
+Ashur-natsir-pal I of Assyria. He was succeeded by
+Ninip-Tukulti-Ashur and Adad-shum-lishir, who either reigned
+concurrently or were father and son. After a brief period these
+were displaced by another two rulers, Ashur-nirari III and
+Nabu-dan.</p>
+<p>It is not clear why Ninip-Tukulti-Ashur was deposed. <a id=
+"page.anchor.370" name="page.anchor.370"></a>Perhaps he was an
+ally of Adad-shum-utsur, the Babylonian king, and was unpopular
+on that account. He journeyed to Babylon on one occasion,
+carrying with him the statue of Merodach, but did not return.
+Perhaps he fled from the rebels. At any rate Adad-shum-utsur was
+asked to send him back, by an Assyrian dignitary who was probably
+Ashur-nirari III. The king of Babylon refused this request, nor
+would he give official recognition to the new ruler or
+rulers.</p>
+<p>Soon afterwards another usurper, Bel-kudur-utsur, led an
+Assyrian army against the Babylonians, but was slain in battle.
+He was succeeded by Ninip-apil-esharia, who led his forces back
+to Asshur, followed by Adad-shum-utsur. The city was besieged but
+not captured by the Babylonian army.</p>
+<p>Under Adad-shum-utsur, who reigned for thirty years, Babylonia
+recovered much of its ancient splendour. It held Elam in check
+and laid a heavy hand on Assyria, which had been paralysed by
+civil war. Once again it possessed Mesopotamia and controlled its
+caravan road to Haran and Phoenicia, and apparently its relations
+with the Hittites and Syrians were of a cordial character. The
+next king, Meli-shipak, assumed the Assyrian title "Shar
+Kishshati", "king of the world", and had a prosperous reign of
+fifteen years. He was succeeded by Marduk-aplu-iddin I, who
+presided over the destinies of Babylonia for about thirteen
+years. Thereafter the glory of the Kassite Dynasty passed away.
+King Zamama-shum-iddin followed with a twelvemonth's reign,
+during which his kingdom was successfully invaded from the north
+by the Assyrians under King Ashur-dan I, and from the east by the
+Elamites under a king whose name has not been traced. Several
+towns were captured and pillaged, and rich booty was carried off
+to Asshur and Susa.</p>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.371" name=
+"page.anchor.371"></a>Bel-shum-iddin succeeded Zamama-shum-iddin,
+but three years afterwards he was deposed by a king of Isin. So
+ended the Kassite Dynasty of Babylonia, which had endured for a
+period of 576 years and nine months.</p>
+<p>Babylonia was called Karduniash during the Kassite Dynasty.
+This name was originally applied to the district at the river
+mouths, where the alien rulers appear to have first achieved
+ascendancy. Apparently they were strongly supported by the
+non-Semitic elements in the population, and represented a popular
+revolt against the political supremacy of the city of Babylon and
+its god Merodach. It is significant to find in this connection
+that the early Kassite kings showed a preference for Nippur as
+their capital and promoted the worship of Enlil, the elder Bel,
+who was probably identified with their own god of fertility and
+battle. Their sun god, Sachi, appears to have been merged in
+Shamash. In time, however, the kings followed the example of
+Hammurabi by exalting Merodach.</p>
+<p>The Kassite language added to the "Babel of tongues" among the
+common people, but was never used in inscriptions. At an early
+period the alien rulers became thoroughly Babylonianized, and as
+they held sway for nearly six centuries it cannot be assumed that
+they were unpopular. They allowed their mountain homeland, or
+earliest area of settlement in the east, to be seized and
+governed by Assyria, and probably maintained as slight a
+connection with it after settlement in Babylonia as did the
+Saxons of England with their Continental area of origin.</p>
+<p>Although Babylonia was not so great a world power under the
+Kassites as it had been during the Hammurabi Dynasty, it
+prospered greatly as an industrial, agricultural, and trading
+country. The Babylonian language was used throughout western Asia
+as the language of diplomacy and commerce, and the city of
+Babylon was the most <a id="page.anchor.372" name=
+"page.anchor.372"></a>important commercial metropolis of the
+ancient world. Its merchants traded directly and indirectly with
+far-distant countries. They imported cobalt--which was used for
+colouring glass a vivid blue--from China, and may have
+occasionally met Chinese traders who came westward with their
+caravans, while a brisk trade in marble and limestone was
+conducted with and through Elam. Egypt was the chief source of
+the gold supply, which was obtained from the Nubian mines; and in
+exchange for this precious metal the Babylonians supplied the
+Nilotic merchants with lapis-lazuli from Bactria, enamel, and
+their own wonderful coloured glass, which was not unlike the
+later Venetian, as well as chariots and horses. The Kassites were
+great horse breeders, and the battle steeds from the Babylonian
+province of Namar were everywhere in great demand. They also
+promoted the cattle trade. Cattle rearing was confined chiefly to
+the marshy districts at the head of the Persian Gulf, and the
+extensive steppes on the borders of the Arabian desert, so well
+known to Abraham and his ancestors, which provided excellent
+grazing. Agriculture also flourished; as in Egypt it constituted
+the basis of national and commercial prosperity.</p>
+<p>It is evident that great wealth accumulated in Karduniash
+during the Kassite period. When the images of Merodach and
+Zerpanitu<span class='phonetic'>m</span> were taken back to
+Babylon, from Assyria, they were clad, as has been recorded, in
+garments embroidered with gold and sparkling with gems, while
+E-sagila was redecorated on a lavish scale with priceless works
+of art.</p>
+<p>Assyria presented a sharp contrast to Babylonia, the mother
+land, from which its culture was derived. As a separate kingdom
+it had to develop along different lines. In fact, it was unable
+to exist as a world power without the enforced co-operation of
+neighbouring States. Babylonia, <a id="page.anchor.373" name=
+"page.anchor.373"></a>on the other hand, could have flourished in
+comparative isolation, like Egypt during the Old Kingdom period,
+because it was able to feed itself and maintain a large
+population so long as its rich alluvial plain was irrigated
+during its dry season, which extended over about eight months in
+the year.</p>
+<p>The region north of Baghdad was of different geographical
+formation to the southern plain, and therefore less suitable for
+the birth and growth of a great independent civilization. Assyria
+embraced a chalk plateau of the later Mesozoic period, with
+tertiary deposits, and had an extremely limited area suitable for
+agricultural pursuits. Its original inhabitants were nomadic
+pastoral and hunting tribes, and there appears to be little doubt
+that agriculture was introduced along the banks of the Tigris by
+colonists from Babylonia, who formed city States which owed
+allegiance to the kings of Sumer and Akkad.</p>
+<p>After the Hammurabi period Assyria rose into prominence as a
+predatory power, which depended for its stability upon those
+productive countries which it was able to conquer and hold in
+sway. It never had a numerous peasantry, and such as it had
+ultimately vanished, for the kings pursued the short-sighted
+policy of colonizing districts on the borders of their empire
+with their loyal subjects, and settling aliens in the heart of
+the homeland, where they were controlled by the military. In this
+manner they built up an artificial empire, which suffered at
+critical periods in its history because it lacked the great
+driving and sustaining force of a population welded together by
+immemorial native traditions and the love of country which is the
+essence of true patriotism. National sentiment was chiefly
+confined to the military aristocracy and the priests; the
+enslaved and uncultured masses of <a id="page.anchor.374" name=
+"page.anchor.374"></a>aliens were concerned mainly with their
+daily duties, and no doubt included communities, like the
+Israelites in captivity, who longed to return to their native
+lands.</p>
+<p>Assyria had to maintain a standing army, which grew from an
+alliance of brigands who first enslaved the native population,
+and ultimately extended their sway over neighbouring States. The
+successes of the army made Assyria powerful. Conquering kings
+accumulated rich booty by pillaging alien cities, and grew more
+and more wealthy as they were able to impose annual tribute on
+those States which came under their sway. They even regarded
+Babylonia with avaricious eyes. It was to achieve the conquest of
+the fertile and prosperous mother State that the early Assyrian
+emperors conducted military operations in the north-west and laid
+hands on Mesopotamia. There was no surer way of strangling it
+than by securing control of its trade routes. What the command of
+the sea is to Great Britain at the present day, the command of
+the caravan roads was to ancient Babylonia.</p>
+<p>Babylonia suffered less than Assyria by defeat in battle; its
+natural resources gave it great recuperative powers, and the
+native population was ever so intensely patriotic that centuries
+of alien sway could not obliterate their national aspirations. A
+conqueror of Babylon had to become a Babylonian. The Amorites and
+Kassites had in turn to adopt the modes of life and modes of
+thought of the native population. Like the Egyptians, the
+Babylonians ever achieved the intellectual conquest of their
+conquerors.</p>
+<p>The Assyrian Empire, on the other hand, collapsed like a house
+of cards when its army of mercenaries suffered a succession of
+disasters. The kings, as we have indicated, depended on the
+tribute of subject States to pay <a id="page.anchor.375" name=
+"page.anchor.375"></a>their soldiers and maintain the priesthood;
+they were faced with national bankruptcy when their vassals
+successfully revolted against them.</p>
+<p>The history of Assyria as a world power is divided into three
+periods: (1) the Old Empire; (2) the Middle Empire; (3) the New
+or Last Empire.</p>
+<p>We have followed the rise and growth of the Old Empire from
+the days of Ashur-uballit until the reign of Tukulti-Ninip, when
+it flourished in great splendour and suddenly went to pieces.
+Thereafter, until the second period of the Old Empire, Assyria
+comprised but a few city States which had agricultural resources
+and were trading centres. Of these the most enterprising was
+Asshur. When a ruler of Asshur was able, by conserving his
+revenues, to command sufficient capital with purpose to raise a
+strong army of mercenaries as a business speculation, he set
+forth to build up a new empire on the ruins of the old. In its
+early stages, of course, this process was slow and difficult. It
+necessitated the adoption of a military career by native
+Assyrians, who officered the troops, and these troops had to be
+trained and disciplined by engaging in brigandage, which also
+brought them rich rewards for their services. Babylonia became
+powerful by developing the arts of peace; Assyria became powerful
+by developing the science of warfare.</p>
+<div class="footnotes"><br />
+<hr width="100" align="left" />
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1407" href="#fnrex1407" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1407">407</a>]</span> At Carchemish a railway bridge
+spans the mile-wide river ferry which Assyria's soldiers were
+wont to cross with the aid of skin floats. The engineers have
+found it possible to utilize a Hittite river wall about 3000
+years old--the oldest engineering structure in the world. The
+ferry was on the old trade route.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1408" href="#fnrex1408" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1408">408</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Deuteronomy</em></span>, xxvi, 5</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1409" href="#fnrex1409" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1409">409</a>]</span> Pr. <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>u</em></span> as <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>oo</em></span>.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1410" href="#fnrex1410" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1410">410</a>]</span> The chief cities of North Syria
+were prior to this period Hittite. This expansion did not change
+the civilization but extended the area of occupation and
+control.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1411" href="#fnrex1411" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1411">411</a>]</span> Garstang's <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>The Land of the Hittites,</em></span> p.
+349.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1412" href="#fnrex1412" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1412">412</a>]</span> "Burgh of Tukulti-Ninip."</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="chapter" lang="en" xml:lang="en">
+<div class="titlepage">
+<div>
+<div>
+<h2 class="title"><a id="id2541617" name=
+"id2541617"></a>Chapter�XVI.�Race Movements that Shattered
+Empires</h2>
+</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="abstract">
+<p class="title"><b>Abstract</b></p>
+<p>The Third Semitic Migration--Achaean Conquest of Greece--Fall
+of Crete--Tribes of Raiders--European Settlers in Asia Minor--The
+Muski overthrow the Hittites--Sea Raids on Egypt--The Homeric
+Age--Israelites and Philistines in Palestine--Culture of
+Philistines--Nebuchadrezzar I of Babylonia--Wars against Elamites
+and Hittites--Conquests in Mesopotamia and Syria--Assyrians and
+Babylonians at War--Tiglath-pileser I of Assyria--His Sweeping
+Conquests--Muski Power broken--Big-game Hunting in
+Mesopotamia--Slaying of a Sea Monster--Decline of Assyria and
+Babylonia--Revival of Hittite Civilization--An Important Period
+in History--Philistines as Overlords of Hebrews--Kingdom of David
+and Saul--Solomon's Relations with Egypt and Phoenicia--Sea Trade
+with India--Aramaean Conquests--The Chaldaeans--Egyptian King
+plunders Judah and Israel--Historical Importance of Race
+Movements.</p>
+</div>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.376" name="page.anchor.376"></a> Great
+changes were taking place in the ancient world during the period
+in which Assyria rose into prominence and suddenly suffered
+decline. These were primarily due to widespread migrations of
+pastoral peoples from the steppe lands of Asia and Europe, and
+the resulting displacement of settled tribes. The military
+operations of the great Powers were also a disturbing factor, for
+they not only propelled fresh movements beyond their spheres of
+influence, but caused the petty States to combine against a
+common enemy and foster ambitions to achieve conquests on a large
+scale.</p>
+<p>Towards the close of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, of which
+Amenhotep III and Akhenaton were the last great kings, two
+well-defined migrations were in <a id="page.anchor.377" name=
+"page.anchor.377"></a>progress. The Aramaean folk-waves had
+already begun to pour in increasing volume into Syria from
+Arabia, and in Europe the pastoral fighting folk from the
+mountains were establishing themselves along the south-eastern
+coast and crossing the Hellespont to overrun the land of the
+Hittites. These race movements were destined to exercise
+considerable influence in shaping the history of the ancient
+world.</p>
+<p>The Aramaean, or Third Semitic migration, in time swamped
+various decaying States. Despite the successive efforts of the
+great Powers to hold it in check, it ultimately submerged the
+whole of Syria and part of Mesopotamia. Aramaean speech then came
+into common use among the mingled peoples over a wide area, and
+was not displaced until the time of the Fourth Semitic or Moslem
+migration from Arabia, which began in the seventh century of the
+Christian era, and swept northward through Syria to Asia Minor,
+eastward across Mesopotamia into Persia and India, and westward
+through Egypt along the north African coast to Morocco, and then
+into Spain.</p>
+<p>When Syria was sustaining the first shocks of Aramaean
+invasion, the last wave of Achaeans, "the tamers of horses" and
+"shepherds of the people", had achieved the conquest of Greece,
+and contributed to the overthrow of the dynasty of King Minos of
+Crete. Professor Ridgeway identifies this stock, which had been
+filtering southward for several centuries, with the tall,
+fair-haired, and grey-eyed "Keltoi" (Celts),<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1413" href="#ftn.fnrex1413" id=
+"fnrex1413">413</a>]</span> who, Dr. Haddon believes, were
+representatives of "the mixed peoples of northern and Alpine
+descent".<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1414" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1414" id="fnrex1414">414</a>]</span> Mr. Hawes,
+following Professor Sergi, holds, on the other hand, that the
+Achaeans were <a id="page.anchor.378" name=
+"page.anchor.378"></a>"fair in comparison with the native
+(Pelasgian-Mediterranean) stock, but not necessarily
+blonde".<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1415" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1415" id="fnrex1415">415</a>]</span> The earliest
+Achaeans were rude, uncultured barbarians, but the last wave came
+from some unknown centre of civilization, and probably used iron
+as well as bronze weapons.</p>
+<p>The old Cretans were known to the Egyptians as the "Keftiu",
+and traded on the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. It is
+significant to find, however, that no mention is made of them in
+the inscriptions of the Pharaohs after the reign of Amenhotep
+III. In their place appear the Shardana, the Mykenaean people who
+gave their name to Sardinia, the Danauna, believed to be
+identical with the Danaoi of Homer, the Akhaivasha, perhaps the
+Achaeans, and the Tursha and Shakalsha, who may have been of the
+same stock as the piratical Lycians.</p>
+<p>When Rameses II fought his famous battle at Kadesh the Hittite
+king included among his allies the Aramaeans from Arabia, and
+other mercenaries like the Dardanui and Masa, who represented the
+Thraco-Phrygian peoples who had overrun the Balkans, occupied
+Thrace and Macedonia, and crossed into Asia Minor. In time the
+Hittite confederacy was broken up by the migrating Europeans, and
+their dominant tribe, the Muski<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1416" href="#ftn.fnrex1416" id=
+"fnrex1416">416</a>]</span>--the Moschoi of the Greeks and the
+Meshech of the Old Testament--came into conflict with the
+Assyrians. The Muski were forerunners of the Phrygians, and were
+probably of allied stock.</p>
+<p>Pharaoh Meneptah, the son of Rameses II, did not benefit much
+by the alliance with the Hittites, to whom he had to send a
+supply of grain during a time of famine. He found it necessary,
+indeed, to invade Syria, where their influence had declined, and
+had to beat back from the Delta region the piratical invaders of
+the same tribes <a id="page.anchor.379" name=
+"page.anchor.379"></a>as were securing a footing in Asia Minor.
+In Syria, Meneptah fought with the Israelites, who apparently had
+begun their conquest of Canaan during his reign.</p>
+<p>Before the Kassite Dynasty had come to an end, Rameses III of
+Egypt (1198-1167 B.C.) freed his country from the perils of a
+great invasion of Europeans by land and sea. He scattered a fleet
+on the Delta coast, and then arrested the progress of a strong
+force which was pressing southward through Phoenicia towards the
+Egyptian frontier. These events occurred at the beginning of the
+Homeric Age, and were followed by the siege of Troy, which,
+according to the Greeks, began about 1194 B.C.</p>
+<p>The land raiders who were thwarted by Rameses III were the
+Philistines, a people from Crete.<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1417" href="#ftn.fnrex1417" id="fnrex1417">417</a>]</span>
+When the prestige of Egypt suffered decline they overran the
+coastline of Canaan, and that country was then called Palestine,
+"the land of the Philistines", while the Egyptian overland trade
+route to Phoenicia became known as "the way of the Philistines".
+Their conflicts with the Hebrews are familiar to readers of the
+Old Testament. "The only contributions the Hebrews made to the
+culture of the country", writes Professor Macalister, "were their
+simple desert customs and their religious organization. On the
+other hand, the Philistines, sprung from one of the great homes
+of art of the ancient world, had brought with them the artistic
+instincts of their race: decayed no doubt, but still superior to
+anything they met with in the land itself. Tombs to be ascribed
+to them, found in Gezer, contained beautiful jewellery and
+ornaments. The Philistines, in fact, were the only cultured or
+artistic race who ever occupied the soil of Palestine, at least
+until the time when the influence of classical Greece asserted
+itself too strongly <a id="page.anchor.380" name=
+"page.anchor.380"></a>to be withstood. Whatsoever things raised
+life in the country above the dull animal existence of fellahin
+were due to this people.... The peasantry of the modern villages
+... still tell of the great days of old when it (Palestine) was
+inhabited by the mighty race of the 'Fenish'."<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1418" href="#ftn.fnrex1418" id=
+"fnrex1418">418</a>]</span></p>
+<p>When the Kassite Dynasty of Babylonia was extinguished, about
+1140 B.C., the Amorites were being displaced in Palestine by the
+Philistines and the Israelitish tribes; the Aramaeans were
+extending their conquests in Syria and Mesopotamia; the Muski
+were the overlords of the Hittites; Assyrian power was being
+revived at the beginning of the second period of the Old Empire;
+and Egypt was governed by a weakly king, Rameses VIII, a puppet
+in the hands of the priesthood, who was unable to protect the
+rich tombs of the Eighteenth Dynasty Pharaohs against the bands
+of professional robbers who were plundering them.</p>
+<p>A new dynasty--the Dynasty of Pashe--had arisen at the ancient
+Sumerian city of Isin. Its early kings were contemporary with
+some of the last Kassite monarchs, and they engaged in conflicts
+with the Elamites, who were encroaching steadily upon Babylonian
+territory, and were ultimately able to seize the province of
+Namar, famous for its horses, which was situated to the east of
+Akkad. The Assyrians, under Ashur-dan I, were not only
+reconquering lost territory, but invading Babylonia and carrying
+off rich plunder. Ashur-dan inflicted a crushing defeat upon the
+second-last Kassite ruler.</p>
+<p>There years later Nebuchadrezzar I, of the Dynasty of Pashe,
+seized the Babylonian throne. He was the most powerful and
+distinguished monarch of his line--an accomplished general and a
+wise statesman. His name <a id="page.anchor.381" name=
+"page.anchor.381"></a>signifies: "May the god Nebo protect my
+boundary". His first duty was to drive the Elamites from the
+land, and win back from them the statue of Merodach which they
+had carried off from E-sagila. At first he suffered a reverse,
+but although the season was midsummer, and the heat overpowering,
+he persisted in his campaign. The Elamites were forced to
+retreat, and following up their main force he inflicted upon them
+a shattering defeat on the banks of the Ula, a tributary of the
+Tigris. He then invaded Elam and returned with rich booty. The
+province of Namar was recovered, and its governor, Ritti
+Merodach, who was Nebuchadrezzar's battle companion, was restored
+to his family possessions and exempted from taxation. A second
+raid to Elam resulted in the recovery of the statue of Merodach.
+The Kassite and Lullume mountaineers also received attention, and
+were taught to respect the power of the new monarch.</p>
+<p>Having freed his country from the yoke of the Elamites, and
+driven the Assyrians over the frontier, Nebuchadrezzar came into
+conflict with the Hittites, who appear to have overrun
+Mesopotamia. Probably the invaders were operating in conjunction
+with the Muski, who were extending their sway over part of
+northern Assyria. They were not content with securing control of
+the trade route, but endeavoured also to establish themselves
+permanently in Babylon, the commercial metropolis, which they
+besieged and captured. This happened in the third year of
+Nebuchadrezzar, when he was still reigning at Isin. Assembling a
+strong force, he hastened northward and defeated the Hittites,
+and apparently followed up his victory. Probably it was at this
+time that he conquered the "West Land" (the land of the Amorites)
+and penetrated to the Mediterranean coast. Egyptian power had
+been long extinguished in that region.</p>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.382" name="page.anchor.382"></a>The
+possession of Mesopotamia was a signal triumph for Babylonia. As
+was inevitable, however, it brought Nebuchadrezzar into conflict
+some years later with the Assyrian king, Ashur-resh-ishi I,
+grandson of Ashur-dan, and father of the famous Tiglath-pileser
+I. The northern monarch had engaged himself in subduing the
+Lullume and Akhlami hill tribes in the south-east, whose
+territory had been conquered by Nebuchadrezzar. Thereafter he
+crossed the Babylonian frontier. Nebuchadrezzar drove him back
+and then laid siege to the border fortress of Zanki, but the
+Assyrian king conducted a sudden and successful reconnaissance in
+force which rendered perilous the position of the attacking
+force. By setting fire to his siege train the Babylonian war lord
+was able, however, to retreat in good order.</p>
+<p>Some time later Nebuchadrezzar dispatched another army
+northward, but it suffered a serious defeat, and its general,
+Karashtu, fell into the hands of the enemy.</p>
+<p>Nebuchadrezzar reigned less than twenty years, and appears to
+have secured the allegiance of the nobility by restoring the
+feudal system which had been abolished by the Kassites. He
+boasted that he was "the sun of his country, who restored ancient
+landmarks and boundaries", and promoted the worship of Ishtar,
+the ancient goddess of the people. By restoring the image of
+Merodach he secured the support of Babylon, to which city he
+transferred his Court.</p>
+<p>Nebuchadrezzar was succeeded by his son Ellil-nadin-apil, who
+reigned a few years; but little or nothing is known regarding
+him. His grandson, Marduk-nadin-akhe, came into conflict with
+Tiglath-pileser I of Assyria, and suffered serious reverses, from
+the effects of which his country did not recover for over a
+century.</p>
+<p>Tiglath-pileser I, in one of his inscriptions, recorded <a id=
+"page.anchor.383" name="page.anchor.383"></a>significantly: "The
+feet of the enemy I kept from my country". When he came to the
+throne, northern Assyria was menaced by the Muski and their
+allies, the Hittites and the Shubari of old Mitanni. The Kashiari
+hill tribes to the north of Nineveh, whom Shalmaneser I subdued,
+had half a century before thrown off the yoke of Assyria, and
+their kings were apparently vassals of the Muski.</p>
+<p>Tiglath-pileser first invaded Mitanni, where he routed a
+combined force of Shubari hillmen and Hittites. Thereafter a
+great army of the Muski and their allies pressed southward with
+purpose to deal a shattering blow against the Assyrian power. The
+very existence of Assyria as a separate power was threatened by
+this movement. Tiglath-pileser, however, was equal to the
+occasion. He surprised the invaders among the Kashiari mountains
+and inflicted a crushing defeat, slaying about 14,000 and
+capturing 6000 prisoners, who were transported to Asshur. In
+fact, he wiped the invading army out of existence and possessed
+himself of all its baggage. Thereafter he captured several
+cities, and extended his empire beyond the Kashiari hills and
+into the heart of Mitanni.</p>
+<p>His second campaign was also directed towards the Mitanni
+district, which had been invaded during his absence by a force of
+Hittites, about 4000 strong. The invaders submitted to him as
+soon as he drew near, and he added them to his standing army.</p>
+<p>Subsequent operations towards the north restored the
+pre-eminence of Assyria in the Nairi country, on the shores of
+Lake Van, in Armenia, where Tiglath-pileser captured no fewer
+than twenty-three petty kings. These he liberated after they had
+taken the oath of allegiance and consented to pay annual
+tribute.</p>
+<p>In his fourth year the conqueror learned that the Aramaeans
+were crossing the Euphrates and possessing <a id=
+"page.anchor.384" name="page.anchor.384"></a>themselves of
+Mitanni, which he had cleared of the Hittites. By a series of
+forced marches he caught them unawares, scattered them in
+confusion, and entered Carchemish, which he pillaged. Thereafter
+his army crossed the Euphrates in boats of skin, and plundered
+and destroyed six cities round the base of the mountain of
+Bishru.</p>
+<p>While operating in this district, Tiglath-pileser engaged in
+big-game hunting. He recorded: "Ten powerful bull elephants in
+the land of Haran and on the banks of the Khabour I killed; four
+elephants alive I took. Their skins, their teeth, with the living
+elephants, I brought to my city of Asshur."<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1419" href="#ftn.fnrex1419" id=
+"fnrex1419">419</a>]</span> He also claimed to have slain 920
+lions, as well as a number of wild oxen, apparently including in
+his record the "bags" of his officers and men. A later king
+credited him with having penetrated to the Phoenician coast,
+where he put to sea and slew a sea monster called the "nakhiru".
+While at Arvad, the narrative continues, the King of Egypt, who
+is not named, sent him a hippopotamus (pagutu). This story,
+however, is of doubtful authenticity. About this time the
+prestige of Egypt was at so low an ebb that its messengers were
+subjected to indignities by the Phoenician kings.</p>
+<p>The conquests of Tiglath-pileser once more raised the
+Mesopotamian question in Babylonia, whose sphere of influence in
+that region had been invaded. Marduk-nadin-akhe, the grandson of
+Nebuchadrezzar I, "arrayed his chariots" against Tiglath-pileser,
+and in the first conflict achieved some success, but subsequently
+he was defeated in the land of Akkad. The Assyrian army
+afterwards captured several cities, including Babylon and
+Sippar.</p>
+<div class="figure"><a id="id2542429" name="id2542429"></a>
+<p class="title"><b>Figure�XVI.1.�ASSYRIAN KING HUNTING
+LIONS</b></p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote"></blockquote>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="graphic"><img alt="" src="img/31.jpg" /></div>
+<div class="figure"><a id="id2542442" name="id2542442"></a>
+<p class="title"><b>Figure�XVI.2.�TYRIAN GALLEY PUTTING OUT TO
+SEA</b></p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<p><span class="emphasis"><em>Marble slab from Kouyunjik
+(Nineveh): now in the British Museum</em></span></p>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="graphic"><img alt="" src="img/32.jpg" /></div>
+<p>Thus once again the Assyrian Empire came into being <a id=
+"page.anchor.385" name="page.anchor.385"></a>as the predominant
+world Power, extending from the land of the Hittites into the
+heart of Babylonia. Its cities were enriched by the immense
+quantities of booty captured by its warrior king, while the
+coffers of state were glutted with the tribute of subject States.
+Fortifications were renewed, temples were built, and great gifts
+were lavished on the priesthood. Artists and artisans were kept
+fully employed restoring the faded splendours of the Old Empire,
+and everywhere thousands of slaves laboured to make the neglected
+land prosperous as of old. Canals were repaired and reopened; the
+earthworks and quay wall of Ashur were strengthened, and its
+great wall was entirely rebuilt, faced with a rampart of earth,
+and protected once again by a deep moat. The royal palace was
+enlarged and redecorated.</p>
+<p>Meanwhile Babylonia was wasted by civil war and invasions. It
+was entered more than once by the Aramaeans, who pillaged several
+cities in the north and the south. Then the throne was seized by
+Adad-aplu-iddina, the grandson of "a nobody", who reigned for
+about ten years. He was given recognition, however, by the
+Assyrian king, Ashur-bel-kala, son of Tiglath-pileser I, who
+married his daughter, and apparently restored to him Sippar and
+Babylon after receiving a handsome dowry. Ashur-bel-kala died
+without issue, and was succeeded by his brother,
+Shamshi-Adad.</p>
+<p>An obscure period followed. In Babylonia there were two weak
+dynasties in less than half a century, and thereafter an Elamite
+Dynasty which lasted about six years. An Eighth Dynasty ensued,
+and lasted between fifty and sixty years. The records of its
+early kings are exceedingly meagre and their order uncertain.
+During the reign of Nabu-mukin-apli, who was perhaps the fourth
+monarch, the Aramaeans constantly raided the land and hovered
+<a id="page.anchor.386" name="page.anchor.386"></a>about Babylon.
+The names of two or three kings who succeeded Nabu-mukin-apli are
+unknown.</p>
+<p>A century and a half after Tiglath-pileser I conquered the
+north Syrian possessions of the Hittites, the Old Assyrian Empire
+reached the close of its second and last period. It had suffered
+gradual decline, under a series of inert and luxury-loving kings,
+until it was unable to withstand the gradual encroachment on
+every side of the restless hill tribes, who were ever ready to
+revolt when the authority of Ashur was not asserted at the point
+of the sword.</p>
+<p>After 950 B.C. the Hittites of North Syria, having shaken off
+the last semblance of Assyrian authority, revived their power,
+and enjoyed a full century of independence and prosperity. In
+Cappadocia their kinsmen had freed themselves at an earlier
+period from the yoke of the Muski, who had suffered so severely
+at the hands of Tiglath-pileser I. The Hittite buildings and rock
+sculptures of this period testify to the enduring character of
+the ancient civilization of the "Hatti". Until the hieroglyphics
+can be read, however, we must wait patiently for the detailed
+story of the pre-Phrygian period, which was of great historical
+importance, because the tide of cultural influence was then
+flowing at its greatest volume from the old to the new world,
+where Greece was emerging in virgin splendour out of the ruins of
+the ancient Mykenaean and Cretan civilizations.</p>
+<p>It is possible that the conquest of a considerable part of
+Palestine by the Philistines was not unconnected with the revival
+of Hittite power in the north. They may have moved southward as
+the allies of the Cilician State which was rising into
+prominence. For a period they were the overlords of the Hebrews,
+who had been displacing the older inhabitants of the "Promised
+Land", <a id="page.anchor.387" name="page.anchor.387"></a>and
+appear to have been armed with weapons of iron. In fact, as is
+indicated by a passage in the Book of Samuel, they had made a
+"corner" in that metal and restricted its use among their
+vassals. "Now", the Biblical narrative sets forth, "there was no
+smith found throughout all the land of Israel; for the
+Philistines said, Lest the Hebrews make them swords and spears;
+but all the Israelites went down to the Philistines, to sharpen
+every man his share, and his coulter, and his axe, and his
+mattock".<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1420" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1420" id="fnrex1420">420</a>]</span> "We are
+inclined", says Professor Macalister, "to picture the West as a
+thing of yesterday, new fangled with its inventions and its
+progressive civilization, and the East as an embodiment of hoary
+and unchanging traditions. But when West first met East on the
+shores of the Holy Land, it was the former which represented the
+magnificent traditions of the past, and the latter which looked
+forward to the future. The Philistines were of the remnant of the
+dying glories of Crete; the Hebrews had no past to speak of, but
+were entering on the heritage they regarded as theirs, by right
+of a recently ratified divine covenant."<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1421" href="#ftn.fnrex1421" id=
+"fnrex1421">421</a>]</span></p>
+<p>Saul was the leader of a revolt against the Philistines in
+northern Palestine, and became the ruler of the kingdom of
+Israel. Then David, having liberated Judah from the yoke of the
+Philistines, succeeded Saul as ruler of Israel, and selected
+Jerusalem as his capital. He also conquered Edom and Moab, but
+was unsuccessful in his attempt to subjugate Ammon. The
+Philistines were then confined to a restricted area on the
+seacoast, where they fused with the Semites and ultimately
+suffered loss of identity. Under the famous Solomon the united
+kingdom of the Hebrews reached its highest splendour and
+importance among the nations.</p>
+<p>If the Philistines received the support of the Hittites,
+<a id="page.anchor.388" name="page.anchor.388"></a>the Hebrews
+were strengthened by an alliance with Egypt. For a period of two
+and a half centuries no Egyptian army had crossed the Delta
+frontier into Syria. The ancient land of the Pharaohs had been
+overshadowed meantime by a cloud of anarchy, and piratical and
+robber bands settled freely on its coast line. At length a Libyan
+general named Sheshonk (Shishak) seized the throne from the
+Tanite Dynasty. He was the Pharaoh with whom Solomon "made
+affinity",<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1422" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1422" id="fnrex1422">422</a>]</span> and from whom he
+received the city of Gezer, which an Egyptian army had
+captured.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1423" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1423" id="fnrex1423">423</a>]</span> Solomon had
+previously married a daughter of Sheshonk's.</p>
+<p>Phoenicia was also flourishing. Freed from Egyptian, Hittite,
+and Assyrian interference, Tyre and Sidon attained to a high
+degree of power as independent city States. During the reigns of
+David and Solomon, Tyre was the predominant Phoenician power. Its
+kings, Abibaal and his son Hiram, had become "Kings of the
+Sidonians", and are believed to have extended their sway over
+part of Cyprus. The relations between the Hebrews and the
+Phoenicians were of a cordial character, indeed the two powers
+became allies.</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<p>And Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants unto Solomon; for he
+had heard that they had anointed him king in the room of his
+father: for Hiram was ever a lover of David. And Solomon sent to
+Hiram, saying, Thou knowest how that David my father could not
+build an house unto the name of the Lord His God for the wars
+which were about him on every side, until the Lord put them under
+the soles of his feet. But now the Lord my God hath given me rest
+on every side, so that there is neither adversary nor evil
+occurrent. And, behold, I purpose to build an house unto the name
+of the Lord my God, as the Lord spake unto David my father,
+saying, Thy son, whom I will set upon thy throne in thy room, he
+shall build an house unto my name. Now therefore command <a id=
+"page.anchor.389" name="page.anchor.389"></a>thou that they hew
+me cedar trees out of Lebanon; and my servants shall be with thy
+servants: and unto thee will I give hire for thy servants
+according to all that thou shalt appoint: for thou knowest that
+there is not among us any that can skill to hew timber like unto
+the Sidonians. And it came to pass, when Hiram heard the words of
+Solomon, that he rejoiced greatly, and said, Blessed be the Lord
+this day, which hath given unto David a wise son over this great
+people. And Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, I have considered the
+things which thou sentest to me for: and I will do all thy desire
+concerning timber of cedar, and concerning timber of fir. My
+servants shall bring them down from Lebanon unto the sea: and I
+will convey them by sea in floats unto the place that thou shalt
+appoint me, and will cause them to be discharged there, and thou
+shalt receive them: and thou shalt accomplish my desire, in
+giving food for my household. So Hiram gave Solomon cedar trees
+and fir trees according to all his desire. And Solomon gave Hiram
+twenty thousand measures of wheat for food to his household, and
+twenty measures of pure oil: thus gave Solomon to Hiram year by
+year. And the Lord gave Solomon wisdom, as he promised him: and
+there was peace between Hiram and Solomon; and they two made a
+league together.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1424" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1424" id="fnrex1424">424</a>]</span></p>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>Hiram also sent skilled workers to Jerusalem to assist in the
+work of building the temple and Solomon's palace, including his
+famous namesake, "a widow's son of the (Hebrew) tribe of
+Naphtali", who, like his father, "a man of Tyre", had
+"understanding and cunning to work all works in
+brass".<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1425" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1425" id="fnrex1425">425</a>]</span></p>
+<p>Solomon must have cultivated good relations with the
+Chaldaeans, for he had a fleet of trading ships on the Persian
+Gulf which was manned by Phoenician sailors. "Once in three
+years", the narrative runs, "came the navy of Tharshish, bringing
+gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks."<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1426" href="#ftn.fnrex1426" id=
+"fnrex1426">426</a>]</span> Apparently he traded with India, the
+land of peacocks, during the Brahmanical period, when <a id=
+"page.anchor.390" name="page.anchor.390"></a>the Sanskrit name
+"Samudra", which formerly signified the "collected waters" of the
+broadening Indus, was applied to the Indian Ocean.<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1427" href="#ftn.fnrex1427" id=
+"fnrex1427">427</a>]</span></p>
+<p>The Aramaeans of the Third Semitic migration were not slow to
+take advantage of the weakness of Assyria and Babylon. They
+overran the whole of Syria, and entered into the possession of
+Mesopotamia, thus acquiring full control of the trade routes
+towards the west. From time to time they ravaged Babylonia from
+the north to the south. Large numbers of them acquired permanent
+settlement in that country, like the Amorites of the Second
+Semitic migration in the pre-Hammurabi Age.</p>
+<p>In Syria the Aramaeans established several petty States, and
+were beginning to grow powerful at Damascus, an important trading
+centre, which assumed considerable political importance after the
+collapse of Assyria's Old Empire.</p>
+<p>At this period, too, the Chaldaeans came into prominence in
+Babylonia. Their kingdom of Chaldaea (Kaldu, which signifies
+Sealand) embraces a wide stretch of the coast land at the head of
+the Persian Gulf between Arabia and Elam. As we have seen, an
+important dynasty flourished in this region in the time of
+Hammurabi. Although more than one king of Babylon recorded that
+he had extinguished the Sealand Power, it continued to exist all
+through the Kassite period. It is possible that this obscure
+kingdom embraced diverse ethnic elements, and that it was
+controlled in turn by military aristocracies of Sumerians,
+Elamites, Kassites, and Arabians. After the downfall of the
+Kassites it had become thoroughly Semitized, perhaps as a result
+of the Aramaean migration, which may have found one of its
+outlets around the head <a id="page.anchor.391" name=
+"page.anchor.391"></a>of the Persian Gulf. The ancient Sumerian
+city of Ur, which dominated a considerable area of steppe land to
+the west of the Euphrates, was included in the Sealand kingdom,
+and was consequently referred to in after-time as "Ur of the
+Chaldees".</p>
+<p>When Solomon reigned over Judah and Israel, Babylonia was
+broken up into a number of petty States, as in early Sumerian
+times. The feudal revival of Nebuchadrezzar I had weakened the
+central power, with the result that the nominal high kings were
+less able to resist the inroads of invaders. Military
+aristocracies of Aramaeans, Elamites, and Chaldaeans held sway in
+various parts of the valley, and struggled for supremacy.</p>
+<p>When Assyria began to assert itself again, it laid claim on
+Babylonia, ostensibly as the protector of its independence, and
+the Chaldaeans for a time made common cause with the Elamites
+against it. The future, however, lay with the Chaldaeans, who,
+like the Kassites, became the liberators of the ancient
+inhabitants. When Assyria was finally extinguished as a world
+power they revived the ancient glory of Babylonia, and supplanted
+the Sumerians as the scholars and teachers of Western Asia. The
+Chaldaeans became famous in Syria, and even in Greece, as "the
+wise men from the east", and were renowned as astrologers.</p>
+<p>The prestige of the Hebrew kingdom suffered sharp and serious
+decline after Solomon's death. Pharaoh Sheshonk fostered the
+elements of revolt which ultimately separated Israel from Judah,
+and, when a favourable opportunity arose, invaded Palestine and
+Syria and reestablished Egypt's suzerainty over part of the area
+which had been swayed by Rameses II, replenishing his exhausted
+treasury with rich booty and the tribute he imposed. Phoenicia
+was able, however, to maintain its <a id="page.anchor.392" name=
+"page.anchor.392"></a>independence, but before the Assyrians
+moved westward again, Sidon had shaken off the yoke of Tyre and
+become an independent State.</p>
+<p>It will be seen from the events outlined in this chapter how
+greatly the history of the ancient world was affected by the
+periodic migrations of pastoral folks from the steppe lands.
+These human tides were irresistible. The direction of their flow
+might be diverted for a time, but they ultimately overcame every
+obstacle by sheer persistency and overpowering volume. Great
+emperors in Assyria and Egypt endeavoured to protect their
+countries from the "Bedouin peril" by strengthening their
+frontiers and extending their spheres of influence, but the
+dammed-up floods of humanity only gathered strength in the
+interval for the struggle which might be postponed but could not
+be averted.</p>
+<p>These migrations, as has been indicated, were due to natural
+causes. They were propelled by climatic changes which caused a
+shortage of the food supply, and by the rapid increase of
+population under peaceful conditions. Once a migration began to
+flow, it set in motion many currents and cross currents, but all
+these converged towards the districts which offered the most
+attractions to mankind. Prosperous and well-governed States were
+ever in peril of invasion by barbarous peoples. The fruits of
+civilization tempted them; the reward of conquest was quickly
+obtained in Babylon and Egypt with their flourishing farms and
+prosperous cities. Waste land was reclaimed then as now by
+colonists from centres of civilization; the migrating pastoral
+folks lacked the initiative and experience necessary to establish
+new communities in undeveloped districts. Highly civilized men
+sowed the harvest and the barbarians reaped it.</p>
+<p>It must not be concluded, however, that the migrations <a id=
+"page.anchor.393" name="page.anchor.393"></a>were historical
+disasters, or that they retarded the general advancement of the
+human race. In time the barbarians became civilized and fused
+with the peoples whom they conquered. They introduced, too, into
+communities which had grown stagnant and weakly, a fresh and
+invigorating atmosphere that acted as a stimulant in every sphere
+of human activity. The Kassite, for instance, was a unifying and
+therefore a strengthening influence in Babylonia. He shook off
+the manacles of the past which bound the Sumerian and the
+Akkadian alike to traditional lines of policy based on
+unforgotten ancient rivalries. His concern was chiefly with the
+future. The nomads with their experience of desert wandering
+promoted trade, and the revival of trade inaugurated new eras of
+prosperity in ancient centres of culture, and brought them into
+closer touch than ever before with one another. The rise of
+Greece was due to the blending of the Achaeans and other pastoral
+fighting folks with the indigenous Pelasgians. Into the early
+States which fostered the elements of ancient Mykenaean
+civilization, poured the cultural influences of the East through
+Asia Minor and Phoenicia and from the Egyptian coast. The
+conquerors from the steppes meanwhile contributed their genius
+for organization, their simple and frugal habits of life, and
+their sterling virtues; they left a deep impress on the moral,
+physical, and intellectual life of Greece.</p>
+<div class="footnotes"><br />
+<hr width="100" align="left" />
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1413" href="#fnrex1413" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1413">413</a>]</span> Article "Celts" in <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Encyclopaedia Britannica</em></span>, eleventh
+ed.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1414" href="#fnrex1414" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1414">414</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>The
+Wanderings of Peoples</em></span>, p. 41.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1415" href="#fnrex1415" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1415">415</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>Crete,
+the Forerunner of Greece</em></span>, p. 146.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1416" href="#fnrex1416" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1416">416</a>]</span> Pr. Moosh&acute;kee.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1417" href="#fnrex1417" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1417">417</a>]</span> "Have I not brought up Israel out
+of the land of Egypt and the Philistines from Caphtor (Crete)?"
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Amos</em></span>, viii, 7.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1418" href="#fnrex1418" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1418">418</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>A
+History of Civilization in Palestine</em></span>, p. 58.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1419" href="#fnrex1419" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1419">419</a>]</span> Pinches' translation.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1420" href="#fnrex1420" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1420">420</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>I
+Samuel</em></span>, xiii, 19.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1421" href="#fnrex1421" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1421">421</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>A
+History of Civilization in Palestine</em></span>, p. 54.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1422" href="#fnrex1422" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1422">422</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>1
+Kings</em></span>, iii, 1.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1423" href="#fnrex1423" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1423">423</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Ibid</em></span>., ix, 16.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1424" href="#fnrex1424" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1424">424</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>1
+Kings</em></span>, v, 1-12.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1425" href="#fnrex1425" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1425">425</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Ibid</em></span>., vii, 14 <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>et seq.</em></span></div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1426" href="#fnrex1426" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1426">426</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Ibid</em></span>., x, 22-3.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1427" href="#fnrex1427" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1427">427</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>Indian
+Myth and Legend</em></span>, pp. 83-4.</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="chapter" lang="en" xml:lang="en">
+<div class="titlepage">
+<div>
+<div>
+<h2 class="title"><a id="id2543038" name=
+"id2543038"></a>Chapter�XVII.�The Hebrews in Assyrian
+History</h2>
+</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="abstract">
+<p class="title"><b>Abstract</b></p>
+<p>Revival of Assyrian Power--The Syro-Cappadocian Hittites--The
+Aramaean State of Damascus--Reign of Terror in
+Mesopotamia--Barbarities of Ashur-natsir-pal III--Babylonia and
+Chaldaea subdued--Glimpse of the Kalkhi Valley--The Hebrew
+Kingdoms of Judah and Israel--Rival Monarchs and their Wars--How
+Judah became subject to Damascus--Ahab and the Phoenician
+Jezebel--Persecution of Elijah and other Prophets--Israelites
+fight against Assyrians--Shalmaneser as Overlord of
+Babylonia--Revolts of Jehu in Israel and Hazael in
+Damascus--Shalmaneser defeats Hazael--Jehu sends Tribute to
+Shalmaneser--Baal Worship Supplanted by Golden Calf Worship in
+Israel--Queen Athaliah of Judah--Crowning of the Boy King
+Joash--Damascus supreme in Syria and Palestine--Civil War in
+Assyria--Triumphs of Shamshi-Adad VII--Babylonia becomes an
+Assyrian Province.</p>
+</div>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.394" name="page.anchor.394"></a> In one of
+the Scottish versions of the Seven Sleepers legend a shepherd
+enters a cave, in which the great heroes of other days lie
+wrapped in magic slumber, and blows two blasts on the horn which
+hangs suspended from the roof. The sleepers open their eyes and
+raise themselves on their elbows. Then the shepherd hears a
+warning voice which comes and goes like the wind, saying: "If the
+horn is blown once again, the world will be upset altogether".
+Terrified by the Voice and the ferocious appearance of the
+heroes, the shepherd retreats hurriedly, locking the door behind
+him; he casts the key into the sea. The story proceeds: "If
+anyone should find the key and open the door, and blow but a
+single blast on the horn, Finn and all the Feans would come
+forth. And that would be a great day in Alban."<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1428" href="#ftn.fnrex1428" id=
+"fnrex1428">428</a>]</span></p>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.395" name="page.anchor.395"></a>After the
+lapse of an obscure century the national heroes of Assyria were
+awakened as if from sleep by the repeated blasts from the horn of
+the triumphant thunder god amidst the northern and western
+mountains--Adad or Rimmon of Syria, Teshup of Armenia, Tarku of
+the western Hittites. The great kings who came forth to "upset
+the world" bore the familiar names, Ashur-natsir-pal,
+Shalmaneser, Shamash-Adad, Ashur-dan, Adad-nirari, and
+Ashur-nirari. They revived and increased the ancient glory of
+Assyria during its Middle Empire period.</p>
+<p>The Syro-Cappadocian Hittites had grown once again powerful
+and prosperous, but no great leader like Subbiluliuma arose to
+weld the various States into an Empire, so as to ensure the
+protection of the mingled peoples from the operations of the
+aggressive and ambitious war-lords of Assyria. One kingdom had
+its capital at Hamath and another at Carchemish on the Euphrates.
+The kingdom of Tabal flourished in Cilicia (Khilakku); it
+included several city States like Tarsus, Tiana, and Comana
+(Kammanu). Farther west was the dominion of the Thraco-Phrygian
+Muski. The tribes round the shores of Lake Van had asserted
+themselves and extended their sphere of influence. The State of
+Urartu was of growing importance, and the Nairi tribes had spread
+round the south-eastern shores of Lake Van. The northern frontier
+of Assyria was continually menaced by groups of independent hill
+States which would have been irresistible had they operated
+together against a common enemy, but were liable to be
+extinguished when attacked in detail.</p>
+<p>A number of Aramaean kingdoms had come into existence in
+Mesopotamia and throughout Syria. The most influential of these
+was the State of Damascus, the king of which was the overlord of
+the Hebrew <a id="page.anchor.396" name=
+"page.anchor.396"></a>kingdoms of Israel and Judah when
+Ashur-natsir-pal III ascended the Assyrian throne about 885 B.C.
+Groups of the Aramaeans had acquired a high degree of culture and
+become traders and artisans. Large numbers had filtered, as well,
+not only into Babylonia but also Assyria and the north Syrian
+area of Hittite control. Accustomed for generations to desert
+warfare, they were fearless warriors. Their armies had great
+mobility, being composed mostly of mounted infantry, and were not
+easily overpowered by the Assyrian forces of footmen and
+charioteers. Indeed, it was not until cavalry was included in the
+standing army of Assyria that operations against the Aramaeans
+were attended with permanent success.</p>
+<p>Ashur-natsir-pal III<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1429"
+href="#ftn.fnrex1429" id="fnrex1429">429</a>]</span> was preceded
+by two vigorous Assyrian rulers, Adad-nirari III (911-890 B.C.)
+and Tukulti-Ninip II (890-885 B.C). The former had raided North
+Syria and apparently penetrated as far as the Mediterranean
+coast. In consequence he came into conflict with Babylonia, but
+he ultimately formed an alliance with that kingdom. His son,
+Tukulti-Ninip, operated in southern Mesopotamia, and apparently
+captured Sippar. In the north he had to drive back invading bands
+of the Muski. Although, like his father, he carried out great
+works at Asshur, he appears to have transferred his Court to
+Nineveh, a sure indication that Assyria was once again becoming
+powerful in northern Mesopotamia and the regions towards
+Armenia.</p>
+<p>Ashur-natsir-pal III, son of Tukulti-Ninip II, inaugurated a
+veritable reign of terror in Mesopotamia and northern Syria. His
+methods of dealing with revolting tribes were of a most savage
+character. Chiefs were skinned alive, and when he sacked their
+cities, not only fighting-men but women and children were either
+<a id="page.anchor.397" name="page.anchor.397"></a>slaughtered or
+burned at the stake. It is not surprising to find therefore that,
+on more than one occasion, the kings of petty States made
+submission to him without resistance as soon as he invaded their
+domains.</p>
+<div class="figure"><a id="id2543231" name="id2543231"></a>
+<p class="title"><b>Figure�XVII.1.�STATUE OF ASHUR-NATSIR-PAL,
+WITH INSCRIPTIONS</b></p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<p><span class="emphasis"><em>From S.W. Palace of Nimroud: now in
+British Museum</em></span></p>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="graphic"><img alt="" src="img/33.jpg" /></div>
+<div class="figure"><a id="id2543249" name="id2543249"></a>
+<p class="title"><b>Figure�XVII.2.�DETAILS FROM SECOND SIDE OF
+BLACK OBELISK OF SHALMANESER III</b></p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<p>(1) Tribute bearers of Jehu, King of Israel. (2) Tributary
+Animals. (3) Tribute bearers with shawls and bags (<span class=
+"emphasis"><em>British Museum</em></span>)</p>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="graphic"><img alt="" src="img/34.jpg" /></div>
+<p>In his first year he overran the mountainous district between
+Lake Van and the upper sources of the Tigris. Bubu, the rebel son
+of the governor of Nishtun, who had been taken prisoner, was
+transported to Arbela, where he was skinned alive. Like his
+father, Ashur-natsir-pal fought against the Muski, whose power
+was declining. Then he turned southward from the borders of Asia
+Minor and dealt with a rebellion in northern Mesopotamia.</p>
+<p>An Aramaean pretender named Akhiababa had established himself
+at Suru in the region to the east of the Euphrates, enclosed by
+its tributaries the Khabar and the Balikh. He had come from the
+neighbouring Aramaean State of Bit-Adini, and was preparing, it
+would appear, to form a powerful confederacy against the
+Assyrians.</p>
+<p>When Ashur-natsir-pal approached Suru, a part of its
+population welcomed him. He entered the city, seized the
+pretender and many of his followers. These he disposed of with
+characteristic barbarity. Some were skinned alive and some
+impaled on stakes, while others were enclosed in a pillar which
+the king had erected to remind the Aramaeans of his determination
+to brook no opposition. Akhiababa the pretender was sent to
+Nineveh with a few supporters; and when they had been flayed
+their skins were nailed upon the city walls.</p>
+<p>Another revolt broke out in the Kirkhi district between the
+upper reaches of the Tigris and the southwestern shores of Lake
+Van. It was promoted by the Nairi tribes, and even supported by
+some Assyrian officials. Terrible reprisals were meted out to the
+rebels. <a id="page.anchor.398" name="page.anchor.398"></a>When
+the city of Kinabu was captured, no fewer than 3000 prisoners
+were burned alive, the unfaithful governor being flayed. The city
+of Damdamusa was set on fire. Then Tela was attacked.
+Ashur-natsir-pal's own account of the operations runs as
+follows:--</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<p>The city (of Tello) was very strong; three walls surrounded
+it. The inhabitants trusted to their strong walls and numerous
+soldiers; they did not come down or embrace my feet. With battle
+and slaughter I assaulted and took the city. Three thousand
+warriors I slew in battle. Their booty and possessions, cattle,
+sheep, I carried away; many captives I burned with fire. Many of
+their soldiers I took alive; of some I cut off hands and limbs;
+of others the noses, ears, and arms; of many soldiers I put out
+the eyes. I reared a column of the living and a column of heads.
+I hung on high their heads on trees in the vicinity of their
+city. Their boys and girls I burned up in flames. I devastated
+the city, dug it up, in fire burned it; I annihilated
+it.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1430" href="#ftn.fnrex1430"
+id="fnrex1430">430</a>]</span></p>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>The Assyrian war-lord afterwards forced several Nairi kings to
+acknowledge him as their overlord. He was so greatly feared by
+the Syro-Cappadocian Hittites that when he approached their
+territory they sent him tribute, yielding without a struggle.</p>
+<p>For several years the great conqueror engaged himself in thus
+subduing rebellious tribes and extending his territory. His
+military headquarters were at Kalkhi, to which city the Court had
+been transferred. Thither he drafted thousands of prisoners, the
+great majority of whom he incorporated in the Assyrian army.
+Assyrian colonies were established in various districts for
+strategical purposes, and officials supplanted the petty kings in
+certain of the northern city States.</p>
+<p>The Aramaeans of Mesopotamia gave much trouble to
+Ashur-natsir-pal. Although he had laid a heavy hand <a id=
+"page.anchor.399" name="page.anchor.399"></a>on Suru, the
+southern tribes, the Sukhi, stirred up revolts in Mesopotamia as
+the allies of the Babylonians. On one occasion Ashur-natsir-pal
+swept southward through this region, and attacked a combined
+force of Sukhi Aramaeans and Babylonians. The Babylonians were
+commanded by Zabdanu, brother of Nabu-aplu-iddin, king of
+Babylonia, who was evidently anxious to regain control of the
+western trade route. The Assyrian war-lord, however, proved to be
+too powerful a rival. He achieved so complete a victory that he
+captured the Babylonian general and 3000 of his followers. The
+people of Kashshi (Babylonia) and Kaldu (Chaldaea) were "stricken
+with terror", and had to agree to pay increased tribute.</p>
+<p>Ashur-natsir-pal reigned for about a quarter of a century, but
+his wars occupied less than half of that period. Having
+accumulated great booty, he engaged himself, as soon as peace was
+secured throughout his empire, in rebuilding the city of Kalkhi,
+where he erected a great palace and made records of his
+achievements. He also extended and redecorated the royal palace
+at Nineveh, and devoted much attention to the temples.</p>
+<p>Tribute poured in from the subject States. The mountain and
+valley tribes in the north furnished in abundance wine and corn,
+sheep and cattle and horses, and from the Aramaeans of
+Mesopotamia and the Syro-Cappadocian Hittites came much silver
+and gold, copper and lead, jewels and ivory, as well as richly
+decorated furniture, armour and weapons. Artists and artisans
+were also provided by the vassals of Assyria. There are traces of
+Phoenician influence in the art of this period.</p>
+<p>Ashur-natsir-pal's great palace at Kalkhi was excavated by
+Layard, who has given a vivid description of the verdant plain on
+which the ancient city was situated, as it appeared in spring.
+"Its pasture lands, known as the 'Jaif', are <a id=
+"page.anchor.400" name="page.anchor.400"></a>renowned", he wrote,
+"for their rich and luxuriant herbage. In times of quiet, the
+studs of the Pasha and of the Turkish authorities, with the
+horses of the cavalry and of the inhabitants of Mosul, are sent
+here to graze.... Flowers of every hue enamelled the meadows; not
+thinly scattered over the grass as in northern climes, but in
+such thick and gathering clusters that the whole plain seemed a
+patchwork of many colours. The dogs, as they returned from
+hunting, issued from the long grass dyed red, yellow, or blue,
+according to the flowers through which they had last forced their
+way.... In the evening, after the labour of the day, I often sat
+at the door of my tent, giving myself up to the full enjoyment of
+that calm and repose which are imparted to the senses by such
+scenes as these.... As the sun went down behind the low hills
+which separate the river from the desert--even their rocky sides
+had struggled to emulate the verdant clothing of the plain--its
+receding rays were gradually withdrawn, like a transparent veil
+of light from the landscape. Over the pure cloudless sky was the
+glow of the last light. In the distance and beyond the Zab,
+Keshaf, another venerable ruin, rose indistinctly into the
+evening mist. Still more distant, and still more indistinct, was
+a solitary hill overlooking the ancient city of Arbela. The
+Kurdish mountains, whose snowy summits cherished the dying
+sunbeams, yet struggled with the twilight. The bleating of sheep
+and lowing of cattle, at first faint, became louder as the flocks
+returned from their pastures and wandered amongst the tents.
+Girls hurried over the greensward to seek their fathers' cattle,
+or crouched down to milk those which had returned alone to their
+well-remembered folds. Some were coming from the river bearing
+the replenished pitcher on their heads or shoulders; others, no
+less graceful in their form, and erect in their <a id=
+"page.anchor.401" name="page.anchor.401"></a>carriage, were
+carrying the heavy loads of long grass which they had cut in the
+meadows."<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1431" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1431" id="fnrex1431">431</a>]</span></p>
+<p>Across the meadows so beautiful in March the great armies of
+Ashur-natsir-pal returned with the booty of great
+campaigns--horses and cattle and sheep, bales of embroidered
+cloth, ivory and jewels, silver and gold, the products of many
+countries; while thousands of prisoners were assembled there to
+rear stately buildings which ultimately fell into decay and were
+buried by drifting sands.</p>
+<p>Layard excavated the emperor's palace and dispatched to
+London, among other treasures of antiquity, the sublime winged
+human-headed lions which guarded the entrance, and many bas
+reliefs.</p>
+<p>The Assyrian sculptures of this period lack the technical
+skill, the delicacy and imagination of Sumerian and Akkadian art,
+but they are full of energy, dignified and massive, and strong
+and lifelike. They reflect the spirit of Assyria's greatness,
+which, however, had a materialistic basis. Assyrian art found
+expression in delineating the outward form rather than in
+striving to create a "thing of beauty" which is "a joy for
+ever".</p>
+<p>When Ashur-natsir-pal died, he was succeeded by his son
+Shalmaneser III (860-825 B.C.), whose military activities
+extended over his whole reign. No fewer than thirty-two
+expeditions were recorded on his famous black obelisk.</p>
+<p>As Shalmaneser was the first Assyrian king who came into
+direct touch with the Hebrews, it will be of interest here to
+review the history of the divided kingdoms of Israel and Judah,
+as recorded in the Bible, because of the light it throws on
+international politics and the situation which confronted
+Shalmaneser in Mesopotamia and Syria in the early part of his
+reign.</p>
+<p>After Solomon died, the kingdom of his son Rehoboam <a id=
+"page.anchor.402" name="page.anchor.402"></a>was restricted to
+Judah, Benjamin, Moab, and Edom. The "ten tribes" of Israel had
+revolted and were ruled over by Jeroboam, whose capital was at
+Tirzah.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1432" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1432" id="fnrex1432">432</a>]</span> "There were wars
+between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually."<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1433" href="#ftn.fnrex1433" id=
+"fnrex1433">433</a>]</span></p>
+<p>The religious organization which had united the Hebrews under
+David and Solomon was thus broken up. Jeroboam established the
+religion of the Canaanites and made "gods and molten images". He
+was condemned for his idolatry by the prophet Ahijah, who
+declared, "The Lord shall smite Israel, as a reed is shaken in
+the water; and he shall root up Israel out of this good land,
+which he gave to their fathers, and shall scatter them beyond the
+river, because they have made their groves, provoking the Lord to
+anger. And he shall give Israel up because of the sins of
+Jeroboam, who did sin, and who made Israel to sin."<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1434" href="#ftn.fnrex1434" id=
+"fnrex1434">434</a>]</span></p>
+<p>In Judah Rehoboam similarly "did evil in the sight of the
+Lord"; his subjects "also built them high places and images and
+groves, on every high hill, and under every green
+tree".<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1435" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1435" id="fnrex1435">435</a>]</span> After the raid of
+the Egyptian Pharaoh Shishak (Sheshonk) Rehoboam repented,
+however. "And when he humbled himself, the wrath of the Lord
+turned from him, that he would not destroy him altogether: and
+also in Judah things went well."<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1436" href="#ftn.fnrex1436" id=
+"fnrex1436">436</a>]</span></p>
+<p>Rehoboam was succeeded by his son Abijah, who shattered the
+power of Jeroboam, defeating that monarch in battle after he was
+surrounded as Rameses II had been by the Hittite army. "The
+children of Israel fled before Judah: and God delivered them into
+their hand. And Abijah and his people slew them with a great
+slaughter: so there fell down slain in Israel five hundred
+thousand <a id="page.anchor.403" name=
+"page.anchor.403"></a>chosen men. Thus the children of Israel
+were brought under at that time, and the children of Judah
+prevailed, because they relied upon the Lord God of their
+fathers. And Abijah pursued after Jeroboam, and took cities from
+him, Bethel with the towns thereof, and Jeshanah with the towns
+thereof, and Ephraim with the towns thereof. Neither did Jeroboam
+recover strength again in the days of Abijah, and the Lord struck
+him and he died."<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1437" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1437" id="fnrex1437">437</a>]</span></p>
+<p>Ere Jeroboam died, however, "Abijah slept with his fathers,
+and they buried him in the city of David: and Asa his son reigned
+in his stead. In his days the land was quiet ten years. And Asa
+did that which was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his
+God. For he took away the altars of the strange gods, and the
+high places, and brake down the images, and cut down the groves.
+And commanded Judah to seek the Lord God of their fathers and to
+do the law and the commandment. Also he took away out of all the
+cities of Judah the high places and the images: and the kingdom
+was quiet before him. And he built fenced cities in Judah: for
+the land had rest, and he had no war in those years; because the
+Lord had given him rest."<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1438"
+href="#ftn.fnrex1438" id="fnrex1438">438</a>]</span></p>
+<p>Jeroboam died in the second year of Asa's reign, and was
+succeeded by his son Nadab, who "did evil in the sight of the
+Lord, and walked in the way of his father, and in his sin
+wherewith he made Israel to sin".<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1439" href="#ftn.fnrex1439" id="fnrex1439">439</a>]</span>
+Nadab waged war against the Philistines, and was besieging
+Gibbethon when Baasha revolted and slew him. Thus ended the First
+Dynasty of the Kingdom of Israel.</p>
+<p>Baasha was declared king, and proceeded to operate against
+Judah. Having successfully waged war against Asa, he proceeded to
+fortify Ramah, a few miles to the <a id="page.anchor.404" name=
+"page.anchor.404"></a>north of Jerusalem, "that he might not
+suffer any to go out or come in to Asa king of
+Judah".<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1440" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1440" id="fnrex1440">440</a>]</span></p>
+<p>Now Israel was at this time one of the allies of the powerful
+Aramaean State of Damascus, which had resisted the advance of the
+Assyrian armies during the reign of Ashur-natsir-pal I, and
+apparently supported the rebellions of the northern Mesopotamian
+kings. Judah was nominally subject to Egypt, which, however, was
+weakened by internal troubles, and therefore unable either to
+assert its authority in Judah or help its king to resist the
+advance of the Israelites.</p>
+<p>In the hour of peril Judah sought the aid of the king of
+Damascus. "Asa took all the silver and the gold that were left in
+the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the
+king's house, and delivered them into the hand of his servants:
+and King Asa sent them to Ben-hadad, the son of Tabrimon, the son
+of Hezion, king of Syria, that dwelt at Damascus, saying, There
+is a league between me and thee, and between my father and thy
+father: behold, I have sent unto thee a present of silver and
+gold: <span class="emphasis"><em>come and break thy league with
+Baasha king of Israel, that he may depart from
+me</em></span>".<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1441" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1441" id="fnrex1441">441</a>]</span></p>
+<p>Ben-hadad accepted the invitation readily. He waged war
+against Israel, and Baasha was compelled to abandon the building
+of the fortifications at Ramah. "Then king Asa made a
+proclamation throughout all Judah; none was exempted: and they
+took away the stones of Ramah, and the timber thereof, wherewith
+Baasha had builded; and king Asa built with them Geba of
+Benjamin, and Mizpah."<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1442"
+href="#ftn.fnrex1442" id="fnrex1442">442</a>]</span></p>
+<p>Judah and Israel thus became subject to Damascus, and had to
+recognize the king of that city as arbiter in all their
+disputes.</p>
+<p>After reigning about twenty-four years, Baasha of <a id=
+"page.anchor.405" name="page.anchor.405"></a>Israel died in 886
+B.C. and was succeeded by his son Elah who came to the throne "in
+the twenty and sixth year of Asa". He had ruled a little over a
+year when he was murdered by "his servant Zimri, captain of half
+his chariots", while he was "drinking himself drunk in the house
+of Arza steward of his house in Tirzah".<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1443" href="#ftn.fnrex1443" id=
+"fnrex1443">443</a>]</span> Thus ended the Second Dynasty of the
+Kingdom of Israel.</p>
+<p>Zimri's revolt was shortlived. He reigned only "seven days in
+Tirzah". The army was "encamped against Gibbethon, which belonged
+to the Philistines. And the people that were encamped heard say,
+Zimri hath conspired and hath also slain the king; wherefore all
+Israel made Omri, the captain of the host, king over Israel that
+day in the camp. And Omri went up from Gibbethon and all Israel
+with him, and they besieged Tirzah. And it came to pass when
+Zimri saw that the city was taken, that he went into the palace
+of the king's house, and burnt the king's house over him with
+fire, and died."<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1444" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1444" id="fnrex1444">444</a>]</span></p>
+<p>Omri's claim to the throne was disputed by a rival named
+Tibni. "But the people that followed Omri prevailed against the
+people that followed Tibni, son of Ginath: so Tibni died, and
+Omri reigned."<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1445" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1445" id="fnrex1445">445</a>]</span></p>
+<p>Omri was the builder of Samaria, whither his Court was
+transferred from Tirzah towards the close of his six years reign.
+He was followed by his son Ahab, who ascended the throne "in the
+thirty and eighth year of Asa king of Judah.... And Ahab ... did
+evil in the sight of the Lord above all that were before him." So
+notorious indeed were father and son that the prophet Micah
+declared to the backsliders of his day, "For the statutes of Omri
+are kept, and all the works of the house of Ahab, and ye walk in
+their counsel; that I should <a id="page.anchor.406" name=
+"page.anchor.406"></a>make thee a desolation, and the inhabitants
+thereof an hissing: therefore ye shall bear the reproach of my
+people".<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1446" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1446" id="fnrex1446">446</a>]</span></p>
+<p>Ahab was evidently an ally of Sidon as well as a vassal of
+Damascus, for he married the notorious princess Jezebel, the
+daughter of the king of that city State. He also became a
+worshipper of the Phoenician god Baal, to whom a temple had been
+erected in Samaria. "And Ahab made a grove; and Ahab did more to
+provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of
+Israel that were before him."<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1447" href="#ftn.fnrex1447" id="fnrex1447">447</a>]</span>
+Obadiah, who "feared the Lord greatly", was the governor of
+Ahab's house, but the outspoken prophet Elijah, whose arch enemy
+was the notorious Queen Jezebel, was an outcast like the hundred
+prophets concealed by Obadiah in two mountain caves.<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1448" href="#ftn.fnrex1448" id=
+"fnrex1448">448</a>]</span></p>
+<p>Ahab became so powerful a king that Ben-hadad II of Damascus
+picked a quarrel with him, and marched against Samaria. It was on
+this occasion that Ahab sent the famous message to Ben-hadad:
+"Let not him that girdeth on his harness (armour) boast himself
+as he that putteth it off". The Israelites issued forth from
+Samaria and scattered the attacking force. "And Israel pursued
+them: and Ben-hadad the king of Syria escaped on a horse with the
+horseman. And the king of Israel went out, and smote the horses
+and chariots, and slew the Syrians with a great slaughter."
+Ben-hadad was made to believe afterwards by his counsellors that
+he owed his defeat to the fact that the gods of Israel were "gods
+of the hills; therefore they are stronger than we". They added:
+"Let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be
+stronger than they". In the following year Ben-hadad fought
+against the Israelites <a id="page.anchor.407" name=
+"page.anchor.407"></a>at Aphek, but was again defeated. He then
+found it necessary to make "a covenant" with Ahab.<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1449" href="#ftn.fnrex1449" id=
+"fnrex1449">449</a>]</span></p>
+<p>In 854 B.C. Shalmaneser III of Assyria was engaged in military
+operations against the Aramaean Syrians. Two years previously he
+had broken the power of Akhuni, king of Bit-Adini in northern
+Mesopotamia, the leader of a strong confederacy of petty States.
+Thereafter the Assyrian monarch turned towards the south-west and
+attacked the Hittite State of Hamath and the Aramaean State of
+Damascus. The various rival kingdoms of Syria united against him,
+and an army of 70,000 allies attempted to thwart his progress at
+Qarqar on the Orontes. Although Shalmaneser claimed a victory on
+this occasion, it was of no great advantage to him, for he was
+unable to follow it up. Among the Syrian allies were Bir-idri
+(Ben-hadad II) of Damascus, and Ahab of Israel ("Akhabbu of the
+land of the Sir'ilites"). The latter had a force of 10,000 men
+under his command.</p>
+<p>Four years after Ahab began to reign, Asa died at Jerusalem
+and his son Jehoshaphat was proclaimed king of Judah. "And he
+walked in all the ways of Asa his father; he turned not aside
+from it, doing that which was right in the eyes of the Lord:
+nevertheless the high places were not taken away; for the people
+offered and burnt incense yet in the high places."<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1450" href="#ftn.fnrex1450" id=
+"fnrex1450">450</a>]</span></p>
+<p>There is no record of any wars between Israel and Judah during
+this period, but it is evident that the two kingdoms had been
+drawn together and that Israel was the predominating power.
+Jehoshaphat "joined affinity with Ahab", and some years
+afterwards visited Samaria, where he was hospitably
+entertained.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1451" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1451" id="fnrex1451">451</a>]</span> The two monarchs
+plotted together. Apparently Israel and Judah desired <a id=
+"page.anchor.408" name="page.anchor.408"></a>to throw off the
+yoke of Damascus, which was being kept constantly on the defence
+by Assyria. It is recorded in the Bible that they joined forces
+and set out on an expedition to attack Ramoth in Gilead, which
+Israel claimed, and take it "out of the hand of the king of
+Syria".<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1452" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1452" id="fnrex1452">452</a>]</span> In the battle
+which ensued (in 853 B.C.) Ahab was mortally wounded, "and about
+the time of the sun going down he died". He was succeeded by his
+son Ahaziah, who acknowledged the suzerainty of Damascus. After a
+reign of two years Ahaziah was succeeded by Joram.</p>
+<p>Jehoshaphat did not again come into conflict with Damascus. He
+devoted himself to the development of his kingdom, and attempted
+to revive the sea trade on the Persian gulf which had flourished
+under Solomon. "He made ships of Tharshish to go to Ophir for
+gold; but they went not; for the ships were broken (wrecked) at
+Ezion-geber." Ahaziah offered him sailors--probably
+Phoenicians--but they were refused.<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1453" href="#ftn.fnrex1453" id="fnrex1453">453</a>]</span>
+Apparently Jehoshaphat had close trading relations with the
+Chaldaeans, who were encroaching on the territory of the king of
+Babylon, and menacing the power of that monarch. Jehoram
+succeeded Jehoshaphat and reigned eight years.</p>
+<p>After repulsing the Syrian allies at Qarqar on the Orontes in
+854 B.C., Shalmaneser III of Assyria found it necessary to invade
+Babylonia. Soon after he came to the throne he had formed an
+alliance with Nabu-aplu-iddin of that kingdom, and was thus able
+to operate in the north-west without fear of complications with
+the rival claimant of Mesopotamia. When Nabu-aplu-iddin died, his
+two sons Marduk-zakir-shum and Marduk-bel-usate were rivals for
+the throne. The former, the rightful heir, appealed for help to
+Shalmaneser, and that <a id="page.anchor.409" name=
+"page.anchor.409"></a>monarch at once hastened to assert his
+authority in the southern kingdom. In 851 B.C. Marduk-bel-usate,
+who was supported by an Aram&aelig;an army, was defeated and put
+to death.</p>
+<p>Marduk-zakir-shum afterwards reigned over Babylonia as the
+vassal of Assyria, and Shalmaneser, his overlord, made offerings
+to the gods at Babylon, Borsippa, and Cuthah. The Chald&aelig;ans
+were afterwards subdued, and compelled to pay annual tribute.</p>
+<p>In the following year Shalmaneser had to lead an expedition
+into northern Mesopotamia and suppress a fresh revolt in that
+troubled region. But the western allies soon gathered strength
+again, and in 846 B.C. he found it necessary to return with a
+great army, but was not successful in achieving any permanent
+success, although he put his enemies to flight. The various
+western kingdoms, including Damascus, Israel, and Tyre and Sidon,
+remained unconquered, and continued to conspire against him.</p>
+<p>The resisting power of the Syrian allies, however, was being
+greatly weakened by internal revolts, which may have been stirred
+up by Assyrian emissaries. Edom threw off the yoke of Judah and
+became independent. Jehoram, who had married Athaliah, a royal
+princess of Israel, was dead. His son Ahaziah, who succeeded him,
+joined forces with his cousin and overlord, King Joram of Israel,
+to assist him in capturing Ramoth-gilead from the king of
+Damascus. Joram took possession of the city, but was wounded, and
+returned to Jezreel to be healed.<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1454" href="#ftn.fnrex1454" id="fnrex1454">454</a>]</span>
+He was the last king of the Omri Dynasty of Israel. The prophet
+Elisha sent a messenger to Jehu, a military leader, who was at
+Ramoth-gilead, with a box of oil and the ominous message, "Thus
+saith the Lord, <a id="page.anchor.410" name=
+"page.anchor.410"></a>I have anointed thee king over Israel. And
+thou shalt smite the house of Ahab thy master, that I may avenge
+the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the
+servants of the Lord, at the hand of Jezebel.... And the dogs
+shall eat Jezebel in the portion of Jezreel, and there shall be
+none to bury her."</p>
+<p>Jehu "conspired against Joram", and then, accompanied by an
+escort, "rode in a chariot and went to Jezreel", so that he might
+be the first to announce the revolt to the king whom he was to
+depose.</p>
+<p>The watchman on the tower of Jezreel saw Jehu and his company
+approaching and informed Joram, who twice sent out a messenger to
+enquire, "Is it peace?" Neither messenger returned, and the
+watchman informed the wounded monarch of Israel, "He came even
+unto them, and cometh not again; and the driving is like the
+driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi; for he driveth furiously".</p>
+<p>King Joram went out himself to meet the famous charioteer, but
+turned to flee when he discovered that he came as an enemy. Then
+Jehu drew his bow and shot Joram through the heart. Ahaziah
+endeavoured to conceal himself in Samaria, but was slain also.
+Jezebel was thrown down from a window of the royal harem and
+trodden under foot by the horsemen of Jehu; her body was devoured
+by dogs.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1455" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1455" id="fnrex1455">455</a>]</span></p>
+<p>The Syrian king against whom Joram fought at Ramoth-gilead was
+Hazael. He had murdered Ben-hadad II as he lay on a bed of
+sickness by smothering him with a thick cloth soaked in water.
+Then he had himself proclaimed the ruler of the Aramaean State of
+Damascus. The prophet Elisha had previously wept before him,
+saying, "I know the evil that thou wilt do <a id=
+"page.anchor.411" name="page.anchor.411"></a>unto the children of
+Israel; their strongholds wilt thou set on fire, and their young
+men wilt thou slay with the sword, and wilt dash their children
+and rip up their women with child".<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1456" href="#ftn.fnrex1456" id=
+"fnrex1456">456</a>]</span></p>
+<p>The time seemed ripe for Assyrian conquest. In 843 B.C.
+Shalmaneser III crossed the Euphrates into Syria for the
+sixteenth time. His first objective was Aleppo, where he was
+welcomed. He made offerings there to Hadad, the local Thor, and
+then suddenly marched southward. Hazael went out to oppose the
+advancing Assyrians, and came into conflict with them in the
+vicinity of Mount Hermon. "I fought with him", Shalmaneser
+recorded, "and accomplished his defeat; I slew with the sword
+1600 of his warriors and captured 1121 chariots and 470 horses.
+He fled to save his life."</p>
+<p>Hazael took refuge within the walls of Damascus, which the
+Assyrians besieged, but failed, however, to capture.
+Shalmaneser's soldiers meanwhile wasted and burned cities without
+number, and carried away great booty. "In those days",
+Shalmaneser recorded, "I received tribute from the Tyrians and
+Sidonians and from Yaua (Jehu) son (successor) of Khumri (Omri)."
+The following is a translation from a bas relief by Professor
+Pinches of a passage detailing Jehu's tribute:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<p>The tribute of Yaua, son of Khumri: silver, gold, a golden
+cup, golden vases, golden vessels, golden buckets, lead, a staff
+for the hand of the king (and) sceptres, I received.<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1457" href="#ftn.fnrex1457" id=
+"fnrex1457">457</a>]</span></p>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>The scholarly translator adds, "It is noteworthy that the
+Assyrian form of the name, Yaua, shows that the unpronounced
+aleph at the end was at that time sounded, <a id=
+"page.anchor.412" name="page.anchor.412"></a>so that the Hebrews
+must have called him Yahua (Jehua)".</p>
+<p>Shalmaneser did not again attack Damascus. His sphere of
+influence was therefore confined to North Syria. He found it more
+profitable, indeed, to extend his territories into Asia Minor.
+For several years he engaged himself in securing control of the
+north-western caravan road, and did not rest until he had subdued
+Cilicia and overrun the Hittite kingdoms of Tabal and
+Malatia.</p>
+<p>Hazael of Damascus avenged himself meanwhile on his unfaithful
+allies who had so readily acknowledged the shadowy suzerainty of
+Assyria. "In those days the Lord began to cut Israel short: and
+Hazael smote them in all the coasts of Israel; from Jordan
+eastward, all the land of Gilead, the Gadites, and the
+Reubenites, and the Manassites, from Aroer, which is by the river
+Arnon, even Gilead and Bashan."<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1458" href="#ftn.fnrex1458" id="fnrex1458">458</a>]</span>
+Israel thus came completely under the sway of Damascus.</p>
+<p>Jehu appears to have cherished the ambition of uniting Israel
+and Judah under one crown. His revolt received the support of the
+orthodox Hebrews, and he began well by inaugurating reforms in
+the northern kingdom with purpose apparently to re-establish the
+worship of David's God. He persecuted the prophets of Baal, but
+soon became a backslider, for although he stamped out the
+Phoenician religion he began to worship "the golden calves that
+were in Bethel and that were in Dan.... He departed not from the
+sins of Jeroboam, which made Israel to sin."<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1459" href="#ftn.fnrex1459" id=
+"fnrex1459">459</a>]</span> Apparently he found it necessary to
+secure the support of the idolators of the ancient cult of the
+"Queen of Heaven".</p>
+<p>The crown of Judah had been seized by the Israelitish <a id=
+"page.anchor.413" name="page.anchor.413"></a>Queen mother
+Athaliah after the death of her son Ahaziah at the hands of
+Jehu.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1460" href="#ftn.fnrex1460"
+id="fnrex1460">460</a>]</span> She endeavoured to destroy "all
+the seed royal of the house of Judah". But another woman thwarted
+the completion of her monstrous design. This was Jehoshabeath,
+sister of Ahaziah and wife of the priest Jehoiada, who concealed
+the young prince Joash "and put him and his nurse in a
+bedchamber", in "the house of God". There Joash was strictly
+guarded for six years.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1461"
+href="#ftn.fnrex1461" id="fnrex1461">461</a>]</span></p>
+<p>In time Jehoiada stirred up a revolt against the
+Baal-worshipping queen of Judah. Having secured the support of
+the captains of the royal guard and a portion of the army, he
+brought out from the temple the seven years old prince Joash,
+"the king's son, and put upon him the crown, and gave him the
+testimony, and made him king. And Jehoiada and his sons anointed
+him, and said, God save the king.</p>
+<p>"Now when Athaliah heard the noise of the people running and
+praising the king, she came to the people into the house of the
+Lord: and she looked, and, behold the king stood at his pillar at
+the entering in, and the princes and the trumpets by the king:
+and all the people of the land rejoiced, and sounded with
+trumpets, also the singers with instruments of musick, and such
+as taught to sing praise. Then Athaliah rent her clothes, and
+said, Treason, Treason.</p>
+<p>"Then Jehoiada the priest brought out the captains of hundreds
+that were set over the host, and said unto them, Have her forth
+of the ranges: and whoso followeth her, let him be slain by the
+sword. For the priest said, Slay her not in the house of the
+Lord. So they laid hands on her; and when she was come to the
+entering of the horse gate by the king's house, they slew her
+there.</p>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.414" name="page.anchor.414"></a>"And
+Jehoiada made a covenant between him, and between all the people,
+and between the king, that they should be the Lord's people. Then
+all the people went to the house of Baal, and brake it down, and
+brake his altars and his images in pieces, and slew Mattan the
+priest of Baal before the altars."<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1462" href="#ftn.fnrex1462" id=
+"fnrex1462">462</a>]</span></p>
+<p>When Jehu of Israel died, he was succeeded by Jehoahaz. "The
+Lord was kindled against Israel, and he delivered them into the
+hand of Ben-hadad the son of Hazael all their days." Then
+Jehoahaz repented. He "besought the Lord, and the Lord hearkened
+unto him: for he saw the oppression of Israel, because the king
+of Syria oppressed them. And the Lord gave Israel a saviour, so
+that they went out from under the hands of the
+Syrians."<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1463" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1463" id="fnrex1463">463</a>]</span> The "saviour", as
+will be shown, was Assyria. Not only Israel, but Judah, under
+King Joash, Edom, the Philistines and the Ammonites were
+compelled to acknowledge the suzerainty of Damascus.</p>
+<p>Shalmaneser III swayed an extensive and powerful empire, and
+kept his generals continually employed suppressing revolts on his
+frontiers. After he subdued the Hittites, Kati, king of Tabal,
+sent him his daughter, who was received into the royal harem.
+Tribes of the Medes came under his power: the Nairi and Urartian
+tribes continued battling with his soldiers on his northern
+borders like the frontier tribes of India against the British
+troops. The kingdom of Urartu was growing more and more
+powerful.</p>
+<p>In 829 B.C. the great empire was suddenly shaken to its
+foundations by the outbreak of civil war. The party of rebellion
+was led by Shalmaneser's son Ashur-danin-apli, who evidently
+desired to supplant the crown prince Shamshi-Adad. He was a
+popular hero and received <a id="page.anchor.415" name=
+"page.anchor.415"></a>the support of most of the important
+Assyrian cities, including Nineveh, Asshur, Arbela, Imgurbel, and
+Dur-balat, as well as some of the dependencies. Shalmaneser
+retained Kalkhi and the provinces of northern Mesopotamia, and it
+appears that the greater part of the army also remained loyal to
+him.</p>
+<p>After four years of civil war Shalmaneser died. His chosen
+heir, Shamshi-Adad VII, had to continue the struggle for the
+throne for two more years.</p>
+<p>When at length the new king had stamped out the last embers of
+revolt within the kingdom, he had to undertake the reconquest of
+those provinces which in the interval had thrown off their
+allegiance to Assyria. Urartu in the north had grown more
+aggressive, the Syrians were openly defiant, the Medes were
+conducting bold raids, and the Babylonians were plotting with the
+Chaldaeans, Elamites, and Aramaeans to oppose the new ruler.
+Shamshi-Adad, however, proved to be as great a general as his
+father. He subdued the Medes and the Nairi tribes, burned many
+cities and collected enormous tribute, while thousands of
+prisoners were taken and forced to serve the conqueror.</p>
+<p>Having established his power in the north, Shamshi-Adad then
+turned attention to Babylonia. On his way southward he subdued
+many villages. He fell upon the first strong force of Babylonian
+allies at Dur-papsukal in Akkad, and achieved a great victory,
+killing 13,000 and taking 3000 captives. Then the Babylonian
+king, Marduk-balatsu-ikbi, advanced to meet him with his mixed
+force of Babylonians, Chaldaeans, Elamites, and Aramaeans, but
+was defeated in a fierce battle on the banks of the Daban canal.
+The Babylonian camp was captured, and the prisoners taken by the
+Assyrians included 5000 footmen, 200 horsemen, and 100
+chariots.</p>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.416" name=
+"page.anchor.416"></a>Shamshi-Adad conducted in all five
+campaigns in Babylonia and Chaldaea, which he completely subdued,
+penetrating as far as the shores of the Persian Gulf. In the end
+he took prisoner the new king, Bau-akh-iddina, the successor of
+Marduk-balatsu-ikbi, and transported him to Assyria, and offered
+up sacrifices as the overlord of the ancient land at Babylon,
+Borsippa, and Cuthah. For over half a century after this disaster
+Babylonia was a province of Assyria. During that period, however,
+the influence which it exercised over the Assyrian Court was so
+great that it contributed to the downfall of the royal line of
+the Second Empire.</p>
+<div class="footnotes"><br />
+<hr width="100" align="left" />
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1428" href="#fnrex1428" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1428">428</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>Finn
+and His Warrior Band</em></span>, pp. 245 <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>et seq.</em></span> (London, 1911).</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1429" href="#fnrex1429" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1429">429</a>]</span> Also rendered
+Ashur-na'sir-pal.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1430" href="#fnrex1430" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1430">430</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>A
+History of the Babylonians and Assyrians</em></span>, G.S.
+Goodspeed, p. 197.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1431" href="#fnrex1431" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1431">431</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Discoveries at Nineveh</em></span>, Sir A.H.
+Layard (London, 1856), pp. 55, 56.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1432" href="#fnrex1432" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1432">432</a>]</span> "Thou art beautiful, O my love,
+as Tirzah, comely as Jerusalem." <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Solomon's Song</em></span>, vi, 4.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1433" href="#fnrex1433" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1433">433</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>2
+Chronicles</em></span>, xii, 15.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1434" href="#fnrex1434" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1434">434</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>1
+Kings</em></span>, xiv, 1-20.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1435" href="#fnrex1435" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1435">435</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Ibid.</em></span>, 21-3.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1436" href="#fnrex1436" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1436">436</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>2
+Chronicles</em></span>, xii, 1-12.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1437" href="#fnrex1437" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1437">437</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>2
+Chronicles</em></span>, xiii, 1-20.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1438" href="#fnrex1438" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1438">438</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Ibid.</em></span>, xiv, 1-6.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1439" href="#fnrex1439" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1439">439</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>1
+Kings</em></span>, xv, 25-6.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1440" href="#fnrex1440" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1440">440</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>1
+Kings</em></span>, xv, 16-7.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1441" href="#fnrex1441" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1441">441</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Ibid.</em></span>, 18-9.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1442" href="#fnrex1442" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1442">442</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Ibid.</em></span>, 20-2.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1443" href="#fnrex1443" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1443">443</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>1
+Kings</em></span>, xvi, 9-10.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1444" href="#fnrex1444" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1444">444</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Ibid.</em></span>, 15-8.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1445" href="#fnrex1445" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1445">445</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Ibid.</em></span>, 21-2.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1446" href="#fnrex1446" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1446">446</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Micah</em></span>, vi, 16.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1447" href="#fnrex1447" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1447">447</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>1
+Kings</em></span>, xvi, 29-33.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1448" href="#fnrex1448" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1448">448</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Ibid.</em></span>, xviii, 1-4.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1449" href="#fnrex1449" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1449">449</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>1
+Kings</em></span>, xx.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1450" href="#fnrex1450" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1450">450</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Ibid.</em></span>, xxii, 43.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1451" href="#fnrex1451" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1451">451</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>2
+Chronicles</em></span>, xviii, 1-2.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1452" href="#fnrex1452" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1452">452</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>1
+Kings</em></span>, xxii and <span class="emphasis"><em>2
+Chronicles</em></span>, xviii.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1453" href="#fnrex1453" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1453">453</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>1
+Kings</em></span>, xxii, 48-9.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1454" href="#fnrex1454" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1454">454</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>1
+Kings</em></span>, viii.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1455" href="#fnrex1455" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1455">455</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>2
+Kings</em></span>, ix and <span class="emphasis"><em>2
+Chronicles</em></span>, xxii.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1456" href="#fnrex1456" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1456">456</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>2
+Kings</em></span>, viii, 1-15.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1457" href="#fnrex1457" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1457">457</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>The
+Old Testament in the Light of the Historical Records and Legends
+of Assyria and Babylonia</em></span>, pp. 337 <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>et seq.</em></span></div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1458" href="#fnrex1458" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1458">458</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>2
+Kings</em></span>, x, 32-3.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1459" href="#fnrex1459" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1459">459</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Ibid.</em></span>, 1-31.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1460" href="#fnrex1460" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1460">460</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>2
+Kings</em></span>, xi, 1-3.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1461" href="#fnrex1461" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1461">461</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>2
+Chronicles</em></span>, xxii, 10-12.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1462" href="#fnrex1462" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1462">462</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>2
+Chronicles</em></span>, xxiii, 1-17.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1463" href="#fnrex1463" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1463">463</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>2
+Kings</em></span>, xiii, 1-5.</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="chapter" lang="en" xml:lang="en">
+<div class="titlepage">
+<div>
+<div>
+<h2 class="title"><a id="id2544669" name=
+"id2544669"></a>Chapter�XVIII.�The Age of Semiramis</h2>
+</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="abstract">
+<p class="title"><b>Abstract</b></p>
+<p>Queen Sammu-rammat the original of Semiramis--"Mother-right"
+among "Mother Worshippers"--Sammu-rammat compared to Queen
+Tiy--Popularity of Goddess Cults--Temple Worship and Domestic
+Worship--Babylonian Cultural Influence in Assyria--Ethical
+Tendency in Shamash Worship--The Nebo Religious Revolt--Aton
+Revolt in Egypt--The Royal Assyrian Library--Fish Goddess of
+Babylonia in Assyria--The Semiramis and Shakuntala Stories--The
+Mock King and Queen--Dove Goddesses of Assyria, Phoenicia, and
+Cyprus--Ishtar's Dove Form--St. Valentine's Day beliefs--Sacred
+Doves of Cretans, Hittites, and Egyptians--Pigeon Lore in Great
+Britain and Ireland--Deities associated with various Animals--The
+Totemic Theory--Common Element in Ancient Goddess
+Cults--Influence of Agricultural Beliefs--Nebo a form of Ea--His
+Spouse Tashmit a Love Goddess and Interceder--Traditions of
+Famous Mother Deities--Adad-nirari IV the "Saviour" of
+Israel--Expansion of the Urartian Empire--Its Famous
+Kings--Decline and Fall of Assyria's Middle Empire Dynasty.</p>
+</div>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.417" name="page.anchor.417"></a> One of the
+most interesting figures in Mesopotamian history came into
+prominence during the Assyrian Middle Empire period. This was the
+famous Sammu-rammat, the Babylonian wife of an Assyrian ruler.
+Like Sargon of Akkad, Alexander the Great, and Dietrich von Bern,
+she made, by reason of her achievements and influence, a deep
+impression on the popular imagination, and as these monarchs
+became identified in tradition with gods of war and fertility,
+she had attached to her memory the myths associated with the
+mother goddess of love and battle who presided over the destinies
+of mankind. In her character as the legendary Semiramis of Greek
+literature, the Assyrian queen was reputed to have been the
+<a id="page.anchor.418" name="page.anchor.418"></a>daughter of
+Derceto, the dove and fish goddess of Askalon, and to have
+departed from earth in bird form.</p>
+<p>It is not quite certain whether Sammu-rammat was the wife of
+Shamshi-Adad VII or of his son, Adad-nirari IV. Before the former
+monarch reduced Babylonia to the status of an Assyrian province,
+he had signed a treaty of peace with its king, and it is
+suggested that it was confirmed by a matrimonial alliance. This
+treaty was repudiated by King Bau-akh-iddina, who was transported
+with his palace treasures to Assyria.</p>
+<p>As Sammu-rammat was evidently a royal princess of Babylonia,
+it seems probable that her marriage was arranged with purpose to
+legitimatize the succession of the Assyrian overlords to the
+Babylonian throne. The principle of "mother right" was ever
+popular in those countries where the worship of the Great Mother
+was perpetuated if not in official at any rate in domestic
+religion. Not a few Egyptian Pharaohs reigned as husbands or as
+sons of royal ladies. Succession by the female line was also
+observed among the Hittites. When Hattusil II gave his daughter
+in marriage to Putakhi, king of the Amorites, he inserted a
+clause in the treaty of alliance "to the effect that the
+sovereignty over the Amorite should belong to the son and
+descendants of his daughter for evermore".<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1464" href="#ftn.fnrex1464" id=
+"fnrex1464">464</a>]</span></p>
+<p>As queen or queen-mother, Sammu-rammat occupied as prominent a
+position in Assyria as did Queen Tiy of Egypt during the lifetime
+of her husband, Amenhotep III, and the early part of the reign of
+her son, Amenhotep IV (Akhenaton). The Tell-el-Amarna letters
+testify to Tiy's influence in the Egyptian "Foreign Office", and
+we know that at home she was joint ruler with her husband and
+took part with him in public ceremonials. During their reign a
+temple was erected to the mother goddess Mut, <a id=
+"page.anchor.419" name="page.anchor.419"></a>and beside it was
+formed a great lake on which sailed the "barque of Aton" in
+connection with mysterious religious ceremonials. After
+Akhenaton's religious revolt was inaugurated, the worship of Mut
+was discontinued and Tiy went into retirement. In Akhenaton's
+time the vulture symbol of the goddess Mut did not appear above
+the sculptured figures of royalty.</p>
+<p>What connection the god Aton had with Mut during the period of
+the Tiy regime remains obscure. There is no evidence that Aton
+was first exalted as the son of the Great Mother goddess,
+although this is not improbable.</p>
+<p>Queen Sammu-rammat of Assyria, like Tiy of Egypt, is
+associated with social and religious innovations. She was the
+first, and, indeed, the only Assyrian royal lady, to be referred
+to on equal terms with her royal husband in official
+inscriptions. In a dedication to the god Nebo, that deity is
+reputed to be the protector of "the life of Adad-nirari, king of
+the land of Ashur, his lord, and the life of Sammu-rammat, she of
+the palace, his lady".<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1465"
+href="#ftn.fnrex1465" id="fnrex1465">465</a>]</span></p>
+<p>During the reign of Adad-nirari IV the Assyrian Court radiated
+Babylonian culture and traditions. The king not only recorded his
+descent from the first Shalmaneser, but also claimed to be a
+descendant of Bel-kap-kapu, an earlier, but, to us, unknown,
+Babylonian monarch than "Sulili", i.e. Sumu-la-ilu, the
+great-great-grandfather of Hammurabi. Bel-kap-kapu was reputed to
+have been an overlord of Assyria.</p>
+<p>Apparently Adad-nirari desired to be regarded as the
+legitimate heir to the thrones of Assyria and Babylonia. His
+claim upon the latter country must have had a substantial basis.
+It is not too much to assume that he was a son of a princess of
+its ancient royal family. Sammurammat <a id="page.anchor.420"
+name="page.anchor.420"></a>may therefore have been his mother.
+She could have been called his "wife" in the mythological sense,
+the king having become "husband of his mother". If such was the
+case, the royal pair probably posed as the high priest and high
+priestess of the ancient goddess cult--the incarnations of the
+Great Mother and the son who displaced his sire.</p>
+<p>The worship of the Great Mother was the popular religion of
+the indigenous peoples of western Asia, including parts of Asia
+Minor, Egypt, and southern and western Europe. It appears to have
+been closely associated with agricultural rites practised among
+representative communities of the Mediterranean race. In
+Babylonia and Assyria the peoples of the goddess cult fused with
+the peoples of the god cult, but the prominence maintained by
+Ishtar, who absorbed many of the old mother deities, testifies to
+the persistence of immemorial habits of thought and antique
+religious ceremonials among the descendants of the earliest
+settlers in the Tigro-Euphrates valley. Merodach's spouse
+Zerpanitu<span class='phonetic'>m</span> was not a shadowy deity
+but a goddess who exercised as much influence as her divine
+husband. As Aruru she took part with him in the creation of
+mankind. In Asia Minor the mother goddess was overshadowed by the
+father god during the period of Hatti predominance, but her
+worship was revived after the early people along the coast and in
+the agricultural valleys were freed from the yoke of the
+father-god worshippers.</p>
+<p>It must be recognized, in this connection, that an official
+religion was not always a full reflection of popular beliefs. In
+all the great civilizations of antiquity it was invariably a
+compromise between the beliefs of the military aristocracy and
+the masses of mingled peoples over whom they held sway. Temple
+worship had therefore a political <a id="page.anchor.421" name=
+"page.anchor.421"></a>aspect; it was intended, among other
+things, to strengthen the position of the ruling classes. But
+ancient deities could still be worshipped, and were worshipped,
+in homes and fields, in groves and on mountain tops, as the case
+might be. Jeremiah has testified to the persistence of the folk
+practices in connection with the worship of the mother goddess
+among the inhabitants of Palestine. Sacrificial fires were lit
+and cakes were baked and offered to the "Queen of Heaven" in the
+streets of Jerusalem and other cities. In Babylonia and Egypt
+domestic religious practices were never completely supplanted by
+temple ceremonies in which rulers took a prominent part. It was
+always possible, therefore, for usurpers to make popular appeal
+by reviving ancient and persistent forms of worship. As we have
+seen, Jehu of Israel, after stamping out Phoenician Baal worship,
+secured a strong following by giving official recognition to the
+cult of the golden calf.</p>
+<p>It is not possible to set forth in detail, or with intimate
+knowledge, the various innovations which Sammu-rammat introduced,
+or with which she was credited, during the reigns of Adad-nirari
+IV (810-782 B.C.) and his father. No discovery has been made of
+documents like the Tell-el-Amarna "letters", which would shed
+light on the social and political life of this interesting
+period. But evidence is not awanting that Assyria was being
+suffused with Babylonian culture. Royal inscriptions record the
+triumphs of the army, but suppress the details of barbarities
+such as those which sully the annals of Ashur-natsir-pal, who had
+boys and girls burned on pyres and the heroes of small nations
+flayed alive. An ethical tendency becomes apparent in the
+exaltation of the Babylonian Shamash as an abstract deity who
+loved law and order, inspired the king with wisdom and ordained
+the <a id="page.anchor.422" name="page.anchor.422"></a>destinies
+of mankind. He is invoked on equal terms with Ashur.</p>
+<p>The prominence given to Nebo, the god of Borsippa, during the
+reign of Adad-nirari IV is highly significant. He appears in his
+later character as a god of culture and wisdom, the patron of
+scribes and artists, and the wise counsellor of the deities. He
+symbolized the intellectual life of the southern kingdom, which
+was more closely associated with religious ethics than that of
+war-loving Assyria.</p>
+<p>A great temple was erected to Nebo at Kalkhi, and four statues
+of him were placed within it, two of which are now in the British
+Museum. On one of these was cut the inscription, from which we
+have quoted, lauding the exalted and wise deity and invoking him
+to protect Adad-nirari and the lady of the palace, Sammu-rammat,
+and closing with the exhortation, "Whoso cometh in after time,
+let him trust in Nebo and trust in no other god".</p>
+<p>The priests of Ashur in the city of Asshur must have been as
+deeply stirred by this religious revolt at Kalkhi as were the
+priests of Amon when Akhenaton turned his back on Thebes and the
+national god to worship Aton in his new capital at
+Tell-el-Amarna.</p>
+<p>It would appear that this sudden stream of Babylonian culture
+had begun to flow into Assyria as early as the reign of
+Shalmaneser III, and it may be that it was on account of that
+monarch's pro-Babylonian tendencies that his nobles and priests
+revolted against him. Shalmaneser established at Kalkhi a royal
+library which was stocked with the literature of the southern
+kingdom. During the reign of Adad-nirari IV this collection was
+greatly increased, and subsequent additions were made to it by
+his successors, and especially Ashur-nirari IV, the last monarch
+of the Middle Empire. The inscriptions of <a id="page.anchor.423"
+name="page.anchor.423"></a>Shamshi-Adad, son of Shalmaneser III,
+have literary qualities which distinguish them from those of his
+predecessors, and may be accounted for by the influence exercised
+by Babylonian scholars who migrated northward.</p>
+<p>To the reign of Adad-nirari belongs also that important
+compilation the "Synchronistic History of Assyria and Babylonia",
+which deals with the relations of the two kingdoms and refers to
+contemporary events and rulers.</p>
+<p>The legends of Semiramis indicate that Sammu-rammat was
+associated like Queen Tiy with the revival of mother worship. As
+we have said, she went down to tradition as the daughter of the
+fish goddess, Derceto. Pliny identified that deity with Atargatis
+of Hierapolis.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1466" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1466" id="fnrex1466">466</a>]</span></p>
+<p>In Babylonia the fish goddess was Nina, a developed form of
+Damkina, spouse of Ea of Eridu. In the inscription on the Nebo
+statue, that god is referred to as the "son of Nudimmud" (Ea).
+Nina was the goddess who gave her name to Nineveh, and it is
+possible that Nebo may have been regarded as her son during the
+Semiramis period.</p>
+<p>The story of Semiramis's birth is evidently of great
+antiquity. It seems to survive throughout Europe in the nursery
+tale of the "Babes in the Wood". A striking Indian parallel is
+afforded by the legend of Shakuntala, which may be first referred
+to for the purpose of comparative study. Shakuntala was the
+daughter of the rishi, Viswamitra, and Menaka, the Apsara
+(celestial fairy). Menaka gave birth to her child beside the
+sacred river Malini. "And she cast the new-born infant on the
+bank of that river and went away. And beholding the newborn
+infant lying in that forest destitute of human beings but
+abounding with lions and tigers, a number of vultures sat around
+to protect it from harm." A sage discovered <a id=
+"page.anchor.424" name="page.anchor.424"></a>the child and
+adopted her. "Because", he said, "she was surrounded by
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Shakuntas</em></span> (birds),
+therefore hath she been named by me <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Shakuntala</em></span> (bird
+protected)."<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1467" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1467" id="fnrex1467">467</a>]</span></p>
+<p>Semiramis was similarly deserted at birth by her Celestial
+mother. She was protected by doves, and her Assyrian name,
+Sammu-rammat, is believed to be derived from "Summat"--"dove",
+and to signify "the dove goddess loveth her". Simmas, the chief
+of royal shepherds, found the child and adopted her. She was of
+great beauty like Shakuntala, the maiden of "perfect symmetry",
+"sweet smiles", and "faultless features", with whom King
+Dushyanta fell in love and married in Gandharva
+fashion.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1468" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1468" id="fnrex1468">468</a>]</span></p>
+<p>Semiramis became the wife of Onnes, governor of Nineveh, and
+one of the generals of its alleged founder, King Ninus. She
+accompanied her husband to Bactria on a military campaign, and is
+said to have instructed the king how that city should be taken.
+Ninus fell in love with Semiramis, and Onnes, who refused to give
+her up, went and hanged himself. The fair courtesan then became
+the wife of the king.</p>
+<p>The story proceeds that Semiramis exercised so great an
+influence over the impressionable King Ninus, that she persuaded
+him to proclaim her Queen of Assyria for five <a id=
+"page.anchor.425" name="page.anchor.425"></a>days. She then
+ascended the throne decked in royal robes. On the first day she
+gave a great banquet, and on the second thrust Ninus into prison,
+or had him put to death. In this manner she secured the empire
+for herself. She reigned for over forty years.</p>
+<div class="figure"><a id="id2545156" name="id2545156"></a>
+<p class="title"><b>Figure�XVIII.1.�THE SHEPHERD FINDS THE BABE
+SEMIRAMIS</b></p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<p><span class="emphasis"><em>From the Painting by E.
+Wallcousins</em></span></p>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="graphic"><img alt="" src="img/35.jpg" /></div>
+<p>Professor Frazer inclines to the view that the legend is a
+reminiscence of the custom of appointing a mock king and queen to
+whom the kingdom was yielded up for five days. Semiramis played
+the part of the mother goddess, and the priestly king died a
+violent death in the character of her divine lover. "The mounds
+of Semiramis which were pointed out all over Western Asia were
+said to have been the graves of her lovers whom she buried
+alive.... This tradition is one of the surest indications of the
+identity of the mythical Semiramis with the Babylonian goddess
+Ishtar or Astarte."<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1469" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1469" id="fnrex1469">469</a>]</span> As we have seen,
+Ishtar and other mother goddesses had many lovers whom they
+deserted like La Belle Dame sans Merci (pp. <a href=
+"#page.anchor.174">174</a>-<a href=
+"#page.anchor.175">175</a>).</p>
+<p>As Queen of Assyria, Semiramis was said to have cut roads
+through mountainous districts and erected many buildings.
+According to one version of the legend she founded the city of
+Babylon. Herodotus, however, says in this connection: "Semiramis
+held the throne for five generations before the later princess
+(Nitocris).... She raised certain embankments, well worthy of
+inspection, in the plain near Babylon, to control the river
+(Euphrates), which, till then, used to overflow and flood the
+whole country round about."<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1470"
+href="#ftn.fnrex1470" id="fnrex1470">470</a>]</span> Lucian, who
+associates the famous queen with "mighty works in Asia", states
+that she was reputed by some to be the builder of the ancient
+temple of Aphrodite in the Libanus, although others credited it
+to Cinyras, or Deukalion.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1471"
+href="#ftn.fnrex1471" id="fnrex1471">471</a>]</span> Several
+Median places bear her name, and according to ancient Armenian
+tradition she was the founder of Van, which was formerly called
+"Shamiramagerd". Strabo tells that unidentified mountains in
+Western Asia were named after Semiramis.<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1472" href="#ftn.fnrex1472" id=
+"fnrex1472">472</a>]</span> Indeed, many of the great works in
+the Tigro-Euphrates valley, not excepting the famous inscription
+of Darius, were credited to the legendary queen of Babylonia and
+<a id="page.anchor.426" name=
+"page.anchor.426"></a>Assyria.<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1473" href="#ftn.fnrex1473" id="fnrex1473">473</a>]</span>
+She was the rival in tradition of the famous Sesostris of Egypt
+as a ruler, builder, and conqueror.</p>
+<p>All the military expeditions of Semiramis were attended with
+success, except her invasion of India. She was supposed to have
+been defeated in the Punjab. After suffering this disaster she
+died, or abdicated the throne in favour of her son Ninyas. The
+most archaic form of the legend appears to be that she was turned
+into a dove and took flight to heaven in that form. After her
+death she was worshipped as a dove goddess like "Our Lady of
+Trees and Doves" in Cyprus, whose shrine at old Paphos was
+founded, Herodotus says, by Phoenician colonists from
+Askalon.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1474" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1474" id="fnrex1474">474</a>]</span> Fish and doves
+were sacred to Derceto (Attar),<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1475" href="#ftn.fnrex1475" id="fnrex1475">475</a>]</span>
+who had a mermaid form. "I have beheld", says Lucian, "the image
+of Derceto in Phoenicia. A marvellous spectacle it is. One half
+is a woman, but the part which extends from thighs to feet
+terminates with the tail of a fish."<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1476" href="#ftn.fnrex1476" id=
+"fnrex1476">476</a>]</span></p>
+<p>Derceto was supposed to have been a woman who threw herself in
+despair into a lake. After death she was adored as a goddess and
+her worshippers abstained from eating fish, except sacrificially.
+A golden image of a fish was suspended in her temple. Atargatis,
+who was identical with Derceto, was reputed in another form of
+the legend to have been born of an egg which the sacred fishes
+found in the Euphrates and thrust ashore (p. <a href=
+"#page.anchor.28">28</a>). The Greek Aphrodite was born of the
+froth of the sea and floated in a sea-shell. According to
+Hesiod,</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>������The wafting waves</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>First bore her to Cythera the
+divine:</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>To wave-encircled Cyprus came she
+then,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>And forth emerged, a goddess, in the
+charms</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt><a id="page.anchor.427" name=
+"page.anchor.427"></a>Of awful beauty. Where her delicate
+feet</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Had pressed the sands, green herbage
+flowering sprang.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Her Aphrodite gods and mortals
+name,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>The foam-born goddess; and her name is
+known</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>As Cytherea with the blooming
+wreath,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>For that she touched Cythera's flowery
+coast;</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>And Cypris, for that on the Cyprian
+shore</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>She rose, amid the multitude of waves.
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Elton's
+translation</em></span>.</tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>The animals sacred to Aphrodite included the sparrow, the
+dove, the swan, the swallow, and the wryneck.<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1477" href="#ftn.fnrex1477" id=
+"fnrex1477">477</a>]</span> She presided over the month of April,
+and the myrtle, rose, poppy, and apple were sacred to her.</p>
+<p>Some writers connect Semiramis, in her character as a dove
+goddess, with Media and the old Persian mother goddess Anaitis,
+and regard as arbitrary her identification with the fish goddess
+Derceto or Atargatis. The dove was certainly not a popular bird
+in the religious art of Babylonia and Assyria, but in one of the
+hymns translated by Professor Pinches Ishtar says, "Like a lonely
+dove I rest". In another the worshipper tries to touch Ishtar's
+heart by crying, "Like the dove I moan". A Sumerian psalmist
+makes a goddess (Gula, who presided over Larak, a part of Isin)
+lament over the city after it was captured by the enemy:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>My temple E-aste, temple of
+Larak,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Larak the city which Bel Enlil
+gave,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt><a id="page.anchor.428" name=
+"page.anchor.428"></a>Beneath are turned to strangeness, above
+are turned to strangeness,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>With wailings on the lyre my
+dwelling-place is surrendered to the stranger,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt><span class="emphasis"><em>The dove
+cots they wickedly seized, the doves they
+entrapped....</em></span></tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>The ravens he (Enlil) caused to
+fly.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1478" href="#ftn.fnrex1478"
+id="fnrex1478">478</a>]</span></tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>Apparently there were temple and household doves in Babylonia.
+The Egyptians had their household dovecots in ancient as in
+modern times. Lane makes reference to the large pigeon houses in
+many villages. They are of archaic pattern, "with the walls
+slightly inclining inwards (like many of the ancient Egyptian
+buildings)", and are "constructed upon the roofs of the huts with
+crude brick, pottery, and mud.... Each pair of pigeons occupies a
+separate (earthen) pot."<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1479"
+href="#ftn.fnrex1479" id="fnrex1479">479</a>]</span> It may be
+that the dove bulked more prominently in domestic than in
+official religion, and had a special seasonal significance.
+Ishtar appears to have had a dove form. In the Gilgamesh epic she
+is said to have loved the "brilliant Allalu bird" (the
+"bright-coloured wood pigeon", according to Sayce), and to have
+afterwards wounded it by breaking its wings.<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1480" href="#ftn.fnrex1480" id=
+"fnrex1480">480</a>]</span> She also loved the lion and the
+horse, and must therefore have assumed the forms of these
+animals. The goddess Bau, "she whose city is destroyed", laments
+in a Sumerian psalm:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Like a dove to its dwelling-place, how
+long to my dwelling-place will they pursue me,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>To my sanctuary ... the sacred place
+they pursue me....</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>My resting place, the brick walls of my
+city Isin, thou art destroyed;</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>My sanctuary, shrine of my temple
+Galmah, thou art destroyed.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>�</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>��������<span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Langdon's translation.</em></span></tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.429" name="page.anchor.429"></a>Here the
+goddess appears to be identified with the doves which rest on the
+walls and make their nests in the shrine. The Sumerian poets did
+not adorn their poems with meaningless picturesque imagery; their
+images were stern facts; they had a magical or religious
+significance like the imagery of magical incantations; the
+worshipper invoked the deity by naming his or her various
+attributes, forms, &amp;c.</p>
+<p>Of special interest are the references in Sumerian psalms to
+the ravens as well as the doves of goddesses. Throughout Asia and
+Europe ravens are birds of ill omen. In Scotland there still
+linger curious folk beliefs regarding the appearance of ravens
+and doves after death. Michael Scott, the great magician, when on
+his deathbed told his friends to place his body on a hillock.
+"Three ravens and three doves would be seen flying towards it. If
+the ravens were first the body was to be burned, but if the doves
+were first it was to receive Christian burial. The ravens were
+foremost, but in their hurry flew beyond their mark. So the
+devil, who had long been preparing a bed for Michael, was
+disappointed."<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1481" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1481" id="fnrex1481">481</a>]</span></p>
+<p>In Indian mythology Purusha, the chaos giant, first divided
+himself. "Hence were husband and wife produced." This couple then
+assumed various animal forms and thus "created every living pair
+whatsoever down to the ants".<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1482" href="#ftn.fnrex1482" id="fnrex1482">482</a>]</span>
+Goddesses and fairies in the folk tales of many countries
+sometimes assume bird forms. The "Fates" appear to Damayanti in
+the Nala story as swans which carry love messages.<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1483" href="#ftn.fnrex1483" id=
+"fnrex1483">483</a>]</span></p>
+<p>According to Aryo-Indian belief, birds were "blessed with
+fecundity". The Babylonian Etana eagle and the Egyptian vulture,
+as has been indicated, were deities of <a id="page.anchor.430"
+name="page.anchor.430"></a>fertility. Throughout Europe birds,
+which were "Fates", mated, according to popular belief, on St.
+Valentine's Day in February, when lots were drawn for wives by
+rural folks. Another form of the old custom is referred to by the
+poet Gay:--</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Last Valentine, the day when birds of
+kind</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Their paramours with mutual chirpings
+find,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>I early rose....</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Thee first I spied, and the first swain
+we see,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>In spite of fortune, shall our true
+love be.</tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>The dove appears to have been a sacred bird in various areas
+occupied by tribes of the Mediterranean race. Models of a shrine
+found in two royal graves at Mycenae are surmounted by a pair of
+doves, suggesting twin goddesses like Isis and Nepthys of Egypt
+and Ishtar and Belitsheri of Babylonia. Doves and snakes were
+associated with the mother goddess of Crete, "typifying",
+according to one view, "her connection with air and earth.
+Although her character was distinctly beneficent and pacific, yet
+as Lady of the Wild Creatures she had a more fearful aspect, one
+that was often depicted on carved gems, where lions are her
+companions."<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1484" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1484" id="fnrex1484">484</a>]</span> Discussing the
+attributes and symbols of this mother goddess, Professor Burrows
+says: "As the serpent, coming from the crevices of the earth,
+shows the possession of the tree or pillar from the underworld,
+so the dove, with which this goddess is also associated, shows
+its possession from the world of the sky".<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1485" href="#ftn.fnrex1485" id=
+"fnrex1485">485</a>]</span> Professor Robertson Smith has
+demonstrated that the dove was of great sanctity among the
+Semites.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1486" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1486" id="fnrex1486">486</a>]</span> It figures in
+Hittite sculptures and was probably connected with the goddess
+cult in Asia <a id="page.anchor.431" name=
+"page.anchor.431"></a>Minor. Although Egypt had no dove goddess,
+the bird was addressed by lovers--</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>I hear thy voice, O turtle
+dove--</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>��The dawn is all aglow--</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Weary am I with love, with
+love,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>��Oh, whither shall I go?<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1487" href="#ftn.fnrex1487" id=
+"fnrex1487">487</a>]</span></tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>Pigeons, as indicated, are in Egypt still regarded as sacred
+birds, and a few years ago British soldiers created a riot by
+shooting them. Doves were connected with the ancient Greek oracle
+at Dodona. In many countries the dove is closely associated with
+love, and also symbolizes innocence, gentleness, and
+holiness.</p>
+<p>The pigeon was anciently, it would appear, a sacred bird in
+these islands, and Brand has recorded curious folk beliefs
+connected with it. In some districts the idea prevailed that no
+person could die on a bed which contained pigeon feathers: "If
+anybody be sick and lye a dying, if they lye upon pigeon feathers
+they will be languishing and never die, but be in pain and
+torment," wrote a correspondent. A similar superstition about the
+feathers of different varieties of wild fowl<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1488" href="#ftn.fnrex1488" id=
+"fnrex1488">488</a>]</span> obtained in other districts. Brand
+traced this interesting traditional belief in Yorkshire,
+Lancashire, Derbyshire, and some of the Welsh and Irish
+counties.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1489" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1489" id="fnrex1489">489</a>]</span> It still lingers
+in parts of the Scottish Highlands. In the old ballad of "The
+Bloody Gardener" the white dove appears to a young man as the
+soul of his lady love who was murdered by his mother. He first
+saw the bird perched on his breast and then "sitting on a myrtle
+tree".<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1490" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1490" id="fnrex1490">490</a>]</span></p>
+<p>The dove was not only a symbol of Semiramis, but <a id=
+"page.anchor.432" name="page.anchor.432"></a>also of her mother
+Derceto, the Phoenician fish goddess. The connection between bird
+and fish may have been given an astral significance. In "Poor
+Robin's Almanack" for 1757 a St. Valentine rhyme begins:--</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>This month bright Phoebus enters
+Pisces,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>The maids will have good store of
+kisses,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>For always when the sun comes
+there,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Valentine's day is drawing
+near,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>And both the men and maids
+incline</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>To choose them each a
+Valentine.</tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>As we have seen, the example was set by the mating birds. The
+"Almanack" poet no doubt versified an old astrological belief:
+when the spring sun entered the sign of the Fishes, the love
+goddess in bird form returned to earth.</p>
+<p>Advocates of the Totemic theory, on the other hand, may hold
+that the association of doves with snake goddesses and fish
+goddesses of fertility was due to the fusion of tribes who had
+various animal totems. "The Pelew Islanders believed", says
+Professor Frazer, "that the souls of their forefathers lived in
+certain species of animals, which accordingly they held sacred
+and would not injure. For this reason one man would not kill
+snakes, another would not harm pigeons, and so on; but everyone
+was quite ready to kill and eat the sacred animals of his
+neighbours."<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1491" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1491" id="fnrex1491">491</a>]</span> That the
+Egyptians had similar customs is suggested by what Herodotus
+tells us regarding their sacred animals: "Those who live near
+Thebes and the lake Moeris hold the crocodile in religious
+veneration.... Those who live in or near Elephantine, so far from
+considering these beasts as sacred, make them an article of
+food.... The hippopotamus is esteemed sacred in the <a id=
+"page.anchor.433" name="page.anchor.433"></a>district of
+Papremis, but in no other part of Egypt.... They roast and boil
+... birds and fishes ... excepting those which are preserved for
+sacred purposes."<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1492" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1492" id="fnrex1492">492</a>]</span> Totemic animals
+controlled the destinies of tribes and families. "Grose tells
+us", says Brand, "that, besides general notices of death, many
+families have particular warnings or notices: some by the
+appearance of a bird, and others by the figure of a tall woman,
+dressed all in white.... Pennant says that many of the great
+families in Scotland had their demon or genius, who gave them
+monitions of future events."<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1493" href="#ftn.fnrex1493" id="fnrex1493">493</a>]</span>
+Members of tribes which venerated the pigeon therefore invoked it
+like the Egyptian love poet and drew omens from its notes, or saw
+one appearing as the soul of the dead like the lover in the
+ballad of "The Bloody Gardener". They refrained also from killing
+the pigeon except sacrificially, and suffered agonies on a
+deathbed which contained pigeon feathers, the "taboo" having been
+broken.</p>
+<p>Some such explanation is necessary to account for the
+specialization of certain goddesses as fish, snake, cat, or bird
+deities. Aphrodite, who like Ishtar absorbed the attributes of
+several goddesses of fertility and fate, had attached to her the
+various animal symbols which were prominent in districts or among
+tribes brought into close contact, while the poppy, rose, myrtle,
+&amp;c., which were used as love charms, or for making love
+potions, were also consecrated to her. Anthropomorphic deities
+were decorated with the symbols and flowers of folk religion.</p>
+<p>From the comparative evidence accumulated here, it will be
+seen that the theory of the mythical Semiramis's Median or
+Persian origin is somewhat narrow. It is possible that the dove
+was venerated in Cyprus, as it certainly was in Crete, long
+centuries before Assyrian and <a id="page.anchor.434" name=
+"page.anchor.434"></a>Babylonian influence filtered westward
+through Phoenician and Hittite channels. In another connection
+Sir Arthur Evans shows that the resemblance between Cretan and
+early Semitic beliefs "points rather to some remote common
+element, the nature of which is at present obscure, than to any
+definite borrowing by one side or another".<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1494" href="#ftn.fnrex1494" id=
+"fnrex1494">494</a>]</span></p>
+<p>From the evidence afforded by the Semiramis legends and the
+inscriptions of the latter half of the Assyrian Middle Empire
+period, it may be inferred that a renascence of "mother worship"
+was favoured by the social and political changes which were
+taking place. In the first place the influence of Babylon must
+have been strongly felt in this connection. The fact that
+Adadnirari found it necessary to win the support of the
+Babylonians by proclaiming his descent from one of their ancient
+royal families, suggests that he was not only concerned about the
+attitude assumed by the scholars of the southern kingdom, but
+also that of the masses of old Sumerian and Akkadian stocks who
+continued to bake cakes to the Queen of Heaven so as to ensure
+good harvests. In the second place it is not improbable that even
+in Assyria the introduction of Nebo and his spouse made
+widespread appeal. That country had become largely peopled by an
+alien population; many of these aliens came from districts where
+"mother worship" prevailed, and had no traditional respect for
+Ashur, while they regarded with hostility the military
+aristocracy who conquered and ruled in the name of that dreaded
+deity. Perhaps, too, the influence of the Aramaeans, who in
+Babylonia wrecked the temples of the sun god, tended to revive
+the ancient religion of the Mediterranean race. Jehu's religious
+revolt in Israel, which established once again the cult of
+Ashtoreth, occurred after he came under <a id="page.anchor.435"
+name="page.anchor.435"></a>the sway of Damascus, and may have not
+been unconnected with the political ascendancy elsewhere of the
+goddess cult.</p>
+<p>Nebo, whom Adad-nirari exalted at Kalkhi, was more than a
+local god of Borsippa. "The most satisfactory view", says
+Jastrow, "is to regard him as a counterpart of Ea. Like Ea, he is
+the embodiment and source of wisdom.... The study of the heavens
+formed part of the wisdom which is traced back to Nebo, and the
+temple school at Borsippa became one of the chief centres for the
+astrological, and, subsequently, for the astronomical lore of
+Babylonia.... Like Nebo, Ea is also associated with the
+irrigation of the fields and with their consequent fertility. A
+hymn praises him as the one who fills the canals and the dikes,
+who protects the fields and brings the crops to maturity." Nebo
+links with Merodach (Marduk), who is sometimes referred to as his
+father. Jastrow assumes that the close partnership between Nebo
+and Merodach "had as a consequence a transfer of some of the
+father Marduk's attributes as a solar deity to Nebo,<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1495" href="#ftn.fnrex1495" id=
+"fnrex1495">495</a>]</span> his son, just as Ea passed his traits
+on to his son, Marduk".<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1496"
+href="#ftn.fnrex1496" id="fnrex1496">496</a>]</span></p>
+<p>As the "recorder" or "scribe" among the gods, Nebo resembles
+the Egyptian god Thoth, who links with Khonsu, the lunar and
+spring sun god of love and fertility, and with Osiris. In
+Borsippa he had, like Merodach in Babylon, pronounced Tammuz
+traits. Nebo, in fact, appears to be the Tammuz of the new age,
+the son of the ancient goddess, who became "Husband of his
+Mother". If Nebo had no connection with Great Mother worship, it
+is unlikely that his statue would have <a id="page.anchor.436"
+name="page.anchor.436"></a>borne an inscription referring to King
+Adad-nirari and Queen Sammu-rammat on equal terms. The Assyrian
+spouse of Nebo was called Tashmit. This "goddess of supplication
+and love" had a lunar significance. A prayer addressed to her in
+association with Nannar (Sin) and Ishtar, proceeds:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>In the evil of the eclipse of the moon
+which ... has taken place,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>In the evil of the powers, of the
+portents, evil and not good, which are in my palace and my
+land,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>(I) have turned towards
+thee!...</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Before Nabu (Nebo) thy spouse, thy
+lord, the prince, the first-born of E-sagila, intercede for
+me!</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>May he hearken to my cry at the word of
+thy mouth; may he remove my sighing, may he learn my
+supplication!</tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>Damkina is similarly addressed in another prayer:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>O Damkina, mighty queen of all the
+gods,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>O wife of Ea, valiant art
+thou,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>O Ir-nina, mighty queen of all the gods
+...</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Thou that dwellest in the Abyss, O lady
+of heaven and earth!...</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>In the evil of the eclipse of the moon,
+etc.</tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>Bau is also prayed in a similar connection as "mighty lady
+that dwellest in the bright heavens", i.e. "Queen of
+heaven".<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1497" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1497" id="fnrex1497">497</a>]</span></p>
+<p>Tashmit, whose name signifies "Obedience", according to
+Jastrow, or "Hearing", according to Sayce, carried the prayers of
+worshippers to Nebo, her spouse. As Isis interceded with Osiris,
+she interceded with Nebo, on behalf of mankind. But this did not
+signify that she was the least influential of the divine pair. A
+goddess played many parts: she was at once mother, daughter, and
+wife of the god; the servant of one god or the "mighty queen of
+all the gods". The Great Mother <a id="page.anchor.437" name=
+"page.anchor.437"></a>was, as has been indicated, regarded as the
+eternal and undecaying one; the gods passed away, son succeeding
+father; she alone remained. Thus, too, did Semiramis survive in
+the popular memory, as the queen-goddess of widespread legends,
+after kings and gods had been forgotten. To her was ascribed all
+the mighty works of other days in the lands where the indigenous
+peoples first worshipped the Great Mother as Damkina, Nina, Bau,
+Ishtar, or Tashmit, because the goddess was anciently believed to
+be the First Cause, the creatrix, the mighty one who invested the
+ruling god with the powers he possessed--the god who held sway
+because he was her husband, as did Nergal as the husband of
+Eresh-ki-gal, queen of Hades.</p>
+<p>The multiplication of well-defined goddesses was partly due to
+the tendency to symbolize the attributes of the Great Mother, and
+partly due to the development of the great "Lady" in a particular
+district where she reflected local phenomena and where the
+political influence achieved by her worshippers emphasized her
+greatness. Legends regarding a famous goddess were in time
+attached to other goddesses, and in Aphrodite and Derceto we
+appear to have mother deities who absorbed the traditions of more
+than one local "lady" of river and plain, forest and mountain.
+Semiramis, on the other hand, survived as a link between the old
+world and the new, between the country from which emanated the
+stream of ancient culture and the regions which received it. As
+the high priestess of the cult, she became identified with the
+goddess whose bird name she bore, as Gilgamesh and Etana became
+identified with the primitive culture-hero or patriarch of the
+ancient Sumerians, and Sargon became identified with Tammuz. No
+doubt the fame of Semiramis was specially emphasized because of
+her close association, as Queen <a id="page.anchor.438" name=
+"page.anchor.438"></a>Sammu-rammat, with the religious
+innovations which disturbed the land of the god Ashur during the
+Middle Empire period.</p>
+<p>Adad-nirari IV, the son or husband of Sammu-rammat, was a
+vigorous and successful campaigner. He was the Assyrian king who
+became the "saviour" of Israel. Although it is not possible to
+give a detailed account of his various expeditions, we find from
+the list of these which survives in the Eponym Chronicle that he
+included in the Assyrian Empire a larger extent of territory than
+any of his predecessors. In the north-east he overcame the Median
+and other tribes, and acquired a large portion of the Iranian
+plateau; he compelled Edom to pay tribute, and established his
+hold in Babylonia by restricting the power of the Chaldaeans in
+Sealand. In the north he swayed--at least, so he claimed--the
+wide domains of the Nairi people. He also confirmed his supremacy
+over the Hittites.</p>
+<p>The Aramaean state of Damascus, which had withstood the attack
+of the great Shalmaneser and afterwards oppressed, as we have
+seen, the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, was completely
+overpowered by Adad-nirari. The old king, Hazael, died when
+Assyria's power was being strengthened and increased along his
+frontiers. He was succeeded by his son Mari, who is believed to
+be identical with the Biblical Ben-Hadad III.<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1498" href="#ftn.fnrex1498" id=
+"fnrex1498">498</a>]</span></p>
+<p>Shortly after this new monarch came to the throne, Adad-nirari
+IV led a great army against him. The Syrian ruler appears to have
+been taken by surprise; probably his kingdom was suffering from
+the three defeats which had been previously administered by the
+revolting Israelites.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1499" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1499" id="fnrex1499">499</a>]</span> At any rate Mari
+was unable to gather together an army of allies to resist the
+Assyrian advance, and took <a id="page.anchor.439" name=
+"page.anchor.439"></a>refuge behind the walls of Damascus. This
+strongly fortified city was closely invested, and Mari had at
+length to submit and acknowledge Adad-nirari as his overlord. The
+price of peace included 23,000 talents of silver, 20 of gold,
+3000 of copper, and 5000 of iron, as well as ivory ornaments and
+furniture, embroidered materials, and other goods "to a countless
+amount". Thus "the Lord gave Israel a saviour, so that they went
+out from under the hand of the Syrians: and the children of
+Israel dwelt in their tents, as beforetime". This significant
+reference to the conquest of Damascus by the Assyrian king is
+followed by another which throws light on the religious phenomena
+of the period: "Nevertheless they departed not from the sins of
+the house of Jeroboam, who made Israel sin, but walked therein:
+and there remained the grove also in Samaria".<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1500" href="#ftn.fnrex1500" id=
+"fnrex1500">500</a>]</span> Ashtoreth and her golden calf
+continued to be venerated, and doves were sacrificed to the local
+Adonis.</p>
+<p>It is not certain whether Adad-nirari penetrated farther than
+Damascus. Possibly all the states which owed allegiance to the
+king of that city became at once the willing vassals of Assyria,
+their protector. The tribute received by Adad-nirari from Tyre,
+Sidon, the land of Omri (Israel), Edom, and Palastu (Philistia)
+may have been gifted as a formal acknowledgment of his suzerainty
+and with purpose to bring them directly under Assyrian control,
+so that Damascus might be prevented from taking vengeance against
+them.</p>
+<p>Meagre details survive regarding the reign of the next king,
+Shalmaneser IV (781-772 B.C). These are, however, supplemented by
+the Urartian inscriptions. Although Adad-nirari boasted that he
+had subdued the kingdom of Urartu in the north, he appears to
+have <a id="page.anchor.440" name="page.anchor.440"></a>done no
+more than limit its southern expansion for a time.</p>
+<p>The Urarti were, like the Mitanni, a military
+aristocracy<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1501" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1501" id="fnrex1501">501</a>]</span> who welded
+together by conquest the tribes of the eastern and northern
+Highlands which several Assyrian monarchs included in their
+Empire. They acquired the elements of Assyrian culture, and used
+the Assyrian script for their own language. Their god was named
+Khaldis, and they called their nation Khaldia. During the reign
+of Ashur-natsir-pal their area of control was confined to the
+banks of the river Araxes, but it was gradually extended under a
+succession of vigorous kings towards the south-west until they
+became supreme round the shores of Lake Van. Three of their early
+kings were Lutipris, Sharduris I, and Arame.</p>
+<p>During the reign of Shamshi-Adad the Assyrians came into
+conflict with the Urarti, who were governed at the time by
+"Ushpina of Nairi" (Ishpuinis, son of Sharduris II). The Urartian
+kingdom had extended rapidly and bordered on Assyrian territory.
+To the west were the tribes known as the Mannai, the northern
+enemies of the Medes, a people of Indo-European speech.</p>
+<p>When Adad-nirari IV waged war against the Urarti, their king
+was Menuas, the son of Ishpuinis. Menuas was a great war-lord,
+and was able to measure his strength against Assyria on equal
+terms. He had nearly doubled by conquest the area controlled by
+his predecessors. Adad-nirari endeavoured to drive his rival
+northward, but all along the Assyrian frontier from the Euphrates
+to the Lower Zab, Menuas forced the outposts of Adad-nirari to
+retreat southward. The Assyrians, in short, were unable to hold
+their own.</p>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.441" name="page.anchor.441"></a>Having
+extended his kingdom towards the south, Menuas invaded Hittite
+territory, subdued Malatia and compelled its king to pay tribute.
+He also conquered the Mannai and other tribes. Towards the north
+and north-west he added a considerable area to his kingdom, which
+became as large as Assyria.</p>
+<p>Menuas's capital was the city of Turushpa or Dhuspas (Van),
+which was called Khaldinas<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1502"
+href="#ftn.fnrex1502" id="fnrex1502">502</a>]</span> after the
+national god. For a century it was the seat of Urartian
+administration. The buildings erected there by Menuas and his
+successors became associated in after-time with the traditions of
+Semiramis, who, as Queen Sammu-rammat of Assyria, was a
+contemporary of the great Urartian conqueror. Similarly a
+sculptured representation of the Hittite god was referred to by
+Herodotus as a memorial of the Egyptian king Sesostris.</p>
+<p>The strongest fortification at Dhuspas was the citadel, which
+was erected on a rocky promontory jutting into Lake Van. A small
+garrison could there resist a prolonged siege. The water supply
+of the city was assured by the construction of subterranean
+aqueducts. Menuas erected a magnificent palace, which rivalled
+that of the Assyrian monarch at Kalkhi, and furnished it with the
+rich booty brought back from victorious campaigns. He was a lover
+of trees and planted many, and he laid out gardens which bloomed
+with brilliant Asian flowers. The palace commanded a noble
+prospect of hill and valley scenery on the south-western shore of
+beautiful Lake Van.</p>
+<p>Menuas was succeeded by his son Argistis, who ascended the
+throne during the lifetime of Adad-nirari of Assyria. During the
+early part of his reign he conducted military expeditions to the
+north beyond the river <a id="page.anchor.442" name=
+"page.anchor.442"></a>Araxes. He afterwards came into conflict
+with Assyria, and acquired more territory on its northern
+frontier. He also subdued the Mannai, who had risen in
+revolt.</p>
+<p>For three years (781-778 B.C.) the general of Shalmaneser IV
+waged war constantly with Urartu, and again in 776 B.C. and 774
+B.C. attempts were made to prevent the southern expansion of that
+Power. On more than one occasion the Assyrians were defeated and
+compelled to retreat.</p>
+<p>Assyria suffered serious loss of prestige on account of its
+inability to hold in check its northern rival. Damascus rose in
+revolt and had to be subdued, and northern Syria was greatly
+disturbed. Hadrach was visited in the last year of the king's
+reign.</p>
+<p>Ashur-dan III (771-763 B.C.) occupied the Assyrian throne
+during a period of great unrest. He was unable to attack Urartu.
+His army had to operate instead on his eastern and southern
+frontiers. A great plague broke out in 765 B.C., the year in
+which Hadrach had again to be dealt with. On June 15, 763 B.C.,
+there was a total eclipse of the sun, and that dread event was
+followed by a revolt at Asshur which was no doubt of priestly
+origin. The king's son Adad-nirari was involved in it, but it is
+not certain whether or not he displaced his father for a time. In
+758 B.C. Ashur-dan again showed signs of activity by endeavouring
+to suppress the revolts which during the period of civil war had
+broken out in Syria.</p>
+<p>Adad-nirari V came to the throne in 763 B.C. He had to deal
+with revolts in Asshur in other cities. Indeed for the greater
+part of his reign he seems to have been kept fully engaged
+endeavouring to establish his authority within the Assyrian
+borders. The Syrian provinces regained their independence.</p>
+<p>During the first four years of his successor Ashurnirari
+<a id="page.anchor.443" name="page.anchor.443"></a>IV (753-746
+B.C.) the army never left Assyria. Namri was visited in 749-748
+B.C., but it is not certain whether he fought against the
+Urartians, or the Aramaeans who had become active during this
+period of Assyrian decline. In 746 B.C. a revolt broke out in the
+city of Kalkhi and the king had to leave it. Soon afterwards he
+died--perhaps he was assassinated--and none of his sons came to
+the throne. A year previously Nabu-natsir, known to the Greeks as
+Nabonassar, was crowned king of Babylonia.</p>
+<p>Ashur-nirari IV appears to have been a monarch of somewhat
+like character to the famous Akhenaton of Egypt--an idealist for
+whom war had no attractions. He kept his army at home while his
+foreign possessions rose in revolt one after another. Apparently
+he had dreams of guarding Assyria against attack by means of
+treaties of peace. He arranged one with a Mesopotamian king,
+Mati-ilu of Agusi, who pledged himself not to go to war without
+the consent of his Assyrian overlord, and it is possible that
+there were other documents of like character which have not
+survived to us. During his leisure hours the king engaged himself
+in studious pursuits and made additions to the royal library. In
+the end his disappointed soldiers found a worthy leader in one of
+its generals who seized the throne and assumed the royal name of
+Tiglath-pileser.</p>
+<p>Ashur-nirari IV was the last king of the Middle Empire of
+Assyria. He may have been a man of high character and refinement
+and worthy of our esteem, although an unsuitable ruler for a
+predatory State.</p>
+<div class="footnotes"><br />
+<hr width="100" align="left" />
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1464" href="#fnrex1464" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1464">464</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>The
+Land of the Hittites</em></span>, J. Garstang, p. 354.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1465" href="#fnrex1465" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1465">465</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>The
+Old Testament in the Light of the Historical Records and Legends
+of Assyria and Babylonia,</em></span> T.G. Pinches, p. 343.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1466" href="#fnrex1466" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1466">466</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>Nat.
+Hist</em></span>., v, 19 and <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Strabo</em></span> xvi, 1-27.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1467" href="#fnrex1467" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1467">467</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>The
+Mahabharata</em></span>: <span class="emphasis"><em>Adi
+Parva</em></span>, sections lxxi and lxxii (Roy's translation,
+pp. 213 216, and <span class="emphasis"><em>Indian Myth and
+Legend</em></span>, pp. 157 <span class="emphasis"><em>et
+seq</em></span>.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1468" href="#fnrex1468" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1468">468</a>]</span> That is, without ceremony but
+with consent.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1469" href="#fnrex1469" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1469">469</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>The
+Golden Bough</em></span> (<span class="emphasis"><em>The
+Scapegoat</em></span>), pp. 369 <span class="emphasis"><em>et
+seq.</em></span>, (3rd edition). Perhaps the mythic Semiramis and
+legends connected were in existence long before the historic
+Sammu-rammat, though the two got mixed up.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1470" href="#fnrex1470" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1470">470</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Herodotus</em></span>, i, 184.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1471" href="#fnrex1471" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1471">471</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>De dea
+Syria</em></span>, 9-14.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1472" href="#fnrex1472" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1472">472</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Strabo</em></span>, xvi, 1, 2.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1473" href="#fnrex1473" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1473">473</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Diodorus Siculus</em></span>, ii, 3.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1474" href="#fnrex1474" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1474">474</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Herodotus</em></span>, i, 105.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1475" href="#fnrex1475" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1475">475</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Diodorus Siculus</em></span>, ii, 4.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1476" href="#fnrex1476" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1476">476</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>De dea
+Syria</em></span>, 14.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1477" href="#fnrex1477" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1477">477</a>]</span> This little bird allied to the
+woodpecker twists its neck strangely when alarmed. It may have
+symbolized the coquettishness of fair maidens. As love goddesses
+were "Fates", however, the wryneck may have been connected with
+the belief that the perpetrator of a murder, or a death spell,
+could be detected when he approached his victim's corpse. If
+there was no wound to "bleed afresh", the "death thraw" (the
+contortions of death) might indicate who the criminal was. In a
+Scottish ballad regarding a lady, who was murdered by her lover,
+the verse occurs:</div>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>'Twas in the middle o' the
+night</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>��The cock began to craw;</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>And at the middle o' the
+night</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>��The corpse began to thraw.</tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1478" href="#fnrex1478" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1478">478</a>]</span> Langdon's <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Sumerian and Babylonian Psalms</em></span>, pp.
+133, 135.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1479" href="#fnrex1479" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1479">479</a>]</span> Introduction to Lane's
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Manners and Customs of the Modern
+Egyptians.</em></span></div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1480" href="#fnrex1480" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1480">480</a>]</span> Tammuz is referred to in a
+Sumerian psalm as "him of the dovelike voice, yea, dovelike". He
+may have had a dove form. Angus, the Celtic god of spring, love,
+and fertility, had a swan form; he also had his seasonal period
+of sleep like Tammuz.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1481" href="#fnrex1481" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1481">481</a>]</span> Campbell's <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Superstitions of the Scottish
+Highlands</em></span>, p. 288.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1482" href="#fnrex1482" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1482">482</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>Indian
+Myth and Legend</em></span>, p. 95.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1483" href="#fnrex1483" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1483">483</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Ibid</em></span>., pp. 329-30.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1484" href="#fnrex1484" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1484">484</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>Crete,
+the Forerunner of Greece</em></span>, C.H. and H.B. Hawes, p.
+139</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1485" href="#fnrex1485" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1485">485</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>The
+Discoveries in Crete</em></span>, pp. 137-8.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1486" href="#fnrex1486" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1486">486</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Religion of the Semites</em></span>, p. 294.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1487" href="#fnrex1487" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1487">487</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Egyptian Myth and Legend</em></span>, p. 59.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1488" href="#fnrex1488" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1488">488</a>]</span> Including the goose, one of the
+forms of the harvest goddess.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1489" href="#fnrex1489" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1489">489</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Brand's Popular Antiquities</em></span>, vol. ii,
+230-1 and vol. iii, 232 (1899 ed.).</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1490" href="#fnrex1490" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1490">490</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Ibid</em></span>., vol. iii, 217. The myrtle was
+used for love charms.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1491" href="#fnrex1491" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1491">491</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>The
+Golden Bough</em></span> (<span class="emphasis"><em>Spirits of
+the Corn and of the Wild</em></span>), vol. ii, p. 293 (3rd
+ed.).</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1492" href="#fnrex1492" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1492">492</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Herodotus</em></span>, ii, 69, 71, and 77.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1493" href="#fnrex1493" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1493">493</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Brand's Popular Antiquities</em></span>, vol. iii,
+p. 227.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1494" href="#fnrex1494" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1494">494</a>]</span> Cited by Professor Burrows in
+<span class="emphasis"><em>The Discoveries in Crete</em></span>,
+p. 134.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1495" href="#fnrex1495" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1495">495</a>]</span> Like the Egyptian Horus, Nebo had
+many phases: he was connected with the sun and moon, the planet
+Mercury, water and crops; he was young and yet old--a mystical
+god.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1496" href="#fnrex1496" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1496">496</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Aspects of Religious Belief and Practice in
+Babylonia and Assyria</em></span>, pp. 94 <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>et seq.</em></span></div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1497" href="#fnrex1497" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1497">497</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Babylonian Magic and Sorcery</em></span>, L.W.
+King, pp. 6-7 and 26-7.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1498" href="#fnrex1498" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1498">498</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>2
+Kings</em></span>, xiii, 3.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1499" href="#fnrex1499" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1499">499</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>2
+Kings</em></span>, xiii, 14-25.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1500" href="#fnrex1500" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1500">500</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>3
+Kings</em></span>, xiii, 5, 6.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1501" href="#fnrex1501" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1501">501</a>]</span> The masses of the Urartian folk
+appear to have been of Hatti stock--"broad heads", like their
+descendants, the modern Armenians.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1502" href="#fnrex1502" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1502">502</a>]</span> It is uncertain whether this city
+or Kullani in north Syria it the Biblical Calno. <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Isaiah</em></span>, x, 9.</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="chapter" lang="en" xml:lang="en">
+<div class="titlepage">
+<div>
+<div>
+<h2 class="title"><a id="id2546714" name=
+"id2546714"></a>Chapter�XIX.�Assyria's Age of Splendour</h2>
+</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="abstract">
+<p class="title"><b>Abstract</b></p>
+<p>Tiglath-pileser IV, the Biblical Pul--Babylonian
+Campaign--Urartian Ambitions in North Syria--Battle of Two Kings
+and Flight of Sharduris-- Conquest of Syro-Cappadocian
+States--Hebrew History from Jehu to Menahem --Israel subject to
+Assyria--Urartu's Power broken--Ahaz's Appeal to
+Assyria--Damascus and Israel subdued--Babylonia united to
+Assyria--Shalmaneser and Hoshea--Sargon deports the "Lost Ten
+Tribes"--Merodach Baladan King of Babylonia--Egyptian Army of
+Allies routed--Ahaz and Isaiah--Frontier Campaigns--Merodach
+Baladan overthrown--Sennacherib and the Hittite States--Merodach
+Baladan's second and brief Reign--Hezekiah and
+Sennacherib--Destruction of Assyrian Army--Sack of Babylon--
+Esarhaddon--A Second Semiramis--Raids of Elamites, Cimmerians,
+Scythians, and Medes--Sack of Sidon--Manasseh and Isaiah's
+Fate--Esarhaddon conquers Lower Egypt--Revolt of Assyrian
+Nobles--Ashurbanipal.</p>
+</div>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.444" name="page.anchor.444"></a> We now
+enter upon the last and most brilliant phase of Assyrian
+civilization--the period of the Third or New Empire during which
+flourished Tiglath-pileser IV, the mighty conqueror; the
+Shalmaneser of the Bible; "Sargon the Later", who transported the
+"lost ten tribes" of Israel; Sennacherib, the destroyer of
+Babylon, and Esarhaddon, who made Lower Egypt an Assyrian
+province. We also meet with notable figures of Biblical fame,
+including Ahaz, Hezekiah, Isaiah, and the idolatrous
+Manasseh.</p>
+<p>Tiglath-pileser IV, who deposed Ashur-nirari IV, was known to
+the Babylonians as Pulu, which, some think, was a term of
+contempt signifying "wild animal". In the Bible he is referred to
+as Pul, Tiglath-pilneser, and <a id="page.anchor.445" name=
+"page.anchor.445"></a>Tiglath-pileser.<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1503" href="#ftn.fnrex1503" id="fnrex1503">503</a>]</span>
+He came to the Assyrian throne towards the end of April in 745
+B.C. and reigned until 727 B.C. We know nothing regarding his
+origin, but it seems clear that he was not of royal descent. He
+appears to have been a popular leader of the revolt against
+Ashur-nirari, who, like certain of his predecessors, had
+pronounced pro-Babylonian tendencies. It is significant to note
+in this connection that the new king was an unswerving adherent
+of the cult of Ashur, by the adherents of which he was probably
+strongly supported.</p>
+<p>Tiglath-pileser combined in equal measure those qualities of
+generalship and statesmanship which were necessary for the
+reorganization of the Assyrian state and the revival of its
+military prestige. At the beginning of his reign there was much
+social discontent and suffering. The national exchequer had been
+exhausted by the loss of tribute from revolting provinces, trade
+was paralysed, and the industries were in a languishing
+condition. Plundering bands of Aramaeans were menacing the
+western frontiers and had overrun part of northern Babylonia. New
+political confederacies in Syria kept the north-west regions in a
+constant state of unrest, and the now powerful Urartian kingdom
+was threatening the Syro-Cappadocian states as if its rulers had
+dreams of building up a great world empire on the ruins of that
+of Assyria.</p>
+<p>Tiglath-pileser first paid attention to Babylonia, and
+extinguished the resistance of the Aramaeans in Akkad. He appears
+to have been welcomed by Nabonassar, who became his vassal, and
+he offered sacrifices in the cities of Babylon, Sippar, Cuthah,
+and Nippur. Sippar had been occupied by Aramaeans, as on a
+previous occasion when they destroyed the temple of the sun god
+Shamash which was restored by Nabu-aplu-iddina of Babylon.</p>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.446" name=
+"page.anchor.446"></a>Tiglath-pileser did not overrun Chaldaea,
+but he destroyed its capital, Sarrabanu, and impaled King
+Nabu-ushabshi. He proclaimed himself "King of Sumer and Akkad"
+and "King of the Four Quarters". The frontier states of Elam and
+Media were visited and subdued.</p>
+<p>Having disposed of the Aramaeans and other raiders, the
+Assyrian monarch had next to deal with his most powerful rival,
+Urartu. Argistis I had been succeeded by Sharduris III, who had
+formed an alliance with the north Mesopotamian king, Mati-ilu of
+Agusi, on whom Ashur-nirari had reposed his faith. Ere long
+Sharduris pressed southward from Malatia and compelled the north
+Syrian Hittite states, including Carchemish, to acknowledge his
+suzerainty. A struggle then ensued between Urartu and Assyria for
+the possession of the Syro-Cappadocian states.</p>
+<p>At this time the reputation of Tiglath-pileser hung in the
+balance. If he failed in his attack on Urartu, his prestige would
+vanish at home and abroad and Sharduris might, after establishing
+himself in northern Syria, invade Assyria and compel its
+allegiance.</p>
+<p>Two courses lay before Tiglath-pileser. He could either cross
+the mountains and invade Urartu, or strike at his rival in north
+Syria, where the influence of Assyria had been completely
+extinguished. The latter appeared to him to be the most feasible
+and judicious procedure, for if he succeeded in expelling the
+invaders he would at the same time compel the allegiance of the
+rebellious Hittite states.</p>
+<div class="figure"><a id="id2546871" name="id2546871"></a>
+<p class="title"><b>Figure�XIX.1.�STATUE OF NEBO</b></p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<p>Dedicated by Adad-nirari IV, and the Queen, Sammu-rammat
+(<span class="emphasis"><em>British Museum</em></span>)</p>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="graphic"><img alt="" src="img/36.jpg" /></div>
+<div class="figure"><a id="id2546890" name="id2546890"></a>
+<p class="title"><b>Figure�XIX.2.�TIGLATH-PLESSER IV IN HIS
+CHARIOT</b></p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote"></blockquote>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="graphic"><img alt="" src="img/37.jpg" /></div>
+<p>In the spring of 743 B.C. Tiglath-pileser led his army across
+the Euphrates and reached Arpad without meeting with any
+resistance. The city appears to have opened its gates to him
+although it was in the kingdom of Mati-ilu, who acknowledged
+Urartian sway. Its foreign garrison <a id="page.anchor.447" name=
+"page.anchor.447"></a>was slaughtered. Well might Sharduris
+exclaim, in the words of the prophet, "Where is the king of
+Arpad? where are the gods of Arpad?"<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1504" href="#ftn.fnrex1504" id=
+"fnrex1504">504</a>]</span></p>
+<p>Leaving Arpad, Tiglath-pileser advanced to meet Sharduris, who
+was apparently hastening southward to attack the Assyrians in the
+rear. Tiglath-pileser, however, crossed the Euphrates and, moving
+northward, delivered an unexpected attack on the Urartian army in
+Qummukh. A fierce battle ensued, and one of its dramatic
+incidents was a single combat between the rival kings. The tide
+of battle flowed in Assyria's favour, and when evening was
+falling the chariots and cavalry of Urartu were thrown into
+confusion. An attempt was made to capture King Sharduris, who
+leapt from his chariot and made hasty escape on horseback, hotly
+pursued in the gathering darkness by an Assyrian contingent of
+cavalry. Not until "the bridge of the Euphrates" was reached was
+the exciting night chase abandoned.</p>
+<p>Tiglath-pileser had achieved an overwhelming victory against
+an army superior to his own in numbers. Over 70,000 of the enemy
+were slain or taken captive, while the Urartian camp with its
+stores and horses and followers fell into the hands of the
+triumphant Assyrians. Tiglath-pileser burned the royal tent and
+throne as an offering to Ashur, and carried Sharduris's bed to
+the temple of the goddess of Nineveh, whither he returned to
+prepare a new plan of campaign against his northern rival.</p>
+<p>Despite the blow dealt against Urartu, Assyria did not
+immediately regain possession of north Syria. The shifty Mati-ilu
+either cherished the hope that Sharduris would recover strength
+and again invade north Syria, or that he might himself establish
+an empire in that region. Tiglath-pileser had therefore to march
+westward again. <a id="page.anchor.448" name=
+"page.anchor.448"></a>For three years he conducted vigorous
+campaigns in "the western land", where he met with vigorous
+resistance. In 740 B.C. Arpad was captured and Mati-ilu deposed
+and probably put to death. Two years later Kullani and Hamath
+fell, and the districts which they controlled were included in
+the Assyrian empire and governed by Crown officials.</p>
+<p>Once again the Hebrews came into contact with Assyria. The
+Dynasty of Jehu had come to an end by this time. Its fall may not
+have been unconnected with the trend of events in Assyria during
+the closing years of the Middle Empire.</p>
+<p>Supported by Assyria, the kings of Israel had become powerful
+and haughty. Jehoash, the grandson of Jehu, had achieved
+successes in conflict with Damascus. In Judah the unstable
+Amaziah, son of Joash, was strong enough to lay a heavy hand on
+Edom, and flushed with triumph then resolved to readjust his
+relations with his overlord, the king of Israel. Accordingly he
+sent a communication to Jehoash which contained some proposal
+regarding their political relations, concluding with the offer or
+challenge, "Come, let us look one another in the face". A
+contemptuous answer was returned.</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<p>Jehoash the king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah,
+saying, The thistle that was in Lebanon sent to the cedar that
+was in Lebanon, saying, Give thy daughter to my son to wife: and
+there passed by a wild beast that was in Lebanon, and trode down
+the thistle. Thou hast indeed smitten Edom, and thine heart hath
+lifted thee up: glory of this, and tarry at home, for why
+shouldest thou meddle to thy hurt, that thou shouldest fall, even
+thou, and Judah with thee? But Amaziah would not hear. Therefore
+Jehoash king of Israel went up; and he and Amaziah king of Judah
+looked one another in the face at Beth-shemesh [city of Shamash,
+the sun god], which belongeth to Judah. And Judah was put to the
+worse before Israel; and they fled every man to their tents.</p>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.449" name="page.anchor.449"></a>Jehoash
+afterwards destroyed a large portion of the wall of Jerusalem and
+plundered the temple and palace, returning home to Samaria with
+rich booty and hostages.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1505"
+href="#ftn.fnrex1505" id="fnrex1505">505</a>]</span> Judah thus
+remained a vassal state of Israel's.</p>
+<p>Jeroboam, son of Jehoash, had a long and prosperous reign.
+About 773 B.C. he appears to have co-operated with Assyria and
+conquered Damascus and Hamath. His son Zachariah, the last king
+of the Jehu Dynasty of Israel, came to the throne in 740 B.C.
+towards the close of the reign of Azariah, son of Amaziah, king
+of Judah. Six months afterwards he was assassinated by Shallum.
+This usurper held sway at Samaria for only a month. "For Menahem
+the son of Gadi went up from Tirzah, and came to Samaria, and
+smote Shallum the son of Jabesh in Samaria, and slew him, and
+reigned in his stead."<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1506"
+href="#ftn.fnrex1506" id="fnrex1506">506</a>]</span></p>
+<p>Tiglath-pileser was operating successfully in middle Syria
+when he had dealings with, among others, "Menihimme (Menahem) of
+the city of the Samarians", who paid tribute. No resistance was
+possible on the part of Menahem, the usurper, who was probably
+ready to welcome the Assyrian conqueror, so that, by arranging an
+alliance, he might secure his own position. The Biblical
+reference is as follows: "And Pul the king of Assyria came
+against the land: and Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of
+silver, that his hand might be with him to confirm the kingdom in
+his hand. And Menahem exacted the money of Israel, even of all
+the mighty men of wealth, of each man fifty shekels of silver, to
+give to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria turned back,
+and stayed not there in the land."<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1507" href="#ftn.fnrex1507" id="fnrex1507">507</a>]</span>
+Rezin of Damascus, Hiram of Tyre, and Zabibi, queen of the
+Arabians, also sent gifts to Tiglath-pileser at this time (738
+B.C.). Aramaean revolts on the borders of Elam were suppressed by
+<a id="page.anchor.450" name="page.anchor.450"></a>Assyrian
+governors, and large numbers of the inhabitants were transported
+to various places in Syria.</p>
+<p>Tiglath-pileser next operated against the Median and other
+hill tribes in the north-east. In 735 B.C. he invaded Urartu, the
+great Armenian state which had threatened the supremacy of
+Assyria in north Syria and Cappadocia. King Sharduris was unable
+to protect his frontier or hamper the progress of the advancing
+army, which penetrated to his capital. Dhuspas was soon captured,
+but Sharduris took refuge in his rocky citadel which he and his
+predecessors had laboured to render impregnable. There he was
+able to defy the might of Assyria, for the fortress could be
+approached on the western side alone by a narrow path between
+high walls and towers, so that only a small force could find room
+to operate against the numerous garrison.</p>
+<p>Tiglath-pileser had to content himself by devastating the city
+on the plain and the neighbouring villages. He overthrew
+buildings, destroyed orchards, and transported to Nineveh those
+of the inhabitants he had not put to the sword, with all the live
+stock he could lay hands on. Thus was Urartu crippled and
+humiliated: it never regained its former prestige among the
+northern states.</p>
+<p>In the following year Tiglath-pileser returned to Syria. The
+circumstances which made this expedition necessary are of special
+interest on account of its Biblical associations. Menahem, king
+of Israel, had died, and was succeeded by his son Pekahiah. "But
+Pekah the son of Remaliah, a captain of his, conspired against
+him and smote him in Samaria, in the palace of the king's house,
+... and he killed him, and reigned in his room."<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1508" href="#ftn.fnrex1508" id=
+"fnrex1508">508</a>]</span> When Pekah was on the throne, Ahaz
+began to reign over Judah.</p>
+<p>Judah had taken advantage of the disturbed conditions <a id=
+"page.anchor.451" name="page.anchor.451"></a>in Israel to assert
+its independence. The walls of Jerusalem were repaired by Jotham,
+father of Ahaz, and a tunnel constructed to supply it with water.
+Isaiah refers to this tunnel: "Go forth and meet Ahaz ... at the
+end of the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the
+fuller's field" (<span class="emphasis"><em>Isaiah,</em></span>
+vii, 3).</p>
+<p>Pekah had to deal with a powerful party in Israel which
+favoured the re-establishment of David's kingdom in Palestine.
+Their most prominent leader was the prophet Amos, whose eloquent
+exhortations were couched in no uncertain terms. He condemned
+Israel for its idolatries, and cried:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<p>For thus saith the Lord unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me
+and ye shall live.... Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and
+offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel? But
+ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your
+images, the star of your god, which ye made to
+yourselves.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1509" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1509" id="fnrex1509">509</a>]</span></p>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>Pekah sought to extinguish the orthodox party's movement by
+subduing Judah. So he plotted with Rezin, king of Damascus. Amos
+prophesied,</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<p>Thus saith the Lord.... I will send a fire into the house of
+Hazael, which will devour the palaces of Ben-hadad. I will break
+also the bar of Damascus ... and the people of Syria shall go
+into captivity unto Kir.... The remnant of the Philistines shall
+perish.</p>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>Tyre, Edom, and Ammon would also be punished.<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1510" href="#ftn.fnrex1510" id=
+"fnrex1510">510</a>]</span> Judah was completely isolated by the
+allies who acknowledged the suzerainty of Damascus. Soon after
+Ahaz came to the throne he found himself hemmed in on every side
+by adversaries who desired to accomplish his fall. "At that time
+Rezin, king of Syria, and Pekah ...came up to Jerusalem to war:
+and they besieged <a id="page.anchor.452" name=
+"page.anchor.452"></a>Ahaz, but could not overcome
+him."<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1511" href="#ftn.fnrex1511"
+id="fnrex1511">511</a>]</span> Judah, however, was overrun; the
+city of Elath was captured and restored to Edom, while the
+Philistines were liberated from the control of Jerusalem.</p>
+<p>Isaiah visited Ahaz and said,</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<p>Take heed, and be quiet; fear not, neither be faint-hearted
+for the two tails of these smoking firebrands, for the fierce
+anger of Rezin with Syria, and of the son of Remaliah. Because
+Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah, have taken evil counsel
+against thee, saying, Let us go up against Judah, and vex it, and
+let us make a breach therein for us, and set a king in the midst
+of it, even the son of Tabeal: Thus saith the Lord God, It shall
+not stand, neither shall it come to pass.<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1512" href="#ftn.fnrex1512" id=
+"fnrex1512">512</a>]</span></p>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>The unstable Ahaz had sought assistance from the Baal, and
+"made his son to pass through the fire, according to the
+abominations of the heathen".<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1513" href="#ftn.fnrex1513" id="fnrex1513">513</a>]</span>
+Then he resolved to purchase the sympathy of one of the great
+Powers. There was no hope of assistance from "the fly that is in
+the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt", for the Ethiopian
+Pharaohs had not yet conquered the Delta region, so he turned to
+"the bee that is in the land of Assyria".<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1514" href="#ftn.fnrex1514" id=
+"fnrex1514">514</a>]</span> Assyria was the last resource of the
+king of Judah.</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<p>So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria,
+saying, I am thy servant and thy son: come up and save me out of
+the hand of Syria and out of the hand of the king of Israel,
+which rise up against me. And Ahaz took the silver and gold that
+was found in the house of the Lord, and in the treasures of the
+king's house, and sent it for a present to the king of Assyria.
+And the king of Assyria hearkened unto him: for the king of
+Assyria went up against Damascus, and took it, and carried the
+people of it captive to Kir<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1515"
+href="#ftn.fnrex1515" id="fnrex1515">515</a>]</span> and slew
+Rezin.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1516" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1516" id="fnrex1516">516</a>]</span></p>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.453" name=
+"page.anchor.453"></a>Tiglath-pileser recorded that Rezin took
+refuge in his city like "a mouse". Israel was also dealt
+with.</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<p>In the days of Pekah king of Israel came Tiglath-pileser king
+of Assyria, and took Ijon and Abel-beth-maachah, and Janoah and
+Kedesh, and Hazor, and Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of
+Naphtali, and carried them captive to Assyria. And Hoshea the son
+of Elah made a conspiracy against Pekah the son of Remaliah, and
+smote him, and slew him, and reigned in his stead.<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1517" href="#ftn.fnrex1517" id=
+"fnrex1517">517</a>]</span></p>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>Tiglath-pileser recorded: "They overthrew Paqaha (Pekah),
+their king, and placed Ausi'a (Hoshea) over them". He swept
+through Israel "like a hurricane". The Philistines and the
+Arabians of the desert were also subdued. Tribute was sent to the
+Assyrian monarch by Phoenicia, Moab, Ammon, and Edom. It was a
+proud day for Ahaz when he paid a visit to Tiglath-pileser at
+Damascus.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1518" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1518" id="fnrex1518">518</a>]</span> An Assyrian
+governor was appointed to rule over Syria and its subject
+states.</p>
+<p>Babylon next claimed the attention of Tiglath-pileser.
+Nabonassar had died and was succeeded by his son Nabu-nadin-zeri,
+who, after reigning for two years, was slain in a rebellion. The
+throne was then seized by Nabu-shum-ukin, but in less than two
+months this usurper was assassinated and the Chaldaeans had one
+of their chiefs, Ukinzer, proclaimed king (732 B.C.).</p>
+<p>When the Assyrian king returned from Syria in 731 B.C. he
+invaded Babylonia. He was met with a stubborn resistance. Ukinzer
+took refuge in his capital, Shapia, which held out successfully,
+although the surrounding country was ravaged and despoiled. Two
+years afterwards Tiglath-pileser returned, captured Shapia, and
+restored peace throughout Babylonia. He was welcomed in Babylon,
+which opened its gates to him, and he had himself <a id=
+"page.anchor.454" name="page.anchor.454"></a>proclaimed king of
+Sumer and Akkad. The Chaldaeans paid tribute.</p>
+<p>Tiglath-pileser had now reached the height of his ambition. He
+had not only extended his empire in the west from Cappadocia to
+the river of Egypt, crippled Urartu and pacified his eastern
+frontier, but brought Assyria into close union with Babylonia,
+the mother land, the home of culture and the land of the ancient
+gods. He did not live long, however, to enjoy his final triumph,
+for he died a little over twelve months after he "took the hands
+of Bel (Merodach)" at Babylon.</p>
+<p>He was succeeded by Shalmaneser V (727-722 B.C.), who may have
+been his son, but this is not quite certain. Little is known
+regarding his brief reign. In 725 B.C. he led an expedition to
+Syria and Phoenicia. Several of the vassal peoples had revolted
+when they heard of the death of Tiglath-pileser. These included
+the Phoenicians, the Philistines, and the Israelites who were
+intriguing with either Egypt or Mutsri.</p>
+<p>Apparently Hoshea, king of Israel, pretended when the
+Assyrians entered his country that he remained friendly.
+Shalmaneser, however, was well informed, and made Hoshea a
+prisoner. Samaria closed its gates against him although their
+king had been dispatched to Assyria.</p>
+<p>The Biblical account of the campaign is as follows: "Against
+him (Hoshea) came up Shalmaneser king of Assyria; and Hoshea
+became his servant, and gave him presents. And the king of
+Assyria found conspiracy in Hoshea: for he had sent messengers to
+So king of Egypt,<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1519" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1519" id="fnrex1519">519</a>]</span> and brought no
+present to the king of Assyria, <a id="page.anchor.455" name=
+"page.anchor.455"></a>as he had done year by year; therefore the
+king of Assyria shut him up and bound him in prison.</p>
+<p>"Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, and
+went up to Samaria, and besieged it three years."<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1520" href="#ftn.fnrex1520" id=
+"fnrex1520">520</a>]</span></p>
+<p>Shalmaneser died before Samaria was captured, and may have
+been assassinated. The next Assyrian monarch, Sargon II (722-705
+B.C.), was not related to either of his two predecessors. He is
+referred to by Isaiah,<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1521"
+href="#ftn.fnrex1521" id="fnrex1521">521</a>]</span> and is the
+Arkeanos of Ptolemy. He was the Assyrian monarch who deported the
+"Lost Ten Tribes".</p>
+<p>"In the ninth year of Hoshea" (and the first of Sargon) "the
+king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into
+Assyria, and placed them in Halah and in Habor by the river of
+Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes."<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1522" href="#ftn.fnrex1522" id=
+"fnrex1522">522</a>]</span> In all, according to Sargon's record,
+"27,290 people dwelling in the midst of it (Samaria) I carried
+off".</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<p>They (the Israelites) left all the commandments of the Lord
+their God, and made them molten images, even two calves, and made
+a grove, and worshipped all the host of heaven (the stars), and
+served Baal. And they caused their sons and their daughters to
+pass through the fire, and used divination and enchantments, and
+sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke
+him to anger. Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel, and
+removed them out of his sight: there was none left but the tribe
+of Judah only. And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon,
+and from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from
+Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of
+the children of Israel: and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in
+the cities thereof.... And the men of Babylon made
+Succoth-benoth, and the men of Cuth (Cuthah) made Nergal, and the
+men of Hamath made <a id="page.anchor.456" name=
+"page.anchor.456"></a>Ashima, and the Avites made Nibhaz and
+Tartak, and the Sepharites burnt their children in fire to
+Adram-melech and Anam-melech, the gods of Sepharvaim.</p>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>A number of the new settlers were slain by lions, and the king
+of Assyria ordered that a Samaritan priest should be sent to
+"teach them the manner of the God of the land". This man was
+evidently an orthodox Hebrew, for he taught them "how they should
+fear the Lord.... So they feared the Lord", but also "served
+their own gods ... their graven images".<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1523" href="#ftn.fnrex1523" id=
+"fnrex1523">523</a>]</span></p>
+<p>There is no evidence to suggest that the "Ten Lost Tribes",
+"regarding whom so many nonsensical theories have been formed",
+were not ultimately absorbed by the peoples among whom they
+settled between Mesopotamia and the Median Highlands.<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1524" href="#ftn.fnrex1524" id=
+"fnrex1524">524</a>]</span> The various sections must have soon
+lost touch with one another. They were not united like the Jews
+(the people of Judah), who were transported to Babylonia a
+century and a half later, by a common religious bond, for
+although a few remained faithful to Abraham's God, the majority
+of the Israelites worshipped either the Baal or the Queen of
+Heaven.</p>
+<p>The Assyrian policy of transporting the rebellious inhabitants
+of one part of their empire to another was intended to break
+their national spirit and compel them to become good and faithful
+subjects amongst the aliens, who must have disliked them. "The
+colonists," says Professor Maspero, "exposed to the same hatred
+as the original Assyrian conquerors, soon forgot to look upon the
+latter as the oppressors of all, and, allowing their present
+grudge to efface the memory of past injuries, did <a id=
+"page.anchor.457" name="page.anchor.457"></a>not hesitate to make
+common cause with them. In time of peace the (Assyrian) governor
+did his best to protect them against molestation on the part of
+the natives, and in return for this they rallied round him
+whenever the latter threatened to get out of hand, and helped him
+to stifle the revolt, or hold it in check until the arrival of
+reinforcements. Thanks to their help, the empire was consolidated
+and maintained without too many violent outbreaks in regions far
+removed from the capital, and beyond the immediate reach of the
+sovereign."<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1525" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1525" id="fnrex1525">525</a>]</span></p>
+<div class="figure"><a id="id2547724" name="id2547724"></a>
+<p class="title"><b>Figure�XIX.3.�COLOSSAL WINGED AND
+HUMAN-HEADED BULL AND MYTHOLOGICAL BEING</b></p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<p><span class="emphasis"><em>From doorway in Palace of Sargon at
+Khorsabad: now in British Museum</em></span></p>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="graphic"><img alt="" src="img/38.jpg" /></div>
+<div class="figure"><a id="id2547743" name="id2547743"></a>
+<p class="title"><b>Figure�XIX.4.�ASSAULT ON THE CITY OF
+...ALAMMU (? JERUSALEM) BY THE ASSYRIANS UNDER
+SENNACHERIB</b></p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<p>The besieging archers are protected by wicker screens
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Marble Slab from Kouyunjik (Nineveh):
+now in British Museum</em></span></p>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="graphic"><img alt="" src="img/39.jpg" /></div>
+<p>While Sargon was absent in the west, a revolt broke out in
+Babylonia. A Chaldaean king, Merodach Baladan III, had allied
+himself with the Elamites, and occupied Babylon. A battle was
+fought at Dur-ilu and the Elamites retreated. Although Sargon
+swept triumphantly through the land, he had to leave his rival,
+the tyrannous Chaldaean, in possession of the capital, and he
+reigned there for over eleven years.</p>
+<p>Trouble was brewing in Syria. It was apparently fostered by an
+Egyptian king--probably Bocchoris of Sais, the sole Pharaoh so
+far as can be ascertained of the Twenty-fourth Dynasty, who had
+allied himself with the local dynasts of Lower Egypt and
+apparently sought to extend his sway into Asia, the Ethiopians
+being supreme in Upper Egypt. An alliance had been formed to cast
+off the yoke of Assyria. The city states involved Arpad, Simirra,
+Damascus, Samaria, and Gaza. Hanno of Gaza had fled to Egypt
+after Tiglath-pileser came to the relief of Judah and broke up
+the league of conspirators by capturing Damascus, and punishing
+Samaria, Gaza, and other cities. His return in Sargon's reign was
+evidently connected with the new rising in which he took part.
+The throne of Hamath had been seized by an adventurer, <a id=
+"page.anchor.458" name="page.anchor.458"></a>named
+Ilu-bi&acute;di, a smith. The Philistines of Ashdod and the
+Arabians being strongly pro-Egyptian in tendency, were willing
+sympathizers and helpers against the hated Assyrians.</p>
+<p>Sargon appeared in the west with a strong army before the
+allies had matured their plans. He met the smith king of Hamath
+in battle at Qarqar, and, having defeated him, had him skinned
+alive. Then he marched southward. At Rapiki (Raphia) he routed an
+army of allies. Shabi (?So), the Tartan (commander-in-chief) of
+Pi&acute;ru<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1526" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1526" id="fnrex1526">526</a>]</span> (Pharaoh), King
+of Mutsri (an Arabian state confused, perhaps, with Misraim =
+Egypt), escaped "like to a shepherd whose sheep have been taken".
+Piru and other two southern kings, Samsi and Itamara, afterwards
+paid tribute to Sargon. Hanno of Gaza was transported to
+Asshur.</p>
+<p>In 715 B.C. Sargon, according to his records, appeared with
+his army in Arabia, and received gifts in token of homage from
+Piru of Mutsri, Samsi of Aribi, and Itamara of Saba.</p>
+<p>Four years later a revolt broke out in Ashdod which was, it
+would appear, directly due to the influence of Shabaka, the
+Ethiopian Pharaoh, who had deposed Bocchoris of Sais. Another
+league was about to be formed against Assyria. King Azuri of
+Ashdod had been deposed because of his Egyptian sympathies by the
+Assyrian governor, and his brother Akhimiti was placed on the
+throne. The citizens, however, overthrew Akhimiti, and an
+adventurer from Cyprus was proclaimed king (711 B.C).</p>
+<p>It would appear that advances were made by the anti-Assyrians
+<a id="page.anchor.459" name="page.anchor.459"></a>to Ahaz of
+Judah. That monarch was placed in a difficult position. He knew
+that if the allies succeeded in stamping out Assyrian authority
+in Syria and Palestine they would certainly depose him, but if on
+the other hand he joined them and Assyria triumphed, its emperor
+would show him small mercy. As Babylon defied Sargon and received
+the active support of Elam, and there were rumours of risings in
+the north, it must have seemed to the western kings as if the
+Assyrian empire was likely once again to go to pieces.</p>
+<p>Fortunately for Ahaz he had a wise counsellor at this time in
+the great statesman and prophet, the scholarly Isaiah. The Lord
+spake by Isaiah saying, "Go and loose the sackcloth from off thy
+loins, and put off thy shoe from thy foot. And he did so, walking
+naked and barefoot. And the Lord said, Like as my servant Isaiah
+hath walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and wonder
+upon Egypt and upon Ethiopia; so shall the king of Assyria lead
+away the Egyptians prisoners.... And they (the allies) shall be
+afraid and ashamed of Ethiopia their expectation, and of Egypt
+their glory."<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1527" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1527" id="fnrex1527">527</a>]</span></p>
+<p>Isaiah warned Ahaz against joining the league, "in the year
+that Tartan<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1528" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1528" id="fnrex1528">528</a>]</span> came unto Ashdod
+(when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him)". The Tartan "fought
+against Ashdod and took it".<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1529" href="#ftn.fnrex1529" id="fnrex1529">529</a>]</span>
+According to Sargon's record the Pretender of Ashdod fled to
+Arabia, where he was seized by an Arabian chief and delivered up
+to Assyria. The pro-Egyptian party in Palestine went under a
+cloud for a period thereafter.</p>
+<p>Before Sargon could deal with Merodach Baladan of Babylon, he
+found it necessary to pursue the arduous task of breaking up a
+powerful league which had been formed against him in the north.
+The Syro-Cappadocian Hittite <a id="page.anchor.460" name=
+"page.anchor.460"></a>states, including Tabal in Asia Minor and
+Carchemish in north Syria, were combining for the last time
+against Assyria, supported by Mita (Midas), king of the
+Muski-Phrygians, and Rusas, son of Sharduris III, king of
+Urartu.</p>
+<p>Urartu had recovered somewhat from the disasters which it had
+suffered at the hands of Tiglath-pileser, and was winning back
+portions of its lost territory on the north-east frontier of
+Assyria. A buffer state had been formed in that area by
+Tiglath-pileser, who had assisted the king of the Mannai to weld
+together the hill tribesmen between Lake Van and Lake Urmia into
+an organized nation. Iranzu, its ruler, remained faithful to
+Assyria and consequently became involved in war with Rusas of
+Urartu, who either captured or won over several cities of the
+Mannai. Iranzu was succeeded by his son Aza, and this king was so
+pronounced a pro-Assyrian that his pro-Urartian subjects
+assassinated him and set on the throne Bagdatti of Umildish.</p>
+<p>Soon after Sargon began his operations in the north he
+captured Bagdatti and had him skinned alive. The flag of revolt,
+however, was kept flying by his brother, Ullusunu, but ere long
+this ambitious man found it prudent to submit to Sargon on
+condition that he would retain the throne as a faithful Assyrian
+vassal. His sudden change of policy appears to have been due to
+the steady advance of the Median tribes into the territory of the
+Mannai. Sargon conducted a vigorous and successful campaign
+against the raiders, and extended Ullusunu's area of control.</p>
+<p>The way was now clear to Urartu. In 714 B.C. Sargon attacked
+the revolting king of Zikirtu, who was supported by an army led
+by Rusas, his overlord. A fierce battle was fought in which the
+Assyrians achieved <a id="page.anchor.461" name=
+"page.anchor.461"></a>a great victory. King Rusas fled, and when
+he found that the Assyrians pressed home their triumph by laying
+waste the country before them, he committed suicide, according to
+the Assyrian records, although those of Urartu indicate that he
+subsequently took part in the struggle against Sargon. The
+Armenian peoples were compelled to acknowledge the suzerainty of
+Assyria, and the conqueror received gifts from various tribes
+between Lake Van and the Caspian Sea, and along the frontiers
+from Lake Van towards the south-east as far as the borders of
+Elam.</p>
+<p>Rusas of Urartu was succeeded by Argistes II, who reigned over
+a shrunken kingdom. He intrigued with neighbouring states against
+Assyria, but was closely watched. Ere long he found himself
+caught between two fires. During his reign the notorious
+Cimmerians and Scythians displayed much activity in the north and
+raided his territory.</p>
+<p>The pressure of fresh infusions of Thraco-Phrygian tribes into
+western Asia Minor had stirred Midas of the Muski to co-operate
+with the Urartian power in an attempt to stamp out Assyrian
+influence in Cilicia, Cappadocia, and north Syria. A revolt in
+Tabal in 718 B.C. was extinguished by Sargon, but in the
+following year evidences were forthcoming of a more serious and
+widespread rising. Pisiris, king of Carchemish, threw off the
+Assyrian yoke. Before, however, his allies could hasten to his
+assistance he was overcome by the vigilant Sargon, who deported a
+large proportion of the city's inhabitants and incorporated it in
+an Assyrian province. Tabal revolted in 713 B.C. and was
+similarly dealt with. In 712 B.C. Milid had to be overcome. The
+inhabitants were transported, and "Suti" Aramaean peoples settled
+in their homes. The king of Commagene, having <a id=
+"page.anchor.462" name="page.anchor.462"></a>remained faithful,
+received large extensions of territory. Finally in 709 B.C. Midas
+of the Muski-Phrygians was compelled to acknowledge the
+suzerainty of Assyria. The northern confederacy was thus
+completely worsted and broken up. Tribute was paid by many
+peoples, including the rulers of Cyprus.</p>
+<p>Sargon was now able to deal with Babylonia, which for about
+twelve years had been ruled by Merodach Baladan, who oppressed
+the people and set at defiance ancient laws by seizing private
+estates and transferring them to his Chaldaean kinsmen. He still
+received the active support of Elam.</p>
+<p>Sargon's first move was to interpose his army between those of
+the Babylonians and Elamites. Pushing southward, he subdued the
+Aramaeans on the eastern banks of the Tigris, and drove the
+Elamites into the mountains. Then he invaded middle Babylonia
+from the east. Merodach Baladan hastily evacuated Babylon, and,
+moving southward, succeeded in evading Sargon's army. Finding
+Elam was unable to help him, he took refuge in the Chaldaean
+capital, Bit Jakin, in southern Babylonia.</p>
+<p>Sargon was visited by the priests of Babylon and Borsippa, and
+hailed as the saviour of the ancient kingdom. He was afterwards
+proclaimed king at E-sagila, where he "took the hands of Bel".
+Then having expelled the Aramaeans from Sippar, he hastened
+southward, attacked Bit Jakin and captured it. Merodach Baladan
+escaped into Elam. The whole of Chaldaea was subdued.</p>
+<p>Thus "Sargon the Later" entered at length into full possession
+of the empire of Sargon of Akkad. In Babylonia he posed as an
+incarnation of his ancient namesake, and had similarly Messianic
+pretensions which were no doubt inspired by the Babylonian
+priesthood. Under him Assyria attained its highest degree of
+splendour.</p>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.463" name="page.anchor.463"></a>He recorded
+proudly not only his great conquests but also his works of public
+utility: he restored ancient cities, irrigated vast tracts of
+country, fostered trade, and promoted the industries. Like the
+pious Pharaohs of Egypt he boasted that he fed the hungry and
+protected the weak against the strong.</p>
+<p>Sargon found time during his strenuous career as a conqueror
+to lay out and build a new city, called Dur-Sharrukin, "the burgh
+of Sargon", to the north of Nineveh. It was completed before he
+undertook the Babylonian campaign. The new palace was occupied in
+708 B.C. Previous to that period he had resided principally at
+Kalkhi, in the restored palace of Ashur-natsir-pal III.</p>
+<p>He was a worshipper of many gods. Although he claimed to have
+restored the supremacy of Asshur "which had come to an end", he
+not only adored Ashur but also revived the ancient triad of Anu,
+Bel, and Ea, and fostered the growth of the immemorial
+"mother-cult" of Ishtar. Before he died he appointed one of his
+sons, Sennacherib, viceroy of the northern portion of the empire.
+He was either assassinated at a military review or in some
+frontier war. As much is suggested by the following entry in an
+eponym list.</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<p>Eponymy of Upahhir-belu, prefect of the city of Amedu ...
+According to the oracle of the Kulummite(s).... A soldier
+(entered) the camp of the king of Assyria (and killed him?),
+month Ab, day 12th, Sennacherib (sat on the throne).<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1530" href="#ftn.fnrex1530" id=
+"fnrex1530">530</a>]</span></p>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>The fact that Sennacherib lamented his father's sins suggests
+that the old king had in some manner offended <a id=
+"page.anchor.464" name="page.anchor.464"></a>the priesthood.
+Perhaps, like some of the Middle Empire monarchs, he succumbed to
+the influence of Babylon during the closing years of his life. It
+is stated that "he was not buried in his house", which suggests
+that the customary religious rites were denied him, and that his
+lost soul was supposed to be a wanderer which had to eat offal
+and drink impure water like the ghost of a pauper or a
+criminal.</p>
+<p>The task which lay before Sennacherib (705-680 B.C.) was to
+maintain the unity of the great empire of his distinguished
+father. He waged minor wars against the Kassite and Illipi tribes
+on the Elamite border, and the Muski and Hittite tribes in
+Cappadocia and Cilicia. The Kassites, however, were no longer of
+any importance, and the Hittite power had been extinguished, for
+ere the states could recover from the blows dealt by the
+Assyrians the Cimmerian hordes ravaged their territory. Urartu
+was also overrun by the fierce barbarians from the north. It was
+one of these last visits of the Assyrians to Tabal of the
+Hittites and the land of the Muski (Meshech) which the Hebrew
+prophet referred to in after-time when he exclaimed:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<p>Asshur is there and all her company: his graves are about him:
+all of them slain, fallen by the sword.... There is Meshech,
+Tubal, and all her multitude: her graves are round about him: all
+of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword, though they caused
+their terror in the land of the living.... (<span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Ezekiel</em></span>, xxxii.)</p>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>Sennacherib found that Ionians had settled in Cilicia, and he
+deported large numbers of them to Nineveh. The metal and ivory
+work at Nineveh show traces of Greek influence after this
+period.</p>
+<p>A great conspiracy was fomented in several states against
+Sennacherib when the intelligence of Sargon's <a id=
+"page.anchor.465" name="page.anchor.465"></a>death was bruited
+abroad. Egypt was concerned in it. Taharka (the Biblical
+Tirhakah<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1531" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1531" id="fnrex1531">531</a>]</span>), the last
+Pharaoh of the Ethiopian Dynasty, had dreams of re-establishing
+Egyptian supremacy in Palestine and Syria, and leagued himself
+with Luli, king of Tyre, Hezekiah, king of Judah, and others.
+Merodach Baladan, the Chaldaean king, whom Sargon had deposed,
+supported by Elamites and Aramaeans, was also a party to the
+conspiracy. "At that time Merodach Baladan, the son of Baladan,
+king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah.... And
+Hezekiah was glad of them."<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1532"
+href="#ftn.fnrex1532" id="fnrex1532">532</a>]</span></p>
+<p>Merodach Baladan again seized the throne of Babylon. Sargon's
+son, who had been appointed governor, was murdered and a
+pretender sat on the throne for a brief period, but Merodach
+Baladan thrust him aside and reigned for nine months, during
+which period he busied himself by encouraging the kings of Judah
+and Tyre to revolt. Sennacherib invaded Babylonia with a strong
+army, deposed Merodach Baladan, routed the Chaldaeans and
+Aramaeans, and appointed as vassal king Bel-ibni, a native
+prince, who remained faithful to Assyria for about three
+years.</p>
+<p>In 707 B.C. Sennacherib appeared in the west. When he
+approached Tyre, Luli, the king, fled to Cyprus. The city was not
+captured, but much of its territory was ceded to the king of
+Sidon. Askalon was afterwards reduced. At Eltekeh Sennacherib
+came into conflict with an army of allies, including Ethiopian,
+Egyptian, and Arabian Mutsri forces, which he routed. Then he
+captured a number of cities in Judah and transported 200,150
+people. He was unable, however, to enter Jerusalem, in which
+Hezekiah was compelled to remain "like a bird in a cage". It
+appears that Hezekiah "bought off" the Assyrians on <a id=
+"page.anchor.466" name="page.anchor.466"></a>this occasion with
+gifts of gold and silver and jewels, costly furniture, musicians,
+and female slaves.</p>
+<p>In 689 B.C. Sennacherib found it necessary to penetrate
+Arabia. Apparently another conspiracy was brewing, for Hezekiah
+again revolted. On his return from the south--according to
+Berosus he had been in Egypt--the Assyrian king marched against
+the king of Judah.</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<p>And when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib was come, and that he
+was purposed to fight against Jerusalem, he took counsel with the
+princes and his mighty men to stop the waters of the fountains
+which were without the city: and they did help him.... Why should
+the kings of Assyria come and find much water?</p>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>Sennacherib sent messengers to Jerusalem to attempt to stir up
+the people against Hezekiah. "He wrote also letters to rail on
+the Lord God of Israel, and to speak against him, saying, As the
+gods of the nations of other lands have not delivered their
+people out of mine hand, so shall not the God of Hezekiah deliver
+his people out of mine hand."<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1533" href="#ftn.fnrex1533" id=
+"fnrex1533">533</a>]</span></p>
+<p>Hezekiah sent his servants to Isaiah, who was in Jerusalem at
+the time, and the prophet said to them:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<p>Thus shall ye say to your master. Thus saith the Lord, Be not
+afraid of the words which thou hast heard, with which the
+servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. Behold, I
+will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, and shall
+return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword
+in his own land.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1534" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1534" id="fnrex1534">534</a>]</span></p>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>According to Berosus, the Babylonian priestly historian, the
+camp of Sennacherib was visited in the night by swarms of field
+mice which ate up the quivers and bows and the (leather) handles
+of shields. Next morning the army fled.</p>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.467" name="page.anchor.467"></a>The
+Biblical account of the disaster is as follows:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<p>And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the Lord
+went out, and smote the camp of the Assyrians an hundred and four
+score and five thousand: and when they arose early in the
+morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. So Sennacherib king
+of Assyria departed, and went and returned and dwelt at
+Nineveh.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1535" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1535" id="fnrex1535">535</a>]</span></p>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>A pestilence may have broken out in the camp, the infection,
+perhaps, having been carried by field mice. Byron's imagination
+was stirred by the vision of the broken army of Assyria.</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>The Assyrian came down like a wolf on
+the fold,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>And his cohorts were gleaming with
+purple and gold;</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>And the sheen of their spears was like
+stars of the sea,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>When the blue wave rolls nightly on
+deep Galilee.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>�</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Like the leaves of the forest when
+summer is green,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>That host with their banners at sunset
+were seen;</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Like the leaves of the forest when
+autumn hath blown,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>That host on the morrow lay withered
+and strown.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>�</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>For the Angel of Death spread his wings
+on the blast,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>And breathed on the face of the foe as
+he passed;</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>And the eyes of the sleepers waxed
+deadly and chill,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>And their hearts but once heaved--and
+forever grew still!</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>�</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>And there lay the steed with his
+nostril all wide,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>But through it there rolled not the
+breath of his pride;</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>And the foam of his gasping lay white
+on the turf,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>And cold as the spray of the
+rock-beating surf.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>�</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>And there lay the rider distorted and
+pale,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>With the dew on his brow, and the rust
+on his mail;</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>And the tents were all silent--the
+banners alone--</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Thelances uplifted--the trumpet
+unblown.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>�</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>And the widows of Asshur are loud in
+their wail,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>And the idols are broke in the temple
+of Baal;</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt><a id="page.anchor.468" name=
+"page.anchor.468"></a>And the might of the Gentile, unsmote by
+the sword,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Hath melted like snow in the glance of
+the Lord.</tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>Before this disaster occurred Sennacherib had to invade
+Babylonia again, for the vassal king, Bel-ibni, had allied
+himself with the Chaldaeans and raised the standard of revolt.
+The city of Babylon was besieged and captured, and its unfaithful
+king deported with a number of nobles to Assyria. Old Merodach
+Baladan was concerned in the plot and took refuge on the Elamite
+coast, where the Chaldaeans had formed a colony. He died soon
+afterwards.</p>
+<p>Sennacherib operated in southern Babylonia and invaded Elam.
+But ere he could return to Assyria he was opposed by a strong
+army of allies, including Babylonians, Chaldaeans, Aramaeans,
+Elamites, and Persians, led by Samunu, son of Merodach Baladan. A
+desperate battle was fought. Although Sennacherib claimed a
+victory, he was unable to follow it up. This was in 692 B.C. A
+Chaldaean named Mushezib-Merodach seized the Babylonian
+throne.</p>
+<p>In 691 B.C. Sennacherib again struck a blow for Babylonia, but
+was unable to depose Mushezib-Merodach. His opportunity came,
+however, in 689 B.C. Elam had been crippled by raids of the men
+of Parsua (Persia), and was unable to co-operate with the
+Chaldaean king of Babylon. Sennacherib captured the great
+commercial metropolis, took Mushezib-Merodach prisoner, and
+dispatched him to Nineveh. Then he wreaked his vengeance on
+Babylon. For several days the Assyrian soldiers looted the houses
+and temples, and slaughtered the inhabitants without mercy.
+E-sagila was robbed of its treasures, images of deities were
+either broken in pieces or sent to Nineveh: the statue of
+Bel-Merodach was dispatched to <a id="page.anchor.469" name=
+"page.anchor.469"></a>Asshur so that he might take his place
+among the gods who were vassals of Ashur. "The city and its
+houses," Sennacherib recorded, "from foundation to roof, I
+destroyed them, I demolished them, I burned them with fire;
+walls, gateways, sacred chapels, and the towers of earth and
+tiles, I laid them low and cast them into the
+Arakhtu."<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1536" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1536" id="fnrex1536">536</a>]</span></p>
+<p>"So thorough was Sennacherib's destruction of the city in 689
+B.C.," writes Mr. King, "that after several years of work, Dr.
+Koldewey concluded that all traces of earlier buildings had been
+destroyed on that occasion. More recently some remains of earlier
+strata have been recognized, and contract-tablets have been found
+which date from the period of the First Dynasty. Moreover, a
+number of earlier pot-burials have been unearthed, but a careful
+examination of the greater part of the ruins has added little to
+our knowledge of this most famous city before the Neo-Babylonian
+period."<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1537" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1537" id="fnrex1537">537</a>]</span></p>
+<p>It is possible that Sennacherib desired to supplant Babylon as
+a commercial metropolis by Nineveh. He extended and fortified
+that city, surrounding it with two walls protected by moats.
+According to Diodorus, the walls were a hundred feet high and
+about fifty feet wide. Excavators have found that at the gates
+they were about a hundred feet in breadth. The water supply of
+the city was ensured by the construction of dams and canals, and
+strong quays were erected to prevent flooding. Sennacherib
+repaired a lofty platform which was isolated by a canal, and
+erected upon it his great palace. On another platform he had an
+arsenal built.</p>
+<p>Sennacherib's palace was the most magnificent building of its
+kind ever erected by an Assyrian emperor. It was <a id=
+"page.anchor.470" name="page.anchor.470"></a>lavishly decorated,
+and its bas-reliefs display native art at its highest pitch of
+excellence. The literary remains of the time also give indication
+of the growth of culture: the inscriptions are distinguished by
+their prose style. It is evident that men of culture and
+refinement were numerous in Assyria. The royal library of Kalkhi
+received many additions during the reign of the destroyer of
+Babylon.</p>
+<p>Like his father, Sennacherib died a violent death. According
+to the Babylonian Chronicle he was slain in a revolt by his son
+"on the twentieth day of Tebet" (680 B.C). The revolt continued
+from the "20th of Tebet" (early in January) until the 2nd day of
+Adar (the middle of February). On the 18th of Adar, Esarhaddon,
+son of Sennacherib, was proclaimed king.</p>
+<p>Berosus states that Sennacherib was murdered by two of his
+sons, but Esarhaddon was not one of the conspirators. The
+Biblical reference is as follows: "Sennacherib ... dwelt at
+Nineveh. And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house
+of Nisroch (?Ashur) his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer
+(Ashur-shar-etir) his sons smote him with the sword: and they
+escaped into the land of Armenia (Urartu). And Esarhaddon his son
+reigned in his stead." Ashur-shar-etir appears to have been the
+claimant to the throne.</p>
+<p>Esarhaddon (680-668 B.C.) was a man of different type from his
+father. He adopted towards vassal states a policy of
+conciliation, and did much to secure peace within the empire by
+his magnanimous treatment of rebel kings who had been intimidated
+by their neighbours and forced to entwine themselves in the
+meshes of intrigue. His wars were directed mainly to secure the
+protection of outlying provinces against aggressive raiders.</p>
+<p>The monarch was strongly influenced by his mother, Naki'a, a
+Babylonian princess who appears to have been <a id=
+"page.anchor.471" name="page.anchor.471"></a>as distinguished a
+lady as the famous Sammu-rammat. Indeed, it is possible that
+traditions regarding her contributed to the Semiramis legends.
+But it was not only due to her that Esarhaddon espoused the cause
+of the pro-Babylonian party. He appears to be identical with the
+Axerdes of Berosus, who ruled over the southern kingdom for eight
+years. Apparently he had been appointed governor by Sennacherib
+after the destruction of Babylon, and it may be that during his
+term of office in Babylonia he was attracted by its ethical
+ideals, and developed those traits of character which
+distinguished him from his father and grandfather. He married a
+Babylonian princess, and one of his sons, Shamash-shum-ukin, was
+born in a Babylonian palace, probably at Sippar. He was a
+worshipper of the mother goddess Ishtar of Nineveh and Ishtar of
+Arbela, and of Shamash, as well as of the national god Ashur.</p>
+<p>As soon as Esarhaddon came to the throne he undertook the
+restoration of Babylon, to which many of the inhabitants were
+drifting back. In three years the city resumed its pre-eminent
+position as a trading and industrial centre. Withal, he won the
+hearts of the natives by expelling Chaldaeans from the private
+estates which they had seized during the Merodach-Baladan regime,
+and restoring them to the rightful heirs.</p>
+<p>A Chaldaean revolt was inevitable. Two of Merodach Baladan's
+sons gave trouble in the south, but were routed in battle. One
+fled to Elam, where he was assassinated; the other sued for
+peace, and was accepted by the diplomatic Esarhaddon as a vassal
+king.</p>
+<p>Egypt was intriguing in the west. Its Ethiopian king, Taharka
+(the Biblical Tirhakah) had stirred up Hezekiah to revolt during
+Sennacherib's reign. An Assyrian ambassador who had visited
+Jerusalem "heard <a id="page.anchor.472" name=
+"page.anchor.472"></a>say concerning Tirhakah.... He sent
+messengers to Hezekiah saying.... Let not thy God, in whom thou
+trustest, deceive thee saying, Jerusalem shall not be given into
+the hand of the king of Assyria. Behold, thou hast heard what the
+kings of Assyria have done to all lands by destroying them
+utterly; and shalt thou be delivered? Have the gods of the
+nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed, as Gozan,
+and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden which were in
+Telassar? Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arphad,
+and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and
+Ivah?"<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1538" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1538" id="fnrex1538">538</a>]</span> Sidon was a party
+to the pro-Egyptian league which had been formed in Palestine and
+Syria.</p>
+<p>Early in his reign Esarhaddon conducted military operations in
+the west, and during his absence the queen-mother Naki'a held the
+reins of government. The Elamites regarded this innovation as a
+sign of weakness, and invaded Babylon. Sippar was plundered, and
+its gods carried away. The Assyrian governors, however,
+ultimately repulsed the Elamite king, who was deposed soon after
+he returned home. His son, who succeeded him, restored the stolen
+gods, and cultivated good relations with Esarhaddon. There was
+great unrest in Elam at this period: it suffered greatly from the
+inroads of Median and Persian pastoral fighting folk.</p>
+<p>In the north the Cimmerians and Scythians, who were constantly
+warring against Urartu, and against each other, had spread
+themselves westward and east. Esarhaddon drove Cimmerian invaders
+out of Cappadocia, and they swamped Phrygia.</p>
+<p>The Scythian peril on the north-east frontier was, however, of
+more pronounced character. The fierce mountaineers had allied
+themselves with Median tribes <a id="page.anchor.473" name=
+"page.anchor.473"></a>and overrun the buffer State of the Mannai.
+Both Urartu and Assyria were sufferers from the brigandage of
+these allies. Esarhaddon's generals, however, were able to deal
+with the situation, and one of the notable results of the
+pacification of the north-eastern area was the conclusion of an
+alliance with Urartu.</p>
+<p>The most serious situation with which the emperor had to deal
+was in the west. The King of Sidon, who had been so greatly
+favoured by Sennacherib, had espoused the Egyptian cause. He
+allied himself with the King of Cilicia, who, however, was unable
+to help him much. Sidon was besieged and captured; the royal
+allies escaped, but a few years later were caught and beheaded.
+The famous seaport was destroyed, and its vast treasures deported
+to Assyria (about 676 B.C). Esarhaddon replaced it by a new city
+called Kar-Esarhaddon, which formed the nucleus of the new
+Sidon.</p>
+<p>It is believed that Judah and other disaffected States were
+dealt with about this time. Manasseh had succeeded Hezekiah at
+Jerusalem when but a boy of twelve years. He appears to have come
+under the influence of heathen teachers.</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<p>For he built up again the high places which Hezekiah his
+father had destroyed; and he reared up altars for Baal, and made
+a grove, as did Ahab king of Israel; and worshipped all the host
+of heaven, and served them.... And he built altars for all the
+host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord. And he
+made his son pass through the fire, and observed times, and used
+enchantments, and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards: he
+wrought much wickedness in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him
+to anger. And he set a graven image of the grove that he had made
+in the house, of which the Lord said to David, and to Solomon his
+son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of
+all tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever.<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1539" href="#ftn.fnrex1539" id=
+"fnrex1539">539</a>]</span></p>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.474" name="page.anchor.474"></a>Isaiah
+ceased to prophesy after Manasseh came to the throne. According
+to Rabbinic traditions he was seized by his enemies and enclosed
+in the hollow trunk of a tree, which was sawn through. Other
+orthodox teachers appear to have been slain also. "Manasseh shed
+innocent blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one
+end to another."<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1540" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1540" id="fnrex1540">540</a>]</span> It is possible
+that there is a reference to Isaiah's fate in an early Christian
+lament regarding the persecutions of the faithful: "Others had
+trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds
+and imprisonment: they were stoned, <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>they were sawn asunder</em></span>, were tempted,
+were slain with the sword".<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1541"
+href="#ftn.fnrex1541" id="fnrex1541">541</a>]</span> There is no
+Assyrian evidence regarding the captivity of Manasseh. "Wherefore
+the Lord brought upon them (the people of Judah) the captains of
+the host of the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh among the
+thorns, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon.
+And when he was in affliction, he besought the Lord his God, and
+humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, and prayed
+unto him: and he was intreated of him, and heard his
+supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his
+kingdom."<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1542" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1542" id="fnrex1542">542</a>]</span> It was, however,
+in keeping with the policy of Esarhaddon to deal in this manner
+with an erring vassal. The Assyrian records include Manasseh of
+Judah (Menas&ecirc; of the city of Yaudu) with the kings of Edom,
+Moab, Ammon, Tyre, Ashdod, Gaza, Byblos, &amp;c, and "twenty-two
+kings of Khatti" as payers of tribute to Esarhaddon, their
+overlord. Hazael of Arabia was conciliated by having restored to
+him his gods which Sennacherib had carried away.</p>
+<p>Egypt continued to intrigue against Assyria, and Esarhaddon
+<a id="page.anchor.475" name="page.anchor.475"></a>resolved to
+deal effectively with Taharka, the last Ethiopian Pharaoh. In 674
+B.C. he invaded Egypt, but suffered a reverse and had to retreat.
+Tyre revolted soon afterwards (673 B.C).</p>
+<p>Esarhaddon, however, made elaborate preparations for his next
+campaign. In 671 B.C. he went westward with a much more powerful
+army. A detachment advanced to Tyre and invested it. The main
+force meanwhile pushed on, crossed the Delta frontier, and swept
+victoriously as far south as Memphis, where Taharka suffered a
+crushing defeat. That great Egyptian metropolis was then occupied
+and plundered by the soldiers of Esarhaddon. Lower Egypt became
+an Assyrian province; the various petty kings, including Necho of
+Sais, had set over them Assyrian governors. Tyre was also
+captured.</p>
+<p>When he returned home Esarhaddon erected at the
+Syro-Cappadocian city of Singirli<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1543" href="#ftn.fnrex1543" id="fnrex1543">543</a>]</span>
+a statue of victory, which is now in the Berlin museum. On this
+memorial the Assyrian "King of the kings of Egypt" is depicted as
+a giant. With one hand he pours out an oblation to a god; in the
+other he grasps his sceptre and two cords attached to rings,
+which pierce the lips of dwarfish figures representing the
+Pharaoh Taharka of Egypt and the unfaithful King of Tyre.</p>
+<p>In 668 B.C. Taharka, who had fled to Napata in Ethiopia,
+returned to Upper Egypt, and began to stir up revolts. Esarhaddon
+planned out another expedition, so that he might shatter the last
+vestige of power possessed by his rival. But before he left home
+he found it necessary to set his kingdom in order.</p>
+<p>During his absence from home the old Assyrian party, who
+disliked the emperor because of Babylonian sympathies, had been
+intriguing regarding the succession to <a id="page.anchor.476"
+name="page.anchor.476"></a>the throne. According to the
+Babylonian Chronicle, "the king remained in Assyria" during 669
+B.C., "and he slew with the sword many noble men". Ashur-bani-pal
+was evidently concerned in the conspiracy, and it is significant
+to find that he pleaded on behalf of certain of the conspirators.
+The crown prince Sinidinabal was dead: perhaps he had been
+assassinated.</p>
+<p>At the feast of the goddess Gula (identical with Bau, consort
+of Ninip), towards the end of April in 668 B.C., Esarhaddon
+divided his empire between two of his sons. Ashur-bani-pal was
+selected to be King of Assyria, and Shamash-shum-ukin to be King
+of Babylon and the vassal of Ashur-banipal. Other sons received
+important priestly appointments.</p>
+<p>Soon after these arrangements were completed Esarhaddon, who
+was suffering from bad health, set out for Egypt. He died towards
+the end of October, and the early incidents of his campaign were
+included in the records of Ashur-bani-pal's reign. Taharka was
+defeated at Memphis, and retreated southward to Thebes.</p>
+<p>So passed away the man who has been eulogized as "the noblest
+and most sympathetic figure among the Assyrian kings". There was
+certainly much which was attractive in his character. He
+inaugurated many social reforms, and appears to have held in
+check his overbearing nobles. Trade flourished during his reign.
+He did not undertake the erection of a new city, like his father,
+but won the gratitude of the priesthood by his activities as a
+builder and restorer of temples. He founded a new "house of
+Ashur" at Nineveh, and reconstructed several temples in
+Babylonia. His son Ashur-bani-pal was the last great Assyrian
+ruler.</p>
+<div class="footnotes"><br />
+<hr width="100" align="left" />
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1503" href="#fnrex1503" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1503">503</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>2
+Kings</em></span>, xv, 19 and 29; <span class="emphasis"><em>2
+Chronicles</em></span>, xxviii, 20.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1504" href="#fnrex1504" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1504">504</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>2
+Kings</em></span>, xviii, 34 and xix, 13.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1505" href="#fnrex1505" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1505">505</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>2
+Kings</em></span>, xiv, 1-14.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1506" href="#fnrex1506" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1506">506</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>2
+Kings</em></span>, xv, 1-14.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1507" href="#fnrex1507" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1507">507</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>2
+Kings</em></span>, xv, 19, 20.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1508" href="#fnrex1508" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1508">508</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>2
+Kings</em></span>, xv, 25.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1509" href="#fnrex1509" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1509">509</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Amos</em></span>, v.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1510" href="#fnrex1510" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1510">510</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Amos</em></span>, i.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1511" href="#fnrex1511" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1511">511</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>2
+Kings</em></span>, xvi, 5.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1512" href="#fnrex1512" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1512">512</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Isaiah</em></span>, vii, 3-7.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1513" href="#fnrex1513" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1513">513</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>2
+Kings</em></span>, xv, 3.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1514" href="#fnrex1514" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1514">514</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Isaiah</em></span>, vii, 18.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1515" href="#fnrex1515" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1515">515</a>]</span> Kir was probably on the borders
+of Elam.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1516" href="#fnrex1516" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1516">516</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>2
+Kings</em></span>, xvi, 7-9.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1517" href="#fnrex1517" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1517">517</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>2
+Kings</em></span>, xv, 29, 30.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1518" href="#fnrex1518" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1518">518</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>2
+Kings</em></span>, xvi, 10.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1519" href="#fnrex1519" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1519">519</a>]</span> In the Hebrew text this monarch
+is called Sua, Seveh, and So, says Maspero. The Assyrian texts
+refer to him as Sebek, Shibahi, Shab&egrave;, &amp;c. He has been
+identified with Pharaoh Shabaka of the Twenty-fifth Egyptian
+Dynasty; that monarch may have been a petty king before he
+founded his Dynasty. Another theory is that he was Seve, king of
+Mutsri, and still another that he was a petty king of an Egyptian
+state in the Delta and not Shabaka.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1520" href="#fnrex1520" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1520">520</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>2
+Kings</em></span>, xvii, 3-5.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1521" href="#fnrex1521" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1521">521</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Isaiah</em></span>, xx, 1.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1522" href="#fnrex1522" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1522">522</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>2
+Kings</em></span>, xvii, 6.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1523" href="#fnrex1523" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1523">523</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>2
+Kings</em></span>, xvii, 16-41.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1524" href="#fnrex1524" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1524">524</a>]</span> The people carried away would not
+be the whole of the inhabitants--only, one would suppose, the
+more important personages, enough to make up the number 27,290
+given above.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1525" href="#fnrex1525" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1525">525</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Passing of the Empires</em></span>, pp.
+200-1.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1526" href="#fnrex1526" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1526">526</a>]</span> Those who, like Breasted,
+identify "Piru of Mutsri" with "Pharaoh of Egypt" adopt the view
+that Bocchoris of Sais paid tribute to Sargon. Piru, however, is
+subsequently referred to with two Arabian kings as tribute payers
+to Sargon apparently after Lower Egypt had come under the sway of
+Shabaka, the first king of the Ethiopian or Twenty-fifth
+Dynasty.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1527" href="#fnrex1527" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1527">527</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Isaiah</em></span>, xx, 2-5.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1528" href="#fnrex1528" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1528">528</a>]</span> Commander-in-chief.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1529" href="#fnrex1529" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1529">529</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Isaiah</em></span>, xx, 1.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1530" href="#fnrex1530" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1530">530</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>The
+Old Testament in the Light of the Historical Records and Legends
+of Assyria and Babylonia,</em></span> T.G. Pinches, p. 372.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1531" href="#fnrex1531" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1531">531</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Isaiah</em></span>, xxxvii, 9.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1532" href="#fnrex1532" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1532">532</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Isaiah</em></span>, xxix, 1, 2.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1533" href="#fnrex1533" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1533">533</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>2
+Chronicles</em></span>, xxxii, 9-17.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1534" href="#fnrex1534" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1534">534</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>2
+Kings</em></span>, xix, 6, 7.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1535" href="#fnrex1535" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1535">535</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>2
+Kings</em></span>, xix, 35, 36.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1536" href="#fnrex1536" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1536">536</a>]</span> Smith-Sayce, <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>History of Sennacherib</em></span>, pp.
+132-5.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1537" href="#fnrex1537" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1537">537</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>A
+History of Sumer and Akkad</em></span>, p. 37.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1538" href="#fnrex1538" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1538">538</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Isaiah</em></span>, xxxvii, 8-13.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1539" href="#fnrex1539" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1539">539</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>2
+Kings</em></span>, xxi, 3-7.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1540" href="#fnrex1540" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1540">540</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>2
+Kings</em></span>, xxi, 16.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1541" href="#fnrex1541" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1541">541</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Hebrews</em></span>, xi, 36, 37.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1542" href="#fnrex1542" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1542">542</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>2
+Chronicles</em></span>, xxxiii, 11-3. It may be that Manasseh was
+taken to Babylon during Ashur-bani-pal's reign. See next
+chapter.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1543" href="#fnrex1543" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1543">543</a>]</span> Pronounce <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>g</em></span> as in <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>gem</em></span>.</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="chapter" lang="en" xml:lang="en">
+<div class="titlepage">
+<div>
+<div>
+<h2 class="title"><a id="id2549065" name=
+"id2549065"></a>Chapter�XX.�The Last Days of Assyria and
+Babylonia</h2>
+</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="abstract">
+<p class="title"><b>Abstract</b></p>
+<p>Doom of Nineveh and Babylon--Babylonian
+Monotheism--Ashur-banipal and his Brother, King of
+Babylon--Ceremony of "Taking the Hands of Bel"--Merodach restored
+to E-sagila--Assyrian Invasion of Egypt and Sack of
+Thebes--Lydia's Appeal to Assyria--Elam subdued--Revolt of
+Babylon--Death of Babylonian King--Sack of Susa--Psamtik of
+Egypt--Cimmerians crushed--Ashur-bani-pal's Literary
+Activities--The Sardanapalus Legend--Last Kings of Assyria--Fall
+of Nineveh--The New Babylonian Empire--Necho of Egypt expelled
+from Syria--King Jehoaikin of Judah deposed--Zedekiah's Revolt
+and Punishment--Fall of Jerusalem and Hebrew Captivity--Jeremiah
+laments over Jerusalem--Babylonia's Last Independent King--Rise
+of Cyrus the Conqueror--The Persian Patriarch and Eagle
+Legend--Cyrus conquers Lydia--Fall of Babylon--Jews return to
+Judah--Babylon from Cyrus to Alexander the Great.</p>
+</div>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.477" name="page.anchor.477"></a> The burden
+of Nineveh.... The Lord is slow to anger, and great in power, and
+will not at all acquit the wicked: the Lord hath his way in the
+whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his
+feet. He rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry, and drieth up all
+the rivers: Bashan languisheth, and Carmel, and the flower of
+Lebanon languisheth.... He that dasheth in pieces is come up
+before thy face.... The gates of the rivers shall be opened, and
+the palace shall be dissolved. And Huzzab shall be led away
+captive, she shall be brought up, and her maids shall lead her as
+with the voice of doves, tabering upon their breasts.... Draw
+thee waters for the siege, fortify thy strong holds: go into
+clay, and tread the morter, make strong the brick-kiln. There
+shall the fire devour thee; the sword shall cut thee off.... Thy
+shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria: thy nobles shall dwell in
+the dust: thy people is scattered upon the mountains, and no man
+gathereth them. There is no healing of thy bruise; thy wound is
+grievous: all that hear the bruit of thee shall clap the hands
+<a id="page.anchor.478" name="page.anchor.478"></a>over thee: for
+upon whom hath not thy wickedness passed continually?<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1544" href="#ftn.fnrex1544" id=
+"fnrex1544">544</a>]</span></p>
+<p>The doom of Babylon was also foretold:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<p>Bel boweth down, Nebo stoopeth.... Come down, and sit in the
+dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon, sit on the ground: there is
+no throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans.... Stand now with thine
+enchantments, and with the multitude of thy sorceries, wherein
+thou hast laboured from thy youth; if so be thou shalt be able to
+profit, if so be thou mayest prevail. Thou art wearied in the
+multitude of thy counsels. Let now the astrologers, the
+star-gazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee
+from these things that shall come upon thee. Behold, they shall
+be as stubble; the fire shall burn them.... Thus shall they be
+unto thee with whom thou hast laboured, even thy merchants, from
+thy youth: they shall wander every one to his quarter; none shall
+save thee.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1545" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1545" id="fnrex1545">545</a>]</span></p>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>Against a gloomy background, dark and ominous as a
+thundercloud, we have revealed in the last century of
+Mesopotamian glory the splendour of Assyria and the beauty of
+Babylon. The ancient civilizations ripened quickly before the end
+came. Kings still revelled in pomp and luxury. Cities resounded
+with "the noise of a whip, and the noise of the rattling of the
+wheels, and of the prancing horses, and of the jumping chariots.
+The horseman lifteth up both the bright sword and the glittering
+spear.... The valiant men are in scarlet."<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1546" href="#ftn.fnrex1546" id=
+"fnrex1546">546</a>]</span> But the minds of cultured men were
+more deeply occupied than ever with the mysteries of life and
+creation. In the libraries, the temples, and observatories,
+philosophers and scientists were shattering the unsubstantial
+fabric of immemorial superstition; they attained to higher
+conceptions of the duties and responsibilities of mankind; they
+<a id="page.anchor.479" name="page.anchor.479"></a>conceived of
+divine love and divine guidance; they discovered, like
+Wordsworth, that the soul has--</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>�������������An obscure
+sense</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Of possible sublimity,
+whereto</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>With growing faculties she doth
+aspire.</tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>One of the last kings of Babylon, Nebuchadrezzar, recorded a
+prayer which reveals the loftiness of religious thought and
+feeling attained by men to whom graven images were no longer
+worthy of adoration and reverence--men whose god was not made by
+human hands--</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<div class="lineset">
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>O eternal prince! Lord of all
+being!</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>As for the king whom thou lovest,
+and</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Whose name thou hast
+proclaimed</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>As was pleasing to thee,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Do thou lead aright his
+life,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Guide him in a straight
+path.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>I am the prince, obedient to
+thee,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>The creature of thy hand;</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Thou hast created me, and</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>With dominion over all
+people</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Thou hast entrusted me.</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>According to thy grace, O
+Lord,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Which thou dost bestow on</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>All people,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Cause me to love thy supreme
+dominion,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>And create in my heart</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>The worship of thy godhead</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>And grant whatever is pleasing to
+thee,</tt></div>
+<div class="pre_line"><tt>Because thou hast fashioned my
+life.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1547" href="#ftn.fnrex1547"
+id="fnrex1547">547</a>]</span></tt></div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>The "star-gazers" had become scientists, and foretold
+eclipses: in every sphere of intellectual activity great men were
+sifting out truth from the debris of superstition. It seemed as
+if Babylon and Assyria were about to cross <a id=
+"page.anchor.480" name="page.anchor.480"></a>the threshold of a
+new age, when their doom was sounded and their power was
+shattered for ever. Nineveh perished with dramatic suddenness:
+Babylon died of "senile decay".</p>
+<p>When, in 668 B.C., intelligence reached Nineveh that
+Esarhaddon had passed away, on the march through Egypt, the
+arrangements which he had made for the succession were carried
+out smoothly and quickly. Naki'a, the queen mother, was acting as
+regent, and completed her lifework by issuing a proclamation
+exhorting all loyal subjects and vassals to obey the new rulers,
+her grandsons, Ashur-bani-pal, Emperor of Assyria, and
+Shamash-shum-ukin, King of Babylon. Peace prevailed in the
+capital, and there was little or no friction throughout the
+provinces: new rulers were appointed to administer the States of
+Arvad and Ammon, but there were no changes elsewhere.</p>
+<p>Babylon welcomed its new king--a Babylonian by birth and the
+son of a Babylonian princess. The ancient kingdom rejoiced that
+it was no longer to be ruled as a province; its ancient dignities
+and privileges were being partially restored. But one great and
+deep-seated grievance remained. The god Merodach was still a
+captive in the temple of Ashur. No king could reign aright if
+Merodach were not restored to E-sagila. Indeed he could not be
+regarded as the lord of the land until he had "taken the hands of
+Bel".</p>
+<p>The ceremony of taking the god's hands was an act of homage.
+When it was consummated the king became the steward or vassal of
+Merodach, and every day he appeared before the divine one to
+receive instructions and worship him. The welfare of the whole
+kingdom depended on the manner in which the king acted towards
+the god. If Merodach was satisfied with the king he sent
+blessings to the land; if he was angry he sent calamities. <a id=
+"page.anchor.481" name="page.anchor.481"></a>A pious and faithful
+monarch was therefore the protector of the people.</p>
+<div class="figure"><a id="id2549406" name="id2549406"></a>
+<p class="title"><b>Figure�XX.1.�ASHUR-BANI-PAL RECLINING IN A
+BOWER</b></p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<p><span class="emphasis"><em>Marble Slab from Kouyunjik
+(Nineveh): now in British Museum</em></span></p>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="graphic"><img alt="" src="img/40.jpg" /></div>
+<div class="figure"><a id="id2549424" name="id2549424"></a>
+<p class="title"><b>Figure�XX.2.�PERSIANS BRINGING CHARIOTS,
+RINGS, AND WREATHS</b></p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<p><span class="emphasis"><em>Bas-relief from Persepolis: now in
+the British Museum</em></span></p>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="graphic"><img alt="" src="img/41.jpg" /></div>
+<p>This close association of the king with the god gave the
+priests great influence in Babylon. They were the power behind
+the throne. The destinies of the royal house were placed in their
+hands; they could strengthen the position of a royal monarch, or
+cause him to be deposed if he did not satisfy their demands. A
+king who reigned over Babylon without the priestly party on his
+side occupied an insecure position. Nor could he secure the
+co-operation of the priests unless the image of the god was
+placed in the temple. Where king was, there Merodach had to be
+also.</p>
+<p>Shamash-shum-ukin pleaded with his royal brother and overlord
+to restore Bel Merodach to Babylon. Ashur-bani-pal hesitated for
+a time; he was unwilling to occupy a less dignified position, as
+the representative of Ashur, than his distinguished predecessor,
+in his relation to the southern kingdom. At length, however, he
+was prevailed upon to consult the oracle of Shamash, the solar
+lawgiver, the revealer of destiny. The god was accordingly asked
+if Shamash-shum-ukin could "take the hands of Bel" in Ashur's
+temple, and then proceed to Babylon as his representative. In
+response, the priests of Shamash informed the emperor that Bel
+Merodach could not exercise sway as sovereign lord so long as he
+remained a prisoner in a city which was not his own.</p>
+<p>Ashur-bani-pal accepted the verdict, and then visited Ashur's
+temple to plead with Bel Merodach to return to Babylon. "Let thy
+thoughts", he cried, "dwell in Babylon, which in thy wrath thou
+didst bring to naught. Let thy face be turned towards E-sagila,
+thy lofty and divine temple. Return to the city thou hast
+deserted for a house unworthy of thee. O Merodach! lord of the
+<a id="page.anchor.482" name="page.anchor.482"></a>gods, issue
+thou the command to return again to Babylon."</p>
+<p>Thus did Ashur-bani-pal make pious and dignified submission to
+the will of the priests. A favourable response was, of course,
+received from Merodach when addressed by the emperor, and the
+god's image was carried back to E-sagila, accompanied by a strong
+force. Ashur-bani-pal and Shamash-shum-ukin led the procession of
+priests and soldiers, and elaborate ceremonials were observed at
+each city they passed, the local gods being carried forth to do
+homage to Merodach.</p>
+<p>Babylon welcomed the deity who was thus restored to his temple
+after the lapse of about a quarter of a century, and the priests
+celebrated with unconcealed satisfaction and pride the ceremony
+at which Shamash-shum-ukin "took the hands of Bel". The public
+rejoicings were conducted on an elaborate scale. Babylon believed
+that a new era of prosperity had been inaugurated, and the
+priests and nobles looked forward to the day when the kingdom
+would once again become free and independent and powerful.</p>
+<p>Ashur-bani-pal (668-626 B.C.) made arrangements to complete
+his father's designs regarding Egypt. His Tartan continued the
+campaign, and Taharka, as has been stated, was driven from
+Memphis. The beaten Pharaoh returned to Ethiopia and did not
+again attempt to expel the Assyrians. He died in 666 B.C. It was
+found that some of the petty kings of Lower Egypt had been
+intriguing with Taharka, and their cities were severely dealt
+with. Necho of Sais had to be arrested, among others, but was
+pardoned after he appeared before Ashur-bani-pal, and sent back
+to Egypt as the Assyrian governor.</p>
+<p>Tanutamon, a son of Pharaoh Shabaka, succeeded Taharka, and in
+663 B.C. marched northward from Thebes <a id="page.anchor.483"
+name="page.anchor.483"></a>with a strong army. He captured
+Memphis. It is believed Necho was slain, and Herodotus relates
+that his son Psamtik took refuge in Syria. In 661 B.C.
+Ashur-bani-pal's army swept through Lower Egypt and expelled the
+Ethiopians. Tanutamon fled southward, but on this occasion the
+Assyrians followed up their success, and besieged and captured
+Thebes, which they sacked. Its nobles were slain or taken
+captive. According to the prophet Nahum, who refers to Thebes as
+No (Nu-Amon = city of Amon), "her young children also were dashed
+in pieces at the top of all the streets: and they (the Assyrians)
+cast lots for her honourable men, and all her great men were
+bound in chains".<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1548" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1548" id="fnrex1548">548</a>]</span> Thebes never
+again recovered its prestige. Its treasures were transported to
+Nineveh. The Ethiopian supremacy in Egypt was finally
+extinguished, and Psamtik, son of Necho, who was appointed the
+Pharaoh, began to reign as the vassal of Assyria.</p>
+<p>When the kings on the seacoasts of Palestine and Asia Minor
+found that they could no longer look to Egypt for help, they
+resigned themselves to the inevitable, and ceased to intrigue
+against Assyria. Gifts were sent to Ashur-bani-pal by the kings
+of Arvad, Tyre, Tarsus, and Tabal. The Arvad ruler, however, was
+displaced, and his son set on his throne. But the most
+extraordinary development was the visit to Nineveh of emissaries
+from Gyges, king of Lydia, who figures in the legends of Greece.
+This monarch had been harassed by the Cimmerians after they
+accomplished the fall of Midas of Phrygia in 676 B.C., and he
+sought the help of Ashur-bani-pal. It is not known whether the
+Assyrians operated against the Cimmerians in Tabal, but, as Gyges
+did not send tribute, it would appear that he held his own with
+<a id="page.anchor.484" name="page.anchor.484"></a>the aid of
+mercenaries from the State of Caria in southwestern Asia Minor.
+The Greeks of Cilicia, and the Achaeans and Phoenicians of Cyprus
+remained faithful to Assyria.</p>
+<p>Elam gave trouble in 665 B.C. by raiding Akkad, but the
+Assyrian army repulsed the invaders at Dur-ilu and pushed on to
+Susa. The Elamites received a crushing defeat in a battle on the
+banks of the River Ula. King Teumman was slain, and a son of the
+King of Urtagu was placed on his throne. Elam thus came under
+Assyrian sway.</p>
+<p>The most surprising and sensational conspiracy against
+Ashur-bani-pal was fomented by his brother Shamash-shum-ukin of
+Babylon, after the two had co-operated peacefully for fifteen
+years. No doubt the priestly party at E-sagila were deeply
+concerned in the movement, and the king may have been strongly
+influenced by the fact that Babylonia was at the time suffering
+from severe depression caused by a series of poor harvests.
+Merodach, according to the priests, was angry; it was probably
+argued that he was punishing the people because they had not
+thrown off the yoke of Assyria.</p>
+<p>The temple treasures of Babylon were freely drawn upon to
+purchase the allegiance of allies. Ere Ashur-bani-pal had any
+knowledge of the conspiracy his brother had won over several
+governors in Babylonia, the Chaldaeans, Aramaeans and Elamites,
+and many petty kings in Palestine and Syria: even Egypt and Libya
+were prepared to help him. When, however, the faithful governor
+of Ur was approached, he communicated with his superior at Erech,
+who promptly informed Ashur-bani-pal of the great conspiracy. The
+intelligence reached Nineveh like a bolt from the blue. The
+emperor's heart was filled with sorrow and anguish. In after-time
+he lamented in <a id="page.anchor.485" name=
+"page.anchor.485"></a>an inscription that his "faithless brother"
+forgot the favours he had shown him. "Outwardly with his lips he
+spoke friendly things, while inwardly his heart plotted
+murder."</p>
+<p>In 652 B.C. Shamash-shum-ukin precipitated the crisis by
+forbidding Ashur-bani-pal to make offerings to the gods in the
+cities of Babylonia. He thus declared his independence.</p>
+<p>War broke out simultaneously. Ur and Erech were besieged and
+captured by the Chaldaeans, and an Elamite army marched to the
+aid of the King of Babylon, but it was withdrawn before long on
+account of the unsettled political conditions at home. The
+Assyrian armies swept through Babylonia, and the Chaldeans in the
+south were completely subjugated before Babylon was captured.
+That great commercial metropolis was closely besieged for three
+years, and was starved into submission. When the Assyrians were
+entering the city gates a sensational happening occurred.
+Shamash-shum-ukin, the rebel king, shut himself up in his palace
+and set fire to it, and perished there amidst the flames with his
+wife and children, his slaves and all his treasures.
+Ashur-bani-pal was in 647 B.C. proclaimed King
+Kandalanu<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1549" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1549" id="fnrex1549">549</a>]</span> of Babylon, and
+reigned over it until his death in 626 B.C.</p>
+<p>Elam was severely dealt with. That unhappy country was
+terribly devastated by Assyrian troops, who besieged and captured
+Susa, which was pillaged and wrecked. It was recorded afterwards
+as a great triumph of this campaign that the statue of Nana of
+Erech, which had been carried off by Elamites 1635 years
+previously, was recovered and restored to the ancient Sumerian
+city. Elam's power of resistance was finally extinguished, and
+the country fell a ready prey to the Medes and Persians, who
+<a id="page.anchor.486" name="page.anchor.486"></a>soon entered
+into possession of it. Thus, by destroying a buffer State,
+Ashur-bani-pal strengthened the hands of the people who were
+destined twenty years after his death to destroy the Empire of
+Assyria.</p>
+<p>The western allies of Babylon were also dealt with, and it may
+be that at this time Manasseh of Judah was taken to Babylon
+(<span class="emphasis"><em>2 Chronicles</em></span>, xxxiii,
+II), where, however, he was forgiven. The Medes and the Mannai in
+the north-west were visited and subdued, and a new alliance was
+formed with the dying State of Urartu.</p>
+<p>Psamtik of Egypt had thrown off the yoke of Assyria, and with
+the assistance of Carian mercenaries received from his ally,
+Gyges, king of Lydia, extended his sway southward. He made peace
+with Ethiopia by marrying a princess of its royal line. Gyges
+must have weakened his army by thus assisting Psamtik, for he was
+severely defeated and slain by the Cimmerians. His son, Ardys,
+appealed to Assyria for help. Ashur-bani-pal dispatched an army
+to Cilicia. The joint operations of Assyria and Lydia resulted in
+the extinction of the kingdom of the Cimmerians about 645
+B.C.</p>
+<p>The records of Ashur-bani-pal cease after 640 B.C., so that we
+are unable to follow the events of his reign during its last
+fourteen years. Apparently peace prevailed everywhere. The great
+monarch, who was a pronounced adherent of the goddess cults,
+appears to have given himself up to a life of indulgence and
+inactivity. Under the name Sardanapalus he went down to tradition
+as a sensual Oriental monarch who lived in great pomp and luxury,
+and perished in his burning palace when the Medes revolted
+against him. It is evident, however, that the memory of more than
+one monarch contributed to the Sardanapalus legend, for
+Ashur-bani-pal had lain nearly twenty years in his grave before
+the siege of Nineveh took place.</p>
+<p><a id="page.anchor.487" name="page.anchor.487"></a>In the
+Bible he is referred to as "the great and noble Asnapper", and he
+appears to have been the emperor who settled the Babylonian,
+Elamite, and other colonists "in the cities of
+Samaria".<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1550" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1550" id="fnrex1550">550</a>]</span></p>
+<p>He erected at Nineveh a magnificent palace, which was
+decorated on a lavish scale. The sculptures are the finest
+productions of Assyrian art, and embrace a wide variety of
+subjects--battle scenes, hunting scenes, and elaborate Court and
+temple ceremonies. Realism is combined with a delicacy of touch
+and a degree of originality which raises the artistic productions
+of the period to the front rank among the artistic triumphs of
+antiquity.</p>
+<p>Ashur-bani-pal boasted of the thorough education which he had
+received from the tutors of his illustrious father, Esarhaddon.
+In his palace he kept a magnificent library. It contained
+thousands of clay tablets on which were inscribed and translated
+the classics of Babylonia. To the scholarly zeal of this cultured
+monarch is due the preservation of the Babylonian story of
+creation, the Gilgamesh and Etana legends, and other literary and
+religious products of remote antiquity. Most of the literary
+tablets in the British Museum were taken from Ashur-bani-pal's
+library.</p>
+<p>There are no Assyrian records of the reigns of
+Ashur-bani-pal's two sons, Ashur-etil-ilani--who erected a small
+palace and reconstructed the temple to Nebo at Kalkhi--and
+Sin-shar-ishkun, who is supposed to have perished in Nineveh.
+Apparently Ashur-etil-ilani reigned for at least six years, and
+was succeeded by his brother.</p>
+<p>A year after Ashur-bani-pal died, Nabopolassar, who was
+probably a Chaldaean, was proclaimed king at Babylon. According
+to Babylonian legend he was an Assyrian general <a id=
+"page.anchor.488" name="page.anchor.488"></a>who had been sent
+southward with an army to oppose the advance of invaders from the
+sea. Nabopolassar's sway at first was confined to Babylon and
+Borsippa, but he strengthened himself by forming an offensive and
+defensive alliance with the Median king, whose daughter he had
+married to his son Nebuchadrezzar. He strengthened the
+fortifications of Babylon, rebuilt the temple of Merodach, which
+had been destroyed by Ashur-bani-pal, and waged war successfully
+against the Assyrians and their allies in Mesopotamia.</p>
+<p>About 606 B.C. Nineveh fell, and Sin-shar-ishkun may have
+burned himself there in his palace, like his uncle,
+Shamash-shum-ukin of Babylon, and the legendary Sardanapalus. It
+is not certain, however, whether the Scythians or the Medes were
+the successful besiegers of the great Assyrian capital. "Woe to
+the bloody city! it is all full of lies and robbery", Nahum had
+cried."... The gates of the rivers shall be opened, and the
+palace shall be dissolved.... Take ye the spoil of silver, take
+the spoil of gold.... Behold, I am against thee, saith the Lord
+of hosts<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1551" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1551" id="fnrex1551">551</a>]</span>."</p>
+<p>According to Herodotus, an army of Medes under Cyaxares had
+defeated the Assyrians and were besieging Nineveh when the
+Scythians overran Media. Cyaxares raised the siege and went
+against them, but was defeated. Then the Scythians swept across
+Assyria and Mesopotamia, and penetrated to the Delta frontier of
+Egypt. Psamtik ransomed his kingdom with handsome gifts. At
+length, however, Cyaxares had the Scythian leaders slain at a
+banquet, and then besieged and captured Nineveh.</p>
+<p>Assyria was completely overthrown. Those of its nobles and
+priests who escaped the sword no doubt <a id="page.anchor.489"
+name="page.anchor.489"></a>escaped to Babylonia. Some may have
+found refuge also in Palestine and Egypt.</p>
+<p>Necho, the second Pharaoh of the Twenty-sixth Egyptian
+Dynasty, did not hesitate to take advantage of Assyria's fall. In
+609 B.C. he proceeded to recover the long-lost Asiatic
+possessions of Egypt, and operated with an army and fleet. Gaza
+and Askalon were captured. Josiah, the grandson of Manasseh, was
+King of Judah. "In his days Pharaoh-nechoh king of Egypt went up
+against the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates: and king
+Josiah went against him; and he (Necho) slew him at
+Megiddo."<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1552" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1552" id="fnrex1552">552</a>]</span> His son,
+Jehoahaz, succeeded him, but was deposed three months later by
+Necho, who placed another son of Josiah, named Eliakim, on the
+throne, "and turned his name to Jehoiakim".<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1553" href="#ftn.fnrex1553" id=
+"fnrex1553">553</a>]</span> The people were heavily taxed to pay
+tribute to the Pharaoh.</p>
+<p>When Necho pushed northward towards the Euphrates he was met
+by a Babylonian army under command of Prince
+Nebuchadrezzar.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1554" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1554" id="fnrex1554">554</a>]</span> The Egyptians
+were routed at Carchemish in 605 B.C. (<span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Jeremiah,</em></span> xvi, 2).</p>
+<p>In 604 B.C. Nabopolassar died, and the famous Nebuchadrezzar
+II ascended the throne of Babylon. He lived to be one of its
+greatest kings, and reigned for over forty years. It was he who
+built the city described by Herodotus (pp. 219 <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>et seq.</em></span>), and constructed its outer
+wall, which enclosed so large an area that no army could invest
+it. Merodach's temple was decorated with greater magnificence
+than ever before. The great palace and hanging gardens were
+erected by this mighty monarch, who no doubt attracted to the
+city large numbers of the skilled artisans who had fled from
+Nineveh. He also restored temples at other cities, and made
+generous gifts to the <a id="page.anchor.490" name=
+"page.anchor.490"></a>priests. Captives were drafted into
+Babylonia from various lands, and employed cleaning out the
+canals and as farm labourers.</p>
+<p>The trade and industries of Babylon flourished greatly, and
+Nebuchadrezzar's soldiers took speedy vengeance on roving bands
+which infested the caravan roads. "The king of Egypt", after his
+crushing defeat at Carchemish, "came not again any more out of
+his land: for the king of Babylon had taken from the river of
+Egypt unto the river Euphrates all that pertained to the king of
+Egypt."<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1555" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1555" id="fnrex1555">555</a>]</span> Jehoiakim of
+Judah remained faithful to Necho until he was made a prisoner by
+Nebuchadrezzar, who "bound him in fetters to carry him to
+Babylon".<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1556" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1556" id="fnrex1556">556</a>]</span> He was afterwards
+sent back to Jerusalem. "And Jehoiakim became his
+(Nebuchadrezzar's) servant three years: then he turned and
+rebelled against him."<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1557"
+href="#ftn.fnrex1557" id="fnrex1557">557</a>]</span></p>
+<p>Bands of Chaldaeans, Syrians, Moabites, and Ammonites were
+harassing the frontiers of Judah, and it seemed to the king as if
+the Babylonian power had collapsed. Nebuchadrezzar hastened
+westward and scattered the raiders before him. Jehoiakim died,
+and his son Jehoiachan, a youth of eighteen years, succeeded him.
+Nebuchadrezzar laid siege to Jerusalem, and the young king
+submitted to him and was carried off to Babylon, with "all the
+princes, and all the mighty men of valour, even ten thousand
+captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths: none remained save
+the poorest sort of the people of the land".<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1558" href="#ftn.fnrex1558" id=
+"fnrex1558">558</a>]</span> Nebuchadrezzar had need of warriors
+and workmen.</p>
+<p>Zedekiah was placed on the throne of Judah as an Assyrian
+vassal. He remained faithful for a few years, but at length began
+to conspire with Tyre and Sidon, <a id="page.anchor.491" name=
+"page.anchor.491"></a>Moab, Edom, and Ammon in favour of Egyptian
+suzerainty. Pharaoh Hophra (Apries), the fourth king of the
+Twenty-sixth Dynasty, took active steps to assist the
+conspirators, and "Zedekiah rebelled against the king of
+Babylon<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1559" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1559" id="fnrex1559">559</a>]</span>".</p>
+<p>Nebuchadrezzar led a strong army through Mesopotamia, and
+divided it at Riblah, on the Orontes River. One part of it
+descended upon Judah and captured Lachish and Azekah. Jerusalem
+was able to hold out for about eighteen months. Then "the famine
+was sore in the city, so that there was no bread for the people
+of the land. Then the city was broken up, and all the men of war
+fled, and went forth out of the city by night by way of the gate
+between the two walls, which was by the king's garden." Zedekiah
+attempted to escape, but was captured and carried before
+Nebuchadrezzar, who was at Riblah, in the land of Hamath.</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<p>And the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah before his
+eyes.... Then he put out the eyes of Zedekiah; and the king of
+Babylon bound him in chains and carried him to Babylon and put
+him in prison till the day of his death<span class=
+"sub">[<a name="fnrex1560" href="#ftn.fnrex1560" id=
+"fnrex1560">560</a>]</span>.</p>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>The majority of the Jews were deported to Babylonia, where
+they were employed as farm labourers. Some rose to occupy
+important official positions. A remnant escaped to Egypt with
+Jeremiah.</p>
+<p>Jerusalem was plundered and desolated. The Assyrians "burned
+the house of the Lord and the king's house, and all the houses of
+Jerusalem", and "brake down all the walls of Jerusalem round
+about". Jeremiah lamented:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<p>How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people! how
+is she become as a widow! she that was great among the nations,
+and <a id="page.anchor.492" name="page.anchor.492"></a>princess
+among the provinces, how is she become tributary! She weepeth
+sore in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks: among all her
+lovers she hath none to comfort her: all her friends have dealt
+treacherously with her, they are become her enemies. Judah is
+gone into captivity because of affliction, and because of great
+servitude: she dwelleth among the heathen, she findeth no rest:
+all her persecutors overtook her between the straits....
+Jerusalem remembered in the days of her affliction and of her
+miseries all her pleasant things that she had in the days of
+old....<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1561" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1561" id="fnrex1561">561</a>]</span></p>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>Tyre was besieged, but was not captured. Its king, however,
+arranged terms of peace with Nebuchadrezzar.</p>
+<p>Amel-Marduk, the "Evil Merodach" of the Bible, the next king
+of Babylon, reigned for a little over two years. He released
+Jehoiachin from prison, and allowed him to live in the royal
+palace.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1562" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1562" id="fnrex1562">562</a>]</span> Berosus relates
+that Amel-Marduk lived a dissipated life, and was slain by his
+brother-in-law, Nergal-shar-utsur, who reigned two years (559-6
+B.C.). Labashi-Marduk, son of Nergal-shar-utsur, followed with a
+reign of nine months. He was deposed by the priests. Then a
+Babylonian prince named Nabu-na&acute;id (Nabonidus) was set on
+the throne. He was the last independent king of Babylonia. His
+son Belshazzar appears to have acted as regent during the latter
+part of the reign.</p>
+<p>Nabonidus engaged himself actively during his reign (556-540
+B.C.) in restoring temples. He entirely reconstructed the house
+of Shamash, the sun god, at Sippar, and, towards the end of his
+reign, the house of Sin, the moon god, at Haran. The latter
+building had been destroyed by the Medes.</p>
+<p>The religious innovations of Nabonidus made him exceedingly
+unpopular throughout Babylonia, for he carried away the gods of
+Ur, Erech, Larsa, and Eridu, <a id="page.anchor.493" name=
+"page.anchor.493"></a>and had them placed in E-sagila. Merodach
+and his priests were displeased: the prestige of the great god
+was threatened by the policy adopted by Nabonidus. As an
+inscription composed after the fall of Babylon sets forth;
+Merodach "gazed over the surrounding lands ... looking for a
+righteous prince, one after his own heart, who should take his
+hands.... He called by name Cyrus."</p>
+<p>Cyrus was a petty king of the shrunken Elamite province of
+Anshan, which had been conquered by the Persians. He claimed to
+be an Achaemenian--that is a descendant of the semi-mythical
+Akhamanish (the Achaemenes of the Greeks), a Persian patriarch
+who resembled the Aryo-Indian Manu and the Germanic Mannus.
+Akhamanish was reputed to have been fed and protected in
+childhood by an eagle--the sacred eagle which cast its shadow on
+born rulers. Probably this eagle was remotely Totemic, and the
+Achaemenians were descendants of an ancient eagle tribe.
+Gilgamesh was protected by an eagle, as we have seen, as the
+Aryo-Indian Shakuntala was by vultures and Semiramis by doves.
+The legends regarding the birth and boyhood of Cyrus resemble
+those related regarding Sargon of Akkad and the Indian Karna and
+Krishna.</p>
+<p>Cyrus acknowledged as his overlord Astyages, king of the
+Medes. He revolted against Astyages, whom he defeated and took
+prisoner. Thereafter he was proclaimed King of the Medes and
+Persians, who were kindred peoples of Indo-European speech. The
+father of Astyages was Cyaxares, the ally of Nabopolassar of
+Babylon. When this powerful king captured Nineveh he entered into
+possession of the northern part of the Assyrian Empire, which
+extended westward into Asia Minor to the frontier of the Lydian
+kingdom; he also possessed himself of Urartu <a id=
+"page.anchor.494" name="page.anchor.494"></a>(Armenia). Lydia
+had, after the collapse of the Cimmerian power, absorbed Phrygia,
+and its ambitious king, Alyattes, waged war against the Medes. At
+length, owing to the good offices of Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon
+and Syennesis of Cilicia, the Medes and Lydians made peace in 585
+B.C. Astyages then married a daughter of the Lydian ruler.</p>
+<p>When Cyrus overthrew Cyaxares, king of the Medes, Croesus,
+king of Lydia, formed an alliance against him with Amasis, king
+of Egypt, and Nabonidus, king of Babylon. The latter was at first
+friendly to Cyrus, who had attacked Cyaxares when he was
+advancing on Babylon to dispute Nabonidus's claim to the throne,
+and perhaps to win it for a descendant of Nebuchadrezzar, his
+father's ally. It was after the fall of the Median Dynasty that
+Nabonidus undertook the restoration of the moon god's temple at
+Haran.</p>
+<p>Cyrus advanced westward against Croesus of Lydia before that
+monarch could receive assistance from the intriguing but
+pleasure-loving Amasis of Egypt; he defeated and overthrew him,
+and seized his kingdom (547-546 B.C.). Then, having established
+himself as supreme ruler in Asia Minor, he began to operate
+against Babylonia. In 539 B.C. Belshazzar was defeated near Opis.
+Sippar fell soon afterwards. Cyrus's general, Gobryas, then
+advanced upon Babylon, where Belshazzar deemed himself safe. One
+night, in the month of Tammuz--</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<p>Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his
+lords, and drank wine before the thousand. Belshazzar, whiles he
+tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels
+which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which
+was in Jerusalem; that the king, and his princes, his wives, and
+his concubines, might drink therein.... They drank wine, and
+praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of
+<a id="page.anchor.495" name="page.anchor.495"></a>wood, and of
+stone.... In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans
+slain.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1563" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1563" id="fnrex1563">563</a>]</span></p>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>On the 16th of Tammuz the investing army under Gobryas entered
+Babylon, the gates having been opened by friends within the city.
+Some think that the Jews favoured the cause of Cyrus. It is quite
+as possible, however, that the priests of Merodach had a secret
+understanding with the great Achaemenian, the "King of
+kings".</p>
+<p>A few days afterwards Cyrus arrived at Babylon. Belshazzar had
+been slain, but Nabonidus still lived, and he was deported to
+Carmania. Perfect order prevailed throughout the city, which was
+firmly policed by the Persian soldiers, and there was no looting.
+Cyrus was welcomed as a deliverer by the priesthood. He "took the
+hands" of Bel Merodach at E-sagila, and was proclaimed "King of
+the world, King of Babylon, King of Sumer and Akkad, and King of
+the Four Quarters".</p>
+<p>Cyrus appointed his son Cambyses as governor of Babylon.
+Although a worshipper of Ahura-Mazda and Mithra, Cambyses appears
+to have conciliated the priesthood. When he became king, and
+swept through Egypt, he was remembered as the madman who in a fit
+of passion slew a sacred Apis bull. It is possible, however, that
+he performed what he considered to be a pious act: he may have
+sacrificed the bull to Mithra.</p>
+<p>The Jews also welcomed Cyrus. They yearned for their native
+land.</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<p>By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept,
+when we remembered Zion. We hanged our harps upon the willows in
+the midst thereof. For there they that carried us away captive
+required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us
+mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. How shall we
+sing the Lord's song in a strange land? If I forget thee, O
+<a id="page.anchor.496" name="page.anchor.496"></a>Jerusalem, let
+my right hand forget her cunning. If I do not remember thee, let
+my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not
+Jerusalem above my chief joy.<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1564" href="#ftn.fnrex1564" id=
+"fnrex1564">564</a>]</span></p>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>Cyrus heard with compassion the cry of the captives.</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<p>Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word
+of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord
+stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a
+proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in
+writing, saying, Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The Lord God of
+heaven hath given me all kingdoms of the earth; and he hath
+charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.
+Who is there among you of all his people? his God be with him,
+and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the
+house of the Lord God of Israel (he is the God) which is in
+Jerusalem.<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1565" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1565" id="fnrex1565">565</a>]</span></p>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<p>In 538 B.C. the first party of Jews who were set free saw
+through tears the hills of home, and hastened their steps to
+reach Mount Zion. Fifty years later Ezra led back another party
+of the faithful. The work of restoring Jerusalem was undertaken
+by Nehemiah in 445 B.C.</p>
+<p>The trade of Babylon flourished under the Persians, and the
+influence of its culture spread far and wide. Persian religion
+was infused with new doctrines, and their deities were given
+stellar attributes. Ahura-Mazda became identified with Bel
+Merodach, as, perhaps, he had previously been with Ashur, and the
+goddess Anahita absorbed the attributes of Nina, Ishtar,
+Zerpanitu<span class='phonetic'>m</span>, and other Babylonian
+"mother deities".</p>
+<p>Another "Semiramis" came into prominence. This was the wife
+and sister of Cambyses. After Cambyses died she married Darius I,
+who, like Cyrus, claimed to be an Achaemenian. He had to
+overthrow a pretender, but submitted to the demands of the
+orthodox Persian <a id="page.anchor.497" name=
+"page.anchor.497"></a>party to purify the Ahura-Mazda religion of
+its Babylonian innovations. Frequent revolts in Babylon had
+afterwards to be suppressed. The Merodach priesthood apparently
+suffered loss of prestige at Court. According to Herodotus,
+Darius plotted to carry away from E-sagila a great statue of Bel
+"twelve cubits high and entirely of solid gold". He, however, was
+afraid "to lay his hands upon it". Xerxes, son of Darius (485-465
+B.C.), punished Babylon for revolting, when intelligence reached
+them of his disasters in Greece, by pillaging and partly
+destroying the temple. "He killed the priest who forbade him to
+move the statue, and took it away."<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1566" href="#ftn.fnrex1566" id="fnrex1566">566</a>]</span>
+The city lost its vassal king, and was put under the control of a
+governor. It, however, regained some of its ancient glory after
+the burning of Susa palace, for the later Persian monarchs
+resided in it. Darius II died at Babylon, and Artaxerxes II
+promoted in the city the worship of Anaitis.</p>
+<p>When Darius III, the last Persian emperor, was overthrown by
+Alexander the Great in 331 B.C., Babylon welcomed the Macedonian
+conqueror as it had welcomed Cyrus. Alexander was impressed by
+the wisdom and accomplishments of the astrologers and priests,
+who had become known as "Chaldaeans", and added Bel Merodach to
+his extraordinary pantheon, which already included Amon of Egypt,
+Melkarth, and Jehovah. Impressed by the antiquity and
+magnificence of Babylon, he resolved to make it the capital of
+his world-wide empire, and there he received ambassadors from
+countries as far east as India and as far west as Gaul.</p>
+<p>The canals of Babylonia were surveyed, and building operations
+on a vast scale planned out. No fewer than ten thousand men were
+engaged working for two months reconstructing and decorating the
+temple of Merodach, <a id="page.anchor.498" name=
+"page.anchor.498"></a>which towered to a height of 607 feet. It
+looked as if Babylon were about to rise to a position of
+splendour unequalled in its history, when Alexander fell sick,
+after attending a banquet, and died on an evening of golden
+splendour sometime in June of 323 B.C.</p>
+<p>One can imagine the feelings of the Babylonian priests and
+astrologers as they spent the last few nights of the emperor's
+life reading "the omens of the air"--taking note of wind and
+shadow, moon and stars and planets, seeking for a sign, but
+unable to discover one favourable. Their hopes of Babylonian
+glory were suspended in the balance, and they perished completely
+when the young emperor passed away in the thirty-third year of
+his life. For four days and four nights the citizens mourned in
+silence for Alexander and for Babylon.</p>
+<p>The ancient city fell into decay under the empire of the
+Seleucidae. Seleucus I had been governor of Babylon, and after
+the break-up of Alexander's empire he returned to the ancient
+metropolis as a conqueror. "None of the persons who succeeded
+Alexander", Strabo wrote, "attended to the undertaking at
+Babylon"--the reconstruction of Merodach's temple. "Other works
+were neglected, and the city was dilapidated partly by the
+Persians and partly by time and through the indifference of the
+Greeks, particularly after Seleucus Nicator fortified Seleukeia
+on the Tigris."<span class="sub">[<a name="fnrex1567" href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1567" id="fnrex1567">567</a>]</span></p>
+<p>Seleucus drafted to the city which bore his name the great
+bulk of the inhabitants of Babylon. The remnant which was left
+behind continued to worship Merodach and other gods after the
+walls had crumbled and the great temple began to tumble down.
+Babylon died slowly, but at length the words of the Hebrew
+prophet were fulfilled:</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<blockquote class="blockquote">
+<p><a id="page.anchor.499" name="page.anchor.499"></a>The
+cormorant and the bittern shall possess it; the owl also and the
+raven shall dwell in it.... They shall call the nobles thereof to
+the kingdom, but none shall be there, and all her princes shall
+be nothing. And thorns shall come up in her palaces, nettles and
+brambles in the fortresses thereof: and it shall be an habitation
+of dragons, and a court for owls. The wild beasts of the desert
+shall also meet with the wild beasts of the island, and the satyr
+shall cry to his fellow: the screech owl also shall rest there,
+and find for herself a place of rest.<span class="sub">[<a name=
+"fnrex1568" href="#ftn.fnrex1568" id=
+"fnrex1568">568</a>]</span></p>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+<div class="footnotes"><br />
+<hr width="100" align="left" />
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1544" href="#fnrex1544" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1544">544</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Nahum</em></span>, i, ii, and iii.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1545" href="#fnrex1545" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1545">545</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Isaiah</em></span>, xlvi, 1; xlvii, 1-15.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1546" href="#fnrex1546" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1546">546</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Nahum</em></span>, iii, 2, 3; ii, 3.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1547" href="#fnrex1547" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1547">547</a>]</span> Goodspeed's <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>A History of the Babylonians and
+Assyrians</em></span>, p. 348.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1548" href="#fnrex1548" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1548">548</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Nahum</em></span>, iii, 8-11.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1549" href="#fnrex1549" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1549">549</a>]</span> Ptolemy's Kineladanus.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1550" href="#fnrex1550" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1550">550</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Ezra</em></span>, iv, 10.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1551" href="#fnrex1551" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1551">551</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Nahum</em></span>, iii and ii.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1552" href="#fnrex1552" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1552">552</a>]</span> 2 <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Kings</em></span>, xxiii, 29.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1553" href="#fnrex1553" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1553">553</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Ibid.</em></span>, 33-5.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1554" href="#fnrex1554" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1554">554</a>]</span> Nebuchadrezzar is more correct
+than Nebuchadnezzar.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1555" href="#fnrex1555" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1555">555</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>2
+Kings</em></span>, xxiv, 7.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1556" href="#fnrex1556" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1556">556</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>2
+Chronicles</em></span>, xxxvi, 6.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1557" href="#fnrex1557" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1557">557</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>2
+Kings</em></span>, xxiv, 1.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1558" href="#fnrex1558" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1558">558</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>2
+Kings</em></span>, xxiv, 8-15.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1559" href="#fnrex1559" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1559">559</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Jeremiah</em></span>, lii, 3.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1560" href="#fnrex1560" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1560">560</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Jeremiah</em></span>, lii, 4-11.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1561" href="#fnrex1561" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1561">561</a>]</span> <span class="emphasis"><em>The
+Laminations of Jeremiah</em></span>, i, 1-7.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1562" href="#fnrex1562" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1562">562</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Jeremiah</em></span>, lii, 31-4.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1563" href="#fnrex1563" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1563">563</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Daniel</em></span>, v, I et seq.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1564" href="#fnrex1564" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1564">564</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Psalms</em></span>, cxxxvii, 1-6.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1565" href="#fnrex1565" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1565">565</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Ezra</em></span>, i, 1-3.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1566" href="#fnrex1566" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1566">566</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Herodotus</em></span>, i, 183; <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Strabo</em></span>, xvi, 1, 5; and <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Arrian</em></span>, vii, 17.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1567" href="#fnrex1567" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1567">567</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Strabo</em></span>, xvi, 1-5.</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnote">
+<div class="footnote"><span class="footnote">[<a name=
+"ftn.fnrex1568" href="#fnrex1568" id=
+"ftn.fnrex1568">568</a>]</span> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Isaiah</em></span>, xxiiv, 11-4.</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="index">
+<div class="titlepage">
+<div>
+<div>
+<h2 class="title"><a id="id2550638" name=
+"id2550638"></a>Index</h2>
+</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+<p>Vowel Sounds:--<span class="emphasis"><em>&auml;</em></span>,
+as in <span class="emphasis"><em>palm</em></span>; <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>&#257;</em></span>, as in <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>late</em></span>; <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>&#259;</em></span>, almost like <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>u</em></span> in <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>fur</em></span>; <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>e</em></span>, like <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>a</em></span> in <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>fate</em></span>; <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>&#275;</em></span>, as in <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>he</em></span>; <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>i</em></span>, as <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>e</em></span> in <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>me</em></span>; <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>&#299;</em></span>, as in <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>sigh</em></span>; <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>&#333;</em></span>, as in <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>shore</em></span>; <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>&uuml;</em></span>, as in <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>pull</em></span>; <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>u</em></span>, as in <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>sun</em></span>; <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>&#563;</em></span>, as in <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>dye</em></span>.</p>
+<div class="indexdiv">
+<h3 class="title">A</h3>
+<dl>
+<dt>&Auml;, &#256;&auml;, &Auml;i, Sumerian names of moon,
+<a href="#page.anchor.301">301</a>; Ea as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.31">31</a>.</dt>
+<dt>&Auml;&auml;, the goddess, consort of Shamash, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.57">57</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.100">100</a>.</dt>
+<dt>A&auml;h, Egyptian name of moon, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.301">301</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Abijah (a-b&#299;&acute;jah), King of Judah, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.402">402</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.403">403</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Abraham, <a href="#page.anchor.12">12</a>; the Isaac
+sacrifice, <a href="#page.anchor.50">50</a>; period of migration
+from Ur, <a href="#page.anchor.131">131</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.245">245</a>; association of with Amorites,
+<a href="#page.anchor.246">246</a>; conflict with Amraphel
+(Hammurabi) and his allies, <a href="#page.anchor.246">246</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.247">247</a>; Babylonian monotheism in age
+of, <a href="#page.anchor.160">160</a>; Nimrod and in
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Koran</em></span>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.166">166</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.167">167</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.349">349</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.350">350</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Achaeans (a-k&#275;&acute;ans), the Celts and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.377">377</a>; in Crete and Egypt, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.378">378</a>; Pelasgians and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.393">393</a>; the Cyprian and Assyria, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.484">484</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Achaemenian (a-k<span class=
+"emphasis"><em>e</em></span>-m<span class=
+"emphasis"><em>e</em></span>n&acute;ian), Cyrus called an,
+<a href="#page.anchor.493">493</a>; Darius I claims to be an,
+<a href="#page.anchor.496">496</a>. See <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Akhamanish</em></span>.</dt>
+<dt>Adad (&auml;d&acute;&auml;d), deities that link with,
+<a href="#page.anchor.35">35</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.57">57</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.261">261</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.395">395</a>; in demon war, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.76">76</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Adad-nirari I (&auml;d&acute;&auml;d-ni-r&auml;&acute;ri), of
+Assyria, <a href="#page.anchor.362">362</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.363">363</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Adad-nirari III, <a href="#page.anchor.396">396</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Adad-nirari IV, King of Assyria, Babylonian influence in
+court of, <a href="#page.anchor.419">419</a>; as "husband of his
+mother", <a href="#page.anchor.420">420</a>; innovations of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.421">421</a>; Kalkhi library, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.422">422</a>; "synchronistic history", <a href=
+"#page.anchor.423">423</a>; Nebo worship, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.435">435</a>,436; as "saviour" of Israel, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.438">438</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.439">439</a>;
+Urartu problem, <a href="#page.anchor.439">439</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.440">440</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Adad-nirari V, <a href="#page.anchor.442">442</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Adad-shum-utsur
+(&auml;d&acute;ad-sh&uuml;m-&uuml;&acute;tsur), King of
+Babylonia, as overlord of Assyria, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.370">370</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Adam, "first wife" of a demon, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.67">67</a>; the shining jewel of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.185">185</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Adapa (&auml;&acute;d&auml;-p&auml;), the Babylonian Thor,
+<a href="#page.anchor.72">72</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.73">73</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Addu (&auml;d&acute;d&uuml;), as form of Merodach, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.160">160</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Adonis (&auml;-d&#333;&acute;nis), Tammuz and myth of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.83">83</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.84">84</a>; antiquity of myth of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.84">84</a>; blood of in river, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.85">85</a>; the boat or chest of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.90">90</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.103">103</a>;
+"the Garden of", <a href="#page.anchor.171">171</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.172">172</a>; slain by boar, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.294">294</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.304">304</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Afghans, skull forms of, <a href="#page.anchor.8">8</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Ages, the mythical, Tammuz as ruler of one of the, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.83">83</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.84">84</a>; Greek
+flood legend and, <a href="#page.anchor.195">195</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.196">196</a>; the Indian and Celtic, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.196">196</a>; in American myths, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.198">198</a>; Babylonian and Indian links, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.199">199</a>; in Persian and Germanic mythologies,
+<a href="#page.anchor.202">202</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.203">203</a>; various systems compared, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.310">310</a> <span class="emphasis"><em>et
+seq.</em></span>.</dt>
+<dt>Agni (&#259;g&acute;nee), Indian fire and fertility god,
+<a href="#page.anchor.49">49</a>; Nusku and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.50">50</a>; links with Tammuz, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.94">94</a>; eagle as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.168">168</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.169">169</a>;
+Nergal and, <a href="#page.anchor.304">304</a>; the goat and,
+<a href="#page.anchor.333">333</a>; Melkarth and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.346">346</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Agriculture, mother worship and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.xxix">xxix</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.xxx">xxx</a>;
+cults of Osiris-Isis and Tammuz-Ishtar, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.xxxi">xxxi</a>; early Sumerians and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.2">2</a>; in Turkestan and Egypt, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.6">6</a>; early civilizations and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.14">14</a>; Herodotus on Babylonian, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.21">21</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.22">22</a>;
+irrigation and river floods, <a href="#page.anchor.23">23</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.24">24</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.26">26</a>; deities and water supply, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.33">33</a>; Tammuz-Adonis myth, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.85">85</a>; weeping ceremonies, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.82">82</a> <span class="emphasis"><em>et
+seq</em></span>.; Nimrod myth, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.170">170</a>; demand for harvesters in Babylonia,
+<a href="#page.anchor.256">256</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Agum (&auml;&acute;g&uuml;m), Kassite kings named, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.272">272</a> <span class="emphasis"><em>et
+seq</em></span>.</dt>
+<dt>Agum the Great, Kassite king, recovers from Mitanni Merodach
+and his spouse, <a href="#page.anchor.272">272</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Ahab, King of Israel, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.405">405</a>-<a href="#page.anchor.407">407</a> ,
+<a href="#page.anchor.408">408</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.473">473</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Ahaz, King of Judah, fire ceremony practised by, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.50">50</a>; sundial of and eclipse record, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.323">323</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.450">450</a>;
+relations with Assyria, <a href="#page.anchor.452">452</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.453">453</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.459">459</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Ahaziah (a-ha-z&#299;&acute;ah), King of Israel, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.408">408</a>-<a href="#page.anchor.410">410</a>
+.</dt>
+<dt>Ah&uuml;r&acute;&#259; M&#259;z&acute;da, eagle and ring
+symbol of, <a href="#page.anchor.347">347</a>; Ashur and,
+<a href="#page.anchor.355">355</a>; Cambyses and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.495">495</a>; identified with Merodach, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.496">496</a>; reform of cult of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.497">497</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Air of Life, Breath and spirit as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.48">48</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.49">49</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Akhamanish (a-kh&auml;-m&#259;n&acute;ish), the Persian
+Patriarch, <a href="#page.anchor.493">493</a>; Germanic Mannus
+and Indian Manu and, <a href="#page.anchor.493">493</a>; eagle
+and, <a href="#page.anchor.493">493</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Akhenaton (a-khen-&auml;&acute;ton), foreign correspondence
+of, <a href="#page.anchor.280">280</a> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>et seq.</em></span>; Assyrian King's relations
+with, <a href="#page.anchor.285">285</a>; Aton cult of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.338">338</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.422">422</a>;
+attitude of to mother worship, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.418">418</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.419">419</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Akkad (ak&acute;kad). Its racial and geographical
+significance, <a href="#page.anchor.1">1</a>; early name of Uri
+or Kiuri, <a href="#page.anchor.2">2</a>; early history of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.109">109</a> <span class="emphasis"><em>et
+seq.</em></span></dt>
+<dt>Akkad, City of, Sargon of, <a href="#page.anchor.125">125</a>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>et seq.</em></span>; Naram-Sin and,
+<a href="#page.anchor.128">128</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.129">129</a>; in Hammurabi Age, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.256">256</a>; observatory at, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.321">321</a>. Also rendered Agad&eacute;.</dt>
+<dt>Akkadians, characteristics of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.2">2</a>; culture of Sumerian, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.2">2</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.3">3</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.13">13</a>; the conquerors of Sumerians, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.12">12</a>.</dt>
+<dt>&Auml;ku, moon as the "measurer", <a href=
+"#page.anchor.301">301</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Akurgal (&auml;-k&uuml;r&acute;gal), King of Lagash, son of
+Ur-Nina, <a href="#page.anchor.118">118</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Alban, the British ancestral giant, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.42">42</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Aleppo (a-lep&acute;po), Hadad worshipped at, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.411">411</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Alexander the Great, Southern Babylonia in age of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.22">22</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.23">23</a>; his
+vision of Tiamat, <a href="#page.anchor.151">151</a>; myths of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.164">164</a>; the eagle and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.167">167</a>; Gilgamesh and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.172">172</a>; water of life, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.185">185</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.186">186</a>;
+Brahmans and, <a href="#page.anchor.207">207</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.208">208</a>; welcomed in Babylon, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.497">497</a>; Pantheon of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.497">497</a>; death of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.498">498</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Algebra, Brahmans formulated, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.289">289</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Allatu (al&acute;l&auml;-t&uuml;). See <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Eresh-ki-gal.</em></span></dt>
+<dt>Alu (&auml;&acute;l&uuml;), the, tempest and nightmare demon,
+<a href="#page.anchor.65">65</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.68">68</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.69">69</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Aly&auml;t&acute;tes, King of Lydia, war against Medes,
+<a href="#page.anchor.494">494</a>; Median marriage alliance,
+<a href="#page.anchor.494">494</a>.</dt>
+<dt>&Auml;&acute;m&auml;, the mother goddess, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.57">57</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.100">100</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Amaziah, King of Judah, <a href="#page.anchor.448">448</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.449">449</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Amel-marduk (&auml;&acute;mel-m&auml;r&acute;duk), "Evil
+Merodach", King of Babylon, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.492">492</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Amenhotep III (&auml;-men-h&#333;&acute;tep) of Egypt,
+<a href="#page.anchor.280">280</a>; Tushratta's appeals to,
+<a href="#page.anchor.282">282</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Amon, wife of, <a href="#page.anchor.221">221</a>; the "world
+soul" belief and, <a href="#page.anchor.329">329</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Amorites, Land of. See <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Amurru.</em></span></dt>
+<dt>Amorites, Sargon of Akkad and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.125">125</a>-<a href="#page.anchor.127">127</a> ;
+in pre-Hammurabi Age, <a href="#page.anchor.217">217</a>; Sun
+cult favoured by in Babylon, <a href="#page.anchor.240">240</a>;
+Moon cult of in Kish, <a href="#page.anchor.241">241</a>; blend
+of in Jerusalem, <a href="#page.anchor.246">246</a>; raids of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.256">256</a>; as allies of Hittites,
+<a href="#page.anchor.284">284</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.363">363</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.364">364</a>;
+Philistines and, <a href="#page.anchor.380">380</a>; "mother
+right" amongst, <a href="#page.anchor.418">418</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Amphitrite, the sea goddess, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.33">33</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Amraphel (&auml;m&acute;ra-phel), the Biblical, identified
+with Hammurabi, <a href="#page.anchor.131">131</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.246">246</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.247">247</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Amurru (am&acute;&uuml;r-r&uuml;), land of Amorites, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.127">127</a>; Sargon and Naram Sin in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.127">127</a>-<a href="#page.anchor.129">129</a> ;
+Gudea of Lagash trades with, <a href="#page.anchor.130">130</a>;
+Elamite overlordship of, <a href="#page.anchor.248">248</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Amurru, the god called, Merodach and Adad-Ramman and,
+<a href="#page.anchor.316">316</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Anahita (ana-hi&acute;ta), Persian goddess, identified with
+Nina-Ishtar, <a href="#page.anchor.496">496</a>.</dt>
+<dt>An&acute;akim, "sons of Anak", the Hittites and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.11">11</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.12">12</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Anatu (an-&auml;&acute;t&uuml;), consort of Anu, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.138">138</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Anau, Turkestan, civilization of and the Sumerian, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.5">5</a>; votive statuettes found at, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.5">5</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Ancestral totems, annual sacrifice of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.294">294</a>; in Babylonia and China, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.295">295</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Andromeda (an-drom&acute;e-da), legend of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.152">152</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Angus, the Irish love god, <a href="#page.anchor.90">90</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.238">238</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Animal forms of gods, <a href="#page.anchor.134">134</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.135">135</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Animism, <a href="#page.anchor.xxxiii">xxxiii</a>; spirit
+groups and gods, <a href="#page.anchor.35">35</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.294">294</a> <span class="emphasis"><em>et
+seq.</em></span>; fairies and elves relics of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.79">79</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.80">80</a>; stars
+and planets as ghosts, <a href="#page.anchor.295">295</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.304">304</a>; star worship, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.317">317</a>; Pelasgian gods as Fates, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.317">317</a>.</dt>
+<dt>"Annie, Gentle", the Scottish wind hag, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.73">73</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Annis, Black, Leicester wind hag, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.73">73</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.101">101</a>.</dt>
+<dt>An&acute;shan, Province of, Sargon of Akkad conquers,
+<a href="#page.anchor.127">127</a>; Cyrus, King of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.493">493</a>.</dt>
+<dt>An&acute;shar, the god, in group of elder deities, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.37">37</a>; Anu becomes like, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.124">124</a>; in Creation legend, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.138">138</a> <span class="emphasis"><em>et
+seq.</em></span>; Ashur a form of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.326">326</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.354">354</a>;
+as "Assoros", <a href="#page.anchor.328">328</a>; as night sky
+god, <a href="#page.anchor.328">328</a>; identified with Polar
+star, <a href="#page.anchor.330">330</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.331">331</a>; as astral Satyr (goat-man), <a href=
+"#page.anchor.333">333</a>; Tammuz and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.333">333</a>; his six divinities of council,
+<a href="#page.anchor.334">334</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Anthat (&auml;nth&acute;at), goddesses that link with,
+<a href="#page.anchor.268">268</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Anthropomorphic gods, the Sumerian, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.134">134</a>-<a href="#page.anchor.136">136</a>
+.</dt>
+<dt>Anu (&auml;&acute;n&uuml;), god of the sky, demons as
+messengers of, <a href="#page.anchor.34">34</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.77">77</a>; in early triad, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.35">35</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.36">36</a>; among
+early gods, <a href="#page.anchor.37">37</a>; Brahma and,
+<a href="#page.anchor.38">38</a>; links with Mithra, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.55">55</a>; other gods and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.53">53</a>,57; as father of demons, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.63">63</a>; solar and lunar attributes of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.53">53</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.55">55</a>; wind
+spirits and, <a href="#page.anchor.72">72</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.73">73</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.74">74</a>; in
+demon war, <a href="#page.anchor.76">76</a>; as father of Isis,
+<a href="#page.anchor.100">100</a>; Ur-Nina and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.116">116</a>; as father of Enlil, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.124">124</a>; as form of Anshar, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.125">125</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.328">328</a>;
+high priest of and moon god, <a href="#page.anchor.130">130</a>;
+during Isin Dynasty, <a href="#page.anchor.132">132</a>; in
+Creation legend, <a href="#page.anchor.138">138</a> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>et seq.</em></span>; Merodach directs decrees of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.149">149</a>; Etana and eagle in heaven of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.166">166</a>; in Gilgamesh legend, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.173">173</a> <span class="emphasis"><em>et
+seq.</em></span>; in Deluge legend, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.190">190</a> <span class="emphasis"><em>et
+seq.</em></span>; planetary gods and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.304">304</a>; zodiacal "field of", <a href=
+"#page.anchor.307">307</a>; the star spirits and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.318">318</a>; as Anos, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.328">328</a>; as the "high bead", <a href=
+"#page.anchor.334">334</a>; Sargon II and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.463">463</a>.</dt>
+<dt>An&acute;zan. See <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Anshan</em></span>.</dt>
+<dt>Apep (&auml;&acute;pep), the Egyptian serpent demon, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.46">46</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.156">156</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Aphrodite (af-r&#333;-d&#299;&acute;t&#275;), boar lover of
+slays Adonis, <a href="#page.anchor.87">87</a>; lovers of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.103">103</a>; the "bearded" form of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.267">267</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.301">301</a>; birds and plants sacred to, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.427">427</a>; as a fate, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.427">427</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.433">433</a>;
+legends attached to, <a href="#page.anchor.437">437</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Apil-Sin (&auml;&acute;pil-sin), King, grandfather of
+Hammurabi, <a href="#page.anchor.242">242</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Apis bull (&auml;-pis), inspiration from breath of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.49">49</a>; Cambyses sacrifices to Mithra, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.495">495</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Apsu-Rishtu (ap&acute;s&uuml;-rish&acute;t&uuml;), god of the
+deep, like Egyptian Nu, <a href="#page.anchor.37">37</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.64">64</a>; as enemy of the gods, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.38">38</a>; Tiamat and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.106">106</a>; in Creation legend, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.138">138</a> <span class="emphasis"><em>et
+seq.</em></span>; reference to by Damascius, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.328">328</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Apuatu (&auml;-p&uuml;&acute;&auml;-t&uuml;) (Osiris) as the
+Patriarch, <a href="#page.anchor.xxxii">xxxii</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Arabia, moon worship in, <a href="#page.anchor.52">52</a>;
+owl a mother ghost in, <a href="#page.anchor.70">70</a>; in Zu
+bird myth, <a href="#page.anchor.74">74</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.75">75</a>; invaded by Naram Sin, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.129">129</a>; Etana myth in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.166">166</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.167">167</a>;
+water of life myth, <a href="#page.anchor.186">186</a>; Sargon II
+and kings of, <a href="#page.anchor.458">458</a>; Sennacherib in,
+<a href="#page.anchor.466">466</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Arabians, the, of Mediterranean race, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.7">7</a>; Semites of Jewish type and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.7">7</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.10">10</a>;
+prehistoric migrations of, <a href="#page.anchor.11">11</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.12">12</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Arad Ea (&auml;r-ad-e&acute;&auml;), "ferryman" of Hades
+water, <a href="#page.anchor.34">34</a>; Gilgamesh crosses sea of
+death with, <a href="#page.anchor.180">180</a> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>et seq.</em></span></dt>
+<dt>Aramaeans, migrations of, <a href="#page.anchor.359">359</a>;
+called "Suti", "Achlame", "Arimi", "Khabiri", and "Syrians",
+<a href="#page.anchor.360">360</a>; Assyria and the, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.367">367</a>; as allies of Hittites, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.377">377</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.378">378</a>;
+state of Damascus founded by, <a href="#page.anchor.390">390</a>;
+Ashur-natsir-pal III and, <a href="#page.anchor.398">398</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.399">399</a>; "mother worship" and,
+<a href="#page.anchor.434">434</a>; as opponents of sun worship,
+<a href="#page.anchor.445">445</a>; settled in Asia Minor,
+<a href="#page.anchor.461">461</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Archer, the Astral, Ashur, Gilgamesh, and Hercules as,
+<a href="#page.anchor.336">336</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.337">337</a>; robed with feathers, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.344">344</a>; Ashur and Sandan as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.352">352</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Ardat Lili (ar&acute;dat li-li), a demon lover, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.68">68</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Ardys, King of Lydia, Assyria helps, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.486">486</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Ares, Greek war god, as boar slayer of Adonis, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.87">87</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.304">304</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Argistis I (ar&acute;gist-is), King of Urartu, campaigns of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.441">441</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.442">442</a>, or, Argistes.</dt>
+<dt>Argistis II of Urartu, raids of Cimmerians and Scythians,
+<a href="#page.anchor.461">461</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Arioch (&auml;&acute;ri-ok), the Biblical, Warad-Sin as,
+<a href="#page.anchor.247">247</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.248">248</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Arithmetic, finger counting in Babylonia and India, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.310">310</a>; development of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.312">312</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Ark, in flood legend, <a href="#page.anchor.191">191</a>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>et seq.</em></span></dt>
+<dt>Arles money, Babylonian farm labourers received, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.256">256</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Armenia, Thunder god of, <a href="#page.anchor.261">261</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.395">395</a>; goddess Anaitis in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.267">267</a>, See <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Urartu</em></span>.</dt>
+<dt>Armenians, the use of cradle board by, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.4">4</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.5">5</a>; ancestors
+of, <a href="#page.anchor.283">283</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Armenoid Race, the, in Semitic blend, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.10">10</a>; in Asia Minor, Syria, and Europe,
+<a href="#page.anchor.11">11</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.262">262</a>; traces of in prehistoric Egypt,
+<a href="#page.anchor.11">11</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.263">263</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.264">264</a>;
+in Palestine, <a href="#page.anchor.12">12</a>; culture of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.315">315</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Arnold, Edwin, <a href="#page.anchor.xxii">xxii</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Arpad (&auml;r&acute;pad) in reign of Tiglathpileser IV,
+<a href="#page.anchor.446">446</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.447">447</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Arrow, a symbol of lightning and fertility, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.337">337</a>; Ashur's and the goddess Neith's,
+<a href="#page.anchor.337">337</a><span class=
+"emphasis"><em>n</em></span>. See <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Archer, the Astral</em></span>.</dt>
+<dt>Art, magical origin of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.288">288</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Artaxerxes, <a href="#page.anchor.497">497</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Artemis (&auml;r&acute;te-mis), the goddess, lovers slain by,
+<a href="#page.anchor.104">104</a>; as wind hag, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.104">104</a>; the "Great Bear" myth and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.296">296</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Artisan gods, Ea, Ptah, Khnumu, and Indra as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.30">30</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Aruru (ar&acute;&uuml;-r&uuml;), the mother goddess, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.100">100</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.160">160</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.420">420</a>; assists Merodach to create
+mankind, <a href="#page.anchor.148">148</a>; in Gilgamesh legend,
+<a href="#page.anchor.172">172</a> <span class="emphasis"><em>et
+seq.</em></span></dt>
+<dt>Aryans (&#257;&acute;ri-ans), Mitannians as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.269">269</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.270">270</a>;
+Kassites and, <a href="#page.anchor.270">270</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Asa, King of Judah, burning at grave of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.350">350</a>; images destroyed by, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.403">403</a>; appeal for aid to Damascus, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.404">404</a>; death of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.407">407</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Asari (&auml;-s&auml;&acute;ri), Merodach as, and Osiris,
+<a href="#page.anchor.159">159</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Ash&acute;dod, Cyprian King of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.458">458</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.459">459</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Ashtoreth (&auml;sh-t&#333;&acute;reth), Ishtar and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.100">100</a>; lovers of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.103">103</a>; goddesses that link with, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.267">267</a>; worship of at Samaria, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.439">439</a>; also rendered Ash&acute;ta-roth.</dt>
+<dt>Ashur (&auml;&acute;shur), Asura theory, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.278">278</a>; as Aushar, "water field", the "Holy
+One", and Anshar, <a href="#page.anchor.326">326</a>; the
+Biblical patriarch, <a href="#page.anchor.327">327</a>; "Ashir"
+and Cappadocia, <a href="#page.anchor.327">327</a>; Brahma and,
+<a href="#page.anchor.328">328</a>; as Creator, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.329">329</a>; bull, eagle, and lion identified
+with, <a href="#page.anchor.330">330</a>; connected with sun,
+Regulus, Arcturus, and Orion, <a href="#page.anchor.331">331</a>;
+King and, <a href="#page.anchor.331">331</a>; Isaiah's parable,
+<a href="#page.anchor.331">331</a>; as bull of heaven, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.334">334</a>; winged disk or "wheel" of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.334">334</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.335">335</a>;
+standard of as "world spine", <a href="#page.anchor.335">335</a>;
+the archer in "wheel", <a href="#page.anchor.335">335</a>;
+despiritualization theory, <a href="#page.anchor.335">335</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.336">336</a>; the solar archer as Merodach,
+Hercules, and Gilgamesh, <a href="#page.anchor.336">336</a>; the
+arrow of, <a href="#page.anchor.337">337</a>; Babylonian deities
+and, <a href="#page.anchor.337">337</a>; Babylonian and Persian
+influences, <a href="#page.anchor.338">338</a>; as god of
+fertility, &amp;c., <a href="#page.anchor.339">339</a>; Assyrian
+civilization reflected by, <a href="#page.anchor.340">340</a>; as
+corn god and war god, <a href="#page.anchor.340">340</a>; the
+Biblical Nisroch, <a href="#page.anchor.341">341</a>; the eagle
+and, <a href="#page.anchor.343">343</a>; Ezekiel's references to
+life wheel, <a href="#page.anchor.344">344</a> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>et seq.</em></span>; fire cult and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.346">346</a>; Indian wheel symbol, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.346">346</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.347">347</a>;
+Persian wheel or disk, <a href="#page.anchor.347">347</a>; wheels
+of Shamash and Ishtar, <a href="#page.anchor.347">347</a>; the
+Egyptian Ankh, <a href="#page.anchor.347">347</a>; Hittite winged
+disk, <a href="#page.anchor.347">347</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.348">348</a>; Sandan and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.347">347</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.348">348</a>;
+Attis and, <a href="#page.anchor.348">348</a>; son of Ea like
+Merodach, <a href="#page.anchor.348">348</a>; aided by fires and
+sacrifices, <a href="#page.anchor.351">351</a>; disk a symbol of
+life, fertility, &amp;c., <a href="#page.anchor.351">351</a>; the
+lightning arrow, <a href="#page.anchor.352">352</a>; temples of
+and worship of, <a href="#page.anchor.352">352</a>; close
+association of with kings, <a href="#page.anchor.352">352</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.353">353</a>; association of with moon god,
+<a href="#page.anchor.353">353</a>; astral phase of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.354">354</a>; Jastrow's view, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.354">354</a>; Pinches on Merodach and Osiris links,
+<a href="#page.anchor.354">354</a>; as patriarch, corn god,
+&amp;c, <a href="#page.anchor.354">354</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.355">355</a>; spouse of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.355">355</a>; a Baal, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.355">355</a>; earthquake destroys temple of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.363">363</a>; Shalmaneser I obtains
+treasure for, <a href="#page.anchor.366">366</a>; Esarhaddon
+builds temple to, <a href="#page.anchor.476">476</a>; Sennacherib
+murdered in temple of, <a href="#page.anchor.470">470</a>; Ahura
+Mazda and, <a href="#page.anchor.496">496</a>. See <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>&Auml;sshur</em></span>, the <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Biblical Patriarch</em></span>.</dt>
+<dt>Ashur-bani-pal (&auml;&acute;shur-b&auml;n&acute;i-pal),
+discovery of library of, <a href="#page.anchor.xxii">xxii</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.xxiii">xxiii</a>; doctors and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.231">231</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.232">232</a>;
+worship of Ashur and Sin, <a href="#page.anchor.353">353</a>;
+Merodach restored to Babylon by, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.481">481</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.482">482</a>;
+Egyptian campaign, <a href="#page.anchor.482">482</a>; sack of
+Thebes, <a href="#page.anchor.483">483</a>; emissaries from Gyges
+of Lydia visit, <a href="#page.anchor.483">483</a>;
+Shamash-shum-ukin's revolt against, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.484">484</a>; suicide of Shamash-shum-ukin,
+<a href="#page.anchor.485">485</a>; Lydia aided by, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.486">486</a>; Sardanapalus legend, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.486">486</a>; the Biblical "Asnapper", <a href=
+"#page.anchor.487">487</a>; palace of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.487">487</a>.</dt>
+<dt>A&acute;shur-dan&acute; I, of Assyria, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.370">370</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Ashur-dan III, reign of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.442">442</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Ashur-danin-apli(a&acute;shur-dan-in&acute;apli), revolt of
+in Assyria, <a href="#page.anchor.414">414</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.415">415</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Ashur-elit-ilani (a&acute;shur-e&acute;lit-il-a&acute;ni),
+King of Assyria, <a href="#page.anchor.487">487</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.488">488</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Ashur-natsir-pal I (a&acute;shur-na&acute;tsir-pal) of
+Assyria, <a href="#page.anchor.369">369</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Ashur-natsii-pal III, his "reign of terror", <a href=
+"#page.anchor.396">396</a>; conquests and atrocities of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.397">397</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.398">398</a>;
+Babylonians overawed by, <a href="#page.anchor.399">399</a>;
+death of, <a href="#page.anchor.401">401</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Ashur-nirari IV (a&acute;shur-ni-r&auml;&acute;ri), last king
+of Assyria's "Middle Empire", <a href="#page.anchor.442">442</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.443">443</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Ashur-uballit (a&acute;shur-u-b&auml;l-lit), King of Assyria,
+Egypt and, <a href="#page.anchor.281">281</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.282">282</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.285">285</a>;
+conquests of, <a href="#page.anchor.284">284</a>; grandson of as
+King of Babylon, <a href="#page.anchor.284">284</a>; Arabian
+desert trade route, <a href="#page.anchor.360">360</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Asia Minor, hill god of, <a href="#page.anchor.136">136</a>;
+prehistoric alien pottery in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.263">263</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Ass, the sun god as, <a href="#page.anchor.329">329</a>; in
+Lagash chariot, <a href="#page.anchor.330">330</a>.</dt>
+<dt>"Ass of the East", horse called in Babylonia, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.270">270</a>.</dt>
+<dt>&Auml;s&acute;shur, City of, Ashur the god of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.277">277</a>; Mitanni king plunders, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.280">280</a>; imported beliefs in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.327">327</a>; Biblical reference to, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.339">339</a>; development of god of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.355">355</a>; Merodach's statue deported to,
+<a href="#page.anchor.469">469</a>.</dt>
+<dt>&Auml;s&acute;shur, the Biblical Patriarch of Assyria,
+<a href="#page.anchor.276">276</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.277">277</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.327">327</a>.
+See <span class="emphasis"><em>Ashur</em></span>.</dt>
+<dt>Assyria, excavations in, <a href="#page.anchor.xix">xix</a>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>et seq.</em></span>; Amorite migration
+to, <a href="#page.anchor.217">217</a>; Hammurabi kings as
+overlords of, <a href="#page.anchor.241">241</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.419">419</a>; Thothmes III corresponds with king
+of, <a href="#page.anchor.276">276</a>; Biblical reference to
+rise of, <a href="#page.anchor.276">276</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.277">277</a>; Aryan names of early kings of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.278">278</a>; Mitanni kings as overlords
+of, <a href="#page.anchor.279">279</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.280">280</a>; Semitized by Amorites, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.279">279</a>; in Tell-el-Amarna letters, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.281">281</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.282">282</a>;
+rise of after fall of Mitanni, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.284">284</a>; struggles with Babylonia for
+Mesopotamia, <a href="#page.anchor.284">284</a>-<a href=
+"#page.anchor.286">286</a> ; <a href="#page.anchor.361">361</a>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>et seq.</em></span>; the national god,
+Ashur, <a href="#page.anchor.326">326</a> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>et seq.</em></span>; Isaiah's reference to,
+<a href="#page.anchor.340">340</a>; Egyptians and Hittites allied
+against, <a href="#page.anchor.366">366</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.368">368</a>; Old Empire Kings, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.366">366</a> <span class="emphasis"><em>et
+seq.</em></span>; Babylonia controls, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.370">370</a>; character of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.372">372</a>-<a href="#page.anchor.375">375</a> ;
+periods of history of, <a href="#page.anchor.375">375</a>; at
+close of Kassite period, <a href="#page.anchor.380">380</a>; end
+of Old Empire, <a href="#page.anchor.386">386</a>; Second Empire
+of, <a href="#page.anchor.391">391</a> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>et seq.</em></span>; sculpture of and Sumerian,
+<a href="#page.anchor.401">401</a>; mother worship in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.420">420</a> <span class="emphasis"><em>et
+seq.</em></span>; Urartu's struggle with, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.440">440</a>-<a href="#page.anchor.442">442</a> ;
+end of Second Empire, <a href="#page.anchor.443">443</a>; Third
+Empire, <a href="#page.anchor.444">444</a> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>et seq.</em></span>; Egypt becomes a province of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.475">475</a> <span class="emphasis"><em>et
+seq.</em></span>; last king of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.487">487</a>; fall of Nineveh, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.488">488</a>; Cyaxares rules over, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.493">493</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Astarte (as-t&auml;r&acute;te), lovers of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.103">103</a>; animals of on Lagash vase, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.120">120</a>; goddesses that link with, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.267">267</a>; Semiramis and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.425">425</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Astrology, basal idea in Babylonian, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.317">317</a>; Babylonian and Grecian, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.318">318</a> <span class="emphasis"><em>et
+seq.</em></span>; literary references to, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.325">325</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Astrology and astronomy, <a href="#page.anchor.287">287</a>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>et seq.</em></span> See <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Stars, Planets</em></span>, and <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Constellations</em></span>.</dt>
+<dt>Astronomers, eclipses foretold by in late Assyrian period,
+<a href="#page.anchor.321">321</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.322">322</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Astronomy, Merodach fixes stars, &amp;c., in Creation legend,
+<a href="#page.anchor.147">147</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.148">148</a>; discovery that moon is lit by sun,
+<a href="#page.anchor.148">148</a> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>n.</em></span>; Mythical Ages and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.310">310</a> <span class="emphasis"><em>et
+seq.</em></span>; theory of Greek origin of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.319">319</a> <span class="emphasis"><em>et
+seq.</em></span>; precession of the equinoxes, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.320">320</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.320">320</a>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>n.</em></span>; Assyro-Babylonian
+observatories, <a href="#page.anchor.320">320</a>-<a href=
+"#page.anchor.322">322</a> ; Hittites pass Babylonian discoveries
+to Europe, <a href="#page.anchor.316">316</a>; in late Assyrian
+and neo-Babylonian period, <a href="#page.anchor.479">479</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.480">480</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Astyages (as-ty&acute;a-j&#275;z), King of the Medes, Cyrus
+displaces, <a href="#page.anchor.493">493</a>; wife of a Lydian
+princess, <a href="#page.anchor.494">494</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Asura fire (&#259;-shoo&acute;ra), in the sea, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.50">50</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.51">51</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Atargatis (&auml;t-&auml;r-g&auml;&acute;tis), the goddess,
+legend of origin of, <a href="#page.anchor.28">28</a>; as a
+bi-sexual deity, <a href="#page.anchor.267">267</a>; Derecto and,
+<a href="#page.anchor.277">277</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.426">426</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.427">427</a>;
+Nina and, <a href="#page.anchor.277">277</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.278">278</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Ate (&auml;&acute;te), mother goddess of Cilicia, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.267">267</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Athaliah (ath-a-l&#299;&acute;ah), Queen, of Judah, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.409">409</a>; reign of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.413">413</a>; Joash crowned, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.413">413</a>; soldiers slay, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.413">413</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.414">414</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Athena (&auml;th<span class=
+"emphasis"><em>e</em></span>&acute;na), indigenous goddess of
+Athens, <a href="#page.anchor.105">105</a>; goat and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.337">337</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Athens, imported gods in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.105">105</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Atmospheric deities, Enlil, Indra, Ramman, &amp;c, as,
+<a href="#page.anchor.35">35</a>; "air of life" from, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.48">48</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.49">49</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Aton, Akhenaton's god, the goddess Mut and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.419">419</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.422">422</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Attis (&auml;t&acute;tis), the Phrygian god, Tammuz and,
+<a href="#page.anchor.84">84</a>; death of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.87">87</a>; as lover of Cybele, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.103">103</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.104">104</a>;
+deities that link with, <a href="#page.anchor.267">267</a>; as
+Jupiter, <a href="#page.anchor.305">305</a>; Ashur and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.354">354</a>-<a href="#page.anchor.355">355</a> ;
+symbols of, <a href="#page.anchor.348">348</a>.</dt>
+<dt>&Auml;&uuml;-A&auml;, Jah as Ea, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.31">31</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Australia, star myths in, <a href="#page.anchor.296">296</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.300">300</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Axe, the double, symbol of god, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.348">348</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Azag-Bau (&auml;&acute;zag b&auml;&acute;&uuml;), legendary
+queen of Kish, <a href="#page.anchor.114">114</a>; humble origin
+of, <a href="#page.anchor.115">115</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Azariah (az-a-r&#299;&acute;ah), King of Judah, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.449">449</a>.</dt>
+</dl>
+</div>
+<div class="indexdiv">
+<h3 class="title">B</h3>
+<dl>
+<dt>Baal, the moon god as, <a href="#page.anchor.51">51</a>;
+shadowy spouse of, <a href="#page.anchor.100">100</a>; Ashur as,
+<a href="#page.anchor.355">355</a>; worship of the Phoenician in
+Israel, <a href="#page.anchor.406">406</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Baal-dag&acute;on, the god, symbols of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.32">32</a>.</dt>
+<dt>B&auml;&acute;asha, King of Israel, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.403">403</a>; Damascus aids Judah against, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.404">404</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.405">405</a>.</dt>
+<dt>B&auml;&acute;&auml;-&uuml;, the Phoenician mother goddess,
+<a href="#page.anchor.150">150</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Babbar (b&auml;b&acute;bar), sun god, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.125">125</a>; Nin Girsu and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.132">132</a>; of Sippar, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.240">240</a>. See <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Shamash</em></span>.</dt>
+<dt>Babylon, in early Christian literature, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.xvii">xvii</a>; German excavations at, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.xxiv">xxiv</a>; Isaiah foretells doom of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.113">113</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.114">114</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.478">478</a>; sack of by Gutium, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.129">129</a>; political rise of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.217">217</a> <span class="emphasis"><em>et
+seq.</em></span>; early history of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.218">218</a>; Greek descriptions of late city of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.219">219</a> <span class="emphasis"><em>et
+seq.</em></span>; "hanging gardens" of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.220">220</a>; date of existing ruins of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.222">222</a>; marriage market of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.224">224</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.225">225</a>;
+sun worship in, <a href="#page.anchor.240">240</a>; the London of
+Western Asia, <a href="#page.anchor.253">253</a>; return of
+Merodach from Mitanni to, <a href="#page.anchor.272">272</a>;
+observatory at, <a href="#page.anchor.321">321</a>; destruction
+of by Sennacherib, <a href="#page.anchor.468">468</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.469">469</a>; restored by Esarhaddon, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.471">471</a>; Ashur-bani-pal restores Merodach to,
+<a href="#page.anchor.481">481</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.482">482</a>; Shamash-sum-ukin's revolt in,
+<a href="#page.anchor.484">484</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.485">485</a>; Belshazzar's feast in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.494">494</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.495">495</a>;
+under the Persians, <a href="#page.anchor.496">496</a>; Xerxes
+pillages Merodach's temple in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.497">497</a>; Alexander the Great in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.497">497</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.498">498</a>;
+under empire of Seleucidae, <a href="#page.anchor.498">498</a>;
+slow death of, <a href="#page.anchor.498">498</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.499">499</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Babylonia, excavations in, <a href="#page.anchor.xix">xix</a>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>et seq</em></span>.; religion of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.xxviii">xxviii</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.xxxi">xxxi</a>; debt of modern world to, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.xxxv">xxxv</a>; early divisions of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.1">1</a> <span class="emphasis"><em>et
+seq</em></span>.; harvests of, <a href="#page.anchor.21">21</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.22">22</a>; the two seasons of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.23">23</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.24">24</a>; rise
+of empire of, <a href="#page.anchor.133">133</a>; Amorite
+migration into, <a href="#page.anchor.217">217</a>; Golden Age
+of, <a href="#page.anchor.253">253</a>; Hittite invasion of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.259">259</a>; Tell-el-Amarna letters and,
+<a href="#page.anchor.281">281</a>; early struggles with Assyria,
+<a href="#page.anchor.284">284</a>-<a href=
+"#page.anchor.286">286</a> ; star myths of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.290">290</a> <span class="emphasis"><em>et
+seq</em></span>.; ancestor worship in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.295">295</a>; beginning of arithmetic in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.310">310</a> <span class="emphasis"><em>et
+seq</em></span>.; Kassites and Mesopotamia, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.358">358</a>,359,<a href="#page.anchor.361">361</a>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>et seq</em></span>.; Arabian desert
+route, <a href="#page.anchor.360">360</a>; influence of Hittites
+in, <a href="#page.anchor.364">364</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.366">366</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.368">368</a>;
+Assyria controlled by, <a href="#page.anchor.370">370</a>;
+Kassite dynasty ends, <a href="#page.anchor.370">370</a>-<a href=
+"#page.anchor.371">371</a> ; compared with Assyria, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.371">371</a>-<a href="#page.anchor.375">375</a> ;
+Tig-lath-pileser II and, <a href="#page.anchor.385">385</a>;
+Ashur-natsir-pal III overawes, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.399">399</a>; Shamshi-Adad VII subdues, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.414">414</a>,415; Tiglath-pileser IV, the "Pulu"
+of, <a href="#page.anchor.444">444</a>-<a href=
+"#page.anchor.446">446</a> ; Esarhaddon and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.471">471</a>-<a href="#page.anchor.476">476</a> ;
+Neo-Babylonian Age, <a href="#page.anchor.478">478</a>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>et seq</em></span>.; Alexander the
+Great and, <a href="#page.anchor.497">497</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Baghdad railway, following ancient trade route, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.357">357</a>, 357 <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>n</em></span><span class="sub">[<a href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1407">407</a>]</span>.</dt>
+<dt>Balder, the Germanic god, Gilgamesh and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.184">184</a>; new age of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.202">202</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.203">203</a>.</dt>
+<dt>B&auml;-neb-tet&acute;tu, Egyptian god, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.29">29</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Barley, husks of in Egyptian pre-Dynastic bodies, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.6">6</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Barleycorn, John, Nimrod and Icelandic god Barleycorn and,
+<a href="#page.anchor.170">170</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.171">171</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Barque of Ra, sun as and the Babylonian "boat", <a href=
+"#page.anchor.56">56</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.57">57</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Basques, the, language of and the Sumerian, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.3">3</a>; shaving customs of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.4">4</a>.</dt>
+<dt>B&auml;st, the Egyptian serpent mother, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.76">76</a>.</dt>
+<dt>B&auml;&acute;ta, the Egyptian tale of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.85">85</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Bats, ghosts as, <a href="#page.anchor.65">65</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Battle, the Everlasting, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.65">65</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Bau (b&auml;&acute;&uuml;), mother goddess, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.100">100</a>; Gula and Ishtar and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.116">116</a>; in Kish, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.114">114</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.126">126</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.127">127</a>; associated with Nin-Girsu,
+<a href="#page.anchor.115">115</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.116">116</a>; Tiamat and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.150">150</a>; doves and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.428">428</a>; creatrix and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.437">437</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Bear, as a clan totem, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.164">164</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Bearded gods, the Sumerian, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.135">135</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.136">136</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.137">137</a>; Egyptian customs, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.136">136</a>.</dt>
+<dt>"Beare, the Old Woman of", as the eternal goddess, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.101">101</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.102">102</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Behistun, rock inscription at, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.xx">xx</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Bel, the, Merodach as, <a href="#page.anchor.34">34</a>;
+Enlil as the "elder", <a href="#page.anchor.35">35</a>; demons as
+"beloved sons" of, <a href="#page.anchor.63">63</a>; Zu bird
+strives to be, <a href="#page.anchor.74">74</a>; in demon war,
+<a href="#page.anchor.77">77</a>; as son of Ea, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.139">139</a>; decapitated to create mankind,
+<a href="#page.anchor.148">148</a>; Etana visits heaven of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.166">166</a>; in Gilgamesh legend, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.172">172</a>; in flood legend, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.190">190</a> <span class="emphasis"><em>et
+seq</em></span>.; Zodiacal "field" of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.307">307</a>; Sargon II and the "elder", <a href=
+"#page.anchor.463">463</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Bel&acute;-Kap-K&auml;&acute;p&uuml;, King of Babylonia, as
+overlord of Assyria, <a href="#page.anchor.419">419</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Bel-nirari (bel&acute;-ni-r&auml;&acute;ri), King of Assyria,
+<a href="#page.anchor.285">285</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.286">286</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Bel-shum-id&acute;din, last Kassite king, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.371">371</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Beli (b&#257;&acute;le), "the Howler", enemy of Germanic corn
+god, <a href="#page.anchor.95">95</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Belit-sheri (bel-it-sh<span class=
+"emphasis"><em>e</em></span>&acute;ri), sister of Tammuz, in
+Hades, <a href="#page.anchor.98">98</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.117">117</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Belshaz&acute;zar, King of Babylon, overthrow of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.494">494</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.495">495</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Beltane Day, fire ceremony of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.50">50</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Beltu (b&#257;l&acute;t&uuml;), the goddess, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.36">36</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.100">100</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Ben-ha&acute;dad I, King of Damascus, as overlord of Judah
+and Israel, <a href="#page.anchor.404">404</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Ben-hadad II, Ahab defeats twice, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.406">406</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.407">407</a>;
+murder of by Hazael, <a href="#page.anchor.410">410</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Ben-hadad III, Assyrians overcome, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.438">438</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.439">439</a>.</dt>
+<dt><span class="emphasis"><em>Beowulf</em></span>
+(b&#257;-&#333;-w&uuml;lf), brood of Cain in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.80">80</a>; Scyld myth, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.92">92</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.93">93</a>; sea
+monsters, <a href="#page.anchor.152">152</a>; mother-monster in
+like Sumerian and Scottish, <a href="#page.anchor.154">154</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.155">155</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Ber, "lord of the wild boar", Ninip as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.302">302</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Bero&acute;sus, <a href="#page.anchor.27">27</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.30">30</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.83">83</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.148">148</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.164">164</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.170">170</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.198">198</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.466">466</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.470">470</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.492">492</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Bhima (bhee&acute;ma), the Indian, like Gilgamesh and
+Hercules, <a href="#page.anchor.187">187</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Birds, as ghosts and fates, <a href="#page.anchor.65">65</a>;
+owl as mother's ghost, <a href="#page.anchor.70">70</a>; demons
+enter the, <a href="#page.anchor.71">71</a>; Sumerian Zu bird and
+Indian Garuda, <a href="#page.anchor.74">74</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.75">75</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.168">168</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.169">169</a>; in Germanic legends, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.147">147</a> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>n</em></span>.; as symbols of fertility, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.169">169</a>; birth eagle, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.168">168</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.169">169</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.171">171</a>; imitation of and musical
+culture, <a href="#page.anchor.238">238</a>; associated with
+goddesses, <a href="#page.anchor.423">423</a> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>et seq</em></span>.; fairies as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.429">429</a>. See <span class="emphasis"><em>Doves,
+Eagle, Raven, Swan, Vulture, Wryneck</em></span>.</dt>
+<dt>Birth, magical aid for, <a href="#page.anchor.165">165</a>;
+strawgirdles, serpent skins, eagle stones, and magical plant,
+<a href="#page.anchor.165">165</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Bi-sexual deities, Nannar, moon god, Ishtar, Isis, and Hapi
+as, <a href="#page.anchor.161">161</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.162">162</a>; Nina and Atargatis as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.277">277</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.278">278</a>;
+Merodach and Ishtar change forms, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.299">299</a>; Venus both male and female, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.299">299</a>; mother body of moon father, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.299">299</a>; Isis as a male, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.299">299</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Bitumen, Mesopotamian wells of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.25">25</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Blake, W., double vision, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.336">336</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Blood, as vehicle of life, <a href="#page.anchor.45">45</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.47">47</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.48">48</a>; inspiration from, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.48">48</a>; corn stalks as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.55">55</a>; sap of trees as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.47">47</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Boann (b&#333;&acute;&auml;n), Irish river and corn goddess,
+<a href="#page.anchor.33">33</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Boar, offered to sea god, <a href="#page.anchor.33">33</a>;
+demon Set as, <a href="#page.anchor.85">85</a>; Babylonian
+Ninshach as, <a href="#page.anchor.86">86</a>; Adonis slayer as,
+<a href="#page.anchor.86">86</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.87">87</a>; Attis slain by, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.87">87</a>; Diarmid slain by, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.87">87</a>; the Irish "green boar", <a href=
+"#page.anchor.87">87</a>; the Totemic theory, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.293">293</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.294">294</a>;
+Ninip-Ber as lord of the wild, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.302">302</a>; Nergal as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.304">304</a>; Ares as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.304">304</a>; Ninip and Set as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.315">315</a>; the Gaulish boar god and Mercury,
+<a href="#page.anchor.316">316</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.317">317</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Boghaz-K&ouml;i (bog-h&auml;z&acute;-ke&uuml;i), prehistoric
+pottery at, <a href="#page.anchor.5">5</a>; Hittite capital,
+<a href="#page.anchor.262">262</a>; mythological sculptures near,
+<a href="#page.anchor.268">268</a>; Winckler cuneiform tablets
+from, <a href="#page.anchor.280">280</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.367">367</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Bones, why taken from graves, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.214">214</a>; Shakespeare's curse, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.215">215</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Borsippa (bor&acute;sip-pa), observatory at, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.321">321</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Botta, P. C, excavations of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.xix">xix</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.xx">xx</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Bracelet, the wedding, Ishtar's, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.98">98</a>; the Hindu, 98 <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>n</em></span><span class="sub">[<a href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1123">123</a>]</span>.</dt>
+<dt>Brahm&auml;, the Indian god, like Ea, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.27">27</a>; Anu and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.38">38</a>; wife of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.101">101</a>; eagle as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.169">169</a>; Ashur and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.328">328</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Br&auml;hmans, algebra formulated by, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.289">289</a>; Assyrian teachers and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.352">352</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Breath of Apis bull, inspiration from, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.49">49</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Britain, the ancestral giant of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.42">42</a>; Tammuz myth in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.85">85</a>; birth girdles in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.165">165</a>; "Island of the Blessed" of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.203">203</a>; in Egypt and Persia, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.357">357</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Brood of Tiamat, in Creation legend, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.141">141</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Brown, Robert, on Babylonian culture in India, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.199">199</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.200">200</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.308">308</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.309">309</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.310">310</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.318">318</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.322">322</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Brown Race, the. See <span class="emphasis"><em>Mediterranean
+Race</em></span>.</dt>
+<dt>Buddha (b&uuml;d&acute;h&#259;), Babylonian teachers like,
+<a href="#page.anchor.42">42</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Budge, E. Wallis, on oldest companies of Babylonian and
+Egyptian gods, <a href="#page.anchor.36">36</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.37">37</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Bull, offered to sea god, <a href="#page.anchor.33">33</a>;
+Ninip as the, <a href="#page.anchor.53">53</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.302">302</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.334">334</a>;
+of Mithra, <a href="#page.anchor.55">55</a>; the winged, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.41">41</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.65">65</a>;
+Osiris as, <a href="#page.anchor.85">85</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.89">89</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.99">99</a>;
+Tammuz as, <a href="#page.anchor.85">85</a>; Attis and the,
+<a href="#page.anchor.89">89</a>; Enlil as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.159">159</a>; of Ishtar in Gilgamesh myth, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.176">176</a>; seers wrapped in skin of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.213">213</a>; Horus as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.301">301</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.302">302</a>;
+as sky god, <a href="#page.anchor.329">329</a>; Ashur as,
+<a href="#page.anchor.334">334</a>; the lunar, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.135">135</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.334">334</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Burial customs, cremation ceremony, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.49">49</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.50">50</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.350">350</a>; "house of clay", <a href=
+"#page.anchor.56">56</a>; "houses" and charms for dead, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.206">206</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.207">207</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.212">212</a>; Palaeolithic and Neolithic,
+<a href="#page.anchor.207">207</a>; the Egyptian, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.209">209</a>; religious need for ceremonies,
+<a href="#page.anchor.268">268</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.209">209</a>; Sumerian like early Egyptian,
+<a href="#page.anchor.211">211</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.214">214</a>; priestly fees, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.210">210</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.211">211</a>;
+food, fishhooks and weapons in graves, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.212">212</a>; why dead were clothed, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.213">213</a>; honey in coffins, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.214">214</a>; disturbance of bones, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.214">214</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.215">215</a>;
+burnings at Hebrew graves, <a href="#page.anchor.350">350</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.351">351</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Buriats, the, "calling back" of ghosts by, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.69">69</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.70">70</a>; earth
+and air elves of, <a href="#page.anchor.105">105</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Burkans (boor&acute;kans), "the masters", spirits or elves of
+Siberians, <a href="#page.anchor.105">105</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Burnaburiash I (b&uuml;r&acute;na-b&uuml;r&acute;i-ash),
+Kassite king, <a href="#page.anchor.274">274</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Burns, Robert, <a href="#page.anchor.72">72</a>; the John
+Barleycorn myth, <a href="#page.anchor.170">170</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Burrows, Professor, Cretan snake and dove goddess, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.430">430</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Byron, star lore, <a href="#page.anchor.325">325</a>.</dt>
+</dl>
+</div>
+<div class="indexdiv">
+<h3 class="title">C</h3>
+<dl>
+<dt>Cailleach (k&auml;l&acute;y&#259;k), the Gaelic, a wind hag,
+<a href="#page.anchor.73">73</a>; as eternal goddess, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.101">101</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Calah (k&auml;&acute;lah), the Biblical. See <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Kalkhi</em></span>.</dt>
+<dt>Calendar, the early Egyptian, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.14">14</a>; the Babylonian, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.305">305</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Cambyses (kam-b&#299;&acute;s&#275;z), as King of Babylon,
+<a href="#page.anchor.495">495</a>; sacrifice of Apis bull to
+Mithra by, <a href="#page.anchor.495">495</a>; wife of a
+Semiramis, <a href="#page.anchor.496">496</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Canaan, Abraham arrives in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.245">245</a>; tribes in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.245">245</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.246">246</a>;
+Elamite conquest of, <a href="#page.anchor.247">247</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.248">248</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.249">249</a>;
+first reference to Israelites in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.379">379</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Canaanites, Hittites identified with, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.266">266</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Canals of Ancient Babylonia, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.22">22</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.23">23</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Cappadocia, Cimmerians in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.472">472</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Captivity, the Hebrew, Chebar river (Kheber canal) at Nippur,
+<a href="#page.anchor.344">344</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Carchemish (k&auml;r&acute;k<span class=
+"emphasis"><em>e</em></span>-mish), German railway bridge and
+Hittite wall at, <a href="#page.anchor.357">357</a>(<span class=
+"emphasis"><em>n</em></span><span class="sub">[<a href=
+"#ftn.fnrex1407">407</a>]</span>.); Hittite city state of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.395">395</a>; revolt of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.461">461</a>; Nebuchadrezzar defeats Pharaoh Necho
+at, <a href="#page.anchor.489">489</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Caria (k&auml;r&acute;i-&auml;), assists Lydia against
+Cimmerians, <a href="#page.anchor.484">484</a>; mercenaries from
+in Egypt, <a href="#page.anchor.486">486</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Cat, sun god as, <a href="#page.anchor.329">329</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Caucasus, the, skull forms in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.8">8</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Cave dwellers, the Palestinian, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.10">10</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Celtic goddesses, of Iberian origin, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.105">105</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Celtic water demon myths, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.28">28</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Celts, Achaeans and, <a href="#page.anchor.377">377</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Ceres (s&#275;-r&#275;z), <a href=
+"#page.anchor.103">103</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Chaldae&acute;ans, Babylonian priests called, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.222">222</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.497">497</a>;
+in Hammurabi Age, <a href="#page.anchor.257">257</a>; history of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.390">390</a>; Aramaeans and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.390">390</a>; Judah's relations with, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.408">408</a>; Merodach Baladan King of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.457">457</a> et seq.; revolt of against Esarhaddon,
+<a href="#page.anchor.471">471</a>; revolt of against
+Ashur-bani-pal, <a href="#page.anchor.484">484</a>; Nabo-polassar
+King of Babylon, <a href="#page.anchor.487">487</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Charms, the burial, <a href="#page.anchor.206">206</a>;
+ornaments as, <a href="#page.anchor.211">211</a>; the metrical
+and poetic development, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.237">237</a>-<a href="#page.anchor.239">239</a>
+.</dt>
+<dt>Chedor-laomer (ched&acute;or-l&auml;&acute;o-mer), the
+Biblical, <a href="#page.anchor.247">247</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.248">248</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Chellean (shel&acute;le-an) flints, in Palestine, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.10">10</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Cherubs, the four-faced, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.344">344</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Child god, Tammuz and Osiris as the, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.89">89</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.90">90</a>;
+Sargon of Akkad as, <a href="#page.anchor.91">91</a>; Germanic
+Scyld or Sceaf as, <a href="#page.anchor.92">92</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.93">93</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Children, stolen by hags and fairies, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.68">68</a>; in mother worship, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.107">107</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.108">108</a>.</dt>
+<dt>China, spitting customs in, <a href="#page.anchor.47">47</a>;
+dragons of, <a href="#page.anchor.152">152</a>; ancestor worship
+in, <a href="#page.anchor.295">295</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Chinese, language of and the Sumerian, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.3">3</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Chronology, inflated dating and Berlin system, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.xxiv">xxiv</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.xxv">xxv</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Cilicia, thunder god of, <a href="#page.anchor.261">261</a>;
+Ate, goddess of, <a href="#page.anchor.267">267</a>; Hittite
+Kingdom of, <a href="#page.anchor.395">395</a>; Ionians in,
+<a href="#page.anchor.464">464</a>; in anti-Assyrian league,
+<a href="#page.anchor.473">473</a>; Ashur-bani-pal expels
+Cimmerians from, <a href="#page.anchor.484">484</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.486">486</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Cimmerians, raids of in Asia Minor, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.461">461</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.464">464</a>;
+Esarhaddon and, <a href="#page.anchor.472">472</a>; Gyges of
+Lydia and, <a href="#page.anchor.483">483</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.484">484</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.486">486</a>;
+Lydians break power of, <a href="#page.anchor.486">486</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Clans, Totemic names and symbols of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.293">293</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Clepsydra, a Babylonian invention, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.323">323</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Clothing, magical significance of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.212">212</a>; the reed mats and sheepskins in
+graves, <a href="#page.anchor.213">213</a>; the bull skin,
+<a href="#page.anchor.213">213</a>; the ephod and prophet's
+mantle, <a href="#page.anchor.213">213</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.214">214</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Comana (k&#333;-m&auml;&acute;na), Hittite city of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.395">395</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Constellations, the Zu bird, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.74">74</a>; why animal forms were adopted, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.289">289</a>; the "Great Bear" in various
+mythologies, <a href="#page.anchor.295">295</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.296">296</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.309">309</a>;
+the Pleiades, <a href="#page.anchor.296">296</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.297">297</a>; Pisces as "fish of Ea", <a href=
+"#page.anchor.296">296</a>; the "sevenfold one", <a href=
+"#page.anchor.298">298</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.300">300</a>;
+Merodach's forms, <a href="#page.anchor.299">299</a>; Castor and
+Pollux myths in Australia, Africa, and Greece, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.300">300</a>; Tammuz and Orion, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.301">301</a>; months controlled by, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.305">305</a>; signs of Zodiac, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.305">305</a>; Babylonian and modern signs, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.308">308</a>; the central, northern, and southern,
+<a href="#page.anchor.309">309</a>; "Fish of the Canal" and "the
+Horse", <a href="#page.anchor.309">309</a>; the "Milky Way",
+<a href="#page.anchor.309">309</a>; identified before planets,
+<a href="#page.anchor.318">318</a>; Biblical and literary
+references to, <a href="#page.anchor.324">324</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.325">325</a>; the "Arrow", "Eagle", "Vulture",
+"Swan", and "Lyra", <a href="#page.anchor.336">336</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.337">337</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Copper, Age of in Palestine, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.11">11</a>; first use of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.12">12</a>; in Northern Mesopotamia, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.25">25</a>; Gudea of Lagash takes from Elam,
+<a href="#page.anchor.130">130</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Corn child god, Tammuz and Osiris as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.89">89</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.90">90</a>;
+Sargon as, <a href="#page.anchor.91">91</a>; the Germanic Scyld
+or Scef, <a href="#page.anchor.92">92</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.93">93</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.94">94</a>; Frey
+and Heimdal as, <a href="#page.anchor.94">94</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Corn Deities, as river and fish gods and goddesses, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.29">29</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.32">32</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.33">33</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Corn god, moon god as, <a href="#page.anchor.52">52</a>;
+Mithra as, <a href="#page.anchor.55">55</a>; the thunder god as,
+<a href="#page.anchor.57">57</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.340">340</a>; Tammuz and Osiris as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.81">81</a> et seq.; Khonsu as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.90">90</a>; Frey and Agni as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.94">94</a>; fed with sacrificed children, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.171">171</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Corn goddess, Isis as, <a href="#page.anchor.90">90</a>; fish
+goddess as, <a href="#page.anchor.117">117</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Cow goddesses, Isis, Nepthys, and Hathor as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.99">99</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.329">329</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Creation, local character of Babylonian conception, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.xxix">xxix</a>; of mankind at Eridu, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.38">38</a>; legend of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.134">134</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.138">138</a> et
+seq.; night as parent of day, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.330">330</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Creative tears, <a href="#page.anchor.45">45</a> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>et seq</em></span>.</dt>
+<dt>Creator gods, Ea and Ptah as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.30">30</a>; eagle god as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.169">169</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Creatress, the goddess Mama as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.57">57</a>; Aruru as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.100">100</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.148">148</a>;
+forms of, <a href="#page.anchor.437">437</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Cremation, traces of in Gezer caves, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.11">11</a>; the ceremony of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.49">49</a>; not Persian or Sumerian, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.50">50</a>; in European Bronze Age, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.316">316</a>; Saul burned, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.350">350</a>; Sardanapalus legend, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.350">350</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Crete, chronology of, <a href="#page.anchor.xxv">xxv</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.114">114</a>; no temples, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.xxxi">xxxi</a>; women's high social status in,
+<a href="#page.anchor.16">16</a>; Dagon's connection with,
+<a href="#page.anchor.33">33</a>; prehistoric pottery in,
+<a href="#page.anchor.263">263</a>; Hyksos trade with, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.273">273</a>; Achaeans invade, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.376">376</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.377">377</a>;
+Philistine raiders from, <a href="#page.anchor.379">379</a>; dove
+and snake sacred in, <a href="#page.anchor.430">430</a>; dove
+goddess not Babylonian, <a href="#page.anchor.433">433</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.434">434</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Crocodile god of Egypt, <a href="#page.anchor.29">29</a>; sun
+god as, <a href="#page.anchor.329">329</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Croesus of Lydia, Cyrus defeats, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.494">494</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Cromarty, the south-west wind hag or, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.73">73</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Cronos, as the Destroyer, <a href="#page.anchor.64">64</a>;
+Ninip and Set and, <a href="#page.anchor.315">315</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Cuneiform writing, earliest use of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.7">7</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Cushites, Biblical reference to, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.276">276</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Cuthah (k&uuml;&acute;thah), Nergal, god of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.54">54</a>; annual fires at, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.170">170</a>; the Underworld city of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.205">205</a>; demon legend of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.215">215</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.216">216</a>;
+men of in Samaria, <a href="#page.anchor.455">455</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.456">456</a>.</dt>
+<dt>"Cuthean Legend of Creation", <a href=
+"#page.anchor.215">215</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.216">216</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Cyaxares (sy-ax&acute;&auml;r-es), Median King, Nineveh
+captured by, <a href="#page.anchor.488">488</a>; ally of
+Nabopolassar, <a href="#page.anchor.493">493</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Cybele (ky-b<span class=
+"emphasis"><em>e</em></span>&acute;le), Attis lover of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.103">103</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.104">104</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.267">267</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Cyprus, dove goddess not Babylonian, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.433">433</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.434">434</a>;
+dove goddess of, <a href="#page.anchor.426">426</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.427">427</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.433">433</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.434">434</a>; Ashur-bani-pal and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.484">484</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Cyrus, Merodach calls, <a href="#page.anchor.493">493</a>;
+the Patriarch of, <a href="#page.anchor.493">493</a>; the eagle
+tribe of, <a href="#page.anchor.493">493</a>; Astyages defeated
+by, <a href="#page.anchor.493">493</a>; Egypto-Lydian alliance
+against, <a href="#page.anchor.494">494</a>; Nabonidus and,
+<a href="#page.anchor.494">494</a>; Croesus of Lydia overthrown
+by, <a href="#page.anchor.494">494</a>; fell of Babylon, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.494">494</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.495">495</a>;
+the King of Babylonia, <a href="#page.anchor.495">495</a>;
+welcomed by Jews, <a href="#page.anchor.495">495</a>; rebuilding
+of Jerusalem temple, <a href="#page.anchor.496">496</a>.</dt>
+</dl>
+</div>
+<div class="indexdiv">
+<h3 class="title">D</h3>
+<dl>
+<dt>Dadu (d&auml;&acute;d&uuml;), Ramman as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.57">57</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Dagan (d&auml;g&acute;an), the Babylonian, identical with Ea,
+<a href="#page.anchor.31">31</a>; Nippur temple of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.131">131</a>; under Isin Dynasty, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.132">132</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Dagda (dag&acute;da), the Irish corn god, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.33">33</a>. <a href=
+"#page.anchor.238">238</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Dagon (dag&acute;on), Jah and Ea as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.31">31</a>; Dagan and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.31">31</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.32">32</a>; as a
+fish and corn deity, <a href="#page.anchor.32">32</a>; Baal-dagon
+and, <a href="#page.anchor.32">32</a>; offering of mice to,
+<a href="#page.anchor.32">32</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.33">33</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Daguna (d&auml;g&acute;&uuml;-na), Dagon and Dagan and,
+<a href="#page.anchor.31">31</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Daityas (dait&acute;y&#259;s), the Indian, like Babylonian
+demons, <a href="#page.anchor.34">34</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Damascius, on Babylonian deities, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.328">328</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Damascus, Aramaean state of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.390">390</a>; Israel and Judah subject to, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.395">395</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.396">396</a>;
+Asa's appeal to, <a href="#page.anchor.404">404</a>; conflict
+with Assyria, <a href="#page.anchor.407">407</a>; Judah and
+Israel allied against, <a href="#page.anchor.408">408</a>; murder
+of Ben-hadad II, <a href="#page.anchor.410">410</a>; Palestine
+subject to, <a href="#page.anchor.414">414</a>; Israel overcomes,
+<a href="#page.anchor.449">449</a>; conquered by Adad-nirari IV,
+<a href="#page.anchor.438">438</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.439">439</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Damik-ilishu (dam-ik-il-i&acute;sh&uuml;), last king of Isin
+Dynasty, <a href="#page.anchor.133">133</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Damkina (dam&acute;ki-na), wife of Ea, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.33">33</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.34">34</a>; demon
+attendants of, <a href="#page.anchor.63">63</a>; as mother of Ea,
+<a href="#page.anchor.105">105</a>; as mother of Enlil, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.139">139</a>; Zerpanitu<span class=
+'phonetic'>m</span> and, <a href="#page.anchor.160">160</a>;
+association of with moon, <a href="#page.anchor.436">436</a>;
+creatrix and, <a href="#page.anchor.437">437</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Damu (d&auml;&acute;m&uuml;), the fairy goddess of dreams,
+<a href="#page.anchor.77">77</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.78">78</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Danavas (d&auml;n&acute;&#259;vas), the Indian, like
+Babylonian demons, <a href="#page.anchor.34">34</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Dancing, the constellations, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.333">333</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Danes, harvest god as patriarch of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.92">92</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Daniel, Nebuchadrezzar's "fiery furnace", <a href=
+"#page.anchor.349">349</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Danu (d&auml;-n&uuml;), the Irish goddess, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.268">268</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Daonus or Daos, the shepherd, Tammuz as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.83">83</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.86">86</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Dari&acute;us I, claims to be Achaemenian, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.496">496</a>; plots against Merodach cult, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.497">497</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Darius II, death of at Babylon, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.497">497</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Darius III, Alexander the Great overthrows, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.497">497</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Dasa (d&auml;'s&#259;), the Indian, as "foreign devil",
+<a href="#page.anchor.67">67</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Dasyu (d&auml;sh&acute;yoo), the Indian, as "foreign devil",
+<a href="#page.anchor.67">67</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Date palm, in Babylonia, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.25">25</a>.</dt>
+<dt>David, the ephod used by, <a href="#page.anchor.213">213</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.214">214</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.388">388</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Dead, the, Nergal lord of, <a href="#page.anchor.56">56</a>;
+ghosts of searching for food, <a href="#page.anchor.70">70</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.71">71</a>; Osiris lord of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.86">86</a>; charms, weapons, and food for, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.206">206</a>; "houses" of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.206">206</a>-<a href="#page.anchor.208">208</a> ;
+spirits of as warriors and fishermen, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.212">212</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Death, eagle of, <a href="#page.anchor.168">168</a>; the
+Roman, <a href="#page.anchor.169">169</a>; Hercules and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.170">170</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Death, the sea of, in Gilgamesh epic, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.178">178</a> <span class="emphasis"><em>et
+seq</em></span>.</dt>
+<dt>Death, the stream of, <a href="#page.anchor.56">56</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Deer, associated with Lagash goddess, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.120">120</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Deities, the local, <a href="#page.anchor.43">43</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.44">44</a>; food and water required by,
+<a href="#page.anchor.44">44</a>; the mead of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.45">45</a>; early groups of in Egypt and Sumeria,
+<a href="#page.anchor.105">105</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.106">106</a>; made drunk at banquet, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.144">144</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Deluge Legend, Smith translates, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.xxii">xxii</a>. See <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Flood Legends</em></span>.</dt>
+<dt>Demeter (d<span class=
+"emphasis"><em>e</em></span>-m<span class=
+"emphasis"><em>e</em></span>&acute;ter), the goddess, Poseidon as
+lover of, <a href="#page.anchor.33">33</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.103">103</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Demons, the Babylonian Ocean, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.34">34</a>; gods as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.35">35</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.62">62</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.135">135</a>; Enlil lord of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.35">35</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.63">63</a>;
+Tiamat and Apsu as, <a href="#page.anchor.37">37</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.38">38</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.64">64</a>;
+Tiamat's brood, <a href="#page.anchor.140">140</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.141">141</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.214">214</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.215">215</a>; "ceremonies of riddance",
+<a href="#page.anchor.58">58</a>; as sources of misfortune,
+<a href="#page.anchor.60">60</a>; in images, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.61">61</a>; the winged bull, &amp;c., <a href=
+"#page.anchor.65">65</a>; the "will-o'-the-wisp", <a href=
+"#page.anchor.66">66</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.67">67</a>; Anu
+as father of, <a href="#page.anchor.63">63</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.68">68</a>; as lovers, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.67">67</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.68">68</a>;
+Adam's first wife Lilith, <a href="#page.anchor.67">67</a>;
+ghosts as, <a href="#page.anchor.69">69</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.215">215</a>; penetrate everywhere, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.71">71</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.72">72</a>; as
+pigs, horses, goats, &amp;c., <a href="#page.anchor.71">71</a>;
+Set pig of Egypt, <a href="#page.anchor.85">85</a>; as wind hags,
+<a href="#page.anchor.72">72</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.73">73</a>; the Zu bird, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.74">74</a>; Indian eagle, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.166">166</a>; association of with gods, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.76">76</a>; the serpent mother one of the, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.74">74</a>-<a href="#page.anchor.76">76</a> ; the
+Jinn, <a href="#page.anchor.78">78</a>; as composite monsters,
+<a href="#page.anchor.79">79</a>; the Teutonic Beli, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.95">95</a>; in mythology and folk lore, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.151">151</a> <span class="emphasis"><em>et
+seq</em></span>.; the Gorgons, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.159">159</a>; King of Cuthah's battle against,
+<a href="#page.anchor.214">214</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.215">215</a>; disease germs as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.234">234</a>.</dt>
+<dt>De Morgan, pottery finds by, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.263">263</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Derceto (der-k<span class=
+"emphasis"><em>e</em></span>&acute;to), fish goddess, Semiramis
+and, <a href="#page.anchor.277">277</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.418">418</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.423">423</a>;
+mermaid form of, <a href="#page.anchor.426">426</a>; Atargatis
+legend, <a href="#page.anchor.426">426</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.427">427</a>; dove symbol of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.432">432</a>; legends attached to, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.437">437</a>.</dt>
+<dt>De Sarzec, M., <a href="#page.anchor.xxiii">xxiii</a>.</dt>
+<dt>"Descent of Ishtar", poem, <a href="#page.anchor.95">95</a>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>et seq</em></span>.</dt>
+<dt>Destroyer, the, "World Mother" as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.xxx">xxx</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.100">100</a>;
+Ninip as, <a href="#page.anchor.53">53</a>; goddess Ninsun as,
+<a href="#page.anchor.57">57</a>; Enlil and Nergal as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.62">62</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.63">63</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.303">303</a>; Egyptian and Indian deities
+as, <a href="#page.anchor.63">63</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.85">85</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.157">157</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.336">336</a>; Cronos as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.64">64</a>; "Shedu" bull as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.65">65</a>; Set boar as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.85">85</a>; Babylonian boar god as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.86">86</a>; eagle as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.168">168</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.169">169</a>;
+"winged disk" as, <a href="#page.anchor.336">336</a>; sun as,
+<a href="#page.anchor.336">336</a>; Thor, Ashur, Tammuz, and
+Indra each as, <a href="#page.anchor.340">340</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Diarmid, the Celtic, Tammuz-Adonis and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.84">84</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.87">87</a>; water
+of life myth, <a href="#page.anchor.186">186</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.187">187</a>; Totemic boar and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.293">293</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Dietrich (d&#275;t&acute;r&#275;ch: 'ch' as in <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>loch</em></span>) as the thunder god, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.74">74</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.164">164</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Diodo&acute;rus, on Babylonian star lore, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.309">309</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Disease, Nergal the god of, <a href="#page.anchor.53">53</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.54">54</a>; goddess of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.77">77</a>; demons of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.60">60</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.63">63</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.77">77</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Divorce, in Babylonia, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.227">227</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Doctors, laws regarding, <a href="#page.anchor.230">230</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.231">231</a>; Herodotus on, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.231">231</a>; Assyrian king and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.231">231</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.232">232</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Doves, goddesses and, <a href="#page.anchor.418">418</a>;
+Semiramis protected after birth by, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.424">424</a>; goddess of Cyprus and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.426">426</a>; Aphrodite and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.427">427</a>; Ishtar and Gula and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.427">427</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.428">428</a>;
+associated with temples and homes, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.428">428</a>; in Gilgamesh epic, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.428">428</a>; deities identified with, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.429">429</a>; ravens and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.429">429</a>; sacred at Mycenae, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.430">430</a>; snakes and in Crete, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.430">430</a>; sacred among Semites and Hittites,
+<a href="#page.anchor.430">430</a>; Egyptian lovers and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.431">431</a>; pigeon lore in England, Ireland, and
+Scotland, <a href="#page.anchor.431">431</a>; fish and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.432">432</a>; Totemic theory, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.432">432</a> <span class="emphasis"><em>et
+seq</em></span>.; antiquity of veneration of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.433">433</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.434">434</a>;
+sacrificed in Israel, <a href="#page.anchor.439">439</a>; the
+Persian eagle legend and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.493">493</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Dragon, the, of Babylon, <a href="#page.anchor.62">62</a>; in
+group of seven spirits, <a href="#page.anchor.63">63</a>; Tiamat
+as the female, <a href="#page.anchor.38">38</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.64">64</a>; Tiamat as ocean, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.15">15</a>, as "fire drake", "worm", &amp;c.,
+<a href="#page.anchor.151">151</a>; "Ku-pu" of Tiamat, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.147">147</a>; heart of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.147">147</a> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>n</em></span>.; liver vulnerable part of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.153">153</a>; the male, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.156">156</a> (see <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Apsu</em></span>); Biblical references to,
+<a href="#page.anchor.114">114</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.157">157</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.158">158</a>;
+Eur-Asian variations of myth of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.151">151</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.152">152</a>;
+well of at Jerusalem, <a href="#page.anchor.152">152</a>; the
+Egyptian, <a href="#page.anchor.156">156</a>; Sutekh as slayer
+of, <a href="#page.anchor.157">157</a>; Merodach as slayer of
+(see <span class="emphasis"><em>Merodach</em></span>).</dt>
+<dt>Drake, the Fire, the Babylonian, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.66">66</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.67">67</a>;
+dragon as, <a href="#page.anchor.151">151</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Dreams, the fairy goddess of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.77">77</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.78">78</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Drink traffic, women monopolized in Babylonia, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.229">229</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Drinking customs, religious aspect of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.45">45</a>; inspiration from blood, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.48">48</a>; the gods drunk at Anshar's banquet,
+<a href="#page.anchor.144">144</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Dungi (d&uuml;n&acute;gi), King of Ur, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.130">130</a>; daughters of as rulers, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.130">130</a>; an Ea worshipper, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.131">131</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Dyaus (rhymes with "mouse"), displaced by Indra, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.302">302</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Dying gods, the eternal goddess and the, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.101">101</a> <span class="emphasis"><em>et
+seq</em></span>.; death a change of form, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.305">305</a>.</dt>
+</dl>
+</div>
+<div class="indexdiv">
+<h3 class="title">E</h3>
+<dl>
+<dt>Ea (&#257;&acute;&auml;), god of the deep, Ashur-banipal and,
+<a href="#page.anchor.xxii">xxii</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.xxiii">xxiii</a>; a typical Babylonian god,
+<a href="#page.anchor.xxviii">xxviii</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.xxix">xxix</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.27">27</a>;
+Oannes and, <a href="#page.anchor.27">27</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.30">30</a>; as world artisan like Ptah and Indra,
+<a href="#page.anchor.30">30</a>; connection of with sea and
+Euphrates, <a href="#page.anchor.28">28</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.29">29</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.39">39</a>; as
+sea-demon, <a href="#page.anchor.62">62</a>; names of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.30">30</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.39">39</a>; as
+fish and corn god, <a href="#page.anchor.32">32</a>; Dagon,
+Poseidon, Neptune, Frey, Shony, &amp;c., and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.31">31</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.33">33</a>; Dagon
+and Dagan, <a href="#page.anchor.31">31</a>; Ea as Dagan at
+Nippur, <a href="#page.anchor.131">131</a>; as Ya, or Jah, of
+Hebrews, <a href="#page.anchor.31">31</a>; Totemic fish of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.294">294</a>; Indian Varuna and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.31">31</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.34">34</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.209">209</a>; wife of as earth lady,
+<a href="#page.anchor.33">33</a>; wife of as mother, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.105">105</a>; Anu and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.34">34</a>; Enlil and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.35">35</a>; demons of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.35">35</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.63">63</a>; in
+early triad, <a href="#page.anchor.36">36</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.37">37</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.463">463</a>;
+Indian Vishnu and, <a href="#page.anchor.38">38</a>; as dragon
+slayer, <a href="#page.anchor.38">38</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.140">140</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.153">153</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.157">157</a>; Adapa, son of, a demon
+slayer, <a href="#page.anchor.72">72</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.73">73</a>; in demon war, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.77">77</a>; as "great magician", <a href=
+"#page.anchor.38">38</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.46">46</a>; moon
+god and, <a href="#page.anchor.40">40</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.50">50</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.51">51</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.53">53</a>; solar attributes of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.50">50</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.51">51</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.53">53</a>; food supply and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.43">43</a>; beliefs connected with, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.44">44</a>; Nusku as messenger of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.50">50</a>; Nebo a form of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.303">303</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.435">435</a>;
+gods that link with, <a href="#page.anchor.57">57</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.58">58</a>; as form of Anshar, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.125">125</a>; family of including Merodach and
+Tammuz, <a href="#page.anchor.72">72</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.73">73</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.82">82</a>;
+daughter of, <a href="#page.anchor.117">117</a>; Merodach
+supplants, <a href="#page.anchor.158">158</a>; Enlil as son of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.139">139</a>; Ashur as son of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.348">348</a>; planetary gods and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.304">304</a>; worshipped at Lagash, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.116">116</a>; earliest form of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.134">134</a>; under Isin Dynasty, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.132">132</a>; in Creation legend, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.138">138</a> <span class="emphasis"><em>et
+seq.</em></span>; astral "field" of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.147">147</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.307">307</a>;
+constellations and, <a href="#page.anchor.296">296</a>; Merodach
+directs decrees of, <a href="#page.anchor.149">149</a>; Etana and
+eagle visit heaven of, <a href="#page.anchor.166">166</a>; in
+flood legend, <a href="#page.anchor.190">190</a> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>et seq.</em></span>; as Aos, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.328">328</a>; the goat and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.333">333</a>; as "high head", <a href=
+"#page.anchor.334">334</a>; Sargon II and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.463">463</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Ea-bani (&#257;&acute;&auml;-b&auml;&acute;ni), <a href=
+"#page.anchor.41">41</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.42">42</a>; ghost
+of as "wind gust", <a href="#page.anchor.48">48</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.49">49</a>; goat demi-god, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.135">135</a>; lured from the wilds, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.173">173</a>; as ally of Gilgamesh, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.174">174</a>; Ishtar's wooing, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.174">174</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.175">175</a>;
+slaying of Ishtar's bull, <a href="#page.anchor.176">176</a>;
+death of, <a href="#page.anchor.176">176</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.177">177</a>; ghost of invoked by Gilgamesh,
+<a href="#page.anchor.183">183</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.184">184</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Eagle, the, Sumerian Zu bird and Indian Garuda eagle,
+<a href="#page.anchor.74">74</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.75">75</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.165">165</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.166">166</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.168">168</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.169">169</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.330">330</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.346">346</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.347">347</a>;
+the lion headed as Nin-Girsu (Tammuz), <a href=
+"#page.anchor.120">120</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.135">135</a>;
+in Etana myth, <a href="#page.anchor.165">165</a>; in Nimrod
+myth, <a href="#page.anchor.166">166</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.167">167</a>; in Alexander the Great legend,
+<a href="#page.anchor.167">167</a>; in Scottish folk tale,
+<a href="#page.anchor.167">167</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.168">168</a>; as soul carrier, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.168">168</a>; Roman Emperor's soul and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.169">169</a>; Hercules and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.170">170</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.349">349</a>;
+Gilgamesh protected at birth by, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.171">171</a>; Persian patriarch protected at birth
+by, <a href="#page.anchor.493">493</a>; the Totemic theory,
+<a href="#page.anchor.293">293</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.493">493</a>; wheel of life and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.346">346</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.347">347</a>;
+Ashur and Horus and, <a href="#page.anchor.343">343</a>; wings of
+on Ashur disk, <a href="#page.anchor.351">351</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.352">352</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Eagle stone, as a birth charm, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.165">165</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Eagle tribe, the ancient, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.493">493</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Eannatum (&#257;&acute;&auml;n-n&auml;&acute;tum), King of
+Lagash, a great conqueror, <a href="#page.anchor.118">118</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.119">119</a>; rules Ur and Erech, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.119">119</a>; works of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.119">119</a>; mound burial in period of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.214">214</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Earth children, elves and dwarfs as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.292">292</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.292">292</a>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>n</em></span>.</dt>
+<dt>Earth spirits, males among father worshippers, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.105">105</a>; the Egyptian, Teutonic, Aryan, and
+Siberian, <a href="#page.anchor.105">105</a>; elves and fairies
+as, <a href="#page.anchor.294">294</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.295">295</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Earth worship, moon and stone worship and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.52">52</a>.</dt>
+<dt><span class="emphasis"><em>Ecclesiastes</em></span>, "Lay of
+the Harper", "Song of the Sea Lady" and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.179">179</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.180">180</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Ecke (eck-&#257;), Tyrolese storm demon, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.74">74</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Eclipse foretold by Assyrian and Babylonian astronomers,
+<a href="#page.anchor.321">321</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.322">322</a>; the Ahaz sundial record, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.323">323</a>; Babylonian records of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.324">324</a>; in reign of Ashurdan III, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.442">442</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Ecliptic, when divided, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.322">322</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Edinburgh, the giant Arthur of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.164">164</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Edom, Judah and, <a href="#page.anchor.402">402</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.409">409</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.448">448</a>;
+tribute from to Assyria, <a href="#page.anchor.439">439</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Education, in Hammurabi Age, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.251">251</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Egg, the, goddess Atargatis born of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.28">28</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.426">426</a>;
+thorn as life in, <a href="#page.anchor.352">352</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Egypt, agricultural festivals in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.xxxi">xxxi</a>; debt of modern world to, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.xxxv">xxxv</a>; prehistoric agriculture in,
+<a href="#page.anchor.6">6</a>; Mediterranean race in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.7">7</a>; early shaving customs, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.5">5</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.9">9</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.10">10</a>; theory copper first used in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.12">12</a>; social status of women in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.16">16</a>; early gods of and Sumerian, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.26">26</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.36">36</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.37">37</a>; creative tears of deities of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.45">45</a>; lunar worship in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.52">52</a>; god and goddess cults in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.105">105</a>; Great Mother Nut of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.106">106</a>; at dawn of Sumerian history, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.114">114</a>; bearded deities of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.136">136</a>; dragon of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.156">156</a>; "Lay of Harper" and Sumerian "Song of
+Sea Lady", <a href="#page.anchor.178">178</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.179">179</a>; flood legend of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.197">197</a>; feast of dead in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.206">206</a>; burial customs and Sumerian, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.209">209</a>-<a href="#page.anchor.214">214</a> ;
+Hyksos invasion and Hittite raid on Babylon, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.259">259</a>; culture debt of to Syria, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.275">275</a>; prehistoric Armenoid invasion of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.11">11</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.263">263</a>; prehistoric black foreign pottery,
+<a href="#page.anchor.263">263</a>; Totemism in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.292">292</a>-<a href="#page.anchor.295">295</a> ,
+<a href="#page.anchor.432">432</a>-<a href=
+"#page.anchor.433">433</a> ; Syrian empire of lost, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.284">284</a>; fairies and elves of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.294">294</a>; Pharaoh displaces gods in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.295">295</a>; doctrine of mythical ages in,
+<a href="#page.anchor.315">315</a>; the phoenix, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.330">330</a>; the "man in the sun", <a href=
+"#page.anchor.336">336</a>; Neith as a thunder goddess, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.337">337</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.337">337</a>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>n</em></span>.; Ankh symbol, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.347">347</a>; influence of Hittites in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.364">364</a>; wars with Hittites, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.365">365</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.366">366</a>;
+Cretans and sea raiders,<a href="#page.anchor.378">378</a>;
+Hebrews and, <a href="#page.anchor.388">388</a>; "mother right"
+in, <a href="#page.anchor.418">418</a>; sacred pigeons in,
+<a href="#page.anchor.428">428</a>; fosters revolt against Sargon
+II, <a href="#page.anchor.457">457</a>; Pharaoh and Piru of
+Mutsri, <a href="#page.anchor.458">458</a> and <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>n</em></span>.; Sennacherib defeats army of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.465">465</a>; intrigues against Assyria,
+<a href="#page.anchor.465">465</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.471">471</a>; as Assyrian province, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.475">475</a>; Ashur-bani-pal and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.482">482</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.484">484</a>;
+Assyrian yoke shaken off, <a href="#page.anchor.486">486</a>;
+Scythians on frontier of, <a href="#page.anchor.488">488</a>;
+after Assyria's fall, <a href="#page.anchor.489">489</a>; Hophra
+plots against Nebuchadrezzar II, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.491">491</a>.</dt>
+<dt>El&acute;ah, King of Israel, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.405">405</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Elam, prehistoric pottery of, <a href="#page.anchor.5">5</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.263">263</a>; copper from, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.130">130</a>; British influence in <a href=
+"#page.anchor.357">357</a>; caravan routes of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.361">361</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Elamites, relations with early Sumerians, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.111">111</a>; defeated by Eannatum of Lagash,
+<a href="#page.anchor.118">118</a>; raid on Lagash by, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.121">121</a>; Sargon of Akkad defeats, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.127">127</a>; Ur dynasty overthrown by, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.131">131</a>; in Hammurabi Age, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.217">217</a>; conquests of Warad-Sin and Rim-Sin,
+<a href="#page.anchor.217">217</a>; King Sin-mubal-lit's struggle
+with, <a href="#page.anchor.242">242</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.243">243</a>; Medes and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.244">244</a>; King of and Abraham, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.247">247</a>; in Syria, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.247">247</a>; driven from Babylonia, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.249">249</a>; in Kassite period, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.274">274</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.370">370</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.380">380</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.381">381</a>; connection of with early Assyria,
+<a href="#page.anchor.278">278</a>; struggle for trade expansion,
+<a href="#page.anchor.361">361</a> <span class="emphasis"><em>et
+seq</em></span>.; Babylonian raid, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.369">369</a>; during Solomon period, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.391">391</a>; Esarhaddon and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.472">472</a>; Ashur-bani-pal subdues, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.484">484</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.485">485</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Elisha, call of Jehu, <a href="#page.anchor.409">409</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.410">410</a>; call of Hazael, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.410">410</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.411">411</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Elves, the Babylonian, <a href="#page.anchor.67">67</a>; as
+lovers, <a href="#page.anchor.68">68</a>; origin of conception
+of, <a href="#page.anchor.79">79</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.80">80</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.292">292</a>;
+like Indian Ribhus and Siberian "masters", <a href=
+"#page.anchor.105">105</a>; the European, Egyptian, and Indian,
+<a href="#page.anchor.294">294</a>; human bargains with, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.294">294</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.295">295</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Enannatum I (en-an-n&auml;&acute;tum) of Lagash, defeats Umma
+force, <a href="#page.anchor.119">119</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Enannatum II, King of Lagash, last of Ur-Nina's line,
+<a href="#page.anchor.120">120</a>.</dt>
+<dt>England, the ancestral giant of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.42">42</a>; spitting customs in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.47">47</a>; return of dead dreaded in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.70">70</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.70">70</a><span class="emphasis"><em>n</em></span>;
+Black Annis, the wind hag, <a href="#page.anchor.73">73</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.101">101</a>; fairies and elves of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.80">80</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.186">186</a>; the "fire drake" of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.151">151</a>; "Long Meg" a hag of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.156">156</a>; "Long Tom" a giant of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.156">156</a>; pigeon lore in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.431">431</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Enki (&auml;n&acute;ki), "lord of the world", Ea as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.31">31</a>. See <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Ea</em></span>.</dt>
+<dt>En&acute;lil, god of Nippur and elder Bel, lord of demons,
+<a href="#page.anchor.35">35</a>; spouse of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.36">36</a>; in early group of deities, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.37">37</a>; like Indian Shiva, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.38">38</a>; deities that link with, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.35">35</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.57">57</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.271">271</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.272">272</a>; as destroyer, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.62">62</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.63">63</a>;
+"fates" as sons of, <a href="#page.anchor.80">80</a>; Ur Nina
+worshipped, <a href="#page.anchor.116">116</a>; as son of Anu,
+<a href="#page.anchor.124">124</a>; as son of Ea, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.139">139</a>; Ninip as son and father of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.53">53</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.158">158</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.302">302</a>; during Isis Dynasty, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.132">132</a>; astral "field" of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.147">147</a>; Merodach directs decrees of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.149">149</a>; as corn god, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.159">159</a>; monotheism of cult of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.161">161</a>; temple of as "world house", <a href=
+"#page.anchor.35">35</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.332">332</a>; as
+bull and "high head", <a href="#page.anchor.334">334</a>; Etana
+in heaven of, <a href="#page.anchor.166">166</a>; also rendered
+Ellil. See <span class="emphasis"><em>Bel</em></span>.</dt>
+<dt>Enlil-bani (en&acute;lil-b&auml;&acute;ni), King of Isin, a
+usurper like Sargon, <a href="#page.anchor.133">133</a>.</dt>
+<dt>En-Mersi (en-m<span class=
+"emphasis"><em>e</em></span>r&acute;si), a form of Tammuz,
+<a href="#page.anchor.116">116</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Enneads, the Babylonian and Egyptian, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.36">36</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Entemena(en-te&acute;men-a), King of Lagash, Umma subdued by,
+<a href="#page.anchor.119">119</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.120">120</a>; famous silver vase of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.120">120</a>; worshipped as a god, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.257">257</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.258">258</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Ephod, the, used by David, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.213">213</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.214">214</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Ephron the Hittite, <a href="#page.anchor.12">12</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Equinoxes, precession of, where law of discovered: Greece or
+Babylonia? <a href="#page.anchor.320">320</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.320">320</a><span class=
+"emphasis"><em>n</em></span>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.322">322</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Erech, Anu god of, <a href="#page.anchor.34">34</a>; gods of
+become flies and mice, <a href="#page.anchor.41">41</a>;
+destroying sun goddess of, <a href="#page.anchor.57">57</a>;
+Ur-Nina and, <a href="#page.anchor.116">116</a>; under Lagash,
+<a href="#page.anchor.119">119</a>; an ancient capital, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.124">124</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.125">125</a>;
+rise of after Akkad, <a href="#page.anchor.129">129</a>; moon god
+at, <a href="#page.anchor.130">130</a>; in Gilgamesh epic,
+<a href="#page.anchor.172">172</a> <span class="emphasis"><em>et
+seq</em></span>.; in revolt against Ashur-bani-pal, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.484">484</a>; Nabonidus and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.492">492</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Eresh-ki-gal (eresh-ki&acute;g&auml;l), goddess of death,
+<a href="#page.anchor.53">53</a>; Nergal husband and conqueror
+of, <a href="#page.anchor.53">53</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.54">54</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.204">204</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.205">205</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.303">303</a>; as a Norn, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.77">77</a>; "Fates" as sons of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.80">80</a>; as wife of Enlil, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.80">80</a>; Germanic hag like, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.95">95</a>; punishment of Ishtar by, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.96">96</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.97">97</a>; as
+destroyer, <a href="#page.anchor.100">100</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Eridu (<span class=
+"emphasis"><em>e</em></span>&acute;ri-d&uuml;), once a seaport,
+<a href="#page.anchor.22">22</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.25">25</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.38">38</a>; Ea
+the god of, <a href="#page.anchor.27">27</a>; sanctity of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.38">38</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.39">39</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Eros, Greek love god, <a href="#page.anchor.90">90</a>.</dt>
+<dt>E-sagila (<span class=
+"emphasis"><em>e</em></span>-s&auml;g&acute;i-la), Merodach's
+temple, <a href="#page.anchor.221">221</a>; Hammurabi and,
+<a href="#page.anchor.252">252</a>; in Kassite Age, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.274">274</a>; as symbol of world hill, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.332">332</a>; sacked by Sennacherib, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.468">468</a>; gods of Ur, Erech, Larsa, and Eridu
+in, <a href="#page.anchor.492">492</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.493">493</a>; Xerxes pillages, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.497">497</a>; Alexander the Great repairs, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.497">497</a>; decay of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.498">498</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Esarhaddon (e&acute;sar-had&acute;don), character of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.470">470</a>; Babylonian wife of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.471">471</a>; Egypto-Syrian league against,
+<a href="#page.anchor.471">471</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.472">472</a>; Queen Nakia regent of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.472">472</a>; alliance with Urartu, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.473">473</a>; sack of Sidon, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.473">473</a>; Manasseh's revolt, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.474">474</a>; invasion of Egypt, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.475">475</a>; revolt in Assyria, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.476">476</a>; successors chosen by, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.476">476</a>; death of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.476">476</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Esau, Hittite wives of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.266">266</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Etana (<span class=
+"emphasis"><em>e</em></span>-t&auml;&acute;n&auml;), Zu bird myth
+and, <a href="#page.anchor.74">74</a>-<a href=
+"#page.anchor.76">76</a> ; quest of the "Plant of Birth",
+<a href="#page.anchor.164">164</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.165">165</a>; flight with eagle to heavens,
+<a href="#page.anchor.165">165</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.166">166</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Eternal goddess, the, husbands of die annually, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.101">101</a> <span class="emphasis"><em>et
+seq.</em></span></dt>
+<dt>Ethnology, folk beliefs and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.xxvi">xxvi</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Euphrates, the river, <a href="#page.anchor.22">22</a>; as
+"the soul of the land", <a href="#page.anchor.23">23</a>; rise
+and fall of, <a href="#page.anchor.24">24</a>; as the creator,
+<a href="#page.anchor.29">29</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Europe, lunar worship in, <a href="#page.anchor.52">52</a>;
+Armenoid invasion of, <a href="#page.anchor.264">264</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Evans, Sir Arthur, pottery finds by, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.263">263</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Evil eye, the, <a href="#page.anchor.235">235</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.236">236</a>.</dt>
+<dt>"Evil Merodach", King of Babylon, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.492">492</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Evolution, in Babylonian religion, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.xxxiv">xxxiv</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Ezekiel, on fire-worshipping ceremony, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.50">50</a>; Tammuz weeping, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.82">82</a>; on ethnics of Jerusalem, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.246">246</a>; on Hittite characteristics, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.266">266</a>; Assyria the cedar, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.340">340</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.341">341</a>;
+the wheel of life symbol, <a href="#page.anchor.344">344</a>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>et seq.</em></span></dt>
+<dt>Ezra, return of Jewish captives with, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.496">496</a>.</dt>
+</dl>
+</div>
+<div class="indexdiv">
+<h3 class="title">F</h3>
+<dl>
+<dt>Face paint, for the dead, <a href="#page.anchor.206">206</a>;
+why used for dead, living, and gods, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.212">212</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Fafner dragon, <a href="#page.anchor.156">156</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Fairies, the Babylonian, <a href="#page.anchor.67">67</a>;
+origin of, <a href="#page.anchor.79">79</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.80">80</a>; green like other spirits, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.186">186</a>; the European, Egyptian, and Indian,
+<a href="#page.anchor.294">294</a>; human bargains with, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.294">294</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.295">295</a>;
+birds as, <a href="#page.anchor.429">429</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Farm labourers, scarcity of in Babylonia, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.256">256</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Farnell, Dr., on pre-Hellenic religion, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.104">104</a>; on racial gods in Greece, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.105">105</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Fates, the birds as, <a href="#page.anchor.65">65</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.147">147</a> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>n.</em></span>, <a href="#page.anchor.427">427</a>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>n.</em></span>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.430">430</a>; as servants of Anu, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.77">77</a>; moon as chief of the, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.301">301</a>; oldest deities as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.317">317</a>; on St. Valentine's Day, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.430">430</a>; Aphrodite and Ishtar as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.433">433</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Father, the Great, Anu as, <a href="#page.anchor.38">38</a>;
+Ramman-Hadad as, <a href="#page.anchor.57">57</a>; Apsu, the
+chaos demon as, <a href="#page.anchor.64">64</a>; Osiris as,
+<a href="#page.anchor.99">99</a>; shadowy spouse of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.100">100</a>; nomadic people and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.105">105</a>; worshipped by Hatti, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.xxx">xxx</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.268">268</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.420">420</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Father and son conflict; younger god displaces elder, Ninip
+and Enlil, Merodach and Ea, Indra and Dyaus myths, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.158">158</a>; Osiris and Horus, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.159">159</a>; in astral myths, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.302">302</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.303">303</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.304">304</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.305">305</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.348">348</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Feast of Dead, <a href="#page.anchor.206">206</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Fig tree, in Babylonia, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.25">25</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Finger counting, in Babylonia and India, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.311">311</a> <span class="emphasis"><em>et
+seq.</em></span></dt>
+<dt>Finn-mac-Coul (finn&acute;mac-cool), as hero and god,
+<a href="#page.anchor.87">87</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.87">87</a> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>n.</em></span>, <a href="#page.anchor.88">88</a>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>n.</em></span>; as mother monster
+slayer, <a href="#page.anchor.153">153</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.154">154</a>; Beowulf and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.155">155</a>; as a "sleeper", <a href=
+"#page.anchor.164">164</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.394">394</a>;
+water of life myth, <a href="#page.anchor.186">186</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.187">187</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Finns, language of and the Sumerians, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.3">3</a>; of Ural-Altaic stock, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.4">4</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Fire, as vital principle, <a href="#page.anchor.50">50</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.51">51</a>; fire and water ceremonies,
+<a href="#page.anchor.50">50</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.51">51</a>; the everlasting fire in the sea,
+<a href="#page.anchor.50">50</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.51">51</a>; the Babylonian "Will-o'-the-wisp",
+<a href="#page.anchor.66">66</a>; Eagle and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.169">169</a>; the May Day, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.348">348</a>; ceremony of riddance, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.349">349</a>; Babylonian burnings, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.348">348</a>; Nimrod's pyre, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.349">349</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.350">350</a>;
+Tophet, <a href="#page.anchor.350">350</a>; royal burnings in
+Israel and Judah, <a href="#page.anchor.350">350</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.351">351</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Fire drake, the Babylonian, <a href="#page.anchor.66">66</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.151">151</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Fire gods, the Babylonian and Indian, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.49">49</a>.</dt>
+<dt>First born, sacrifice of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.50">50</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Fish deities, Sumerian Ea and Indian Brahma and Vishnu as,
+<a href="#page.anchor.27">27</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.28">28</a>; in Eur-Asian legends, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.28">28</a>; Sumerian and Egyptian, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.29">29</a>; connection of with corn, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.29">29</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.32">32</a>;
+goddess of Lagash, <a href="#page.anchor.117">117</a>; Western
+Asian fish goddesses, <a href="#page.anchor.277">277</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.418">418</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.423">423</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.426">426</a>;
+dove symbol of, <a href="#page.anchor.431">431</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.432">432</a>; Totemism and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.294">294</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Flies, gods turn to, <a href="#page.anchor.41">41</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Flood legend, the Babylonian, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.24">24</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.55">55</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.190">190</a> <span class="emphasis"><em>et
+seq.</em></span>; the Greek, <a href="#page.anchor.195">195</a>;
+the Indian, <a href="#page.anchor.xxvi">xxvi</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.196">196</a>; the Irish, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.196">196</a>; the Egyptian, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.197">197</a>; the American, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.197">197</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.198">198</a>;
+the Biblical, <a href="#page.anchor.198">198</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.199">199</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Folk cures, the ancient, <a href="#page.anchor.61">61</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.231">231</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.232">232</a>-<a href="#page.anchor.234">234</a>
+.</dt>
+<dt>Folk lore, mythology and, <a href="#page.anchor.xxv">xxv</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.xxxiv">xxxiv</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.42">42</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.151">151</a>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>et seq.</em></span>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.189">189</a>; ethnology in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.xxvi">xxvi</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Food of death, <a href="#page.anchor.44">44</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Food of the gods, <a href="#page.anchor.44">44</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Food supply, religion and the, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.42">42</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.43">43</a>.</dt>
+<dt>"Foreign devils", the Babylonian and Indian, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.67">67</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Four quarters, the, in astronomy, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.307">307</a>; lunar divisions, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.323">323</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Fowl, inspiration from blood of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.48">48</a>.</dt>
+<dt>France, skull forms in Dordogne valley, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.8">8</a>; Syrian railways of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.357">357</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Frazer, Professor, <a href="#page.anchor.xxv">xxv</a>;
+"homogeneity of beliefs", <a href="#page.anchor.xxvi">xxvi</a>;
+Adonis garden, <a href="#page.anchor.171">171</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.172">172</a>; Hercules and Melkarth, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.348">348</a>; on Semiramis legend, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.424">424</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.425">425</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Frey (fri), the Germanic patriarch and corn god, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.33">33</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.93">93</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.94">94</a>; links with Tammuz myth,
+<a href="#page.anchor.95">95</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.116">116</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.204">204</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Freyja (fr&#299;&acute;ya), the Germanic eternal goddess,
+<a href="#page.anchor.102">102</a>; lovers of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.102">102</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Frigg, Germanic goddess, lovers of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.103">103</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Frode (fr&#333;&acute;d&#275;). See <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Frey</em></span>.</dt>
+</dl>
+</div>
+<div class="indexdiv">
+<h3 class="title">G</h3>
+<dl>
+<dt>Gabriel, Abraham rescued from Nimrod's pyre by, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.349">349</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.350">350</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Gaga (g&auml;&acute;ga), messenger of Anshar, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.143">143</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Gallu (g&auml;l&acute;l&uuml;), as "foreign devil", <a href=
+"#page.anchor.65">65</a>-<a href="#page.anchor.67">67</a> .</dt>
+<dt>Gandash (g&auml;n&acute;dash), Kassite king, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.271">271</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Ganga (g&#259;ng&acute;&auml;), the Indian goddess, as king's
+lover, <a href="#page.anchor.68">68</a>.</dt>
+<dt>"Garden of Adonis", <a href="#page.anchor.171">171</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.172">172</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Gardens, the Hanging, of Babylon, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.220">220</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Garstang, Professor, on fall of Hatti and god cult, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.268">268</a>; on Totemic Adonis boar, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.293">293</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.294">294</a>;
+Hittite Sandan disk, <a href="#page.anchor.348">348</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Garuda (g&#259;r-ood&acute;&#259;), Indian eagle god, Zu bird
+and, <a href="#page.anchor.xxvi">xxvi</a>; myth of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.74">74</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.75">75</a>; Etana
+eagle and, <a href="#page.anchor.165">165</a>; sons of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.166">166</a>; identified with Agni, Brahma, Indra,
+Yama, &amp;c, <a href="#page.anchor.168">168</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.169">169</a>; wheel of life and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.346">346</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.347">347</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Gauls, Hittite raiders like the, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.261">261</a>; gods of and the Babylonian, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.316">316</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.317">317</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Germ theory, anticipatedby Babylonians, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.61">61</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.234">234</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Germany, double-headed eagle of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.168">168</a>; the Baghdad railway, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.357">357</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Gezer cave dwellings, <a href="#page.anchor.10">10</a>;
+cremation practised in, <a href="#page.anchor.11">11</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Ghosts, "wind gusts" as, <a href="#page.anchor.48">48</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.49">49</a>; associated with demons,
+<a href="#page.anchor.60">60</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.215">215</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.216">216</a>;
+as birds, <a href="#page.anchor.65">65</a>; as death bringers,
+<a href="#page.anchor.69">69</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.295">295</a>; the terrible mothers, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.69">69</a>; where dreaded and where invoked,
+<a href="#page.anchor.69">69</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.70">70</a>; Babylonian "night prowlers", <a href=
+"#page.anchor.70">70</a>; food required by, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.70">70</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.212">212</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.213">213</a>; Ishtar's threat to raise,
+<a href="#page.anchor.215">215</a>; King of Cuthah and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.215">215</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.216">216</a>;
+as "Fates" and enemies of the living, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.295">295</a>; worship of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.295">295</a>; Orion and Jupiter as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.305">305</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Giants, the British Alban, <a href="#page.anchor.42">42</a>;
+the Babylonian, <a href="#page.anchor.71">71</a>; graves of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.296">296</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Gibil (gi&acute;bil), fire god, Nusku and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.353">353</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Gilgamesh (gil&acute;g&auml;-mesh), the Babylonian Hercules,
+<a href="#page.anchor.41">41</a>; revelation of ghost to,
+<a href="#page.anchor.48">48</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.49">49</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.183">183</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.184">184</a>; quest of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.164">164</a>; birth legend of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.171">171</a>; eagle rescues, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.171">171</a>; lord of Erech, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.172">172</a>; coming of Ea-bani, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.173">173</a>; Ishtar's fatal love of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.174">174</a>; "La Belle Dame Sans Merci", <a href=
+"#page.anchor.174">174</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.175">175</a>;
+Ishtar spurned by, <a href="#page.anchor.99">99</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.176">176</a>; Ishtar's bull slain, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.176">176</a>; death of Ea-bani, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.176">176</a>; quest of Water of Life and Plant of
+Life, <a href="#page.anchor.177">177</a>; the mountain tunnel and
+Sea of Death, <a href="#page.anchor.178">178</a>; song of the Sea
+Lady, <a href="#page.anchor.178">178</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.179">179</a>; reaches Pir-napishtim's island,
+<a href="#page.anchor.180">180</a>; ancestor's revelation to and
+magic food, <a href="#page.anchor.182">182</a>; plant of life,
+<a href="#page.anchor.183">183</a>; Earth Lion robs, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.183">183</a>; Germanic gods and heroes and,
+<a href="#page.anchor.184">184</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.185">185</a>; flood legend revealed to, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.190">190</a> <span class="emphasis"><em>et
+seq.</em></span>; Tammuz and, <a href="#page.anchor.210">210</a>;
+Ashur and, <a href="#page.anchor.336">336</a>; Persian eagle and,
+<a href="#page.anchor.493">493</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Gillies, Dr. Cameron, on Scottish folk cures, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.232">232</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.233">233</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Gira (gi&acute;ra), the god, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.42">42</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Girru (gir&acute;r&uuml;), the fire god, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.49">49</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Gish B&auml;r, the fire god, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.49">49</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Goat, inspiration from blood of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.48">48</a>; demons enter the, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.71">71</a>; on Lagash vase, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.120">120</a>; the six-headed, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.332">332</a>; the satyr or astral goat man,
+<a href="#page.anchor.333">333</a>; the white kid of Tammuz,
+<a href="#page.anchor.85">85</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.333">333</a>; the Arabic "kid" star, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.333">333</a>; associated with Anshar, Agni, Varuna,
+Ea, and Thor, <a href="#page.anchor.329">329</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.333">333</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.334">334</a>;
+forehead symbol of like Apis symbol, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.334">334</a>; Minerva's shield has skin of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.337">337</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Goblin, the Babylonian, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.66">66</a>.</dt>
+<dt>God, the Dead, grave of Osiris, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.296">296</a>; also alive and in various forms,
+<a href="#page.anchor.297">297</a>.</dt>
+<dt>God cult, fusion of with goddess cult, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.105">105</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Goddesses, at once mothers, wives, and daughters of gods,
+<a href="#page.anchor.99">99</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.101">101</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.436">436</a>;
+husbands of die annually, <a href="#page.anchor.101">101</a>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>et seq.</em></span>; lovers of
+various, <a href="#page.anchor.102">102</a>; of Mediterranean
+racial tribes, <a href="#page.anchor.105">105</a>; Ishtar as "La
+Belle Dame Sans Merci", <a href=
+"#page.anchor.174">174</a>-<a href="#page.anchor.176">176</a>;
+the Semiramis legend, <a href="#page.anchor.417">417</a>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>et seq.</em></span></dt>
+<dt>Gods, Babylonian and Egyptian groups, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.36">36</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.37">37</a>; the
+younger and elder, <a href="#page.anchor.149">149</a>; why
+Sumerian were bearded, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.135">135</a>-<a href="#page.anchor.137">137</a>
+.</dt>
+<dt>Goodspeed, Professor, on early astronomy, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.321">321</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.322">322</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Gorgons, the, Tiamat and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.159">159</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Graves, charms and weapons in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.206">206</a>; as houses of dead, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.206">206</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.208">208</a>;
+of gods and giants, <a href="#page.anchor.296">296</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Great Mother, the, forms of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.36">36</a>; Hittite and Sumerian forms, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.267">267</a>; Anaitis, Ate, Cybele, Ishtar, Isis,
+Astarte, Ashtoreth, and Atargatis, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.267">267</a>; Kadesh, Anthat, and Danu, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.268">268</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Greece, spitting customs in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.46">46</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.47">47</a>; blood
+drinking in, <a href="#page.anchor.48">48</a>; wanton goddesses
+of, <a href="#page.anchor.104">104</a>; imported gods in,
+<a href="#page.anchor.105">105</a>; dragon myths of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.151">151</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.152">152</a>;
+eagle connected with birth and death in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.168">168</a>; flood legend of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.195">195</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.196">196</a>;
+"Island of Blessed", <a href="#page.anchor.203">203</a>; star
+myths of, <a href="#page.anchor.300">300</a>; Babylonian culture
+reached through Hittites, <a href="#page.anchor.306">306</a>;
+doctrine of world's ages, <a href="#page.anchor.310">310</a>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>et seq.</em></span>; pre-Hellenic
+beliefs in, <a href="#page.anchor.84">84</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.104">104</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.317">317</a>;
+astrology in, <a href="#page.anchor.318">318</a> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>et seq.</em></span>; astronomy in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.316">316</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.319">319</a>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>et seq.</em></span>; in pre-Phrygian
+period, <a href="#page.anchor.386">386</a>; fusion of races in,
+<a href="#page.anchor.393">393</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Greeks of Cilicia, Ashur-bani-pal and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.484">484</a>. See <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Ionians</em></span>.</dt>
+<dt>Green, a supernatural colour, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.186">186</a>.</dt>
+<dt>"Grey Eyebrows", a Gaelic hag, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.87">87</a>; myth of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.101">101</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Gudea (g&uuml;&acute;de-a), King of Lagash, sculptures,
+buildings, and trade of, <a href="#page.anchor.xxiii">xxiii</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.129">129</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.130">130</a>; bearded gods of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.136">136</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Gula (goo&acute;l&auml;), mother goddess, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.100">100</a>; Bau and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.116">116</a>; feast of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.476">476</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Gungunu (g&uuml;n&acute;g&uuml;n-&uuml;), King of Ur,
+<a href="#page.anchor.132">132</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Guns, called after giants "Long Meg" nd "Long Tom", <a href=
+"#page.anchor.156">156</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Gutium (g&uuml;&acute;tium), northern mountaineers, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.128">128</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.129">129</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.264">264</a>; demons and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.307">307</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Gyges (g&#563;&acute;jes), King of Lydia, emissaries of visit
+Nineveh, <a href="#page.anchor.483">483</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.486">486</a>.</dt>
+</dl>
+</div>
+<div class="indexdiv">
+<h3 class="title">H</h3>
+<dl>
+<dt>Hadad, Ramman as, <a href="#page.anchor.57">57</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.261">261</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.411">411</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Haddon, Dr., Achaean racial affinities, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.377">377</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Hades, Ishtar receives water of life in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.44">44</a>; Tammuz spends winter in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.53">53</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.98">98</a>;
+Indian "land of fathers", <a href="#page.anchor.56">56</a>; land
+of no return, <a href="#page.anchor.58">58</a>; descent of Ishtar
+to, <a href="#page.anchor.95">95</a> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>et seq.</em></span>; "Island of the Blessed",
+<a href="#page.anchor.180">180</a> <span class="emphasis"><em>et
+seq.</em></span>; Babylonian conception of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.203">203</a>; the Celtic, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.203">203</a>; the Greek, Germanic, Indian, and
+Egyptian, <a href="#page.anchor.204">204</a>; the grave as,
+<a href="#page.anchor.206">206</a>; the Japanese, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.206">206</a>; the Roman, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.207">207</a>; Babylonian king and queen of. See
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Nergal</em></span> and <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Eresh-ki-gal.</em></span></dt>
+<dt>Hags, of storm, marsh and mountain as primitive goddesses:
+the Scottish, <a href="#page.anchor.64">64</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.87">87</a>; the Babylonian, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.68">68</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.71">71</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.72">72</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.73">73</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.185">185</a>; the
+Germanic, <a href="#page.anchor.72">72</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.73">73</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.95">95</a>. See
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Annie, Annis, Beowulf,
+Mothers</em></span>, and <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Tiamat</em></span>.</dt>
+<dt>Hair, evidence from early graves and sculptures, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.4">4</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.9">9</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.10">10</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Hamath, Hittite city of, <a href="#page.anchor.395">395</a>;
+Israel overcomes, <a href="#page.anchor.449">449</a>; Ilu-bi-di,
+the smith king of, <a href="#page.anchor.457">457</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.458">458</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Hamites, Biblical reference to, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.276">276</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Hammurabi (h&auml;m&acute;m&uuml;-r&auml;&acute;bi), Dagan as
+creator of, <a href="#page.anchor.31">31</a>; Sin-muballit father
+of, <a href="#page.anchor.133">133</a>; pantheon of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.134">134</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.254">254</a>;
+the Biblical Amraphel, <a href="#page.anchor.131">131</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.246">246</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.247">247</a>; "Khammurabi" and "Ammurapi" forms of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.247">247</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.248">248</a>; Rim Sin, the Elamite, and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.249">249</a>; character of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.249">249</a>-<a href="#page.anchor.255">255</a> ;
+god Nebo ignored by, <a href="#page.anchor.303">303</a>; legal
+code of, <a href="#page.anchor.2">2</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.222">222</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.223">223</a>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>et seq.</em></span></dt>
+<dt>Hammurabi Dynasty, the, Amorites and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.217">217</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.218">218</a>;
+early Amorite kings of Sippar, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.241">241</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.242">242</a>;
+schools and correspondence during, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.252">252</a>; Kassites first appear during,
+<a href="#page.anchor.255">255</a>; Sealand Dynasty in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.257">257</a>; late kings of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.257">257</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.258">258</a>;
+Hittite raid at close of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.258">258</a>-<a href="#page.anchor.260">260</a> ;
+Assyria during, <a href="#page.anchor.279">279</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.419">419</a>; astronomy in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.300">300</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Hanuman (h&#259;n&acute;u-m&auml;n), the Indian monkey god,
+Bhima and, <a href="#page.anchor.187">187</a>; like Gilgamesh,
+<a href="#page.anchor.188">188</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.189">189</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Hapi (h&auml;&acute;pi), Nile god, a bi-sexual deity,
+<a href="#page.anchor.161">161</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Haran, Abraham's migration from Ur to, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.131">131</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.245">245</a>;
+Ashur and Sin worshipped at, <a href="#page.anchor.353">353</a>;
+Nabonidus's temple to Sin at, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.494">494</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Harper, Professor, <a href="#page.anchor.321">321</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Harvest deities, fish forms of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.29">29</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.32">32</a>; river
+and ocean gods as, <a href="#page.anchor.33">33</a>; the
+pre-Hellenic, <a href="#page.anchor.84">84</a>; the Egyptian,
+<a href="#page.anchor.85">85</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Harvest moon, the, crops ripened by, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.52">52</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Hathor (h&auml;t&acute;hor), the fish goddess and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.29">29</a>; Ishtar and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.57">57</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.99">99</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Hathor-Sekhet, the destroyer, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.157">157</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.197">197</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Hatshepsut (hat-shep&acute;soot), Queen of Egypt, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.16">16</a>; Sumerian queen earlier than, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.115">115</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Hatti (h&auml;t&acute;ti), dominant tribe of Hittites,
+<a href="#page.anchor.246">246</a>; of Armenoid race, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.262">262</a>; as Great Father worshippers, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.260">260</a>; Mitannians and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.269">269</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Hattusil I (hat-too&acute;sil), King of Hittites, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.283">283</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Hattusil II, Hittite king, Egyptian treaty, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.366">366</a>; influence of in Babylonia, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.364">364</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.368">368</a>;
+marriage treaty with Amorite king, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.418">418</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Hawes, Mr., on Cretan chronology, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.xxv">xxv</a>; Cretan racial types, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.8">8</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Hawk, demons enter the, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.71">71</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Hazael (haz&acute;&#257;-el), King of Damascus, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.410">410</a>; Shalmaneser III defeats, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.411">411</a>; Israel oppressed by, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.412">412</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Heaven, Queen of, Hebrews offer cakes to, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.106">106</a>; women prominent in worship of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.106">106</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.107">107</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Hebrews, in Canaan, <a href="#page.anchor.379">379</a>;
+Philistines as overlords of, <a href="#page.anchor.379">379</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.380">380</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.386">386</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.387">387</a>;
+as allies of Egypt and Tyre, <a href="#page.anchor.388">388</a>;
+under David and Solomon, <a href="#page.anchor.388">388</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.389">389</a>; Pharaoh Sheshonk plunders,
+<a href="#page.anchor.391">391</a>; kingdoms of Judah and Israel,
+<a href="#page.anchor.401">401</a> <span class="emphasis"><em>et
+seq.</em></span>; in late Assyrian period, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.448">448</a> <span class="emphasis"><em>et
+seq.</em></span> See <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Israel</em></span> and <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Judah</em></span>.</dt>
+<dt>Heimdal (h&#299;m&acute;dal), as patriarch and world
+guardian, <a href="#page.anchor.93">93</a>; Tammuz and Agni like,
+<a href="#page.anchor.94">94</a>; Nin-Girsu of Lagash like,
+<a href="#page.anchor.116">116</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Hercules, Gilgamesh and, <a href="#page.anchor.41">41</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.164">164</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.172">172</a>; as dragon slayer, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.152">152</a>; eagle as soul of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.170">170</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.349">349</a>;
+burning of, <a href="#page.anchor.171">171</a>; of Cilicia and
+deities that link with, <a href="#page.anchor.261">261</a>;
+Merodach and, <a href="#page.anchor.316">316</a>; Ashur and,
+<a href="#page.anchor.336">336</a>; astral arrow of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.337">337</a>; Melkarth and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.348">348</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Hermes (h<span class=
+"emphasis"><em>e</em></span>r&acute;m&#275;z), Nebo as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.303">303</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Hermod (her&acute; mod), the Germanic Patriarch, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.93">93</a>; Gilgamesh and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.184">184</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Herodotus, on Babylonian harvests, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.21">21</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.22">22</a>; on
+Babylonian burial customs, <a href="#page.anchor.214">214</a>;
+description of Babylon, <a href="#page.anchor.219">219</a>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>et seq.</em></span>; on Babylonian
+marriage market, <a href="#page.anchor.224">224</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.225">225</a>; on doctors and folk cures, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.231">231</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.232">232</a>;
+on origin of Nineveh, <a href="#page.anchor.277">277</a>; on
+Egyptian Totemism, <a href="#page.anchor.293">293</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.432">432</a>; on pre-Hellenic beliefs, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.317">317</a>; on Semiramis legend, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.425">425</a>; on fall of Assyria, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.488">488</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Heth, children of, Hittites as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.246">246</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Hezekiah (hez-e-k&#299;&acute;ah), <a href=
+"#page.anchor.21">21</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.340">340</a>;
+Merodach-Balad conspiracy, <a href="#page.anchor.465">465</a>;
+destruction of Assyrian army, <a href="#page.anchor.466">466</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.467">467</a>; Esarhaddon and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.471">471</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.472">472</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Hierap&acute;olis, Atargatis goddess of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.267">267</a>.</dt>
+<dt>"High Heads", symbols and "world spine", <a href=
+"#page.anchor.332">332</a>; Anshar, Anu, Enlil, Ea, Merodach,
+Nergal, and Shamash as, <a href="#page.anchor.334">334</a></dt>
+<dt>Hindus, Mediterranean race represented among, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.8">8</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Hipparchus, the Greek astronomer, discoveries of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.320">320</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.321">321</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Hiram, King of Tyre, as Solomon's ally, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.388">388</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.389">389</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Hit, the bitumen wells of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.25">25</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Hittites, the father worshippers among, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.xxx">xxx</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.420">420</a>;
+racial types in confederacy of, <a href="#page.anchor.11">11</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.12">12</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.246">246</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.265">265</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.266">266</a>; double-headed eagle of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.168">168</a>; in ethnics of Jerusalem,
+<a href="#page.anchor.246">246</a>; Hebrews, dealings with,
+<a href="#page.anchor.246">246</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.266">266</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.267">267</a>;
+earliest references to in Egypt and Babylonia, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.258">258</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.259">259</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.264">264</a>; prehistoric culture of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.263">263</a>; thunder god of and linking
+deities, <a href="#page.anchor.261">261</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.268">268</a>; Merodach carried off by, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.261">261</a>; fusion of god and goddess cults by,
+<a href="#page.anchor.267">267</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.268">268</a>; relations with Mitannians and
+Kassites, <a href="#page.anchor.270">270</a>-<a href=
+"#page.anchor.272">272</a> , <a href="#page.anchor.282">282</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.358">358</a>; Subbi-luliuma, the conqueror,
+<a href="#page.anchor.283">283</a>; conquest of Mitanni, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.284">284</a>; Babylonian culture passed to Greece
+by, <a href="#page.anchor.306">306</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.316">316</a>; the winged disk of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.347">347</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.348">348</a>;
+Ashur cult and, <a href="#page.anchor.355">355</a>; Syria after
+expansion of, <a href="#page.anchor.363">363</a>; King Mursil,
+<a href="#page.anchor.364">364</a>; influence of in Egypt and
+Babylonia, <a href="#page.anchor.364">364</a>; wars of Seti I and
+Rameses II against, <a href="#page.anchor.364">364</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.365">365</a>; alliance with Egypt, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.366">366</a>; early struggle with Assyria, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.367">367</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.368">368</a>;
+Muski as overlords of, <a href="#page.anchor.380">380</a>;
+Nebuchadrezzar I defeats, <a href="#page.anchor.381">381</a>;
+late period of Empire of, <a href="#page.anchor.386">386</a>;
+city states of Hamath and Carchemish, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.395">395</a>; Shalmaneser III and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.414">414</a>; "mother right among", <a href=
+"#page.anchor.418">418</a>; connection of with Urartu, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.440">440</a> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>n.</em></span>; combination against Sargon II,
+<a href="#page.anchor.459">459</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.460">460</a>; Biblical reference to Tabal and
+Meshech, <a href="#page.anchor.464">464</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Horse, sea god as a, <a href="#page.anchor.33">33</a>; demons
+enter the, <a href="#page.anchor.71">71</a>; domesticated in
+Turkestan, <a href="#page.anchor.271">271</a>; introduction of to
+Babylonia and Egypt, <a href="#page.anchor.270">270</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.271">271</a>; sacrificed by Aryo-Indian and
+Buriats, <a href="#page.anchor.271">271</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.309">309</a>; constellation of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.309">309</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Horus (ho&acute;rus), god of Egypt, creative tears of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.45">45</a>; as the sun, Saturn, Jupiter,
+and Mars, <a href="#page.anchor.300">300</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.304">304</a>; the "elder" and "younger", <a href=
+"#page.anchor.302">302</a>; as the "opener", <a href=
+"#page.anchor.304">304</a>; "world soul" conception and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.304">304</a>; has many forms like Tammuz, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.305">305</a>; Ninip and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.316">316</a>; "winged disk" of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.336">336</a>; the eagle and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.343">343</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Hoshea (ho-she&acute;a), King of Israel, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.453">453</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.454">454</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Host of heaven, <a href="#page.anchor.305">305</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Hotherus (hoth&acute;erus), Gilgamesh and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.184">184</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.185">185</a>.</dt>
+<dt>"House of Clay", the grave called, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.56">56</a>; <a href=
+"#page.anchor.206">206</a>-<a href="#page.anchor.208">208</a>
+.</dt>
+<dt>Hraesvelgur (hr&#257;&acute;svel-gur), Icelandic wind demon,
+<a href="#page.anchor.72">72</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Human sacrifices, the May Day, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.50">50</a>. "Husband of his mother", <a href=
+"#page.anchor.xxxii">xxxii</a>; in Sumerian, Indian, and Egyptian
+mythologies, <a href="#page.anchor.106">106</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.304">304</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.305">305</a>;
+Kingu becomes lover of Tiamat, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.106">106</a>; sun as offspring and spouse of the
+moon, <a href="#page.anchor.301">301</a>; Adad-nirari IV as,
+<a href="#page.anchor.420">420</a>. See <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Father and son conflict</em></span>.</dt>
+<dt>Hydra, as Dragon, <a href="#page.anchor.152">152</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Hyksos (hik&acute;sos), Egypt invaded by, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.259">259</a>; Mitannians and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.270">270</a>; horse introduced into Egypt by,
+<a href="#page.anchor.271">271</a>; theories regarding, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.271">271</a>; trading relations of with Crete and
+Persia, <a href="#page.anchor.273">273</a>; period of expulsion
+of, <a href="#page.anchor.275">275</a>.</dt>
+</dl>
+</div>
+<div class="indexdiv">
+<h3 class="title">I</h3>
+<dl>
+<dt>Iberians, the, Sumerians and Egyptians congeners of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.9">9</a>; goddesses of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.105">105</a>; folk tales of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.156">156</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Ibis, demons enter the, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.71">71</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Iceland, wind hag of, <a href="#page.anchor.73">73</a>;
+Barleycorn a god of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.170">170</a><span class=
+"emphasis"><em>n</em></span>.</dt>
+<dt>Idols, spirit of god or demon in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.61">61</a>; gods of taken prisoners, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.62">62</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Idun(ee&acute;doon),Germanic goddess, lovers of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.102">102</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Igigi (i&acute;gig-i), spirits of heaven, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.34">34</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.149">149</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Ilu-bi&acute;di, smith king of Hamath, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.457">457</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.458">458</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Immortality, quest of Gilgamesh, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.177">177</a>; Song of the Sea Lady, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.178">178</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.179">179</a>;
+Lay of the Harper, <a href="#page.anchor.179">179</a>;
+Pir-napishtim and Gilgamesh, <a href="#page.anchor.181">181</a>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>et seq.</em></span>.; Ea-hani's
+revelation, <a href="#page.anchor.183">183</a>-<a href=
+"#page.anchor.184">184</a> ; no Babylonian Paradise, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.203">203</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.210">210</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.211">211</a>; Brahmans ask Alexander the
+Great for, <a href="#page.anchor.208">208</a>; Egyptian Ra and
+Osirian doctrines, <a href="#page.anchor.209">209</a>.</dt>
+<dt>India, Sumerian myths in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.xxvi">xxvi</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.xxvii">xxvii</a>; Mediterranean race in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.7">7</a>; Brahma-Vishnu and Ea, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.27">27</a>; Babylonian flood myth in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.27">27</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.28">28</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.196">196</a>; demons of and the Babylonian,
+<a href="#page.anchor.34">34</a>; mother ghost in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.69">69</a>; Garuda eagle and Sumerian Zu bird,
+<a href="#page.anchor.74">74</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.75">75</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.165">165</a>-<a href="#page.anchor.169">169</a> ,
+<a href="#page.anchor.330">330</a>; wedding bracelet of and
+Ishtar's, <a href="#page.anchor.98">98</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.98">98</a><span class=
+"emphasis"><em>n</em></span>.; eternal "mothers" and "dying gods"
+in, <a href="#page.anchor.101">101</a>; Ribhus the "elves" of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.105">105</a>; fairies of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.294">294</a>; Gilgamesh myth in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.187">187</a>-<a href="#page.anchor.189">189</a> ;
+Babylonian culture in, <a href="#page.anchor.199">199</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.200">200</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.313">313</a>; face paint of gods in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.211">211</a>; jungle-dwellers' conception of "Self
+Power", <a href="#page.anchor.291">291</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.304">304</a>; star myths of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.296">296</a>; early astronomers of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.300">300</a>; lunar zodiac of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.309">309</a>; constellations identified before
+planets in, <a href="#page.anchor.318">318</a>; horse sacrifice
+in, <a href="#page.anchor.309">309</a>; sun and moon marriages
+in, <a href="#page.anchor.306">306</a>; doctrine of World's Ages
+in, <a href="#page.anchor.310">310</a> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>et seq.</em></span>; "finger counting" at prayer
+in, <a href="#page.anchor.311">311</a><span class=
+"emphasis"><em>n.</em></span>; deities connected with goat in,
+<a href="#page.anchor.333">333</a>; "man in the eye" belief,
+<a href="#page.anchor.335">335</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.336">336</a>; cult of "late invaders" of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.338">338</a>; fire cult in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.346">346</a>; Solomon's trade with, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.389">389</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.390">390</a>;
+Jehoshaphat's fleet, <a href="#page.anchor.408">408</a>; swans as
+love messengers in, <a href="#page.anchor.429">429</a>.</dt>
+<dt>"Indo-Europeans", Mitannians as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.269">269</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.270">270</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Indra (ind&acute;r&#259;), god of India, a world artisan like
+Ea and Ptah, <a href="#page.anchor.30">30</a>; Anu's messengers
+like Maruts of, <a href="#page.anchor.34">34</a>; Enlil and,
+<a href="#page.anchor.35">35</a>; Ramman, Hadad, Thor, &amp;c,
+and, <a href="#page.anchor.57">57</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.261">261</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.340">340</a>;
+in Garuda myth, <a href="#page.anchor.74">74</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.75">75</a>; dies annually like Tammuz, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.101">101</a>; various forms of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.101">101</a>; as slayer of father, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.158">158</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.302">302</a>;
+eagle as, <a href="#page.anchor.169">169</a>; Paradise of like
+Odin's, <a href="#page.anchor.209">209</a>; thunder horn of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.238">238</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Insects, gods as, <a href="#page.anchor.296">296</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Inspiration, derived from sacred juice, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.45">45</a>; from drinking blood, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.48">48</a>; from incense and breath of Apis bull,
+<a href="#page.anchor.49">49</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Inundation, the Babylonian, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.24">24</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Inverness, the "sleeper" and fairy mound of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.164">164</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Ionians, deported from Cilicia to Nineveh, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.464">464</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Iranian sun god, Sumerians and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.55">55</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.56">56</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Ireland, the corn god and river goddess of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.33">33</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.238">238</a>;
+spitting customs in, <a href="#page.anchor.47">47</a>; "calling
+back" of souls in, <a href="#page.anchor.70">70</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.70">70</a><span class=
+"emphasis"><em>n.</em></span>; Anu a wind hag, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.73">73</a>; Tammuz-Diarmid myth in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.85">85</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.87">87</a>;
+Angus, the love god of, <a href="#page.anchor.90">90</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.238">238</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.428">428</a><span class=
+"emphasis"><em>n.</em></span>; the eternal goddess of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.101">101</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.102">102</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.268">268</a>; the "mor&uacute;ach" (worm)
+of, <a href="#page.anchor.151">151</a>; flood legend of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.196">196</a>; the Hades of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.203">203</a>; pig as devil in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.293">293</a>; doctrine of world's ages in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.310">310</a> <span class="emphasis"><em>et
+seq.</em></span>; origin of culture of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.315">315</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.316">316</a>;
+giant gods of, <a href="#page.anchor.317">317</a>; pigeon lore
+in, <a href="#page.anchor.431">431</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Iron, in northern Mesopotamia, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.25">25</a>; used in folk cures, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.236">236</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Irrigation, in early Sumeria, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.23">23</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.39">39</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Isaac, forbids Jacob to marry a Hittite, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.266">266</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Isaiah, <a href="#page.anchor.21">21</a>; doom of Babylonia,
+<a href="#page.anchor.113">113</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.499">499</a>; "worm" of, the dragon, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.151">151</a>; use of Babylonian symbolism by,
+<a href="#page.anchor.331">331</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.341">341</a>; "satyrs" referred to by, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.333">333</a>; on Assyria the Destroyer, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.340">340</a>; on Topher, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.350">350</a>; reference to Jerusalem's water
+supply, <a href="#page.anchor.451">451</a>; warns Ahaz, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.459">459</a>; destruction of Sennacherib's army,
+<a href="#page.anchor.466">466</a>; tradition of murder of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.474">474</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Ishbi-Urra (ish&acute;bi-oor&acute;ra), King of Isin,
+<a href="#page.anchor.132">132</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Ishtar (ish&acute;tar), Isis cult and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.xxxi">xxxi</a>; hymn to, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.18">18</a>-<a href="#page.anchor.20">20</a> ; Beltu
+and, <a href="#page.anchor.36">36</a>; water of life given to,
+<a href="#page.anchor.44">44</a>; as earth goddess, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.53">53</a>; identical with Hathor, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.57">57</a>; in demon war, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.76">76</a>; as "Queen of Heaven", <a href=
+"#page.anchor.81">81</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.106">106</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.107">107</a>; lamentation of for Tammuz,
+<a href="#page.anchor.86">86</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.88">88</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.98">98</a>; in
+Sargon of Akkad myth, <a href="#page.anchor.91">91</a>; descent
+of to Hades poem, <a href="#page.anchor.95">95</a> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>et seq.</em></span>; magical ornaments of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.96">96</a>; punishment of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.96">96</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.97">97</a>;
+rescue of, <a href="#page.anchor.98">98</a>; Belit-sheri
+associated with, <a href="#page.anchor.98">98</a>; as love
+goddess, <a href="#page.anchor.99">99</a>; temple women of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.99">99</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.106">106</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.107">107</a>;
+absorbs other goddesses, <a href="#page.anchor.100">100</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.117">117</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.277">277</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.496">496</a>;
+as daughter of Anu and Nannar, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.100">100</a>; as mother of Tammuz, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.100">100</a>; the lovers of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.103">103</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.126">126</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.174">174</a>-<a href=
+"#page.anchor.176">176</a> ; like Tiamat, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.106">106</a>; under Isin Dynasty, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.132">132</a>; links with Indian and Egyptian
+goddesses, <a href="#page.anchor.157">157</a>; Damkina and,
+<a href="#page.anchor.160">160</a>; as a bisexual deity, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.161">161</a>; in Etana legend, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.166">166</a>; in Gilgamesh legend, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.172">172</a>-<a href="#page.anchor.177">177</a> ;
+in flood legend, <a href="#page.anchor.193">193</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.194">194</a>; Frey's bride and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.204">204</a>; threat to raise dead, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.213">213</a>; fish goddesses and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.117">117</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.277">277</a>;
+Nineveh image of sent to Egypt, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.280">280</a>; star of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.295">295</a>; changes star forms with Merodach,
+<a href="#page.anchor.299">299</a>; month of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.305">305</a>; wheel symbol of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.347">347</a>; Nineveh temple of destroyed, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.363">363</a>; worshipped by Nebuchadrezzar I,
+<a href="#page.anchor.382">382</a>; cult of in Assyria, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.420">420</a>; Semiramis and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.425">425</a>; as a Fate, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.433">433</a>; moon god and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.436">436</a>; Creatrix and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.437">437</a>; worshipped by Sargon II, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.463">463</a>; worshipped by Esarhaddon, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.471">471</a>; Persian goddess and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.496">496</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Ishtarate (ish-tar-&auml;&acute;te), "Ishtars", goddesses in
+general called, <a href="#page.anchor.100">100</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Isin, Dynasty of, <a href="#page.anchor.131">131</a>; early
+kings of, <a href="#page.anchor.132">132</a> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>et seq.</em></span>; last kings of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.133">133</a>; sun worship and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.240">240</a>; Dynasty of Pashe, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.380">380</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Isis (&#299;&acute;sis), goddess of Egypt, Ishtar cult and,
+<a href="#page.anchor.xxxi">xxxi</a>; fish goddess and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.29">29</a>; as Nile goddess, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.33">33</a>; creative tears of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.45">45</a>; mourning of for Osiris, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.83">83</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.99">99</a>; as
+daughter, wife, sister, and mother of Osiris, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.99">99</a>; as corn goddess, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.90">90</a>; as serpent goddess, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.150">150</a>; as bi-sexual deity, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.161">161</a>; male form of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.299">299</a>; the star of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.296">296</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.300">300</a>;
+address of to different forms of Osiris, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.297">297</a>. "Island of the Blessed", in Gilgamesh
+epic, <a href="#page.anchor.180">180</a> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>et seq.</em></span>; the Greek and Celtic,
+<a href="#page.anchor.203">203</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Israel, first Egyptian reference to, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.379">379</a>; subject to Damascus, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.396">396</a>; separation of from Judah, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.401">401</a> <span class="emphasis"><em>et
+seq.</em></span>; Abijah's victory over, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.402">402</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.403">403</a>;
+first conflict with Assyria, <a href="#page.anchor.407">407</a>;
+tribute to Shalmaneser III, <a href="#page.anchor.411">411</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.412">412</a>; Assyria as "saviour" of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.414">414</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.438">438</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.439">439</a>;
+goddess cult in, <a href="#page.anchor.421">421</a>; Aramaeans
+and mother worship in, <a href="#page.anchor.434">434</a>; war
+with Judah, <a href="#page.anchor.448">448</a>; Tiglath-pileser
+harries, <a href="#page.anchor.453">453</a>; the lost ten tribes,
+<a href="#page.anchor.455">455</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.456">456</a>.</dt>
+</dl>
+</div>
+<div class="indexdiv">
+<h3 class="title">J</h3>
+<dl>
+<dt>"Jack and Jill", the Sumerian lunar, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.53">53</a>.</dt>
+<dt>"Jack with a Lantern", the Babylonian, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.66">66</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Jacob, personal ornaments as charms to, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.211">211</a>; marriage of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.266">266</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Jah, the Hebrew, Ea as, <a href="#page.anchor.31">31</a>;
+Dagon as, <a href="#page.anchor.31">31</a>; as dragon slayer,
+<a href="#page.anchor.157">157</a>; monotheism, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.160">160</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Japan, the Hades of, <a href="#page.anchor.206">206</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Jastrow, Professor, on Ea, <a href="#page.anchor.29">29</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.30">30</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.435">435</a>; on culture and racial fusion,
+<a href="#page.anchor.42">42</a>; on fire and water ceremonies,
+<a href="#page.anchor.51">51</a>; on moon names, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.52">52</a>; on female conservatism, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.107">107</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.179">179</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.180">180</a>; on burial customs, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.208">208</a>; on Nebo, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.303">303</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.435">435</a>;
+on Greek and Babylonian astrology and astronomy, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.319">319</a> <span class="emphasis"><em>et
+seq.</em></span>; on Anshar, Ashir, and Ashur, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.354">354</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Jehoahaz (je-h&#333;&acute;a-haz), King of Judah, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.414">414</a>; Necho deposes, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.489">489</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Jehoash (je-h&#333;&acute;ash), King of Israel, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.448">448</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.449">449</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Jehoiachin (je-hoi&acute;a-chin), King of Judah, carried to
+Babylon, <a href="#page.anchor.490">490</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Jehoiakim (je-hoi&acute;a-kim), King of Judah, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.489">489</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.490">490</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.492">492</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Jehoram (je-h&#333;&acute;ram), King of Judah, no burning at
+grave of, <a href="#page.anchor.350">350</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Jehoshaphat (je-hosh&acute;a-phat), King of Judah, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.407">407</a>; navy of wrecked, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.408">408</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Jehu (je&acute;h&uuml;), King of Israel, Elisha calls,
+<a href="#page.anchor.409">409</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.410">410</a>; tribute to Shalmaneser III, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.411">411</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.412">412</a>;
+mother worship in reign of, <a href="#page.anchor.421">421</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.434">434</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Jeremiah, liver as seat of life, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.48">48</a>; on mother worship, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.106">106</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.107">107</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.421">421</a>; Pharaoh Necho, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.489">489</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Jeremias, Dr. Alfred, on precession of equinoxes, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.320">320</a> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>n</em></span>.</dt>
+<dt>Jeroboam (jer-o-b&#333;&acute;am), revolt of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.402">402</a>; Abijah defeats, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.402">402</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.403">403</a>;
+an ally of Assyria, <a href="#page.anchor.449">449</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Jerusalem, the "new", <a href="#page.anchor.xvii">xvii</a>;
+Palaeolithic collection at, <a href="#page.anchor.10">10</a>;
+"dragon well" at, <a href="#page.anchor.152">152</a>; "father" of
+Amorite, "mother" of Hittite, <a href="#page.anchor.246">246</a>;
+eclipse record from, <a href="#page.anchor.323">323</a>; "Queen
+of Heaven" worshipped in, <a href="#page.anchor.421">421</a>;
+wall of destroyed by Jehoash, <a href="#page.anchor.449">449</a>;
+new wall and water supply of, <a href="#page.anchor.451">451</a>;
+siege of by Sennacherib, <a href="#page.anchor.465">465</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.466">466</a>; Assyrian ambassador visits,
+<a href="#page.anchor.471">471</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.472">472</a>; sack of by Nebuchadrezzar II,
+<a href="#page.anchor.490">490</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.491">491</a>; Cyrus and rebuilding of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.496">496</a>; return of captives to, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.496">496</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Jewellery, the magic, Ishtar's, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.96">96</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.98">98</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Jewish type, Akkadians of, <a href="#page.anchor.1">1</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.2">2</a>; Arabs not of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.9">9</a>; the racial blend which produced, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.10">10</a> <span class="emphasis"><em>et
+seq.</em></span></dt>
+<dt>Jews, Cyrus welcomed in Babylon by, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.495">495</a>; return of to Jerusalem, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.496">496</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Jezebel (jez&acute;e-bel), Queen, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.406">406</a>; murder of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.410">410</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Jinn, the Arabian, <a href="#page.anchor.78">78</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Joash (j&#333;&acute;ash), King of Judah, concealment of in
+childhood, <a href="#page.anchor.413">413</a>; coronation of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.413">413</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.414">414</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Johns, Mr., on Aryans in early Assyria, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.278">278</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.279">279</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Joram (j&#333;&acute;ram), King of Israel, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.408">408</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.409">409</a>;
+Jehu murders, <a href="#page.anchor.410">410</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Josiah (jo-s&#299;&acute;ah), King of Judah, Necho and,
+<a href="#page.anchor.489">489</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Jotham (j&#333;&acute;tham), King of Judah, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.451">451</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Judah, subject to Damascus, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.396">396</a>; separation of from Israel, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.401">401</a> <span class="emphasis"><em>et
+seq.</em></span>; Edom revolts against, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.409">409</a>; defeated by Israel, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.448">448</a>; Damascus and Israel plot against,
+<a href="#page.anchor.451">451</a>; Ahaz appeals to Assyria,
+<a href="#page.anchor.452">452</a>; Sennacherib deports prisoners
+from, <a href="#page.anchor.465">465</a>; in Esarhaddon's reign,
+<a href="#page.anchor.474">474</a>; Pharaoh Necho in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.489">489</a>; the Captivity, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.491">491</a>; return of captives, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.496">496</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Jupiter, the planet, Ramman and Hadad as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.57">57</a>; Merodach creates, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.147">147</a>; Merodach as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.296">296</a>; Horus as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.300">300</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.302">302</a>;
+associated with sun and moon, <a href="#page.anchor.301">301</a>;
+as ghost of sun, <a href="#page.anchor.305">305</a>; as "bull of
+light", <a href="#page.anchor.301">301</a>; Nin-Girsu (Tammuz)
+as, <a href="#page.anchor.301">301</a>; month of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.305">305</a>; Attis as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.305">305</a>; as "face voice of light" and "star of
+bronze", <a href="#page.anchor.314">314</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.315">315</a>; in astrology, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.318">318</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Jupiter-Amon, <a href="#page.anchor.317">317</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Jupiter-Belus, Merodach as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.221">221</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.317">317</a>.</dt>
+</dl>
+</div>
+<div class="indexdiv">
+<h3 class="title">K</h3>
+<dl>
+<dt>Kadashman-Kharbe (kad-&auml;sh&acute;man-kh&auml;r&acute;be),
+King of Babylon, grandson of Ashur-uballit, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.284">284</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.285">285</a>;
+opens Arabian desert trade route, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.360">360</a>; murder of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.361">361</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Kadesh (k&auml;&acute;desh), goddesses that link with,
+<a href="#page.anchor.268">268</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Kali (k&auml;&acute;lee), the Indian goddess, goat sacrificed
+to, <a href="#page.anchor.48">48</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Kalkhi (k&auml;l&acute;khi), excavations at, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.xix">xix</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.xx">xx</a>;
+capital of Shalmaneser I, <a href="#page.anchor.367">367</a>;
+headquarters of Ashur-natsir-pal III, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.398">398</a>; description of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.399">399</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.400">400</a>;
+library at, <a href="#page.anchor.422">422</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.470">470</a>; religious revolt at, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.422">422</a>; Sargon II and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.463">463</a>; temple to Nebo at, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.487">487</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Karduniash (kar-doon&acute;i-ash), Babylonia called, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.273">273</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Karna (k&#259;r&acute;n&#259;), Indian hero: like Sargon of
+Akkad, <a href="#page.anchor.126">126</a>.</dt>
+<dt>K&auml;ssites, Nippur as capital of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.218">218</a>; in Hammurabi Age, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.255">255</a>; as agriculturists, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.256">256</a>; Aryans associated with, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.270">270</a>; Mitannians, Hyksos and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.270">270</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.271">271</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.272">272</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.273">273</a>; Babylonia consolidated by, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.274">274</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.393">393</a>;
+early Assyrian kings and, <a href="#page.anchor.279">279</a>; in
+Tell-el-Amarna letters, <a href="#page.anchor.281">281</a>; and
+Mesopotamian question, <a href="#page.anchor.358">358</a>;
+Arabian desert trade route, <a href="#page.anchor.360">360</a>;
+dynasty of ends, <a href="#page.anchor.370">370</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.371">371</a>; Sennacherib and the mountain,
+<a href="#page.anchor.464">464</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Keats, John, <a href="#page.anchor.112">112</a>; "La Belle
+Dame Sans Merci" and Ishtar, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.174">174</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Kengi (k<span class="emphasis"><em>e</em></span>n&acute;gi),
+early name of Sumer, <a href="#page.anchor.2">2</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Khammurabi (kham-m&uuml;-r&auml;&acute;bi), <a href=
+"#page.anchor.247">247</a>. See <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Hammurabi</em></span>.</dt>
+<dt>Khani (kh&auml;&acute;ni). See <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Mitanni</em></span>.</dt>
+<dt>Kharri (kh&auml;r&acute;ri), Mitannians called; perhaps
+"Arya", <a href="#page.anchor.269">269</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Khatti. See <span class="emphasis"><em>Hatti</em></span> and
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Hittites</em></span>.</dt>
+<dt>Kheta. See <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Hittites</em></span>.</dt>
+<dt>Khnumu (knoo&acute;moo), the Egyptian god, Ea compared to,
+<a href="#page.anchor.30">30</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Khonsu (kon&acute;soo), Tammuz a healer like, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.90">90</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.94">94</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Kid, sacrificed to Tammuz, <a href="#page.anchor.85">85</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.333">333</a>; star called by Arabs,
+<a href="#page.anchor.333">333</a>.</dt>
+<dt>King, L.W., Creation tablets, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.xxiv">xxiv</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.29">29</a>;
+<a href="#page.anchor.211">211</a>; on "Cuthean Legend of
+Creation", <a href="#page.anchor.215">215</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.216">216</a>; on seven gods as one, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.298">298</a>; on Sennacherib's sack of Babylon,
+<a href="#page.anchor.469">469</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Kings, worship of, in Hammurabi Age, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.242">242</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.257">257</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.258">258</a>; burning of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.350">350</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.351">351</a>;
+Ashur's association with, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.352">352</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Kingu (kin&acute;goo), in Creation Legend, as son and lover
+of Tiamat, <a href="#page.anchor.106">106</a>; stirs Tiamat to
+avenge Apsu, <a href="#page.anchor.140">140</a>; exalted by
+Tiamat, <a href="#page.anchor.140">140</a>; overcome by Merodach,
+<a href="#page.anchor.145">145</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.146">146</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Kish, early dynasty of, <a href="#page.anchor.114">114</a>;
+legendary queen of, <a href="#page.anchor.114">114</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.115">115</a>; Entemena's sack of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.120">120</a>; Sargon and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.125">125</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.126">126</a>;
+goddess of, <a href="#page.anchor.126">126</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.127">127</a>; kings and gods of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.241">241</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Kishar (ke&acute;sh&auml;r), the god, in group of elder
+deities, <a href="#page.anchor.37">37</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.138">138</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Kneph, the Egyptian air god, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.49">49</a>. <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Koran</em></span> (k&#333;&acute;r&auml;n), Etana
+eagle myth in, <a href="#page.anchor.166">166</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.167">167</a>; Nimrod agricultural myth in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.170">170</a>; water of life legend in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.186">186</a>; Abraham and Nimrod's pyre, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.349">349</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Kudur Mabug (k&uuml;&acute;d&uuml;r mab&acute;&uuml;g),
+Elamite King of Sumer, <a href="#page.anchor.242">242</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.243">243</a>; the Biblical Chedor-laomer,
+<a href="#page.anchor.247">247</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.248">248</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Kuiri (k&uuml;&acute;i-ri), early name of Akkad, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.2">2</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Kurds (koords), the, use of cradle board by, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.4">4</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.5">5</a>; of
+Mediterranean race, <a href="#page.anchor.8">8</a>; Mitannians as
+ancestors of, <a href="#page.anchor.270">270</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.283">283</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Kurigalzu II (k&uuml;&acute;ri-g&auml;l&acute;z&uuml;), King
+of Babylonia, <a href="#page.anchor.285">285</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Kurigalzu III, Kassite king, wars with Elam and Assyria,
+<a href="#page.anchor.362">362</a>.</dt>
+<dt>K&uuml;ta and K&uuml;th&auml;. See <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Cuthah</em></span>.</dt>
+<dt>Kutu (k&uuml;&acute;t&uuml;), the men of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.128">128</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.264">264</a>.
+See <span class="emphasis"><em>Gutium</em></span>.</dt>
+</dl>
+</div>
+<div class="indexdiv">
+<h3 class="title">L</h3>
+<dl>
+<dt>Labartu (la-b&auml;r&acute;t&uuml;), the, a mountain hag,
+<a href="#page.anchor.68">68</a>; as a luck spirit, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.77">77</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Labashi-Marduk (la&acute;ba-shi-mar&acute;d&uuml;k), King of
+Babylonia, <a href="#page.anchor.492">492</a>.</dt>
+<dt>"La Belle Dame Sans Merci", Ishtar as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.174">174</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.175">175</a>.
+Lachamu (lach-&auml;&acute;m&uuml;), goddess, in Creation legend,
+<a href="#page.anchor.37">37</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.138">138</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.143">143</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Lachmu (lach&acute;m&uuml;), god, in Creation legend,
+<a href="#page.anchor.37">37</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.138">138</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.143">143</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Lagash (l&auml;&acute;gash), city of, early rulers of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.115">115</a> et seq.; deities of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.116">116</a>-<a href="#page.anchor.118">118</a> ;
+relations with Umma, <a href="#page.anchor.118">118</a>-<a href=
+"#page.anchor.120">120</a> ; site of at Tello, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.120">120</a>; revolution in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.120">120</a>; Urukagina, the reformer of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.121">121</a>-<a href="#page.anchor.124">124</a> ;
+sack of, <a href="#page.anchor.124">124</a>; Gudea, King of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.129">129</a>; sculptures, buildings, and
+trade of, <a href="#page.anchor.130">130</a>; bearded god of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.135">135</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.136">136</a>; burning of in Hammurabi Age, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.243">243</a>. Also <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Shir-p&uuml;r&acute;l&auml;</em></span>.</dt>
+<dt>Lakshmi (l&#259;ksh&acute;mee), the Indian eternal mother,
+<a href="#page.anchor.101">101</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Lamassu (la&acute;mas-s&uuml;), the winged bull, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.65">65</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Lamb, the sacrificed, inspiration from blood of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.48">48</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Land laws, in early Sumeria, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.26">26</a>; of Babylonia, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.229">229</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.230">230</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Lang, Andrew, on Cronos, <a href="#page.anchor.64">64</a>; on
+father and son myth, <a href="#page.anchor.158">158</a>; on Greek
+star lore, <a href="#page.anchor.319">319</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Langdon, Dr., Sumerian psalms, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.96">96</a> et seq.; on Ninip and Enlil, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.158">158</a>; on doves and goddesses, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.428">428</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Language, race and, <a href="#page.anchor.3">3</a>;
+Sumerians, Chinese, Turks, Magyars, Finns, and Basques compared,
+<a href="#page.anchor.3">3</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Larsa (l&auml;r&acute;s&auml;), sun god chief deity of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.40">40</a>; revolt against Isin, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.132">132</a>; Rim-Sin, king of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.133">133</a>; rise of sun cult of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.240">240</a>; Elamite kings of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.242">242</a>; the Biblical Ellasar, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.247">247</a>; Nabonidus and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.492">492</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Laurin (law&acute;reen), the Germanic elfin lover, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.68">68</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Law courts, in Hammurabi Age, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.223">223</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Layard, Sir A.H., discoveries of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.xix">xix</a> et seq.; Ashur symbols, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.343">343</a>; description of Kalkhi, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.399">399</a>-<a href="#page.anchor.401">401</a>
+.</dt>
+<dt>"Lay of the Harper", the Sumerian "Song of the Sea Lady" and,
+<a href="#page.anchor.178">178</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.179">179</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Lead, in northern Mesopotamia, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.25">25</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Lebanon, Gudea of Lagash gets timber from, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.130">130</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Leicestershire wind hag, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.73">73</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Library, Shalmaneser III founded at Kalkhi, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.422">422</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Libyans, the, shaving customs of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.9">9</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Life, the water of, <a href="#page.anchor.44">44</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.45">45</a>; the plant of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.44">44</a>; blood and sap and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.45">45</a>; liver as seat of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.48">48</a>; habits of and modes of thought,
+<a href="#page.anchor.51">51</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Light on head, Merodach's, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.145">145</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Li&acute;la or Li&acute;lu, the demon, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.67">67</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Li&acute;lith, "Adam's first wife", <a href=
+"#page.anchor.67">67</a>; Indian Surpanaka like, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.67">67</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Linen, manufactured in prehistoric Egypt, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.14">14</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Lion god, Nergal as the, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.54">54</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Lions, associated with mother goddess, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.120">120</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Liver, the, as seat of life, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.48">48</a>; dragon's vulnerable part, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.153">153</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Loftus, W.K., <a href="#page.anchor.xx">xx</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Loki, the Germanic god, taunts goddesses regarding lovers,
+<a href="#page.anchor.102">102</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.103">103</a>; god Barleycorn and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.170">170</a>.</dt>
+<dt>"Long Meg", the English giantess, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.155">155</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.156">156</a>;
+"Long Tom" and, <a href="#page.anchor.156">156</a>.</dt>
+<dt>"Long Tom", the giant, guns called, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.156">156</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Love charms and love lyrics, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.238">238</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Love goddess, Ishtar as, <a href="#page.anchor.99">99</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.175">175</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.176">176</a>; the inconstancy of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.99">99</a> et seq., <a href=
+"#page.anchor.102">102</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.103">103</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.104">104</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Lovers, the demon, <a href="#page.anchor.67">67</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.68">68</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Lucian (loosh&acute;yan), Semiramis legend, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.425">425</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Lucifer, Babylonian king as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.331">331</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Luck, spitting to secure, <a href="#page.anchor.46">46</a> et
+seq.; spirits of, <a href="#page.anchor.77">77</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Lugal-zaggisi (l&uuml;&acute;gal-zag&acute;gi-si), King of
+Umma, sack of Lagash by, <a href="#page.anchor.123">123</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.124">124</a>; gods of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.124">124</a>; Kish captured by, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.124">124</a>; Erech capital of empire of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.124">124</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.125">125</a>;
+supposed invasion of Syria by, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.125">125</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Lulubu (l&uuml;l&acute;&uuml;-b&uuml;), mountaineers,
+<a href="#page.anchor.128">128</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Lunar chronology, solar chronology preceded by, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.312">312</a>; "Four Quarters", <a href=
+"#page.anchor.323">323</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.324">324</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Lunar zodiac, the original, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.309">309</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Lycia, god had wife in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.221">221</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Lydia, emissaries from to Ashur-banipal, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.483">483</a>; helps Egypt against Assyria, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.486">486</a>; alliance with Egypt against Cyrus,
+<a href="#page.anchor.494">494</a>.</dt>
+</dl>
+</div>
+<div class="indexdiv">
+<h3 class="title">M</h3>
+<dl>
+<dt>Ma, the goddess, serpent form of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.76">76</a>; Tiamat and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.150">150</a>; goddess of Comana, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.267">267</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Magic and poetry, <a href="#page.anchor.236">236</a> et
+seq.</dt>
+<dt>Magician, the great, Ea as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.38">38</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Magyars, language of and the Sumerian, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.3">3</a>. <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Mahabharata</em></span>, the
+(m&#259;h&auml;&acute;bha&acute;&acute;r&#259;t&#259;), <a href=
+"#page.anchor.67">67</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.68">68</a>; the
+various Indras in, <a href="#page.anchor.101">101</a>; Karna myth
+in, <a href="#page.anchor.126">126</a>; eagle myth, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.166">166</a>; Bhima like Gilgamesh in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.187">187</a>; Naturalism and Totemism in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.291">291</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.292">292</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.293">293</a>; the "wheel of life" in,
+<a href="#page.anchor.346">346</a>-<a href=
+"#page.anchor.347">347</a> ; the Shakuntala legend in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.423">423</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.424">424</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Mama (m&auml;&acute;m&auml;), the mother goddess, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.57">57</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.267">267</a>; as
+Creatrix, <a href="#page.anchor.100">100</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Man, creation of, <a href="#page.anchor.38">38</a>; Ea
+desired, <a href="#page.anchor.148">148</a>; Merodach sheds blood
+for, <a href="#page.anchor.148">148</a>; Berosus legend, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.148">148</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.149">149</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.150">150</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Man bull, the winged, <a href="#page.anchor.65">65</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Manasseh, King of Judah, idolatries of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.473">473</a>; legend of Isaiah's end, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.474">474</a>; captivity of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.474">474</a>; Ashur-bani-pal and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.486">486</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Manishtusu (m&auml;n-ish-t&uuml;&acute;s&uuml;), successor of
+Sargon I, empire of, <a href="#page.anchor.127">127</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Mannai (m&auml;n&acute;nai), state of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.473">473</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.486">486</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Manu (m&#259;n&acute;oo), the Indian patriarch, like
+Babylonian Noah, <a href="#page.anchor.27">27</a>; the fish and
+flood myth, <a href="#page.anchor.27">27</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.28">28</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.196">196</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Mara (m&auml;&acute;ra), the European demon of nightmare,
+<a href="#page.anchor.69">69</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Marduk (m&auml;r&acute;duk). See <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Merodach</em></span>.</dt>
+<dt>Marduk-balatsu-ikbi
+(mar&acute;duk-bal&acute;ats&uuml;-ik-bi), King of Babylonia,
+defeat of by Shamshi-Adad VII, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.415">415</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.416">416</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Marduk-bel-usate (mar&acute;duk-bel-&uuml;-s&auml;&acute;te),
+revolt of in Babylonia, <a href="#page.anchor.408">408</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.409">409</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Marduk-zakir-shum
+(mar&acute;duk-z&auml;-kir&acute;sh&uuml;m), King of Babylonia,
+<a href="#page.anchor.408">408</a>; a vassal of Assyria, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.409">409</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Mari (m&auml;&acute;ri), king of Damascus, as the Biblical
+Ben Hadad III, <a href="#page.anchor.438">438</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.439">439</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Marriage contracts, in Hammurabi code, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.225">225</a> et seq.</dt>
+<dt>Marriage market of Babylon, the, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.224">224</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.225">225</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Marriage of deities, the Hittite, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.268">268</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Mars, Horus as, <a href="#page.anchor.300">300</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.304">304</a>; month of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.305">305</a>; as "bronze fish stone", <a href=
+"#page.anchor.314">314</a>; the Gaulish mule god as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.316">316</a>; in astrology, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.318">318</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Mars, Nergal, wolf planet of pestilence, as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.301">301</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.303">303</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.316">316</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Mars, the planet, boar slayer of Adonis as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.87">87</a>; in sun and moon group, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.301">301</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Maruts (m&#259;r&acute;oots), the Indian, like Anu's demons,
+<a href="#page.anchor.34">34</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.64">64</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Mashi (m&auml;&acute;shi), the mountain of, in Gilgamesh
+epic, <a href="#page.anchor.177">177</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.178">178</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Maspero, Professor, on antiquity of Hittites, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.264">264</a>; on Assyrian colonists, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.456">456</a>.</dt>
+<dt>"Masters, the", Buriat earth and air spirits, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.105">105</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Mati-ilu (ma&acute;ti-i&acute;l&uuml;), of Agusi, relations
+of with Assyria and Urartu, <a href="#page.anchor.443">443</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.446">446</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.447">447</a>; overthrow of by Tiglath-pileser
+IV.</dt>
+<dt>Mattiuza (mat-ti-&uuml;&acute;za), King of Mitanni, flight
+of, <a href="#page.anchor.283">283</a>; as Hittite vassal,
+<a href="#page.anchor.284">284</a>.</dt>
+<dt>May Day, fire ceremonies of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.50">50</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Mead, of the gods, <a href="#page.anchor.45">45</a>; blood
+as, <a href="#page.anchor.48">48</a>; eagle steals, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.74">74</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Measurer, the, moon as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.52">52</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Medes, III; in Hammurabi Age, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.244">244</a>; Sargon II and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.460">460</a>; Ashur-bani-pal and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.486">486</a>; and fall of Nineveh, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.488">488</a>; Scythians and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.472">472</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.488">488</a>;
+alliance of with Lydia, <a href="#page.anchor.494">494</a>; Cyrus
+as King of, <a href="#page.anchor.493">493</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Mediterranean Race, the, Basques a variation of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.3">3</a>; Sumerians and proto-Egyptians of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.7">7</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.8">8</a>;
+Cretans of, <a href="#page.anchor.8">8</a>; Ripley traces in
+Asia, <a href="#page.anchor.8">8</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.9">9</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.11">11</a>; in
+Africa and Europe, <a href="#page.anchor.9">9</a>; "cradle" of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.39">39</a>; Tammuz-Adonis myth and,
+<a href="#page.anchor.85">85</a>; mother worship and status of
+women in, <a href="#page.anchor.104">104</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.105">105</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.108">108</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.420">420</a> et seq.; in Hittite
+confederacy, <a href="#page.anchor.266">266</a>; the Biblical
+Cushites and Hamites and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.276">276</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Medusa, Tiamat and, <a href="#page.anchor.159">159</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Meg, Long. See <span class="emphasis"><em>Long
+Meg</em></span>.</dt>
+<dt>Melkarth (mel&acute;k&auml;rth), children sacrificed to,
+<a href="#page.anchor.171">171</a>; Hercules and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.348">348</a>; burning of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.349">349</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Memphis (mem&acute;phis), Assyrians fight Ethiopians at,
+<a href="#page.anchor.475">475</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.483">483</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Men, in worship of mother goddess, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.107">107</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.108">108</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Menahem (men&acute;&auml;-hem), King of Israel, pays tribute
+to Assyria, <a href="#page.anchor.449">449</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Meneptah (men-&#275;&acute;t&auml; or men&acute;e-t&auml;),
+King of Egypt, relations of with Hittites, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.378">378</a>; sea raiders defeated by, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.378">378</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.379">379</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Menuas (men&acute;&uuml;-&auml;s), King of Urartu, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.440">440</a>; conquests of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.441">441</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Mercury, the planet; in sun and moon group, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.301">301</a>; Nebo as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.301">301</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.302">302</a>;
+month of, <a href="#page.anchor.305">305</a>; the "face voice of
+light", <a href="#page.anchor.314">314</a>; "lapis lazuli" star,
+<a href="#page.anchor.314">314</a>; the Gaulish boar god as,
+<a href="#page.anchor.316">316</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.317">317</a>; in astrology, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.318">318</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Mermaids, the Babylonian, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.34">34</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Mermer (mer&acute;mer), a name of Nebo and Ramman, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.303">303</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Merodach (mer&acute;&#333;-dach), the god: creation of
+mankind, <a href="#page.anchor.xxix">xxix</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.148">148</a>; Damkina and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.34">34</a>; Enlil as older Bel than, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.35">35</a>; Ea and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.38">38</a>; water of life belief, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.44">44</a>; Nusku as messenger of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.50">50</a>; in demon war, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.77">77</a>; brothers and sister of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.82">82</a>; Zamama of Kish and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.126">126</a>; rise of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.134">134</a>; Anshar's appeal to in Creation
+legend, <a href="#page.anchor.142">142</a>; the avenger, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.143">143</a>; proclaimed king of the gods, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.144">144</a>; weapons and steeds of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.145">145</a>; Tiamat slain, and brood of captured
+by, <a href="#page.anchor.146">146</a>; eats "Ku-pu" of Tiamat,
+<a href="#page.anchor.147">147</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.147">147</a> n., <a href=
+"#page.anchor.153">153</a>; forms earth and sky, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.147">147</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.328">328</a>;
+creates stars of Zodiac, <a href="#page.anchor.147">147</a>;
+lunar and solar decrees of, <a href="#page.anchor.148">148</a>;
+other deities and, <a href="#page.anchor.34">34</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.35">35</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.38">38</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.149">149</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.158">158</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.159">159</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.298">298</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.299">299</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.303">303</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.316">316</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.336">336</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.337">337</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.348">348</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.354">354</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.420">420</a>;
+hymn to, <a href="#page.anchor.149">149</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.150">150</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.161">161</a>;
+as Tammuz, <a href="#page.anchor.158">158</a>; Osiris and,
+<a href="#page.anchor.159">159</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.298">298</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.354">354</a>;
+Perseus and, <a href="#page.anchor.159">159</a>; Nimrod and,
+<a href="#page.anchor.167">167</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.277">277</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.343">343</a>;
+temple of, <a href="#page.anchor.221">221</a>; Hammurabi Age
+kings and, <a href="#page.anchor.241">241</a>-<a href=
+"#page.anchor.242">242</a> , <a href="#page.anchor.252">252</a>;
+Hittites carry off image of, <a href="#page.anchor.261">261</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.262">262</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.269">269</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.272">272</a>;
+Kassites and, <a href="#page.anchor.272">272</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.274">274</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.372">372</a>;
+complex character of, <a href="#page.anchor.298">298</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.299">299</a>; stars of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.296">296</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.299">299</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.300">300</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.305">305</a>; Jupiter form of as sun ghost,
+<a href="#page.anchor.305">305</a>; Nebo and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.303">303</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.435">435</a>;
+month of, <a href="#page.anchor.305">305</a>; goddesses and,
+<a href="#page.anchor.221">221</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.299">299</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.316">316</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.420">420</a>; world hill and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.332">332</a>; as "high head", <a href=
+"#page.anchor.334">334</a>; Ashur and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.336">336</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.337">337</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.348">348</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.354">354</a>; image at Asshur, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.468">468</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.469">469</a>;
+restoration of, <a href="#page.anchor.481">481</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.482">482</a>; ceremony of "taking hands" of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.480">480</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.481">481</a>; Cyrus and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.493">493</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.495">495</a>;
+Ahura Mazda and, <a href="#page.anchor.496">496</a>; Darius I
+and, <a href="#page.anchor.497">497</a>; Xerxes pillages temple
+of, <a href="#page.anchor.497">497</a>; Alexander the Great and,
+<a href="#page.anchor.497">497</a>; late worship of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.498">498</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Merodach Baladan (mer&acute;o-dach bal&acute;adan), King of
+Babylon, <a href="#page.anchor.457">457</a>; second reign of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.465">465</a>; death of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.468">468</a>; sons of and Esarhaddon, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.471">471</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Mesopotamia, present-day racial types in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.8">8</a>; Assyria and Babylonia struggle to
+control, <a href="#page.anchor.286">286</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.381">381</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.382">382</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.384">384</a>; under Kassites, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.358">358</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.360">360</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.361">361</a>; atrocities of
+Ashur-natsir-pal III in, <a href="#page.anchor.397">397</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Messenger of gods, Sumerian Nusku and India Agni as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.50">50</a>; Papsukel as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.97">97</a>; Gaga as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.143">143</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Metals, the northern Mesopotamia, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.25">25</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Mexico, the terrible mother ghost of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.69">69</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Meyer, Professor Kuno, <a href="#page.anchor.101">101</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.102">102</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Micah, the prophet, <a href="#page.anchor.405">405</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.406">406</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Mice, the golden, Dagon offering of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.32">32</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.33">33</a>; gods
+as, <a href="#page.anchor.41">41</a>; as destroyers of
+Sennacherib's army, <a href="#page.anchor.466">466</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Midas (m&#299;&acute;das), King of Phrygia, Sargon II and,
+<a href="#page.anchor.460">460</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.462">462</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Migrations, earliest from Arabia and Asia Minor, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.10">10</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.11">11</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.12">12</a>; the Canaanitic or Amorite,
+<a href="#page.anchor.217">217</a>; Median and Iranian, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.244">244</a>; the Phoenician, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.244">244</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.245">245</a>;
+of Abraham and Lot, <a href="#page.anchor.245">245</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.246">246</a>; of Hittites to Palestine, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.246">246</a>; prehistoric pottery evidence of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.263">263</a>; cults and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.338">338</a>; Aramaean, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.359">359</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.360">360</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.376">376</a>-<a href=
+"#page.anchor.378">378</a> ; Achaean, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.376">376</a>-<a href="#page.anchor.378">378</a> ;
+the Moslem, <a href="#page.anchor.377">377</a>; the "Bedouin
+peril", <a href="#page.anchor.392">392</a>; effects of on old
+empires, <a href="#page.anchor.393">393</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Milky Way, the, <a href="#page.anchor.309">309</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Millet, husks of in Egyptian pre-Dynastic bodies, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.6">6</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Minerva, Neith and, <a href="#page.anchor.337">337</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Mitanni (mit&auml;n&acute;ni), Mitra, Indra, &amp;c, gods of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.55">55</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.269">269</a>; rise of kingdom of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.268">268</a>; Kurds descendants of people of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.270">270</a>; Egypt and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.270">270</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.271">271</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.279">279</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.282">282</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.358">358</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.359">359</a>; Kassites and Hyksos and,
+<a href="#page.anchor.270">270</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.271">271</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.273">273</a>;
+Assyria subject to, <a href="#page.anchor.270">270</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.279">279</a>; Merodach's image in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.272">272</a>; in Tell-el-Amarna letters, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.281">281</a>; conquered by Hittites, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.283">283</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.284">284</a>;
+cultural influence of, <a href="#page.anchor.316">316</a>;
+Assyria occupies, <a href="#page.anchor.367">367</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Mithra (mith&acute;r&auml;), the Persian god; attributes of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.54">54</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.55">55</a>; Sumerian gods and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.55">55</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.56">56</a>; eagle
+as, <a href="#page.anchor.168">168</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.169">169</a>; Ashur and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.338">338</a>; Cambyses sacrifices Apis bull to,
+<a href="#page.anchor.495">495</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Mitra (mit&acute;r&#259;), Aryo-Indian god, Shamash and,
+<a href="#page.anchor.54">54</a>; association of with rain,
+<a href="#page.anchor.55">55</a>; Sumerians and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.55">55</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.56">56</a>;
+identified with Yama, <a href="#page.anchor.56">56</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.201">201</a>; links with Agni and Tammuz, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.94">94</a>; in Mitanni, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.55">55</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.269">269</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Moab, Judah and, <a href="#page.anchor.402">402</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Mohammed, spitting custom of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.46">46</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Moisture of life, gods and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.45">45</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Moloch, the god, fire ceremony and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.50">50</a>; children sacrificed to, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.171">171</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Money, spat on to ensure increase, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.47">47</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Mongolians, the, Sumerians unlike, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.3">3</a>,4; elves of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.105">105</a>; Hittites and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.265">265</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.266">266</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Monotheism, in Creation legend, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.149">149</a>; Babylonia, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.160">160</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.161">161</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Mons Meg, <a href="#page.anchor.156">156</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Moon, the, water worship and worship of. <a href=
+"#page.anchor.45">45</a>,51; Nannar (Sin), god of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.40">40</a>; origin of in sea fire, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.50">50</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.51">51</a>; as
+source of fertility and growth, <a href="#page.anchor.52">52</a>;
+consort and family of, <a href="#page.anchor.53">53</a>; Mitra
+and Varuna as regulators of, <a href="#page.anchor.54">54</a>;
+goblet of, <a href="#page.anchor.75">75</a>; in demon war,
+<a href="#page.anchor.76">76</a>; devoured by pig demon, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.85">85</a>; god of as father of Isis, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.100">100</a>; bi-sexual deity of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.161">161</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.299">299</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.301">301</a>; as a planet, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.301">301</a>; forms of god of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.297">297</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.298">298</a>;
+Venus and, <a href="#page.anchor.314">314</a>; in astrology,
+<a href="#page.anchor.318">318</a>; the "four quarters of",
+<a href="#page.anchor.323">323</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.324">324</a>.-See <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Nannar</em></span> and <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Sin</em></span>.</dt>
+<dt>Moon goddess, the, <a href="#page.anchor.53">53</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Moses, in <span class="emphasis"><em>Koran</em></span> water
+of life story, <a href="#page.anchor.186">186</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Mother, the Great, agriculturists and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.xxx">xxx</a>; as source of food supply, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.xxxii">xxxii</a>; destroying goddesses as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.57">57</a>; Tiamat as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.64">64</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.106">106</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.140">140</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.157">157</a>; the serpent as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.74">74</a>-<a href="#page.anchor.76">76</a> ; the
+Gaelic Hag as, <a href="#page.anchor.87">87</a>; Ishtar as,
+<a href="#page.anchor.100">100</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.157">157</a>; Nut of Egypt as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.100">100</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.106">106</a>;
+the Aryo-Indian Sri-Lakshmi as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.101">101</a>; lovers of die yearly, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.101">101</a> <span class="emphasis"><em>et
+seq.)</em></span> human sacrifices to, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.104">104</a>; worship of in Jerusalem, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.106">106</a>; women as offerers to, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.106">106</a>-<a href="#page.anchor.108">108</a> ;
+Kish queen and, <a href="#page.anchor.114">114</a>; Lagash form
+of, <a href="#page.anchor.116">116</a>; lions, deer, and wild
+goats of, <a href="#page.anchor.120">120</a>; at creation of
+mankind, <a href="#page.anchor.148">148</a>; as star Sirius,
+<a href="#page.anchor.296">296</a>; Semiramis legend and,
+<a href="#page.anchor.436">436</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.437">437</a>. See <span class="emphasis"><em>Mother
+Worship</em></span>.</dt>
+<dt>Mother demons, in Sumerian and Anglo-Scottish folk tales,
+<a href="#page.anchor.153">153</a>; Neolithic origin of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.156">156</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Mother ghost, the terrible, in Western Asia, India, and
+Mexico, <a href="#page.anchor.69">69</a>; Buriats plead with,
+<a href="#page.anchor.69">69</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.70">70</a>.</dt>
+<dt>"Mother of Mendes", the, Egyptian fish and corn deity,
+<a href="#page.anchor.29">29</a>; Nina and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.117">117</a>.</dt>
+<dt>"Mother right", Hittites and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.418">418</a>; Darius I succeeds through, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.496">496</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Mother worship, in Mediterranean racial areas, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.104">104</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.105">105</a>;
+in Semiramis Age, <a href="#page.anchor.417">417</a> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>et seq</em></span>.; Queen Tiy and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.434">434</a> &gt; goddesses as mother, wife, and
+daughter of god, <a href="#page.anchor.436">436</a>; Sargon II
+and, <a href="#page.anchor.463">463</a>; Esarhaddon and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.471">471</a>; Ashur-bani-pal and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.486">486</a>; Artaxerxes promotes, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.497">497</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Mothers, the twin, Isis and Nepthys as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.99">99</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Moulton, Professor, on Indian conception of conscience,
+<a href="#page.anchor.54">54</a>; on Mithraism, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.201">201</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Mountain gods, Enlil and the, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.35">35</a>.</dt>
+<dt>"Mountain of the West", Olympus as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.332">332</a>; temples as symbols of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.332">332</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Mountains, as totems, <a href="#page.anchor.291">291</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.292">292</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Mouse, god as a, <a href="#page.anchor.296">296</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Mulla, Gaulish mule god, as Mars, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.316">316</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Mulla (m&uuml;l&acute;la), the "Will-o'-the-wisp", <a href=
+"#page.anchor.66">66</a> <span class="emphasis"><em>et
+seq</em></span>.</dt>
+<dt>M&uuml;ller, Max, on lunar chronology, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.312">312</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Mummu (m&uuml;m&acute;m&uuml;), plots with Apsu and Tiamat,
+<a href="#page.anchor.139">139</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.140">140</a>; overcome by Ea, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.140">140</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.142">142</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Mummu-Tiamat, or Tiawath. See <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Tiamat</em></span>,</dt>
+<dt>Mursil (m&uuml;r&acute;sil), King of Hittites, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.364">364</a>; conquests of Egypt, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.364">364</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Music, magical origin of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.238">238</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Muski (moosh&acute;kee), overlords of Hittites, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.380">380</a>; Hittites freed from yoke of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.386">386</a>; Thraco-Phrygian kingdom of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.395">395</a>; Assyrians fight with, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.397">397</a>; the Biblical Meshech, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.464">464</a>.</dt>
+<dt>M&uuml;t, Egyptian cult of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.105">105</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.418">418</a>;
+Aton and, <a href="#page.anchor.419">419</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Mutallu (m&uuml;&acute;t&auml;l&acute;l&uuml;), Hittite king,
+wars of with Rameses II, <a href="#page.anchor.365">365</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.366">366</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Mysticism, the "lord of many existences", <a href=
+"#page.anchor.297">297</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.299">299</a>;
+Osiris as father, husband, son, &amp;c., <a href=
+"#page.anchor.297">297</a>; Babylonian and Egyptian, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.297">297</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.298">298</a>;
+forms of Horus, <a href="#page.anchor.300">300</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.304">304</a>; "world soul" conception, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.304">304</a>; father and son gods identical,
+<a href="#page.anchor.304">304</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.305">305</a>; Anshar and Anu and "self power",
+<a href="#page.anchor.328">328</a>; Ashur and Brahma, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.328">328</a>.</dt>
+</dl>
+</div>
+<div class="indexdiv">
+<h3 class="title">N</h3>
+<dl>
+<dt>Nabonidus (na-bo&acute;nid-us), King of Babylonia, religious
+innovations of, <a href="#page.anchor.492">492</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.493">493</a>; relations with Cyrus, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.494">494</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.495">495</a>.</dt>
+<dt>N&auml;bo-pol-&auml;s&acute;sar, King of Babylon, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.487">487</a>; alliance of with Medes, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.488">488</a>; fall of Nineveh, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.488">488</a>; Cyaxares the ally of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.493">493</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Nabu (n&auml;&acute;b&uuml;). See <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Nebo.</em></span></dt>
+<dt>Nabu-aplu-iddin (na&acute;bu-ap-lu-id&acute;din), King of
+Babylon, <a href="#page.anchor.408">408</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Nabu-na&acute;id, King of Babylonia. See <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Nabonidus</em></span>.</dt>
+<dt>Nadab (na&acute;dab), King of Israel, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.403">403</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Nahum, the doom of Nineveh, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.477">477</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.478">478</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.488">488</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Naki&acute;a, queen mother of Esarhaddon, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.470">470</a>; reigns in absence of Esarhaddon,
+<a href="#page.anchor.472">472</a>; coronation of Ashur-bani-pal,
+<a href="#page.anchor.480">480</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Namtar (n&auml;m&acute;tar), demon of disease, smites Ishtar
+in Hades, <a href="#page.anchor.97">97</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Nana (n&auml;&acute;n&auml;), goddess of Erech, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.124">124</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.125">125</a>;
+statue of 1635 years in Elam, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.485">485</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Nannar (n&auml;n&acute;nar), moon god, origin of name of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.52">52</a>; consort and children of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.53">53</a>; as father of Isis, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.100">100</a>; as a bisexual deity, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.161">161</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.299">299</a>;
+cult of in Kish, <a href="#page.anchor.241">241</a>; as bull of
+heaven, <a href="#page.anchor.334">334</a>; Ishtar and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.436">436</a>. See <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Moon</em></span> and <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Sin</em></span>.</dt>
+<dt>Naram-Sin (n&auml;&acute;ram-sin), King of Akkad, famous
+stele of, <a href="#page.anchor.128">128</a>; great empire of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.129">129</a>; pigtails worn by enemies of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.265">265</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Naturalism, <a href="#page.anchor.xxxiii">xxxiii</a>; the
+conception of "self power", <a href="#page.anchor.291">291</a>;
+Sumerian and Indian beliefs, <a href="#page.anchor.291">291</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.292">292</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.304">304</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.328">328</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.329">329</a>; Totemism and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.293">293</a> <span class="emphasis"><em>et
+seq</em></span>.; various co-existing forms of deities, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.297">297</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Navigation, Sumerians and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.2">2</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Nebo (n&#257;&acute;bo), protector of Ashur-bani-pal's
+library, <a href="#page.anchor.xxii">xxii</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.xxiii">xxiii</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.303">303</a>; as Mercury, the messenger, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.302">302</a>; Merodach and Ea and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.303">303</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.435">435</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.436">436</a>; as Mermer-Ramman, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.303">303</a>; month of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.305">305</a>; Semiramis inscription, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.419">419</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.422">422</a>;
+mother worship and, <a href="#page.anchor.434">434</a>; spouse
+of, <a href="#page.anchor.436">436</a>; small Kalkhi temple of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.487">487</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Nebuchadrezzar I (ne-b&uuml;-chad-rez&acute;zar) of
+Babylonia, <a href="#page.anchor.380">380</a>; conquests of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.381">381</a>; power of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.382">382</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Nebuchadrezzar II, Hanging Gardens of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.220">220</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.489">489</a>;
+fiery furnace of, <a href="#page.anchor.349">349</a>;
+monotheistic hymn of, <a href="#page.anchor.479">479</a>;
+Egyptians routed by, <a href="#page.anchor.489">489</a>; King of
+Judah captured by, <a href="#page.anchor.490">490</a>; takes Jews
+captive, <a href="#page.anchor.491">491</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.492">492</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Necho, the Pharaoh, Asiatic campaigns of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.489">489</a>; rout of by Nebuchadrezzar, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.489">489</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.490">490</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Necho of Sais, Assyrian governor in Egypt, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.475">475</a>; Ashur-bani-pal and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.482">482</a>; slain by Ethiopians, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.483">483</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Neheb-Kau (ne&acute;heb-k&auml;&acute;&uuml;), Egyptian
+serpent goddess, <a href="#page.anchor.150">150</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Nehemiah in the Susan palace, III; restoration of Jews,
+<a href="#page.anchor.496">496</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Neith, Egyptian cult of, <a href="#page.anchor.105">105</a>;
+her arrows of fertility, <a href="#page.anchor.337">337</a>;
+"shuttle" of a thunderbolt, <a href="#page.anchor.337">337</a>
+n.</dt>
+<dt>Neolithic Age. See <span class="emphasis"><em>Stone Age, the
+Late.</em></span></dt>
+<dt>Neolithic folk tales, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.156">156</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Nepthys (nep&acute;thys) mourning for Osiris, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.83">83</a>; laments with Isis for Osiris, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.99">99</a>; as joint mother of Osiris, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.99">99</a>; as serpent goddess, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.150">150</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Neptune, connection of with Ea, Dagon, &amp;c, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.33">33</a>; the horn of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.238">238</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Nereids (n&#275;&acute;r&#275;-ids), the, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.33">33</a>; the Babylonian, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.34">34</a>; as demon lovers, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.68">68</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Nergal (ner&acute;g&auml;l), solar god of disease, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.53">53</a>; as King of Hades, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.53">53</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.54">54</a>; Yama
+and, <a href="#page.anchor.56">56</a>; as Destroyer, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.62">62</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.63">63</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.303">303</a>; like Teutonic Bell, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.95">95</a>; as form of Merodach, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.160">160</a>; conflict with Eresh-ki-gal, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.205">205</a>; as planet Mars, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.303">303</a>; Horus and Ares and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.304">304</a>; like Agni, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.304">304</a>; Osiris and Tammuz and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.304">304</a>; month of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.305">305</a>; as "high head", <a href=
+"#page.anchor.334">334</a>; worship of in Samaria, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.455">455</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Nergal-shar-utsur (&uuml;&acute;ts&uuml;r), King of
+Babylonia, <a href="#page.anchor.492">492</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Nidaba (ni&acute;da-ba), goddess of Lugal-zaggisi, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.124">124</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Nightmare, Babylonian demon of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.68">68</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.69">69</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Nimrod, eagle myth regarding, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.167">167</a>; agricultural myth of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.170">170</a>; John Barleycorn and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.170">170</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.170">170</a><span class=
+"emphasis"><em>n</em></span>.; the Biblical "mighty hunter",
+<a href="#page.anchor.276">276</a>; as Ni-Marad (Merodach),
+<a href="#page.anchor.277">277</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.343">343</a>; the fires of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.350">350</a>; Asshur and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.354">354</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Nimrud. See <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Kalkhi</em></span>.</dt>
+<dt>Nina (ni&acute;na), the fish goddess, Ishtar as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.100">100</a>; at Lagash, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.117">117</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.118">118</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.327">327</a>; Derceto and Atargatis and,
+<a href="#page.anchor.277">277</a>; goddess of Nineveh, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.327">327</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.423">423</a>;
+creatrix and, <a href="#page.anchor.437">437</a>; Persian Anahita
+and, <a href="#page.anchor.496">496</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Nineveh, excavations at, <a href="#page.anchor.xix">xix</a>;
+called after Nina, fish goddess, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.100">100</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.423">423</a>;
+King Ninus and, <a href="#page.anchor.424">424</a>; Biblical
+reference to origin of, <a href="#page.anchor.276">276</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.277">277</a>; Semiramis legend of origin
+of, <a href="#page.anchor.277">277</a>; plundered by King of
+Mitanni, <a href="#page.anchor.280">280</a>; observatory at,
+<a href="#page.anchor.321">321</a>; Ashur and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.354">354</a>; palace of Ashur-natsir-pal III at,
+<a href="#page.anchor.399">399</a>; Ionians deported from Cilicia
+to, <a href="#page.anchor.464">464</a>; as Babylon's rival,
+<a href="#page.anchor.469">469</a>; Esarhaddon's Ashur temple at,
+<a href="#page.anchor.476">476</a>; Nahum's prophecy, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.477">477</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.478">478</a>;
+Ashur-bani-pal's palace and library at, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.487">487</a>; fall of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.488">488</a>; Scythian legend, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.488">488</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Nin-Girsu (nin-gir&acute;su), the god of Lagash, Ninip and
+Tammuz and, <a href="#page.anchor.53">53</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.115">115</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.116">116</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.333">333</a>; Ur-Nina and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.117">117</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.118">118</a>;
+Urukagina, the reformer, and, <a href="#page.anchor.121">121</a>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>et seq</em></span>.; famous silver
+vase from temple of, <a href="#page.anchor.120">120</a>;
+lion-headed eagle of, <a href="#page.anchor.120">120</a>; Gudea's
+temple to, <a href="#page.anchor.130">130</a>; Shamash and Babbar
+and, <a href="#page.anchor.132">132</a>; development of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.135">135</a>; eagle of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.168">168</a>; Merodach and Zamama and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.126">126</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.241">241</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Ninip (nin&acute;ip, or Nin&acute;ib), as Nirig and
+destroying sun, <a href="#page.anchor.53">53</a>; Zamama
+identified with, <a href="#page.anchor.126">126</a>; during Isin
+Dynasty, <a href="#page.anchor.132">132</a>; in flood legend,
+<a href="#page.anchor.190">190</a> <span class="emphasis"><em>et
+seq</em></span>.; father and son myth, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.158">158</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.302">302</a>;
+as bull god and boar god, <a href="#page.anchor.302">302</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.334">334</a>; month of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.305">305</a>; the boar and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.315">315</a>; as Kronos and Saturn, as elder and
+younger Horus, <a href="#page.anchor.316">316</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Nin&acute;-shach, Babylonian boar god, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.86">86</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Nin&acute;-sun, as destroying goddess, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.57">57</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.100">100</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Nin&acute;t&uuml;, the Babylonian serpent mother, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.76">76</a>; Tiamat and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.150">150</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Ninus, king, legendary founder of Nineveh, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.277">277</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.424">424</a>;
+Semiramis and, <a href="#page.anchor.424">424</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.425">425</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Nin&acute;yas, son of Semiramis, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.426">426</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Nippur (nip&acute;pur), Enlil god of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.35">35</a>; Ninip the Destroyer advances against,
+<a href="#page.anchor.53">53</a>; Ramman, Hadad or Dadu and,
+<a href="#page.anchor.57">57</a>; Ur-Nina and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.116">116</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.117">117</a>;
+Lugal-zaggisi and, <a href="#page.anchor.124">124</a>; Ur moon
+god at, <a href="#page.anchor.130">130</a>; Ea's temple at,
+<a href="#page.anchor.131">131</a>; Isin kings from, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.132">132</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.133">133</a>;
+Kassites showed preference for, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.218">218</a>; observatory at, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.321">321</a>; Kheber (Chebar) canal near, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.344">344</a>. Nirig (ni&acute;rig), as Ninip and
+destroying sun, <a href="#page.anchor.53">53</a>. See
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Ninip</em></span>.</dt>
+<dt>Nisroch, the Biblical, Ashur as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.343">343</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.470">470</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Njord (nyerd), the Eddic sea god, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.33">33</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Noah, the Babylonian, <a href="#page.anchor.27">27</a>.</dt>
+<dt>N&uuml;, the Egyptian god, the crocodile as <a href=
+"#page.anchor.29">29</a>; Sumerian form of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.36">36</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.37">37</a>;
+vaguer than Nut, <a href="#page.anchor.106">106</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Nudimmud (n&uuml;&acute;dim-m&uuml;d). See <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Ea</em></span>.</dt>
+<dt>N&uuml;sk&acute;&uuml;, the god, as fire deity, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.49">49</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.50">50</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.51">51</a>; as messenger of gods, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.50">50</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.53">53</a>;
+connection of with sea fire, <a href="#page.anchor.50">50</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.51">51</a>; association of with sun and
+moon gods, <a href="#page.anchor.50">50</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.353">353</a>; identified with Nirig and Tammuz,
+<a href="#page.anchor.354">354</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Nut (noo&acute;it), the Egyptian goddess, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.36">36</a>; Tiamat as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.37">37</a>; as mother of Osiris, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.101">101</a>; Nu vaguer than, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.106">106</a>.</dt>
+</dl>
+</div>
+<div class="indexdiv">
+<h3 class="title">O</h3>
+<dl>
+<dt>Oak, Saul buried under, <a href="#page.anchor.350">350</a>;
+association of with thunder gods, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.350">350</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Oannes (&#333;-&auml;n&acute;nes), as Ea, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.27">27</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.30">30</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Odin (&#333;&acute;din), <a href="#page.anchor.64">64</a>;
+lovers of wife of, <a href="#page.anchor.103">103</a>; Gilgamesh
+and, <a href="#page.anchor.184">184</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.185">185</a>; the mythical Ages and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.202">202</a>; Paradise of like Indra's, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.209">209</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Olympus, the Babylonian, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.332">332</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Omri, King of Israel, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.405">405</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Opener, the, Horus as, <a href="#page.anchor.302">302</a>.
+See <span class="emphasis"><em>Apuata</em></span> and
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Patriarch</em></span>.</dt>
+<dt>Opis, Kish swayed by, <a href="#page.anchor.114">114</a>;
+King of captured by Eannatum of Lagash, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.119">119</a>; Entemena's sack of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.120">120</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Ops, <a href="#page.anchor.103">103</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Ori&acute;on, the Constellation, as form of Osiris, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.297">297</a>; Nin-Girsu and Tammuz as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.301">301</a>; as form of the sun, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.305">305</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Orion, the Greek giant, origin of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.45">45</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Osiris (&#333;-s&#299;&acute;ris), Tammuz cult and cult of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.xxxi">xxxi</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.81">81</a>. Yama and Gilgamesh and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.xxxii">xxxii</a>; as god of the Nile, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.33">33</a>; creative tears of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.45">45</a>; as a "dangerous god", <a href=
+"#page.anchor.63">63</a>; as patriarch, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.52">52</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.82">82</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.83">83</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.84">84</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.86">86</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.90">90</a>; weeping for, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.83">83</a>, twin goddesses mourn for, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.99">99</a>; Adonis myth, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.83">83</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.84">84</a>;
+origin of, <a href="#page.anchor.84">84</a>; blood of in Nile,
+<a href="#page.anchor.85">85</a>; swine associated with, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.85">85</a>; as the lunar babe, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.89">89</a>; as child, husband, brother, and father
+of Isis, &amp;c, <a href="#page.anchor.99">99</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.297">297</a>; as son with two mothers, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.99">99</a>; Nut as mother of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.101">101</a>; Paradise of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.209">209</a>; fusion of Ptah with Seb and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.264">264</a>; Isis star and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.296">296</a>; the grave of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.296">296</a>; makes Isis a male, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.299">299</a>; Nergal and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.304">304</a>; in star lore, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.315">315</a>; backbone symbol of world mountain,
+<a href="#page.anchor.332">332</a>; Merodach and Ashur and,
+<a href="#page.anchor.354">354</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Osiris-Sokar, Merodach like, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.299">299</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Owl, as ghost of sorrowful mother, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.65">65</a>; Arabian belief regarding, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.70">70</a>; reference to in <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Isaiah</em></span>., <a href=
+"#page.anchor.114">114</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Ox, the wild, in eagle and serpent myth, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.75">75</a>. <a href="#page.anchor.76">76</a>.</dt>
+</dl>
+</div>
+<div class="indexdiv">
+<h3 class="title">P</h3>
+<dl>
+<dt>Palaeolithic Age, skull forms of in France, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.8">8</a>; Palestine in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.10">10</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Palestine, early races in, <a href="#page.anchor.10">10</a>;
+Palaeolithic finds in, <a href="#page.anchor.10">10</a>; cave
+dwellers of, <a href="#page.anchor.10">10</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.11">11</a>; in empire of Naram Sin, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.129">129</a>; Abraham's wanderings in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.245">245</a>; tribes he found in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.245">245</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.246">246</a>;
+Elamites in, <a href="#page.anchor.247">247</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.248">248</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.249">249</a>;
+Necho's campaigns in, <a href="#page.anchor.489">489</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Pan, Ea-bani and, <a href="#page.anchor.135">135</a>; the
+pipes of, <a href="#page.anchor.238">238</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Pantheon, the National, during Isin Dynasty, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.132">132</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Pap-sukal (pap-s&uuml;&acute;kal), messenger of gods, rescues
+Ishtar from Hades, <a href="#page.anchor.97">97</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Paradise, childless ghosts excluded from, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.71">71</a>; the Indian, Germanic, and Egyptian,
+<a href="#page.anchor.209">209</a>; Babylonian beliefs, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.210">210</a>. See <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Hades</em></span>.</dt>
+<dt>Patesi (pa&acute;te-si), priest king, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.1">1</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Patriarch, the, Apuatu as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.xxxii">xxxii</a>; Sargon of Akkad as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.xxxiii">xxxiii</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.91">91</a>; Yama as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.xxxii">xxxii</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.56">56</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.200">200</a>; Osiris and Tammuz as,
+<a href="#page.anchor.xxxii">xxxii</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.82">82</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.86">86</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.90">90</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.297">297</a>; Scyld or Sceaf as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.92">92</a>; Yngve, Frey, Hermod, and Heimdal as,
+<a href="#page.anchor.93">93</a>; the mythical "sleepers" and,
+<a href="#page.anchor.164">164</a>; Nimrod as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.170">170</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.277">277</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.354">354</a>; Gilgamesh as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.xxxii">xxxii</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.200">200</a>; Mitra as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.201">201</a>; the Biblical Asshur, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.276">276</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.327">327</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.354">354</a>; King Ninus of Nineveh and,
+<a href="#page.anchor.424">424</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.425">425</a>; the Persian and Cyrus, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.493">493</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Paul, Mars' hill sermon of, <a href="#page.anchor.59">59</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.60">60</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Pekah, King of Israel, <a href="#page.anchor.450">450</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.451">451</a>; Assyrian king overthrows,
+<a href="#page.anchor.453">453</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Pelasgians, the, Sumerian kinship with, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.9">9</a>; Achaeans and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.393">393</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Pennsylvania, University of, expedition of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.xxiv">xxiv</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Penrith, "Long Meg's" stone circle near, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.156">156</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Persephone (per-sef&acute;on-&#275;), the Babylonian,
+<a href="#page.anchor.53">53</a>; as lover of Adonis, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.90">90</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Perseus, legend of, <a href="#page.anchor.152">152</a>; the
+Babylonian, <a href="#page.anchor.159">159</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.164">164</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Persia, fire worship in, <a href="#page.anchor.50">50</a>;
+Yama of India and Gilgamesh, and Yima of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.200">200</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.201">201</a>;
+the mythical Ages of, <a href="#page.anchor.202">202</a>; eagle
+symbol of great god of, <a href="#page.anchor.347">347</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.493">493</a>; Ashur cult and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.355">355</a>; Britain and Russia in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.357">357</a>; Cyrus King of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.493">493</a>; religion of and Babylonian influence,
+<a href="#page.anchor.496">496</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Persian Gulf, early Sumerians traded on, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.2">2</a>; Eridu once a port on, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.22">22</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Petrie, Professor Flinders, dating of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.xxv">xxv</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.212">212</a>;
+alien pottery in Egypt found by, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.263">263</a>; on Egypt's culture debt to Syria,
+<a href="#page.anchor.275">275</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Pharaoh, "Piru" theory, <a href="#page.anchor.458">458</a>,
+458 <span class="emphasis"><em>n</em></span><span class=
+"sub">[<a href="#ftn.fnrex1526">526</a>]</span>.</dt>
+<dt>Philistines, the, their god Dagon, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.32">32</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.33">33</a>; "way
+of" an ancient trade route, <a href="#page.anchor.357">357</a>;
+invasion of Palestine by, <a href="#page.anchor.379">379</a>; as
+overlords of Hebrews, <a href="#page.anchor.379">379</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.380">380</a>; Hittites and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.386">386</a>; civilization of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.387">387</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.403">403</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.405">405</a>; as vassals of Damascus,
+<a href="#page.anchor.414">414</a>; tribute from to Assyria,
+<a href="#page.anchor.439">439</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Phoenicians, Baau, mother goddess of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.150">150</a>; traditional racial cradle of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.244">244</a>; appearance of on
+Mediterranean coast, <a href="#page.anchor.245">245</a>;
+Melkarth, god of, <a href="#page.anchor.346">346</a>; as allies
+of Hebrews, <a href="#page.anchor.388">388</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Phrygia, thunder god of, <a href="#page.anchor.261">261</a>;
+Cybele and Attis of, <a href="#page.anchor.267">267</a>; Muski
+and, <a href="#page.anchor.395">395</a>; King Midas of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.460">460</a>; Cimmerians overrun, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.472">472</a>; Lydia absorbs, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.494">494</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Picts, why they painted themselves, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.212">212</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Pig, demon in, <a href="#page.anchor.71">71</a>; sacrificed
+to Tammuz, <a href="#page.anchor.85">85</a>; associated with
+Osiris, <a href="#page.anchor.85">85</a>; sacrifice of to cure
+disease, <a href="#page.anchor.236">236</a>; totemic significance
+of, <a href="#page.anchor.293">293</a>; as the devil in Egypt and
+Britain, <a href="#page.anchor.293">293</a>; Ninip as boar god,
+<a href="#page.anchor.302">302</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Pigeons. See <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Doves</em></span>.</dt>
+<dt>Pillar worship, "world tree" and "world spine", <a href=
+"#page.anchor.334">334</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Pinches, Professor, on Ea, Ya or Jah, and Dagan, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.31">31</a>; on Babylonian "Will-o'-the-wisp",
+<a href="#page.anchor.66">66</a>; on Babylonian boar god,
+<a href="#page.anchor.86">86</a>; on flocks of Tammuz, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.93">93</a>; on Creation hymn, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.149">149</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.150">150</a>;
+on Babylonian monotheism, <a href="#page.anchor.160">160</a>; on
+names of Hammurabi, Tidal, &amp;c, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.248">248</a>; on Merodach as Nimrod, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.277">277</a>; on Nebo and Ramman, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.303">303</a>; on Ashur worship, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.352">352</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.353">353</a>;
+on Nusku and Tammuz, <a href="#page.anchor.353">353</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.354">354</a>; on Ashur, Merodach, and Osiris,
+<a href="#page.anchor.354">354</a>; on the sacred doves, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.427">427</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Pir-na-pish&acute;tim, the Babylonian Noah, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.27">27</a>; sun god and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.55">55</a>; Gilgamesh's journey to island of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.177">177</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.178">178</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.180">180</a>;
+revelation of, <a href="#page.anchor.181">181</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.182">182</a>; the flood legend of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.190">190</a> et seq.; the Indian Yama and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.200">200</a>; the Persian Yima and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.201">201</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Planets, deities identified with, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.296">296</a>; Merodach as Jupiter and Mercury,
+<a href="#page.anchor.299">299</a>; Venus female at sunset and
+male at sunrise, <a href="#page.anchor.299">299</a>; when gods
+were first associated with, <a href="#page.anchor.300">300</a>;
+Horus identified with three, <a href="#page.anchor.300">300</a>;
+the seven included sun and moon, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.301">301</a>; Jupiter as "bull of light", <a href=
+"#page.anchor.301">301</a>; the "bearded Aphrodite" and Ishtar,
+<a href="#page.anchor.301">301</a>; Ninip (Nirig) and Horus as
+Saturn, <a href="#page.anchor.302">302</a>; Nebo and Merodach as
+Mercury, <a href="#page.anchor.303">303</a>; Nergal and Horus as
+Mars, <a href="#page.anchor.303">303</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.304">304</a>; in doctrine of mythical Ages,
+<a href="#page.anchor.313">313</a> et seq.; the Babylonian and
+Greek, <a href="#page.anchor.316">316</a>; in astrology, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.318">318</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Plant of Birth, Etana's quest for, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.164">164</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Plant of Life, Gilgamesh's quest for, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.164">164</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.177">177</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Plato, the dance of the stars, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.333">333</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Pleiades (pl&#299;&acute;a-d&#275;z), the. See <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Constellations</em></span>.</dt>
+<dt>Pleistocene (pl&#299;st&acute;o-s&#275;n) Age, the,
+Palestinian races of, <a href="#page.anchor.10">10</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Pliny, on the "Will-o'-the-wisp", <a href=
+"#page.anchor.67">67</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Plutarch, the Osirian bull myth, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.89">89</a>; on Babylonian astrology, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.318">318</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Poetry, magical origin of, <a href="#page.anchor.236">236</a>
+et seq.</dt>
+<dt>Poets, inspired by sacred mead, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.45">45</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Polar star, as "world spike", <a href=
+"#page.anchor.332">332</a>; Lucifer as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.331">331</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.332">332</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Pork, tabooed by races, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.293">293</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Poseidon (p&#333;-s&#299;&acute;don), <a href=
+"#page.anchor.64">64</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.105">105</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Postal arrangements, in Hammurabi Age, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.251">251</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Pottery, linking specimens of in Turkestan, Elam, Asia Minor,
+and Southern Europe, <a href="#page.anchor.5">5</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.263">263</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Prajapati (pr&#259;j&auml;&acute;p&#259;ti), the Indian god,
+creative tears of, <a href="#page.anchor.45">45</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Preservers, the, mother goddesses as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.100">100</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Priests, En-we-dur-an-ki of Sippar, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.42">42</a>; the sorcerer's spell, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.46">46</a>; Dudu of Lagash, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.120">120</a>; as rulers of Lagash, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.121">121</a>; and burial ceremonies, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.208">208</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.209">209</a>;
+fees of cut down by reformer, <a href="#page.anchor.210">210</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.211">211</a>; as patrons of culture,
+<a href="#page.anchor.287">287</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.288">288</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.289">289</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Pritha (preet&acute;h&auml;), mother of Indian Karna,
+<a href="#page.anchor.126">126</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Prophecy, blood-drinking ceremony and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.48">48</a>; breath of Apis bull and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.49">49</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Prophets, clothing of, <a href="#page.anchor.213">213</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.214">214</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Psamtik (sam&acute;tik), Pharaoh of Egypt under Assyrians,
+<a href="#page.anchor.483">483</a>; throws off Assyrian yoke,
+<a href="#page.anchor.486">486</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Ptah (t&auml;), the Egyptian god, Ea compared to, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.30">30</a>; cult of and mother worshippers,
+<a href="#page.anchor.105">105</a>; deities that link with,
+<a href="#page.anchor.263">263</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.264">264</a>.</dt>
+<dt>P&uuml;l, Assyrian king called in Bible, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.444">444</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Pumpelly expedition, Turkestan discoveries of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.5">5</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.6">6</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.263">263</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Punt, the land of, as "cradle" of Mediterranean race,
+<a href="#page.anchor.39">39</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Purusha (p&uuml;r-&uuml;sh&acute;&#259;), the Indian chaos
+giant, <a href="#page.anchor.429">429</a>.</dt>
+</dl>
+</div>
+<div class="indexdiv">
+<h3 class="title">Q</h3>
+<dl>
+<dt>Quarters, the four. See <span class="emphasis"><em>Four
+quarters</em></span>.</dt>
+<dt>Queen of Heaven, the, Ishtar as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.81">81</a>; descent of to Hades, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.95">95</a> et seq.; Bau-Gula as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.116">116</a>; Etana and eagle legend and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.166">166</a>; Ashur worshipped like, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.352">352</a>; Jehu worshipped, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.412">412</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.421">421</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Queen of Kish, the legendary Azag-Bau, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.114">114</a>; humble origin of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.115">115</a>.</dt>
+</dl>
+</div>
+<div class="indexdiv">
+<h3 class="title">R</h3>
+<dl>
+<dt>Ra (r&auml; <span class="emphasis"><em>or</em></span>
+r&#257;), the Egyptian god, as chief of nine gods, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.36">36</a>; creative tears of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.45">45</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.334">334</a>;
+creative saliva of, <a href="#page.anchor.46">46</a>; the "Eye"
+of blinded and cured, <a href="#page.anchor.46">46</a>; as a
+destroyer, <a href="#page.anchor.63">63</a>; in flood legend,
+<a href="#page.anchor.197">197</a>; Paradise of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.209">209</a>; Osiris and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.297">297</a>; as old man, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.314">314</a>; as cat, ass, bull, ram, and
+crocodile, <a href="#page.anchor.329">329</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Races, languages and, <a href="#page.anchor.3">3</a>; the
+Sumerian problem, <a href="#page.anchor.3">3</a>; shaving customs
+of, <a href="#page.anchor.4">4</a>; the Semitic blend, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.10">10</a>; culture promoted by fusion of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.42">42</a>; god and goddess cults and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.105">105</a>. See <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Armenoids, Mongolians, Mediterranean Race,
+Semites, Sumerians</em></span>.</dt>
+<dt>Rain gods, Enlil, Ramman, Indra, &amp;c, as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.35">35</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.57">57</a>; Mitra
+and Varuna as, <a href="#page.anchor.55">55</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Rainy season in Babylonia, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.24">24</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Ram, sun god as, <a href="#page.anchor.329">329</a>; Osiris
+as, <a href="#page.anchor.85">85</a>.</dt>
+<dt>R&auml;m&#259;, the Indian demi-god, demon lover of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.67">67</a>; colour of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.186">186</a>. <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Ramayana</em></span>
+(r&auml;m-ay&acute;&#259;n-&#259;), the, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.67">67</a>; eagle myth in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.166">166</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Rameses I (r&auml;m&acute;e-s&#275;z <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>or</em></span> ra-m&#275;&acute;s&#275;s),
+Hittites and, <a href="#page.anchor.364">364</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Rameses II, of Egypt, wars of in Syria, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.365">365</a>; the Hittite treaty, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.366">366</a>; Hittites aided by Aramaeans against,
+<a href="#page.anchor.378">378</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Rameses III, sea raiders scattered by, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.379">379</a>; Philistines and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.379">379</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Ramman (r&auml;m&acute;m&auml;n), the atmospheric and thunder
+god, <a href="#page.anchor.57">57</a>; in Zu bird myth, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.74">74</a>; in demon war, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.76">76</a>; a hill god, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.136">136</a>; Merodach and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.159">159</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.160">160</a>;
+in flood legend, <a href="#page.anchor.192">192</a> et seq.;
+deities that link with, <a href="#page.anchor.261">261</a>;
+called Mermer like Nebo, <a href="#page.anchor.303">303</a>;
+month of, <a href="#page.anchor.309">309</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Rams, offered to sea god, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.33">33</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Rassam, Hormuzd, <a href="#page.anchor.xx">xx</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.xxiii">xxiii</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Ravens, demons enter the, <a href="#page.anchor.71">71</a>;
+in folk cures, <a href="#page.anchor.234">234</a>; as unlucky
+birds, <a href="#page.anchor.429">429</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Rawlinson, Sir Henry, <a href="#page.anchor.xx">xx</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.xxi">xxi</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Rebekah, Hittite daughters-in-law of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.266">266</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.267">267</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Reed hut, Ea revelation to Pir-napish-tim in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.190">190</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.191">191</a>;
+and reeds in graves, <a href="#page.anchor.213">213</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Reformer, the first historic, Urukagina of Lagash, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.121">121</a> et seq.</dt>
+<dt>Rehoboam (r&#275;-ho-b&#333;&acute;am), subject to Egypt,
+<a href="#page.anchor.402">402</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Rem, the Egyptian god of fish and corn, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.29">29</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Rephaim (reph&acute;&#257;-im), the, Hittites and, II,
+<a href="#page.anchor.12">12</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Rezin, King of Damascus, <a href="#page.anchor.449">449</a>;
+Pekah plots with, <a href="#page.anchor.451">451</a>;
+Tiglath-pileser IV and, <a href="#page.anchor.453">453</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Rhea, <a href="#page.anchor.103">103</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Rhone, the river, dragon of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.152">152</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Ribhus (rib&acute;h&uuml;s), the elves of India, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.105">105</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Ridgeway, Professor, on the Achaeans, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.377">377</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Rim-Anum (rim-an&acute;um), revolt of in Hammurabi Age,
+<a href="#page.anchor.242">242</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Rimmon (rim&acute;mon), Enlil, Tarku, &amp;c., as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.35">35</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.57">57</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.395">395</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Rim-Sin, struggle of with Babylon, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.217">217</a>; Hammurabi reduces power of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.249">249</a>; put to death by Samsu-iluna, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.249">249</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.256">256</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Rim&acute;ush. See <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Urumush</em></span>.</dt>
+<dt>Ripley, Professor W.Z., on Mediterranean racial types in
+Asia, <a href="#page.anchor.8">8</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Risley, Mr., on Naturalism in India, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.291">291</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Rivers, worship of, <a href="#page.anchor.44">44</a>; life
+principle in, <a href="#page.anchor.48">48</a>; created by
+Merodach, <a href="#page.anchor.149">149</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Robin Goodfellow, the Babylonian, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.66">66</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Roman burial customs, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.207">207</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Rome, the death eagle of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.169">169</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Rose Garden, the Wonderful, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.68">68</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Rossetti, Dante Gabriel, the Lilith sonnet, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.67">67</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Rudra (rood&acute;r&auml;), the Indian god, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.64">64</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Rusas (r&uuml;&acute;s&auml;s), King of Urartu, Sargon II
+routs, <a href="#page.anchor.460">460</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.461">461</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Russia, the double-headed eagle of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.168">168</a>; Persian and Armenian questions,
+<a href="#page.anchor.357">357</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Russian Turkestan, early civilization of and the Sumerian,
+<a href="#page.anchor.5">5</a>.</dt>
+</dl>
+</div>
+<div class="indexdiv">
+<h3 class="title">S</h3>
+<dl>
+<dt>Saliva, Isis serpent formed from, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.45">45</a>; magical qualities of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.46">46</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Samaria, building of, <a href="#page.anchor.405">405</a>;
+murder of Jezebel in, <a href="#page.anchor.410">410</a>;
+Assyrians capture, <a href="#page.anchor.455">455</a>; "ten
+tribes" deported, <a href="#page.anchor.455">455</a>; Babylonians
+settled in, <a href="#page.anchor.456">456</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Sammu-rammat (sam&acute;mu-ram-mat), Queen of Assyria, as
+Semiramis, <a href="#page.anchor.417">417</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.437">437</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.438">438</a>; a
+Babylonian, <a href="#page.anchor.418">418</a>; high status of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.419">419</a>; relation to Adadnirari IV,
+<a href="#page.anchor.419">419</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.420">420</a>; innovations of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.421">421</a>; mother worship and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.423">423</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.436">436</a>;
+Queen Nakia like, <a href="#page.anchor.470">470</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.471">471</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Samsu-iluna (s&auml;m-s&uuml;-il-&uuml;&acute;na), King, son
+of Hammurabi, slays Rim-Sin, <a href="#page.anchor.249">249</a>;
+Kassites appear in reign of, <a href="#page.anchor.255">255</a>;
+Erech and Ur restored by, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.256">256</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Sandan (s&auml;n&acute;d&auml;n), the god, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.261">261</a>; Agni and Melkarth and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.346">346</a>; winged disk of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.348">348</a>. Also rendered <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Sandes</em></span>.</dt>
+<dt>Sandstorms, the Babylonian, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.24">24</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Sap of plants, vitalized by water of life, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.45">45</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Sarah, Abraham's wife, <a href="#page.anchor.16">16</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Saraswati (s&#259;-r&#259;s&acute;w&#259;-tee), wife of
+Brahma, <a href="#page.anchor.101">101</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Sardanapalus (sar-dan-a-p&#257;&acute;lus), palace burning
+of, <a href="#page.anchor.350">350</a>; Ashur-bani-pal and,
+<a href="#page.anchor.486">486</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.487">487</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.488">488</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Sargon of Akkad, as Patriarch, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.xxxiii">xxxiii</a>; the Patriarch-Tammuz myth of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.91">91</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.437">437</a>; humble origin of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.125">125</a>; legend of like Indian Karna story,
+<a href="#page.anchor.126">126</a>; empire of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.127">127</a>; Enlil-bani of Isin like, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.133">133</a>; Gilgamesh legend and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.171">171</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.172">172</a>;
+Sargon II an incarnation of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.462">462</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Sargon II, King of Assyria, excavations at city of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.xx">xx</a>; "Lost Ten Tribes" deported by, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.455">455</a>; Merodach Baladan revolt, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.457">457</a>; Syrian revolts against, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.458">458</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.459">459</a>;
+tribute from Piru of Mutsri, <a href="#page.anchor.458">458</a>;
+Piru and Pharaoh, <a href="#page.anchor.458">458</a> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>n.</em></span>; Isaiah warns Ahaz regarding,
+<a href="#page.anchor.459">459</a>; Hittites and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.460">460</a>; Urartu crippled by, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.460">460</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.461">461</a>;
+Merodach Baladan ejected by, <a href="#page.anchor.462">462</a>;
+Messianic pretensions of, <a href="#page.anchor.462">462</a>;
+Dur-Sharrukin built by, <a href="#page.anchor.463">463</a>;
+deities worshipped by, <a href="#page.anchor.463">463</a>;
+assassination of, <a href="#page.anchor.463">463</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.464">464</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Saturn, the planet, Horus as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.300">300</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.302">302</a>;
+in sun and moon group, <a href="#page.anchor.301">301</a>; Ninip
+(Nirig) as, <a href="#page.anchor.301">301</a>; as ghost of elder
+god, <a href="#page.anchor.302">302</a>; month of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.305">305</a>; the "black", <a href=
+"#page.anchor.314">314</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.315">315</a>;
+in astrology, <a href="#page.anchor.318">318</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Satyrs, the dance of at Babylon, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.114">114</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.333">333</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Saul, the ephod ceremony, <a href="#page.anchor.213">213</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.214">214</a>; cremation of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.350">350</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Saushatar (sa-&uuml;-sha&acute;t&auml;r), King of Mitanni,
+Assyria subdued by, <a href="#page.anchor.279">279</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.280">280</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Sayce, Professor, on Dagon-Dagan problem, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.32">32</a>; on Daonus and Tammuz, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.83">83</a>; on Hittite chronology, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.264">264</a>; on star worship, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.317">317</a>; on the goat god, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.332">332</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.333">333</a>;
+Hittite winged disk, <a href="#page.anchor.347">347</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.348">348</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.428">428</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Sceaf or Scef, "the sheaf", Tammuz and the Germanic myth of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.91">91</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.92">92</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.93">93</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.210">210</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Schliemann, pottery finds by, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.263">263</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Schools, in Hammurabi Age, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.251">251</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Scorpion man and wife, in Gilgamesh epic, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.177">177</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.178">178</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Scotland, the sea god of, <a href="#page.anchor.33">33</a>;
+spitting customs in, <a href="#page.anchor.47">47</a>; the "Great
+Mother" in, a demon, <a href="#page.anchor.64">64</a>; return of
+dead dreaded in, <a href="#page.anchor.70">70</a>; "calling back"
+belief in, <a href="#page.anchor.70">70</a> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>n.</em></span>; south-west wind a hag like
+Babylonian, <a href="#page.anchor.73">73</a>; fairies and elves
+of, <a href="#page.anchor.80">80</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.186">186</a>; Tammuz-Diarmid myth of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.85">85</a>; Diarmid a love god of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.87">87</a>; the eternal goddess of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.101">101</a>; "the Yellow Muilearteach" of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.151">151</a>; slain by Finn as Merodach
+slays Tiamat, <a href="#page.anchor.151">151</a>; great eel story
+of, <a href="#page.anchor.152">152</a>; mother-monster Sumerian
+lore in, <a href="#page.anchor.153">153</a>; giant lore of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.164">164</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.317">317</a>; Etana-like eagle myth of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.167">167</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.168">168</a>;
+John Barleycorn, the Icelandic god Barleycorn and Nimrod,
+<a href="#page.anchor.170">170</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.170">170</a> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>n.</em></span>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.171">171</a>; water of life myths of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.186">186</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.187">187</a>;
+dark tunnel stories of, <a href="#page.anchor.189">189</a>;
+Pictish customs in, <a href="#page.anchor.212">212</a>; the
+Gunna, <a href="#page.anchor.213">213</a>; seers and bull skin
+ceremony, <a href="#page.anchor.213">213</a>; folk cures in,
+<a href="#page.anchor.232">232</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.233">233</a>; pig as the devil in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.293">293</a>; May day solar belief in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.348">348</a>; the "seven sleepers" in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.394">394</a>; "death thraw" belief, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.427">427</a> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>n.</em></span>; doves and ravens, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.429">429</a>; pigeon lore in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.431">431</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Scott, Sir Walter, the Taghairm ceremony, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.213">213</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Scyld. See <span class="emphasis"><em>Sceaf</em></span>.</dt>
+<dt>Scythians, raids of in Western Asia, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.461">461</a>; Esarhaddon and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.472">472</a>; fall of Nineveh, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.488">488</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Sea demon, Ea as a, <a href="#page.anchor.62">62</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Sea fire, <a href="#page.anchor.50">50</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.51">51</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Sea giants, the Babylonian, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.34">34</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Sea goddess, Ea's spouse as, and earth lady, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.34">34</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Sea gods, Ea, Dagon, Poseidon, Neptune, Shony, and Njord as,
+<a href="#page.anchor.33">33</a>.</dt>
+<dt>"Sea Lady", the, Sabitu, in Gilgamesh epic, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.178">178</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.179">179</a>;
+Germanic hag and, <a href="#page.anchor.184">184</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.185">185</a>; the Indian Maya like, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.188">188</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Sea of Death, in Gilgamesh epic, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.178">178</a> <span class="emphasis"><em>et
+seq.</em></span></dt>
+<dt>Sealand, Dynasty of in Hammurabi Age, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.257">257</a>; in Kassite Age, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.274">274</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.275">275</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Seasonal changes, evil spirits cause, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.65">65</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Seasons, the, of Babylonia, <a href="#page.anchor.23">23</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.24">24</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Sebek (seb&acute;ek), Egyptian crocodile god, as a weeping
+deity, <a href="#page.anchor.29">29</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Sekhet (se&acute;khet), the Egyptian goddess, Ishtar and,
+<a href="#page.anchor.57">57</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Seleucid Period, Lagash occupied in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.243">243</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Seleucus I, <a href="#page.anchor.498">498</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Seleukeia, rival city to Babylon, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.498">498</a>.</dt>
+<dt>"Self power", <a href="#page.anchor.xxxiii">xxxiii</a>;
+conception of in stage of Naturalism, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.291">291</a>; the "world soul" conception, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.304">304</a>; Anu a form of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.328">328</a>; the "world soul", <a href=
+"#page.anchor.328">328</a>; gods as phases of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.329">329</a>; stars as phases of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.331">331</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Semiramis (sem-ir&acute;a-mis), Queen, as founder of Nineveh,
+<a href="#page.anchor.277">277</a>; Queen Sammu-rammat as,
+<a href="#page.anchor.417">417</a>; mother worship and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.423">423</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.434">434</a>;
+birth legend like Shakuntala's, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.423">423</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.424">424</a>;
+as representative of mother goddess, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.425">425</a>; buildings and mounds of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.425">425</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.426">426</a>;
+Persian connection, <a href="#page.anchor.427">427</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.433">433</a>; dove symbol of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.431">431</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.432">432</a>;
+origin of legend of, <a href="#page.anchor.437">437</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.438">438</a>; Urartu and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.441">441</a>; Queen Nakia and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.471">471</a>; wife of Cambyses like, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.496">496</a>. See <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Sammu-rammat.</em></span></dt>
+<dt>Semites, Akkadians were, <a href="#page.anchor.2">2</a>; the
+racial blend of, <a href="#page.anchor.9">9</a> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>et seq.</em></span>; influence of on Sumerian
+gods, <a href="#page.anchor.135">135</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.136">136</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.137">137</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Sennacherib (sen-n&auml;k&acute;er-ib), King of Assyria,
+<a href="#page.anchor.463">463</a>; wars of in Elam and Asia
+Minor, <a href="#page.anchor.464">464</a>; Ionians deported to
+Nineveh by, <a href="#page.anchor.464">464</a>; Merodach
+Baladan's second reign, <a href="#page.anchor.465">465</a>; army
+of destroyed by "angel of the Lord", <a href=
+"#page.anchor.466">466</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.467">467</a>;
+death of Merodach Baladan, <a href="#page.anchor.468">468</a>;
+destruction of Babylon by, <a href="#page.anchor.468">468</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.469">469</a>; murder of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.470">470</a>; Nakia, Babylonian wife of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.471">471</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Sergi, Professor, on Syrian and Asia Minor races, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.11">11</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.267">267</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Serpent, Isis makes from saliva of Ra, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.45">45</a>; in group of seven spirits, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.63">63</a>; the world, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.150">150</a>; dragon as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.157">157</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.158">158</a>;
+totemic theory, <a href="#page.anchor.293">293</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.296">296</a>; in Crete, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.430">430</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Serpent charms, as fertility and birth charms, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.150">150</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.165">165</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Serpent worship, <a href="#page.anchor.77">77</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Serpents, the mother of, in Zu bird myth, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.74">74</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.75">75</a>; the
+Babylonian and Egyptian, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.74">74</a>-<a href="#page.anchor.76">76</a> ,
+<a href="#page.anchor.150">150</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Sesostris (se-s&#333;s&acute;tris), Hittite god identified
+with, <a href="#page.anchor.441">441</a>; Semiramis and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.426">426</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Set, as boar demon, <a href="#page.anchor.46">46</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.85">85</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.293">293</a>; as the dragon, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.156">156</a>; as thunder god, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.261">261</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Seti I (set&acute;ee), of Egypt, struggle of with Hittites,
+<a href="#page.anchor.364">364</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Seven, the demons in groups of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.34">34</a>.</dt>
+<dt>"Sevenfold One", <a href="#page.anchor.298">298</a>;
+constellations as, <a href="#page.anchor.300">300</a>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>et seq.</em></span>; Tammuz as,
+<a href="#page.anchor.304">304</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.317">317</a>.</dt>
+<dt>"Seven sleepers", the, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.394">394</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Seven spirits, the, dragon, &amp;c., in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.63">63</a>; the daughters of Anu, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.68">68</a>; the sexless, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.71">71</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Shabaka (sh&auml;&acute;b&auml;-k&auml;), King of Egypt, the
+Biblical So and, <a href="#page.anchor.454">454</a> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>n</em></span>.</dt>
+<dt>Shakespeare, "Jack" the fairy, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.66">66</a>; Tiamat-like imagery in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.151">151</a>; "sea devils", <a href=
+"#page.anchor.152">152</a>; grave inscription of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.214">214</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.215">215</a>;
+astrology references, <a href="#page.anchor.324">324</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.325">325</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Shakuntala (sh&#259;-koon&acute;t&#259;-l&auml;h), birth
+legend of like Semiramis's, <a href="#page.anchor.423">423</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.424">424</a>; Persian eagle legend and,
+<a href="#page.anchor.493">493</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Shallum (sh&auml;l&acute;l&uuml;m), revolt of at Samaria,
+<a href="#page.anchor.449">449</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Shalmaneser I (sh&auml;l-m&auml;n-<span class=
+"emphasis"><em>e</em></span>&acute;-ser), of Assyria, a great
+conqueror, <a href="#page.anchor.363">363</a>; western and
+northern expansion, <a href="#page.anchor.366">366</a>; Kalkhi
+capital of, <a href="#page.anchor.367">367</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Shalmaneser III, referred to in Bible, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.401">401</a>; attacks on Aramaeans and Hittites,
+<a href="#page.anchor.407">407</a>; Ahab of Israel fights
+against, <a href="#page.anchor.407">407</a>; authority of in
+Babylonia, <a href="#page.anchor.408">408</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.409">409</a>; defeat of Hazael of Damascus,
+<a href="#page.anchor.411">411</a>; tribute from Jehu of Israel,
+<a href="#page.anchor.411">411</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.412">412</a>; conquests of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.414">414</a>; revolt of son against, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.414">414</a>; death of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.415">415</a>; Babylonian culture, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.422">422</a>; library of at Kalkhi, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.422">422</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Shalmaneser IV, of Assyria, reign of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.439">439</a>; Urartu wars of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.442">442</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Shalmaneser V, imprisons Hoshea of Israel, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.454">454</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.455">455</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Shamash (sh&auml;m&acute;ash), Semitic name of sun god,
+<a href="#page.anchor.40">40</a>; Babbar Sumerian name of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.54">54</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.240">240</a>; Mitra and Varuna and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.54">54</a>; as god of destiny, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.55">55</a>; Mithra and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.55">55</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.56">56</a>; sun
+as "boat of the sky", <a href="#page.anchor.56">56</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.57">57</a>; consort and attendants of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.57">57</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.100">100</a>;
+local importance of, <a href="#page.anchor.58">58</a>; in eagle
+and serpent myths, <a href="#page.anchor.75">75</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.76">76</a>; in demon war, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.76">76</a>; development of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.132">132</a>; in Gilgamesh legend, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.172">172</a> <span class="emphasis"><em>et
+seq.</em></span>; as an abstract deity, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.240">240</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.241">241</a>;
+oracle of pleads for Merodach, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.272">272</a>; month of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.305">305</a>; as the "high head", <a href=
+"#page.anchor.334">334</a>; "water sun" of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.334">334</a>; the wheel symbol of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.347">347</a>; Aramaeans destroy temple of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.445">445</a>; worshipped by Esarhaddon, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.471">471</a>; oracle of and Ashur-bani-pal,
+<a href="#page.anchor.481">481</a>; Nabonidus and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.492">492</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Shamash-shum-ukin (sham&acute;ash-shum-&uuml;&acute;kin),
+King of Babylon, <a href="#page.anchor.471">471</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.476">476</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.480">480</a>;
+restoration of Merodach, <a href="#page.anchor.480">480</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.481">481</a>; revolt of against
+Ashur-bani-pal, <a href="#page.anchor.484">484</a>; burns himself
+in palace, <a href="#page.anchor.485">485</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Shamshi-Adad VII (sham&acute;shi-ad&acute;ad), King of
+Assyria, <a href="#page.anchor.414">414</a>; civil war, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.415">415</a>; conquests of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.415">415</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.416">416</a>;
+culture in reign of, <a href="#page.anchor.423">423</a>; rise of
+Urartu, <a href="#page.anchor.440">440</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Sh&auml;r, the god. See <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Anshar</em></span>.</dt>
+<dt>Sh&auml;r Apsi, "King of the Deep", Ea as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.28">28</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.29">29</a>.</dt>
+<dt>"Shar Kishsh&aacute;te", "King of the World", Assyrian title,
+<a href="#page.anchor.363">363</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.370">370</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Sharduris III (shar&acute;d&uuml;-ris), of Urartu, routed by
+Tiglath-pileser IV, <a href="#page.anchor.446">446</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.447">447</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Shaving customs, significance of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.4">4</a>; of Arabians and Libyans, &amp;c.,
+<a href="#page.anchor.9">9</a>; why Sumerian gods were bearded,
+<a href="#page.anchor.135">135</a>-<a href=
+"#page.anchor.137">137</a> .</dt>
+<dt>Shedu (sh&#257;&acute;du), the destroying bull, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.65">65</a>; as household fairy, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.77">77</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Sheep, skin of in graves, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.213">213</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Shepherd, the divine, Tammuz as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.53">53</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Sheshonk (shish&acute;ak), Pharaoh of Egypt, alliance with
+Solomon, <a href="#page.anchor.388">388</a>; Hebrews spoiled by,
+<a href="#page.anchor.391">391</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.402">402</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Shinar, the Biblical, <a href="#page.anchor.111">111</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.247">247</a>; Amraphel (Hammurabi) of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.131">131</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Shishak. See <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Sheshonk</em></span>.</dt>
+<dt>Shiv&#259;, the Indian god, Bel Enlil like, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.38">38</a>; the Sumerian Ninip like, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.53">53</a>; Osiris and Ra like, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.63">63</a>; in "dying Indra" myth, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.101">101</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Shony (shon&acute;ee), sea god of Scottish Hebrides, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.33">33</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Sh&uuml;, the Egyptian god, created from saliva, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.46">46</a>,</dt>
+<dt>Shubari (shu-b&auml;&acute;ri) tribes, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.284">284</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Shurippak&acute; or Shurruppak&acute;, city of, in flood
+legend, <a href="#page.anchor.190">190</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.191">191</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.243">243</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Shushan. See <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Susa</em></span>.</dt>
+<dt>Siberia, elves of, <a href="#page.anchor.105">105</a>;
+"calling back" of ghosts in, <a href="#page.anchor.69">69</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.70">70</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Sidon, conspiracy against Nebuchadrezzar II, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.491">491</a>; tribute of to Adadnirari IV, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.439">439</a>; Tyre and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.388">388</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.392">392</a>;
+Israel an ally of, <a href="#page.anchor.406">406</a>; in league
+against Esarhaddon, <a href="#page.anchor.472">472</a>;
+destruction of, <a href="#page.anchor.473">473</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Siegfried (seeg&acute;freed), "birds of Fate" sang to,
+<a href="#page.anchor.65">65</a>; the "Regin" dragon, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.156">156</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.164">164</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Signs of the Zodiac. See <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Zodiac.</em></span></dt>
+<dt>Sigurd (see&acute;goord), link with Merodach as dragon
+slayer, <a href="#page.anchor.147">147</a> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>n.</em></span>; the "Fafner" dragon, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.156">156</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.164">164</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Sin, desert of, called after moon god, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.52">52</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Sin, the moon god, <a href="#page.anchor.51">51</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.52">52</a>; consort and children of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.53">53</a>; Shamash, Mitra, and Varuna chastise,
+<a href="#page.anchor.54">54</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.55">55</a>; in demon war, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.76">76</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.77">77</a>; as
+father of Isis, <a href="#page.anchor.100">100</a>; as form of
+Merodach, <a href="#page.anchor.160">160</a>; month of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.305">305</a>; Ashur worshipped with, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.353">353</a>; Nabonidus as worshipper of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.494">494</a>. See <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Moon</em></span> and <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Nannar</em></span>.</dt>
+<dt>Sinai, mountains of, called after moon god, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.52">52</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Sin-iksha (sin-ik&acute;sha). King of Isin, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.133">133</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Sin-magir (sin-m&auml;&acute;gir), King of Isin, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.133">133</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Sin-muballit (sin-m&uuml;-b&auml;l&acute;lit), King, father
+of Hammurabi, <a href="#page.anchor.132">132</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.242">242</a>; struggle of with Elamites, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.243">243</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Sin-shar-ish&acute;kun, last King of Assyria, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.487">487</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Sippar (sip&acute;par), sun god chief deity of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.40">40</a>; a famous priestly teacher of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.42">42</a>; goddess of assists Merodach to create
+mankind, <a href="#page.anchor.148">148</a>; rise of sun cult of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.240">240</a>; first Amoritic king of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.241">241</a>; Esarhaddon plunders, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.472">472</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Sirius, the star, Teutonic giant as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.295">295</a>; goddess Isis as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.296">296</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Skull forms, language and, <a href="#page.anchor.3">3</a>; of
+Mongolian, Ural-Altaic, and Mediterranean peoples, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.3">3</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.4">4</a>; Kurdish
+and Armenian treatment, <a href="#page.anchor.4">4</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.5">5</a>; of early Egyptians and Sumerians,
+<a href="#page.anchor.7">7</a> <span class="emphasis"><em>et
+seq.</em></span>; Palaeolithic still survive, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.8">8</a>; persistence of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.8">8</a>; broad heads in Western Asia, Egypt, and
+India, <a href="#page.anchor.8">8</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.9">9</a>; the Semitic, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.10">10</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Sky, conception of "Self Power" of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.292">292</a>; god of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.31">31</a>; goddesses of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.36">36</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.37">37</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Sleeper, the divine, Angus, the Irish, and Tammuz, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.90">90</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Sleepers, the seven, the Indras as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.101">101</a>; Thomas the Rhymer, Finn, Napoleon,
+and Skobeleff as, <a href="#page.anchor.164">164</a>; as spirits
+of fertility, <a href="#page.anchor.164">164</a>; Tammuz and,
+<a href="#page.anchor.210">210</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Smith, Professor Elliot, on Sumerian origins, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.7">7</a>; on origin of Semites, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.10">10</a>; on conquest by Akkadians of Sumerians,
+<a href="#page.anchor.12">12</a>; on first use of copper,
+<a href="#page.anchor.12">12</a>; on early Egyptian invasion of
+"broad heads", <a href="#page.anchor.263">263</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.264">264</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Smith, George, career and discoveries of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.xxi">xxi</a>-<a href=
+"#page.anchor.xxiii">xxiii</a>; "Descent of Ishtar", <a href=
+"#page.anchor.95">95</a> <span class="emphasis"><em>et
+seq</em></span>.</dt>
+<dt>Smith, Professor Robertson, on Atargatis legend, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.28">28</a>; on life-blood beliefs, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.47">47</a>; on agricultural weeping ceremony,
+<a href="#page.anchor.83">83</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Snakes, doves and, Cretan goddess and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.430">430</a>.</dt>
+<dt>So, King of Egypt, Shabaka and other kings and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.454">454</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.454">454</a>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>n</em></span>.</dt>
+<dt>Sokar, a composite monster god, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.135">135</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Sokar (sok&acute;&auml;r), Egyptian lord of fear, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.63">63</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Solomon, King, ally of Egypt and Tyre, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.388">388</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.389">389</a>;
+sea trade of with India, <a href="#page.anchor.389">389</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.390">390</a>; Babylonia during period of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.391">391</a>; Judah and Israel separated
+after death of, <a href="#page.anchor.401">401</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.402">402</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Soma (s&#333;&acute;m&#259;), source of inspiration, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.45">45</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Song of the Sea Lady, in Gilgamesh epic, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.178">178</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.179">179</a>.</dt>
+<dt>"Soul of the land", river Euphrates as the, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.23">23</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Souls, carried to Hades by eagle, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.168">168</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Spells on water, <a href="#page.anchor.44">44</a>; layers of
+punished, <a href="#page.anchor.233">233</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Spinning, in Late Stone Age, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.14">14</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Spirits, "air" and "breath" as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.48">48</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.49">49</a>; gods
+evolved from, <a href="#page.anchor.60">60</a>; the good and
+evil, <a href="#page.anchor.58">58</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.63">63</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.77">77</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.78">78</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.236">236</a>; the Gorgons, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.159">159</a>; periodic liberation of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.65">65</a>; the "calling back" belief, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.69">69</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.70">70</a>;
+penetrate everywhere, <a href="#page.anchor.71">71</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.72">72</a>; of luck and fate, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.77">77</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.236">236</a>;
+elves, Ribhus, and Burkans as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.105">105</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Spitting customs, in Asia, Africa, and Europe, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.46">46</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.47">47</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Spring sun, the, Tammuz as god of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.53">53</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Sri, the Indian eternal mother, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.101">101</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Stars, the, great beauty of in Babylonia, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.24">24</a>; "Will-o'-the-wisps" as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.67">67</a>; Zu bird and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.74">74</a>; Merodach fixes Signs of the Zodiac,
+<a href="#page.anchor.147">147</a>; the "stations" of Enlil and
+Ea, <a href="#page.anchor.147">147</a>; animals and myths of the,
+<a href="#page.anchor.289">289</a>; in various local mythologies,
+<a href="#page.anchor.290">290</a>; the "host of heaven",
+<a href="#page.anchor.294">294</a>; as totems, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.295">295</a>; as ghosts, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.295">295</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.304">304</a>;
+in mythologies of Teutons, Aryo-Indians, Greeks, Egyptians,
+&amp;c., <a href="#page.anchor.295">295</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.296">296</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.319">319</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.320">320</a>; star of Osiris, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.296">296</a>; Ishtar myths, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.295">295</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.299">299</a>;
+Merodach as Regulus and Capella, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.299">299</a>; bi-sexual deities and the, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.299">299</a>; early association of Isis with,
+<a href="#page.anchor.300">300</a>; three for each month,
+<a href="#page.anchor.307">307</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.308">308</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.309">309</a>;
+the "divinities of council", <a href="#page.anchor.309">309</a>;
+the doctrine of mythical Ages and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.310">310</a> <span class="emphasis"><em>et
+seq</em></span>.; popular worship of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.317">317</a>; as "birth-ruling divinities",
+<a href="#page.anchor.318">318</a>; spirits of associated with
+gods, <a href="#page.anchor.318">318</a>; in Indian Vedas and
+"Forest Books", <a href="#page.anchor.318">318</a>; Biblical
+references to, <a href="#page.anchor.324">324</a>; literary
+references to, <a href="#page.anchor.325">325</a>; Anshar as the
+Pole star, <a href="#page.anchor.330">330</a>; Isaiah and Polar
+star myth, <a href="#page.anchor.331">331</a>; Polar star as "the
+kid", <a href="#page.anchor.333">333</a>; in Ashur ring symbol,
+<a href="#page.anchor.344">344</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Steer, moon god as the, <a href="#page.anchor.52">52</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.135">135</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Stone Age, the Late, pottery of in Turkestan, Elam, Asia
+Minor, and Europe, <a href="#page.anchor.5">5</a>; origin of
+agriculture in, <a href="#page.anchor.6">6</a>; in Palestine,
+<a href="#page.anchor.10">10</a>; racial blending in Egypt in,
+II; civilization in, <a href="#page.anchor.13">13</a>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>et seq</em></span>.; refined faces of
+men of, <a href="#page.anchor.15">15</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Stone worship, moon worship and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.52">52</a>; Ninip the bull god and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.53">53</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Storm demons, the Babylonian Shutu and Adapa legend, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.72">72</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.73">73</a>; the
+European, <a href="#page.anchor.72">72</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.73">73</a>. See <span class="emphasis"><em>Wind
+hags</em></span>.</dt>
+<dt>Strabo, on Babylonian works of Alexander, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.498">498</a>; on Semiramis legend, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.425">425</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Straw girdle, a birth charm, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.165">165</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Subbi-luliuma (s&uuml;b&acute;bi-lu-li-&uuml;&acute;ma),
+Hittite king, conquests of, <a href="#page.anchor.283">283</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.363">363</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Sumer, or Sumeria (shoo&acute;mer <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>and</em></span> sum-&#257;&acute;ri-a]), its
+racial and geographical significance, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.1">1</a>; early name of Kengi, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.2">2</a>; agriculture in at earliest period,
+<a href="#page.anchor.6">6</a>; culture of indigenous, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.6">6</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.7">7</a>; women's
+high social status in, <a href="#page.anchor.16">16</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.17">17</a>; Eridu a seaport of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.22">22</a>; surplus products and trade of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.25">25</a>; gods of like Egyptian, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.26">26</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.36">36</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.37">37</a>; modes of thought and habits of
+life in, <a href="#page.anchor.51">51</a>; the Great Mother
+Tiamat of, <a href="#page.anchor.106">106</a>; early history of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.109">109</a> <span class="emphasis"><em>et
+seq</em></span>.; principal cities of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.110">110</a>; the "plain of Shinar", <a href=
+"#page.anchor.111">111</a>; why gods of were bearded, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.135">135</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.136">136</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.137">137</a>; burial customs of like early
+Egyptian, <a href="#page.anchor.211">211</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.214">214</a>; cities of destroyed in Hammurabi Age,
+<a href="#page.anchor.243">243</a>; the Biblical Shinar is,
+<a href="#page.anchor.247">247</a>; stars in primitive religion
+of, <a href="#page.anchor.289">289</a>; Naturalism and the Zi,
+<a href="#page.anchor.291">291</a>; sculpture of compared with
+Assyrian, <a href="#page.anchor.401">401</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Sumerian goddesses, racial origin of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.105">105</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Sumerians, characteristics of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.2">2</a>; Akkadians adopted culture of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.2">2</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.3">3</a>; unlike
+the Chinese, <a href="#page.anchor.3">3</a>; Mongolian affinities
+of doubtful, <a href="#page.anchor.3">3</a>; language of
+agglutinative like those of Chinese, Turks, Magyars, Finns, and
+Basques, <a href="#page.anchor.3">3</a>; Ural-Altaic racial
+theory, <a href="#page.anchor.4">4</a>; shaving customs of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.5">5</a>; of Mediterranean or Brown Race,
+<a href="#page.anchor.7">7</a>; congeners of prehistoric
+Europeans, <a href="#page.anchor.9">9</a>; Arabs and Egyptians
+and, <a href="#page.anchor.9">9</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.10">10</a>; conquered by Akkadians, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.12">12</a>; survival of culture and language of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.13">13</a>; in early Copper Age, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.12">12</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.13">13</a>; pious
+records of kings of, <a href="#page.anchor.112">112</a>; how
+history of is being restored, <a href="#page.anchor.113">113</a>;
+the earliest dates, <a href="#page.anchor.114">114</a>; end of
+political power of, <a href="#page.anchor.217">217</a>; as early
+astronomers, <a href="#page.anchor.300">300</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Sumu-abum (su&acute;mu-a&acute;bum), early Amoritic king,
+<a href="#page.anchor.241">241</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Sumu-la-ilu (su-mu&acute;la-i&acute;lu), early King of
+Hammurabi Age, <a href="#page.anchor.241">241</a>; capture of
+Kish by, <a href="#page.anchor.241">241</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.242">242</a>; Assyrian king claims descent from,
+<a href="#page.anchor.419">419</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Sun, origin of in sea fire, <a href="#page.anchor.50">50</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.51">51</a>; seasonal worship of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.53">53</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.240">240</a>;
+Mitra and Varuna as regulators of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.54">54</a>; as "boat of the sky", <a href=
+"#page.anchor.56">56</a>; as a planet, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.301">301</a>; as bridegroom, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.306">306</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.306">306</a>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>n</em></span>.; in astrology, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.318">318</a>; the "man in" the, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.335">335</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.336">336</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Sun, god of, Ninip, Nirig, and Nergal as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.53">53</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.54">54</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.303">303</a>; Babbar as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.54">54</a>; as Judge of living and dead, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.54">54</a>; as seer of secret sin, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.54">54</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.55">55</a>; links
+between Shamash, Mitra, and Varuna, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.54">54</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.55">55</a>: Ninip
+and Nin-Girsu, and Babbar and Shamash, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.132">132</a>; Tammuz as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.158">158</a>; forms of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.297">297</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.298">298</a>;
+Horus as the, <a href="#page.anchor.300">300</a>; as offspring
+and spouse of moon, <a href="#page.anchor.301">301</a>; Orion as
+a manifestation of, <a href="#page.anchor.305">305</a>; animals
+identified with, <a href="#page.anchor.329">329</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.330">330</a>; symbols of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.335">335</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.336">336</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Sundial, a Babylonian invention, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.323">323</a>; of Ahaz, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.323">323</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Sun god, Shamash as, <a href="#page.anchor.40">40</a>;
+centres of, <a href="#page.anchor.40">40</a>. See <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Shamash</em></span>.</dt>
+<dt>Sun goddess, the Babylonian and Hittite, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.57">57</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Surpanakha (s&uuml;r-p&#259;&acute;n&#259;k-h&auml;]), the
+Indian demon, like Lilith, <a href="#page.anchor.67">67</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Susa, prehistoric pottery of, <a href="#page.anchor.5">5</a>;
+capital of Elam, <a href="#page.anchor.111">111</a>; Hammurabi
+Code discovered at, <a href="#page.anchor.222">222</a>; burning
+of Persian palace at, <a href="#page.anchor.497">497</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Sutarna II (s&uuml;-t&auml;r&acute;n&auml;), King of Mitanni,
+<a href="#page.anchor.283">283</a>; deposed by rival, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.284">284</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Sutekh (s&uuml;t&acute;ekh), as tribal god, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.156">156</a>; as dragon slayer, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.157">157</a>; Hittite thunder and fertility god
+and, <a href="#page.anchor.261">261</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Suti (s&uuml;&acute;ti), the, Aramaean robbers, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.285">285</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.359">359</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.360">360</a>; settled in Asia Minor,
+<a href="#page.anchor.461">461</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Svip&acute;dag, Gilgamesh and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.184">184</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.185">185</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Swan, Irish love god as, <a href="#page.anchor.428">428</a>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>n</em></span>.; love messenger in
+India, <a href="#page.anchor.429">429</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Swan maidens, as lovers, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.68">68</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Swine, offerings of to sea god, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.33">33</a>; demons enter, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.71">71</a>; sacrificed to Tammuz, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.85">85</a>; associated with Osiris, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.85">85</a>; Gaelic Hag's herd of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.87">87</a>; sacrifice of to cure disease, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.236">236</a>; Ninip as boar god, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.302">302</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Symbolism, forehead symbol of Apis bull and Sumerian goat,
+<a href="#page.anchor.334">334</a>; "high heads": Anshar, Anu,
+Enlil, Ea, Merodach, Nergal, and Shamash, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.334">334</a>; symbols of "high heads", <a href=
+"#page.anchor.334">334</a>; the "world spine" and "world tree",
+<a href="#page.anchor.334">334</a>; the "water sun" of Shamash,
+<a href="#page.anchor.334">334</a>; Ashur's winged disks or
+"wheels", <a href="#page.anchor.334">334</a> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>et seq</em></span>.; "man in the sun" in Assyria,
+Egypt, and India, <a href="#page.anchor.335">335</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.336">336</a>; Blake's "double vision", <a href=
+"#page.anchor.336">336</a>; the arrow symbol, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.337">337</a>; "shuttle" of Neith a thunderbolt,
+<a href="#page.anchor.337">337</a> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>n</em></span>.; Assyria the cedar, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.340">340</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.341">341</a>;
+Isaiah and Ezekiel use Babylonian and Assyrian, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.341">341</a>; the eagle, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.343">343</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.344">344</a>;
+Ezekiel's wheels and four-faced cherubs, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.344">344</a> <span class="emphasis"><em>et
+seq</em></span>.; wheels or disks of Hittites, Indians, &amp;c.,
+<a href="#page.anchor.347">347</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.348">348</a>; the double axe, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.348">348</a>; the Ashur arrow, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.351">351</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.352">352</a>;
+the "dot within the circle" and egg thorn, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.352">352</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Syria, broad heads in, <a href="#page.anchor.8">8</a>; early
+races in, <a href="#page.anchor.11">11</a>; supposed invasion of
+by Lugal-zaggisi, <a href="#page.anchor.125">125</a>; Sargon of
+Akkad's empire in, <a href="#page.anchor.127">127</a>; hill god
+of, <a href="#page.anchor.136">136</a>; sheepskin burials in,
+<a href="#page.anchor.213">213</a>; culture of higher than Egypt
+at end of Hyksos Age, <a href="#page.anchor.275">275</a>.</dt>
+</dl>
+</div>
+<div class="indexdiv">
+<h3 class="title">T</h3>
+<dl>
+<dt>Tabal (ta-b&auml;l&acute;), Hittite Cilician kingdom of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.395">395</a>; Shalmaneser III subdues king
+of, <a href="#page.anchor.414">414</a>; Sargon II conquers,
+<a href="#page.anchor.460">460</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.461">461</a>; Biblical reference to, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.464">464</a>; tribute from to Ashur-bani-pal,
+<a href="#page.anchor.483">483</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Tablets of Destiny, the, Zu bird steals, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.74">74</a>; Tiamat gives to Kingu in Creation
+legend, <a href="#page.anchor.141">141</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.145">145</a>; Merodach takes from Kingu, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.146">146</a>; Ninip receives, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.158">158</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Taharka (t&auml;-har&acute;ka), King of Egypt, in
+anti-Assyrian revolt, <a href="#page.anchor.465">465</a>;
+intrigues against Esarhaddon, <a href="#page.anchor.471">471</a>;
+Esarhaddon's invasion of Egypt, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.475">475</a>; flight of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.475">475</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.476">476</a>;
+death of, <a href="#page.anchor.482">482</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Tammuz, Osiris and, <a href="#page.anchor.xxxi">xxxi</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.81">81</a>; variations of myths of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.xxxii">xxxii</a>; blood of in river,
+<a href="#page.anchor.47">47</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.48">48</a>; as the shepherd and spring sun,
+<a href="#page.anchor.53">53</a>; spends winter in Hades,
+<a href="#page.anchor.53">53</a>; links with Mithra, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.55">55</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.94">94</a>; son
+of Ea, <a href="#page.anchor.82">82</a>; Belit-sheri, sister of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.98">98</a>; Ishtar, mother and lover of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.101">101</a>; worship of among Hebrews,
+<a href="#page.anchor.82">82</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.106">106</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.107">107</a>;
+as "the man of sorrows", <a href="#page.anchor.88">88</a>; "the
+true and faithful son", <a href="#page.anchor.93">93</a>; as the
+patriarch, <a href="#page.anchor.82">82</a>; Sargon of Akkad myth
+and, <a href="#page.anchor.91">91</a>; links with Adonis, Attis,
+Diarmid, and pre-Hellenic deities, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.83">83</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.84">84</a>; blood
+of in river, <a href="#page.anchor.85">85</a>; kid and sucking
+pig of, <a href="#page.anchor.85">85</a>; as "steer of heaven",
+<a href="#page.anchor.85">85</a>; Nin-shach, boar god, as slayer
+of, <a href="#page.anchor.86">86</a>; Ishtar laments for,
+<a href="#page.anchor.86">86</a>; month of wailings for, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.87">87</a>-<a href="#page.anchor.89">89</a> ; why
+Ishtar deserted, <a href="#page.anchor.99">99</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.103">103</a>; as the love god, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.87">87</a>; dies with vegetation, &amp;c., <a href=
+"#page.anchor.87">87</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.88">88</a>;
+sacred cedar of, <a href="#page.anchor.88">88</a>; in gloomy
+Hades, <a href="#page.anchor.89">89</a>; return of like Frode
+(Frey), <a href="#page.anchor.95">95</a>; as the slumbering corn
+child, <a href="#page.anchor.89">89</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.90">90</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.91">91</a>;
+Teutonic Scyld or Sceaf and, <a href="#page.anchor.92">92</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.93">93</a>; Frey, Hermod, and Heimdal like,
+<a href="#page.anchor.93">93</a>; as world guardian and
+demon-slayer like Heimdal and Agni, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.94">94</a>; as the healer like Khonsu, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.94">94</a>; Ishtar visits Hades for, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.96">96</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.97">97</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.98">98</a>; refusal to leave Hades,
+<a href="#page.anchor.98">98</a>; like Kingu in Tiamat myth,
+<a href="#page.anchor.106">106</a>; Nin-Girsu, or En-Mersi, of
+Lagash a form of, <a href="#page.anchor.116">116</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.120">120</a>; Nina and Belitsheri and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.117">117</a>; Sargon myth like Indian Karnastory,
+<a href="#page.anchor.126">126</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.437">437</a>; Zamama, Merodach, Ninip and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.53">53</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.126">126</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.158">158</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.241">241</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.302">302</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.305">305</a>; as elder god, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.159">159</a>; Etana and Gilgamesh and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.164">164</a>; as patriarch and sleeper, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.164">164</a>; eagle of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.120">120</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.168">168</a>;
+Nimrod myth, <a href="#page.anchor.170">170</a>; John Barleycorn
+and, <a href="#page.anchor.170">170</a>; Gilgamesh and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.171">171</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.172">172</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.210">210</a>; in Gilgamesh epic, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.176">176</a>; Nebo and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.303">303</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.435">435</a>;
+Adonis slain by boar god of war, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.304">304</a>; planetary deities and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.301">301</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.304">304</a>;
+forms of like Horus, <a href="#page.anchor.305">305</a>; astral
+links with Merodach and Attis, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.305">305</a>; Ashur and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.337">337</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.340">340</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.348">348</a>; identified with Nusku,
+&amp;c., <a href="#page.anchor.354">354</a>; as Anshar, En Mersi,
+and Nin-Girsu, <a href="#page.anchor.333">333</a>; doves and, 428
+<span class="emphasis"><em>n</em></span><span class=
+"sub">[<a href="#ftn.fnrex1480">480</a>]</span>.</dt>
+<dt>Tanutamon (t&auml;-nut&acute;&auml;mon), Ethiopian king,
+Assyrians expelled from Memphis by, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.482">482</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.483">483</a>;
+defeat of, <a href="#page.anchor.483">483</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Tarku (t&auml;r&acute;k&uuml;), Asia Minor thunder god,
+<a href="#page.anchor.35">35</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.57">57</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.261">261</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.395">395</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Tarsus, Hittite city of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.395">395</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Tashmit (t&auml;sh&acute;mit), spouse of Nebo, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.436">436</a>; creatrix and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.437">437</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Taylor, J.E., <a href="#page.anchor.xx">xx</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Tears, agricultural weeping ceremonies, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.82">82</a> <span class="emphasis"><em>et
+seq</em></span>.</dt>
+<dt>Tears of deities, the fertilizing, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.29">29</a>; the creative, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.45">45</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.46">46</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Tefnut (tef&acute;nut), the Egyptian goddess, created from
+saliva, <a href="#page.anchor.46">46</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Tell-el-Amarna letters, historical evidence from, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.280">280</a> <span class="emphasis"><em>et
+seq</em></span>.; Assyrian king's letter, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.284">284</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.285">285</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Tello (tello&acute;), Lagash site, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.120">120</a>; archaic forms of gods, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.135">135</a>; mound of, Lagash site, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.243">243</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Temples, the houses of gods, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.60">60</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Teshub or Teshup (tesh&acute;ub), thunder god of Armenia,
+<a href="#page.anchor.261">261</a>; as a Mitannian god, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.269">269</a>; in Tell-el-Amarna letters, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.282">282</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.395">395</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Teutonic sea-fire belief, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.51">51</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Thebes, sack of by Assyrians, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.483">483</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Theodoric (toyd&acute;rik <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>or</em></span> th&#275;-od&acute;o-rik), the Goth,
+myths of, <a href="#page.anchor.164">164</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Thomas the Rhymer, as a "sleeper", <a href=
+"#page.anchor.164">164</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Thompson, R. Campbell, <a href="#page.anchor.34">34</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.39">39</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.72">72</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.76">76</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.234">234</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.235">235</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.238">238</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.239">239</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Thor, Ramman and Dadu or Hadad as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.57">57</a>; Dietrich as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.74">74</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.164">164</a>; the
+hammer of, <a href="#page.anchor.238">238</a>; deities that link
+with, <a href="#page.anchor.261">261</a>; the goat and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.333">333</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.334">334</a>;
+Ashur, Tammuz, and Indra and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.340">340</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Thorkill (th&#333;r&acute;kill), the Germanic, Gilgamesh and,
+<a href="#page.anchor.185">185</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Thoth (th&#333;th <span class="emphasis"><em>or</em></span>
+t&#257;-hoo&acute;tee), the Egyptian god, as chief of Ennead,
+<a href="#page.anchor.36">36</a>; curative saliva of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.46">46</a>; Sumerian moon god like, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.301">301</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Thothmes III (th&#333;th&acute;mes), of Egypt, wars against
+Mitanni, <a href="#page.anchor.275">275</a>; correspondence of
+with Assyrian king, <a href="#page.anchor.276">276</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.279">279</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Thunder god, Ramman, Hadad or Dadu, and Enlil as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.35">35</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.57">57</a>; Indra
+as, <a href="#page.anchor.35">35</a>; Dietrich as Thor, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.74">74</a>; in Babylonian Zu and Indian Garuda
+myths, <a href="#page.anchor.74">74</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.75">75</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.169">169</a>; in
+demon war, <a href="#page.anchor.76">76</a>; Merodach as,
+<a href="#page.anchor.144">144</a>; Hercules as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.171">171</a>; horn and hammer of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.238">238</a>; the Hittite, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.260">260</a>; the Amorite, Mitannian, Kassite, and
+Aryan, <a href="#page.anchor.261">261</a>; Ptah of Egypt a,
+<a href="#page.anchor.263">263</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.264">264</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Thunder goddess, the Egyptian Neith a, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.337">337</a> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>n</em></span>.</dt>
+<dt>Thunderstone, weapon of Merodach and Ramman, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.144">144</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.159">159</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.160">160</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Tiamat (ti&acute;a-mat), like Egyptian Nut, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.37">37</a>; in group of early deities, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.64">64</a>; the "brood" of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.64">64</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.65">65</a>; as
+Great Mother, <a href="#page.anchor.106">106</a>; in Creation
+legend, <a href="#page.anchor.138">138</a>; plots with Apsu and
+Mummu, <a href="#page.anchor.139">139</a>; as Avenger of Apsu,
+<a href="#page.anchor.140">140</a>; exalts Kingu, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.141">141</a>; Anu and Ea fears, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.142">142</a>; Merodach goes against, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.144">144</a>; slaying of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.146">146</a>; Merodach divides "Ku-pu" of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.147">147</a>; the dragon's heart, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.147">147</a> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>n</em></span>.; body of forms sky and earth,
+<a href="#page.anchor.147">147</a>; followers of "fallen gods",
+<a href="#page.anchor.150">150</a>; as origin of good and evil,
+<a href="#page.anchor.150">150</a>; beneficent forms of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.150">150</a>; as the dragon of the deep, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.151">151</a>; Gaelic sea monster and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.151">151</a>; Alexander the Great sees, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.151">151</a>; the Scottish "eel" and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.151">151</a>; "brood of" in <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Beowulf</em></span>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.151">151</a>; vulnerable part of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.153">153</a>; Ishtar and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.157">157</a>; the Gorgons and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.159">159</a>; in Germanic legend, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.202">202</a>; grave demons and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.215">215</a>; reference to by Damascius, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.328">328</a>. (Also rendered "Tiawath".)</dt>
+<dt>Tiana (ti-an&acute;i), Hittite city of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.395">395</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Tibni, revolt of in Israel, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.405">405</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Tidal (ti&acute;dal), Saga on Hittite connections of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.264">264</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.265">265</a>; Tudhula of the Hittites as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.247">247</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.248">248</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Tiglath-pileser I (tig&acute;lath pi-le&acute;ser), of
+Assyria, <a href="#page.anchor.382">382</a>; conquests of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.383">383</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.384">384</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Tiglath-pileser IV, the Biblical "Pul", <a href=
+"#page.anchor.444">444</a>; Babylonian campaign of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.445">445</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.446">446</a>;
+Sharduris of Urartu defeated by, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.446">446</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.447">447</a>;
+Israel, Damascus, and Tyre pay tribute to, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.449">449</a>; destruction of Urarti capital,
+<a href="#page.anchor.450">450</a>; appeal of Ahaz to, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.451">451</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.452">452</a>;
+Israel punished by, <a href="#page.anchor.453">453</a>; Babylon
+welcomes, <a href="#page.anchor.453">453</a>; triumphs of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.454">454</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Tigris, the river, <a href="#page.anchor.22">22</a>; as "the
+bestower of blessings", <a href="#page.anchor.23">23</a>; rise
+and fall and length of, <a href="#page.anchor.24">24</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Tiy, Queen, in Tell-el-Amarna letters, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.283">283</a>; Semiramis like, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.418">418</a>; Aton and Mut worship, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.419">419</a>; mother worship and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.423">423</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Toothache, Babylonian cure of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.234">234</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.235">235</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Totems, the bear, <a href="#page.anchor.164">164</a>;
+mountains, trees, and animals as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.292">292</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.293">293</a>;
+surnames and, <a href="#page.anchor.293">293</a>; the fish of Ea
+and, <a href="#page.anchor.294">294</a>; eating the in Egypt,
+<a href="#page.anchor.295">295</a>; doves, snakes, crocodiles,
+&amp;c., as, <a href="#page.anchor.432">432</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.433">433</a>; Persian eagle, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.493">493</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Trade routes, Babylonia and Assyria struggle for, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.286">286</a>; the ancient, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.356">356</a>; Baghdad and other railways following,
+<a href="#page.anchor.357">357</a>; ancient Powers struggled to
+control, <a href="#page.anchor.358">358</a>; Babylon's route to
+Egypt, <a href="#page.anchor.359">359</a>; Arabian desert route
+opened, <a href="#page.anchor.360">360</a>; route abandoned,
+<a href="#page.anchor.361">361</a>; Elam's caravan roads,
+<a href="#page.anchor.361">361</a>; struggle for Mesopotamia,
+<a href="#page.anchor.361">361</a> <span class="emphasis"><em>et
+seq</em></span>.; Babylon's trade with China, Egypt, &amp;c.,
+<a href="#page.anchor.371">371</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.372">372</a>. Transmigration of souls, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.315">315</a>.</dt>
+<dt>"Tree of Life", Professor Sayce on the Babylonian, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.39">39</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Tree worship, Tammuz, Adonis and Osiris and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.88">88</a>; Ashur and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.339">339</a>; Ezekiel on Assyria's tree, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.340">340</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.341">341</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Trees, in Babylonia, <a href="#page.anchor.24">24</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.25">25</a>; sap as the "blood" of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.47">47</a>; as totems, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.291">291</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.293">293</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Trident, the lightning, weapon of Merodach, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.144">144</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Tritons, the, <a href="#page.anchor.33">33</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Tudhula (t&uuml;d&acute;h&uuml;-l&auml;), a Hittite king,
+identified with Biblical Tidal, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.247">247</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.248">248</a>;
+forms of name of, <a href="#page.anchor.264">264</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.265">265</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Tukulti-Ninip I (tu-kul&acute;ti-nin&acute;ip), of Assyria,
+<a href="#page.anchor.368">368</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.369">369</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Tukulti-Ninip III, <a href="#page.anchor.396">396</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Tunnel, the dark, in Gilgamesh epic, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.178">178</a>; Germanic land of darkness, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.185">185</a>; in Alexander the Great myth, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.185">185</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.186">186</a>;
+in Indian legends, <a href="#page.anchor.187">187</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.188">188</a>; in Scottish folk tales, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.189">189</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Turkestan, early civilization of and the Sumerian, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.5">5</a>; did agriculture originate in? <a href=
+"#page.anchor.6">6</a>; prehistoric painted pottery in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.263">263</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Turkey, great Powers and, <a href="#page.anchor.357">357</a>;
+language of and Sumerian, <a href="#page.anchor.3">3</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Turks, of Ural-Altaic stock, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.4">4</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Tushratta (t&uuml;sh&acute;rat-ta), King of Mitanni, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.280">280</a>; correspondence of with Egyptian
+kings, <a href="#page.anchor.282">282</a> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>et seq</em></span>.; murder of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.283">283</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Twin goddesses, Ishtar and Belitsheri, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.98">98</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.99">99</a>; Isis
+and Nepthys, <a href="#page.anchor.99">99</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Tyr, the Germanic god, mother of a demon, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.64">64</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Tyre, relations with Sidon and Hebrews, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.388">388</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.389">389</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.392">392</a>; tribute of to Adad-nirari IV,
+<a href="#page.anchor.439">439</a>; gifts from to Tiglath-pileser
+IV, <a href="#page.anchor.449">449</a>; King Luli and Assyria,
+<a href="#page.anchor.465">465</a>; Esarhaddon and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.474">474</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.475">475</a>;
+tribute from to Ashur-bani-pal, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.483">483</a>; conspiracy against Nebuchadrezzar II,
+<a href="#page.anchor.491">491</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.492">492</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Tyrol, the demon lover of, <a href="#page.anchor.68">68</a>;
+wind hags of, <a href="#page.anchor.74">74</a>.</dt>
+</dl>
+</div>
+<div class="indexdiv">
+<h3 class="title">U</h3>
+<dl>
+<dt>Uazit (oo&acute;az-it), Egyptian serpent goddess, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.150">150</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Umma (oom&acute;ma), city of, Lagash and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.118">118</a>; captured by Eannatum, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.118">118</a>; crushing defeat of by Entemena,
+<a href="#page.anchor.119">119</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.120">120</a>; king of destroys Lagash, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.123">123</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.124">124</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Ur, Nannar, moon god of, <a href="#page.anchor.40">40</a>;
+the moon god Baal of, <a href="#page.anchor.51">51</a>; antiquity
+of, <a href="#page.anchor.52">52</a>; Lagash king sways, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.119">119</a>; empire of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.130">130</a>; moon god of supreme, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.130">130</a>; Abraham migrates from, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.131">131</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.245">245</a>;
+revolt of with Larsa against Isin, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.132">132</a>; moon god of in Kish, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.241">241</a>; under Elamite kings of Larsa in
+Hammurabi Age, <a href="#page.anchor.242">242</a>; Abraham's
+migration from, <a href="#page.anchor.245">245</a>; Chaldasans
+and, <a href="#page.anchor.391">391</a>; revolt against
+Ashur-bani-pal, <a href="#page.anchor.484">484</a>; Nabonidus
+and, <a href="#page.anchor.492">492</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Ura (oo&acute;ra), god of disease, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.77">77</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Ural-Altaic stock, Turks and Finns of, Sumerians and,
+<a href="#page.anchor.4">4</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Urartu (&uuml;r-ar&acute;t&uuml;), combines with Phrygians
+and Hittites against Sargon II, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.460">460</a>; as vassal state of Assyria, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.461">461</a>; rise of kingdom of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.395">395</a>; god and culture of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.440">440</a>; Adadnirari and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.440">440</a>; ethnics of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.440">440</a> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>n</em></span>.; capital of,<a href=
+"#page.anchor.441">441</a>; Sharduris of routed by
+Tiglath-pileser IV, <a href="#page.anchor.446">446</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.447">447</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.450">450</a>;
+alliance with Hittites against Sargon II, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.460">460</a>; as vassal state of Assyria, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.461">461</a>; Cimmerians and Scythians raid,
+<a href="#page.anchor.461">461</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.464">464</a>; Sennacherib's murderers escape to,
+<a href="#page.anchor.470">470</a>; in Esarhaddon's reign,
+<a href="#page.anchor.472">472</a>; Assyrian alliance with,
+<a href="#page.anchor.473">473</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.486">486</a>; Cyaxares king of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.493">493</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Uri (&uuml;r&acute;i), early name of Akkad, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.2">2</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Ur-Nina (&uuml;r-ni&acute;n&auml;), King of Lagash, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.116">116</a>; gods worshipped by, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.116">116</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.117">117</a>;
+famous plague of, <a href="#page.anchor.117">117</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.118">118</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Ur-Ninip (&uuml;r-nin&acute;ip), King of Isin, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.132">132</a>; mysterious death of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.133">133</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Uruk (&uuml;r&acute;uk). See <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Erech</em></span>.</dt>
+<dt>Urukagina (&uuml;r-u-kag&acute;in-a), King of Lagash, first
+reformer in history, <a href="#page.anchor.121">121</a>; taxes
+and temple fees reduced by, <a href="#page.anchor.122">122</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.210">210</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.211">211</a>; fall of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.123">123</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.124">124</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Urumush (&uuml;r&acute;&uuml;-m&uuml;sh), Akkadian emperor,
+<a href="#page.anchor.127">127</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Utu (&uuml;&acute;t&uuml;), Sumerian name of sun god,
+<a href="#page.anchor.55">55</a>.</dt>
+</dl>
+</div>
+<div class="indexdiv">
+<h3 class="title">V</h3>
+<dl>
+<dt>Valentine, St., mating day of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.430">430</a>.</dt>
+<dt>V&#259;run&#259;, the Indian god, links with Ea-Oannes,
+<a href="#page.anchor.31">31</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.34">34</a>; sea fire of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.50">50</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.51">51</a>;
+Shamash the sun god and, <a href="#page.anchor.54">54</a>;
+association of with rain, <a href="#page.anchor.55">55</a>;
+Sumerian links with, <a href="#page.anchor.55">55</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.56">56</a>; worshippers of buried dead, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.56">56</a>; no human beings in Paradise of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.209">209</a>; attire of deities in Paradise
+of, <a href="#page.anchor.212">212</a>; the goat and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.333">333</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Vas&acute;olt, Tyrolese storm demon, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.74">74</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Vayu (v&auml;&acute;yu), Indian wind god, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.35">35</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Vedas (vay&acute;d&#259;s), astronomy of the, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.318">318</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Venus, the goddess, <a href="#page.anchor.17">17</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.296">296</a>; lovers of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.102">102</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Venus, the planet, Ishtar as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.296">296</a>; female at sunset and male at sunrise,
+<a href="#page.anchor.299">299</a>; in sun and moon group,
+<a href="#page.anchor.301">301</a>; rays of as beard, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.301">301</a>; as the "Proclaimer", <a href=
+"#page.anchor.314">314</a>; connection of with moon, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.314">314</a>; in astrology, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.318">318</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.324">324</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Vestal virgins, <a href="#page.anchor.228">228</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.229">229</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Vishnu (vish&acute;noo), the Indian god, like Ea, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.27">27</a>; Ea like, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.38">38</a>; eagle giant as vehicle of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.75">75</a>; Sri or Lakshmi wife of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.101">101</a>; sleep of on world serpent, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.150">150</a>; eagle and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.169">169</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.347">347</a>.</dt>
+<dt>"Vital spark", the, fire as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.49">49</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Voice, the pure, in Sumerian spell, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.46">46</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Vulture, as deity of fertility, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.429">429</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.430">430</a>;
+the Persian eagle legend and, <a href="#page.anchor.493">493</a>;
+goddess of Egypt, <a href="#page.anchor.168">168</a>; as
+protectors of Shakuntala, <a href="#page.anchor.423">423</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.424">424</a>.</dt>
+</dl>
+</div>
+<div class="indexdiv">
+<h3 class="title">W</h3>
+<dl>
+<dt>Wales, pig as the devil in, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.293">293</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Warad Sin, struggle of with Babylon, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.217">217</a>; the Biblical Arioch, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.247">247</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.248">248</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Warka. See <span class="emphasis"><em>Erech</em></span>.</dt>
+<dt>Water, control and distribution of in Babylonia, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.23">23</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.24">24</a>; corn
+deities and, <a href="#page.anchor.33">33</a>; essence of life
+in, <a href="#page.anchor.44">44</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.45">45</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.51">51</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Water gods and demons, <a href="#page.anchor.27">27</a>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>et seq.</em></span></dt>
+<dt>Water of Life, Gilgamesh's quest of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.177">177</a> <span class="emphasis"><em>et
+seq.</em></span>; in Alexander the Great myth, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.186">186</a>; in <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>Koran</em></span> legend, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.186">186</a>; in Gaelic legends, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.186">186</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.187">187</a>;
+in Indian legends, <a href="#page.anchor.187">187</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.210">210</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Waxen figures, in folk cures, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.234">234</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Weapons in graves, <a href="#page.anchor.212">212</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Weaving, in Late Stone Age, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.14">14</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Weeping ceremonies, the agricultural, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.82">82</a> <span class="emphasis"><em>et
+seq.</em></span>; the Egyptian god Rem, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.29">29</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Wells, worship of, <a href="#page.anchor.44">44</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Westminster Abbey, Long Meg and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.156">156</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Wheel of Life, the, Ashur, <a href="#page.anchor.334">334</a>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>et seq.</em></span>; Ezekiel's
+references to, <a href="#page.anchor.344">344</a> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>et seq.</em></span>; in Babylonian, Indian,
+Persian, and Hittite mythologies, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.346">346</a>-<a href="#page.anchor.348">348</a> ;
+in Indian mythology, <a href="#page.anchor.346">346</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.347">347</a>; the sun and the, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.348">348</a>; "dot within the circle" and egg
+thorn, <a href="#page.anchor.352">352</a>; Ahura Mazda's,
+<a href="#page.anchor.355">355</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Wife of Merodach, <a href="#page.anchor.221">221</a>; Amon's
+wife, <a href="#page.anchor.222">222</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Wild Huntsmen, the, Asiatic gods as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.35">35</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.64">64</a>.</dt>
+<dt>"Will-o'-the-wisp", the Babylonian and European, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.66">66</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.67">67</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Winckler, Dr. Hugo, Semitic migrations, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.10">10</a>; on Mitannian origins, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.268">268</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.269">269</a>;
+Boghaz-K&ouml;i tablets found by, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.280">280</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.367">367</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Wind, the south-west, demon of in Babylonia and Europe,
+<a href="#page.anchor.72">72</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.73">73</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Wind gods, Vayu, Enlil, Rarnman, &amp;c, as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.35">35</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Wind hags, Babylonia Shutu, Scottish Annie, English Annis,
+Irish Anu, <a href="#page.anchor.73">73</a>; Icelandic Angerboda,
+<a href="#page.anchor.73">73</a>; Tyrolese "wind brewers",
+<a href="#page.anchor.74">74</a>; Artemis as one of the, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.104">104</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Winds, the seven, as servants of Merodach, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.145">145</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Wine seller who became queen, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.114">114</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.115">115</a>;
+the female, <a href="#page.anchor.229">229</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Wolf, Nergal-Mars as the, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.303">303</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Women, as rulers in Egypt and Babylonia, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.16">16</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.17">17</a>;
+treatment of in early times, <a href="#page.anchor.15">15</a>;
+Nomads oppressors of, <a href="#page.anchor.16">16</a>; exalted
+by Mediterranean peoples, <a href="#page.anchor.16">16</a>;
+Sumerian laws regarding, <a href="#page.anchor.16">16</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.17">17</a>; the Sumerian language of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.17">17</a>; in goddess worship, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.106">106</a>-<a href="#page.anchor.108">108</a> ;
+social status of, <a href="#page.anchor.108">108</a>; position of
+in Hammurabi Code, <a href="#page.anchor.224">224</a>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>ei seq</em></span>.; the marriage
+market, <a href="#page.anchor.224">224</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.225">225</a>; drink traffic monopolized by,
+<a href="#page.anchor.229">229</a>.</dt>
+<dt>World hill, in Babylonian, Indian, and Egyptian mythologies,
+<a href="#page.anchor.332">332</a>.</dt>
+<dt>World serpent, in Eur-Asian mythologies, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.151">151</a>.</dt>
+<dt>World Soul, the Brahmanic, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.304">304</a>, <a href="#page.anchor.328">328</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.329">329</a>.</dt>
+<dt>"World spike", star called, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.332">332</a>.</dt>
+<dt>"World spine", the, <a href="#page.anchor.332">332</a>; the
+"world tree" and, <a href="#page.anchor.334">334</a>; Ashur
+standard as, <a href="#page.anchor.335">335</a>.</dt>
+<dt>World tree, symbol of "world spine", <a href=
+"#page.anchor.334">334</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Worm, the, dragon as, <a href="#page.anchor.151">151</a>; the
+legend of the, <a href="#page.anchor.234">234</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.235">235</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Wryneck, goddess and the, <a href="#page.anchor.427">427</a>
+<span class="emphasis"><em>n</em></span>.</dt>
+</dl>
+</div>
+<div class="indexdiv">
+<h3 class="title">X</h3>
+<dl>
+<dt>Xerxes, Merodach's temple pillaged by, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.497">497</a>.</dt>
+</dl>
+</div>
+<div class="indexdiv">
+<h3 class="title">Y</h3>
+<dl>
+<dt>Y&auml;, the Hebrew, Ea as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.31">31</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Yama (y&#259;&acute;m&#259;), Osiris and Gilgamesh and,
+<a href="#page.anchor.xxxii">xxxii</a>; Mitra and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.56">56</a>; eagle as, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.169">169</a>; Gilgamesh and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.200">200</a>; the Paradise of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.209">209</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Yng&acute;ve, the Germanic patriarch, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.93">93</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Y&uuml;g&#259;s, the Indian doctrine of, Babylonian origin
+of, <a href="#page.anchor.310">310</a> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>et seq</em></span>.</dt>
+</dl>
+</div>
+<div class="indexdiv">
+<h3 class="title">Z</h3>
+<dl>
+<dt>Zabium (za&acute;bi-um), king in Hammurabi Age, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.242">242</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Zachariah, King of Israel, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.449">449</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Zamama (z&auml;-m&auml;&acute;m&auml;), god of Kish, Tammuz
+traits of, <a href="#page.anchor.126">126</a>; identified with
+Merodach, <a href="#page.anchor.241">241</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Zambia (z&auml;m&acute;bi-a), King of Isin, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.133">133</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Zedekiah, King of Judah, conspiracy against Babylonia,
+<a href="#page.anchor.490">490</a>; punishment of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.491">491</a>; the captivity, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.491">491</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Zerpanitu<span class='phonetic'>m</span>
+(z&#257;r-p&auml;&acute;nit-u<span class='phonetic'>m</span>),
+mother goddess, <a href="#page.anchor.100">100</a>; as "Lady of
+the Abyss", <a href="#page.anchor.160">160</a>; as Aruru,
+<a href="#page.anchor.160">160</a>; Persian goddess and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.496">496</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Zeus (to rhyme with <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>mouse</em></span>), the god, as sea-god's brother,
+<a href="#page.anchor.33">33</a>; in Adonis myth, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.90">90</a>; an imported god, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.105">105</a>; in father and son myth, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.158">158</a>; eagle of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.168">168</a>; deities that link with, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.261">261</a>; the "Great Bear" myth and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.296">296</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Zi (zee&acute;), the Sumerian manifestation of life, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.291">291</a>; "Sige the mother" as Ziku, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.328">328</a> <span class=
+"emphasis"><em>n</em></span>.</dt>
+<dt>Zimri, revolt of in Israel, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.405">405</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Zodiac, Signs of the, <a href="#page.anchor.147">147</a>,
+<a href="#page.anchor.301">301</a>, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.305">305</a>; Babylonian origin of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.306">306</a>; Hittites, Phoenicians, and Greeks
+and, <a href="#page.anchor.306">306</a>; stars of as "Divinities
+of Council", <a href="#page.anchor.309">309</a>; division of,
+<a href="#page.anchor.307">307</a>; the fields of Ea, Anu, and
+Bel, <a href="#page.anchor.307">307</a>; three stars for each
+month, <a href="#page.anchor.307">307</a>-<a href=
+"#page.anchor.309">309</a> ; the lunar in various countries,
+<a href="#page.anchor.309">309</a>; when signs of were fixed,
+<a href="#page.anchor.322">322</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Z&uuml; bird, Garuda eagle and, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.xxvi">xxvi</a>; myth of, <a href=
+"#page.anchor.74">74</a>.</dt>
+<dt>Zuzu (z&uuml;&acute;z&uuml;), King of Opis, captured by
+Eannatum of Lagash, <a href="#page.anchor.119">119</a>.</dt>
+</dl>
+</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
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+Project Gutenberg's Myths of Babylonia and Assyria, by Donald A. Mackenzie
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Myths of Babylonia and Assyria
+
+Author: Donald A. Mackenzie
+
+Release Date: September 5, 2005 [EBook #16653]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MYTHS OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Sami Sieranoja, Tapio Riikonen and PG
+Distributed Proofreaders
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+MYTHS OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA
+
+Donald A. Mackenzie
+
+
+
+TABLE OF CONTENTS
+
+                Preface
+                Introduction
+I.              The Races and Early Civilization of Babylonia
+II.             The Land of Rivers and the God of the Deep
+III.            Rival Pantheons and Representative Deities
+IV.             Demons, Fairies, and Ghosts
+V.              Myths of Tammuz and Ishtar
+VI.             Wars of the City States of Sumer and Akkad
+VII.            Creation Legend: Merodach the Dragon Slayer
+VIII.           Deified Heroes: Etana and Gilgamesh
+IX.             Deluge Legend, the Island of the Blessed, and Hades
+X.              Buildings and Laws and Customs of Babylon
+XI.             The Golden Age of Babylonia
+XII.            Rise of the Hittites, Mitannians, Kassites, Hyksos, and
+                Assyrians
+XIII.           Astrology and Astronomy
+XIV.            Ashur the National God of Assyria
+XV.             Conflicts for Trade and Supremacy
+XVI.            Race Movements that Shattered Empires
+XVII.           The Hebrews in Assyrian History
+XVIII.          The Age of Semiramis
+XIX.            Assyria's Age of Splendour
+XX.             The Last Days of Assyria and Babylonia
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+
+This volume deals with the myths and legends of Babylonia and Assyria,
+and as these reflect the civilization in which they developed, a
+historical narrative has been provided, beginning with the early
+Sumerian Age and concluding with the periods of the Persian and
+Grecian Empires. Over thirty centuries of human progress are thus
+passed under review.
+
+During this vast interval of time the cultural influences emanating
+from the Tigro-Euphrates valley reached far-distant shores along the
+intersecting avenues of trade, and in consequence of the periodic and
+widespread migrations of peoples who had acquired directly or
+indirectly the leavening elements of Mesopotamian civilization. Even
+at the present day traces survive in Europe of the early cultural
+impress of the East; our "Signs of the Zodiac", for instance, as well
+as the system of measuring time and space by using 60 as a basic
+numeral for calculation, are inheritances from ancient Babylonia.
+
+As in the Nile Valley, however, it is impossible to trace in
+Mesopotamia the initiatory stages of prehistoric culture based on the
+agricultural mode of life. What is generally called the "Dawn of
+History" is really the beginning of a later age of progress; it is
+necessary to account for the degree of civilization attained at the
+earliest period of which we have knowledge by postulating a remoter
+age of culture of much longer duration than that which separates the
+"Dawn" from the age in which we now live. Although Sumerian (early
+Babylonian) civilization presents distinctively local features which
+justify the application of the term "indigenous" in the broad sense,
+it is found, like that of Egypt, to be possessed of certain elements
+which suggest exceedingly remote influences and connections at present
+obscure. Of special interest in this regard is Professor Budge's
+mature and well-deliberated conclusion that "both the Sumerians and
+early Egyptians derived their primeval gods from some common but
+exceedingly ancient source". The prehistoric burial customs of these
+separate peoples are also remarkably similar and they resemble closely
+in turn those of the Neolithic Europeans. The cumulative effect of
+such evidence forces us to regard as not wholly satisfactory and
+conclusive the hypothesis of cultural influence. A remote racial
+connection is possible, and is certainly worthy of consideration when
+so high an authority as Professor Frazer, author of _The Golden
+Bough_, is found prepared to admit that the widespread "homogeneity of
+beliefs" may have been due to "homogeneity of race". It is shown
+(Chapter 1) that certain ethnologists have accumulated data which
+establish a racial kinship between the Neolithic Europeans, the
+proto-Egyptians, the Sumerians, the southern Persians, and the
+Aryo-Indians.
+
+Throughout this volume comparative notes have been compiled in dealing
+with Mesopotamian beliefs with purpose to assist the reader towards
+the study of linking myths and legends. Interesting parallels have
+been gleaned from various religious literatures in Europe, Egypt,
+India, and elsewhere. It will be found that certain relics of
+Babylonian intellectual life, which have a distinctive geographical
+significance, were shared by peoples in other cultural areas where
+they were similarly overlaid with local colour. Modes of thought were
+the products of modes of life and were influenced in their development
+by human experiences. The influence of environment on the growth of
+culture has long been recognized, but consideration must also be given
+to the choice of environment by peoples who had adopted distinctive
+habits of life. Racial units migrated from cultural areas to districts
+suitable for colonization and carried with them a heritage of
+immemorial beliefs and customs which were regarded as being quite as
+indispensable for their welfare as their implements and domesticated
+animals.
+
+When consideration is given in this connection to the conservative
+element in primitive religion, it is not surprising to find that the
+growth of religious myths was not so spontaneous in early
+civilizations of the highest order as has hitherto been assumed. It
+seems clear that in each great local mythology we have to deal, in the
+first place, not with symbolized ideas so much as symbolized folk
+beliefs of remote antiquity and, to a certain degree, of common
+inheritance. It may not be found possible to arrive at a conclusive
+solution of the most widespread, and therefore the most ancient folk
+myths, such as, for instance, the Dragon Myth, or the myth of the
+culture hero. Nor, perhaps, is it necessary that we should concern
+ourselves greatly regarding the origin of the idea of the dragon,
+which in one country symbolized fiery drought and in another
+overwhelming river floods.
+
+The student will find footing on surer ground by following the process
+which exalts the dragon of the folk tale into the symbol of evil and
+primordial chaos. The Babylonian Creation Myth, for instance, can be
+shown to be a localized and glorified legend in which the hero and his
+tribe are displaced by the war god and his fellow deities whose
+welfare depends on his prowess. Merodach kills the dragon, Tiamat, as
+the heroes of Eur-Asian folk stories kill grisly hags, by casting his
+weapon down her throat.
+
+    He severed her inward parts, he pierced her heart,
+    He overcame her and cut off her life;
+    He cast down her body and stood upon it ...
+    And with merciless club he smashed her skull.
+    He cut through the channels of her blood,
+    And he made the north wind to bear it away into secret places.
+
+Afterwards
+
+    He divided the flesh of the _Ku-pu_ and devised a cunning plan.
+
+Mr. L.W. King, from whose scholarly _Seven Tablets of Creation_ these
+lines are quoted, notes that "Ku-pu" is a word of uncertain meaning.
+Jensen suggests "trunk, body". Apparently Merodach obtained special
+knowledge after dividing, and perhaps eating, the "Ku-pu". His
+"cunning plan" is set forth in detail: he cut up the dragon's body:
+
+    He split her up like a flat fish into two halves.
+
+He formed the heavens with one half and the earth with the other, and
+then set the universe in order. His power and wisdom as the Demiurge
+were derived from the fierce and powerful Great Mother, Tiamat.
+
+In other dragon stories the heroes devise their plans after eating the
+dragon's heart. According to Philostratus,[1] Apollonius of Tyana was
+worthy of being remembered for two things--his bravery in travelling
+among fierce robber tribes, not then subject to Rome, and his wisdom
+in learning the language of birds and other animals as the Arabs do.
+This accomplishment the Arabs acquired, Philostratus explains, by
+eating the hearts of dragons. The "animals" who utter magic words are,
+of course, the Fates. Siegfried of the _Nibelungenlied_, after slaying
+the Regin dragon, makes himself invulnerable by bathing in its blood.
+He obtains wisdom by eating the heart: as soon as he tastes it he can
+understand the language of birds, and the birds reveal to him that
+Mimer is waiting to slay him. Sigurd similarly makes his plans after
+eating the heart of the Fafner dragon. In Scottish legend
+Finn-mac-Coul obtains the power to divine secrets by partaking of a
+small portion of the seventh salmon associated with the "well dragon",
+and Michael Scott and other folk heroes become great physicians after
+tasting the juices of the middle part of the body of the white snake.
+The hero of an Egyptian folk tale slays a "deathless snake" by cutting
+it in two parts and putting sand between the parts. He then obtains
+from the box, of which it is the guardian, the book of spells; when he
+reads a page of the spells he knows what the birds of the sky, the
+fish of the deep, and the beasts of the hill say; the book gives him
+power to enchant "the heaven and the earth, the abyss, the mountains
+and the sea".[2]
+
+Magic and religion were never separated in Babylonia; not only the
+priests but also the gods performed magical ceremonies. Ea, Merodach's
+father, overcame Apsu, the husband of the dragon Tiamat, by means of
+spells: he was "the great magician of the gods". Merodach's division
+of the "Ku-pu" was evidently an act of contagious magic; by eating or
+otherwise disposing of the vital part of the fierce and wise mother
+dragon, he became endowed with her attributes, and was able to proceed
+with the work of creation. Primitive peoples in our own day, like the
+Abipones of Paraguay, eat the flesh of fierce and cunning animals so
+that their strength, courage, and wisdom may be increased.
+
+The direct influence exercised by cultural contact, on the other hand,
+may be traced when myths with an alien geographical setting are found
+among peoples whose experiences could never have given them origin. In
+India, where the dragon symbolizes drought and the western river
+deities are female, the Manu fish and flood legend resembles closely
+the Babylonian, and seems to throw light upon it. Indeed, the Manu
+myth appears to have been derived from the lost flood story in which
+Ea figured prominently in fish form as the Preserver. The Babylonian
+Ea cult and the Indian Varuna cult had apparently much in common, as
+is shown.
+
+Throughout this volume special attention has been paid to the various
+peoples who were in immediate contact with, and were influenced by,
+Mesopotamian civilization. The histories are traced in outline of the
+Kingdoms of Elam, Urartu (Ancient Armenia), Mitanni, and the Hittites,
+while the story of the rise and decline of the Hebrew civilization, as
+narrated in the Bible and referred to in Mesopotamian inscriptions, is
+related from the earliest times until the captivity in the
+Neo-Babylonian period and the restoration during the age of the
+Persian Empire. The struggles waged between the great Powers for the
+control of trade routes, and the periodic migrations of pastoral
+warrior folks who determined the fate of empires, are also dealt with,
+so that light may be thrown on the various processes and influences
+associated with the developments of local religions and mythologies.
+Special chapters, with comparative notes, are devoted to the
+Ishtar-Tammuz myths, the Semiramis legends, Ashur and his symbols, and
+the origin and growth of astrology and astronomy.
+
+The ethnic disturbances which occurred at various well-defined periods
+in the Tigro-Euphrates valley were not always favourable to the
+advancement of knowledge and the growth of culture. The invaders who
+absorbed Sumerian civilization may have secured more settled
+conditions by welding together political units, but seem to have
+exercised a retrogressive influence on the growth of local culture.
+"Babylonian religion", writes Dr. Langdon, "appears to have reached
+its highest level in the Sumerian period, or at least not later than
+2000 B.C. From that period onward to the first century B.C. popular
+religion maintained with great difficulty the sacred standards of the
+past." Although it has been customary to characterize Mesopotamian
+civilization as Semitic, modern research tends to show that the
+indigenous inhabitants, who were non-Semitic, were its originators.
+Like the proto-Egyptians, the early Cretans, and the Pelasgians in
+southern Europe and Asia Minor, they invariably achieved the
+intellectual conquest of their conquerors, as in the earliest times
+they had won victories over the antagonistic forces of nature. If the
+modern view is accepted that these ancient agriculturists of the
+goddess cult were of common racial origin, it is to the most
+representative communities of the widespread Mediterranean race that
+the credit belongs of laying the foundations of the brilliant
+civilizations of the ancient world in southern Europe, and Egypt, and
+the valley of the Tigris and Euphrates.
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+
+Ancient Babylonia has made stronger appeal to the imagination of
+Christendom than even Ancient Egypt, because of its association with
+the captivity of the Hebrews, whose sorrows are enshrined in the
+familiar psalm:
+
+    By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down;
+    Yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.
+    We hanged our harps upon the willows....
+
+In sacred literature proud Babylon became the city of the anti-Christ,
+the symbol of wickedness and cruelty and human vanity. Early
+Christians who suffered persecution compared their worldly state to
+that of the oppressed and disconsolate Hebrews, and, like them, they
+sighed for Jerusalem--the new Jerusalem. When St. John the Divine had
+visions of the ultimate triumph of Christianity, he referred to its
+enemies--the unbelievers and persecutors--as the citizens of the
+earthly Babylon, the doom of which he pronounced in stately and
+memorable phrases:
+
+    Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen,
+    And is become the habitation of devils,
+    And the hold of every foul spirit,
+    And a cage of every unclean and hateful bird....
+
+    For her sins have reached unto heaven
+    And God hath remembered her iniquities....
+    The merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her,
+    For no man buyeth their merchandise any more.
+
+"At the noise of the taking of Babylon", cried Jeremiah, referring to
+the original Babylon, "the earth is moved, and the cry is heard among
+the nations.... It shall be no more inhabited forever; neither shall
+it be dwelt in from generation to generation." The Christian Saint
+rendered more profound the brooding silence of the desolated city of
+his vision by voicing memories of its beauty and gaiety and bustling
+trade:
+
+    The voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers and trumpeters
+        shall be heard no more at all in thee;
+    And no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any
+        more in thee;
+    And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee;
+    And the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no
+        more at all in thee:
+    For thy merchants were the great men of the earth;
+    For by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.
+    _And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints,
+    And of all that were slain upon the earth_.[3]
+
+So for nearly two thousand years has the haunting memory of the
+once-powerful city pervaded Christian literature, while its broken
+walls and ruined temples and palaces lay buried deep in desert sand.
+The history of the ancient land of which it was the capital survived
+in but meagre and fragmentary form, mingled with accumulated myths and
+legends. A slim volume contained all that could be derived from
+references in the Old Testament and the compilations of classical
+writers.
+
+It is only within the past half-century that the wonderful story of
+early Eastern civilization has been gradually pieced together by
+excavators and linguists, who have thrust open the door of the past
+and probed the hidden secrets of long ages. We now know more about
+"the land of Babel" than did not only the Greeks and Romans, but even
+the Hebrew writers who foretold its destruction. Glimpses are being
+afforded us of its life and manners and customs for some thirty
+centuries before the captives of Judah uttered lamentations on the
+banks of its reedy canals. The sites of some of the ancient cities of
+Babylonia and Assyria were identified by European officials and
+travellers in the East early in the nineteenth century, and a few
+relics found their way to Europe. But before Sir A.H. Layard set to
+work as an excavator in the "forties", "a case scarcely three feet
+square", as he himself wrote, "enclosed all that remained not only of
+the great city of Nineveh, but of Babylon itself".[4]
+
+Layard, the distinguished pioneer Assyriologist, was an Englishman of
+Huguenot descent, who was born in Paris. Through his mother he
+inherited a strain of Spanish blood. During his early boyhood he
+resided in Italy, and his education, which began there, was continued
+in schools in France, Switzerland, and England. He was a man of
+scholarly habits and fearless and independent character, a charming
+writer, and an accomplished fine-art critic; withal he was a great
+traveller, a strenuous politician, and an able diplomatist. In 1845,
+while sojourning in the East, he undertook the exploration of ancient
+Assyrian cities. He first set to work at Kalkhi, the Biblical Calah.
+Three years previously M.P.C. Botta, the French consul at Mosul, had
+begun to investigate the Nineveh mounds; but these he abandoned for a
+mound near Khorsabad which proved to be the site of the city erected
+by "Sargon the Later", who is referred to by Isaiah. The relics
+discovered by Botta and his successor, Victor Place, are preserved in
+the Louvre.
+
+At Kalkhi and Nineveh Layard uncovered the palaces of some of the most
+famous Assyrian Emperors, including the Biblical Shalmaneser and
+Esarhaddon, and obtained the colossi, bas reliefs, and other treasures
+of antiquity which formed the nucleus of the British Museum's
+unrivalled Assyrian collection. He also conducted diggings at Babylon
+and Niffer (Nippur). His work was continued by his assistant, Hormuzd
+Rassam, a native Christian of Mosul, near Nineveh. Rassam studied for
+a time at Oxford.
+
+The discoveries made by Layard and Botta stimulated others to follow
+their example. In the "fifties" Mr. W.K. Loftus engaged in excavations
+at Larsa and Erech, where important discoveries were made of ancient
+buildings, ornaments, tablets, sarcophagus graves, and pot burials,
+while Mr. J.E. Taylor operated at Ur, the seat of the moon cult and
+the birthplace of Abraham, and at Eridu, which is generally regarded
+as the cradle of early Babylonian (Sumerian) civilization.
+
+In 1854 Sir Henry Rawlinson superintended diggings at Birs Nimrud
+(Borsippa, near Babylon), and excavated relics of the Biblical
+Nebuchadrezzar. This notable archaeologist began his career in the
+East as an officer in the Bombay army. He distinguished himself as a
+political agent and diplomatist. While resident at Baghdad, he devoted
+his leisure time to cuneiform studies. One of his remarkable feats was
+the copying of the famous trilingual rock inscription of Darius the
+Great on a mountain cliff at Behistun, in Persian Kurdistan. This work
+was carried out at great personal risk, for the cliff is 1700 feet
+high and the sculptures and inscriptions are situated about 300 feet
+from the ground.
+
+Darius was the first monarch of his line to make use of the Persian
+cuneiform script, which in this case he utilized in conjunction with
+the older and more complicated Assyro-Babylonian alphabetic and
+syllabic characters to record a portion of the history of his reign.
+Rawlinson's translation of the famous inscription was an important
+contribution towards the decipherment of the cuneiform writings of
+Assyria and Babylonia.
+
+Twelve years of brilliant Mesopotamian discovery concluded in 1854,
+and further excavations had to be suspended until the "seventies" on
+account of the unsettled political conditions of the ancient land and
+the difficulties experienced in dealing with Turkish officials. During
+the interval, however, archaeologists and philologists were kept fully
+engaged studying the large amount of material which had been
+accumulated. Sir Henry Rawlinson began the issue of his monumental
+work _The Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia_ on behalf of the
+British Museum.
+
+Goodspeed refers to the early archaeological work as the "Heroic
+Period" of research, and says that the "Modern Scientific Period"
+began with Mr. George Smith's expedition to Nineveh in 1873.
+
+George Smith, like Henry Schliemann, the pioneer investigator of
+pre-Hellenic culture, was a self-educated man of humble origin. He was
+born at Chelsea in 1840. At fourteen he was apprenticed to an
+engraver. He was a youth of studious habits and great originality, and
+interested himself intensely in the discoveries which had been made by
+Layard and other explorers. At the British Museum, which he visited
+regularly to pore over the Assyrian inscriptions, he attracted the
+attention of Sir Henry Rawlinson. So greatly impressed was Sir Henry
+by the young man's enthusiasm and remarkable intelligence that he
+allowed him the use of his private room and provided casts and
+squeezes of inscriptions to assist him in his studies. Smith made
+rapid progress. His earliest discovery was the date of the payment of
+tribute by Jehu, King of Israel, to the Assyrian Emperor Shalmaneser.
+Sir Henry availed himself of the young investigator's assistance in
+producing the third volume of _The Cuneiform Inscriptions_.
+
+In 1867 Smith received an appointment in the Assyriology Department of
+the British Museum, and a few years later became famous throughout
+Christendom as the translator of fragments of the Babylonian Deluge
+Legend from tablets sent to London by Rassam. Sir Edwin Arnold, the
+poet and Orientalist, was at the time editor of the _Daily Telegraph_,
+and performed a memorable service to modern scholarship by dispatching
+Smith, on behalf of his paper, to Nineveh to search for other
+fragments of the Ancient Babylonian epic. Rassam had obtained the
+tablets from the great library of the cultured Emperor Ashur-bani-pal,
+"the great and noble Asnapper" of the Bible,[5] who took delight, as
+he himself recorded, in
+
+    The wisdom of Ea,[6] the art of song, the treasures of science.
+
+This royal patron of learning included in his library collection,
+copies and translations of tablets from Babylonia. Some of these were
+then over 2000 years old. The Babylonian literary relics were, indeed,
+of as great antiquity to Ashur-bani-pal as that monarch's relics are
+to us.
+
+The Emperor invoked Nebo, god of wisdom and learning, to bless his
+"books", praying:
+
+    Forever, O Nebo, King of all heaven and earth,
+    Look gladly upon this Library
+    Of Ashur-bani-pal, his (thy) shepherd, reverencer of thy
+        divinity.[7]
+
+Mr. George Smith's expedition to Nineveh in 1873 was exceedingly
+fruitful of results. More tablets were discovered and translated. In
+the following year he returned to the ancient Assyrian city on behalf
+of the British Museum, and added further by his scholarly achievements
+to his own reputation and the world's knowledge of antiquity. His last
+expedition was made early in 1876; on his homeward journey he was
+stricken down with fever, and on 19th August he died at Aleppo in his
+thirty-sixth year. So was a brilliant career brought to an untimely
+end.
+
+Rassam was engaged to continue Smith's great work, and between 1877
+and 1882 made many notable discoveries in Assyria and Babylonia,
+including the bronze doors of a Shalmaneser temple, the sun temple at
+Sippar; the palace of the Biblical Nebuchadrezzar, which was famous
+for its "hanging gardens"; a cylinder of Nabonidus, King of Babylon;
+and about fifty thousand tablets.
+
+M. de Sarzec, the French consul at Bassorah, began in 1877 excavations
+at the ancient Sumerian city of Lagash (Shirpula), and continued them
+until 1900. He found thousands of tablets, many has reliefs, votive
+statuettes, which worshippers apparently pinned on sacred shrines, the
+famous silver vase of King Entemena, statues of King Gudea, and
+various other treasures which are now in the Louvre.
+
+The pioneer work achieved by British and French excavators stimulated
+interest all over the world. An expedition was sent out from the
+United States by the University of Pennsylvania, and began to operate
+at Nippur in 1888. The Germans, who have displayed great activity in
+the domain of philological research, are at present represented by an
+exploring party which is conducting the systematic exploration of the
+ruins of Babylon. Even the Turkish Government has encouraged research
+work, and its excavators have accumulated a fine collection of
+antiquities at Constantinople. Among the archaeologists and linguists
+of various nationalities who are devoting themselves to the study of
+ancient Assyrian and Babylonian records and literature, and gradually
+unfolding the story of ancient Eastern civilization, those of our own
+country occupy a prominent position. One of the most interesting
+discoveries of recent years has been new fragments of the Creation
+Legend by L.W. King of the British Museum, whose scholarly work, _The
+Seven Tablets of Creation_, is the standard work on the subject.
+
+The archaeological work conducted in Persia, Asia Minor, Palestine,
+Cyprus, Crete, the Aegean, and Egypt has thrown, and is throwing, much
+light on the relations between the various civilizations of antiquity.
+In addition to the Hittite discoveries, with which the name of
+Professor Sayce will ever be associated as a pioneer, we now hear much
+of the hitherto unknown civilizations of Mitanni and Urartu (ancient
+Armenia), which contributed to the shaping of ancient history. The
+Biblical narratives of the rise and decline of the Hebrew kingdoms
+have also been greatly elucidated.
+
+In this volume, which deals mainly with the intellectual life of the
+Mesopotamian peoples, a historical narrative has been provided as an
+appropriate setting for the myths and legends. In this connection the
+reader must be reminded that the chronology of the early period is
+still uncertain. The approximate dates which are given, however, are
+those now generally adopted by most European and American authorities.
+Early Babylonian history of the Sumerian period begins some time prior
+to 3000 B.C; Sargon of Akkad flourished about 2650 B.C., and Hammurabi
+not long before or after 2000 B.C. The inflated system of dating which
+places Mena of Egypt as far back as 5500 B.C. and Sargon at about 3800
+B.C. has been abandoned by the majority of prominent archaeologists,
+the exceptions including Professor Flinders Petrie. Recent discoveries
+appear to support the new chronological system. "There is a growing
+conviction", writes Mr. Hawes, "that Cretan evidence, especially in
+the eastern part of the island, favours the minimum (Berlin) system of
+Egyptian chronology, according to which the Sixth (Egyptian) Dynasty
+began at _c_. 2540 B.C. and the Twelfth at _c_. 2000 B.C.[8] Petrie
+dates the beginning of the Twelfth Dynasty at _c_. 3400 B.C.
+
+To students of comparative folklore and mythology the myths and
+legends of Babylonia present many features of engrossing interest.
+They are of great antiquity, yet not a few seem curiously familiar. We
+must not conclude, however, that because a European legend may bear
+resemblances to one translated from a cuneiform tablet it is
+necessarily of Babylonian origin. Certain beliefs, and the myths which
+were based upon them, are older than even the civilization of the
+Tigro-Euphrates valley. They belong, it would appear, to a stock of
+common inheritance from an uncertain cultural centre of immense
+antiquity. The problem involved has been referred to by Professor
+Frazer in the _Golden Bough_. Commenting on the similarities presented
+by certain ancient festivals in various countries, he suggests that
+they may be due to "a remarkable homogeneity of civilization
+throughout Southern Europe and Western Asia in prehistoric times. How
+far", he adds, "such homogeneity of civilization may be taken as
+evidence of homogeneity of race is a question for the ethnologist."[9]
+
+In Chapter I the reader is introduced to the ethnological problem, and
+it is shown that the results of modern research tend to establish a
+remote racial connection between the Sumerians of Babylonia, the
+prehistoric Egyptians, and the Neolithic (Late Stone Age) inhabitants
+of Europe, as well as the southern Persians and the "Aryans" of India.
+
+Comparative notes are provided in dealing with the customs, religious
+beliefs, and myths and legends of the Mesopotamian peoples to assist
+the student towards the elucidation and partial restoration of certain
+literary fragments from the cuneiform tablets. Of special interest in
+this connection are the resemblances between some of the Indian and
+Babylonian myths. The writer has drawn upon that "great storehouse" of
+ancient legends, the voluminous Indian epic, the _Mahabharata_, and it
+is shown that there are undoubted links between the Garuda eagle myths
+and those of the Sumerian Zu bird and the Etana eagle, while similar
+stories remain attached to the memories of "Sargon of Akkad" and the
+Indian hero Karna, and of Semiramis (who was Queen Sammu-ramat of
+Assyria) and Shakuntala. The Indian god Varuna and the Sumerian Ea are
+also found to have much in common, and it seems undoubted that the
+Manu fish and flood myth is a direct Babylonian inheritance, like the
+Yuga (Ages of the Universe) doctrine and the system of calculation
+associated with it. It is of interest to note, too, that a portion of
+the Gilgamesh epic survives in the _Ramayana_ story of the monkey god
+Hanuman's search for the lost princess Sita; other relics of similar
+character suggest that both the Gilgamesh and Hanuman narratives are
+derived in part from a very ancient myth. Gilgamesh also figures in
+Indian mythology as Yama, the first man, who explored the way to the
+Paradise called "The Land of Ancestors", and over which he
+subsequently presided as a god. Other Babylonian myths link with those
+found in Egypt, Greece, Scandinavia, Iceland, and the British Isles
+and Ireland. The Sargon myth, for instance, resembles closely the myth
+of Scyld (Sceaf), the patriarch, in the _Beowulf_ epic, and both
+appear to be variations of the Tammuz-Adonis story. Tammuz also
+resembles in one of his phases the Celtic hero Diarmid, who was slain
+by the "green boar" of the Earth Mother, as was Adonis by the boar
+form of Ares, the Greek war god.
+
+In approaching the study of these linking myths it would be as rash to
+conclude that all resemblances are due to homogeneity of race as to
+assume that folklore and mythology are devoid of ethnological
+elements. Due consideration must be given to the widespread influence
+exercised by cultural contact. We must recognize also that the human
+mind has ever shown a tendency to arrive quite independently at
+similar conclusions, when confronted by similar problems, in various
+parts of the world.
+
+But while many remarkable resemblances may be detected between the
+beliefs and myths and customs of widely separated peoples, it cannot
+be overlooked that pronounced and striking differences remain to be
+accounted for. Human experiences varied in localities because all
+sections of humanity were not confronted in ancient times by the same
+problems in their everyday lives. Some peoples, for instance,
+experienced no great difficulties regarding the food supply, which
+might be provided for them by nature in lavish abundance; others were
+compelled to wage a fierce and constant conflict against hostile
+forces in inhospitable environments with purpose to secure adequate
+sustenance and their meed of enjoyment. Various habits of life had to
+be adopted in various parts of the world, and these produced various
+habits of thought. Consequently, we find that behind all systems of
+primitive religion lies the formative background of natural phenomena.
+A mythology reflects the geography, the fauna and flora, and the
+climatic conditions of the area in which it took definite and
+permanent shape.
+
+In Babylonia, as elsewhere, we expect, therefore, to find a mythology
+which has strictly local characteristics--one which mirrors river and
+valley scenery, the habits of life of the people, and also the various
+stages of progress in the civilization from its earliest beginnings.
+Traces of primitive thought--survivals from remotest antiquity--should
+also remain in evidence. As a matter of fact Babylonian mythology
+fulfils our expectations in this regard to the highest degree.
+
+Herodotus said that Egypt was the gift of the Nile: similarly
+Babylonia may be regarded as the gift of the Tigris and
+Euphrates--those great shifting and flooding rivers which for long
+ages had been carrying down from the Armenian Highlands vast
+quantities of mud to thrust back the waters of the Persian Gulf and
+form a country capable of being utilized for human habitation. The
+most typical Babylonian deity was Ea, the god of the fertilizing and
+creative waters.
+
+He was depicted clad in the skin of a fish, as gods in other
+geographical areas were depicted wearing the skins of animals which
+were regarded as ancestors, or hostile demons that had to be
+propitiated. Originally Ea appears to have been a fish--the
+incarnation of the spirit of, or life principle in, the Euphrates
+River. His centre of worship was at Eridu, an ancient seaport, where
+apparently the prehistoric Babylonians (the Sumerians) first began to
+utilize the dried-up beds of shifting streams to irrigate the soil.
+One of the several creation myths is reminiscent of those early
+experiences which produced early local beliefs:
+
+    O thou River, who didst create all things,
+    When the great gods dug thee out,
+    They set prosperity upon thy banks,
+    Within thee Ea, the king of the Deep, created his dwelling.[10]
+
+The Sumerians observed that the land was brought into existence by
+means of the obstructing reeds, which caused mud to accumulate. When
+their minds began to be exercised regarding the origin of life, they
+conceived that the first human beings were created by a similar
+process:
+
+    Marduk (son of Ea) laid a reed upon the face of the waters,
+    He formed dust and poured it out beside the reed ...
+    He formed mankind.[11]
+
+Ea acquired in time, as the divine artisan, various attributes which
+reflected the gradual growth of civilization: he was reputed to have
+taught the people how to form canals, control the rivers, cultivate
+the fields, build their houses, and so on.
+
+But although Ea became a beneficent deity, as a result of the growth
+of civilization, he had also a demoniac form, and had to be
+propitiated. The worshippers of the fish god retained ancient modes of
+thought and perpetuated ancient superstitious practices.
+
+The earliest settlers in the Tigro-Euphrates valley were
+agriculturists, like their congeners, the proto-Egyptians and the
+Neolithic Europeans. Before they broke away from the parent stock in
+its area of characterization they had acquired the elements of
+culture, and adopted habits of thought which were based on the
+agricultural mode of life. Like other agricultural communities they
+were worshippers of the "World Mother", the Creatrix, who was the
+giver of all good things, the "Preserver" and also the
+"Destroyer"--the goddess whose moods were reflected by natural
+phenomena, and whose lovers were the spirits of the seasons.
+
+In the alluvial valley which they rendered fit for habitation the
+Sumerians came into contact with peoples of different habits of life
+and different habits of thought. These were the nomadic pastoralists
+from the northern steppe lands, who had developed in isolation
+theories regarding the origin of the Universe which reflected their
+particular experiences and the natural phenomena of their area of
+characterization. The most representative people of this class were
+the "Hatti" of Asia Minor, who were of Alpine or Armenoid stock. In
+early times the nomads were broken up into small tribal units, like
+Abraham and his followers, and depended for their food supply on the
+prowess of the males. Their chief deity was the sky and mountain god,
+who was the "World Father", the creator, and the wielder of the
+thunder hammer, who waged war against the demons of storm or drought,
+and ensured the food supply of his worshippers.
+
+The fusion in Babylonia of the peoples of the god and goddess cults
+was in progress before the dawn of history, as was the case in Egypt
+and also in southern Europe. In consequence independent Pantheons came
+into existence in the various city States in the Tigro-Euphrates
+valley. These were mainly a reflection of city politics: the deities
+of each influential section had to receive recognition. But among the
+great masses of the people ancient customs associated with agriculture
+continued in practice, and, as Babylonia depended for its prosperity
+on its harvests, the force of public opinion tended, it would appear,
+to perpetuate the religious beliefs of the earliest settlers, despite
+the efforts made by conquerors to exalt the deities they introduced.
+
+Babylonian religion was of twofold character. It embraced temple
+worship and private worship. The religion of the temple was the
+religion of the ruling class, and especially of the king, who was the
+guardian of the people. Domestic religion was conducted in homes, in
+reed huts, or in public places, and conserved the crudest
+superstitions surviving from the earliest times. The great "burnings"
+and the human sacrifices in Babylonia, referred to in the Bible, were,
+no doubt, connected with agricultural religion of the private order,
+as was also the ceremony of baking and offering cakes to the Queen of
+Heaven, condemned by Jeremiah, which obtained in the streets of
+Jerusalem and other cities. Domestic religion required no temples.
+There were no temples in Crete: the world was the "house" of the
+deity, who had seasonal haunts on hilltops, in groves, in caves, &c.
+In Egypt Herodotus witnessed festivals and processions which are not
+referred to in official inscriptions, although they were evidently
+practised from the earliest times.
+
+Agricultural religion in Egypt was concentrated in the cult of Osiris
+and Isis, and influenced all local theologies. In Babylonia these
+deities were represented by Tammuz and Ishtar. Ishtar, like Isis,
+absorbed many other local goddesses.
+
+According to the beliefs of the ancient agriculturists the goddess was
+eternal and undecaying. She was the Great Mother of the Universe and
+the source of the food supply. Her son, the corn god, became, as the
+Egyptians put it, "Husband of his Mother". Each year he was born anew
+and rapidly attained to manhood; then he was slain by a fierce rival
+who symbolized the season of pestilence-bringing and parching sun
+heat, or the rainy season, or wild beasts of prey. Or it might be that
+he was slain by his son, as Cronos was by Zeus and Dyaus by Indra. The
+new year slew the old year.
+
+The social customs of the people, which had a religious basis, were
+formed in accordance with the doings of the deities; they sorrowed or
+made glad in sympathy with the spirits of nature. Worshippers also
+suggested by their ceremonies how the deities should act at various
+seasons, and thus exercised, as they believed, a magical control over
+them.
+
+In Babylonia the agricultural myth regarding the Mother goddess and
+the young god had many variations. In one form Tammuz, like Adonis,
+was loved by two goddesses--the twin phases of nature--the Queen of
+Heaven and the Queen of Hades. It was decreed that Tammuz should spend
+part of the year with one goddess and part of the year with the other.
+Tammuz was also a Patriarch, who reigned for a long period over the
+land and had human offspring. After death his spirit appeared at
+certain times and seasons as a planet, star, or constellation. He was
+the ghost of the elder god, and he was also the younger god who was
+born each year.
+
+In the Gilgamesh epic we appear to have a form of the patriarch
+legend--the story of the "culture hero" and teacher who discovered the
+path which led to the land of ancestral spirits. The heroic Patriarch
+in Egypt was Apuatu, "the opener of the ways", the earliest form of
+Osiris; in India he was Yama, the first man, "who searched and found
+out the path for many".
+
+The King as Patriarch was regarded during life as an incarnation of
+the culture god: after death he merged in the god. "Sargon of Akkad"
+posed as an incarnation of the ancient agricultural Patriarch: he
+professed to be a man of miraculous birth who was loved by the goddess
+Ishtar, and was supposed to have inaugurated a New Age of the
+Universe.
+
+The myth regarding the father who was superseded by his son may
+account for the existence in Babylonian city pantheons of elder and
+younger gods who symbolized the passive and active forces of nature.
+
+Considering the persistent and cumulative influence exercised by
+agricultural religion it is not surprising to find, as has been
+indicated, that most of the Babylonian gods had Tammuz traits, as most
+of the Egyptian gods had Osirian traits. Although local or imported
+deities were developed and conventionalized in rival Babylonian
+cities, they still retained traces of primitive conceptions. They
+existed in all their forms--as the younger god who displaced the elder
+god and became the elder god, and as the elder god who conciliated the
+younger god and made him his active agent; and as the god who was
+identified at various seasons with different heavenly bodies and
+natural phenomena. Merodach, the god of Babylon, who was exalted as
+chief of the National pantheon in the Hammurabi Age, was, like Tammuz,
+a son, and therefore a form of Ea, a demon slayer, a war god, a god of
+fertility, a corn spirit, a Patriarch, and world ruler and guardian,
+and, like Tammuz, he had solar, lunar, astral, and atmospheric
+attributes. The complex characters of Merodach and Tammuz were not due
+solely to the monotheistic tendency: the oldest deities were of
+mystical character, they represented the "Self Power" of Naturalism as
+well as the spirit groups of Animism.
+
+The theorizing priests, who speculated regarding the mysteries of life
+and death and the origin of all things, had to address the people
+through the medium of popular beliefs. They utilized floating myths
+for this purpose. As there were in early times various centres of
+culture which had rival pantheons, the adapted myths varied greatly.
+In the different forms in which they survive to us they reflect, not
+only aspects of local beliefs, but also grades of culture at different
+periods. We must not expect, however, to find that the latest form of
+a myth was the highest and most profound. The history of Babylonian
+religion is divided into periods of growth and periods of decadence.
+The influence of domestic religion was invariably opposed to the new
+and high doctrines which emanated from the priesthood, and in times of
+political upheaval tended to submerge them in the debris of immemorial
+beliefs and customs. The retrogressive tendencies of the masses were
+invariably reinforced by the periodic invasions of aliens who had no
+respect for official deities and temple creeds.
+
+We must avoid insisting too strongly on the application of the
+evolution theory to the religious phenomena of a country like
+Babylonia.
+
+The epochs in the intellectual life of an ancient people are not
+comparable to geological epochs, for instance, because the forces at
+work were directed by human wills, whether in the interests of
+progress or otherwise. The battle of creeds has ever been a battle of
+minds. It should be recognized, therefore, that the human element
+bulks as prominently in the drama of Babylon's religious history as
+does the prince of Denmark in the play of _Hamlet_. We are not
+concerned with the plot alone. The characters must also receive
+attention. Their aspirations and triumphs, their prejudices and
+blunders, were the billowy forces which shaped the shoreland of the
+story and made history.
+
+Various aspects of Babylonian life and culture are dealt with
+throughout this volume, and it is shown that the growth of science and
+art was stimulated by unwholesome and crude superstitions. Many rank
+weeds flourished beside the brightest blossoms of the human intellect
+that wooed the sun in that fertile valley of rivers. As in Egypt,
+civilization made progress when wealth was accumulated in sufficient
+abundance to permit of a leisured class devoting time to study and
+research. The endowed priests, who performed temple ceremonies, were
+the teachers of the people and the patrons of culture. We may think
+little of their religious beliefs, regarding which after all we have
+only a superficial knowledge, for we have yet discovered little more
+than the fragments of the shell which held the pearl, the faded petals
+that were once a rose, but we must recognize that they provided
+inspiration for the artists and sculptors whose achievements compel
+our wonder and admiration, moved statesmen to inaugurate and
+administer humanitarian laws, and exalted Right above Might.
+
+These civilizations of the old world, among which the Mesopotamian and
+the Nilotic were the earliest, were built on no unsound foundations.
+They made possible "the glory that was Greece and the grandeur that
+was Rome", and it is only within recent years that we have begun to
+realize how incalculable is the debt which the modern world owes to
+them.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+THE RACES AND EARLY CIVILIZATION OF BABYLONIA
+
+
+  Prehistoric Babylonia--The Confederacies of Sumer and
+  Akkad--Sumerian Racial Affinities--Theories of Mongolian and
+  Ural-Altaic Origins--Evidence of Russian Turkestan--Beginnings of
+  Agriculture--Remarkable Proofs from Prehistoric Egyptian
+  Graves--Sumerians and the Mediterranean Race--Present-day Types in
+  Western Asia--The Evidence of Crania--Origin of the Akkadians--The
+  Semitic Blend--Races in Ancient Palestine--Southward Drift of
+  Armenoid Peoples--The Rephaims of the Bible--Akkadians attain
+  Political Supremacy in Northern Babylonia--Influence of Sumerian
+  Culture--Beginnings of Civilization--Progress in the Neolithic
+  Age--Position of Women in Early Communities--Their Legal Status in
+  Ancient Babylonia--Influence in Social and Religious Life--The
+  "Woman's Language"--Goddess who inspired Poets.
+
+
+Before the dawn of the historical period Ancient Babylonia was
+divided into a number of independent city states similar to those
+which existed in pre-Dynastic Egypt. Ultimately these were grouped
+into loose confederacies. The northern cities were embraced in the
+territory known as Akkad, and the southern in the land of Sumer, or
+Shumer. This division had a racial as well as a geographical
+significance. The Akkadians were "late comers" who had achieved
+political ascendency in the north when the area they occupied was
+called Uri, or Kiuri, and Sumer was known as Kengi. They were a people
+of Semitic speech with pronounced Semitic affinities. From the
+earliest times the sculptors depicted them with abundant locks, long
+full beards, and the prominent distinctive noses and full lips, which
+we usually associate with the characteristic Jewish type, and also
+attired in long, flounced robes, suspended from their left shoulders,
+and reaching down to their ankles. In contrast, the Sumerians had
+clean-shaven faces and scalps, and noses of Egyptian and Grecian
+rather than Semitic type, while they wore short, pleated kilts, and
+went about with the upper part of their bodies quite bare like the
+Egyptian noblemen of the Old Kingdom period. They spoke a non-Semitic
+language, and were the oldest inhabitants of Babylonia of whom we have
+any knowledge. Sumerian civilization was rooted in the agricultural
+mode of life, and appears to have been well developed before the
+Semites became numerous and influential in the land. Cities had been
+built chiefly of sun-dried and fire-baked bricks; distinctive pottery
+was manufactured with much skill; the people were governed by
+humanitarian laws, which formed the nucleus of the Hammurabi code, and
+had in use a system of cuneiform writing which was still in process of
+development from earlier pictorial characters. The distinctive feature
+of their agricultural methods was the engineering skill which was
+displayed in extending the cultivatable area by the construction of
+irrigating canals and ditches. There are also indications that they
+possessed some knowledge of navigation and traded on the Persian Gulf.
+According to one of their own traditions Eridu, originally a seaport,
+was their racial cradle. The Semitic Akkadians adopted the distinctive
+culture of these Sumerians after settlement, and exercised an
+influence on its subsequent growth.
+
+Much controversy has been waged regarding the original home of the
+Sumerians and the particular racial type which they represented. One
+theory connects them with the lank-haired and beardless Mongolians,
+and it is asserted on the evidence afforded by early sculptural
+reliefs that they were similarly oblique-eyed. As they also spoke an
+agglutinative language, it is suggested that they were descended from
+the same parent stock as the Chinese in an ancient Parthian homeland.
+If, however, the oblique eye was not the result of faulty and
+primitive art, it is evident that the Mongolian type, which is
+invariably found to be remarkably persistent in racial blends, did not
+survive in the Tigris and Euphrates valleys, for in the finer and more
+exact sculpture work of the later Sumerian period the eyes of the
+ruling classes are found to be similar to those of the Ancient
+Egyptians and southern Europeans. Other facial characteristics suggest
+that a Mongolian racial connection is highly improbable; the prominent
+Sumerian nose, for instance, is quite unlike the Chinese, which is
+diminutive. Nor can far-reaching conclusions be drawn from the scanty
+linguistic evidence at our disposal. Although the languages of the
+Sumerians and long-headed Chinese are of the agglutinative variety, so
+are those also which are spoken by the broad-headed Turks and Magyars
+of Hungary, the broad-headed and long-headed, dark and fair Finns, and
+the brunet and short-statured Basques with pear-shaped faces, who are
+regarded as a variation of the Mediterranean race with distinctive
+characteristics developed in isolation. Languages afford no sure
+indication of racial origins or affinities.
+
+Another theory connects the Sumerians with the broad-headed peoples of
+the Western Asian plains and plateaus, who are vaguely grouped as
+Ural-Altaic stock and are represented by the present-day Turks and the
+dark variety of Finns. It is assumed that they migrated southward in
+remote times in consequence of tribal pressure caused by changing
+climatic conditions, and abandoned a purely pastoral for an
+agricultural life. The late Sumerian sculpture work again presents
+difficulties in this connection, for the faces and bulging occiputs
+suggest rather a long-headed than a broad-headed type, and the theory
+no longer obtains that new habits of life alter skull forms which are
+usually associated with other distinctive traits in the structure of
+skeletons. These broad-headed nomadic peoples of the Steppes are
+allied to Tatar stock, and distinguished from the pure Mongols by
+their abundance of wavy hair and beard. The fact that the Sumerians
+shaved their scalps and faces is highly suggestive in this connection.
+From the earliest times it has been the habit of most peoples to
+emphasize their racial characteristics so as to be able, one may
+suggest, to distinguish readily a friend from a foeman. At any rate
+this fact is generally recognized by ethnologists. The Basques, for
+instance, shave their pointed chins and sometimes grow short side
+whiskers to increase the distinctive pear-shape which is given to
+their faces by their prominent temples. In contrast, their neighbours,
+the Andalusians, grow chin whiskers to broaden their already rounded
+chins, and to distinguish them markedly from the Basques.[12] Another
+example of similar character is afforded in Asia Minor, where the
+skulls of the children of long-headed Kurds are narrowed, and those of
+the children of broad-headed Armenians made flatter behind as a result
+of systematic pressure applied by using cradle boards. In this way
+these rival peoples accentuate their contrasting head forms, which at
+times may, no doubt, show a tendency towards variation as a result of
+the crossment of types. When it is found, therefore, that the
+Sumerians, like the Ancient Egyptians, were in the habit of shaving,
+their ethnic affinities should be looked for among a naturally
+glabrous rather than a heavily-bearded people.
+
+A Central Asiatic source for Sumerian culture has also been urged of
+late with much circumstantial detail. It breaks quite fresh and
+interesting ground. Recent scientific expeditions in Russian and
+Chinese Turkestan have accumulated important archaeological data which
+clearly establish that vast areas of desert country were at a remote
+period most verdurous and fruitful, and thickly populated by organized
+and apparently progressive communities. From these ancient centres of
+civilization wholesale migrations must have been impelled from time to
+time in consequence of the gradual encroachment of wind-distributed
+sand and the increasing shortage of water. At Anau in Russian
+Turkestan, where excavations were conducted by the Pumpelly
+expedition, abundant traces were found of an archaic and forgotten
+civilization reaching back to the Late Stone Age. The pottery is
+decorated with geometric designs, and resembles somewhat other
+Neolithic specimens found as far apart as Susa, the capital of ancient
+Elam, on the borders of Babylonia, Boghaz Koei in Asia Minor, the seat
+of Hittite administration, round the Black Sea to the north, and at
+points in the southern regions of the Balkan Peninsula. It is
+suggested that these various finds are scattered evidences of early
+racial drifts from the Central Asian areas which were gradually being
+rendered uninhabitable. Among the Copper Age artifacts at Anau are
+clay votive statuettes resembling those which were used in Sumeria for
+religious purposes. These, however, cannot be held to prove a racial
+connection, but they are important in so far as they afford evidence
+of early trade relations in a hitherto unsuspected direction, and the
+long distances over which cultural influence extended before the dawn
+of history. Further we cannot go. No inscriptions have yet been
+discovered to render articulate this mysterious Central Asian
+civilization, or to suggest the original source of early Sumerian
+picture writing. Nor is it possible to confirm Mr. Pumpelly's view
+that from the Anau district the Sumerians and Egyptians first obtained
+barley and wheat, and some of their domesticated animals. If, as
+Professor Elliot Smith believes, copper was first used by the Ancient
+Egyptians, it may be, on the other hand, that a knowledge of this
+metal reached Anau through Sumeria, and that the elements of the
+earlier culture were derived from the same quarter by an indirect
+route. The evidence obtainable in Egypt is of interest in this
+connection. Large quantities of food have been taken from the stomachs
+and intestines of sun-dried bodies which have lain in their
+pre-Dynastic graves for over sixty centuries. This material has been
+carefully examined, and has yielded, among other things, husks of
+barley and millet, and fragments of mammalian bones, including those,
+no doubt, of the domesticated sheep and goats and cattle painted on
+the pottery.[13] It is therefore apparent that at an extremely remote
+period a knowledge of agriculture extended throughout Egypt, and we
+have no reason for supposing that it was not shared by the
+contemporary inhabitants of Sumer.
+
+The various theories which have been propounded regarding the outside
+source of Sumerian culture are based on the assumption that it
+commenced abruptly and full grown. Its rude beginnings cannot be
+traced on the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates, but although no
+specimens of the earliest form of picture writing have been recovered
+from the ruins of Sumerian and Akkadian cities, neither have any been
+found elsewhere. The possibility remains, therefore, that early
+Babylonian culture was indigenous. "A great deal of ingenuity has been
+displayed by many scholars", says Professor Elliot Smith, "with the
+object of bringing these Sumerians from somewhere else as immigrants
+into Sumer; but no reasons have been advanced to show that they had
+not been settled at the head of the Persian Gulf for long generations
+before they first appeared on the stage of history. The argument that
+no early remains have been found is futile, not only because such a
+country as Sumer is no more favourable to the preservation of such
+evidence than is the Delta of the Nile, but also upon the more general
+grounds that negative statements of this sort cannot be assigned a
+positive evidence for an immigration."[14] This distinguished
+ethnologist is frankly of opinion that the Sumerians were the
+congeners of the pre-Dynastic Egyptians of the Mediterranean or Brown
+race, the eastern branch of which reaches to India and the western to
+the British Isles and Ireland. In the same ancient family are included
+the Arabs, whose physical characteristics distinguish them from the
+Semites of Jewish type.
+
+Some light may be thrown on the Sumerian problem by giving
+consideration to the present-day racial complexion of Western Asia.
+The importance of evidence of this character has been emphasized
+elsewhere. In Egypt, for instance, Dr. C.S. Myers has ascertained that
+the modern peasants have skull forms which are identical with those of
+their pre-Dynastic ancestors. Mr. Hawes has also demonstrated that the
+ancient inhabitants of Crete are still represented on that famous
+island. But even more remarkable is the fact that the distinctive
+racial type which occupied the Palaeolithic caves of the Dordogne
+valley in France continues to survive in their vicinity after an
+interval of over twenty thousand years.[15] It is noteworthy,
+therefore, to find that in south-western Asia at the present day one
+particular racial type predominates over all others. Professor Ripley,
+who summarizes a considerable mass of data in this connection, refers
+to it as the "Iranian", and says: "It includes the Persians and Kurds,
+possibly the Ossetes in the Caucasus, and farther to the east a large
+number of Asiatic tribes, from the Afghans to the Hindus. These
+peoples are all primarily long-headed and dark brunets. They incline
+to slenderness of habit, although varying in stature according to
+circumstances. In them we recognize at once undoubted congeners of our
+Mediterranean race in Europe. The area of their extension runs off
+into Africa, through the Egyptians, who are clearly of the same race.
+Not only the modern peoples, but the Ancient Egyptians and the
+Phoenicians also have been traced to the same source. By far the
+largest portion of this part of Western Asia is inhabited by this
+eastern branch of the Mediterranean race." The broad-headed type
+"occurs sporadically among a few ethnic remnants in Syria and
+Mesopotamia".[16] The exhaustive study of thousands of ancient crania
+in London and Cambridge collections has shown that Mediterranean
+peoples, having alien traits, the result of early admixture, were
+distributed between Egypt and the Punjab.[17] Where blending took
+place, the early type, apparently, continued to predominate; and it
+appears to be reasserting itself in our own time in Western Asia, as
+elsewhere. It seems doubtful, therefore, that the ancient Sumerians
+differed racially from the pre-Dynastic inhabitants of Egypt and the
+Pelasgians and Iberians of Europe. Indeed, the statuettes from Tello,
+the site of the Sumerian city of Lagash, display distinctively
+Mediterranean skull forms and faces. Some of the plump figures of the
+later period suggest, however, "the particular alien strain" which in
+Egypt and elsewhere "is always associated with a tendency to the
+development of fat", in contrast to "the lean and sinewy appearance of
+most representatives of the Brown race".[18] This change may be
+accounted for by the presence of the Semites in northern Babylonia.
+
+Whence, then, came these invading Semitic Akkadians of Jewish type? It
+is generally agreed that they were closely associated with one of the
+early outpourings of nomadic peoples from Arabia, a country which is
+favourable for the production of a larger population than it is able
+to maintain permanently, especially when its natural resources are
+restricted by a succession of abnormally dry years. In tracing the
+Akkadians from Arabia, however, we are confronted at the outset with
+the difficulty that its prehistoric, and many of its present-day,
+inhabitants are not of the characteristic Semitic type. On the Ancient
+Egyptian pottery and monuments the Arabs are depicted as men who
+closely resembled the representatives of the Mediterranean race in the
+Nile valley and elsewhere. They shaved neither scalps nor faces as did
+the historic Sumerians and Egyptians, but grew the slight moustache
+and chin-tuft beard like the Libyans on the north and the majority of
+the men whose bodies have been preserved in pre-Dynastic graves in the
+Nile valley. "If", writes Professor Elliot Smith, "the generally
+accepted view is true, that Arabia was the original home of the
+Semites, the Arab must have undergone a profound change in his
+physical characters after he left his homeland and before he reached
+Babylonia." This authority is of opinion that the Arabians first
+migrated into Palestine and northern Syria, where they mingled with
+the southward-migrating Armenoid peoples from Asia Minor. "This blend
+of Arabs, kinsmen of the proto-Egyptians and Armenoids, would then
+form the big-nosed, long-bearded Semites, so familiar not only on the
+ancient Babylonian and Egyptian monuments, but also in the modern
+Jews."[19] Such a view is in accord with Dr. Hugo Winckler's
+contention that the flow of Arabian migrations was northwards towards
+Syria ere it swept through Mesopotamia. It can scarcely be supposed
+that these invasions of settled districts did not result in the fusion
+and crossment of racial types and the production of a sub-variety with
+medium skull form and marked facial characteristics.
+
+Of special interest in this connection is the evidence afforded by
+Palestine and Egypt. The former country has ever been subject to
+periodic ethnic disturbances and changes. Its racial history has a
+remote beginning in the Pleistocene Age. Palaeolithic flints of
+Chellean and other primitive types have been found in large numbers,
+and a valuable collection of these is being preserved in a French
+museum at Jerusalem. In a northern cave fragments of rude pottery,
+belonging to an early period in the Late Stone Age, have been
+discovered in association with the bones of the woolly rhinoceros. To
+a later period belong the series of Gezer cave dwellings, which,
+according to Professor Macalister, the well-known Palestinian
+authority, "were occupied by a non-Semitic people of low stature, with
+thick skulls and showing evidence of the great muscular strength that
+is essential to savage life".[20] These people are generally supposed
+to be representatives of the Mediterranean race, which Sergi has found
+to have been widely distributed throughout Syria and a part of Asia
+Minor.[21] An interesting problem, however, is raised by the fact
+that, in one of the caves, there are evidences that the dead were
+cremated. This was not a Mediterranean custom, nor does it appear to
+have prevailed outside the Gezer area. If, however, it does not
+indicate that the kinsmen of the Ancient Egyptians came into contact
+with the remnants of an earlier people, it may be that the dead of a
+later people were burned there. The possibility that unidentified
+types may have contributed to the Semitic blend, however, remains. The
+Mediterraneans mingled in Northern Syria and Asia Minor with the
+broad-headed Armenoid peoples who are represented in Europe by the
+Alpine race. With them they ultimately formed the great Hittite
+confederacy. These Armenoids were moving southwards at the very dawn
+of Egyptian history, and nothing is known of their conquests and
+settlements. Their pioneers, who were probably traders, appear to have
+begun to enter the Delta region before the close of the Late Stone
+Age.[22] The earliest outpourings of migrating Arabians may have been
+in progress about the same time. This early southward drift of
+Armenoids might account for the presence in southern Palestine, early
+in the Copper Age, of the tall race referred to in the Bible as the
+Rephaim or Anakim, "whose power was broken only by the Hebrew
+invaders".[23] Joshua drove them out of Hebron,[24] in the
+neighbourhood of which Abraham had purchased a burial cave from
+Ephron, the Hittite.[25] Apparently a system of land laws prevailed in
+Palestine at this early period. It is of special interest for us to
+note that in Abraham's day and afterwards, the landed proprietors in
+the country of the Rephaim were identified with the aliens from Asia
+Minor--the tall variety in the Hittite confederacy.
+
+Little doubt need remain that the Arabians during their sojourn in
+Palestine and Syria met with distinctive types, and if not with pure
+Armenoids, at any rate with peoples having Armenoid traits. The
+consequent multiplication of tribes, and the gradual pressure
+exercised by the constant stream of immigrants from Arabia and Asia
+Minor, must have kept this part of Western Asia in a constant state of
+unrest. Fresh migrations of the surplus stock were evidently propelled
+towards Egypt in one direction, and the valleys of the Tigris and
+Euphrates in another. The Semites of Akkad were probably the
+conquerors of the more highly civilized Sumerians, who must have
+previously occupied that area. It is possible that they owed their
+success to the possession of superior weapons. Professor Elliot Smith
+suggests in this connection that the Arabians had become familiar with
+the use of copper as a result of contact with the Egyptians in Sinai.
+There is no evidence, however, that the Sumerians were attacked before
+they had begun to make metal weapons. It is more probable that the
+invading nomads had superior military organization and considerable
+experience in waging war against detached tribal units. They may have
+also found some of the northern Sumerian city states at war with one
+another and taken advantage of their unpreparedness to resist a common
+enemy. The rough Dorians who overran Greece and the fierce Goths who
+shattered the power of Rome were similarly in a lower state of
+civilization than the peoples whom they subdued.
+
+The Sumerians, however, ultimately achieved an intellectual conquest
+of their conquerors. Although the leaders of invasion may have formed
+military aristocracies in the cities which they occupied, it was
+necessary for the great majority of the nomads to engage their
+activities in new directions after settlement. The Semitic Akkadians,
+therefore, adopted Sumerian habits of life which were best suited for
+the needs of the country, and they consequently came under the spell
+of Sumerian modes of thought. This is shown by the fact that the
+native speech of ancient Sumer continued long after the dawn of
+history to be the language of Babylonian religion and culture, like
+Latin in Europe during the Middle Ages. For centuries the mingling
+peoples must have been bilingual, as are many of the inhabitants of
+Ireland, Wales, and the Scottish Highlands in the present age, but
+ultimately the language of the Semites became the prevailing speech in
+Sumer and Akkad. This change was the direct result of the conquests
+and the political supremacy achieved by the northern people. A
+considerable period elapsed, however, ere this consummation was
+reached and Ancient Babylonia became completely Semitized. No doubt
+its brilliant historical civilization owed much of its vigour and
+stability to the organizing genius of the Semites, but the basis on
+which it was established had been laid by the ingenious and
+imaginative Sumerians who first made the desert to blossom like the
+rose.
+
+The culture of Sumer was a product of the Late Stone Age, which should
+not be regarded as necessarily an age of barbarism. During its vast
+periods there were great discoveries and great inventions in various
+parts of Asia, Africa, and Europe. The Neoliths made pottery and
+bricks; we know that they invented the art of spinning, for
+spindle-whorls are found even in the Gezer caves to which we have
+referred, while in Egypt the pre-Dynastic dead were sometimes wrapped
+in finely woven linen: their deftly chipped flint implements are
+eloquent of artistic and mechanical skill, and undoubted mathematical
+ability must be credited to the makers of smoothly polished stone
+hammers which are so perfectly balanced that they revolve on a centre
+of gravity. In Egypt and Babylonia the soil was tilled and its
+fertility increased by irrigation. Wherever man waged a struggle with
+Nature he made rapid progress, and consequently we find that the
+earliest great civilizations were rooted in the little fields of the
+Neolithic farmers. Their mode of life necessitated a knowledge of
+Nature's laws; they had to take note of the seasons and measure time.
+So Egypt gave us the Calendar, and Babylonia the system of dividing
+the week into seven days, and the day into twelve double hours.
+
+The agricultural life permitted large communities to live in river
+valleys, and these had to be governed by codes of laws; settled
+communities required peace and order for their progress and
+prosperity. All great civilizations have evolved from the habits and
+experiences of settled communities. Law and religion were closely
+associated, and the evidence afforded by the remains of stone circles
+and temples suggests that in the organization and division of labour
+the influence of religious teachers was pre-eminent. Early rulers,
+indeed, were priest-kings--incarnations of the deity who owned the
+land and measured out the span of human life.
+
+We need not assume that Neolithic man led an idyllic existence; his
+triumphs were achieved by slow and gradual steps; his legal codes
+were, no doubt, written in blood and his institutions welded in the
+fires of adversity. But, disciplined by laws, which fostered
+humanitarian ideals, Neolithic man, especially of the Mediterranean
+race, had reached a comparatively high state of civilization long ages
+before the earliest traces of his activities can be obtained. When
+this type of mankind is portrayed in Ancient Sumeria, Ancient Egypt,
+and Ancient Crete we find that the faces are refined and intellectual
+and often quite modern in aspect. The skulls show that in the Late
+Stone Age the human brain was fully developed and that the racial
+types were fixed. In every country in Europe we still find the direct
+descendants of the ancient Mediterranean race, as well as the
+descendants of the less highly cultured conquerors who swept westward
+out of Asia at the dawn of the Bronze Age; and everywhere there are
+evidences of crossment of types in varying degrees. Even the influence
+of Neolithic intellectual life still remains. The comparative study of
+mythology and folk beliefs reveals that we have inherited certain
+modes of thought from our remote ancestors, who were the congeners of
+the Ancient Sumerians and the Ancient Egyptians. In this connection it
+is of interest, therefore, to refer to the social ideals of the early
+peoples who met and mingled on the southern plains of the Tigris and
+Euphrates, and especially the position occupied by women, which is
+engaging so much attention at the present day.
+
+It would appear that among the Semites and other nomadic peoples woman
+was regarded as the helpmate rather than the companion and equal of
+man. The birth of a son was hailed with joy; it was "miserable to have
+a daughter", as a Hindu sage reflected; in various countries it was
+the custom to expose female children after birth and leave them to
+die. A wife had no rights other than those accorded to her by her
+husband, who exercised over her the power of life and death. Sons
+inherited family possessions; the daughters had no share allotted to
+them, and could be sold by fathers and brothers. Among the peoples who
+observed "male right", social life was reflected in the conception of
+controlling male deities, accompanied by shadowy goddesses who were
+often little else than figures of speech.
+
+The Ancient Sumerians, on the other hand, like the Mediterranean
+peoples of Egypt and Crete, reverenced and exalted motherhood in
+social and religious life. Women were accorded a legal status and
+marriage laws were promulgated by the State. Wives could possess
+private property in their own right, as did the Babylonian Sarah, wife
+of Abraham, who owned the Egyptian slave Hagar.[26] A woman received
+from her parents a marriage dowry, and in the event of separation from
+her husband she could claim its full value. Some spinsters, or wives,
+were accustomed to enter into business partnerships with men or
+members of their own sex, and could sue and be sued in courts of law.
+Brothers and sisters were joint heirs of the family estate. Daughters
+might possess property over which their fathers exercised no control:
+they could also enter into legal agreements with their parents in
+business matters, when they had attained to years of discretion. Young
+women who took vows of celibacy and lived in religious institutions
+could yet make business investments, as surviving records show. There
+is only one instance of a Sumerian woman ascending the throne, like
+Queen Hatshepsut of Egypt. Women, therefore, were not rigidly excluded
+from official life. Dungi II, an early Sumerian king, appointed two of
+his daughters as rulers of conquered cities in Syria and Elam.
+Similarly Shishak, the Egyptian Pharaoh, handed over the city of
+Gezer, which he had subdued, to his daughter, Solomon's wife.[27] In
+the religious life of ancient Sumeria the female population exercised
+an undoubted influence, and in certain temples there were priestesses.
+The oldest hymns give indication of the respect shown to women by
+making reference to mixed assemblies as "females and males", just as
+present-day orators address themselves to "ladies and gentlemen". In
+the later Semitic adaptations of these productions, it is significant
+to note, this conventional reference was altered to "male and female".
+If influences, however, were at work to restrict the position of women
+they did not meet with much success, because when Hammurabi codified
+existing laws, the ancient rights of women received marked
+recognition.
+
+There were two dialects in ancient Sumeria, and the invocatory hymns
+were composed in what was known as "the women's language". It must not
+be inferred, however, that the ladies of Sumeria had established a
+speech which differed from that used by men. The reference would
+appear to be to a softer and homelier dialect, perhaps the oldest of
+the two, in which poetic emotion found fullest and most beautiful
+expression. In these ancient days, as in our own, the ideal of
+womanhood was the poet's chief source of inspiration, and among the
+hymns the highest reach of poetic art was attained in the invocation
+of Ishtar, the Babylonian Venus. The following hymn is addressed to
+that deity in her Valkyrie-like character as a goddess of war, but her
+more feminine traits are not obscured:--
+
+    HYMN TO ISHTAR
+
+    To thee I cry, O lady of the gods,
+    Lady of ladies, goddess without peer,
+    Ishtar who shapes the lives of all mankind,
+    Thou stately world queen, sovran of the sky,
+    And lady ruler of the host of heaven--
+    Illustrious is thy name... O light divine,
+    Gleaming in lofty splendour o'er the earth--
+    Heroic daughter of the moon, oh! hear;
+    Thou dost control our weapons and award
+    In battles fierce the victory at will--
+    crown'd majestic Fate. Ishtar most high,
+    Who art exalted over all the gods,
+    Thou bringest lamentation; thou dost urge
+    With hostile hearts our brethren to the fray;
+    The gift of strength is thine for thou art strong;
+    Thy will is urgent, brooking no delay;
+    Thy hand is violent, thou queen of war
+    Girded with battle and enrobed with fear...
+    Thou sovran wielder of the wand of Doom,
+    The heavens and earth are under thy control.
+
+    Adored art thou in every sacred place,
+    In temples, holy dwellings, and in shrines,
+    Where is thy name not lauded? where thy will
+    Unheeded, and thine images not made?
+    Where are thy temples not upreared? O, where
+    Art thou not mighty, peerless, and supreme?
+
+    Anu and Bel and Ea have thee raised
+    To rank supreme, in majesty and pow'r,
+    They have established thee above the gods
+    And all the host of heaven... O stately queen,
+    At thought of thee the world is filled with fear,
+    The gods in heaven quake, and on the earth
+    All spirits pause, and all mankind bow down
+    With reverence for thy name... O Lady Judge,
+
+    Thy ways are just and holy; thou dost gaze
+    On sinners with compassion, and each morn
+    Leadest the wayward to the rightful path.
+
+    Now linger not, but come! O goddess fair,
+    O shepherdess of all, thou drawest nigh
+    With feet unwearied... Thou dost break the bonds
+    Of these thy handmaids... When thou stoopest o'er
+    The dying with compassion, lo! they live;
+    And when the sick behold thee they are healed.
+
+    Hear me, thy servant! hearken to my pray'r,
+    For I am full of sorrow and I sigh
+    In sore distress; weeping, on thee I wait.
+    Be merciful, my lady, pity take
+    And answer, "'Tis enough and be appeased".
+
+    How long must my heart sorrow and make moan
+    And restless be? How long must my dark home
+    Be filled with mourning and my soul with grief?
+    O lioness of heaven, bring me peace
+    And rest and comfort. Hearken to my pray'r!
+    Is anger pity? May thine eyes look down
+    With tenderness and blessings, and behold
+    Thy servant. Oh! have mercy; hear my cry
+    And unbewitch me from the evil spells,
+    That I may see thy glory... Oh! how long
+    Shall these my foes pursue me, working ill,
+    And robbing me of joy?... Oh! how long
+    Shall demons compass me about and cause
+    Affliction without end?... I thee adore--
+    The gift of strength is thine and thou art strong--
+    The weakly are made strong, yet I am weak...
+    O hear me! I am glutted with my grief--
+    This flood of grief by evil winds distressed;
+    My heart hath fled me like a bird on wings,
+    And like the dove I moan. Tears from mine eyes
+    Are falling as the rain from heaven falls,
+    And I am destitute and full of woe.
+
+           *       *       *       *       *
+
+    What have I done that thou hast turned from me?
+    Have I neglected homage to my god
+    And thee my goddess? O deliver me
+    And all my sins forgive, that I may share
+    Thy love and be watched over in thy fold;
+    And may thy fold be wide, thy pen secure.
+
+           *       *       *       *       *
+
+    How long wilt thou be angry? Hear my cry,
+    And turn again to prosper all my ways--
+    O may thy wrath be crumbled and withdrawn
+    As by a crumbling stream. Then smite my foes,
+    And take away their power to work me ill,
+    That I may crush them. Hearken to my pray'r!
+    And bless me so that all who me behold
+    May laud thee and may magnify thy name,
+    While I exalt thy power over all--
+    Ishtar is highest! Ishtar is the queen!
+    Ishtar the peerless daughter of the moon!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+THE LAND OF RIVERS AND THE GOD OF THE DEEP
+
+
+  Fertility of Ancient Babylonia--Rivers, Canals, Seasons, and
+  Climate--Early Trade and Foreign Influences--Local Religious
+  Cults--Ea, God of the Deep, identical with Oannes of Berosus--Origin
+  as a Sacred Fish--Compared with Brahma and Vishnu--Flood Legends in
+  Babylonia and India--Fish Deities in Babylonia and Egypt--Fish God
+  as a Corn God--The River as Creator--Ea an Artisan God, and links
+  with Egypt and India--Ea as the Hebrew Jah--Ea and Varuna are Water
+  and Sky Gods--The Babylonian Dagan and Dagon of the
+  Philistines--Deities of Water and Harvest in Phoenicia, Greece,
+  Rome, Scotland, Scandinavia, Ireland, and Egypt--Ea's Spouse
+  Damkina--Demons of Ocean in Babylonia and India--Anu, God of the
+  Sky--Enlil, Storm and War God of Nippur, like Adad, Odin, &c.--Early
+  Gods of Babylonia and Egypt of common origin--Ea's City as Cradle of
+  Sumerian Civilization.
+
+
+Ancient Babylonia was for over four thousand years the garden of
+Western Asia. In the days of Hezekiah and Isaiah, when it had come
+under the sway of the younger civilization of Assyria on the north, it
+was "a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of
+oil olive and of honey[28]". Herodotus found it still flourishing and
+extremely fertile. "This territory", he wrote, "is of all that we know
+the best by far for producing grain; it is so good that it returns as
+much as two hundredfold for the average, and, when it bears at its
+best, it produces three hundredfold. The blades of the wheat and
+barley there grow to be full four fingers broad; and from millet and
+sesame seed, how large a tree grows, I know myself, but shall not
+record, being well aware that even what has already been said relating
+to the crops produced has been enough to cause disbelief in those who
+have not visited Babylonia[29]." To-day great tracts of undulating
+moorland, which aforetime yielded two and three crops a year, are in
+summer partly barren wastes and partly jungle and reedy swamp.
+Bedouins camp beside sandy heaps which were once populous and thriving
+cities, and here and there the shrunken remnants of a people once
+great and influential eke out precarious livings under the oppression
+of Turkish tax-gatherers who are scarcely less considerate than the
+plundering nomads of the desert.
+
+This historic country is bounded on the east by Persia and on the west
+by the Arabian desert. In shape somewhat resembling a fish, it lies
+between the two great rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates, 100 miles
+wide at its broadest part, and narrowing to 35 miles towards the
+"tail" in the latitude of Baghdad; the "head" converges to a point
+above Basra, where the rivers meet and form the Shatt-el-Arab, which
+pours into the Persian Gulf after meeting the Karun and drawing away
+the main volume of that double-mouthed river. The distance from
+Baghdad to Basra is about 300 miles, and the area traversed by the
+Shatt-el-Arab is slowly extending at the rate of a mile every thirty
+years or so, as a result of the steady accumulation of silt and mud
+carried down by the Tigris and Euphrates. When Sumeria was beginning
+to flourish, these two rivers had separate outlets, and Eridu, the
+seat of the cult of the sea god Ea, which now lies 125 miles inland,
+was a seaport at the head of the Persian Gulf. A day's journey
+separated the river mouths when Alexander the Great broke the power of
+the Persian Empire.
+
+In the days of Babylonia's prosperity the Euphrates was hailed as "the
+soul of the land" and the Tigris as "the bestower of blessings".
+Skilful engineers had solved the problem of water distribution by
+irrigating sun-parched areas and preventing the excessive flooding of
+those districts which are now rendered impassable swamps when the
+rivers overflow. A network of canals was constructed throughout the
+country, which restricted the destructive tendencies of the Tigris and
+Euphrates and developed to a high degree their potentialities as
+fertilizing agencies. The greatest of these canals appear to have been
+anciently river beds. One, which is called Shatt en Nil to the north,
+and Shatt el Kar to the south, curved eastward from Babylon, and
+sweeping past Nippur, flowed like the letter S towards Larsa and then
+rejoined the river. It is believed to mark the course followed in the
+early Sumerian period by the Euphrates river, which has moved steadily
+westward many miles beyond the sites of ancient cities that were
+erected on its banks. Another important canal, the Shatt el Hai,
+crossed the plain from the Tigris to its sister river, which lies
+lower at this point, and does not run so fast. Where the artificial
+canals were constructed on higher levels than the streams which fed
+them, the water was raised by contrivances known as "shaddufs"; the
+buckets or skin bags were roped to a weighted beam, with the aid of
+which they were swung up by workmen and emptied into the canals. It is
+possible that this toilsome mode of irrigation was substituted in
+favourable parts by the primitive water wheels which are used in our
+own day by the inhabitants of the country who cultivate strips of land
+along the river banks.
+
+In Babylonia there are two seasons--the rainy and the dry. Rain falls
+from November till March, and the plain is carpeted in spring by
+patches of vivid green verdure and brilliant wild flowers. Then the
+period of drought ensues; the sun rapidly burns up all vegetation, and
+everywhere the eye is wearied by long stretches of brown and yellow
+desert. Occasional sandstorms darken the heavens, sweeping over
+sterile wastes and piling up the shapeless mounds which mark the sites
+of ancient cities. Meanwhile the rivers are increasing in volume,
+being fed by the melting snows at their mountain sources far to the
+north. The swift Tigris, which is 1146 miles long, begins to rise
+early in March and reaches its highest level in May; before the end of
+June it again subsides. More sluggish in movement, the Euphrates,
+which is 1780 miles long, shows signs of rising a fortnight later than
+the Tigris, and is in flood for a more extended period; it does not
+shrink to its lowest level until early in September. By controlling
+the flow of these mighty rivers, preventing disastrous floods, and
+storing and distributing surplus water, the ancient Babylonians
+developed to the full the natural resources of their country, and made
+it--what it may once again become--one of the fairest and most
+habitable areas in the world. Nature conferred upon them bountiful
+rewards for their labour; trade and industries flourished, and the
+cities increased in splendour and strength. Then as now the heat was
+great during the long summer, but remarkably dry and unvarying, while
+the air was ever wonderfully transparent under cloudless skies of
+vivid blue. The nights were cool and of great beauty, whether in
+brilliant moonlight or when ponds and canals were jewelled by the
+lustrous displays of clear and numerous stars which glorified that
+homeland of the earliest astronomers.
+
+Babylonia is a treeless country, and timber had to be imported from
+the earliest times. The date palm was probably introduced by man, as
+were certainly the vine and the fig tree, which were widely
+cultivated, especially in the north. Stone, suitable for building, was
+very scarce, and limestone, alabaster, marble, and basalt had to be
+taken from northern Mesopotamia, where the mountains also yield copper
+and lead and iron. Except Eridu, where ancient workers quarried
+sandstone from its sea-shaped ridge, all the cities were built of
+brick, an excellent clay being found in abundance. When brick walls
+were cemented with bitumen they were given great stability. This
+resinous substance is found in the north and south. It bubbles up
+through crevices of rocks on river banks and forms small ponds. Two
+famous springs at modern Hit, on the Euphrates, have been drawn upon
+from time immemorial. "From one", writes a traveller, "flows hot water
+black with bitumen, while the other discharges intermittently bitumen,
+or, after a rainstorm, bitumen and cold water.... Where rocks crop out
+in the plain above Hit, they are full of seams of bitumen."[30]
+Present-day Arabs call it "kiyara", and export it for coating boats
+and roofs; they also use it as an antiseptic, and apply it to cure the
+skin diseases from which camels suffer.
+
+Sumeria had many surplus products, including corn and figs, pottery,
+fine wool and woven garments, to offer in exchange for what it most
+required from other countries. It must, therefore, have had a brisk
+and flourishing foreign trade at an exceedingly remote period. No
+doubt numerous alien merchants were attracted to its cities, and it
+may be that they induced or encouraged Semitic and other raiders to
+overthrow governments and form military aristocracies, so that they
+themselves might obtain necessary concessions and achieve a degree of
+political ascendancy. It does not follow, however, that the peasant
+class was greatly affected by periodic revolutions of this kind, which
+brought little more to them than a change of rulers. The needs of the
+country necessitated the continuance of agricultural methods and the
+rigid observance of existing land laws; indeed, these constituted the
+basis of Sumerian prosperity. Conquerors have ever sought reward not
+merely in spoil, but also the services of the conquered. In northern
+Babylonia the invaders apparently found it necessary to conciliate and
+secure the continued allegiance of the tillers of the soil. Law and
+religion being closely associated, they had to adapt their gods to
+suit the requirements of existing social and political organizations.
+A deity of pastoral nomads had to receive attributes which would give
+him an agricultural significance; one of rural character had to be
+changed to respond to the various calls of city life. Besides, local
+gods could not be ignored on account of their popularity. As a result,
+imported beliefs and religious customs must have been fused and
+absorbed according to their bearing on modes of life in various
+localities. It is probable that the complex character of certain
+deities was due to the process of adjustment to which they were
+subjected in new environments.
+
+The petty kingdoms of Sumeria appear to have been tribal in origin.
+Each city was presided over by a deity who was the nominal owner of
+the surrounding arable land, farms were rented or purchased from the
+priesthood, and pasture was held in common. As in Egypt, where we
+find, for instance, the artisan god Ptah supreme at Memphis, the sun
+god Ra at Heliopolis, and the cat goddess Bast at Bubastis, the
+various local Sumerian and Akkadian deities had distinctive
+characteristics, and similarly showed a tendency to absorb the
+attributes of their rivals. The chief deity of a state was the central
+figure in a pantheon, which had its political aspect and influenced
+the growth of local theology. Cities, however, did not, as a rule,
+bear the names of deities, which suggests that several were founded
+when Sumerian religion was in its early animistic stages, and gods and
+goddesses were not sharply defined from the various spirit groups.
+
+A distinctive and characteristic Sumerian god was Ea, who was supreme
+at the ancient sea-deserted port of Eridu. He is identified with the
+Oannes of Berosus,[31] who referred to the deity as "a creature
+endowed with reason, with a body like that of a fish, with feet below
+like those of a man, with a fish's tail". This description recalls the
+familiar figures of Egyptian gods and priests attired in the skins of
+the sacred animals from whom their powers were derived, and the fairy
+lore about swan maids and men, and the seals and other animals who
+could divest themselves of their "skin coverings" and appear in human
+shape. Originally Ea may have been a sacred fish. The Indian creative
+gods Brahma and Vishnu had fish forms. In Sanskrit literature Manu,
+the eponymous "first man", is instructed by the fish to build a ship
+in which to save himself when the world would be purged by the rising
+waters. Ea befriended in similar manner the Babylonian Noah, called
+Pir-napishtim, advising him to build a vessel so as to be prepared for
+the approaching Deluge. Indeed the Indian legend appears to throw
+light on the original Sumerian conception of Ea. It relates that when
+the fish was small and in danger of being swallowed by other fish in a
+stream it appealed to Manu for protection. The sage at once lifted up
+the fish and placed it in a jar of water. It gradually increased in
+bulk, and he transferred it next to a tank and then to the river
+Ganges. In time the fish complained to Manu that the river was too
+small for it, so he carried it to the sea. For these services the god
+in fish form instructed Manu regarding the approaching flood, and
+afterwards piloted his ship through the weltering waters until it
+rested on a mountain top.[32]
+
+If this Indian myth is of Babylonian origin, as appears probable, it
+may be that the spirit of the river Euphrates, "the soul of the land",
+was identified with a migrating fish. The growth of the fish suggests
+the growth of the river rising in flood. In Celtic folk tales high
+tides and valley floods are accounted for by the presence of a "great
+beast" in sea, loch, or river. In a class of legends, "specially
+connected with the worship of Atargatis", wrote Professor Robertson
+Smith, "the divine life of the waters resides in the sacred fish that
+inhabit them. Atargatis and her son, according to a legend common to
+Hierapolis and Ascalon, plunged into the waters--in the first case the
+Euphrates, in the second the sacred pool at the temple near the
+town--and were changed into fishes". The idea is that "where a god
+dies, that is, ceases to exist in human form, his life passes into the
+waters where he is buried; and this again is merely a theory to bring
+the divine water or the divine fish into harmony with anthropomorphic
+ideas. The same thing was sometimes effected in another way by saying
+that the anthropomorphic deity was born from the water, as Aphrodite
+sprang from sea foam, or as Atargatis, in another form of the
+Euphrates legend, ... was born of an egg which the sacred fishes found
+in the Euphrates and pushed ashore."[33]
+
+As "Shar Apsi", Ea was the "King of the Watery Deep". The reference,
+however, according to Jastrow, "is not to the salt ocean, but the
+sweet waters flowing under the earth which feed the streams, and
+through streams and canals irrigate the fields".[34] As Babylonia was
+fertilized by its rivers, Ea, the fish god, was a fertilizing deity.
+In Egypt the "Mother of Mendes" is depicted carrying a fish upon her
+head; she links with Isis and Hathor; her husband is Ba-neb-Tettu, a
+form of Ptah, Osiris, and Ra, and as a god of fertility he is
+symbolized by the ram. Another Egyptian fish deity was the god Rem,
+whose name signifies "to weep"; he wept fertilizing tears, and corn
+was sown and reaped amidst lamentations. He may be identical with
+Remi, who was a phase of Sebek, the crocodile god, a developed
+attribute of Nu, the vague primitive Egyptian deity who symbolized the
+primordial deep. The connection between a fish god and a corn god is
+not necessarily remote when we consider that in Babylonia and Egypt
+the harvest was the gift of the rivers.
+
+The Euphrates, indeed, was hailed as a creator of all that grew on its
+banks.
+
+    O thou River who didst create all things,
+    When the great gods dug thee out,
+    They set prosperity upon thy banks,
+    Within thee Ea, the King of the Deep, created his dwelling...
+    Thou judgest the cause of mankind!
+    O River, thou art mighty! O River, thou art supreme!
+    O River, thou art righteous![35]
+
+In serving Ea, the embodiment or the water spirit, by leading him, as
+the Indian Manu led the Creator and "Preserver" in fish form, from
+river to water pot, water pot to pond or canal, and then again to
+river and ocean, the Babylonians became expert engineers and
+experienced agriculturists, the makers of bricks, the builders of
+cities, the framers of laws. Indeed, their civilization was a growth
+of Ea worship. Ea was their instructor. Berosus states that, as
+Oannes, he lived in the Persian Gulf, and every day came ashore to
+instruct the inhabitants of Eridu how to make canals, to grow crops,
+to work metals, to make pottery and bricks, and to build temples; he
+was the artisan god--Nun-ura, "god of the potter"; Kuski-banda, "god
+of goldsmiths", &c.--the divine patron of the arts and crafts. "Ea
+knoweth everything", chanted the hymn maker. He taught the people how
+to form and use alphabetic signs and instructed them in mathematics:
+he gave them their code of laws. Like the Egyptian artisan god Ptah,
+and the linking deity Khnumu, Ea was the "potter or moulder of gods
+and man". Ptah moulded the first man on his potter's wheel: he also
+moulded the sun and moon; he shaped the universe and hammered out the
+copper sky. Ea built the world "as an architect builds a house".[36]
+Similarly the Vedic Indra, who wielded a hammer like Ptah, fashioned
+the universe after the simple manner in which the Aryans made their
+wooden dwellings.[37]
+
+Like Ptah, Ea also developed from an artisan god into a sublime
+Creator in the highest sense, not merely as a producer of crops. His
+word became the creative force; he named those things he desired to
+be, and they came into existence. "Who but Ea creates things",
+exclaimed a priestly poet. This change from artisan god to creator
+(Nudimmud) may have been due to the tendency of early religious cults
+to attach to their chief god the attributes of rivals exalted at other
+centres.
+
+Ea, whose name is also rendered Aa, was identified with Ya, Ya'u, or
+Au, the Jah of the Hebrews. "In Ya-Daganu, 'Jah is Dagon'", writes
+Professor Pinches, "we have the elements reversed, showing a wish to
+identify Jah with Dagon, rather than Dagon with Jah; whilst another
+interesting name, Au-Aa, shows an identification of Jah with Aa, two
+names which have every appearance of being etymologically connected."
+Jah's name "is one of the words for 'god' in the Assyro-Babylonian
+language".[38]
+
+Ea was "Enki", "lord of the world", or "lord of what is beneath";
+Amma-ana-ki, "lord of heaven and earth"; Sa-kalama, "ruler of the
+land", as well as Engur, "god of the abyss", Naqbu, "the deep", and
+Lugal-ida, "king of the river". As rain fell from "the waters above
+the firmament", the god of waters was also a sky and earth god.
+
+The Indian Varuna was similarly a sky as well as an ocean god before
+the theorizing and systematizing Brahmanic teachers relegated him to a
+permanent abode at the bottom of the sea. It may be that Ea-Oannes and
+Varuna were of common origin.
+
+Another Babylonian deity, named Dagan, is believed to be identical
+with Ea. His worship was certainly of great antiquity. "Hammurabi",
+writes Professor Pinches, "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 (Dagon of the Philistines), is found in a few personal
+names.[39]
+
+It is possible that the Philistine deity Dagon was a specialized form
+of ancient Ea, who was either imported from Babylonia or was a sea god
+of more than one branch of the Mediterranean race. The authorities are
+at variance regarding the form and attributes of Dagan. Our knowledge
+regarding him is derived mainly from the Bible. He was a national
+rather than a city god. There are references to a Beth-dagon[40],
+"house or city of Dagon"; he had also a temple at Gaza, and Samson
+destroyed it by pulling down the two middle pillars which were its
+main support.[41] A third temple was situated in Ashdod. When the
+captured ark of the Israelites was placed in it the image of Dagon
+"fell on his face", with the result that "the head of Dagon and both
+the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold; only the stump
+of Dagon was left".[42] A further reference to "the threshold of
+Dagon" suggests that the god had feet like Ea-Oannes. Those who hold
+that Dagon had a fish form derive his name from the Semitic "dag = a
+fish", and suggest that after the idol fell only the fishy part (dago)
+was left. On the other hand, it was argued that Dagon was a corn god,
+and that the resemblance between the words Dagan and Dagon are
+accidental. Professor Sayce makes reference in this connection to a
+crystal seal from Phoenicia in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, bearing
+an inscription which he reads as Baal-dagon. Near the name is an ear
+of corn, and other symbols, such as the winged solar disc, a gazelle,
+and several stars, but there is no fish. It may be, of course, that
+Baal-dagon represents a fusion of deities. As we have seen in the case
+of Ea-Oannes and the deities of Mendes, a fish god may also be a corn
+god, a land animal god and a god of ocean and the sky. The offering of
+golden mice representing "your mice that mar the land",[43] made by
+the Philistines, suggests that Dagon was the fertilizing harvest god,
+among other things, whose usefulness had been impaired, as they
+believed, by the mistake committed of placing the ark of Israel in the
+temple at Ashdod. The Philistines came from Crete, and if their Dagon
+was imported from that island, he may have had some connection with
+Poseidon, whose worship extended throughout Greece. This god of the
+sea, who is somewhat like the Roman Neptune, carried a lightning
+trident and caused earthquakes. He was a brother of Zeus, the sky and
+atmosphere deity, and had bull and horse forms. As a horse he pursued
+Demeter, the earth and corn goddess, and, like Ea, he instructed
+mankind, but especially in the art of training horses. In his train
+were the Tritons, half men, half fishes, and the water fairies, the
+Nereids. Bulls, boars, and rams were offered to this sea god of
+fertility. Amphitrite was his spouse.
+
+An obscure god Shony, the Oannes of the Scottish Hebrides, received
+oblations from those who depended for their agricultural prosperity on
+his gifts of fertilizing seaweed. He is referred to in Martin's
+_Western Isles_, and is not yet forgotten. The Eddic sea god Njord of
+Noatun was the father of Frey, the harvest god. Dagda, the Irish corn
+god, had for wife Boann, the goddess of the river Boyne. Osiris and
+Isis of Egypt were associated with the Nile. The connection between
+agriculture and the water supply was too obvious to escape the early
+symbolists, and many other proofs of this than those referred to could
+be given.
+
+Ea's "faithful spouse" was the goddess Damkina, who was also called
+Nin-ki, "lady of the earth". "May Ea make thee glad", chanted the
+priests. "May Damkina, queen of the deep, illumine thee with her
+countenance; may Merodach (Marduk), the mighty overseer of the Igigi
+(heavenly spirits), exalt thy head." Merodach was their son: in time
+he became the Bel, or "Lord", of the Babylonian pantheon.
+
+Like the Indian Varuna, the sea god, Ea-Oannes had control over the
+spirits and demons of the deep. The "ferryman" who kept watch over the
+river of death was called Arad-Ea, "servant of Ea". There are also
+references to sea maidens, the Babylonian mermaids, or Nereids. We
+have a glimpse of sea giants, which resemble the Indian Danavas and
+Daityas of ocean, in the chant:
+
+    Seven are they, seven are they,
+    In the ocean deep seven are they,
+    Battening in heaven seven are they,
+    Bred in the depths of ocean....
+    Of these seven the first is the south wind,
+    The second a dragon with mouth agape....[44]
+
+A suggestion of the Vedic Vritra and his horde of monsters.
+
+These seven demons were also "the messengers of Anu", who, although
+specialized as a sky god in more than one pantheon, appears to have
+been closely associated with Ea in the earliest Sumerian period. His
+name, signifying "the high one", is derived from "ana", "heaven"; he
+was the city god of Erech (Uruk). It is possible that he was developed
+as an atmospheric god with solar and lunar attributes. The seven
+demons, who were his messengers, recall the stormy Maruts, the
+followers of Indra. They are referred to as
+
+    Forcing their way with baneful windstorms,
+    Mighty destroyers, the deluge of the storm god,
+    Stalking at the right hand of the storm god.[45]
+
+When we deal with a deity in his most archaic form it is difficult to
+distinguish him from a demon. Even the beneficent Ea is associated
+with monsters and furies. "Evil spirits", according to a Babylonian
+chant, were "the bitter venom of the gods". Those attached to a deity
+as "attendants" appear to represent the original animistic group from
+which he evolved. In each district the character of the deity was
+shaped to accord with local conditions.
+
+At Nippur, which was situated on the vague and shifting boundary line
+between Sumer and Akkad, the chief god was Enlil, whose name is
+translated "lord of mist", "lord of might", and "lord of demons" by
+various authorities. He was a storm god and a war god, and "lord of
+heaven and earth ", like Ea and Anu. An atmospheric deity, he shares
+the attributes of the Indian Indra, the thunder and rain god, and
+Vayu, the wind god; he also resembles the Semitic Adad or Rimman, who
+links with the Hittite Tarku. All these are deities of tempest and the
+mountains--Wild Huntsmen in the Raging Host. The name of Enlil's
+temple at Nippur has been translated as "mountain house", or "like a
+mountain", and the theory obtained for a time that the god must
+therefore have been imported by a people from the hills. But as the
+ideogram for "mountain" and "land" was used in the earliest times, as
+King shows, with reference to foreign countries,[46] it is more
+probable that Enlil was exalted as a world god who had dominion over
+not only Sumer and Akkad, but also the territories occupied by the
+rivals and enemies of the early Babylonians.
+
+Enlil is known as the "older Bel" (lord), to distinguish him from Bel
+Merodach of Babylon. He was the chief figure in a triad in which he
+figured as earth god, with Anu as god of the sky and Ea as god of the
+deep. This classification suggests that Nippur had either risen in
+political importance and dominated the cities of Erech and Eridu, or
+that its priests were influential at the court of a ruler who was the
+overlord of several city states.
+
+Associated with Bel Enlil was Beltis, later known as "Beltu--the
+lady". She appears to be identical with the other great goddesses,
+Ishtar, Nana, Zerpanitu^m, &c., a "Great Mother", or consort of an
+early god with whom she was equal in power and dignity.
+
+In the later systematized theology of the Babylonians we seem to trace
+the fragments of a primitive mythology which was vague in outline, for
+the deities were not sharply defined, and existed in groups. Enneads
+were formed in Egypt by placing a local god at the head of a group of
+eight elder deities. The sun god Ra was the chief figure of the
+earliest pantheon of this character at Heliopolis, while at Hermopolis
+the leader was the lunar god Thoth. Professor Budge is of opinion that
+"both the Sumerians and the early Egyptians derived their primeval
+gods from some common but exceedingly ancient source", for he finds in
+the Babylonian and Nile valleys that there is a resemblance between
+two early groups which "seems to be too close to be accidental".[47]
+
+The Egyptian group comprises four pairs of vague gods and
+goddesses--Nu and his consort Nut, Hehu and his consort Hehut, Kekui
+and his consort Kekuit, and Kerh and his consort Kerhet. "Man always
+has fashioned", he says, "and probably always will fashion, his god or
+gods in his own image, and he has always, having reached a certain
+stage in development, given to his gods wives and offspring; but the
+nature of the position taken by the wives of the gods depends upon the
+nature of the position of women in the households of those who write
+the legends and the traditions of the gods. The gods of the oldest
+company in Egypt were, the writer believes, invented by people in
+whose households women held a high position, and among whom they
+possessed more power than is usually the case with Oriental
+peoples."[48]
+
+We cannot say definitely what these various deities represent. Nu was
+the spirit of the primordial deep, and Nut of the waters above the
+heavens, the mother of moon and sun and the stars. The others were
+phases of light and darkness and the forces of nature in activity and
+repose.
+
+Nu is represented in Babylonian mythology by Apsu-Rishtu, and Nut by
+Mummu-Tiamat or Tiawath; the next pair is Lachmu and Lachamu, and the
+third, Anshar and Kishar. The fourth pair is missing, but the names of
+Anu and Ea (as Nudimmud) are mentioned in the first tablet of the
+Creation series, and the name of a third is lost. Professor Budge
+thinks that the Assyrian editors substituted the ancient triad of Anu,
+Ea, and Enlil for the pair which would correspond to those found in
+Egypt. Originally the wives of Anu and Ea may have made up the group
+of eight primitive deities.
+
+There can be little doubt but that Ea, as he survives to us, is of
+later characterization than the first pair of primitive deities who
+symbolized the deep. The attributes of this beneficent god reflect the
+progress, and the social and moral ideals of a people well advanced in
+civilization. He rewarded mankind for the services they rendered to
+him; he was their leader and instructor; he achieved for them the
+victories over the destructive forces of nature. In brief, he was the
+dragon slayer, a distinction, by the way, which was attached in later
+times to his son Merodach, the Babylonian god, although Ea was still
+credited with the victory over the dragon's husband.
+
+When Ea was one of the pre-Babylonian group--the triad of Bel-Enlil,
+Anu, and Ea--he resembled the Indian Vishnu, the Preserver, while
+Bel-Enlil resembled Shiva, the Destroyer, and Anu, the father, supreme
+Brahma, the Creator and Father of All, the difference in exact
+adjustment being due, perhaps, to Sumerian political conditions.
+
+Ea, as we have seen, symbolized the beneficence of the waters; their
+destructive force was represented by Tiamat or Tiawath, the dragon,
+and Apsu, her husband, the arch-enemy of the gods. We shall find these
+elder demons figuring in the Babylonian Creation myth, which receives
+treatment in a later chapter.
+
+The ancient Sumerian city of Eridu, which means "on the seashore", was
+invested with great sanctity from the earliest times, and Ea, the
+"great magician of the gods", was invoked by workers of spells, the
+priestly magicians of historic Babylonia. Excavations have shown that
+Eridu was protected by a retaining wall of sandstone, of which
+material many of its houses were made. In its temple tower, built of
+brick, was a marble stairway, and evidences have been forthcoming that
+in the later Sumerian period the structure was lavishly adorned. It is
+referred to in the fragments of early literature which have survived
+as "the splendid house, shady as the forest", that "none may enter".
+The mythological spell exercised by Eridu in later times suggests that
+the civilization of Sumeria owed much to the worshippers of Ea. At the
+sacred city the first man was created: there the souls of the dead
+passed towards the great Deep. Its proximity to the sea--Ea was
+Nin-bubu, "god of the sailor"--may have brought it into contact with
+other peoples and other early civilizations. Like the early Egyptians,
+the early Sumerians may have been in touch with Punt (Somaliland),
+which some regard as the cradle of the Mediterranean race. The
+Egyptians obtained from that sacred land incense-bearing trees which
+had magical potency. In a fragmentary Babylonian charm there is a
+reference to a sacred tree or bush at Eridu. Professor Sayce has
+suggested that it is the Biblical "Tree of Life" in the Garden of
+Eden. His translations of certain vital words, however, is sharply
+questioned by Mr. R. Campbell Thompson of the British Museum, who does
+not accept the theory.[49] It may be that Ea's sacred bush or tree is
+a survival of tree and water worship.
+
+If Eridu was not the "cradle" of the Sumerian race, it was possibly
+the cradle of Sumerian civilization. Here, amidst the shifting rivers
+in early times, the agriculturists may have learned to control and
+distribute the water supply by utilizing dried-up beds of streams to
+irrigate the land. Whatever successes they achieved were credited to
+Ea, their instructor and patron; he was Nadimmud, "god of everything".
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+RIVAL PANTHEONS AND REPRESENTATIVE DEITIES
+
+
+  Why Different Gods were Supreme at Different Centres--Theories
+  regarding Origin of Life--Vital Principle in Water--Creative Tears
+  of Weeping Deities--Significance of widespread Spitting
+  Customs--Divine Water in Blood and Divine Blood in Water--Liver as
+  the Seat of Life--Inspiration derived by Drinking Mead, Blood,
+  &c.--Life Principle in Breath--Babylonian Ghosts as "Evil Wind
+  Gusts"--Fire Deities--Fire and Water in Magical Ceremonies--Moon
+  Gods of Ur and Harran--Moon Goddess and Babylonian "Jack and
+  Jill"--Antiquity of Sun Worship--Tammuz and Ishtar--Solar Gods of
+  War, Pestilence, and Death--Shamash as the "Great Judge"--His Mitra
+  Name--Aryan Mitra or Mithra and linking Babylonian Deities--Varuna
+  and Shamash Hymns compared--The Female Origin of Life--Goddesses of
+  Maternity--The Babylonian Thor--Deities of Good and Evil.
+
+
+In dealing with the city cults of Sumer and Akkad, consideration must
+be given to the problems involved by the rival mythological systems.
+Pantheons not only varied in detail, but were presided over by
+different supreme gods. One city's chief deity might be regarded as a
+secondary deity at another centre. Although Ea, for instance, was
+given first place at Eridu, and was so pronouncedly Sumerian in
+character, the moon god Nannar remained supreme at Ur, while the sun
+god, whose Semitic name was Shamash, presided at Larsa and Sippar.
+Other deities were similarly exalted in other states.
+
+As has been indicated, a mythological system must have been strongly
+influenced by city politics. To hold a community in sway, it was
+necessary to recognize officially the various gods worshipped by
+different sections, so as to secure the constant allegiance of all
+classes to their rulers. Alien deities were therefore associated with
+local and tribal deities, those of the nomads with those of the
+agriculturists, those of the unlettered folks with those of the
+learned people. Reference has been made to the introduction of strange
+deities by conquerors. But these were not always imposed upon a
+community by violent means. Indications are not awanting that the
+worshippers of alien gods were sometimes welcomed and encouraged to
+settle in certain states. When they came as military allies to assist
+a city folk against a fierce enemy, they were naturally much admired
+and praised, honoured by the women and the bards, and rewarded by the
+rulers.
+
+In the epic of Gilgamesh, the Babylonian Hercules, we meet with
+Ea-bani, a Goliath of the wilds, who is entreated to come to the aid
+of the besieged city of Erech when it seemed that its deities were
+unable to help the people against their enemies.
+
+    The gods of walled-round Erech
+    To flies had turned and buzzed in the streets;
+    The winged bulls of walled-round Erech
+    Were turned to mice and departed through the holes.
+
+Ea-bani was attracted to Erech by the gift of a fair woman for wife.
+The poet who lauded him no doubt mirrored public opinion. We can see
+the slim, shaven Sumerians gazing with wonder and admiration on their
+rough heroic ally.
+
+    All his body was covered with hair,
+    His locks were like a woman's,
+    Thick as corn grew his abundant hair.
+    He was a stranger to the people and in that land.
+    Clad in a garment like Gira, the god,
+    He had eaten grass with the gazelles,
+    He had drunk water with savage beasts.
+    His delight was to be among water dwellers.
+
+Like the giant Alban, the eponymous ancestor of a people who invaded
+prehistoric Britain, Ea-bani appears to have represented in Babylonian
+folk legends a certain type of foreign settlers in the land. No doubt
+the city dwellers, who were impressed by the prowess of the hairy and
+powerful warriors, were also ready to acknowledge the greatness of
+their war gods, and to admit them into the pantheon. The fusion of
+beliefs which followed must have stimulated thought and been
+productive of speculative ideas. "Nowhere", remarks Professor Jastrow,
+"does a high form of culture arise without the commingling of diverse
+ethnic elements."
+
+We must also take into account the influence exercised by leaders of
+thought like En-we-dur-an-ki, the famous high priest of Sippar, whose
+piety did much to increase the reputation of the cult of Shamesh, the
+sun god. The teachings and example of Buddha, for instance,
+revolutionized Brahmanic religion in India.
+
+A mythology was an attempt to solve the riddle of the Universe, and to
+adjust the relations of mankind with the various forces represented by
+the deities. The priests systematized existing folk beliefs and
+established an official religion. To secure the prosperity of the
+State, it was considered necessary to render homage unto whom homage
+was due at various seasons and under various circumstances.
+
+The religious attitude of a particular community, therefore, must have
+been largely dependent on its needs and experiences. The food supply
+was a first consideration. At Eridu, as we have seen, it was assured
+by devotion to Ea and obedience to his commands as an instructor.
+Elsewhere it might happen, however, that Ea's gifts were restricted or
+withheld by an obstructing force--the raging storm god, or the
+parching, pestilence-bringing deity of the sun. It was necessary,
+therefore, for the people to win the favour of the god or goddess who
+seemed most powerful, and was accordingly considered to be the
+greatest in a particular district. A rain god presided over the
+destinies of one community, and a god of disease and death over
+another; a third exalted the war god, no doubt because raids were
+frequent and the city owed its strength and prosperity to its battles
+and conquests. The reputation won by a particular god throughout
+Babylonia would depend greatly on the achievements of his worshippers
+and the progress of the city civilization over which he presided.
+Bel-Enlil's fame as a war deity was probably due to the political
+supremacy of his city of Nippur; and there was probably good reason
+for attributing to the sun god a pronounced administrative and legal
+character; he may have controlled the destinies of exceedingly well
+organized communities in which law and order and authority were held
+in high esteem.
+
+In accounting for the rise of distinctive and rival city deities, we
+should also consider the influence of divergent conceptions regarding
+the origin of life in mingled communities. Each foreign element in a
+community had its own intellectual life and immemorial tribal
+traditions, which reflected ancient habits of life and perpetuated the
+doctrines of eponymous ancestors. Among the agricultural classes, the
+folk religion which entered so intimately into their customs and
+labours must have remained essentially Babylonish in character. In
+cities, however, where official religions were formulated, foreign
+ideas were more apt to be imposed, especially when embraced by
+influential teachers. It is not surprising, therefore, to find that in
+Babylonia, as in Egypt, there were differences of opinion regarding
+the origin of life and the particular natural element which
+represented the vital principle.
+
+One section of the people, who were represented by the worshippers of
+Ea, appear to have believed that the essence of life was contained in
+water. The god of Eridu was the source of the "water of life". He
+fertilized parched and sunburnt wastes through rivers and irrigating
+canals, and conferred upon man the sustaining "food of life". When
+life came to an end--
+
+    Food of death will be offered thee...
+    Water of death will be offered thee...
+
+Offerings of water and food were made to the dead so that the ghosts
+might be nourished and prevented from troubling the living. Even the
+gods required water and food; they were immortal because they had
+drunk ambrosia and eaten from the plant of life. When the goddess
+Ishtar was in the Underworld, the land of the dead, the servant of Ea
+exclaimed--
+
+    "Hail! lady, may the well give me of its waters, so that I may
+        drink."
+
+The goddess of the dead commanded her servant to "sprinkle the lady
+Ishtar with the water of life and bid her depart". The sacred water
+might also be found at a confluence of rivers. Ea bade his son,
+Merodach, to "draw water from the mouth of two streams", and "on this
+water to put his pure spell".
+
+The worship of rivers and wells which prevailed in many countries was
+connected with the belief that the principle of life was in moisture.
+In India, water was vitalized by the intoxicating juice of the Soma
+plant, which inspired priests to utter prophecies and filled their
+hearts with religious fervour. Drinking customs had originally a
+religious significance. It was believed in India that the sap of
+plants was influenced by the moon, the source of vitalizing moisture
+and the hiding-place of the mead of the gods. The Teutonic gods also
+drank this mead, and poets were inspired by it. Similar beliefs
+obtained among various peoples. Moon and water worship were therefore
+closely associated; the blood of animals and the sap of plants were
+vitalized by the water of life and under control of the moon.
+
+The body moisture of gods and demons had vitalizing properties. When
+the Indian creator, Prajapati, wept at the beginning, "that (the
+tears) which fell into the water became the air. That which he wiped
+away, upwards, became the sky."[50] The ancient Egyptians believed
+that all men were born from the eyes of Horus except negroes, who came
+from other parts of his body.[51] The creative tears of Ra, the sun
+god, fell as shining rays upon the earth. When this god grew old
+saliva dripped from his mouth, and Isis mixed the vitalizing moisture
+with dust, and thus made the serpent which bit and paralysed the great
+solar deity.[52]
+
+Other Egyptian deities, including Osiris and Isis, wept creative
+tears. Those which fell from the eyes of the evil gods produced
+poisonous plants and various baneful animals. Orion, the Greek giant,
+sprang from the body moisture of deities. The weeping ceremonies in
+connection with agricultural rites were no doubt believed to be of
+magical potency; they encouraged the god to weep creative tears.
+
+Ea, the god of the deep, was also "lord of life" (Enti), "king of the
+river" (Lugal-ida), and god of creation (Nudimmud). His aid was
+invoked by means of magical formulae. As the "great magician of the
+gods" he uttered charms himself, and was the patron of all magicians.
+One spell runs as follows:
+
+    I am the sorcerer priest of Ea...
+    To revive the ... sick man
+    The great lord Ea hath sent me;
+    He hath added his pure spell to mine,
+    He hath added his pure voice to mine,
+    He hath added his pure spittle to mine.
+
+            _R.C. Thompson's Translation._
+
+Saliva, like tears, had creative and therefore curative qualities; it
+also expelled and injured demons and brought good luck. Spitting
+ceremonies are referred to in the religious literature of Ancient
+Egypt. When the Eye of Ra was blinded by Set, Thoth spat in it to
+restore vision. The sun god Tum, who was linked with Ra as Ra-Tum,
+spat on the ground, and his saliva became the gods Shu and Tefnut. In
+the Underworld the devil serpent Apep was spat upon to curse it, as
+was also its waxen image which the priests fashioned.[53]
+
+Several African tribes spit to make compacts, declare friendship, and
+to curse.
+
+Park, the explorer, refers in his _Travels_ to his carriers spitting
+on a flat stone to ensure a good journey. Arabian holy men and
+descendants of Mohammed spit to cure diseases. Mohammed spat in the
+mouth of his grandson Hasen soon after birth. Theocritus, Sophocles,
+and Plutarch testify to the ancient Grecian customs of spitting to
+cure and to curse, and also to bless when children were named. Pliny
+has expressed belief in the efficacy of the fasting spittle for curing
+disease, and referred to the custom of spitting to avert witchcraft.
+In England, Scotland, and Ireland spitting customs are not yet
+obsolete. North of England boys used to talk of "spitting their sauls"
+(souls). When the Newcastle colliers held their earliest strikes they
+made compacts by spitting on a stone. There are still "spitting
+stones" in the north of Scotland. When bargains are made in rural
+districts, hands are spat upon before they are shaken. The first money
+taken each day by fishwives and other dealers is spat upon to ensure
+increased drawings. Brand, who refers to various spitting customs,
+quotes _Scot's Discovery of Witchcraft_ regarding the saliva cure for
+king's evil, which is still, by the way, practised in the Hebrides.
+Like Pliny, Scot recommended ceremonial spitting as a charm against
+witchcraft.[54] In China spitting to expel demons is a common
+practice. We still call a hasty person a "spitfire", and a calumniator
+a "spit-poison".
+
+The life principle in trees, &c., as we have seen, was believed to
+have been derived from the tears of deities. In India sap was called
+the "blood of trees", and references to "bleeding trees" are still
+widespread and common. "Among the ancients", wrote Professor Robertson
+Smith, "blood is generally conceived as the principle or vehicle of
+life, and so the account often given of sacred waters is that the
+blood of the deity flows in them. Thus as Milton writes:
+
+    Smooth Adonis from his native rock
+    Ran purple to the sea, supposed with blood
+    Of Thammuz yearly wounded.
+
+            _Paradise Lost_, i, 450.
+
+The ruddy colour which the swollen river derived from the soil at a
+certain season was ascribed to the blood of the god, who received his
+death wound in Lebanon at that time of the year, and lay buried beside
+the sacred source."[55]
+
+In Babylonia the river was regarded as the source of the life blood
+and the seat of the soul. No doubt this theory was based on the fact
+that the human liver contains about a sixth of the blood in the body,
+the largest proportion required by any single organ. Jeremiah makes
+"Mother Jerusalem" exclaim: "My liver is poured upon the earth for the
+destruction of the daughter of my people", meaning that her life is
+spent with grief.
+
+Inspiration was derived by drinking blood as well as by drinking
+intoxicating liquors--the mead of the gods. Indian magicians who drink
+the blood of the goat sacrificed to the goddess Kali, are believed to
+be temporarily possessed by her spirit, and thus enabled to
+prophesy.[56] Malayan exorcists still expel demons while they suck the
+blood from a decapitated fowl.[57]
+
+Similar customs were prevalent in Ancient Greece. A woman who drank
+the blood of a sacrificed lamb or bull uttered prophetic sayings.[58]
+
+But while most Babylonians appear to have believed that the life
+principle was in blood, some were apparently of opinion that it was in
+breath--the air of life. A man died when he ceased to breathe; his
+spirit, therefore, it was argued, was identical with the
+atmosphere--the moving wind--and was accordingly derived from the
+atmospheric or wind god. When, in the Gilgamesh epic, the hero invokes
+the dead Ea-bani, the ghost rises up like a "breath of wind". A
+Babylonian charm runs:
+
+    The gods which seize on men
+      Came forth from the grave;
+    The evil wind gusts
+      Have come forth from the grave,
+    To demand payment of rites and the pouring out of libations
+      They have come forth from the grave;
+    All that is evil in their hosts, like a whirlwind,
+      Hath come forth from the grave.[59]
+
+The Hebrew "nephesh ruach" and "neshamah" (in Arabic "ruh" and "nefs")
+pass from meaning "breath" to "spirit".[60] In Egypt the god Khnumu
+was "Kneph" in his character as an atmospheric deity. The ascendancy
+of storm and wind gods in some Babylonian cities may have been due to
+the belief that they were the source of the "air of life". It is
+possible that this conception was popularized by the Semites.
+Inspiration was perhaps derived from these deities by burning incense,
+which, if we follow evidence obtained elsewhere, induced a prophetic
+trance. The gods were also invoked by incense. In the Flood legend the
+Babylonian Noah burned incense. "The gods smelled a sweet savour and
+gathered like flies over the sacrificer." In Egypt devotees who
+inhaled the breath of the Apis bull were enabled to prophesy.
+
+In addition to water and atmospheric deities Babylonia had also its
+fire gods, Girru, Gish Bar, Gibil, and Nusku. Their origin is obscure.
+It is doubtful if their worshippers, like those of the Indian Agni,
+believed that fire, the "vital spark", was the principle of life which
+was manifested by bodily heat. The Aryan fire worshippers cremated
+their dead so that the spirits might be transferred by fire to
+Paradise. This practice, however, did not obtain among the fire
+worshippers of Persia, nor, as was once believed, in Sumer or Akkad
+either. Fire was, however, used in Babylonia for magical purposes. It
+destroyed demons, and put to flight the spirits of disease. Possibly
+the fire-purification ceremonies resembled those which were practised
+by the Canaanites, and are referred to in the Bible. Ahaz "made his
+son to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the
+heathen".[61] Ezekiel declared that "when ye offer your gifts, when ye
+make your sons to pass through the fire, ye pollute yourselves with
+all your idols".[62] In _Leviticus_ it is laid down: "Thou shalt not
+let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Moloch".[63] It may be
+that in Babylonia the fire-cleansing ceremony resembled that which
+obtained at Beltane (May Day) in Scotland, Germany, and other
+countries. Human sacrifices might also have been offered up as burnt
+offerings. Abraham, who came from the Sumerian city of Ur, was
+prepared to sacrifice Isaac, Sarah's first-born. The fire gods of
+Babylonia never achieved the ascendancy of the Indian Agni; they
+appear to have resembled him mainly in so far as he was connected with
+the sun. Nusku, like Agni, was also the "messenger of the gods". When
+Merodach or Babylon was exalted as chief god of the pantheon his
+messages were carried to Ea by Nusku. He may have therefore symbolized
+the sun rays, for Merodach had solar attributes. It is possible that
+the belief obtained among even the water worshippers of Eridu that the
+sun and moon, which rose from the primordial deep, had their origin in
+the everlasting fire in Ea's domain at the bottom of the sea. In the
+Indian god Varuna's ocean home an "Asura fire" (demon fire) burned
+constantly; it was "bound and confined", but could not be
+extinguished. Fed by water, this fire, it was believed, would burst
+forth at the last day and consume the universe.[64] A similar belief
+can be traced in Teutonic mythology. The Babylonian incantation cult
+appealed to many gods, but "the most important share in the rites",
+says Jastrow, "are taken by fire and water--suggesting, therefore,
+that the god of water--more particularly Ea--and the god of fire ...
+are the chief deities on which the ritual itself hinges". In some
+temples there was a _bit rimki_, a "house of washing", and a _bit
+nuri_, a "house of light".[65]
+
+It is possible, of course, that fire was regarded as the vital
+principle by some city cults, which were influenced by imported ideas.
+If so, the belief never became prevalent. The most enduring influence
+in Babylonian religion was the early Sumerian; and as Sumerian modes
+of thought were the outcome of habits of life necessitated by the
+character of the country, they were bound, sooner or later, to leave a
+deep impress on the minds of foreign peoples who settled in the Garden
+of Western Asia. It is not surprising, therefore, to find that
+imported deities assumed Babylonian characteristics, and were
+identified or associated with Babylonian gods in the later imperial
+pantheon.
+
+Moon worship appears to have been as ancient as water worship, with
+which, as we have seen, it was closely associated. It was widely
+prevalent throughout Babylonia. The chief seat of the lunar deity,
+Nannar or Sin, was the ancient city of Ur, from which Abraham migrated
+to Harran, where the "Baal" (the lord) was also a moon god. Ur was
+situated in Sumer, in the south, between the west bank of the
+Euphrates and the low hills bordering the Arabian desert, and not far
+distant from sea-washed Eridu. No doubt, like that city, it had its
+origin at an exceedingly remote period. At any rate, the excavations
+conducted there have afforded proof that it flourished in the
+prehistoric period.
+
+As in Arabia, Egypt, and throughout ancient Europe and elsewhere, the
+moon god of Sumeria was regarded as the "friend of man". He controlled
+nature as a fertilizing agency; he caused grass, trees, and crops to
+grow; he increased flocks and herds, and gave human offspring. At Ur
+he was exalted above Ea as "the lord and prince of the gods, supreme
+in heaven, the Father of all"; he was also called "great Anu", an
+indication that Anu, the sky god, had at one time a lunar character.
+The moon god was believed to be the father of the sun god: he was the
+"great steer with mighty horns and perfect limbs".
+
+His name Sin is believed to be a corruption of "Zu-ena", which
+signifies "knowledge lord".[66] Like the lunar Osiris of Egypt, he was
+apparently an instructor of mankind; the moon measured time and
+controlled the seasons; seeds were sown at a certain phase of the
+moon, and crops were ripened by the harvest moon. The mountains of
+Sinai and the desert of Sin are called after this deity.
+
+As Nannar, which Jastrow considers to be a variation of "Narnar", the
+"light producer", the moon god scattered darkness and reduced the
+terrors of night. His spirit inhabited the lunar stone, so that moon
+and stone worship were closely associated; it also entered trees and
+crops, so that moon worship linked with earth worship, as both linked
+with water worship.
+
+The consort of Nannar was Nin-Uruwa, "the lady of Ur", who was also
+called Nin-gala. She links with Ishtar as Nin, as Isis of Egypt linked
+with other mother deities. The twin children of the moon were Mashu
+and Mashtu, a brother and sister, like the lunar girl and boy of
+Teutonic mythology immortalized in nursery rhymes as Jack and Jill.
+
+Sun worship was of great antiquity in Babylonia, but appears to have
+been seasonal in its earliest phases. No doubt the sky god Anu had his
+solar as well as his lunar attributes, which he shared with Ea. The
+spring sun was personified as Tammuz, the youthful shepherd, who was
+loved by the earth goddess Ishtar and her rival Eresh-ki-gal, goddess
+of death, the Babylonian Persephone. During the winter Tammuz dwelt in
+Hades, and at the beginning of spring Ishtar descended to search for
+him among the shades.[67] But the burning summer sun was symbolized as
+a destroyer, a slayer of men, and therefore a war god. As Ninip or
+Nirig, the son of Enlil, who was made in the likeness of Anu, he waged
+war against the earth spirits, and was furiously hostile towards the
+deities of alien peoples, as befitted a god of battle. Even his father
+feared him, and when he was advancing towards Nippur, sent out Nusku,
+messenger of the gods, to soothe the raging deity with soft words.
+Ninip was symbolized as a wild bull, was connected with stone worship,
+like the Indian destroying god Shiva, and was similarly a deity of
+Fate. He had much in common with Nin-Girsu, a god of Lagash, who was
+in turn regarded as a form of Tammuz.
+
+Nergal, another solar deity, brought disease and pestilence, and,
+according to Jensen, all misfortunes due to excessive heat. He was the
+king of death, husband of Eresh-ki-gal, queen of Hades. As a war god
+he thirsted for human blood, and was depicted as a mighty lion. He was
+the chief deity of the city of Cuthah, which, Jastrow suggests, was
+situated beside a burial place of great repute, like the Egyptian
+Abydos.
+
+The two great cities of the sun in ancient Babylonia were the Akkadian
+Sippar and the Sumerian Larsa. In these the sun god, Shamash or
+Babbar, was the patron deity. He was a god of Destiny, the lord of the
+living and the dead, and was exalted as the great Judge, the lawgiver,
+who upheld justice; he was the enemy of wrong, he loved righteousness
+and hated sin, he inspired his worshippers with rectitude and punished
+evildoers. The sun god also illumined the world, and his rays
+penetrated every quarter: he saw all things, and read the thoughts of
+men; nothing could be concealed from Shamash. One of his names was
+Mitra, like the god who was linked with Varuna in the Indian
+_Rigveda_. These twin deities, Mitra and Varuna, measured out the span
+of human life. They were the source of all heavenly gifts: they
+regulated sun and moon, the winds and waters, and the seasons.[68]
+
+These did the gods establish in royal power over themselves, because
+they were wise and the children of wisdom, and because they excelled
+in power.--_Prof. Arnold's trans. of Rigvedic Hymn_.
+
+Mitra and Varuna were protectors of hearth and home, and they
+chastised sinners. "In a striking passage of the _Mahabharata_" says
+Professor Moulton, "one in which Indian thought comes nearest to the
+conception of conscience, a kingly wrongdoer is reminded that the sun
+sees secret sin."[69]
+
+In Persian mythology Mitra, as Mithra, is the patron of Truth, and
+"the Mediator" between heaven and earth[70]. This god was also
+worshipped by the military aristocracy of Mitanni, which held sway for
+a period over Assyria. In Roman times the worship of Mithra spread
+into Europe from Persia. Mithraic sculptures depict the deity as a
+corn god slaying the harvest bull; on one of the monuments "cornstalks
+instead of blood are seen issuing from the wound inflicted with the
+knife[71]". The Assyrian word "metru" signifies rain.[70] As a sky god
+Mitra may have been associated, like Varuna, with the
+waters above the firmament. Rain would therefore be
+gifted by him as a fertilizing deity. In the Babylonian
+Flood legend it is the sun god Shamash who "appointed
+the time" when the heavens were to "rain destruction"
+in the night, and commanded Pir-napishtim, "Enter into
+the midst of thy ship and shut thy door". The solar
+deity thus appears as a form of Anu, god of the sky and
+upper atmosphere, who controls the seasons and the various
+forces of nature. Other rival chiefs of city pantheons,
+whether lunar, atmospheric, earth, or water deities, were
+similarly regarded as the supreme deities who ruled the
+Universe, and decreed when man should receive benefits
+or suffer from their acts of vengeance.
+
+It is possible that the close resemblances between Mithra and Mitra of
+the Aryan-speaking peoples of India and the Iranian plateau, and the
+sun god of the Babylonians--the Semitic Shamash, the Sumerian
+Utu--were due to early contact and cultural influence through the
+medium of Elam. As a solar and corn god, the Persian Mithra links with
+Tammuz, as a sky and atmospheric deity with Anu, and as a god of
+truth, righteousness, and law with Shamash. We seem to trace in the
+sublime Vedic hymns addressed by the Indian Aryans to Mitra and Varuna
+the impress of Babylonian religious thought:
+
+    Whate'er exists within this earth, and all within the sky,
+    Yea, all that is beyond, King Varuna perceives....
+
+            _Rigveda_, iv, 16.[72]
+
+
+    O Varuna, whatever the offence may be
+    That we as men commit against the heavenly folk,
+    When through our want of thought we violate thy laws,
+    Chastise us not, O god, for that iniquity.
+
+            _Rigveda_, vii, 89.[73]
+
+Shamash was similarly exalted in Babylonian hymns:
+
+    The progeny of those who deal unjustly will not prosper.
+    What their mouth utters in thy presence
+    Thou wilt destroy, what issues from their mouth thou wilt
+        dissipate.
+    Thou knowest their transgressions, the plan of the wicked thou
+        rejectest.
+    All, whoever they be, are in thy care....
+    He who takes no bribe, who cares for the oppressed,
+    Is favoured by Shamash,--his life shall be prolonged.[74]
+
+The worshippers of Varuna and Mitra in the Punjab did not cremate
+their dead like those who exalted the rival fire god Agni. The grave
+was the "house of clay", as in Babylonia. Mitra, who was identical
+with Yama, ruled over departed souls in the "Land of the Pitris"
+(Fathers), which was reached by crossing the mountains and the rushing
+stream of death.[75] As we have seen, the Babylonian solar god Nergal
+was also the lord of the dead.
+
+As Ma-banda-anna, "the boat of the sky", Shamash links with the
+Egyptian sun god Ra, whose barque sailed over the heavens by day and
+through the underworld of darkness and death during the night. The
+consort of Shamash was Aa, and his attendants were Kittu and Mesharu,
+"Truth" and "Righteousness".
+
+Like the Hittites, the Babylonians had also a sun goddess: her name
+was Nin-sun, which Jastrow renders "the annihilating lady". At Erech
+she had a shrine in the temple of the sky god Anu.
+
+We can trace in Babylonia, as in Egypt, the early belief that life in
+the Universe had a female origin. Nin-sun links with Ishtar, whose
+Sumerian name is Nana. Ishtar appears to be identical with the
+Egyptian Hathor, who, as Sekhet, slaughtered the enemies of the sun
+god Ra. She was similarly the goddess of maternity, and is depicted in
+this character, like Isis and other goddesses of similar character,
+suckling a babe. Another Babylonian lady of the gods was Ama, Mama, or
+Mami, "the creatress of the seed of mankind", and was "probably so
+called as the 'mother' of all things".[76]
+
+A characteristic atmospheric deity was Ramman, the Rimmon of the
+Bible, the Semitic Addu, Adad, Hadad, or Dadu. He was not a presiding
+deity in any pantheon, but was identified with Enlil at Nippur. As a
+hammer god, he was imported by the Semites from the hills. He was a
+wind and thunder deity, a rain bringer, a corn god, and a god of
+battle like Thor, Jupiter, Tarku, Indra, and others, who were all sons
+of the sky.
+
+In this brief review of the representative deities of early Babylonia,
+it will be seen that most gods link with Anu, Ea, and Enlil, whose
+attributes they symbolized in various forms. The prominence accorded
+to an individual deity depended on local conditions, experiences, and
+influences. Ceremonial practices no doubt varied here and there, but
+although one section might exalt Ea and another Shamash, the religious
+faith of the people as a whole did not differ to any marked extent;
+they served the gods according to their lights, so that life might be
+prolonged and made prosperous, for the land of death and "no return"
+was regarded as a place of gloom and misery.
+
+When the Babylonians appear before us in the early stages of the
+historical period they had reached that stage of development set forth
+so vividly in the _Orations_ of Isocrates: "Those of the gods who are
+the source to us of good things have the title of Olympians; those
+whose department is that of calamities and punishments have harsher
+titles: to the first class both private persons and states erect
+altars and temples; the second is not worshipped either with prayers
+or burnt sacrifices, but in their case we perform ceremonies of
+riddance".[77]
+
+The Sumerians, like the Ancient Egyptians, developed their deities,
+who reflected the growth of culture, from vague spirit groups, which,
+like ghosts, were hostile to mankind. Those spirits who could be
+propitiated were exalted as benevolent deities; those who could not be
+bargained with were regarded as evil gods and goddesses. A better
+understanding of the character of Babylonian deities will therefore be
+obtained by passing the demons and evil spirits under review.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+DEMONS, FAIRIES, AND GHOSTS
+
+
+  Spirits in Everything and Everywhere--The Bringers of Luck and
+  Misfortune--Germ Theory Anticipated--Early Gods indistinguishable
+  from Demons--Repulsive form of Ea--Spirit Groups as Attendants of
+  Deities--Egyptian, Indian, Greek, and Germanic parallels--Elder Gods
+  as Evil Gods--Animal Demons--The Babylonian
+  "Will-o'-the-Wisp"--"Foreign Devils"--Elves and Fairies--Demon
+  Lovers--"Adam's first wife, Lilith"--Children Charmed against Evil
+  Spirits--The Demon of Nightmare--Ghosts as Enemies of the
+  Living--The Vengeful Dead Mother in Babylonia, India, Europe, and
+  Mexico--Burial Contrast--Calling Back the Dead--Fate of Childless
+  Ghosts--Religious Need for Offspring--Hags and Giants and Composite
+  Monsters--Tempest Fiends--Legend of Adapa and the Storm Demon--Wind
+  Hags of Ancient Britain--Tyrolese Storm Maidens--Zu Bird Legend and
+  Indian Garuda Myth--Legend of the Eagle and the Serpent--The Snake
+  Mother Goddess--Demons and the Moon God--Plague
+  Deities--Classification of Spirits, and Egyptian, Arabian, and
+  Scottish parallels--Traces of Progress from Animism to Monotheism.
+
+
+The memorable sermon preached by Paul to the Athenians when he stood
+"in the midst of Mars' hill", could have been addressed with equal
+appropriateness to the ancient Sumerians and Akkadians. "I perceive",
+he declared, "that in all things ye are too superstitious.... God that
+made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of
+heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; neither is
+worshipped with men's hands as though he needed any thing, seeing he
+giveth to all life, and breath, and all things ... for in him we live,
+and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have
+said, For we are also his offspring. Forasmuch then as we are the
+offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto
+gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device."[78]
+
+Babylonian temples were houses of the gods in the literal sense; the
+gods were supposed to dwell in them, their spirits having entered into
+the graven images or blocks of stone. It is probable that like the
+Ancient Egyptians they believed a god had as many spirits as he had
+attributes. The gods, as we have said, appear to have evolved from
+early spirit groups. All the world swarmed with spirits, which
+inhabited stones and trees, mountains and deserts, rivers and ocean,
+the air, the sky, the stars, and the sun and moon. The spirits
+controlled Nature: they brought light and darkness, sunshine and
+storm, summer and winter; they were manifested in the thunderstorm,
+the sandstorm, the glare of sunset, and the wraiths of mist rising
+from the steaming marshes. They controlled also the lives of men and
+women. The good spirits were the source of luck. The bad spirits
+caused misfortunes, and were ever seeking to work evil against the
+Babylonian. Darkness was peopled by demons and ghosts of the dead. The
+spirits of disease were ever lying in wait to clutch him with cruel
+invisible hands.
+
+Some modern writers, who are too prone to regard ancient peoples from
+a twentieth-century point of view, express grave doubts as to whether
+"intelligent Babylonians" really believed that spirits came down in
+the rain and entered the soil to rise up before men's eyes as stalks
+of barley or wheat. There is no reason for supposing that they thought
+otherwise. The early folks based their theories on the accumulated
+knowledge of their age. They knew nothing regarding the composition of
+water or the atmosphere, of the cause of thunder and lightning, or of
+the chemical changes effected in soils by the action of bacteria. They
+attributed all natural phenomena to the operations of spirits or gods.
+In believing that certain demons caused certain diseases, they may be
+said to have achieved distinct progress, for they anticipated the germ
+theory. They made discoveries, too, which have been approved and
+elaborated in later times when they lit sacred fires, bathed in sacred
+waters, and used oils and herbs to charm away spirits of pestilence.
+Indeed, many folk cures, which were originally associated with magical
+ceremonies, are still practised in our own day. They were found to be
+effective by early observers, although they were unable to explain why
+and how cures were accomplished, like modern scientific investigators.
+
+In peopling the Universe with spirits, the Babylonians, like other
+ancient folks, betrayed that tendency to symbolize everything which
+has ever appealed to the human mind. Our painters and poets and
+sculptors are greatest when they symbolize their ideals and ideas and
+impressions, and by so doing make us respond to their moods. Their
+"beauty and their terror are sublime". But what may seem poetic to us,
+was invariably a grim reality to the Babylonians. The statue or
+picture was not merely a work of art but a manifestation of the god or
+demon. As has been said, they believed that the spirit of the god
+inhabited the idol; the frown of the brazen image was the frown of the
+wicked demon. They entertained as much dread of the winged and
+human-headed bulls guarding the entrance to the royal palace as do
+some of the Arab workmen who, in our own day, assist excavators to
+rescue them from sandy mounds in which they have been hidden for long
+centuries.
+
+When an idol was carried away from a city by an invading army, it was
+believed that the god himself had been taken prisoner, and was
+therefore unable any longer to help his people.
+
+In the early stages of Sumerian culture, the gods and goddesses who
+formed groups were indistinguishable from demons. They were vaguely
+defined, and had changing shapes. When attempts were made to depict
+them they were represented in many varying forms. Some were winged
+bulls or lions with human heads; others had even more remarkable
+composite forms. The "dragon of Babylon", for instance, which was
+portrayed on walls of temples, had a serpent's head, a body covered
+with scales, the fore legs of a lion, hind legs of an eagle, and a
+long wriggling serpentine tail. Ea had several monster forms. The
+following description of one of these is repulsive enough:--
+
+    The head is the head of a serpent,
+    From his nostrils mucus trickles,
+    His mouth is beslavered with water;
+    The ears are like those of a basilisk,
+    His horns are twisted into three curls,
+    He wears a veil in his head band,
+    The body is a suh-fish full of stars,
+    The base of his feet are claws,
+    The sole of his foot has no heel,
+    His name is Sassu-wunnu,
+    A sea monster, a form of Ea.
+
+            _R.C. Thompson's Translation._[79]
+
+Even after the gods were given beneficent attributes to reflect the
+growth of culture, and were humanized, they still retained many of
+their savage characteristics. Bel Enlil and his fierce son, Nergal,
+were destroyers of mankind; the storm god desolated the land; the sky
+god deluged it with rain; the sea raged furiously, ever hungering for
+human victims; the burning sun struck down its victims; and the floods
+played havoc with the dykes and houses of human beings. In Egypt the
+sun god Ra was similarly a "producer of calamity", the composite
+monster god Sokar was "the lord of fear".[80] Osiris in prehistoric
+times had been "a dangerous god", and some of the Pharaohs sought
+protection against him in the charms inscribed in their tombs.[81] The
+Indian Shiva, "the Destroyer", in the old religious poems has also
+primitive attributes of like character.
+
+The Sumerian gods never lost their connection with the early spirit
+groups. These continued to be represented by their attendants, who
+executed a deity's stern and vengeful decrees. In one of the
+Babylonian charms the demons are referred to as "the spleen of the
+gods"--the symbols of their wrathful emotions and vengeful desires.
+Bel Enlil, the air and earth god, was served by the demons of disease,
+"the beloved sons of Bel", which issued from the Underworld to attack
+mankind. Nergal, the sulky and ill-tempered lord of death and
+destruction, who never lost his demoniac character, swept over the
+land, followed by the spirits of pestilence, sunstroke, weariness, and
+destruction. Anu, the sky god, had "spawned" at creation the demons of
+cold and rain and darkness. Even Ea and his consort, Damkina, were
+served by groups of devils and giants, which preyed upon mankind in
+bleak and desolate places when night fell. In the ocean home of Ea
+were bred the "seven evil spirits" of tempest--the gaping dragon, the
+leopard which preyed upon children, the great Beast, the terrible
+serpent, &c.
+
+In Indian mythology Indra was similarly followed by the stormy Maruts,
+and fierce Rudra by the tempestuous Rudras. In Teutonic mythology Odin
+is the "Wild Huntsman in the Raging Host". In Greek mythology the
+ocean furies attend upon fickle Poseidon. Other examples of this kind
+could be multiplied.
+
+As we have seen (Chapter II) the earliest group of Babylonian deities
+consisted probably of four pairs of gods and goddesses as in Egypt.
+The first pair was Apsu-Rishtu and Tiamat, who personified the
+primordial deep. Now the elder deities in most mythologies--the
+"grandsires" and "grandmothers" and "fathers" and "mothers"--are ever
+the most powerful and most vengeful. They appear to represent
+primitive "layers" of savage thought. The Greek Cronos devours even
+his own children, and, as the late Andrew Lang has shown, there are
+many parallels to this myth among primitive peoples in various parts
+of the world.
+
+Lang regarded the Greek survival as an example of "the conservatism of
+the religious instinct".[82] The grandmother of the Teutonic deity Tyr
+was a fierce giantess with nine hundred heads; his father was an enemy
+of the gods. In Scotland the hag-mother of winter and storm and
+darkness is the enemy of growth and all life, and she raises storms to
+stop the grass growing, to slay young animals, and prevent the union
+of her son with his fair bride. Similarly the Babylonian chaos
+spirits, Apsu and Tiamat, the father and mother of the gods, resolve
+to destroy their offspring, because they begin to set the Universe in
+order. Tiamat, the female dragon, is more powerful than her husband
+Apsu, who is slain by his son Ea. She summons to her aid the gods of
+evil, and creates also a brood of monsters--serpents, dragons, vipers,
+fish men, raging hounds, &c.--so as to bring about universal and
+enduring confusion and evil. Not until she is destroyed can the
+beneficent gods establish law and order and make the earth habitable
+and beautiful.
+
+But although Tiamat was slain, the everlasting battle between the
+forces of good and evil was ever waged in the Babylonian world.
+Certain evil spirits were let loose at certain periods, and they
+strove to accomplish the destruction of mankind and his works. These
+invisible enemies were either charmed away by performing magical
+ceremonies, or by invoking the gods to thwart them and bind them.
+
+Other spirits inhabited the bodies of animals and were ever hovering
+near. The ghosts of the dead and male and female demons were birds,
+like the birds of Fate which sang to Siegfried. When the owl raised
+its melancholy voice in the darkness the listener heard the spirit of
+a departed mother crying for her child. Ghosts and evil spirits
+wandered through the streets in darkness; they haunted empty houses;
+they fluttered through the evening air as bats; they hastened, moaning
+dismally, across barren wastes searching for food or lay in wait for
+travellers; they came as roaring lions and howling jackals, hungering
+for human flesh. The "shedu" was a destructive bull which might slay
+man wantonly or as a protector of temples. Of like character was the
+"lamassu", depicted as a winged bull with human head, the protector of
+palaces; the "alu" was a bull-like demon of tempest, and there were
+also many composite, distorted, or formless monsters which were
+vaguely termed "seizers" or "overthrowers", the Semitic "labashu" and
+"ach-chazu", the Sumerian "dimmea" and "dimme-kur". A dialectic form
+of "gallu" or devil was "mulla". Professor Pinches thinks it not
+improbable that "mulla" may be connected with the word "mula", meaning
+"star", and suggests that it referred to a "will-o'-the-wisp".[83] In
+these islands, according to an old rhyme,
+
+    Some call him Robin Good-fellow,
+      Hob-goblin, or mad Crisp,
+    And some againe doe tearme him oft
+      By name of Will the Wisp.
+
+Other names are "Kitty", "Peg", and "Jack with a lantern". "Poor
+Robin" sang:
+
+    I should indeed as soon expect
+    That Peg-a-lantern would direct
+    Me straightway home on misty night
+    As wand'ring stars, quite out of sight.
+
+In Shakespeare's _Tempest_[84] a sailor exclaims: "Your fairy, which,
+you say, is a harmless fairy, has done little better than played the
+Jack with us". Dr. Johnson commented that the reference was to "Jack
+with a lantern". Milton wrote also of the "wandering fire",
+
+    Which oft, they say, some evil spirit attends,
+    Hovering and blazing with delusive light,
+    Misleads th' amaz'd night wand'rer from his way
+    To bogs and mires, and oft through pond or pool;
+    There swallowed up and lost from succour far.[85]
+
+"When we stick in the mire", sang Drayton, "he doth with laughter
+leave us." These fires were also "fallen stars", "death fires", and
+"fire drakes":
+
+    So have I seen a fire drake glide along
+    Before a dying man, to point his grave,
+    And in it stick and hide.[86]
+
+Pliny referred to the wandering lights as stars.[87] The Sumerian
+"mulla" was undoubtedly an evil spirit. In some countries the "fire
+drake" is a bird with gleaming breast: in Babylonia it assumed the
+form of a bull, and may have had some connection with the bull of
+lshtar. Like the Indian "Dasyu" and "Dasa",[88] Gallu was applied in
+the sense of "foreign devil" to human and superhuman adversaries of
+certain monarchs. Some of the supernatural beings resemble our elves
+and fairies and the Indian Rakshasas. Occasionally they appear in
+comely human guise; at other times they are vaguely monstrous. The
+best known of this class is Lilith, who, according to Hebrew
+tradition, preserved in the Talmud, was the demon lover of Adam. She
+has been immortalized by Dante Gabriel Rossetti:
+
+    Of Adam's first wife Lilith, it is told
+    (The witch he loved before the gift of Eve)
+    That, ere the snake's, her sweet tongue could deceive,
+    And her enchanted hair was the first gold.
+    And still she sits, young while the earth is old,
+    And, subtly of herself contemplative,
+    Draws men to watch the bright web she can weave,
+    Till heart and body and life are in its hold.
+    The rose and poppy are her flowers; for where
+    Is he not found, O Lilith, whom shed scent
+    And soft shed kisses and soft sleep shall snare?
+    Lo! as that youth's eyes burned at thine, so went
+    Thy spell through him, and left his straight neck bent
+    And round his heart one strangling golden hair.
+
+Lilith is the Babylonian Lilithu, a feminine form of Lilu, the
+Sumerian Lila. She resembles Surpanakha of the _Ramayana_, who made
+love to Rama and Lakshmana, and the sister of the demon Hidimva, who
+became enamoured of Bhima, one of the heroes of the _Mahabharata_,[89]
+and the various fairy lovers of Europe who lured men to eternal
+imprisonment inside mountains, or vanished for ever when they were
+completely under their influence, leaving them demented. The elfin
+Lilu similarly wooed young women, like the Germanic Laurin of the
+"Wonderful Rose Garden",[90] who carried away the fair lady Kunhild to
+his underground dwelling amidst the Tyrolese mountains, or left them
+haunting the place of their meetings, searching for him in vain:
+
+    A savage place! as holy and enchanted
+    As ere beneath the waning moon was haunted
+    By woman wailing for her demon lover...
+    His flashing eyes, his floating hair!
+    Weave a circle round him thrice,
+    And close your eyes with holy dread,
+    For he on honey dew hath fed
+    And drunk the milk of Paradise.
+
+            _Coleridge's Kubla Khan._
+
+Another materializing spirit of this class was Ardat Lili, who appears
+to have wedded human beings like the swan maidens, the mermaids, and
+Nereids of the European folk tales, and the goddess Ganga, who for a
+time was the wife of King Shantanu of the _Mahabharata_.[91]
+
+The Labartu, to whom we have referred, was a female who haunted
+mountains and marshes; like the fairies and hags of Europe, she stole
+or afflicted children, who accordingly had to wear charms round their
+necks for protection. Seven of these supernatural beings were reputed
+to be daughters of Anu, the sky god.
+
+The Alu, a storm deity, was also a spirit which caused nightmare. It
+endeavoured to smother sleepers like the Scandinavian hag Mara, and
+similarly deprived them of power to move. In Babylonia this evil
+spirit might also cause sleeplessness or death by hovering near a bed.
+In shape it might be as horrible and repulsive as the Egyptian ghosts
+which caused children to die from fright or by sucking out the breath
+of life.
+
+As most representatives of the spirit world were enemies of the
+living, so were the ghosts of dead men and women. Death chilled all
+human affections; it turned love to hate; the deeper the love had
+been, the deeper became the enmity fostered by the ghost. Certain
+ghosts might also be regarded as particularly virulent and hostile if
+they happened to have left the body of one who was ceremonially
+impure. The most terrible ghost in Babylonia was that of a woman who
+had died in childbed. She was pitied and dreaded; her grief had
+demented her; she was doomed to wail in the darkness; her impurity
+clung to her like poison. No spirit was more prone to work evil
+against mankind, and her hostility was accompanied by the most tragic
+sorrow. In Northern India the Hindus, like the ancient Babylonians,
+regard as a fearsome demon the ghost of a woman who died while
+pregnant, or on the day of the child's birth.[92] A similar belief
+prevailed in Mexico. In Europe there are many folk tales of dead
+mothers who return to avenge themselves on the cruel fathers of
+neglected children.
+
+A sharp contrast is presented by the Mongolian Buriats, whose outlook
+on the spirit world is less gloomy than was that of the ancient
+Babylonians. According to Mr. Jeremiah Curtin, this interesting people
+are wont to perform a ceremony with purpose to entice the ghost to
+return to the dead body--a proceeding which is dreaded in the Scottish
+Highlands.[93] The Buriats address the ghost, saying: "You shall sleep
+well. Come back to your natural ashes. Take pity on your friends. It
+is necessary to live a real life. Do not wander along the mountains.
+Do not be like bad spirits. Return to your peaceful home.... Come back
+and work for your children. How can you leave the little ones?" If it
+is a mother, these words have great effect; sometimes the spirit moans
+and sobs, and the Buriats tell that there have been instances of it
+returning to the body.[94] In his _Arabia Deserta_[95] Doughty relates
+that Arab women and children mock the cries of the owl. One explained
+to him: "It is a wailful woman seeking her lost child; she has become
+this forlorn bird". So do immemorial beliefs survive to our own day.
+
+The Babylonian ghosts of unmarried men and women and of those without
+offspring were also disconsolate night wanderers. Others who suffered
+similar fates were the ghosts of men who died in battle far from home
+and were left unburied, the ghosts of travellers who perished in the
+desert and were not covered over, the ghosts of drowned men which rose
+from the water, the ghosts of prisoners starved to death or executed,
+the ghosts of people who died violent deaths before their appointed
+time. The dead required to be cared for, to have libations poured out,
+to be fed, so that they might not prowl through the streets or enter
+houses searching for scraps of food and pure water. The duty of giving
+offerings to the dead was imposed apparently on near relatives. As in
+India, it would appear that the eldest son performed the funeral
+ceremony: a dreadful fate therefore awaited the spirit of the dead
+Babylonian man or woman without offspring. In Sanskrit literature
+there is a reference to a priest who was not allowed to enter
+Paradise, although he had performed rigid penances, because he had no
+children.[96]
+
+There were hags and giants of mountain and desert, of river and ocean.
+Demons might possess the pig, the goat, the horse, the lion, or the
+ibis, the raven, or the hawk. The seven spirits of tempest, fire, and
+destruction rose from the depths of ocean, and there were hosts of
+demons which could not be overcome or baffled by man without the
+assistance of the gods to whom they were hostile. Many were sexless;
+having no offspring, they were devoid of mercy and compassion. They
+penetrated everywhere:
+
+    The high enclosures, the broad enclosures, like a flood
+      they pass through,
+    From house to house they dash along.
+    No door can shut them out;
+    No bolt can turn them back.
+    Through the door, like a snake, they glide,
+    Through the hinge, like the wind, they storm,
+    Tearing the wife from the embrace of the man,
+    Driving the freedman from his family home.[97]
+
+These furies did not confine their unwelcomed attentions to mankind
+alone:
+
+    They hunt the doves from their cotes,
+    And drive the birds from their nests,
+    And chase the marten from its hole....
+    Through the gloomy street by night they roam,
+    Smiting sheepfold and cattle pen,
+    Shutting up the land as with door and bolt.
+
+            _R.C. Thompson's Translation._
+
+The Babylonian poet, like Burns, was filled with pity for the animals
+which suffered in the storm:
+
+    List'ning the doors an' winnocks rattle,
+    I thought me o' the ourie cattle,
+    Or silly sheep, wha bide this brattle
+      O' winter war....
+    Ilk happing bird, wee, helpless thing!
+    That in the merry months o' spring
+    Delighted me to hear thee sing,
+      What comes o' thee?
+    Whare wilt thou cow'r thy chittering wing,
+      And close thy e'e?
+
+According to Babylonian belief, "the great storms directed from
+heaven" were caused by demons. Mankind heard them "loudly roaring
+above, gibbering below".[98] The south wind was raised by Shutu, a
+plumed storm demon resembling Hraesvelgur of the Icelandic Eddas:
+
+    Corpse-swallower sits at the end of heaven,
+      A Joetun in eagle form;
+    From his wings, they say, comes the wind which fares
+      Over all the dwellers of earth.[99]
+
+The northern story of Thor's fishing, when he hooked and wounded the
+Midgard serpent, is recalled by the Babylonian legend of Adapa, son of
+the god Ea. This hero was engaged catching fish, when Shutu, the south
+wind, upset his boat. In his wrath Adapa immediately attacked the
+storm demon and shattered her pinions. Anu, the sky god, was moved to
+anger against Ea's son and summoned him to the Celestial Court. Adapa,
+however, appeared in garments of mourning and was forgiven. Anu
+offered him the water of life and the bread of life which would have
+made him immortal, but Ea's son refused to eat or drink, believing, as
+his father had warned him, that the sky god desired him to partake of
+the bread of death and to drink of the water of death.
+
+Another terrible atmospheric demon was the south-west wind, which
+caused destructive storms and floods, and claimed many human victims
+like the Icelandic "corpse swallower". She was depicted with lidless
+staring eyes, broad flat nose, mouth gaping horribly, and showing
+tusk-like teeth, and with high cheek bones, heavy eyebrows, and low
+bulging forehead.
+
+In Scotland the hag of the south-west wind is similarly a bloodthirsty
+and fearsome demon. She is most virulent in the springtime. At
+Cromarty she is quaintly called "Gentle Annie" by the fisher folks,
+who repeat the saying: "When Gentle Annie is skyawlan (yelling) roond
+the heel of Ness (a promontory) wi' a white feather on her hat (the
+foam of big billows) they (the spirits) will be harrying (robbing) the
+crook"--that is, the pot which hangs from the crook is empty during
+the spring storms, which prevent fishermen going to sea. In England
+the wind hag is Black Annis, who dwells in a Leicestershire hill cave.
+She may be identical with the Irish hag Anu, associated with the "Paps
+of Anu". According to Gaelic lore, this wind demon of spring is the
+"Cailleach" (old wife). She gives her name in the Highland calendar to
+the stormy period of late spring; she raises gale after gale to
+prevent the coming of summer. Angerboda, the Icelandic hag, is also a
+storm demon, but represents the east wind. A Tyrolese folk tale tells
+of three magic maidens who dwelt on Jochgrimm mountain, where they
+"brewed the winds". Their demon lovers were Ecke, "he who causes
+fear"; Vasolt, "he who causes dismay"; and the scornful Dietrich in
+his mythical character of Donar or Thunor (Thor), the thunderer.
+
+Another Sumerian storm demon was the Zu bird, which is represented
+among the stars by Pegasus and Taurus. A legend relates that this
+"worker of evil, who raised the head of evil", once aspired to rule
+the gods, and stole from Bel, "the lord" of deities, the Tablets of
+Destiny, which gave him his power over the Universe as controller of
+the fates of all. The Zu bird escaped with the Tablets and found
+shelter on its mountain top in Arabia. Anu called on Ramman, the
+thunderer, to attack the Zu bird, but he was afraid; other gods appear
+to have shrunk from the conflict. How the rebel was overcome is not
+certain, because the legend survives in fragmentary form. There is a
+reference, however, to the moon god setting out towards the mountain
+in Arabia with purpose to outwit the Zu bird and recover the lost
+Tablets. How he fared it is impossible to ascertain. In another
+legend--that of Etana--the mother serpent, addressing the sun god,
+Shamash, says:
+
+    Thy net is like unto the broad earth;
+    Thy snare is like unto the distant heaven!
+    Who hath ever escaped from thy net?
+    Even Zu, the worker of evil, who raised the head
+        of evil [did not escape]!
+
+            _L.W. King's Translation._
+
+In Indian mythology, Garuda, half giant, half eagle, robs the Amrita
+(ambrosia) of the gods which gives them their power and renders them
+immortal. It had assumed a golden body, bright as the sun. Indra, the
+thunderer, flung his bolt in vain; he could not wound Garuda, and only
+displaced a single feather. Afterwards, however, he stole the moon
+goblet containing the Amrita, which Garuda had delivered to his
+enemies, the serpents, to free his mother from bondage. This Indian
+eagle giant became the vehicle of the god Vishnu, and, according to
+the _Mahabharata_, "mocked the wind with his fleetness".
+
+It would appear that the Babylonian Zu bird symbolized the summer
+sandstorms from the Arabian desert. Thunder is associated with the
+rainy season, and it may have been assumed, therefore, that the
+thunder god was powerless against the sandstorm demon, who was chased,
+however, by the moon, and finally overcome by the triumphant sun when
+it broke through the darkening sand drift and brightened heaven and
+earth, "netting" the rebellious demon who desired to establish the
+rule of evil over gods and mankind.
+
+In the "Legend of Etana" the Eagle, another demon which links with the
+Indian Garuda, slayer of serpents, devours the brood of the Mother
+Serpent. For this offence against divine law, Shamash, the sun god,
+pronounces the Eagle's doom. He instructs the Mother Serpent to slay a
+wild ox and conceal herself in its entrails. The Eagle comes to feed
+on the carcass, unheeding the warning of one of his children, who
+says, "The serpent lies in this wild ox":
+
+    He swooped down and stood upon the wild ox,
+    The Eagle ... examined the flesh;
+    He looked about carefully before and behind him;
+    He again examined the flesh;
+    He looked about carefully before and behind him,
+    Then, moving swiftly, he made for the hidden parts.
+    When he entered into the midst,
+    The serpent seized him by his wing.
+
+In vain the Eagle appealed for mercy to the Mother Serpent, who was
+compelled to execute the decree of Shamash; she tore off the Eagle's
+pinions, wings, and claws, and threw him into a pit where he perished
+from hunger and thirst.[100] This myth may refer to the ravages of a
+winged demon of disease who was thwarted by the sacrifice of an ox.
+The Mother Serpent appears to be identical with an ancient goddess of
+maternity resembling the Egyptian Bast, the serpent mother of
+Bubastis. According to Sumerian belief, Nintu, "a form of the goddess
+Ma", was half a serpent. On her head there is a horn; she is "girt
+about the loins"; her left arm holds "a babe suckling her breast":
+
+    From her head to her loins
+    The body is that of a naked woman;
+    From the loins to the sole of the foot
+    Scales like those of a snake are visible.
+
+            _R.C. Thompson's Translation._
+
+The close association of gods and demons is illustrated in an obscure
+myth which may refer to an eclipse of the moon or a night storm at the
+beginning of the rainy season. The demons go to war against the high
+gods, and are assisted by Adad (Ramman) the thunderer, Shamash the
+sun, and Ishtar. They desire to wreck the heavens, the home of Anu:
+
+    They clustered angrily round the crescent of the moon god,
+    And won over to their aid Shamash, the mighty, and Adad, the
+        warrior,
+    And Ishtar, who with Anu, the King,
+    Hath founded a shining dwelling.
+
+The moon god Sin, "the seed of mankind", was darkened by the demons
+who raged, "rushing loose over the land" like to the wind. Bel called
+upon his messenger, whom he sent to Ea in the ocean depths, saying:
+"My son Sin ... hath been grievously bedimmed". Ea lamented, and
+dispatched his son Merodach to net the demons by magic, using "a
+two-coloured cord from the hair of a virgin kid and from the wool of a
+virgin lamb".[101]
+
+As in India, where Shitala, the Bengali goddess of smallpox, for
+instance, is worshipped when the dreaded disease she controls becomes
+epidemic, so in Babylonia the people sought to secure immunity from
+attack by worshipping spirits of disease. A tablet relates that Ura, a
+plague demon, once resolved to destroy all life, but ultimately
+consented to spare those who praised his name and exalted him in
+recognition of his bravery and power. This could be accomplished by
+reciting a formula. Indian serpent worshippers believe that their
+devotions "destroy all danger proceeding from snakes".[102]
+
+Like the Ancient Egyptians, the Babylonians also had their kindly
+spirits who brought luck and the various enjoyments of life. A good
+"labartu" might attend on a human being like a household fairy of
+India or Europe: a friendly "shedu" could protect a household against
+the attacks of fierce demons and human enemies. Even the spirits of
+Fate who served Anu, god of the sky, and that "Norn" of the
+Underworld, Eresh-ki-gal, queen of Hades, might sometimes be
+propitious: if the deities were successfully invoked they could cause
+the Fates to smite spirits of disease and bringers of ill luck. Damu,
+a friendly fairy goddess, was well loved, because she inspired
+pleasant dreams, relieved the sufferings of the afflicted, and
+restored to good health those patients whom she selected to favour.
+
+In the Egyptian _Book of the Dead_ the kindly spirits are overshadowed
+by the evil ones, because the various magical spells which were put on
+record were directed against those supernatural beings who were
+enemies of mankind. Similarly in Babylonia the fragments of this class
+of literature which survive deal mainly with wicked and vengeful
+demons. It appears probable, however, that the highly emotional
+Sumerians and Akkadians were on occasion quite as cheerful a people as
+the inhabitants of ancient Egypt. Although they were surrounded by
+bloodthirsty furies who desired to shorten their days, and their
+nights were filled with vague lowering phantoms which inspired fear,
+they no doubt shared, in their charm-protected houses, a comfortable
+feeling of security after performing magical ceremonies, and were
+happy enough when they gathered round flickering lights to listen to
+ancient song and story and gossip about crops and traders, the members
+of the royal house, and the family affairs of their acquaintances.
+
+The Babylonian spirit world, it will be seen, was of complex
+character. Its inhabitants were numberless, but often vaguely defined,
+and one class of demons linked with another. Like the European fairies
+of folk belief, the Babylonian spirits were extremely hostile and
+irresistible at certain seasonal periods; and they were fickle and
+perverse and difficult to please even when inclined to be friendly.
+They were also similarly manifested from time to time in various
+forms. Sometimes they were comely and beautiful; at other times they
+were apparitions of horror. The Jinn of present-day Arabians are of
+like character; these may be giants, cloudy shapes, comely women,
+serpents or cats, goats or pigs.
+
+Some of the composite monsters of Babylonia may suggest the vague and
+exaggerated recollections of terror-stricken people who have had
+glimpses of unfamiliar wild beasts in the dusk or amidst reedy
+marshes. But they cannot be wholly accounted for in this way. While
+animals were often identified with supernatural beings, and foreigners
+were called "devils", it would be misleading to assert that the spirit
+world reflects confused folk memories of human and bestial enemies.
+Even when a demon was given concrete human form it remained
+essentially non-human: no ordinary weapon could inflict an injury, and
+it was never controlled by natural laws. The spirits of disease and
+tempest and darkness were creations of fancy: they symbolized moods;
+they were the causes which explained effects. A sculptor or
+storyteller who desired to convey an impression of a spirit of storm
+or pestilence created monstrous forms to inspire terror. Sudden and
+unexpected visits of fierce and devastating demons were accounted for
+by asserting that they had wings like eagles, were nimble-footed as
+gazelles, cunning and watchful as serpents; that they had claws to
+clutch, horns to gore, and powerful fore legs like a lion to smite
+down victims. Withal they drank blood like ravens and devoured corpses
+like hyaenas. Monsters were all the more repulsive when they were
+partly human. The human-headed snake or the snake-headed man and the
+man with the horns of a wild bull and the legs of a goat were horrible
+in the extreme. Evil spirits might sometimes achieve success by
+practising deception. They might appear as beautiful girls or handsome
+men and seize unsuspecting victims in deathly embrace or leave them
+demented and full of grief, or come as birds and suddenly assume
+awesome shapes.
+
+Fairies and elves, and other half-human demons, are sometimes regarded
+as degenerate gods. It will be seen, however, that while certain
+spirits developed into deities, others remained something between
+these two classes of supernatural beings: they might attend upon gods
+and goddesses, or operate independently now against mankind and now
+against deities even. The "namtaru", for instance, was a spirit of
+fate, the son of Bel-Enlil and Eresh-ki-gal, queen of Hades.
+"Apparently", writes Professor Pinches, "he executed the instructions
+given him concerning the fate of men, and could also have power over
+certain of the gods."[103] To this middle class belong the evil gods
+who rebelled against the beneficent deities. According to Hebridean
+folk belief, the fallen angels are divided into three classes--the
+fairies, the "nimble men" (aurora borealis), and the "blue men of the
+Minch". In _Beowulf_ the "brood of Cain" includes "monsters and elves
+and sea-devils--giants also, who long time fought with God, for which
+he gave them their reward".[104] Similarly the Babylonian spirit
+groups are liable to division and subdivision. The various classes may
+be regarded as relics of the various stages of development from crude
+animism to sublime monotheism: in the fragmentary legends we trace the
+floating material from which great mythologies have been framed.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+MYTHS OF TAMMUZ AND ISHTAR
+
+
+  Forms of Tammuz--The Weeping Ceremony--Tammuz the Patriarch and the
+  Dying God--Common Origin of Tammuz and other Deities from an Archaic
+  God--The Mediterranean Racial Myth--Animal Forms of Gods of
+  Fertility--Two Legends of the Death of Tammuz--Attis, Adonis, and
+  Diarmid Slain by a Boar--Laments for Tammuz--His Soul in Underworld
+  and the Deep--Myth of the Child God of Ocean--Sargon Myth
+  Version--The Germanic Scyld of the Sheaf--Tammuz Links with Frey,
+  Heimdal, Agni, &c.--Assyrian Legend of "Descent of Ishtar"--Sumerian
+  Version--The Sister Belit-sheri and the Mother Ishtar--The Egyptian
+  Isis and Nepthys--Goddesses as Mothers, Sisters, and Wives--Great
+  Mothers of Babylonia--Immortal Goddesses and Dying Gods--The Various
+  Indras--Celtic Goddess with Seven Periods of Youth--Lovers of
+  Germanic and Classic Goddesses--The Lovers of Ishtar--Racial
+  Significance of Goddess Cult--The Great Fathers and their
+  Worshippers--Process of Racial and Religious Fusion--Ishtar and
+  Tiamat--Mother Worship in Palestine--Women among Goddess
+  Worshippers.
+
+
+Among the gods of Babylonia none achieved wider and more enduring
+fame than Tammuz, who was loved by Ishtar, the amorous Queen of
+Heaven--the beautiful youth who died and was mourned for and came to
+life again. He does not figure by his popular name in any of the city
+pantheons, but from the earliest times of which we have knowledge
+until the passing of Babylonian civilization, he played a prominent
+part in the religious life of the people.
+
+Tammuz, like Osiris of Egypt, was an agricultural deity, and as the
+Babylonian harvest was the gift of the rivers, it is probable that one
+of his several forms was Dumu-zi-abzu, "Tammuz of the Abyss". He was
+also "the child", "the heroic lord", "the sentinel", "the healer", and
+the patriarch who reigned over the early Babylonians for a
+considerable period. "Tammuz of the Abyss" was one of the members of
+the family of Ea, god of the Deep, whose other sons, in addition to
+Merodach, were Nira, an obscure deity; Ki-gulla, "world destroyer",
+Burnunta-sa, "broad ear", and Bara and Baragulla, probably "revealers"
+or "oracles". In addition there was a daughter, Khi-dimme-azaga,
+"child of the renowned spirit". She may have been identical with
+Belit-sheri, who is referred to in the Sumerian hymns as the sister of
+Tammuz. This family group was probably formed by symbolizing the
+attributes of Ea and his spouse Damkina. Tammuz, in his character as a
+patriarch, may have been regarded as a hostage from the gods: the
+human form of Ea, who instructed mankind, like King Osiris, how to
+grow corn and cultivate fruit trees. As the youth who perished
+annually, he was the corn spirit. He is referred to in the Bible by
+his Babylonian name.
+
+When Ezekiel detailed the various idolatrous practices of the
+Israelites, which included the worship of the sun and "every form of
+creeping things and abominable beasts"--a suggestion of the composite
+monsters of Babylonia--he was brought "to the door of the gate of the
+Lord's house, which was towards the north; and, behold, there sat
+women weeping for Tammuz".[105]
+
+The weeping ceremony was connected with agricultural rites. Corn
+deities were weeping deities, they shed fertilizing tears; and the
+sowers simulated the sorrow of divine mourners when they cast seed in
+the soil "to die", so that it might spring up as corn. This ancient
+custom, like many others, contributed to the poetic imagery of the
+Bible. "They that sow in tears", David sang, "shall reap in joy. He
+that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless
+come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him."[106] In
+Egypt the priestesses who acted the parts of Isis and Nepthys, mourned
+for the slain corn god Osiris.
+
+    Gods and men before the face of the gods are weeping for
+      thee at the same time, when they behold me!...
+    All thy sister goddesses are at thy side and behind thy couch,
+    Calling upon thee with weeping--yet thou are prostrate upon
+      thy bed!...
+    Live before us, desiring to behold thee.[107]
+
+It was believed to be essential that human beings should share the
+universal sorrow caused by the death of a god. If they remained
+unsympathetic, the deities would punish them as enemies. Worshippers
+of nature gods, therefore, based their ceremonial practices on natural
+phenomena. "The dread of the worshippers that the neglect of the usual
+ritual would be followed by disaster, is particularly intelligible",
+writes Professor Robertson Smith, "if they regarded the necessary
+operations of agriculture as involving the violent extinction of a
+particle of divine life."[108] By observing their ritual, the
+worshippers won the sympathy and co-operation of deities, or exercised
+a magical control over nature.
+
+The Babylonian myth of Tammuz, the dying god, bears a close
+resemblance to the Greek myth of Adonis. It also links with the myth
+of Osiris. According to Professor Sayce, Tammuz is identical with
+"Daonus or Daos, the shepherd of Pantibibla", referred to by Berosus
+as the ruler of one of the mythical ages of Babylonia. We have
+therefore to deal with Tammuz in his twofold character as a patriarch
+and a god of fertility.
+
+The Adonis version of the myth may be summarized briefly. Ere the god
+was born, his mother, who was pursued by her angry sire, as the river
+goddesses of the folk tales are pursued by the well demons,
+transformed herself into a tree. Adonis sprang from the trunk of this
+tree, and Aphrodite, having placed the child in a chest, committed him
+to the care of Persephone, queen of Hades, who resembles the
+Babylonian Eresh-ki-gal. Persephone desired to retain the young god,
+and Aphrodite (Ishtar) appealed to Zeus (Anu), who decreed that Adonis
+should spend part of the year with one goddess and part of the year
+with the other.
+
+It is suggested that the myth of Adonis was derived in post-Homeric
+times by the Greeks indirectly from Babylonia through the Western
+Semites, the Semitic title "Adon", meaning "lord", having been
+mistaken for a proper name. This theory, however, cannot be accepted
+without qualifications. It does not explain the existence of either
+the Phrygian myth of Attis, which was developed differently from the
+Tammuz myth, or the Celtic story of "Diarmid and the boar", which
+belongs to the archaeological "Hunting Period". There are traces in
+Greek mythology of pre-Hellenic myths about dying harvest deities,
+like Hyakinthos and Erigone, for instance, who appear to have been
+mourned for. There is every possibility, therefore, that the Tammuz
+ritual may have been attached to a harvest god of the pre-Hellenic
+Greeks, who received at the same time the new name of Adonis. Osiris
+of Egypt resembles Tammuz, but his Mesopotamian origin has not been
+proved. It would appear probable that Tammuz, Attis, Osiris, and the
+deities represented by Adonis and Diarmid were all developed from an
+archaic god of fertility and vegetation, the central figure of a myth
+which was not only as ancient as the knowledge and practice of
+agriculture, but had existence even in the "Hunting Period". Traces of
+the Tammuz-Osiris story in various forms are found all over the area
+occupied by the Mediterranean or Brown race from Sumeria to the
+British Isles. Apparently the original myth was connected with tree
+and water worship and the worship of animals. Adonis sprang from a
+tree; the body of Osiris was concealed in a tree which grew round the
+sea-drifted chest in which he was concealed. Diarmid concealed himself
+in a tree when pursued by Finn. The blood of Tammuz, Osiris, and
+Adonis reddened the swollen rivers which fertilized the soil. Various
+animals were associated with the harvest god, who appears to have been
+manifested from time to time in different forms, for his spirit
+pervaded all nature. In Egypt the soul of Osiris entered the Apis bull
+or the ram of Mendes.
+
+Tammuz in the hymns is called "the pre-eminent steer of heaven", and a
+popular sacrifice was "a white kid of the god Tammuz", which, however,
+might be substituted by a sucking pig. Osiris had also associations
+with swine, and the Egyptians, according to Herodotus, sacrificed a
+pig to him annually. When Set at full moon hunted the boar in the
+Delta marshes, he probably hunted the boar form of Osiris, whose human
+body had been recovered from the sacred tree by Isis. As the soul of
+Bata, the hero of the Egyptian folk tale,[109] migrated from the
+blossom to the bull, and the bull to the tree, so apparently did the
+soul of Osiris pass from incarnation to incarnation. Set, the demon
+slayer of the harvest god, had also a boar form; he was the black pig
+who devoured the waning moon and blinded the Eye of Ra.
+
+In his character as a long-lived patriarch, Tammuz, the King Daonus or
+Daos of Berosus, reigned in Babylonia for 36,000 years. When he died,
+he departed to Hades or the Abyss. Osiris, after reigning over the
+Egyptians, became Judge of the Dead.
+
+Tammuz of the Sumerian hymns, however, is the Adonis-like god who
+lived on earth for a part of the year as the shepherd and
+agriculturist so dearly beloved by the goddess Ishtar. Then he died so
+that he might depart to the realm of Eresh-ki-gal (Persephone), queen
+of Hades. According to one account, his death was caused by the fickle
+Ishtar. When that goddess wooed Gilgamesh, the Babylonian Hercules, he
+upbraided her, saying:
+
+    On Tammuz, the spouse of thy youth,
+    Thou didst lay affliction every year.
+
+            _King's Translation_.
+
+References in the Sumerian hymns suggest that there also existed a
+form of the legend which gave an account of the slaying of the young
+god by someone else than Ishtar. The slayer may have been a Set-like
+demon--perhaps Nin-shach, who appears to have symbolized the
+destroying influence of the sun. He was a war deity, and his name,
+Professor Pinches says, "is conjectured to mean 'lord of the wild
+boar'". There is no direct evidence, however, to connect Tammuz's
+slayer with the boar which killed Adonis. Ishtar's innocence is
+emphasized by the fact that she mourned for her youthful lover,
+crying:
+
+    Oh hero, my lord, ah me! I will say;
+    Food I eat not ... water I drink not ...
+    Because of the exalted one of the nether world, him of the
+      radiant face, yea radiant,
+    Of the exalted one of the nether world, him of the dove-like
+      voice, yea dove-like.[110]
+
+The Phrygian Attis met his death, according to one legend, by
+self-mutilation under a sacred tree. Another account sets forth,
+however, that he was slain by a boar. The Greek Adonis was similarly
+killed by a boar. This animal was a form of Ares (Mars), god of war
+and tempest, who also loved Aphrodite (Ishtar). The Celtic Diarmid, in
+his character as a love god, with lunar attributes, was slain by "the
+green boar", which appears to have been one of the animals of a
+ferocious Hag, an earth and air "mother" with various names. In one of
+the many Fingalian stories the animal is
+
+    ... That venomous boar, and he so fierce,
+    That Grey Eyebrows had with her herd of swine.[111]
+
+Diarmid had eloped with the wife of Finn-mac-Coul (Fingal), who, like
+Ares, plotted to bring about his rival's death, and accordingly set
+the young hero to hunt the boar. As a thunder god Finn carried a
+hammer with which he smote his shield; the blows were heard in
+Lochlann (Scandinavia). Diarmid, like Tammuz, the "god of the tender
+voice and shining eyes", had much beauty. When he expired, Finn cried:
+
+    No maiden will raise her eye
+    Since the mould has gone over thy visage fair...
+    Blue without rashness in thine eye!
+    Passion and beauty behind thy curls!...
+    Oh, yesternight it was green the hillock,
+    Red is it this day with Diarmid's blood.[112]
+
+Tammuz died with the dying vegetation, and Diarmid expired when the
+hills apparently were assuming their purple tints.[113] The month of
+Tammuz wailings was from 20th June till 20th July, when the heat and
+dryness brought forth the demons of pestilence. The mourners chanted:
+
+    He has gone, he has gone to the bosom of the earth,
+    And the dead are numerous in the land....
+    Men are filled with sorrow: they stagger by day in gloom ...
+    In the month of thy year which brings not peace hast thou gone.
+    Thou hast gone on a journey that makes an end of thy people.
+
+The following extract contains a reference to the slaying of the god:
+
+    The holy one of Ishtar, in the middle of the year the fields
+        languish...
+    The shepherd, the wise one, the man of sorrows, why have they
+    slain?...
+    In his temple, in his inhabited domain,
+    The child, lord of knowledge, abides no more...
+    In the meadows, verily, verily, the soul of life perishes.
+
+There is wailing for Tammuz "at the sacred cedar, where the mother
+bore thee", a reference which connects the god, like Adonis and
+Osiris, with tree worship:
+
+    The wailing is for the herbs: the first lament is, "they are not
+        produced".
+    The wailing is for the grain, ears are not produced.
+    The wailing is for the habitations, for the flocks which bring
+        forth no more.
+    The wailing is for the perishing wedded ones; for the perishing
+    children; the dark-headed people create no more.
+
+The wailing is also for the shrunken river, the parched meadows, the
+fishpools, the cane brakes, the forests, the plains, the gardens, and
+the palace, which all suffer because the god of fertility has
+departed. The mourner cries:
+
+      How long shall the springing of verdure be restrained?
+      How long shall the putting forth of leaves be held back?
+
+Whither went Tammuz? His destination has already been referred to as
+"the bosom of the earth", and in the Assyrian version of the "Descent
+of Ishtar" he dwells in "the house of darkness" among the dead, "where
+dust is their nourishment and their food mud", and "the light is never
+seen"--the gloomy Babylonian Hades. In one of the Sumerian hymns,
+however, it is stated that Tammuz "upon the flood was cast out". The
+reference may be to the submarine "house of Ea", or the Blessed Island
+to which the Babylonian Noah was carried. In this Hades bloomed the
+nether "garden of Adonis".
+
+The following extract refers to the garden of Damu (Tammuz)[114]:--
+
+    Damu his youth therein slumbers ...
+    Among the garden flowers he slumbers; among the garden flowers
+    he is cast away ...
+    Among the tamarisks he slumbers, with woe he causes us to be
+    satiated.
+
+Although Tammuz of the hymns was slain, he returned again from Hades.
+Apparently he came back as a child. He is wailed for as "child, Lord
+Gishzida", as well as "my hero Damu". In his lunar character the
+Egyptian Osiris appeared each month as "the child surpassingly
+beautiful"; the Osiris bull was also a child of the moon; "it was
+begotten", says Plutarch, "by a ray of generative light falling from
+the moon". When the bull of Attis was sacrificed his worshippers were
+drenched with its blood, and were afterwards ceremonially fed with
+milk, as they were supposed to have "renewed their youth" and become
+children. The ancient Greek god Eros (Cupid) was represented as a
+wanton boy or handsome youth. Another god of fertility, the Irish
+Angus, who resembles Eros, is called "the ever young"; he slumbers
+like Tammuz and awakes in the Spring.
+
+Apparently it was believed that the child god, Tammuz, returned from
+the earlier Sumerian Paradise of the Deep, and grew into full manhood
+in a comparatively brief period, like Vyasa and other super-men of
+Indian mythology. A couplet from a Tammuz hymn says tersely:
+
+    In his infancy in a sunken boat he lay.
+    In his manhood in the submerged grain he lay.[115]
+
+The "boat" may be the "chest" in which Adonis was concealed by
+Aphrodite when she confided him to the care of Persephone, queen of
+Hades, who desired to retain the young god, but was compelled by Zeus
+to send him back to the goddess of love and vegetation. The fact that
+Ishtar descended to Hades in quest of Tammuz may perhaps explain the
+symbolic references in hymns to mother goddesses being in sunken boats
+also when their powers were in abeyance, as were those of the god for
+part of each year. It is possible, too, that the boat had a lunar and
+a solar significance. Khonsu, the Egyptian moon god, for instance, was
+associated with the Spring sun, being a deity of fertility and
+therefore a corn spirit; he was a form of Osiris, the Patriarch, who
+sojourned on earth to teach mankind how to grow corn and cultivate
+fruit trees. In the Egyptian legend Osiris received the corn seeds
+from Isis, which suggests that among Great-Mother-worshipping peoples,
+it was believed that agricultural civilization had a female origin.
+The same myths may have been attached to corn gods and corn goddesses,
+associated with water, sun, moon, and stars.
+
+That there existed in Babylonia at an extremely remote period an
+agricultural myth regarding a Patriarch of divine origin who was
+rescued from a boat in his childhood, is suggested by the legend which
+was attached to the memory of the usurper King Sargon of Akkad. It
+runs as follows:
+
+    "I am Sargon, the mighty King of Akkad. My mother was a
+    vestal (priestess), my father an alien, whose brother inhabited
+        the
+    mountain.... When my mother had conceived me, she bare
+    me in a hidden place. She laid me in a vessel of rushes, stopped
+    the door thereof with pitch, and cast me adrift on the river....
+    The river floated me to Akki, the water drawer, who, in drawing
+    water, drew me forth. Akki, the water drawer, educated me as
+    his son, and made me his gardener. As a gardener, I was beloved
+    by the goddess Ishtar."
+
+It is unlikely that this story was invented by Sargon. Like the many
+variants of it found in other countries, it was probably founded on a
+form of the Tammuz-Adonis myth. Indeed, a new myth would not have
+suited Sargon's purpose so well as the adaptation of an old one, which
+was more likely to make popular appeal when connected with his name.
+The references to the goddess Ishtar, and Sargon's early life as a
+gardener, suggest that the king desired to be remembered as an
+agricultural Patriarch, if not of divine, at any rate of semi-divine
+origin.
+
+What appears to be an early form of the widespread Tammuz myth is the
+Teutonic legend regarding the mysterious child who came over the sea
+to inaugurate a new era of civilization and instruct the people how to
+grow corn and become great warriors. The Northern peoples, as
+archaeological evidence suggests, derived their knowledge of
+agriculture, and therefore their agricultural myths, from the
+Neolithic representatives of the Mediterranean race with whom they
+came into contact. There can be no doubt but that the Teutonic legend
+refers to the introduction of agriculture. The child is called "Scef"
+or "Sceaf", which signifies "Sheaf", or "Scyld, the son of Sceaf".
+Scyld is the patriarch of the Scyldings, the Danes, a people of mixed
+origin. In the Anglo-Saxon _Beowulf_ poem, the reference is to
+"Scyld", but Ethelweard, William of Malmesbury, and others adhered to
+"Sceaf" as the name of the Patriarch of the Western Saxons.
+
+The legend runs that one day a boat was seen approaching the shore; it
+was not propelled by oars or sail. In it lay a child fast asleep, his
+head pillowed upon a sheaf of grain. He was surrounded by armour,
+treasure, and various implements, including the fire-borer. The child
+was reared by the people who found him, and he became a great
+instructor and warrior and ruled over the tribe as king. In _Beowulf_
+Scyld is the father of the elder Beowulf, whose grandson Hrothgar
+built the famous Hall. The poem opens with a reference to the
+patriarch "Scyld of the Sheaf". When he died, his body, according to
+the request he had made, was laid in a ship which was set adrift:
+
+    Upon his breast lay many treasures which were to travel with him
+    into the power of the flood. Certainly they (the mourners)
+    furnished him with no less of gifts, of tribal treasures, than
+    those had done who, in his early days, started him over the sea
+    alone, child as he was. Moreover, they set besides a
+    gold-embroidered standard high above his head, and let the flood
+    bear him--gave him to the sea. Their soul was sad, their spirit
+    sorrowful. Who received that load, men, chiefs of council, heroes
+    under heaven, cannot for certain tell.[116]
+
+Sceaf or Scyld is identical with Yngve, the patriarch of the Ynglings;
+with Frey, the harvest and boar god, son of Njord,[117] the sea god;
+and with Hermod, referred to as follows in the Eddic "Lay of Hyndla":
+
+    To some grants he wealth, to his children war fame,
+    Word skill to many and wisdom to men,
+    Fair winds to sea-farers, song craft to skalds,
+    And might of manhood to many a warrior.
+
+Tammuz is similarly "the heroic lord of the land", the "wise one", the
+"lord of knowledge", and "the sovereign, lord of invocation".
+
+Heimdal, watchman of the Teutonic gods, also dwelt for a time among
+men as "Rig", and had human offspring, his son Thrall being the
+ancestor of the Thralls, his son Churl of churls, and Jarl of
+noblemen.
+
+Tammuz, like Heimdal, is also a guardian. He watches the flocks and
+herds, whom he apparently guards against the Gallu demons as Heimdal
+guards the world and the heavens against attacks by giants and
+monsters. The flocks of Tammuz, Professor Pinches suggests, "recall
+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, Dumuzida, meaning 'true or faithful son'. There is probably some
+legend attached to this which is at present unknown."[118]
+
+So the Sumerian hymn-chanters lamented:
+
+    Like an herdsman the sentinel place of sheep and cattle he
+    (Tammuz) has forsaken...
+    From his home, from his inhabited domain, the son, he of wisdom,
+    pre-eminent steer of heaven,
+    The hero unto the nether herding place has taken his way.[119]
+
+Agni, the Aryo-Indian god, who, as the sky sentinel, has points of
+resemblance to Heimdal, also links with Tammuz, especially in his
+Mitra character:
+
+Agni has been established among the tribes of men, the son of the
+waters, Mitra acting in the right way. _Rigveda_, iii, 5, 3.
+
+Agni, who has been looked and longed for in Heaven, who has been
+looked for on earth--he who has been looked for has entered all herbs.
+_Rigveda_, i, 98.[120]
+
+Tammuz, like the Egyptian lunar and solar god Khonsu, is "the healer",
+and Agni "drives away all disease". Tammuz is the god "of sonorous
+voice"; Agni "roars like a bull"; and Heimdal blows a horn when the
+giants and demons threaten to attack the citadel of the gods. As the
+spring sun god, Tammuz is "a youthful warrior", says Jastrow,
+"triumphing over the storms of winter".[121] The storms, of course,
+were symbolized as demons. Tammuz, "the heroic lord", was therefore a
+demon slayer like Heimdal and Agni. Each of these gods appear to have
+been developed in isolation from an archaic spring god of fertility
+and corn whose attributes were symbolized. In Teutonic mythology, for
+instance, Heimdal was the warrior form of the patriarch Scef, while
+Frey was the deified agriculturist who came over the deep as a child.
+In Saxo's mythical history of Denmark, Frey as Frode is taken prisoner
+by a storm giant, Beli, "the howler", and is loved by his hag sister
+in the Teutonic Hades, as Tammuz is loved by Eresh-ki-gal, spouse of
+the storm god Nergal, in the Babylonian Hades. Frode returns to earth,
+like Tammuz, in due season.
+
+It is evident that there were various versions of the Tammuz myth in
+Ancient Babylonia. In one the goddess Ishtar visited Hades to search
+for the lover of her youth. A part of this form of the legend survives
+in the famous Assyrian hymn known as "The Descent of Ishtar ". It was
+first translated by the late Mr. George Smith, of the British Museum.
+A box containing inscribed tablets had been sent from Assyria to
+London, and Mr. Smith, with characteristic patience and skill,
+arranged and deciphered them, giving to the world a fragment of
+ancient literature infused with much sublimity and imaginative power.
+Ishtar is depicted descending to dismal Hades, where the souls of the
+dead exist in bird forms:
+
+    I spread like a bird my hands.
+    I descend, I descend to the house of darkness, the dwelling of the
+        god Irkalla:
+    To the house out of which there is no exit,
+    To the road from which there is no return:
+    To the house from whose entrance the light is taken,
+    The place where dust is their nourishment and their food mud.
+    Its chiefs also are like birds covered with feathers;
+    The light is never seen, in darkness they dwell....
+    Over the door and bolts is scattered dust.
+
+When the goddess reaches the gate of Hades she cries to the porter:
+
+    Keeper of the waters, open thy gate,
+    Open thy gate that I may enter.
+    If thou openest not the gate that I may enter
+    I will strike the door, the bolts I will shatter,
+    I will strike the threshold and will pass through the doors;
+    I will raise up the dead to devour the living,
+    Above the living the dead shall exceed in numbers.
+
+The porter answers that he must first consult the Queen of Hades, here
+called Allatu, to whom he accordingly announces the arrival of the
+Queen of Heaven. Allatu's heart is filled with anger, and makes
+reference to those whom Ishtar caused to perish:
+
+    Let me weep over the strong who have left their wives,
+    Let me weep over the handmaidens who have lost the embraces of
+        their husbands,
+    Over the only son let me mourn, who ere his days are come is taken
+        away.
+
+Then she issues abruptly the stern decree:
+
+    Go, keeper, open the gate to her,
+    Bewitch her according to the ancient rules;
+
+that is, "Deal with her as you deal with others who come here".
+
+As Ishtar enters through the various gates she is stripped of her
+ornaments and clothing. At the first gate her crown was taken off, at
+the second her ear-rings, at the third her necklace of precious
+stones, at the fourth the ornaments of her breast, at the fifth her
+gemmed waist-girdle,[122] at the sixth the bracelets of her hands and
+feet, and at the seventh the covering robe of her body. Ishtar asks at
+each gate why she is thus dealt with, and the porter answers, "Such is
+the command of Allatu."
+
+After descending for a prolonged period the Queen of Heaven at length
+stands naked before the Queen of Hades. Ishtar is proud and arrogant,
+and Allatu, desiring to punish her rival whom she cannot humble,
+
+commands the plague demon, Namtar, to strike her with disease in all
+parts of her body. The effect of Ishtar's fate was disastrous upon
+earth: growth and fertility came to an end.
+
+Meanwhile Pap-sukal, messenger of the gods, hastened to Shamash, the
+sun deity, to relate what had occurred. The sun god immediately
+consulted his lunar father, Sin, and Ea, god of the deep. Ea then
+created a man lion, named Nadushu-namir, to rescue Ishtar, giving him
+power to pass through the seven gates of Hades. When this being
+delivered his message
+
+    Allatu ... struck her breast; she bit her thumb,
+    She turned again: a request she asked not.
+
+In her anger she cursed the rescuer of the Queen of Heaven.
+
+    May I imprison thee in the great prison,
+    May the garbage of the foundations of the city be thy food,
+    May the drains of the city be thy drink,
+    May the darkness of the dungeon be thy dwelling,
+    May the stake be thy seat,
+    May hunger and thirst strike thy offspring.
+
+She was compelled, however, to obey the high gods, and addressed
+Namtar, saying:
+
+    Unto Ishtar give the waters of life and bring her before me.
+
+Thereafter the Queen of Heaven was conducted through the various
+gates, and at each she received her robe and the ornaments which were
+taken from her on entering. Namtar says:
+
+    Since thou hast not paid a ransom for thy deliverance to her
+      (Allatu), so to her again turn back,
+    For Tammuz the husband of thy youth.
+    The glistening waters (of life) pour over him...
+    In splendid clothing dress him, with a ring of crystal adorn him.
+
+Ishtar mourns for "the wound of Tammuz", smiting her breast, and she
+did not ask for "the precious eye-stones, her amulets", which were
+apparently to ransom Tammuz. The poem concludes with Ishtar's wail:
+
+    O my only brother (Tammuz) thou dost not lament for me.
+    In the day that Tammuz adorned me, with a ring of crystal,
+    With a bracelet of emeralds, together with himself, he adorned
+        me,[123]
+    With himself he adorned me; may men mourners and women
+        mourners
+    On a bier place him, and assemble the wake.[124]
+
+A Sumerian hymn to Tammuz throws light on this narrative. It sets
+forth that Ishtar descended to Hades to entreat him to be glad and to
+resume care of his flocks, but Tammuz refused or was unable to return.
+
+        His spouse unto her abode he sent back.
+
+She then instituted the wailing ceremony:
+
+        The amorous Queen of Heaven sits as one in darkness.[125]
+
+Mr. Langdon also translates a hymn (Tammuz III) which appears to
+contain the narrative on which the Assyrian version was founded. The
+goddess who descends to Hades, however, is not Ishtar, but the
+"sister", Belit-sheri. She is accompanied by various demons--the
+"gallu-demon", the "slayer", &c.--and holds a conversation with Tammuz
+which, however, is "unintelligible and badly broken". Apparently,
+however, he promises to return to earth.
+
+         ... I will go up, as for me I will depart with thee ...
+         ... I will return, unto my mother let us go back.
+
+Probably two goddesses originally lamented for Tammuz, as the Egyptian
+sisters, Isis and Nepthys, lamented for Osiris, their brother. Ishtar
+is referred to as "my mother". Isis figures alternately in the
+Egyptian chants as mother, wife, sister, and daughter of Osiris. She
+cries, "Come thou to thy wife in peace; her heart fluttereth for thy
+love", ... "I am thy wife, made as thou art, the elder sister, soul of
+her brother".... "Come thou to us as a babe".... "Lo, thou art as the
+Bull of the two goddesses--come thou, child growing in peace, our
+lord!"... "Lo! the Bull, begotten of the two cows, Isis and
+Nepthys".... "Come thou to the two widowed goddesses".... "Oh child,
+lord, first maker of the body".... "Father Osiris."[126]
+
+As Ishtar and Belit-sheri weep for Tammuz, so do Isis and Nepthys weep
+for Osiris.
+
+    Calling upon thee with weeping--yet thou art prostrate upon thy
+      bed!
+    Gods and men ... are weeping for thee at the same time, when
+      they behold me (Isis).
+    Lo! I invoke thee with wailing that reacheth high as heaven.
+
+Isis is also identified with Hathor (Ishtar) the Cow.... "The cow
+weepeth for thee with her voice."[127]
+
+There is another phase, however, to the character of the mother
+goddess which explains the references to the desertion and slaying of
+Tammuz by Ishtar. "She is", says Jastrow, "the goddess of the human
+instinct, or passion which accompanies human love. Gilgamesh ...
+reproaches her with abandoning the objects of her passion after a
+brief period of union." At Ishtar's temple "public maidens accepted
+temporary partners, assigned to them by Ishtar".[128] The worship of
+all mother goddesses in ancient times was accompanied by revolting
+unmoral rites which are referred to in condemnatory terms in various
+passages in the Old Testament, especially in connection with the
+worship of Ashtoreth, who was identical with Ishtar and the Egyptian
+Hathor.
+
+Ishtar in the process of time overshadowed all the other female
+deities of Babylonia, as did Isis in Egypt. Her name, indeed, which is
+Semitic, became in the plural, Ishtarate, a designation for goddesses
+in general. But although she was referred to as the daughter of the
+sky, Anu, or the daughter of the moon, Sin or Nannar, she still
+retained traces of her ancient character. Originally she was a great
+mother goddess, who was worshipped by those who believed that life and
+the universe had a female origin in contrast to those who believed in
+the theory of male origin. Ishtar is identical with Nina, the fish
+goddess, a creature who gave her name to the Sumerian city of Nina and
+the Assyrian city of Nineveh. Other forms of the Creatrix included
+Mama, or Mami, or Ama, "mother", Aruru, Bau, Gula, and Zerpanitu^m.
+These were all "Preservers" and healers. At the same time they were
+"Destroyers", like Nin-sun and the Queen of Hades, Eresh-ki-gal or
+Allatu. They were accompanied by shadowy male forms ere they became
+wives of strongly individualized gods, or by child gods, their sons,
+who might be regarded as "brothers" or "husbands of their mothers", to
+use the paradoxical Egyptian term. Similarly Great Father deities had
+vaguely defined wives. The "Semitic" Baal, "the lord", was accompanied
+by a female reflection of himself--Beltu, "the lady". Shamash, the sun
+god, had for wife the shadowy Aa.
+
+As has been shown, Ishtar is referred to in a Tammuz hymn as the
+mother of the child god of fertility. In an Egyptian hymn the sky
+goddess Nut, "the mother" of Osiris, is stated to have "built up life
+from her own body".[129] Sri or Lakshmi, the Indian goddess, who
+became the wife of Vishnu, as the mother goddess Saraswati, a tribal
+deity, became the wife of Brahma, was, according to a Purana
+commentator, "the mother of the world ... eternal and
+undecaying".[130]
+
+The gods, on the other hand, might die annually: the goddesses alone
+were immortal. Indra was supposed to perish of old age, but his wife,
+Indrani, remained ever young. There were fourteen Indras in every "day
+of Brahma", a reference apparently to the ancient conception of Indra
+among the Great-Mother-worshipping sections of the Aryo-Indians.[131]
+In the _Mahabharata_ the god Shiva, as Mahadeva, commands Indra on
+"one of the peaks of Himavat", where they met, to lift up a stone and
+join the Indras who had been before him. "And Indra on removing that
+stone beheld a cave on the breast of that king of mountains in which
+were four others resembling himself." Indra exclaimed in his grief,
+"Shall I be even like these?" These five Indras, like the "Seven
+Sleepers", awaited the time when they would be called forth. They were
+ultimately reborn as the five Pandava warriors.[132]
+
+The ferocious, black-faced Scottish mother goddess, Cailleach Bheur,
+who appears to be identical with Mala Lith, "Grey Eyebrows" of
+Fingalian story, and the English "Black Annis", figures in Irish song
+and legend as "The Old Woman of Beare". This "old woman" (Cailleach)
+"had", says Professor Kuno Meyer, "seven periods of youth one after
+another, so that every man who had lived with her came to die of old
+age, and her grandsons and great-grandsons were tribes and races".
+When old age at length came upon her she sang her "swan song", from
+which the following lines are extracted:
+
+    Ebb tide to me as of the sea!
+    Old age causes me reproach ...
+    It is riches
+    Ye love, it is not men:
+    In the time when _we_ lived
+    It was men we loved ...
+    My arms when they are seen
+    Are bony and thin:
+    Once they would fondle,
+    They would be round glorious kings ...
+    I must take my garment even in the sun:
+    The time is at hand that shall renew me.[133]
+
+Freyja, the Germanic mother goddess, whose car was drawn by cats, had
+similarly many lovers. In the Icelandic poem "Lokasenna", Loki taunts
+her, saying:
+
+    Silence, Freyja! Full well I know thee,
+      And faultless art thou not found;
+    Of the gods and elves who here are gathered
+      Each one hast thou made thy mate.
+
+Idun, the keeper of the apples of immortal youth, which prevent the
+gods growing old, is similarly addressed:
+
+    Silence, Idun! I swear, of all women
+      Thou the most wanton art;
+    Who couldst fling those fair-washed arms of thine
+      About thy brother's slayer.
+
+Frigg, wife of Odin, is satirized as well:
+
+    Silence, Frigg! Earth's spouse for a husband,
+      And hast ever yearned after men![134]
+
+The goddesses of classic mythology had similar reputations. Aphrodite
+(Venus) had many divine and mortal lovers. She links closely with
+Astarte and Ashtoreth (Ishtar), and reference has already been made to
+her relations with Adonis (Tammuz). These love deities were all as
+cruel as they were wayward. When Ishtar wooed the Babylonian hero,
+Gilgamesh, he spurned her advances, as has been indicated, saying:
+
+    On Tammuz, the spouse of thy youth,
+    Thou didst lay affliction every year.
+    Thou didst love the brilliant Allalu bird
+    But thou didst smite him and break his wing;
+    He stands in the woods and cries "O my wing".
+
+He likewise charged her with deceiving the lion and the horse, making
+reference to obscure myths:
+
+    Thou didst also love a shepherd of the flock,
+    Who continually poured out for thee the libation,
+    And daily slaughtered kids for thee;
+    But thou didst smite him and didst change him into a leopard,
+    So that his own sheep boy hunted him,
+    And his own hounds tore him to pieces.[135]
+
+These goddesses were ever prone to afflict human beings who might
+offend them or of whom they wearied. Demeter (Ceres) changed
+Ascalaphus into an owl and Stellio into a lizard. Rhea (Ops) resembled
+
+        The tow'red Cybele,
+    Mother of a hundred gods,
+
+the wanton who loved Attis (Adonis). Artemis (Diana) slew her lover
+Orion, changed Actaeon into a stag, which was torn to pieces by his
+own dogs, and caused numerous deaths by sending a boar to ravage the
+fields of Oeneus, king of Calydon. Human sacrifices were frequently
+offered to the bloodthirsty "mothers". The most famous victim of
+Artemis was the daughter of Agamemnon, "divinely tall and most
+divinely fair".[136] Agamemnon had slain a sacred stag, and the
+goddess punished him by sending a calm when the war fleet was about to
+sail for Troy, with the result that his daughter had to be sacrificed.
+Artemis thus sold breezes like the northern wind hags and witches.
+
+It used to be customary to account for the similarities manifested by
+the various mother goddesses by assuming that there was constant
+cultural contact between separate nationalities, and, as a result, a
+not inconsiderable amount of "religious borrowing". Greece was
+supposed to have received its great goddesses from the western
+Semites, who had come under the spell of Babylonian religion.
+Archaeological evidence, however, tends to disprove this theory. "The
+most recent researches into Mesopotamian history", writes Dr. Farnell,
+"establish with certainty the conclusion that there was no direct
+political contact possible between the powers in the valley of the
+Euphrates and the western shores of the Aegean in the second
+millennium B.C. In fact, between the nascent Hellas and the great
+world of Mesopotamia there were powerful and possibly independent
+strata of cultures interposing."[137]
+
+The real connection appears to be the racial one. Among the
+Mediterranean Neolithic tribes of Sumeria, Arabia, and Europe, the
+goddess cult appears to have been influential. Mother worship was the
+predominant characteristic of their religious systems, so that the
+Greek goddesses were probably of pre-Hellenic origin, the Celtic of
+Iberian, the Egyptian of proto-Egyptian, and the Babylonian of
+Sumerian. The northern hillmen, on the other hand, who may be
+identified with the "Aryans" of the philologists, were father
+worshippers. The Vedic Aryo-Indians worshipped father gods,[138] as
+did also the Germanic peoples and certain tribes in the "Hittite
+confederacy". Earth spirits were males, like the Teutonic elves, the
+Aryo-Indian Ribhus, and the Burkans, "masters", of the present-day
+Buriats, a Mongolian people. When the father-worshipping peoples
+invaded the dominions of the mother-worshipping peoples, they
+introduced their strongly individualized gods, but they did not
+displace the mother goddesses. "The Aryan Hellenes", says Dr. Farnell,
+"were able to plant their Zeus and Poseidon on the high hill of
+Athens, but not to overthrow the supremacy of Athena in the central
+shrine and in the aboriginal soul of the Athenian people."[139] As in
+Egypt, the beliefs of the father worshippers, represented by the
+self-created Ptah, were fused with the beliefs of the mother
+worshippers, who adored Isis, Mut, Neith, and others. In Babylonia
+this process of racial and religious fusion was well advanced before
+the dawn of history. Ea, who had already assumed manifold forms, may
+have originally been the son or child lover of Damkina, "Lady of the
+Deep", as was Tammuz of Ishtar. As the fish, Ea was the offspring of
+the mother river.
+
+The mother worshippers recognized male as well as female deities, but
+regarded the great goddess as the First Cause. Although the primeval
+spirits were grouped in four pairs in Egypt, and apparently in
+Babylonia also, the female in the first pair was more strongly
+individualized than the male. The Egyptian Nu is vaguer than his
+consort Nut, and the Babylonian Apsu than his consort Tiamat. Indeed,
+in the narrative of the Creation Tablets of Babylon, which will
+receive full treatment in a later chapter, Tiamat, the great mother,
+is the controlling spirit. She is more powerful and ferocious than
+Apsu, and lives longer. After Apsu's death she elevates one of her
+brood, named Kingu, to be her consort, a fact which suggests that in
+the Ishtar-Tammuz myth survives the influence of exceedingly ancient
+modes of thought. Like Tiamat, Ishtar is also a great battle heroine,
+and in this capacity she was addressed as "the lady of majestic rank
+exalted over all gods". This was no idle flattery on the part of
+worshippers, but a memory of her ancient supremacy.
+
+Reference has been made to the introduction of Tammuz worship into
+Jerusalem. Ishtar, as Queen of Heaven, was also adored by the
+backsliding Israelites as a deity of battle and harvest. When Jeremiah
+censured the people for burning incense and serving gods "whom they
+knew not", he said, "neither they, ye, nor your fathers", they made
+answer: "Since we left off to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and
+to pour out drink offerings unto her, we have wanted all things, and
+have been consumed by the sword and the famine". The women took a
+leading part in these practices, but refused to accept all the blame,
+saying, "When we burned incense to the queen of heaven, and poured out
+drink offerings unto her, did we make our cakes and pour out drink
+offerings unto her without our men?"[140] That the husbands, and the
+children even, assisted at the ceremony is made evident in another
+reference to goddess worship: "The children gather wood, and the
+fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead the dough, to make cakes
+to the queen of heaven".[141]
+
+Jastrow suggests that the women of Israel wept for Tammuz, offered
+cakes to the mother goddess, &c., because "in all religious bodies ...
+women represent the conservative element; among them religious customs
+continue in practice after they have been abandoned by men".[142] The
+evidence of Jeremiah, however, shows that the men certainly
+co-operated at the archaic ceremonials. In lighting the fires with the
+"vital spark", they apparently acted in imitation of the god of
+fertility. The women, on the other hand, represented the reproductive
+harvest goddess in providing the food supply. In recognition of her
+gift, they rewarded the goddess by offering her the cakes prepared
+from the newly ground wheat and barley--the "first fruits of the
+harvest". As the corn god came as a child, the children began the
+ceremony by gathering the wood for the sacred fire. When the women
+mourned for Tammuz, they did so evidently because the death of the god
+was lamented by the goddess Ishtar. It would appear, therefore, that
+the suggestion regarding the "conservative element" should really
+apply to the immemorial practices of folk religion. These differed
+from the refined ceremonies of the official cult in Babylonia, where
+there were suitable temples and organized bands of priests and
+priestesses. But the official cult received no recognition in
+Palestine; the cakes intended for a goddess were not offered up in the
+temple of Abraham's God, but "in the streets of Jerusalem" and those
+of other cities.[143]
+
+The obvious deduction seems to be that in ancient times women
+everywhere played a prominent part in the ceremonial folk worship of
+the Great Mother goddess, while the men took the lesser part of the
+god whom she had brought into being and afterwards received as
+"husband of his mother". This may account for the high social status
+of women among goddess worshippers, like the representatives of the
+Mediterranean race, whose early religion was not confined to temples,
+but closely associated with the acts of everyday life.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+WARS OF THE CITY STATES OF SUMER AND AKKAD
+
+
+  Civilization well advanced--The Patesi--Prominent City
+  States--Surroundings of Babylonia--The Elamites--Biblical References
+  to Susa--The Sumerian Temperament--Fragmentary Records--City States
+  of Kish and Opis--A Shopkeeper who became a Queen--Goddess
+  Worship--Tammuz as Nin-Girsu--Great Dynasty of Lagash--Ur-Nina and
+  his Descendants--A Napoleonic Conqueror--Golden Age of Sumerian
+  Art--The First Reformer in History--His Rise and Fall--The Dynasty
+  of Erech--Sargon of Akkad--The Royal Gardener--Sargon Myth in
+  India--A Great Empire--The King who Purchased Land--Naram Sin the
+  Conqueror--Disastrous Foreign Raid--Lagash again Prominent--Gudea
+  the Temple Builder--Dynasty of Ur--Dynasty of Isin--Another Gardener
+  becomes King--Rise of Babylon--Humanized Deities--Why Sumerian Gods
+  wore Beards.
+
+
+When the curtain rises to reveal the drama of Babylonian civilization
+we find that we have missed the first act and its many fascinating
+scenes. Sumerians and Akkadians come and go, but it is not always
+possible to distinguish between them. Although most Semites are
+recognizable by their flowing beards, prominent noses, and long robes,
+some have so closely imitated the Sumerians as to suffer almost
+complete loss of identity. It is noticeable that in the north the
+Akkadians are more Semitic than their contemporaries in the south, but
+it is difficult at times to say whether a city is controlled by the
+descendants of the indigenous people or those of later settlers.
+Dynasties rise and fall, and, as in Egypt at times, the progress of
+the fragmentary narrative is interrupted by a sudden change of scene
+ere we have properly grasped a situation and realized its
+significance.
+
+What we know for certain is that civilization is well advanced. Both
+in the north and the south there are many organized and independent
+city states, and not unfrequently these wage war one against another.
+Occasionally ambitious rulers tower among their fellows, conduct
+vigorous military campaigns, and become overlords of wide districts.
+As a rule, a subjugated monarch who has perforce to acknowledge the
+suzerainty of a powerful king is allowed to remain in a state of
+semi-independence on condition that he pays a heavy annual tribute of
+grain. His own laws continue in force, and the city deities remain
+supreme, although recognition may also be given to the deities of his
+conqueror. He styles himself a Patesi--a "priest king", or more
+literally, "servant of the chief deity". But as an independent monarch
+may also be a pious Patesi, it does not always follow when a ruler is
+referred to by that title he is necessarily less powerful than his
+neighbours.
+
+When the historical narrative begins Akkad included the cities of
+Babylon, Cutha, Kish, Akkad, and Sippar, and north of Babylonia proper
+is Semitic Opis. Among the cities of Sumer were Eridu, Ur, Lagash,
+Larsa, Erech, Shuruppak, and probably Nippur, which was situated on
+the "border". On the north Assyria was yet "in the making", and
+shrouded in obscurity. A vague but vast area above Hit on the
+Euphrates, and extending to the Syrian coast, was known as the "land
+of the Amorites". The fish-shaped Babylonian valley lying between the
+rivers, where walled towns were surrounded by green fields and
+numerous canals flashed in the sunshine, was bounded on the west by
+the bleak wastes of the Arabian desert, where during the dry season
+"the rocks branded the body" and occasional sandstorms swept in
+blinding folds towards the "plain of Shinar" (Sumer) like demon hosts
+who sought to destroy the world. To the east the skyline was fretted
+by the Persian Highlands, and amidst the southern mountains dwelt the
+fierce Elamites, the hereditary enemies of the Sumerians, although a
+people apparently of the same origin. Like the Nubians and the
+Libyans, who kept watchful eyes on Egypt, the Elamites seemed ever to
+be hovering on the eastern frontier of Sumeria, longing for an
+opportunity to raid and plunder.
+
+The capital of the Elamites was the city of Susa, where excavations
+have revealed traces of an independent civilization which reaches back
+to an early period in the Late Stone Age. Susa is referred to in the
+Old Testament--"The words of Nehemiah.... I was in Shushan the
+palace".[144] An Assyrian plan of the city shows it occupying a
+strategic position at a bend of the Shawur river, which afforded
+protection against Sumerian attacks from the west, while a canal
+curved round its northern and eastern sides, so that Susa was
+completely surrounded by water. Fortifications had been erected on the
+river and canal banks, and between these and the high city walls were
+thick clumps of trees. That the kings of Elam imitated the splendours
+of Babylonian courts in the later days of Esther and Haman and
+Mordecai, is made evident by the Biblical references to the gorgeous
+palace, which had "white, green, and blue hangings, fastened with
+cords of fine linen and purple to silver rings and pillars of marble;
+the beds were of gold and silver, upon a pavement of red, and blue,
+and white, and black marble ".[145] Beyond Elam were the plains,
+plateaus, and grassy steppes occupied by the Medes and other peoples
+of Aryan speech. Cultural influences came and went like spring winds
+between the various ancient communities.
+
+For ten long centuries Sumer and Akkad flourished and prospered ere we
+meet with the great Hammurabi, whose name has now become almost as
+familiar as that of Julius Caesar. But our knowledge of the leading
+historical events of this vast period is exceedingly fragmentary. The
+Sumerians were not like the later Assyrians or their Egyptian
+contemporaries--a people with a passion for history. When inscriptions
+were composed and cut on stone, or impressed upon clay tablets and
+bricks, the kings selected as a general rule to record pious deeds
+rather than to celebrate their victories and conquests. Indeed, the
+average monarch had a temperament resembling that of Keats, who
+declared:
+
+                       The silver flow
+    Of Hero's tears, the swoon of Imogen,
+    Fair Pastorella in the bandits' den,
+    Are things to brood on with more ardency
+    Than the death day of empires.
+
+The Sumerian king was emotionally religious as the great English poet
+was emotionally poetical. The tears of Ishtar for Tammuz, and the
+afflictions endured by the goddess imprisoned in Hades, to which she
+had descended for love of her slain husband, seemed to have concerned
+the royal recorder to a greater degree than the memories of political
+upheavals and the social changes which passed over the land, like the
+seasons which alternately brought greenness and gold, barrenness and
+flood.
+
+City chronicles, as a rule, are but indices of obscure events, to
+which meagre references were sometimes also made on mace heads, vases,
+tablets, stelae, and sculptured monoliths. Consequently, present-day
+excavators and students have often reason to be grateful that the
+habit likewise obtained of inscribing on bricks in buildings and the
+stone sockets of doors the names of kings and others. These records
+render obscure periods faintly articulate, and are indispensable for
+comparative purposes. Historical clues are also obtained from lists of
+year names. Each city king named a year in celebration of a great
+event--his own succession to the throne, the erection of a new temple
+or of a city wall, or, mayhap, the defeat of an invading army from a
+rival state. Sometimes, too, a monarch gave the name of his father in
+an official inscription, or happily mentioned several ancestors.
+Another may be found to have made an illuminating statement regarding
+a predecessor, who centuries previously erected the particular temple
+that he himself has piously restored. A reckoning of this kind,
+however, cannot always be regarded as absolutely correct. It must be
+compared with and tested by other records, for in these ancient days
+calculations were not unfrequently based on doubtful inscriptions, or
+mere oral traditions, perhaps. Nor can implicit trust be placed on
+every reference to historical events, for the memoried deeds of great
+rulers were not always unassociated with persistent and cumulative
+myths. It must be recognized, therefore, that even portions of the
+data which had of late been sifted and systematized by Oriental
+scholars in Europe, may yet have to be subjected to revision. Many
+interesting and important discoveries, which will throw fresh light on
+this fascinating early period, remain to be made in that ancient and
+deserted land, which still lies under the curse of the Hebrew prophet,
+who exclaimed: "Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the
+Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and
+Gomorrah. It shall never be inhabited; neither shall the Arabian pitch
+tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there. But
+wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be
+full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs
+shall dance there. And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in
+their desolate houses and dragons in their pleasant palaces."[146]
+
+The curtain rises, as has been indicated, after civilization had been
+well advanced. To begin with, our interests abide with Akkad, and
+during a period dated approximately between 3000 B.C. and 2800 B.C.,
+when Egypt was already a united kingdom, and the Cretans were at the
+dawn of the first early Minoan period, and beginning to use bronze. In
+Kish Sumerian and Akkadian elements had apparently blended, and the
+city was the centre of a powerful and independent government. After
+years have fluttered past dimly, and with them the shadow-shapes of
+vigorous rulers, it is found that Kish came under the sway of the
+pronouncedly Semitic city of Opis, which was situated "farthest north"
+and on the western bank of the river Tigris. A century elapsed ere
+Kish again threw off the oppressor's yoke and renewed the strength of
+its youth.
+
+The city of Kish was one of the many ancient centres of goddess
+worship. The Great Mother appears to have been the Sumerian Bau, whose
+chief seat was at Lagash. If tradition is to be relied upon, Kish owed
+its existence to that notable lady, Queen Azag-Bau. Although floating
+legends gathered round her memory as they have often gathered round
+the memories of famous men, like Sargon of Akkad, Alexander the Great,
+and Theodoric the Goth, who became Emperor of Rome, it is probable
+that the queen was a prominent historical personage. She was reputed
+to have been of humble origin, and to have first achieved popularity
+and influence as the keeper of a wine shop. Although no reference
+survives to indicate that she was believed to be of miraculous birth,
+the Chronicle of Kish gravely credits her with a prolonged and
+apparently prosperous reign of a hundred years. Her son, who succeeded
+her, sat on the throne for a quarter of a century. These calculations
+are certainly remarkable. If the Queen Azag-Bau founded Kish when she
+was only twenty, and gave birth to the future ruler in her fiftieth
+year, he must have been an elderly gentleman of seventy when he began
+to reign. When it is found, further, that the dynasty in which mother
+and son flourished was supposed to have lasted for 586 years, divided
+between eight rulers, one of whom reigned for only three years, two
+for six, and two for eleven, it becomes evident that the historian of
+Kish cannot be absolutely relied upon in detail. It seems evident that
+the memory of this lady of forceful character, who flourished about
+thirteen hundred years before the rise of Queen Hatshepsut of Egypt,
+has overshadowed the doubtful annals of ancient Kish at a period when
+Sumerian and Semite were striving in the various states to achieve
+political ascendancy.
+
+Meanwhile the purely Sumerian city of Lagash had similarly grown
+powerful and aggressive. For a time it acknowledged the suzerainty of
+Kish, but ultimately it threw off the oppressor's yoke and asserted
+its independence. The cumulative efforts of a succession of energetic
+rulers elevated Lagash to the position of a metropolis in Ancient
+Babylonia.
+
+The goddess Bau, "the mother of Lagash", was worshipped in conjunction
+with other deities, including the god Nin-Girsu, an agricultural
+deity, and therefore a deity of war, who had solar attributes. One of
+the titles of Nin-Girsu was En-Mersi, which, according to Assyrian
+evidence, was another name of Tammuz, the spring god who slew the
+storm and winter demons, and made the land fertile so that man might
+have food. Nin-Girsu was, it would seem, a developed form of Tammuz,
+like the Scandinavian Frey, god of harvest, or Heimdal, the celestial
+warrior. Bau was one of the several goddesses whose attributes were
+absorbed by the Semitic Ishtar. She was a "Great Mother", a creatrix,
+the source of all human and bestial life, and, of course, a harvest
+goddess. She was identified with Gula, "the great one", who cured
+diseases and prolonged life. Evidently the religion of Lagash was
+based on the popular worship of the "Queen of Heaven", and her son,
+the dying god who became "husband of his mother".
+
+The first great and outstanding ruler of Lagash was Ur-Nina, who
+appears to have owed his power to the successful military operations
+of his predecessors. It is uncertain whether or not he himself engaged
+in any great war. His records are silent in that connection, but,
+judging from what we know of him, it may be taken for granted that he
+was able and fully prepared to give a good account of himself in
+battle. He certainly took steps to make secure his position, for he
+caused a strong wall to be erected round Lagash. His inscriptions are
+eloquent of his piety, which took practical shape, for he repaired and
+built temples, dedicated offerings to deities, and increased the
+wealth of religious bodies and the prosperity of the State by cutting
+canals and developing agriculture. In addition to serving local
+deities, he also gave practical recognition to Ea at Eridu and Enlil
+at Nippur. He, however, overlooked Anu at Erech, a fact which suggests
+that he held sway over Eridu and Nippur, but had to recognize Erech as
+an independent city state.
+
+Among the deities of Lagash, Ur-Nina favoured most the goddess Nina,
+whose name he bore. As she was a water deity, and perhaps identical
+with Belit-sheri, sister of "Tammuz of the Abyss" and daughter of Ea,
+one of the canals was dedicated to her. She was also honoured with a
+new temple, in which was probably placed her great statue, constructed
+by special order of her royal worshipper. Like the Egyptian goddess,
+the "Mother of Mendes", Nina received offerings of fish, not only as a
+patroness of fishermen, but also as a corn spirit and a goddess of
+maternity. She was in time identified with Ishtar.
+
+A famous limestone plaque, which is preserved in the Louvre, Paris,
+depicts on its upper half the pious King Ur-Nina engaged in the
+ceremony of laying the foundations of a temple dedicated either to the
+goddess Nina or to the god Nin-Girsu. His face and scalp are clean
+shaven, and he has a prominent nose and firm mouth, eloquent of
+decision. The folds of neck and jaw suggest Bismarckian traits. He is
+bare to the waist, and wears a pleated kilt, with three flounces,
+which reaches almost to his ankles. On his long head he has poised
+deftly a woven basket containing the clay with which he is to make the
+first brick. In front of him stand five figures. The foremost is
+honoured by being sculptured larger than the others, except the
+prominent monarch. Apparently this is a royal princess, for her head
+is unshaven, and her shoulder dress or long hair drops over one of her
+arms. Her name is Lida, and the conspicuous part she took in the
+ceremony suggests that she was the representative of the goddess Nina.
+She is accompanied by her brothers, and at least one official, Anita,
+the cup-bearer, or high priest. The concluding part of this ceremony,
+or another ceremonial act, is illustrated on the lower part of the
+plaque. Ur-Nina is seated on his throne, not, as would seem at first
+sight, raising the wine cup to his lips and toasting to the success of
+the work, but pouring out a libation upon the ground. The princess is
+not present; the place of honour next to the king is taken by the
+crown prince. Possibly in this case it is the god Nin-Girsu who is
+being honoured. Three male figures, perhaps royal sons, accompany the
+prominent crown prince. The cup-bearer is in attendance behind the
+throne.
+
+The inscription on this plaque, which is pierced in the centre so as
+to be nailed to a sacred shrine, refers to the temples erected by
+Ur-Nina, including those of Nina and Nin-Girsu.
+
+After Ur-Nina's prosperous reign came to a close, his son Akurgal
+ascended the throne. He had trouble with Umma, a powerful city, which
+lay to the north-west of Lagash, between the Shatt-el-Kai and
+Shatt-el-Hai canals. An army of raiders invaded his territory and had
+to be driven back.
+
+The next king, whose name was Eannatum, had Napoleonic
+characteristics. He was a military genius with great ambitions, and
+was successful in establishing by conquest a small but brilliant
+empire. Like his grandfather, he strengthened the fortifications of
+Lagash; then he engaged in a series of successful campaigns. Umma had
+been causing anxiety in Lagash, but Eannatum stormed and captured that
+rival city, appropriated one of its fertile plains, and imposed an
+annual tribute to be paid in kind. An army of Elamites swept down from
+the hills, but Ur-Nina's grandson inflicted upon these bold foreigners
+a crushing defeat and pursued them over the frontier. Several cities
+were afterwards forced to come under the sway of triumphant Lagash,
+including Erech and Ur, and as his suzerainty was already acknowledged
+at Eridu, Eannatum's power in Sumeria became as supreme as it was
+firmly established.
+
+Evidently Zuzu, king of the northern city of Opis, considered that the
+occasion was opportune to overcome the powerful Sumerian conqueror,
+and at the same time establish Semitic rule over the subdued and
+war-wasted cities. He marched south with a large army, but the
+tireless and ever-watchful Eannatum hastened to the fray, scattered
+the forces of Opis, and captured the foolhardy Zuzu.
+
+Eannatum's activities, however, were not confined to battlefields. At
+Lagash he carried out great improvements in the interests of
+agriculture; he constructed a large reservoir and developed the canal
+system. He also extended and repaired existing temples in his native
+city and at Erech. Being a patron of the arts, he encouraged sculpture
+work, and the finest Sumerian examples belong to his reign.
+
+Eannatum was succeeded by his brother, Enannatum I. Apparently the new
+monarch did not share the military qualities of his royal predecessor,
+for there were signs of unrest in the loose confederacy of states.
+Indeed, Umma revolted. From that city an army marched forth and took
+forcible possession of the plain which Eannatum had appropriated,
+removing and breaking the landmarks, and otherwise challenging the
+supremacy of the sovran state. A Lagash force defeated the men of
+Umma, but appears to have done little more than hold in check their
+aggressive tendencies.
+
+No sooner had Entemena, the next king, ascended the throne than the
+flame of revolt burst forth again. The Patesi of Umma was evidently
+determined to free, once and for all, his native state from the yoke
+of Lagash. But he had gravely miscalculated the strength of the
+vigorous young ruler. Entemena inflicted upon the rebels a crushing
+defeat, and following up his success, entered the walled city and
+captured and slew the patesi. Then he took steps to stamp out the
+embers of revolt in Umma by appointing as its governor one of his own
+officials, named Ili, who was duly installed with great ceremony.
+Other military successes followed, including the sacking of Opis and
+Kish, which assured the supremacy of Lagash for many years. Entemena,
+with characteristic vigour, engaged himself during periods of peace in
+strengthening his city fortifications and in continuing the work of
+improving and developing the irrigation system. He lived in the golden
+age of Sumerian art, and to his reign belongs the exquisite silver
+vase of Lagash, which was taken from the Tello mound, and is now in
+the Louvre. This votive offering was placed by the king in the temple
+of Nin-Girsu. It is exquisitely shaped, and has a base of copper. The
+symbolic decorations include the lion-headed eagle, which was probably
+a form of the spring god of war and fertility, the lion, beloved by
+the Mother goddess, and deer and ibexes, which recall the mountain
+herds of Astarte. In the dedicatory inscription the king is referred
+to as a patesi, and the fact that the name of the high priest, Dudu,
+is given may be taken as an indication of the growing power of an
+aggressive priesthood. After a brilliant reign of twenty-nine years
+the king died, and was succeeded by his son, Enannatum II, who was the
+last ruler of Ur-Nina's line. An obscure period ensued. Apparently
+there had been a city revolt, which may have given the enemies of
+Lagash the desired opportunity to gather strength for the coming
+conflict. There is a reference to an Elamite raid which, although
+repulsed, may be regarded as proof of disturbed political conditions.
+
+One or two priests sat on the throne of Lagash in brief succession,
+and then arose to power the famous Urukagina, the first reformer in
+history. He began to rule as patesi, but afterwards styled himself
+king. What appears certain is that he was the leader of a great social
+upheaval, which received the support of a section of the priesthood,
+for he recorded that his elevation was due to the intercession of the
+god Nin-Girsu. Other deities, who were sons and daughters of Nin-Girsu
+and Nina, had been given recognition by his predecessors, and it is
+possible that the orthodox section of Lagash, and especially the
+agricultural classes, supported the new ruler in sweeping away
+innovations to which they were hostile.
+
+Like Khufu and his descendants, the Pyramid kings of Egypt's fourth
+dynasty, the vigorous and efficient monarchs of the Ur-Nina dynasty of
+Lagash were apparently remembered and execrated as tyrants and
+oppressors of the people. To maintain many endowed temples and a
+standing army the traders and agriculturists had been heavily taxed.
+Each successive monarch who undertook public works on a large scale
+for the purpose of extending and developing the area under
+cultivation, appears to have done so mainly to increase the revenue of
+the exchequer, so as to conserve the strength of the city and secure
+its pre-eminence as a metropolis. A leisured class had come into
+existence, with the result that culture was fostered and civilization
+advanced. Lagash seems to have been intensely modern in character
+prior to 2800 B.C., but with the passing of the old order of things
+there arose grave social problems which never appear to have been
+seriously dealt with. All indications of social unrest were, it would
+appear, severely repressed by the iron-gloved monarchs of Ur-Nina's
+dynasty.
+
+The people as a whole groaned under an ever-increasing burden of
+taxation. Sumeria was overrun by an army of officials who were
+notoriously corrupt; they do not appear to have been held in check, as
+in Egypt, by royal auditors. "In the domain of Nin-Girsu", one of
+Urukagina's tablets sets forth, "there were tax gatherers down to the
+sea." They not only attended to the needs of the exchequer, but
+enriched themselves by sheer robbery, while the priests followed their
+example by doubling their fees and appropriating temple offerings to
+their own use. The splendid organization of Lagash was crippled by the
+dishonesty of those who should have been its main support.
+
+Reforms were necessary and perhaps overdue, but, unfortunately for
+Lagash, Urukagina's zeal for the people's cause amounted to
+fanaticism. Instead of gradually readjusting the machinery of
+government so as to secure equality of treatment without impairing its
+efficiency as a defensive force in these perilous times, he
+inaugurated sweeping and revolutionary social changes of far-reaching
+character regardless of consequences. Taxes and temple fees were cut
+down, and the number of officials reduced to a minimum. Society was
+thoroughly disorganized. The army, which was recruited mainly from the
+leisured and official classes, went practically out of existence, so
+that traders and agriculturists obtained relief from taxation at the
+expense of their material security.
+
+Urukagina's motives were undoubtedly above reproach, and he showed an
+example to all who occupied positions of trust by living an upright
+life and denying himself luxuries. He was disinterestedly pious, and
+built and restored temples, and acted as the steward of his god with
+desire to promote the welfare and comfort of all true worshippers. His
+laws were similar to those which over two centuries afterwards were
+codified by Hammurabi, and like that monarch he was professedly the
+guardian of the weak and the helper of the needy; he sought to
+establish justice and liberty in the kingdom. But his social Arcadia
+vanished like a dream because he failed to recognize that Right must
+be supported by Might.
+
+In bringing about his sudden social revolution, Urukagina had at the
+same time unwittingly let loose the forces of disorder. Discontented
+and unemployed officials, and many representatives of the despoiled
+leisured and military classes of Lagash, no doubt sought refuge
+elsewhere, and fostered the spirit of revolt which ever smouldered in
+subject states. At any rate, Umma, remembering the oppressions of
+other days, was not slow to recognize that the iron hand of Lagash had
+become unnerved. The zealous and iconoclastic reformer had reigned but
+seven years when he was called upon to defend his people against the
+invader. He appears to have been utterly unprepared to do so. The
+victorious forces of Umma swept against the stately city of Lagash and
+shattered its power in a single day. Echoes of the great disaster
+which ensued rise from a pious tablet inscription left by a priest,
+who was convinced that the conquerors would be called to account for
+the sins they had committed against the great god Nin-Girsu. He
+lamented the butchery and robbery which had taken place. We gather
+from his composition that blood was shed by the raiders of Umma even
+in the sacred precincts of temples, that statues were shattered, that
+silver and precious stones were carried away, that granaries were
+plundered and standing crops destroyed, and that many buildings were
+set on fire. Amidst these horrors of savagery and vengeance, the now
+tragic figure of the great reformer suddenly vanishes from before our
+eyes. Perhaps he perished in a burning temple; perhaps he found a
+nameless grave with the thousands of his subjects whose bodies had
+lain scattered about the blood-stained streets. With Urukagina the
+glory of Lagash departed. Although the city was rebuilt in time, and
+was even made more stately than before, it never again became the
+metropolis of Sumeria.
+
+The vengeful destroyer of Lagash was Lugal-zaggisi, Patesi of Umma, a
+masterful figure in early Sumerian history. We gather from the tablet
+of the unknown scribe, who regarded him as a sinner against the god
+Nin-Girsu, that his city goddess was named Nidaba. He appears also to
+have been a worshipper of Enlil of Nippur, to whose influence he
+credited his military successes. But Enlil was not his highest god, he
+was the interceder who carried the prayers of Lugal-zaggisi to the
+beloved father, Anu, god of the sky. No doubt Nin-Girsu represented a
+school of theology which was associated with unpleasant memories in
+Umma. The sacking and burning of the temples of Lagash suggests as
+much.
+
+Having broken the power of Lagash, Lugal-zaggisi directed his
+attention to the rival city of Kish, where Semitic influence was
+predominating. When Nanizak, the last monarch of the line of the
+famous Queen Azag-Bau, had sat upon the throne for but three years, he
+perished by the sword of the Umma conqueror. Nippur likewise came
+under his sway, and he also subdued the southern cities.
+
+Lugal-zaggisi chose for his capital ancient Erech, the city of Anu,
+and of his daughter, the goddess Nana, who afterwards was identified
+with Ishtar. Anu's spouse was Anatu, and the pair subsequently became
+abstract deities, like Anshar and Kishar, their parents, who figure in
+the Babylonian Creation story. Nana was worshipped as the goddess of
+vegetation, and her relation to Anu was similar to that of Belit-sheri
+to Ea at Eridu. Anu and Ea were originally identical, but it would
+appear that the one was differentiated as the god of the waters above
+the heaven and the other as god of the waters beneath the earth, both
+being forms of Anshar. Elsewhere the chief god of the spring sun or
+the moon, the lover of the goddess, became pre-eminent, displacing the
+elder god, like Nin-Girsu at Lagash. At Sippar the sun god, Babbar,
+whose Semitic name was Shamash, was exalted as the chief deity, while
+the moon god remained supreme at Ur. This specializing process, which
+was due to local theorizing and the influence of alien settlers, has
+been dealt with in a previous chapter.
+
+In referring to himself as the favoured ruler of various city deities,
+Lugal-zaggisi appears as a ruler of all Sumeria. How far his empire
+extended it is impossible to determine with certainty. He appears to
+have overrun Akkad, and even penetrated to the Syrian coast, for in
+one inscription it is stated that he "made straight his path from the
+Lower Sea (the Persian Gulf) over the Euphrates and Tigris to the
+Upper Sea (the Mediterranean)". The allegiance of certain states,
+however, depended on the strength of the central power. One of his
+successors found it necessary to attack Kish, which was ever waiting
+for an opportunity to regain its independence.
+
+According to the Chronicle of Kish, the next ruler of Sumer and Akkad
+after Lugal-zaggisi was the famous Sargon I. It would appear that he
+was an adventurer or usurper, and that he owed his throne indirectly
+to Lugal-zaggisi, who had dethroned the ruler of Akkad. Later
+traditions, which have been partly confirmed by contemporary
+inscriptions, agree that Sargon was of humble birth. In the previous
+chapter reference was made to the Tammuz-like myth attached to his
+memory. His mother was a vestal virgin dedicated to the sun god,
+Shamash, and his father an unknown stranger from the mountains--a
+suggestion of immediate Semitic affinities. Perhaps Sargon owed his
+rise to power to the assistance received by bands of settlers from the
+land of the Amorites, which Lugal-zaggisi had invaded.
+
+According to the legend, Sargon's birth was concealed. He was placed
+in a vessel which was committed to the river. Brought up by a
+commoner, he lived in obscurity until the Semitic goddess, Ishtar,
+gave him her aid.
+
+A similar myth was attached in India to the memory of Karna, the
+Hector of that great Sanskrit epic the _Mahabharata_. Kama's mother,
+the Princess Pritha, who afterwards became a queen, was loved by the
+sun god, Surya. When in secret she gave birth to her son she placed
+him in an ark of wickerwork, which was set adrift on a stream.
+Ultimately it reached the Ganges, and it was borne by that river to
+the country of Anga, where the child was rescued by a woman and
+afterwards reared by her and her husband, a charioteer. In time Karna
+became a great warrior, and was crowned King of Anga by the Kaurava
+warriors.[147]
+
+Before he became king, Sargon of Akkad, the Sharrukin of the texts,
+was, according to tradition, a gardener and watchman attached to the
+temple of the war god Zamama of Kish. This deity was subsequently
+identified with Merodach, son of Ea; Ninip, son of Enlil; and
+Nin-Girsu of Lagash. He was therefore one of the many developed forms
+of Tammuz--a solar, corn, and military deity, and an interceder for
+mankind. The goddess of Kish appears to have been a form of Bau, as is
+testified by the name of Queen Azag-Bau, the legendary founder of the
+city.
+
+Unfortunately our knowledge of Sargon's reign is of meagre character.
+It is undoubted that he was a distinguished general and able ruler. He
+built up an empire which included Sumer and Akkad, and also Amurru,
+"the western land", or "land of the Amorites". The Elamites gave him
+an opportunity to extend his conquests eastward. They appear to have
+attacked Opis, but he drove them back, and on more than one occasion
+penetrated their country, over the western part of which, known as
+Anshan, he ultimately imposed his rule. Thither went many Semitic
+settlers who had absorbed the culture of Sumeria.
+
+During Sargon's reign Akkad attained to a splendour which surpassed
+that of Babylon. In an omen text the monarch is lauded as the "highly
+exalted one without a peer". Tradition relates that when he was an old
+man all the Babylonian states rose in revolt against him and besieged
+Akkad. But the old warrior led forth his army against the combined
+forces and achieved a shattering victory.
+
+Manishtusu, who succeeded Sargon I, had similarly to subdue a great
+confederacy of thirty-two city states, and must therefore have been a
+distinguished general. But he is best known as the monarch who
+purchased several large estates adjoining subject cities, his aim
+having been probably to settle on these Semitic allies who would be
+less liable to rebel against him than the workers they displaced. For
+the latter, however, he found employment elsewhere. These
+transactions, which were recorded on a monument subsequently carried
+off with other spoils by the Elamites and discovered at Susa, show
+that at this early period (about 2600 B.C.) even a conquering monarch
+considered it advisable to observe existing land laws. Urumush,[148]
+the next ruler, also achieved successes in Elam and elsewhere, but his
+life was cut short by a palace revolution.
+
+The prominent figure of Naram Sin, a later king of Akkad, bulks
+largely in history and tradition. According to the Chronicle of Kish,
+he was a son of Sargon. Whether he was or not, it is certain that he
+inherited the military and administrative genius of that famous
+ex-gardener. The arts flourished during his reign. One of the
+memorable products of the period was an exquisitely sculptured
+monument celebrating one of Naram Sin's victories, which was
+discovered at Susa. It is one of the most wonderful examples of
+Babylonian stone work which has come to light.
+
+A successful campaign had been waged against a mountain people. The
+stele shows the warrior king leading his army up a steep incline and
+round the base of a great peak surmounted by stars. His enemies flee
+in confusion before him. One lies on the ground clutching a spear
+which has penetrated his throat, two are falling over a cliff, while
+others apparently sue for mercy. Trees have been depicted to show that
+part of the conquered territory is wooded. Naram Sin is armed with
+battleaxe and bow, and his helmet is decorated with horns. The whole
+composition is spirited and finely grouped; and the military bearing
+of the disciplined troops contrasts sharply with the despairing
+attitudes of the fleeing remnants of the defending army.
+
+During this period the Semitized mountaineers to the north-east of
+Babylonia became the most aggressive opponents of the city states. The
+two most prominent were the Gutium, or men of Kutu, and the Lulubu.
+Naram Sin's great empire included the whole of Sumer and Akkad, Amurru
+and northern Palestine, and part of Elam, and the district to the
+north. He also penetrated Arabia, probably by way of the Persian Gulf,
+and caused diorite to be quarried there. One of his steles, which is
+now in the Imperial Ottoman Museum at Constantinople, depicts him as a
+fully bearded man with Semitic characteristics. During his lifetime he
+was deified--a clear indication of the introduction of foreign ideas,
+for the Sumerians were not worshippers of kings and ancestors.
+
+Naram Sin was the last great king of his line. Soon after his death
+the power of Akkad went to pieces, and the Sumerian city of Erech
+again became the centre of empire. Its triumph, however, was
+shortlived. After a quarter of a century had elapsed, Akkad and Sumer
+were overswept by the fierce Gutium from the north-eastern mountains.
+They sacked and burned many cities, including Babylon, where the
+memory of the horrors perpetrated by these invaders endured until the
+Grecian Age. An obscure period, like the Egyptian Hyksos Age, ensued,
+but it was of comparatively brief duration.
+
+When the mists cleared away, the city Lagash once more came to the
+front, having evidently successfully withstood the onslaughts of the
+Gutium, but it never recovered the place of eminence it occupied under
+the brilliant Ur-Nina dynasty. It is manifest that it must have
+enjoyed under the various overlords, during the interval, a
+considerable degree of independence, for its individuality remained
+unimpaired. Of all its energetic and capable patesis, the most
+celebrated was Gudea, who reigned sometime before 2400 B.C. In
+contrast to the Semitic Naram Sin, he was beardless and pronouncedly
+Sumerian in aspect. His favoured deity, the city god Nin-Girsu, again
+became prominent, having triumphed over his jealous rivals after
+remaining in obscurity for three or four centuries. Trade flourished,
+and the arts were fostered. Gudea had himself depicted, in one of the
+most characteristic sculptures of his age, as an architect, seated
+reverently with folded hands with a temple plan lying on his knees,
+and his head uplifted as if watching the builders engaged in
+materializing the dream of his life. The temple in which his interests
+were centred was erected in honour of Nin-Girsu. Its ruins suggest
+that it was of elaborate structure and great beauty. Like Solomon in
+later days, Gudea procured material for his temple from many distant
+parts--cedar from Lebanon, marble from Amurru, diorite from Arabia,
+copper from Elam, and so forth. Apparently the King of Lagash was
+strong enough or wealthy enough to command respect over a wide area.
+
+Another city which also rose into prominence, amidst the shattered
+Sumerian states, was Ur, the centre of moon worship. After Gudea's
+death, its kings exercised sway over Lagash and Nippur, and, farther
+south, over Erech and Larsa as well. This dynasty endured for nearly a
+hundred and twenty years, during which Ur flourished like Thebes in
+Egypt. Its monarchs styled themselves as "Kings of the Four Regions".
+The worship of Nannar (Sin) became officially recognized at Nippur,
+the seat of Enlil, during the reign of King Dungi of Ur; while at
+Erech, the high priest of Anu, the sky god, became the high priest of
+the moon god. Apparently matriarchal ideas, associated with lunar
+worship, again came into prominence, for the king appointed two of his
+daughters to be rulers of conquered states in Elam and Syria. In the
+latter half of his reign, Dungi, the conqueror, was installed as high
+priest at Eridu. It would thus appear that there was a renascence of
+early Sumerian religious ideas. Ea, the god of the deep, had long been
+overshadowed, but a few years before Dungi's death a temple was
+erected to him at Nippur, where he was worshipped as Dagan. Until the
+very close of his reign, which lasted for fifty-eight years, this
+great monarch of tireless activity waged wars of conquest, built
+temples and palaces, and developed the natural resources of Sumer and
+Akkad. Among his many reforms was the introduction of standards of
+weights, which received divine sanction from the moon god, who, as in
+Egypt, was the measurer and regulator of human transactions and human
+life.
+
+To this age also belongs many of the Sumerian business and legal
+records, which were ultimately carried off to Susa, where they have
+been recovered by French excavators.
+
+About half a century after Dungi's death the Dynasty of Ur came to an
+end, its last king having been captured by an Elamite force.
+
+At some time subsequent to this period, Abraham migrated from Ur to
+the northern city of Harran, where the moon god was also the chief
+city deity--the Baal, or "lord". It is believed by certain
+Egyptologists that Abraham sojourned in Egypt during its Twelfth
+Dynasty, which, according to the Berlin system of minimum dating,
+extended from about 2000 B.C. till 1780 B.C. The Hebrew patriarch may
+therefore have been a contemporary of Hammurabi's, who is identified
+with Amraphel, king of Shinar (Sumer) in the Bible.[149]
+
+But after the decline of Ur's ascendancy, and long before Babylon's
+great monarch came to the throne, the centre of power in Sumeria was
+shifted to Isin, where sixteen kings flourished for two and a quarter
+centuries. Among the royal names, recognition was given to Ea and
+Dagan, Sin, Enlil, and Ishtar, indicating that Sumerian religion in
+its Semitized form was receiving general recognition. The sun god was
+identical with Ninip and Nin-Girsu, a god of fertility, harvest, and
+war, but now more fully developed and resembling Babbar, "the shining
+one", the solar deity of Akkadian Sippar, whose Semitic name was
+Shamash. As Shamash was ultimately developed as the god of justice and
+righteousness, it would appear that his ascendancy occurred during the
+period when well-governed communities systematized their religious
+beliefs to reflect social conditions.
+
+The first great monarch of the Isin dynasty was Ishbi-Urra, who
+reigned for thirty-two years. Like his successors, he called himself
+"King of Sumer and Akkad", and it appears that his sway extended to
+the city of Sippar, where solar worship prevailed. Traces of him have
+also been found at Eridu, Ur, Erech, and Nippur, so that he must have
+given recognition to Ea, Sin, Anu, and Enlil. In this period the early
+national pantheon may have taken shape, Bel Enlil being the chief
+deity. Enlil was afterwards displaced by Merodach of Babylon.
+
+Before 2200 B.C. there occurred a break in the supremacy of Isin.
+Gungunu, King of Ur, combined with Larsa, whose sun temple he
+restored, and declared himself ruler of Sumer and Akkad. But Isin
+again gathered strength under Ur-Ninip, who was not related to his
+predecessor. Perhaps he came from Nippur, where the god Ninip was
+worshipped as the son of Bel Enlil.
+
+According to a Babylonian document, a royal grandson of Ur-Ninip's,
+having no direct heir, selected as his successor his gardener,
+Enlil-bani. He placed the crown on the head of this obscure
+individual, abdicated in his favour, and then died a mysterious death
+within his palace.
+
+It is highly probable that Enlil-bani, whose name signifies "Enlil is
+my creator", was a usurper like Sargon of Akkad, and he may have
+similarly circulated a myth regarding his miraculous origin to justify
+his sudden rise to power. The truth appears to be that he came to the
+throne as the leader of a palace revolution at a time of great unrest.
+But he was not allowed to remain in undisputed possession. A rival
+named Sin-ikisha, evidently a moon worshipper and perhaps connected
+with Ur, displaced the usurper, and proclaimed himself king. After a
+brief reign of six months he was overthrown, however, by Enlil-bani,
+who piously credited his triumph over his enemy to the chief god of
+Nippur, whose name he bore. Although he took steps to secure his
+position by strengthening the fortifications of Isin, and reigned for
+about a quarter of a century, he was not succeeded by his heir, if he
+had one. King Zambia, who was no relation, followed him, but his reign
+lasted for only three years. The names of the next two kings are
+unknown. Then came Sin-magir, who was succeeded by Damik-ilishu, the
+last King of Isin.
+
+Towards the close of Damik-ilishu's reign of twenty-four years he came
+under the suzerainty of Larsa, whose ruler was Rim Sin. Then Isin was
+captured by Sin-muballit, King of Babylon, the father of the great
+Hammurabi. Rim Sin was an Elamite.
+
+Afterwards the old order of things passed away. Babylon became the
+metropolis, the names of Sumer and Akkad dropped out of use, and the
+whole country between the rivers was called Babylonia.[150] The
+various systems of law which obtained in the different states were
+then codified by Hammurabi, who appointed governors in all the cities
+which came under his sway to displace the patesis and kings. A new
+national pantheon of representative character was also formed, over
+which Merodach (Marduk), the city god of Babylon, presided. How this
+younger deity was supposed to rise to power is related in the
+Babylonian legend of Creation, which is dealt with in the next
+chapter.[151] In framing this myth from the fragments of older myths,
+divine sanction was given to the supremacy achieved by Merodach's
+city. The allegiance of future generations was thus secured, not only
+by the strong arm of the law, but also by the combined influence of
+the reorganized priesthoods at the various centres of administration.
+
+An interesting problem, which should be referred to here, arises in
+connection with the sculptured representations of deities before and
+after the rise of Akkad as a great Power. It is found, although the
+Sumerians shaved their scalps and faces at the dawn of the historical
+age, that they worshipped gods who had long hair and also beards,
+which were sometimes square and sometimes pointed.
+
+At what period the Sumerian deities were given human shape it is
+impossible to determine. As has been shown (Chapters II and III) all
+the chief gods and goddesses had animal forms and composite monster
+forms before they became anthropomorphic deities. Ea had evidently a
+fish shape ere he was clad in the skin of a fish, as an Egyptian god
+was simply a bull before he was depicted in human shape wearing a
+bull's skin. The archaic Sumerian animal and composite monster gods of
+animistic and totemic origin survived after the anthropomorphic period
+as mythical figures, which were used for decorative or magical
+purposes and as symbols. A form of divine headdress was a cap enclosed
+in horns, between which appeared the soaring lion-headed eagle, which
+symbolized Nin-Girsu. This god had also lion and antelope forms, which
+probably figured in lost myths--perhaps they were like the animals
+loved by Ishtar and referred to in the Gilgamesh epic. Similarly the
+winged bull was associated with the moon god Nannar, or Sin, of Ur,
+who was "a horned steer". On various cylinder seals appear groups of
+composite monsters and rearing wild beasts, which were evidently
+representations of gods and demons in conflict.
+
+Suggestive data for comparative study is afforded in this connection
+by ancient Egypt. Sokar, the primitive Memphite deity, retained until
+the end his animal and composite monster forms. Other gods were
+depicted with human bodies and the heads of birds, serpents, and
+crocodiles, thus forming links between the archaic demoniac and the
+later anthropomorphic deities. A Sumerian example is the deified
+Ea-bani, who, like Pan, has the legs and hoofs of a goat.
+
+The earliest representations of Sumerian humanized deities appear on
+reliefs from Tello, the site of Lagash. These examples of archaic
+gods, however, are not bearded in Semitic fashion. On the contrary,
+their lips and cheeks are shaved, while an exaggerated chin tuft is
+retained. The explanation suggested is that the Sumerians gave their
+deities human shape before they themselves were clean shaven, and that
+the retention of the characteristic facial hair growth of the
+Mediterranean Race is another example of the conservatism of the
+religious instinct. In Egypt the clean-shaven Pharaohs, who
+represented gods, wore false chin-tuft beards; even Queen Hatshepsut
+considered it necessary to assume a beard on state occasions.
+Ptah-Osiris retained his archaic beard until the Ptolemaic period.
+
+It seems highly probable that in similarly depicting their gods with
+beards, the early Sumerians were not influenced by the practices of
+any alien people or peoples. Not until the period of Gudea, the Patesi
+of Lagash, did they give their gods heavy moustaches, side whiskers,
+and flowing beards of Semitic type. It may be, however, that by then
+they had completely forgotten the significance of an ancient custom.
+Possibly, too, the sculptors of Lagash were working under the
+influence of the Akkadian school of art, which had produced the
+exquisite stele of victory for Naram-Sin, and consequently adopted the
+conventional Semitic treatment of bearded figures. At any rate, they
+were more likely to study and follow the artistic triumphs of Akkad
+than the crude productions of the archaic period. Besides, they lived
+in an age when Semitic kings were deified and the Semitic overlords
+had attained to great distinction and influence.
+
+The Semitic folks were not so highly thought of in the early Sumerian
+period. It is not likely that the agricultural people regarded as
+models of gods the plunderers who descended from the hills, and, after
+achieving successes, returned home with their spoils. More probably
+they regarded them as "foreign devils". Other Semites, however, who
+came as traders, bringing wood, stone, and especially copper, and
+formed communities in cities, may well have influenced Sumerian
+religious thought. The god Ramman, for instance, who was given
+recognition all through Babylonia, was a god of hill folks as far
+north as Asia Minor and throughout Syria. He may have been introduced
+by settlers who adopted Sumerian habits of life and shaved scalp and
+face. But although the old cities could never have existed in a
+complete state of isolation from the outer world, it is unlikely that
+their inhabitants modelled their deities on those worshipped by groups
+of aliens. A severe strain is imposed on our credulity if we are
+expected to believe that it was due to the teachings and example of
+uncultured nomads that the highly civilized Sumerians developed their
+gods from composite monsters to anthropomorphic deities. Such a
+supposition, at any rate, is not supported by the evidence of Ancient
+Egypt.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+CREATION LEGEND: MERODACH THE DRAGON SLAYER
+
+
+  Elder Spirits of the Primordial Deep--Apsu and the Tiamat
+  Dragon--Plot to Destroy the Beneficent Gods--Ea overcomes Apsu and
+  Muminu--The Vengeful Preparations of the Dragon--Anshar's Appeal to
+  Merodach--The Festival of the High Gods--Merodach exalted as Ruler
+  of the Universe--Dragon slain and Host taken captive--Merodach
+  rearranges the Pantheon--Creation of Man--Merodach as Asari--The
+  Babylonian Osiris--The Chief Purpose of Mankind--Tiamat as Source of
+  Good and Evil--The Dragon as the Serpent or Worm--Folk Tale aspect
+  of Creation Myth--British Neolithic Legends--German and Egyptian
+  Contracts--Biblical references to Dragons--The Father and Son
+  theme--Merodach and Tammuz--Monotheistic Tendency--Bi-sexual
+  Deities.
+
+
+In the beginning the whole universe was a sea. Heaven on high had not
+been named, nor the earth beneath. Their begetter was Apsu, the father
+of the primordial Deep, and their mother was Tiamat, the spirit of
+Chaos. No plain was yet formed, no marsh could be seen; the gods had
+no existence, nor had their fates been determined. Then there was a
+movement in the waters, and the deities issued forth. The first who
+had being were the god Lachmu and the goddess Lachamu. Long ages went
+past. Then were created the god Anshar and the goddess Kishar. When
+the days of these deities had increased and extended, they were
+followed by Anu, god of the sky, whose consort was Anatu; and Ea, most
+wise and all-powerful, who was without an equal. Now Ea, god of the
+deep, was also Enki, "lord of earth", and his eternal spouse, Damkina,
+was Gashan-ki, "lady of earth". The son of Ea and Damkina was Bel, the
+lord, who in time created mankind.[152] Thus were the high gods
+established in power and in glory.
+
+Now Apsu and Tiamat remained amidst confusion in the deeps of chaos.
+They were troubled because their offspring, the high gods, aspired to
+control the universe and set it in order.[153] Apsu was still powerful
+and fierce, and Tiamat snarled and raised tempests, smiting herself.
+Their purpose was to work evil amidst eternal confusion.
+
+Then Apsu called upon Mummu, his counsellor, the son who shared his
+desires, and said, "O Mummu, thou who art pleasing unto me, let us go
+forth together unto Tiamat and speak with her."
+
+So the two went forth and prostrated themselves before the Chaos
+Mother to consult with her as to what should be done to prevent the
+accomplishment of the purpose of the high gods.
+
+Apsu opened his mouth and spake, saying, "O Tiamat, thou gleaming one,
+the purpose of the gods troubles me. I cannot rest by day nor can I
+repose by night. I will thwart them and destroy their purpose. I will
+bring sorrow and mourning so that we may lie down undisturbed by
+them."
+
+Tiamat heard these words and snarled. She raised angry and roaring
+tempests; in her furious grief she uttered a curse, and then spake to
+Apsu, saying, "What shall we do so that their purpose may be thwarted
+and we may lie down undisturbed again?"
+
+Mummu, the counsellor, addressing Apsu, made answer, and said,
+"Although the gods are powerful, thou canst overcome them; although
+their purpose is strong, thou canst thwart it. Then thou shalt have
+rest by day and peace by night to lie down."
+
+The face of Apsu grew bright when he heard these words spoken by
+Mummu, yet he trembled to think of the purpose of the high gods, to
+whom he was hostile. With Tiamat he lamented because the gods had
+changed all things; the plans of the gods filled their hearts with
+dread; they sorrowed and spake with Mummu, plotting evil.
+
+Then Ea, who knoweth all, drew near; he beheld the evil ones
+conspiring and muttering together. He uttered a pure incantation and
+accomplished the downfall of Apsu and Mummu, who were taken
+captive.[154]
+
+Kingu, who shared the desires of Tiamat, spake unto her words of
+counsel, saying, "Apsu and Mummu have been overcome and we cannot
+repose. Thou shalt be their Avenger, O Tempestuous One."
+
+Tiamat heard the words of this bright and evil god, and made answer,
+saying, "On my strength thou canst trust. So let war be waged."
+
+Then were the hosts of chaos and the deep gathered together. By day
+and by night they plotted against the high gods, raging furiously,
+making ready for battle, fuming and storming and taking no rest.
+
+Mother Chuber,[155] the creator of all, provided irresistible weapons.
+She also brought into being eleven kinds of fierce monsters--giant
+serpents, sharp of tooth with unsparing fangs, whose bodies were
+filled with poison instead of blood; snarling dragons, clad with
+terror, and of such lofty stature that whoever saw them was
+overwhelmed with fear, nor could any escape their attack when they
+
+lifted themselves up; vipers and pythons, and the Lachamu, hurricane
+monsters, raging hounds, scorpion men, tempest furies, fish men, and
+mountain rams. These she armed with fierce weapons and they had no
+fear of war.
+
+Then Tiamat, whose commands are unchangeable and mighty, exalted
+Kingu, who had come to her aid, above all the evil gods; she made him
+the leader to direct the army in battle, to go in front, to open the
+attack. Robing Kingu in splendour, she seated him on high and spoke,
+saying:
+
+"I have established thy command over all the gods. Thou shalt rule
+over them. Be mighty, thou my chosen husband, and let thy name be
+exalted over all the spirits of heaven and spirits of earth."
+
+Unto Kingu did Tiamat deliver the tablets of fate; she laid them in
+his bosom, and said, "Thy commands cannot be changed; thy words shall
+remain firm."
+
+Thus was Kingu exalted; he was vested with the divine power of Anu to
+decree the fate of the gods, saying, "Let thy mouth open to thwart the
+fire god; be mighty in battle nor brook resistance."
+
+Then had Ea knowledge of Tiamat's doings, how she had gathered her
+forces together, and how she had prepared to work evil against the
+high gods with purpose to avenge Apsu. The wise god was stricken with
+grief, and he moaned for many days. Thereafter he went and stood
+before his father, Anshar, and spake, saying, "Our mother, Tiamat,
+hath turned against us in her wrath. She hath gathered the gods about
+her, and those thou didst create are with her also."
+
+When Anshar heard all that Ea revealed regarding the preparations made
+by Tiamat, he smote his loins and clenched his teeth, and was ill at
+ease. In sorrow and anger he spoke and said, "Thou didst go forth
+aforetime to battle; thou didst bind Mummu and smite Apsu. Now Kingu
+is exalted, and there is none who can oppose Tiamat."[156]
+
+Anshar called his son, Anu, before him, and spoke, saying: "O mighty
+one without fear, whose attack is irresistible, go now before Tiamat
+and speak so that her anger may subside and her heart be made
+merciful. But if she will not hearken unto thee, speak thou for me, so
+that she may be reconciled."
+
+Anu was obedient to the commands of Anshar. He departed, and descended
+by the path of Tiamat until he beheld her fuming and snarling, but he
+feared to approach her, and turned back.
+
+Then Ea was sent forth, but he was stricken with terror and turned
+back also.[157]
+
+Anshar then called upon Merodach, son of Ea, and addressed him,
+saying, "My son, who softeneth my heart, thou shalt go forth to battle
+and none shall stand against thee."
+
+The heart of Merodach was made glad at these words. He stood before
+Anshar, who kissed him, because that he banished fear. Merodach spake,
+saying: "O lord of the gods, withdraw not thy words; let me go forth
+to do as is thy desire. What man hath challenged thee to battle?"
+
+Anshar made answer and said: "No man hath challenged me. It is Tiamat,
+the woman, who hath resolved to wage war against us. But fear not and
+make merry, for thou shalt bruise the head of Tiamat. O wise god, thou
+shalt overcome her with thy pure incantation. Tarry not but hasten
+forth; she cannot wound thee; thou shalt come back again." The words
+of Anshar delighted the heart of Merodach, who spake, saying: "O lord
+of the gods, O fate of the high gods, if I, the avenger, am to subdue
+Tiamat and save all, then proclaim my greatness among the gods. Let
+all the high gods gather together joyfully in Upshukinaku (the Council
+Hall), so that my words like thine may remain unchanged, and what I do
+may never be altered. Instead of thee I will decree the fates of the
+gods."
+
+Then Anshar called unto his counsellor, Gaga, and addressing him,
+said: "O thou who dost share my desires, thou who dost understand the
+purpose of my heart, go unto Lachmu and Lachamu and summon all the
+high gods to come before me to eat bread and drink wine. Repeat to
+them all I tell you of Tiamat's preparations for war, of my commands
+to Anu and Ea, who turned back, fearing the dragon, of my choice of
+Merodach to be our avenger, and his desire to be equipped with my
+power to decree fate, so that he may be made strong to combat against
+our enemy."
+
+As Anshar commanded so did Gaga do. He went unto Lachmu and Lachamu
+and prostrated himself humbly before them. Then he rose and delivered
+the message of Anshar, their son, adding: "Hasten and speedily decide
+for Merodach your fate. Permit him to depart to meet your powerful
+foe."
+
+When Lachmu and Lachamu heard all that Gaga revealed unto them they
+uttered lamentations, while the Igigi (heavenly spirits) sorrowed
+bitterly, and said: "What change hath happened that Tiamat hath become
+hostile to her own offspring? We cannot understand her deeds."
+
+All the high gods then arose and went unto Anshar, They filled his
+council chamber and kissed one another. Then they sat down to eat
+bread and drink sesame wine. And when they were made drunk and were
+merry and at their ease, they decreed the fate for Merodach.
+
+In the chamber of Anshar they honoured the Avenger. He was exalted as
+a prince over them all, and they said: "Among the high gods thou art
+the highest; thy command is the command of Anu. Henceforth thou wilt
+have power to raise up and to cast down. None of the gods will dispute
+thy authority. O Merodach, our avenger, we give thee sovereignty over
+the entire Universe. Thy weapon will ever be irresistible. Smite down
+the gods who have raised revolt, but spare the lives of those who
+repose their trust in thee."
+
+Then the gods laid down a garment before Merodach, saying: "Open thy
+mouth and speak words of command, so that the garment may be
+destroyed; speak again and it will be brought back."
+
+Merodach spake with his mouth and the garment vanished; he spake again
+and the garment was reproduced.
+
+All the gods rejoiced, and they prostrated themselves and cried out,
+"Merodach is King!"
+
+Thereafter they gave him the sceptre and the throne and the insignia
+of royalty, and also an irresistible weapon[158] with which to
+overcome his enemies, saying: "Now, O Merodach, hasten and slay
+Tiamat. Let the winds carry her blood to hidden places."
+
+So was the fate of Merodach decreed by the gods; so was a path of
+prosperity and peace prepared for him. He made ready for battle; he
+strung his bow and hung his quiver; he slung a dart over his shoulder,
+and he grasped a club in his right hand; before him he set lightning,
+and with flaming fire he filled his body. Anu gave unto him a great
+net with which to snare his enemies and prevent their escape. Then
+Merodach created seven winds--the wind of evil, the uncontrollable
+wind, the sandstorm, and the whirlwind, the fourfold wind, the
+sevenfold wind, and the wind that has no equal--and they went after
+him. Next he seized his mighty weapon, the thunderstone, and leapt
+into his storm chariot, to which were yoked four rushing and
+destructive steeds of rapid flight, with foam-flecked mouths and teeth
+full of venom, trained for battle, to overthrow enemies and trample
+them underfoot. A light burned on the head of Merodach, and he was
+clad in a robe of terror. He drove forth, and the gods, his fathers,
+followed after him: the high gods clustered around and followed him,
+hastening to battle.
+
+Merodach drove on, and at length he drew nigh to the secret lair of
+Tiamat, and he beheld her muttering with Kingu, her consort. For a
+moment he faltered, and when the gods who followed him beheld this,
+their eyes were troubled.
+
+Tiamat snarled nor turned her head. She uttered curses, and said: "O
+Merodach, I fear not thy advance as chief of the gods. My allies are
+assembled here, and are more powerful than thou art."
+
+Merodach uplifted his arm, grasping the dreaded thunderstone, and
+spake unto Tiamat, the rebellious one, saying: "Thou hast exalted
+thyself, and with wrathful heart hath prepared for war against the
+high gods and their fathers, whom thou dost hate in thy heart of evil.
+Unto Kingu thou hast given the power of Anu to decree fate, because
+thou art hostile to what is good and loveth what is sinful. Gather thy
+forces together, and arm thyself and come forth to battle."
+
+When Tiamat heard these mighty words she raved and cried aloud like
+one who is possessed; all her limbs shook, and she muttered a spell.
+The gods seized their weapons.
+
+Tiamat and Merodach advanced to combat against one another. They made
+ready for battle. The lord of the high gods spread out the net which
+Anu had given him. He snared the dragon and she could not escape.
+Tiamat opened her mouth which was seven miles wide, and Merodach
+called upon the evil wind to smite her; he caused the wind to keep her
+mouth agape so that she could not close it. All the tempests and the
+hurricanes entered in, filling her body, and her heart grew weak; she
+gasped, overpowered. Then the lord of the high gods seized his dart
+and cast it through the lower part of her body; it tore her inward
+parts and severed her heart. So was Tiamat slain.
+
+Merodach overturned the body of the dead dragon and stood upon it. All
+the evil gods who had followed her were stricken with terror and broke
+into flight. But they were unable to escape. Merodach caught them in
+his great net, and they stumbled and fell uttering cries of distress,
+and the whole world resounded with their wailing and lamentations. The
+lord of the high gods broke the weapons of the evil gods and put them
+in bondage. Then he fell upon the monsters which Tiamat had created;
+he subdued them, divested them of their powers, and trampled them
+under his feet. Kingu he seized with the others. From this god great
+Merodach took the tablets of fate, and impressing upon them his own
+seal, placed them in his bosom.
+
+So were the enemies of the high gods overthrown by the Avenger.
+Ansar's commands were fulfilled and the desires of Ea fully
+accomplished.
+
+Merodach strengthened the bonds which he had laid upon the evil gods
+and then returned to Tiamat. He leapt upon the dragon's body; he clove
+her skull with his great club; he opened the channels of her blood
+which streamed forth, and caused the north to carry her blood to
+hidden places. The high gods, his fathers, clustered around; they
+raised shouts of triumph and made merry. Then they brought gifts and
+offerings to the great Avenger.
+
+Merodach rested a while, gazing upon the dead body of the dragon. He
+divided the flesh of Ku-pu[159], and devised a cunning plan.
+
+Then the lord of the high gods split the body of the dragon like that
+of a mashde fish into two halves. With one half he enveloped the
+firmament; he fixed it there and set a watchman to prevent the waters
+falling down[160]. With the other half he made the earth[161]. Then he
+made the abode of Ea in the deep, and the abode of Anu in high heaven.
+The abode of Enlil was in the air.
+
+Merodach set all the great gods in their several stations. He also
+created their images, the stars of the Zodiac, and fixed them all. He
+measured the year and divided it into months; for twelve months he
+made three stars each. After he had given starry images of the gods
+separate control of each day of the year, he founded the station of
+Nibiru (Jupiter), his own star, to determine the limits of all stars,
+so that none might err or go astray. He placed beside his own the
+stations of Enlil and Ea, and on each side he opened mighty gates,
+fixing bolts on the left and on the right. He set the zenith in the
+centre.
+
+Merodach decreed that the moon god should rule the night and measure
+the days, and each month he was given a crown. Its various phases the
+great lord determined, and he commanded that on the evening of its
+fullest brilliancy it should stand opposite the sun.[162]
+
+He placed his bow in heaven (as a constellation) and his net also.
+
+We have now reached the sixth tablet, which begins with a reference to
+words spoken to Merodach by the gods. Apparently Ea had conceived in
+his heart that mankind should be created. The lord of the gods read
+his thoughts and said: "I will shed my blood and fashion bone... I
+will create man to dwell on the earth so that the gods may be
+worshipped and shrines erected for them. I will change the pathways of
+the gods...."
+
+The rest of the text is fragmentary, and many lines are missing.
+Berosus states, however, that Belus (Bel Merodach) severed his head
+from his shoulders. His blood flowed forth, and the gods mixed it with
+earth and formed the first man and various animals.
+
+In another version of the creation of man, it is related that Merodach
+"laid a reed upon the face of the waters; he formed dust, and poured
+it out beside the reed.... That he might cause the gods to dwell in
+the habitation of their heart's desire, he formed mankind." The
+goddess Aruru, a deity of Sippar, and one of the forms of "the lady of
+the gods ", is associated with Merodach as the creatrix of the seed of
+mankind. "The beasts of the field and living creatures in the field he
+formed." He also created the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, grass,
+reeds, herbs and trees, lands, marshes and swamps, cows, goats,
+&c.[163]
+
+In the seventh tablet Merodach is praised by the gods--the Igigi
+(spirits of heaven). As he has absorbed all their attributes, he is
+addressed by his fifty-one names; henceforth each deity is a form of
+Merodach. Bel Enlil, for instance, is Merodach of lordship and
+domination; Sin, the moon god, is Merodach as ruler of night; Shamash
+is Merodach as god of law and holiness; Nergal is Merodach of war; and
+so on. The tendency to monotheism appears to have been most marked
+among the priestly theorists of Babylon.
+
+Merodach is hailed to begin with as Asari, the introducer of
+agriculture and horticulture, the creator of grain and plants. He also
+directs the decrees of Anu, Bel, and Ea; but having rescued the gods
+from destruction at the hands of Kingu and Tiamat, he was greater than
+his "fathers", the elder gods. He set the Universe in order, and
+created all things anew. He is therefore Tutu, "the creator", a
+merciful and beneficent god. The following are renderings of lines 25
+to 32:
+
+    Tutu: Aga-azaga (the glorious crown) may he make the crowns
+        glorious--
+    The lord of the glorious incantation bringing the dead to life;
+    He who had mercy on the gods who had been overpowered;
+    Made heavy the yoke which he had laid on the gods who were his
+        enemies,
+    (And) to redeem (?) them created mankind.
+    "The merciful one", "he with whom is salvation",
+    May his word be established, and not forgotten,
+    In the mouth of the black-headed ones whom his hands have made.
+
+            _Pinches' Translation_[164]
+
+
+    Tutu as Aga-azag may mankind fourthly magnify!
+    "The Lord of the Pure Incantation", "the Quickener of the Dead ",
+    "Who had mercy upon the captive gods",
+    "Who removed the yoke from upon the gods his enemies".
+    "For their forgiveness did he create mankind",
+    "The Merciful One, with whom it is to bestow life!"
+    May his deeds endure, may they never be forgotten
+    In the mouth of mankind whom his hands have made.
+
+            _King's Translation._[165]
+
+Apparently the Babylonian doctrine set forth that mankind was created
+not only to worship the gods, but also to bring about the redemption
+of the fallen gods who followed Tiamat.
+
+    Those rebel angels (_ili_ gods) He prohibited return;
+    He stopped their service; He removed them unto the gods (_ili_) who
+        were His enemies.
+    In their room he created mankind.[166]
+
+Tiamat, the chaos dragon, is the Great Mother. She has a dual
+character. As the origin of good she is the creatrix of the gods. Her
+beneficent form survived as the Sumerian goddess Bau, who was
+obviously identical with the Phoenician Baau, mother of the first man.
+Another name of Bau was Ma, and Nintu, "a form of the goddess Ma", was
+half a woman and half a serpent, and was depicted with "a babe
+suckling her breast" (Chapter IV). The Egyptian goddesses Neheb-kau
+and Uazit were serpents, and the goddesses Isis and Nepthys had also
+serpent forms. The serpent was a symbol of fertility, and as a mother
+was a protector. Vishnu, the Preserver of the Hindu Trinity, sleeps on
+the world-serpent's body. Serpent charms are protective and fertility
+charms.
+
+As the origin of evil Tiamat personified the deep and tempests. In
+this character she was the enemy of order and good, and strove to
+destroy the world.
+
+      I have seen
+    The ambitious ocean swell and rage and foam
+    To be exalted with the threatening clouds.[167]
+
+Tiamat was the dragon of the sea, and therefore the serpent or
+leviathan. The word "dragon" is derived from the Greek "drakon", the
+serpent known as "the seeing one" or "looking one", whose glance was
+the lightning. The Anglo-Saxon "fire drake" ("draca", Latin "draco")
+is identical with the "flying dragon".
+
+In various countries the serpent or worm is a destroyer which swallows
+the dead. "The worm shall eat them like wool", exclaimed Isaiah in
+symbolic language.[168] It lies in the ocean which surrounds the world
+in Egyptian, Babylonian, Greek, Teutonic, Indian, and other
+mythologies. The Irish call it "moruach", and give it a mermaid form
+like the Babylonian Nintu. In a Scottish Gaelic poem Tiamat figures as
+"The Yellow Muilearteach", who is slain by Finn-mac-Coul, assisted by
+his warrior band.
+
+    There was seen coming on the top of the waves
+    The crooked, clamouring, shivering brave ...
+    Her face was blue black of the lustre of coal,
+    And her bone-tufted tooth was like rusted bone.[169]
+
+The serpent figures in folk tales. When Alexander the Great, according
+to Ethiopic legend, was lowered in a glass cage to the depths of the
+ocean, he saw a great monster going past, and sat for two days
+"watching for its tail and hinder parts to appear".[170] An
+Argyllshire Highlander had a similar experience. He went to fish one
+morning on a rock. "He was not long there when he saw the head of an
+eel pass. He continued fishing for an hour and the eel was still
+passing. He went home, worked in the field all day, and having
+returned to the same rock in the evening, the eel was still passing,
+and about dusk he saw her tail disappearing."[171] Tiamat's sea-brood
+is referred to in the Anglo-Saxon epic _Beowulf_ as "nickers". The
+hero "slew by night sea monsters on the waves" (line 422).
+
+The well dragon--the French "draco"--also recalls the Babylonian water
+monsters. There was a "dragon well" near Jerusalem.[172] From China to
+Ireland rivers are dragons, or goddesses who flee from the well
+dragons. The demon of the Rhone is called the "drac". Floods are also
+referred to as dragons, and the Hydra, or water serpent, slain by
+Hercules, belongs to this category. Water was the source of evil as
+well as good. To the Sumerians, the ocean especially was the abode of
+monsters. They looked upon it as did Shakespeare's Ferdinand, when,
+leaping into the sea, he cried: "Hell is empty and all the devils are
+here".[173]
+
+There can be little doubt but that in this Babylonian story of
+Creation we have a glorified variation of the widespread Dragon myth.
+Unfortunately, however, no trace can be obtained of the pre-existing
+Sumerian oral version which the theorizing priests infused with such
+sublime symbolism. No doubt it enjoyed as great popularity as the
+immemorial legend of Perseus and Andromeda, which the sages of Greece
+attempted to rationalize, and parts of which the poets made use of and
+developed as these appealed to their imaginations.
+
+The lost Sumerian story may be summarized as follows: There existed in
+the savage wilds, or the ocean, a family of monsters antagonistic to a
+group of warriors represented in the Creation legend by the gods. Ea,
+the heroic king, sets forth to combat with the enemies of man, and
+slays the monster father, Apsu, and his son, Mummu. But the most
+powerful demon remains to be dealt with. This is the mother Tiamat,
+who burns to avenge the deaths of her kindred. To wage war against her
+the hero makes elaborate preparations, and equips himself with special
+weapons. The queen of monsters cannot be overcome by ordinary means,
+for she has great cunning, and is less vulnerable than were her
+husband and son. Although Ea may work spells against her, she is able
+to thwart him by working counter spells. Only a hand-to-hand combat
+can decide the fray. Being strongly protected by her scaly hide, she
+must be wounded either on the under part of her body or through her
+mouth by a weapon which will pierce her liver, the seat of life. It
+will be noted in this connection that Merodach achieved success by
+causing the winds which followed him to distend the monster's jaws, so
+that he might be able to inflict the fatal blow and prevent her at the
+same time from uttering spells to weaken him.
+
+This type of story, in which the mother monster is greater and more
+powerful than her husband or son, is exceedingly common in Scottish
+folklore. In the legend which relates the adventures of "Finn in the
+Kingdom of Big Men", the hero goes forth at night to protect his
+allies against the attacks of devastating sea monsters. Standing on
+the beach, "he saw the sea advancing in fiery kilns and as a darting
+serpent.... A huge monster came up, and looking down below where he
+(Finn) was, exclaimed, 'What little speck do I see here?'" Finn, aided
+by his fairy dog, slew the water monster. On Finn, aided by his fairy
+dog, slew the water monster. On the following night a bigger monster,
+"the father", came ashore, and he also was slain. But the most
+powerful enemy had yet to be dealt with. "The next night a Big Hag
+came ashore, and the tooth in the front of her mouth would make a
+distaff. 'You killed my husband and son,' she said." Finn acknowledged
+that he did, and they began to fight. After a prolonged struggle, in
+which Finn was almost overcome, the Hag fell and her head was cut
+off.[174]
+
+The story of "Finlay the Changeling" has similar features. The hero
+slew first a giant and then the giant's father. Thereafter the Hag
+came against him and exclaimed, "Although with cunning and
+deceitfulness you killed my husband last night and my son on the night
+before last, I shall certainly kill you to-night." A fierce wrestling
+match ensued on the bare rock. The Hag was ultimately thrown down. She
+then offered various treasures to ransom her life, including "a gold
+sword in my cave", regarding which she says, "never was it drawn to
+man or to beast whom it did not overcome".[175] In other Scottish
+stories of like character the hero climbs a tree, and says something
+to induce the hag to open her mouth, so that he may plunge his weapon
+down her throat.
+
+The Grendel story in _Beowulf_,[176] the Anglo-Saxon epic, is of like
+character. A male water monster preys nightly upon the warriors who
+sleep in the great hall of King Hrothgar. Beowulf comes over the sea,
+as did Finn to the "Kingdom of Big Men", to sky Grendel. He wrestles
+with this man-eater and mortally wounds him. Great rejoicings ensue,
+but they have to be brought to an abrupt conclusion, because the
+mother of Grendel has meanwhile resolved "to go a sorry journey and
+avenge the death of her son".
+
+The narrative sets forth that she enters the Hall in the darkness of
+night. "Quickly she grasped one of the nobles tight, and then she went
+towards the fen", towards her submarine cave. Beowulf follows in due
+course, and, fully armoured, dives through the waters and ultimately
+enters the monster's lair. In the combat the "water wife" proves to be
+a more terrible opponent than was her son. Indeed, Beowulf was unable
+to slay her until he possessed himself of a gigantic sword, "adorned
+with treasure", which was hanging in the cave. With this magic weapon
+he slays the mother monster, whose poisonous blood afterwards melts
+the "damasked blade". Like Finn, he subsequently returns with the head
+of one of the monsters.
+
+An interesting point about this story is that it does not appear in
+any form in the North German cycle of Romance. Indeed, the poet who
+included in his epic the fiery dragon story, which links the hero
+Beowulf with Sigurd and Siegfried, appears to be doubtful about the
+mother monster's greatness, as if dealing with unfamiliar material,
+for he says: "The terror (caused by Grendel's mother) was less by just
+so much as woman's strength, woman's war terror, is (measured) by
+fighting men".[177] Yet, in the narrative which follows the Amazon is
+proved to be the stronger monster of the two. Traces of the mother
+monster survive in English folklore, especially in the traditions
+about the mythical "Long Meg of Westminster", referred to by Ben
+Jonson in his masque of the "Fortunate Isles":
+
+    Westminster Meg,
+    With her long leg,
+    As long as a crane;
+    And feet like a plane,
+    With a pair of heels
+    As broad as two wheels.
+
+Meg has various graves. One is supposed to be marked by a huge stone
+in the south side of the cloisters of Westminster Abbey; it probably
+marks the trench in which some plague victims--regarded, perhaps, as
+victims of Meg--were interred. Meg was also reputed to have been
+petrified, like certain Greek and Irish giants and giantesses. At
+Little Salkeld, near Penrith, a stone circle is referred to as "Long
+Meg and her Daughters". Like "Long Tom", the famous giant, "Mons Meg"
+gave her name to big guns in early times, all hags and giants having
+been famous in floating folk tales as throwers of granite boulders,
+balls of hard clay, quoits, and other gigantic missiles.
+
+The stories about Grendel's mother and Long Meg are similar to those
+still repeated in the Scottish Highlands. These contrast sharply with
+characteristic Germanic legends, in which the giant is greater than
+the giantess, and the dragon is a male, like Fafner, who is slain by
+Sigurd, and Regin whom Siegfried overcomes. It is probable, therefore,
+that the British stories of female monsters who were more powerful
+than their husbands and sons, are of Neolithic and Iberian
+origin--immemorial relics of the intellectual life of the western
+branch of the Mediterranean race.
+
+In Egypt the dragon survives in the highly developed mythology of the
+sun cult of Heliopolis, and, as sun worship is believed to have been
+imported, and the sun deity is a male, it is not surprising to find
+that the night demon, Apep, was a personification of Set. This god,
+who is identical with Sutekh, a Syrian and Asia Minor deity, was
+apparently worshipped by a tribe which was overcome in the course of
+early tribal struggles in pre-dynastic times. Being an old and
+discredited god, he became by a familiar process the demon of the
+conquerors. In the eighteenth dynasty, however, his ancient glory was
+revived, for the Sutekh of Rameses II figures as the "dragon
+slayer".[178] It is in accordance with Mediterranean modes of thought,
+however, to find that in Egypt there is a great celestial battle
+heroine. This is the goddess Hathor-Sekhet, the "Eye of Ra".[179]
+Similarly in India, the post-Vedic goddess Kali is a destroyer, while
+as Durga she is a guardian of heroes.[180] Kali, Durga, and
+Hathor-Sekhet link with the classical goddesses of war, and also with
+the Babylonian Ishtar, who, as has been shown, retained the
+outstanding characteristics of Tiamat, the fierce old "Great Mother"
+of primitive Sumerian folk religion.
+
+It is possible that in the Babylonian dragon myth the original hero
+was Ea. As much may be inferred from the symbolic references in the
+Bible to Jah's victory over the monster of the deep: "Art thou not it
+that hath cut Rahab and wounded the dragon?"[181] "Thou brakest the
+heads of the dragons in the waters; thou brakest the heads of
+leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people
+inhabiting the wilderness";[182] "He divideth the sea with his power,
+and by his understanding he smiteth through the proud (Rahab). By his
+spirit he hath garnished the heavens: his hand hath formed (or
+pierced) the crooked serpent";[183] "Thou hast broken Rahab in pieces
+as one that is slain: thou hast scattered thine enemies with thy
+strong arm";[184] "In that day the Lord with his sore and great and
+strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing (or stiff) serpent,
+even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that
+is in the sea".[185]
+
+In the Babylonian Creation legend Ea is supplanted as dragon slayer by
+his son Merodach. Similarly Ninip took the place of his father, Enlil,
+as the champion of the gods. "In other words," writes Dr. Langdon,
+"later theology evolved the notion of the son of the earth god, who
+acquires the attributes of the father, and becomes the god of war. It
+is he who stood forth against the rebellious monsters of darkness, who
+would wrest the dominion of the world from the gods who held their
+conclave on the mountain. The gods offer him the Tablets of Fate; the
+right to utter decrees is given unto him." This development is "of
+extreme importance for studying the growth of the idea of father and
+son, as creative and active principles of the world".[186] In Indian
+mythology Indra similarly takes the place of his bolt-throwing father
+Dyaus, the sky god, who so closely resembles Zeus. Andrew Lang has
+shown that this myth is of widespread character.[187] Were the
+Babylonian theorists guided by the folk-lore clue?
+
+Now Merodach, as the son of Ea whom he consulted and received spells
+from, was a brother of "Tammuz of the Abyss". It seems that in the
+great god of Babylon we should recognize one of the many forms of the
+primeval corn spirit and patriarch--the shepherd youth who was beloved
+by Ishtar. As the deity of the spring sun, Tammuz slew the winter
+demons of rain and tempest, so that he was an appropriate spouse for
+the goddess of harvest and war. Merodach may have been a development
+of Tammuz in his character as a demon slayer. When he was raised to
+the position of Bel, "the Lord" by the Babylonian conquerors, Merodach
+supplanted the older Bel--Enlil of Nippur. Now Enlil, who had absorbed
+all the attributes of rival deities, and become a world god, was the
+
+    Lord of the harvest lands ... lord of the grain fields,
+
+being "lord of the anunnaki", or "earth spirits". As agriculturists in
+early times went to war so as to secure prisoners who could be
+sacrificed to feed the corn spirit, Enlil was a god of war and was
+adored as such:
+
+    The haughty, the hostile land thou dost humiliate ...
+    With thee who ventureth to make war?
+
+He was also "the bull of goring horns ... Enlil the bull", the god of
+fertility as well as of battle.[188]
+
+Asari, one of Merodach's names, links him with Osiris, the Egyptian
+Tammuz, who was supplanted by his son Horus. As the dragon slayer, he
+recalls, among others, Perseus, the Grecian hero, of whom it was
+prophesied that he would slay his grandfather. Perseus, like Tammuz
+and Osiris, was enclosed in a chest which was cast into the sea, to be
+rescued, however, by a fisherman on the island of Seriphos. This hero
+afterwards slew Medusa, one of the three terrible sisters, the
+Gorgons--a demon group which links with Tiamat. In time, Perseus
+returned home, and while an athletic contest was in progress, he
+killed his grandfather with a quoit. There is no evidence, however, to
+show that the displacement of Enlil by Merodach had any legendary
+sanction of like character. The god of Babylon absorbed all other
+deities, apparently for political purposes, and in accordance with the
+tendency of the thought of the times, when raised to supreme rank in
+the national pantheon; and he was depicted fighting the winged dragon,
+flapping his own storm wings, and carrying the thunder weapon
+associated with Ramman.
+
+Merodach's spouse Zer-panitu^m was significantly called "the lady of
+the Abyss", a title which connects her with Damkina, the mother, and
+Belit-sheri, the sister of Tammuz. Damkina was also a sky goddess like
+Ishtar.
+
+Zer-panitu^m was no pale reflection of her Celestial husband, but a
+goddess of sharply defined character with independent powers.
+Apparently she was identical with Aruru, creatrix of the seed of
+mankind, who was associated with Merodach when the first man and the
+first woman were brought into being. Originally she was one of the
+mothers in the primitive spirit group, and so identical with Ishtar
+and the other prominent goddesses.
+
+As all goddesses became forms of Ishtar, so did all gods become forms
+of Merodach. Sin was "Merodach as illuminator of night", Nergal was
+"Merodach of war", Addu (Ramman) was "Merodach of rain", and so on. A
+colophon which contains a text in which these identifications are
+detailed, appears to be "a copy", says Professor Pinches, "of an old
+inscription", which, he thinks, "may go back as far as 2000 B.C. This
+is the period at which the name _Yau^m-ilu_, 'Jah is god', is found,
+together with references to _ilu_ as the name for the one great god,
+and is also, roughly, the date of Abraham, who, it may be noted, was a
+Babylonian of Ur of the Chaldees."[189]
+
+In one of the hymns Merodach is addressed as follows:--
+
+    Who shall escape from before thy power?
+    Thy will is an eternal mystery!
+    Thou makest it plain in heaven
+    And in the earth,
+    Command the sea
+    And the sea obeyeth thee.
+    Command the tempest
+    And the tempest becometh a calm.
+    Command the winding course
+    Of the Euphrates,
+    And the will of Merodach
+    Shall arrest the floods.
+    Lord, thou art holy!
+    Who is like unto thee?
+    Merodach thou art honoured
+    Among the gods that bear a name.
+
+The monotheistic tendency, which was a marked feature of Merodach
+worship, had previously become pronounced in the worship of Bel Enlil
+of Nippur. Although it did not affect the religion of the masses, it
+serves to show that among the ancient scholars and thinkers of
+Babylonia religious thought had, at an early period, risen far above
+the crude polytheism of those who bargained with their deities and
+propitiated them with offerings and extravagant flattery, or exercised
+over them a magical influence by the performance of seasonal
+ceremonies, like the backsliders in Jerusalem, censured so severely by
+Jeremiah, who baked cakes to reward the Queen of Heaven for an
+abundant harvest, and wept with her for the slain Tammuz when he
+departed to Hades.
+
+Perhaps it was due to the monotheistic tendency, if not to the fusion
+of father-worshipping and mother-worshipping peoples, that bi-sexual
+deities were conceived of. Nannar, the moon god, was sometimes
+addressed as father and mother in one, and Ishtar as a god as well as
+a goddess. In Egypt Isis is referred to in a temple chant as "the
+woman who was made a male by her father Osiris", and the Nile god Hapi
+was depicted as a man with female breasts.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+DEIFIED HEROES: ETANA AND GILGAMESH
+
+
+  God and Heroes and the "Seven Sleepers"--Quests of Etana, Gilgamesh,
+  Hercules, &c.--The Plant of Birth--Eagle carries Etana to
+  Heaven--Indian Parallel--Flights of Nimrod, Alexander the Great, and
+  a Gaelic Hero--Eagle as a God--Indian Eagle identified with Gods of
+  Creation, Fire, Fertility, and Death--Eagle carries Roman Emperor's
+  Soul to Heaven--Fire and Agricultural Ceremonies--Nimrod of the
+  _Koran_ and John Barleycorn--Gilgamesh and the Eagle--Sargon-Tammuz
+  Garden Myth--Ea-bani compared to Pan, Bast, and
+  Nebuchadnezzar--Exploits of Gilgamesh and Ea-bani--Ishtar's
+  Vengeance--Gilgamesh journeys to Otherworld--Song of Sea Maiden and
+  "Lay of the Harper"--Babylonian Noah and the Plant of Life--Teutonic
+  Parallels--Alexander the Great as Gilgamesh--Water of Life in the
+  _Koran_--The Indian Gilgamesh and Hercules--The Mountain Tunnel in
+  various Mythologies--Widespread Cultural Influences.
+
+
+One of the oldest forms of folk stories relates to the wanderings of
+a hero in distant regions. He may set forth in search of a fair lady
+who has been taken captive, or to obtain a magic herb or stone to
+relieve a sufferer, to cure diseases, and to prolong life. Invariably
+he is a slayer of dragons and other monsters. A friendly spirit, or a
+group of spirits, may assist the hero, who acts according to the
+advice given him by a "wise woman", a magician, or a god. The spirits
+are usually wild beasts or birds--the "fates" of immemorial folk
+belief--and they may either carry the hero on their backs, instruct
+him from time to time, or come to his aid when called upon.
+
+When a great national hero appealed by reason of his achievements to
+the imagination of a people, all the floating legends of antiquity
+were attached to his memory, and he became identified with gods and
+giants and knight-errants "old in story". In Scotland, for instance,
+the boulder-throwing giant of Eildon hills bears the name of Wallace,
+the Edinburgh giant of Arthur's Seat is called after an ancient Celtic
+king,[190] and Thomas the Rhymer takes the place, in an Inverness
+fairy mound called Tom-na-hurich, of Finn (Fingal) as chief of the
+"Seven Sleepers". Similarly Napoleon sleeps in France and Skobeleff in
+Russia, as do also other heroes elsewhere. In Germany the myths of
+Thunor (Thor) were mingled with hazy traditions of Theodoric the Goth
+(Dietrich), while in Greece, Egypt, and Arabia, Alexander the Great
+absorbed a mass of legendary matter of great antiquity, and displaced
+in the memories of the people the heroes of other Ages, as those
+heroes had previously displaced the humanized spirits of fertility and
+growth who alternately battled fiercely against the demons of spring,
+made love, gorged and drank deep and went to sleep--the sleep of
+winter. Certain folk tales, and the folk beliefs on which they were
+based, seem to have been of hoary antiquity before the close of the
+Late Stone Age.
+
+There are two great heroes of Babylonian fame who link with Perseus
+and Hercules, Sigurd and Siegfried, Dietrich and Finn-mac-Coul. These
+are Etana and Gilgamesh, two legendary kings who resemble Tammuz the
+Patriarch referred to by Berosus, a form of Tammuz the Sleeper of the
+Sumerian psalms. One journeys to the Nether World to obtain the Plant
+of Birth and the other to obtain the Plant of Life. The floating
+legends with which they were associated were utilized and developed by
+the priests, when engaged in the process of systematizing and
+symbolizing religious beliefs, with purpose to unfold the secrets of
+creation and the Otherworld. Etana secures the assistance or a giant
+eagle who is an enemy of serpents like the Indian Garuda, half giant,
+half eagle. As Vishnu, the Indian god, rides on the back of Garuda, so
+does Etana ride on the back of the Babylonian Eagle. In one
+fragmentary legend which was preserved in the tablet-library of
+Ashur-banipal, the Assyrian monarch, Etana obtained the assistance of
+the Eagle to go in quest of the Plant of Birth. His wife was about to
+become a mother, and was accordingly in need of magical aid. A similar
+belief caused birth girdles of straw or serpent skins, and eagle
+stones found in eagles' nests, to be used in ancient Britain and
+elsewhere throughout Europe apparently from the earliest times.[191]
+
+On this or another occasion Etana desired to ascend to highest heaven.
+He asked the Eagle to assist him, and the bird assented, saying: "Be
+glad, my friend. Let me bear thee to the highest heaven. Lay thy
+breast on mine and thine arms on my wings, and let my body be as thy
+body." Etana did as the great bird requested him, and together they
+ascended towards the firmament. After a flight which extended over two
+hours, the Eagle asked Etana to gaze downwards. He did so, and beheld
+the ocean surrounding the earth, and the earth seemed like a
+mountainous island. The Eagle resumed its flight, and when another two
+hours had elapsed, it again asked Etana to look downwards. Then the
+hero saw that the sea resembled a girdle which clasped the land. Two
+hours later Etana found that he had been raised to a height from which
+the sea appeared to be no larger than a pond. By this time he had
+reached the heaven of Anu, Bel, and Ea, and found there rest and
+shelter.
+
+Here the text becomes fragmentary. Further on it is gathered from the
+narrative that Etana is being carried still higher by the Eagle
+towards the heaven of Ishtar, "Queen of Heaven", the supreme mother
+goddess. Three times, at intervals of two hours, the Eagle asks Etana
+to look downwards towards the shrinking earth. Then some disaster
+happens, for further onwards the broken tablet narrates that the Eagle
+is falling. Down and down eagle and man fall together until they
+strike the earth, and the Eagle's body is shattered.
+
+The Indian Garuda eagle[192] never met with such a fate, but on one
+occasion Vishnu overpowered it with his right arm, which was heavier
+than the whole universe, and caused many feathers to fall _off_. In
+the story of Rama's wanderings, however, as told in the _Ramayana_ and
+the _Mahabharata_, there are interesting references in this connection
+to Garuda's two "sons". One was mortally wounded by Ravana, the demon
+king of Ceylon. The other bird related to Rama, who found it disabled:
+"Once upon a time we two (brothers), with the desire of outstripping
+each other, flew towards the sun. My wings were burnt, but those of my
+brother were not.... I fell down on the top of this great mountain,
+where I still am."[193]
+
+Another version of the Etana story survives among the Arabian Moslems.
+In the "Al Fatihat" chapter of the _Koran_ it is related that a
+Babylonian king held a dispute with Abraham "concerning his Lord".
+Commentators identify the monarch with Nimrod, who afterwards caused
+the Hebrew patriarch to be cast into a fire from which he had
+miraculous deliverance. Nimrod then built a tower so as to ascend to
+heaven "to see Abraham's god", and make war against Him, but the tower
+was overthrown. He, however, persisted in his design. The narrative
+states that he was "carried to heaven in a chest borne by four
+monstrous birds; but after wandering for some time through the air, he
+fell down on a mountain with such a force that he made it shake". A
+reference in the _Koran_ to "contrivances ... which make mountains
+tremble" is believed to allude to Nimrod's vain attempt.[194]
+
+Alexander the Great was also reputed to have ascended on the back of
+an eagle. Among the myths attached to his memory in the Ethiopic
+"history" is one which explains how "he knew and comprehended the
+length and breadth of the earth", and how he obtained knowledge
+regarding the seas and mountains he would have to cross. "He made
+himself small and flew through the air on an eagle, and he arrived in
+the heights of the heavens and he explored them." Another Alexandrian
+version of the Etana myth resembles the Arabic legend of Nimrod. "In
+the Country of Darkness" Alexander fed and tamed great birds which
+were larger than eagles. Then he ordered four of his soldiers to mount
+them. The men were carried to the "Country of the Living", and when
+they returned they told Alexander "all that had happened and all that
+they had seen".[195]
+
+In a Gaelic story a hero is carried off by a Cromhineach, "a vast bird
+like an eagle". He tells that it "sprang to the clouds with me, and I
+was a while that I did not know which was heaven or earth for me". The
+hero died, but, curiously enough, remained conscious of what was
+happening. Apparently exhausted, the eagle flew to an island in the
+midst of the ocean. It laid the hero on the sunny side. The hero
+proceeds: "Sleep came upon herself (the eagle) and she slept. The sun
+was enlivening me pretty well though I was dead." Afterwards the eagle
+bathed in a healing well, and as it splashed in the water, drops fell
+on the hero and he came to life. "I grew stronger and more active", he
+adds, "than I had ever been before."[196]
+
+The eagle figures in various mythologies, and appears to have been at
+one time worshipped as the god or goddess of fertility, and storm and
+lightning, as the bringer of children, and the deity who carried souls
+to Hades. It was also the symbol of royalty, because the earthly ruler
+represented the controlling deity. Nin-Girsu, the god of Lagash, who
+was identified with Tammuz, was depicted as a lion-headed eagle. Zeus,
+the Greek sky and air god, was attended by an eagle, and may, at one
+time, have been simply an eagle. In Egypt the place of the eagle is
+taken by Nekhebit, the vulture goddess whom the Greeks identified with
+"Eileithyia, the goddess of birth; she was usually represented as a
+vulture hovering over the king".[197]
+
+The double-headed eagle of the Hittites, which figures in the royal
+arms of Germany and Russia, appears to have symbolized the deity of
+whom the king was an incarnation or son. In Indian mythology Garuda,
+the eagle giant, which destroyed serpents like the Babylonian Etana
+eagle, issued from its egg like a flame of fire; its eyes flashed the
+lightning and its voice was the thunder. This bird is identified in a
+hymn with Agni, god of fire, who has the attributes of Tammuz and
+Mithra, with Brahma, the creator, with Indra, god of thunder and
+fertility, and with Yama, god of the dead, who carries off souls to
+Hades. It is also called "the steed-necked incarnation of Vishnu", the
+"Preserver" of the Hindu trinity who rode on its back. The hymn
+referred to lauds Garuda as "the bird of life, the presiding spirit of
+the animate and inanimate universe ... destroyer of all, creator of
+all". It burns all "as the sun in his anger burneth all
+creatures".[198]
+
+Birds were not only fates, from whose movements in flight omens were
+drawn, but also spirits of fertility. When the childless Indian sage
+Mandapala of the _Mahabharata_ was refused admittance to heaven until
+a son was born to him, he "pondered deeply" and "came to know that of
+all creatures birds alone were blest with fecundity"; so he became a
+bird.
+
+It is of interest, therefore, to find the Etana eagle figuring as a
+symbol of royalty at Rome. The deified Roman Emperor's waxen image was
+burned on a pyre after his death, and an eagle was let loose from the
+great pile to carry his soul to heaven.[199] This custom was probably
+a relic of seasonal fire worship, which may have been introduced into
+Northern and Western Syria and Asia Minor by the mysterious Mitanni
+rulers, if it was not an archaic Babylonian custom[200] associated
+with fire-and-water magical ceremonies, represented in the British
+Isles by May-Day and Midsummer fire-and-water festivals. Sandan, the
+mythical founder of Tarsus, was honoured each year at that city by
+burning a great bonfire, and he was identified with Hercules. Probably
+he was a form of Moloch and Melkarth.[201] Doves were burned to
+Adonis. The burning of straw figures, representing gods of fertility,
+on May-Day bonfires may have been a fertility rite, and perhaps
+explains the use of straw birth-girdles.
+
+According to the commentators of the _Koran_, Nimrod, the Babylonian
+king, who cast victims in his annual bonfires at Cuthah, died on the
+eighth day of the Tammuz month, which, according to the Syrian
+calendar, fell on 13th July.[202] It is related that gnats entered
+Nimrod's brain, causing the membrane to grow larger. He suffered great
+pain, and to relieve it had his head beaten with a mallet. Although he
+lived for several hundred years, like other agricultural patriarchs,
+including the Tammuz of Berosus, it is possible that he was ultimately
+sacrificed and burned. The beating of Nimrod recalls the beating of
+the corn spirit of the agricultural legend utilized by Burns in his
+ballad of "John Barleycorn", which gives a jocular account of
+widespread ancient customs that are not yet quite extinct even in
+Scotland:[203]
+
+    They laid him down upon his back
+      And cudgelled him full sore;
+    They hung him up before a storm
+      And turned him o'er and o'er.
+
+    They filled up a darksome pit
+      With water to the brim,
+    They heaved in John Barleycorn--
+      There let him sink or swim.
+
+    They wasted o'er a scorching flame
+      The marrow of his bones,
+    But the miller used him worst of all,
+      For he crushed him between two stones.
+
+Hercules, after performing many mythical exploits, had himself burned
+alive on the pyre which he built upon Mount Oeta, and was borne to
+Olympus amidst peals of thunder.
+
+Gilgamesh, the Babylonian Hercules, who links with Etana, Nimrod, and
+Sandan, is associated with the eagle, which in India, as has been
+shown, was identified with the gods of fertility, fire, and death.
+According to a legend related by Aelian,[204] "the guards of the
+citadel of Babylon threw down to the ground a child who had been
+conceived and brought forth in secret, and who afterwards became known
+as Gilgamos". This appears to be another version of the Sargon-Tammuz
+myth, and may also refer to the sacrifice of children to Melkarth and
+Moloch, who were burned or slain "in the valleys under the clefts of
+the rocks"[205] to ensure fertility and feed the corn god. Gilgamesh,
+however, did not perish. "A keen-eyed eagle saw the child falling, and
+before it touched the ground the bird flew under it and received it on
+its back, and carried it away to a garden and laid it down gently."
+Here we have, it would appear, Tammuz among the flowers, and Sargon,
+the gardener, in the "Garden of Adonis". Mimic Adonis gardens were
+cultivated by women. Corn, &c., was forced in pots and baskets, and
+thrown, with an image of the god, into streams. "Ignorant people",
+writes Professor Frazer, "suppose that by mimicking the effect which
+they desire to produce they actually help to produce it: thus by
+sprinkling water they make rain, by lighting a fire they make
+sunshine, and so on."[206] Evidently Gilgamesh was a heroic form of
+the god Tammuz, the slayer of the demons of winter and storm, who
+passed one part of the year in the world and another in Hades (Chapter
+VI).
+
+Like Hercules, Gilgamesh figured chiefly in legendary narrative as a
+mighty hero. He was apparently of great antiquity, so that it is
+impossible to identify him with any forerunner of Sargon of Akkad, or
+Alexander the Great. His exploits were depicted on cylinder seals of
+the Sumerian period, and he is shown wrestling with a lion as Hercules
+wrestled with the monstrous lion in the valley of Nemea. The story of
+his adventures was narrated on twelve clay tablets, which were
+preserved in the library of Ashur-banipal, the Assyrian emperor. In
+the first tablet, which is badly mutilated, Gilgamesh is referred to
+as the man who beheld the world, and had great wisdom because he
+peered into the mysteries. He travelled to distant places, and was
+informed regarding the flood and the primitive race which the gods
+destroyed; he also obtained the plant of life, which his enemy, the
+earth-lion, in the form of a serpent or well demon, afterwards carried
+away.
+
+Gilgamesh was associated with Erech, where he reigned as "the lord".
+There Ishtar had a great temple, but her worldly wealth had decreased.
+The fortifications of the city were crumbling, and for three years the
+Elamites besieged it. The gods had turned to flies and the winged
+bulls had become like mice. Men wailed like wild beasts and maidens
+moaned like doves. Ultimately the people prayed to the goddess Aruru
+to create a liberator. Bel, Shamash, and Ishtar also came to their
+aid.
+
+Aruru heard the cries of her worshippers. She dipped her hands in
+water and then formed a warrior with clay. He was named Ea-bani, which
+signifies "Ea is my creator". It is possible, therefore, that an
+ancient myth of Eridu forms the basis of the narrative.
+
+Ea-bani is depicted on the cylinder seals as a hairy man-monster
+resembling the god Pan. He ate grass with the gazelles and drank water
+with wild beasts, and he is compared to the corn god, which suggests
+that he was an early form of Tammuz, and of character somewhat
+resembling the Egyptian Bast, the half-bestial god of fertility. A
+hunter was sent out from Erech to search for the man-monster, and
+found him beside a stream in a savage place drinking with his
+associates, the wild animals. The description of Ea-bani recalls that
+of Nebuchadnezzar when he was stricken with madness. "He was driven
+from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew
+of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles' feathers, and his
+nails like birds' claws."[207]
+
+The hunter had no desire to combat with Ea-bani, so he had him lured
+from the wilds by a beautiful woman. Love broke the spell which kept
+Ea-bani in his savage state, and the wild beasts fled from him. Then
+the temptress pleaded with him to go with her to Erech, where Anu and
+Ishtar had their temples, and the mighty Gilgamesh lived in his
+palace. Ea-bani, deserted by his bestial companions, felt lonely and
+desired human friendship. So he consented to accompany his bride.
+Having heard of Gilgamesh from the hunter, he proposed to test his
+strength in single combat, but Shamash, god of the sun, warned Ea-bani
+that he was the protector of Gilgamesh, who had been endowed with
+great knowledge by Bel and Anu and Ea. Gilgamesh was also counselled
+in a vision of night to receive Ea-bani as an ally.
+
+Ea-bani was not attracted by city life and desired to return to the
+wilds, but Shamash prevailed upon him to remain as the friend of
+Gilgamesh, promising that he would be greatly honoured and exalted to
+high rank.
+
+The two heroes became close friends, and when the narrative becomes
+clear again, they are found to be setting forth to wage war against
+Chumbaba,[208] the King of Elam. Their journey was long and perilous.
+In time they entered a thick forest, and wondered greatly at the
+numerous and lofty cedars. They saw the great road which the king had
+caused to be made, the high mountain, and the temple of the god.
+Beautiful were the trees about the mountain, and there were many shady
+retreats that were fragrant and alluring.
+
+At this point the narrative breaks off, for the tablet is mutilated.
+When it is resumed a reference is made to "the head of Chumbaba", who
+has apparently been slain by the heroes. Erech was thus freed from the
+oppression of its fierce enemy.
+
+Gilgamesh and Ea-bani appear to have become prosperous and happy. But
+in the hour of triumph a shadow falls. Gilgamesh is robed in royal
+splendour and wears his dazzling crown. He is admired by all men, but
+suddenly it becomes known that the goddess Ishtar has been stricken
+with love for him. She "loved him with that love which was his doom".
+Those who are loved by celestials or demons become, in folk tales,
+melancholy wanderers and "night wailers". The "wretched wight" in
+Keats' "La Belle Dame Sans Merci" is a typical example.
+
+    O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms,
+      Alone and palely loitering?
+    The sedge is withered from the lake
+      And no birds sing.
+
+           *       *       *       *       *
+
+    I met a lady in the meads,
+      Full beautiful--a faery's child;
+    Her hair was long, her foot was light,
+      And her eyes were wild.
+
+           *       *       *       *       *
+
+    She found me roots of relish sweet,
+      And honey wild and manna dew;
+    And sure in language strange she said,
+      "I love thee true".
+
+Having kissed her lover to sleep, the fairy woman vanished. The
+"knight" then saw in a dream the ghosts of knights and warriors, her
+previous victims, who warned him of his fate.
+
+    I saw their starved lips in the gloam,
+      With horrid warning gaped wide;
+    And I awoke and found me here
+      On the cold hill's side.
+
+The goddess Ishtar appeared as "La Belle Dame Sans Merci" before
+Gilgamesh and addressed him tenderly, saying: "Come, O Gilgamesh, and
+be my consort. Gift thy strength unto me. Be thou my husband and I
+will be thy bride. Thou shalt have a chariot of gold and lapis lazuli
+with golden wheels and gem-adorned. Thy steeds shall be fair and white
+and powerful. Into my dwelling thou shalt come amidst the fragrant
+cedars. Every king and every prince will bow down before thee, O
+Gilgamesh, to kiss thy feet, and all people will become subject unto
+thee."
+
+Gilgamesh feared the fate which would attend him as the lover of
+Ishtar, and made answer saying: "To what husband hast thou ever
+remained faithful? Each year Tammuz, the lover of thy youth, is caused
+by thee to weep. Thou didst love the Allala bird and then broke his
+wings, and he moans in the woods crying, 'O my wings!' Thou didst love
+the lion and then snared him. Thou didst love the horse, and then laid
+harness on him and made him gallop half a hundred miles so that he
+suffered great distress, and thou didst oppress his mother Silili.
+Thou didst love a shepherd who sacrificed kids unto thee, and then
+thou didst smite him so that he became a jackal (or leopard); his own
+herd boy drove him away and his dogs rent him in pieces. Thou didst
+love Ishullanu, the gardener of Anu, who made offerings unto thee, and
+then smote him so that he was unable to move. Alas! if thou wouldst
+love me, my fate would be like unto the fates of those on whom thou
+hast laid affliction."
+
+Ishtar's heart was filled with wrath when she heard the words which
+Gilgamesh had spoken, and she prevailed upon her father Anu to create
+a fierce bull which she sent against the lord of Erech.
+
+This monster, however, was slain by Gilgamesh[209] and Ea-bani, but
+their triumph was shortlived. Ishtar cursed Gilgamesh. Ea-bani then
+defied her and threatened to deal with her as he had dealt with the
+bull, with the result that he was cursed by the goddess also.
+
+Gilgamesh dedicated the horns of the bull to Shamash and returned with
+his friend to Erech, where they were received with great rejoicings. A
+festival was held, and afterwards the heroes lay down to sleep. Then
+Ea-bani dreamt a dream of ill omen. He met his death soon afterwards,
+apparently in a battle, and Gilgamesh lamented over him. From the
+surviving fragments of the narrative it would appear that Gilgamesh
+resolved to undertake a journey, for he had been stricken by disease.
+He wept and cried out, "Oh! let me not die like Ea-bani, for death is
+fearful. I will seek the aid of mine ancestor, Pir-napishtim"--the
+Babylonian Noah, who was believed to be dwelling on an island which
+corresponds to the Greek "Island of the Blessed". The Babylonian
+island lay in the ocean of the Nether World.
+
+It seems that Gilgamesh not only hoped to obtain the Water of Life and
+the Plant of Life to cure his own disease, but also to restore to life
+his dead friend, Ea-bani, whom he loved.
+
+Gilgamesh set out on his journey and in time reached a mountain chasm.
+Gazing on the rugged heights, he beheld fierce lions and his heart
+trembled. Then he cried upon the moon god, who took pity upon him, and
+under divine protection the hero pressed onward. He crossed the rocky
+range and then found himself confronted by the tremendous mountain of
+Mashi--"Sunset hill", which divided the land of the living from the
+western land of the dead. The mountain peak rose to heaven, and its
+foundations were in Aralu, the Underworld.[210] A dark tunnel pierced
+it and could be entered through a door, but the door was shut and on
+either side were two monsters of horrible aspect--the gigantic
+"scorpion man" and his wife, whose heads reached to the clouds. When
+Gilgamesh beheld them he swooned with terror. But they did him no
+harm, perceiving that he was a son of a god and had a body like a god.
+
+When Gilgamesh revived, he realized that the monsters regarded him
+with eyes of sympathy. Addressing the scorpion giant, he told that he
+desired to visit his ancestor, Pir-napishtim, who sat in the council
+of the gods and had divine attributes. The giant warned him of the
+dangers which he would encounter, saying that the mountain passage was
+twelve miles long and beamless and black. Gilgamesh, however, resolved
+to encounter any peril, for he was no longer afraid, and he was
+allowed to go forward. So he entered through the monster-guarded
+mountain door and plunged into thick unbroken darkness. For twice
+twelve hours he groped blindly onward, until he saw a ray of light.
+Quickening his steps, he then escaped from the dreadful tunnel and
+once more rejoiced in the rays of the sun. He found himself in an
+enchanted garden, and in the midst of it he saw a divine and beautiful
+tree towards which he hastened. On its gleaming branches hung clusters
+of precious stones and its leaves were of lapis lazuli. His eyes were
+dazzled, but he did not linger there. Passing many other wonderful
+trees, he came to a shoreland, and he knew that he was drawing nigh to
+the Sea of Death. The country which he entered was ruled over by the
+sea lady whose name was Sabitu. When she saw the pilgrim drawing nigh,
+she entered her palace and shut the door.
+
+Gilgamesh called out requesting that he should be allowed to enter,
+and mingled his entreaties with threats to break open the door. In the
+end Sabitu appeared and spoke, saying:
+
+    Gilgamesh, whither hurriest thou?
+    The life that thou seekest thou wilt not find.
+    When the gods created man
+    They fixed death for mankind.
+    Life they took in their own hand.
+    Thou, O Gilgamesh, let thy belly be filled!
+    Day and night be merry,
+    Daily celebrate a feast,
+    Day and night dance and make merry!
+    Clean be thy clothes,
+    Thy head be washed, bathe in water!
+    Look joyfully on the child that grasps thy hand,
+    Be happy with the wife in thine arms![211]
+
+This is the philosophy of the Egyptian "Lay of the Harper". The
+following quotations are from two separate versions:--
+
+    How rests this just prince!
+    The goodly destiny befalls,
+    The bodies pass away
+    Since the time of the god,
+    And generations come into their places.
+
+           *       *       *       *       *
+
+    (Make) it pleasant for thee to follow thy desire
+    While thou livest.
+    Put myrrh upon thy head,
+    And garments on thee of fine linen....
+    Celebrate the glad day,
+    Be not weary therein....
+    Thy sister (wife) who dwells in thy heart.
+    She sits at thy side.
+    Put song and music before thee,
+    Behind thee all evil things,
+    And remember thou (only) joy.[212]
+
+Jastrow contrasts the Babylonian poem with the following quotation
+from Ecclesiastes:--
+
+    Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with
+    a merry heart.... Let thy garments be always white; and
+    let thy head lack no ointment. Live joyfully with the wife whom
+    thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity, which he [God]
+    hath given thee under the sun, all the days of thy vanity: for
+        that
+    is thy portion in this life, and in thy labour which thou takest
+    under the sun.[213]
+
+"The pious Hebrew mind", Jastrow adds, "found the corrective to this
+view of life in the conception of a stern but just God, acting
+according to self-imposed standards of right and wrong, whose rule
+extends beyond the grave." The final words of the Preacher are, "Fear
+God and keep his commandments".[214]
+
+Gilgamesh did not accept the counsel of the fatalistic sea lady. He
+asked her how he could reach Pir-napishtim, his ancestor, saying he
+was prepared to cross the Sea of Death: if he could not cross it he
+would die of grief.
+
+Sabitu answered him, saying: "O Gilgamesh, no mortal is ferried over
+this great sea. Who can pass over it save Shamash alone? The way is
+full of peril. O Gilgamesh, how canst thou battle against the billows
+of death?"
+
+At length, however, the sea lady revealed to the pilgrim that he might
+obtain the aid of the sailor, Arad Ea, who served his ancestor
+Pir-napishtim.
+
+Gilgamesh soon found where Arad Ea dwelt, and after a time prevailed
+upon him to act as ferryman. Arad Ea required a helm for his boat, and
+Gilgamesh hastened to fashion one from a tree. When it was fixed on,
+the boat was launched and the voyage began. Terrible experiences were
+passed through as they crossed the Sea of Death, but at length they
+drew nigh to the "Island of the Blessed" on which dwelt Pir-napishtim
+and his wife. Wearied by his exertions and wasted by disease,
+Gilgamesh sat resting in the boat. He did not go ashore.
+
+Pir-napishtim had perceived the vessel crossing the Sea of Death and
+marvelled greatly.
+
+The story is unfortunately interrupted again, but it appears that
+Gilgamesh poured into the ears of his ancestor the tale of his
+sufferings, adding that he feared death and desired to escape his
+fate.
+
+Pir-napishtim made answer, reminding the pilgrim that all men must
+die. Men built houses, sealed contracts, disputed one with another,
+and sowed seeds in the earth, but as long as they did so and the
+rivers rose in flood, so long would their fate endure. Nor could any
+man tell when his hour would come. The god of destiny measured out the
+span of life: he fixed the day of death, but never revealed his
+secrets.
+
+Gilgamesh then asked Pir-napishtim how it chanced that he was still
+alive. "Thou hast suffered no change," he said, "thou art even as I
+am. Harden not thy heart against me, but reveal how thou hast obtained
+divine life in the company of the gods."
+
+Pir-napishtim thereupon related to his descendant the story of the
+deluge, which is dealt with fully in the next chapter. The gods had
+resolved to destroy the world, and Ea in a dream revealed unto
+Pir-napishtim how he could escape. He built a ship which was tossed
+about on the waters, and when the world had been destroyed, Bel
+discovered him and transported him to that island in the midst of the
+Sea of Death.
+
+Gilgamesh sat in the boat listening to the words of his ancestor. When
+the narrative was ended, Pir-napishtim spoke sympathetically and said:
+"Who among the gods will restore thee to health, O Gilgamesh? Thou
+hast knowledge of my life, and thou shalt be given the life thou dost
+strive after. Take heed, therefore, to what I say unto thee. For six
+days and seven nights thou shalt not lie down, but remain sitting like
+one in the midst of grief."[215]
+
+Gilgamesh sat in the ship, and sleep enveloped him like to a black
+storm cloud.
+
+Pir-napishtim spoke to his wife and said: "Behold the hero who
+desireth to have life. Sleep envelops him like to a black storm
+cloud."
+
+To that lone man his wife made answer: "Lay thine hand upon him so
+that he may have perfect health and be enabled to return to his own
+land. Give him power to pass through the mighty door by which he
+entered."
+
+Then Pir-napishtim addressed his wife, saying: "His sufferings make me
+sad. Prepare thou for him the magic food, and place it near his head."
+
+On the day when Gilgamesh lay down, the food was prepared by seven
+magic processes, and the woman administered it while yet he slept.
+Then Pir-napishtim touched him, and he awoke full of life.
+
+Gilgamesh spake unto Pir-napishtim and said: "I was suddenly overcome
+by sleep.... But thou didst awaken me by touching me, even thou....
+Lo! I am bewitched. What hast thou done unto thy servant?"
+
+Then Pir-napishtim told Gilgamesh that he had been given to eat of the
+magic food. Afterwards he caused Arad Ea to carry Gilgamesh to a
+fountain of healing, where his disease-stricken body was cleansed. The
+blemished skin fell from him, and he was made whole.
+
+Thereafter Gilgamesh prepared to return to his own land. Ere he bade
+farewell, however, Pir-napishtim revealed unto him the secret of a
+magic plant which had power to renew life and give youth and strength
+unto those who were old.
+
+Arad Ea conducted the hero to the island where the plant grew, and
+when Gilgamesh found it he rejoiced, and said that he would carry it
+to Erech, his own city, where he would partake of it and restore his
+youth.
+
+So Gilgamesh and Arad Ea went on their way together, nor paused until
+they came to a well of pure water. The hero stooped down to draw
+water.[216] But while he was thus engaged that demon, the Earth Lion,
+crept forth as a serpent, and, seizing the magic plant of life,
+carried it away. Stricken with terror, Gilgamesh uttered a curse. Then
+he sat down and wept bitterly, and the tears streamed over his face.
+To Arad Ea he spake, saying: "Why has my health been restored to me?
+Why should I rejoice because that I live? The benefit which I should
+have derived for myself has now fallen to the Earth Lion."
+
+The two travellers then resumed their journey, performing religious
+acts from time to time; chanting dirges and holding feasts for the
+dead, and at length Gilgamesh returned to Erech. He found that the
+city walls were crumbling, and he spake regarding the ceremonies which
+had been performed while yet he was in a far-distant country.
+
+During the days which followed Gilgamesh sorrowed for his lost friend
+Ea-bani, whose spirit was in the Underworld, the captive of the
+spirits of death. "Thou canst not draw thy bow now," he cried, "nor
+raise the battle shout. Thou canst not kiss the woman thou hast loved;
+thou canst not kiss the child thou hast loved, nor canst thou smite
+those whom thou hast hated."
+
+In vain Gilgamesh appealed to his mother goddess to restore Ea-bani to
+him. Then he turned to the gods, and Ea heard him. Thereafter Nergal,
+god of death, caused the grave to yawn, and the spirit of Ea-bani
+arose like a wind gust.
+
+Gilgamesh, still dreading death, spoke to the ghost of his friend,
+saying: "Tell me, my friend, O tell me regarding the land in which
+thou dost dwell."
+
+Ea-bani made answer sorrowfully: "Alas! I cannot tell thee, my friend.
+If I were to tell thee all, thou wouldst sit down and weep."
+
+Said Gilgamesh: "Let me sit down and weep, but tell me regarding the
+land of spirits."
+
+The text is mutilated here, but it can be gathered that Ea-bani
+described the land where ill-doers were punished, where the young were
+like the old, where the worm devoured, and dust covered all. But the
+state of the warrior who had been given burial was better than that of
+the man who had not been buried, and had no one to lament or care for
+him. "He who hath been slain in battle," the ghost said, "reposeth on
+a couch drinking pure water--one slain in battle as thou hast seen and
+I have seen. His head is supported by his parents: beside him sits his
+wife. His spirit doth not haunt the earth. But the spirit of that man
+whose corpse has been left unburied and uncared for, rests not, but
+prowls through the streets eating scraps of food, the leavings of the
+feast, and drinking the dregs of vessels."
+
+So ends the story of Gilgamesh in the form which survives to us.
+
+The journey of Gilgamesh to the Island of the Blessed recalls the
+journeys made by Odin, Hermod, Svipdag, Hotherus and others to the
+Germanic Hela. When Hermod went to search for Balder, as the Prose
+Edda relates, he rode through thick darkness for nine days and nine
+nights ere he crossed the mountains. As Gilgamesh met Sabitu, Hermod
+met Modgudur, "the maiden who kept the bridge" over the river Gjoll.
+Svipdag, according to a Norse poem, was guided like the Babylonian
+hero by the moon god, Gevar, who instructed him what way he should
+take to find the irresistible sword. Saxo's Hother, who is instructed
+by "King Gewar", crosses dismal mountains "beset with extraordinary
+cold".[217] Thorkill crosses a stormy ocean to the region of perpetual
+darkness, where the ghosts of the dead are confined in loathsome and
+dusty caves. At the main entrance "the door posts were begrimed with
+the soot of ages".[218] In the _Elder Edda_ Svipdag is charmed against
+the perils he will be confronted by as he fares "o'er seas mightier
+than men do know", or is overtaken by night "wandering on the misty
+way ".[219] When Odin "downward rode into Misty Hel" he sang spells at
+a "witch's grave", and the ghost rose up to answer his questions
+regarding Balder. "Tell me tidings of Hel", he addressed her, as
+Gilgamesh addressed the ghost of Ea-bani.
+
+In the mythical histories of Alexander the Great, the hero searches
+for the Water of Life, and is confronted by a great mountain called
+Musas (Mashti). A demon stops him and says; "O king, thou art not able
+to march through this mountain, for in it dwelleth a mighty god who is
+like unto a monster serpent, and he preventeth everyone who would go
+unto him." In another part of the narrative Alexander and his army
+arrive at a place of darkness "where the blackness is not like the
+darkness of night, but is like unto the mists and clouds which descend
+at the break of day". A servant uses a shining jewel stone, which Adam
+had brought from Paradise, to guide him, and found the well. He drank
+of the "waters of life" and bathed in them, with the result that he
+was strengthened and felt neither hunger nor thirst. When he came out
+of the well "all the flesh of his body became bluish-green and his
+garments likewise bluish-green". Apparently he assumed the colour of
+supernatural beings. Rama of India was blue, and certain of his monkey
+allies were green, like the fairies of England and Scotland. This
+fortunate man kept his secret. His name was Matun, but he was
+afterwards nicknamed "'El-Khidr', that is to say, 'Green'". What
+explanation he offered for his sudden change of appearance has not
+been recorded.[220] It is related that when Matun reached the Well of
+Life a dried fish which he dipped in the water was restored to life
+and swam away. In the _Koran_ a similar story is told regarding Moses
+and Joshua, who travelled "for a long space of time" to a place where
+two seas met. "They forgot their fish which they had taken with them,
+and the fish took its way freely to the sea." The Arabian commentators
+explain that Moses once agreed to the suggestion that he was the
+wisest of men. In a dream he was directed to visit Al Khedr, who was
+"more knowing than he", and to take a fish with him in a basket. On
+the seashore Moses fell asleep, and the fish, which had been roasted,
+leapt out of the basket into the sea. Another version sets forth that
+Joshua, "making the ablution at the fountain of life", some of the
+water happened to be sprinkled on the fish, which immediately leapt
+up.[221]
+
+The Well of Life is found in Fingalian legends. When Diarmid was
+mortally wounded by the boar, he called upon Finn to carry water to
+him from the well:
+
+    Give me a draught from thy palms, O Finn,
+    Son of my king for my succour,
+    For my life and my dwelling.
+
+            _Campbell's West Highland Tales_, vol. iii, 80.
+
+The quest of the plant, flower, or fruit of life is referred to in
+many folk tales. In the _Mahabharata_, Bhima, the Indian Gilgamesh or
+Hercules, journeys to north-eastern Celestial regions to find the lake
+of the god Kuvera (Kubera), on which grow the "most beautiful and
+unearthly lotuses", which restore health and give strength to the
+weary. As Gilgamesh meets with Pir-napishtim, who relates the story of
+the Deluge which destroyed the "elder race", Bhima meets with Hanuman,
+who informs him regarding the Ages of the Universe and the races which
+were periodically destroyed by deluges. When Bhima reaches the lotus
+lake he fights with demons. To heal his wounds and recover strength he
+plunges into the lake. "As he drank of the waters, like unto nectar,
+his energy and strength were again fully restored."[222]
+
+Hercules similarly sets out to search for the golden apples which grow
+in
+
+      those Hesperian gardens famed of old,
+    Fortunate fields, and groves and flowery vales.
+
+As Bhima slew Yakshas which guarded the lotuses, Hercules slew Ladon,
+the guardian of the apples. Other heroes kill treasure-protecting
+dragons of various kinds.
+
+There is a remarkable resemblance between the Babylonian account of
+Gilgamesh's journey through the mountain tunnel to the garden and
+seashore, and the Indian story of the demigod Hanuman passing through
+the long cavern to the shoreland palace of the female ascetic, when he
+was engaged searching for Sita, the wife of Rama, who had been carried
+away by Ravana, the demon king of Ceylon. In the version of the latter
+narrative which is given in the _Mahabharata_, Hanuman says: "I bring
+thee good news, O Rama; for Janaka's daughter hath been seen by me.
+Having searched the southern region with all its hills, forests, and
+mines for some time, we became very weary. At length we beheld a great
+cavern. And having beheld it, we entered that cavern which extended
+over many _yojanas_. It was dark and deep, and overgrown with trees
+and infested by worms. And having gone a great way through it, we came
+upon sunshine and beheld a beautiful palace. It was the abode of the
+Daitya (sea demon) Maya. And there we beheld a female ascetic named
+Parbhavati engaged in ascetic austerities. And she gave us food and
+drink of various kinds. And having refreshed ourselves therewith and
+regained our strength, we proceeded along the way shown by her. At
+last we came out of the cavern and beheld the briny sea, and on its
+shores, the _Sahya_, the _Malaya_, and the great _Dardura_ mountains.
+And ascending the mountains of _Malaya_, we beheld before us the vast
+ocean (or, "the abode of Varuna"). And beholding it, we felt sorely
+grieved in mind.... We despaired of returning with our lives.... We
+then sat together, resolved to die there of starvation."
+
+Hanuman and his friends, having had, so far, experiences similar to
+those of Gilgamesh, next discovered the eagle giant which had burned
+its wings when endeavouring to soar to the sun. This great bird, which
+resembles the Etana eagle, expressed the opinion that Sita was in
+Lanka (Ceylon), whither she must have been carried by Ravana. But no
+one dared to cross the dangerous ocean. Hanuman at length, however,
+obtained the assistance of Vayu, the wind god, his divine father, and
+leapt over the sea, slaying monsters as he went. He discovered where
+the fair lady was concealed by the king of demons.[223]
+
+The dark tunnel is met with in many British stories of daring heroes
+who set out to explore it, but never return. In the Scottish versions
+the adventurers are invariably pipers who are accompanied by dogs. The
+sound of the pipes is heard for a time; then the music ceases
+suddenly, and shortly afterwards the dog returns without a hair upon
+its body. It has evidently been in conflict with demons.
+
+The tunnel may run from a castle to the seashore, from a cave on one
+side of a hill to a cave on the other, or from a seashore cave to a
+distant island.
+
+It is possible that these widespread tunnel stories had origin among
+the cave dwellers of the Palaeolithic Age, who believed that deep
+caverns were the doors of the underground retreats of dragons and
+giants and other supernatural enemies of mankind.
+
+In Babylonia, as elsewhere, the priests utilized the floating material
+from which all mythologies were framed, and impressed upon it the
+stamp of their doctrines. The symbolized stories were afterwards
+distributed far and wide, as were those attached to the memory of
+Alexander the Great at a later period. Thus in many countries may be
+found at the present day different versions of immemorial folk tales,
+which represent various stages of culture, and direct and indirect
+contact at different periods with civilizations that have stirred the
+ocean of human thought, and sent their ideas rippling in widening
+circles to far-distant shores.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+DELUGE LEGEND, THE ISLAND OF THE BLESSED, AND HADES
+
+
+  Babylonian Story of the Flood--The Two Immortals on the Island of
+  the Blessed--Deluge Legends in the Old and New Worlds--How
+  Babylonian Culture reached India--Theory of Cosmic
+  Periods--Gilgamesh resembles the Indian Yama and Persian
+  Yimeh--Links with Varuna and Mitra--The Great Winter in Persian and
+  Teutonic Mythologies--Babylonian Hades compared with the Egyptian,
+  Greek, Indian, Teutonic, and Celtic Otherworlds--Legend of Nergal
+  and the Queen of Death--Underworld originally the Grave--Why
+  Weapons, &c., were Buried with the Dead--Japanese and Roman
+  Beliefs--Palaeolithic Burial Customs--"Our Graves are our
+  Houses"--Importance of Babylonian Funerary Ceremonies--Doctrine of
+  Eternal Bliss in Egypt and India--Why Suppressed in Babylonia--Heavy
+  Burial Fees--Various Burial Customs.
+
+
+The story of the Deluge which was related to Gilgamesh by
+Pir-napishtim runs as follows:--
+
+"Hear me, O Gilgamesh, and I will make revelation regarding the hidden
+doings of the high gods. As thou knowest, the city of Shurippak is
+situated upon the bank of the Euphrates. The gods were within it:
+there they assembled together in council. Anu, the father, was there,
+and Bel the counsellor and warrior, Ninip the messenger, and Ennugi
+the governor. Ea, the wise lord, sat also with them. In their hearts
+the gods agreed together to send a great deluge.
+
+"Thereafter Ea made known the purpose of the divine rulers in the hut
+of reeds, saying:[224] 'O hut of reeds, hear; O wall, understand ... O
+man of Shurippak, son of Umbara Tutu, tear down thy house and build a
+ship; leave all thou dost possess and save thy life, and preserve in
+the ship the living seed of every kind. The ship that thou wilt build
+must be of goodly proportions in length and height. It must be floated
+on the great deep.'
+
+"I heard the command of Ea and understood, and I made answer, saying,
+'O wise lord, as thou hast said so will I do, for thy counsel is most
+excellent. But how shall I give reason for my doings to the young men
+and the elders?'
+
+"Ea opened his mouth and said unto me, his servant: 'What thou shalt
+say unto them is this.... _It hath been revealed unto me that Bel doth
+hate me, therefore I cannot remain any longer in his domain, this city
+of Shurippak, so I must depart unto the domain of Ea and dwell with
+him.... Unto you will Bel send abundance of rain, so that you may
+obtain birds and fishes in plenty and have a rich harvest. But Shamash
+hath appointed a time for Ramman to pour down destruction from the
+heavens._'"[225]
+
+Ea then gave instructions to Pir-napishtim how to build the ship in
+which he should find refuge. So far as can be gathered from the
+fragmentary text, it appears that this vessel was to have a deck house
+six stories high, with nine apartments in each story. According to
+another account, Ea drew a plan of the great ship upon the sand.
+
+Pir-napishtim set to work and made a flat-bottomed vessel, which was
+120 cubits wide and 120 cubits in height. He smeared it with bitumen
+inside and pitch outside; and on the seventh day it was ready. Then he
+carried out Ea's further instructions. Continuing his narrative to
+Gilgamesh, he said:
+
+"I gathered together all that I possessed, my silver and gold and
+seeds of every kind, and my goods also. These I placed in the ship.
+Then I caused to go aboard all my family and house servants, the
+animals of the field and the beasts of the field and the
+workers--every one of them I sent up.
+
+"The god Shamash appointed the time, saying: 'I will cause the Night
+Lord to send much rain and bring destruction. Then enter thou the ship
+and shut thy door.'
+
+"At the appointed time the Night Lord sent at even-time much rain. I
+saw the beginning of the deluge and I was afraid to look up. I entered
+the ship and shut the door. I appointed Buzur-Kurgala, the sailor, to
+be captain, and put under his command the great vessel and all that it
+contained.
+
+"At the dawn of day I saw rising athwart the heavens a dark cloud, and
+in the midst of it Ramman thundered. Nebo and Merodach went in front,
+speeding like emissaries over hills and plains. The cables of the ship
+were let loose.
+
+"Then Ninip, the tempest god, came nigh, and the storm broke in fury
+before him. All the earth spirits leapt up with flaming torches and
+the whole land was aflare. The thunder god swept over the heavens,
+blotting out the sunlight and bringing thick darkness. Rain poured
+down the whole day long, and the earth was covered with water; the
+rivers were swollen; the land was in confusion; men stumbled about in
+the darkness, battling with the elements. Brothers were unable to see
+brothers; no man could recognize his friends.... The spirits above
+looked down and beheld the rising flood and were afraid: they fled
+away, and in the heaven of Anu they crouched like to hounds in the
+protecting enclosures.
+
+"In time Ishtar, the lady of the gods, cried out distressfully,
+saying: 'The elder race hath perished and turned to clay because that
+I have consented to evil counsel in the assembly of the gods. Alas! I
+have allowed my people to be destroyed. I gave being to man, but where
+is he? Like the offspring of fish he cumbers the deep.'
+
+"The earth spirits were weeping with Ishtar: they sat down cowering
+with tightened lips and spake not; they mourned in silence.
+
+"Six days and six nights went past, and the tempest raged over the
+waters which gradually covered the land. But when the seventh day
+came, the wind fell, the whirling waters grew peaceful, and the sea
+retreated. The storm was over and the rain of destruction had ceased.
+I looked forth. I called aloud over the waters. But all mankind had
+perished and turned to clay. Where fields had been I saw marshes only.
+
+"Then I opened wide the window of the ship, and the sunlight suffused
+my countenance. I was dazzled and sank down weeping and the tears
+streamed over my face. Everywhere I looked I saw water.
+
+"At length, land began to appear. The ship drifted towards the country
+of Nitsir, and then it was held fast by the mountain of Nitsir. Six
+days went past and the ship remained stedfast. On the seventh day I
+sent forth a dove, and she flew away and searched this way and that,
+but found no resting place, so she returned. I then sent forth a
+swallow, and she returned likewise. Next I sent forth a raven, and she
+flew away. She saw that the waters were shrinking, and gorged and
+croaked and waded, but did not come back. Then I brought forth all the
+animals into the air of heaven.
+
+"An offering I made on the mountain. I poured out a libation. I set up
+incense vessels seven by seven on heaped-up reeds and used cedar wood
+with incense. The gods smelt the sweet savour, and they clustered like
+flies about the sacrificer.
+
+"Thereafter Ishtar (Sirtu) drew nigh. Lifting up the jewels, which the
+god Anu had fashioned for her according to her desire, she spake,
+saying: 'Oh! these gods! I vow by the lapis lazuli gems upon my neck
+that I will never forget! I will remember these days for ever and
+ever. Let all the gods come hither to the offering, save Bel (Enlil)
+alone, because that he ignored my counsel, and sent a great deluge
+which destroyed my people.'
+
+"But Bel Enlil came also, and when he beheld the ship he paused. His
+heart was filled with wrath against the gods and the spirits of
+heaven. Angrily he spake and said: 'Hath one escaped? It was decreed
+that no human being should survive the deluge.'
+
+"Ninip, son of Bel, spoke, saying: 'Who hath done this save Ea alone?
+He knoweth all things.'
+
+"Ea, god of the deep, opened his mouth and said unto the warrior Bel:
+'Thou art the lord of the gods, O warrior. But thou wouldst not
+hearken to my counsel and caused the deluge to be. Now punish the
+sinner for his sins and the evil doer for his evil deed, but be
+merciful and do not destroy all mankind. May there never again be a
+flood. Let the lion come and men will decrease. May there never again
+be a flood. Let the leopard come and men will decrease. May there
+never again be a flood. Let famine come upon the land; let Ura, god of
+pestilence, come and snatch off mankind.... I did not reveal the
+secret purpose of the mighty gods, but I caused Atra-chasis
+(Pir-napishtim) to dream a dream in which he had knowledge of what the
+gods had decreed.'
+
+"Having pondered a time over these words, Bel entered the ship alone.
+He grasped my hand and led me forth, even me, and he led forth my wife
+also, and caused her to kneel down beside me. Then he stood between us
+and gave his blessing. He spoke, saying: 'In time past Pir-napishtim
+was a man. Henceforth Pir-napishtim and his wife will be like unto
+deities, even us. Let them dwell apart beyond the river mouths.'
+
+"Thereafter Bel carried me hither beyond the mouths of rivers."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Flood myths are found in many mythologies both in the Old World and
+the New.
+
+The violent and deceitful men of the mythical Bronze Age of Greece
+were destroyed by a flood. It is related that Zeus said on one
+occasion to Hermes: "I will send a great rain, such as hath not been
+since the making of the world, and the whole race of men shall perish.
+I am weary of their iniquity."
+
+For receiving with hospitable warmth these two gods in human guise,
+Deucalion, an old man, and his wife Pyrrha were spared, however. Zeus
+instructed his host to build an ark of oak, and store it well with
+food. When this was done, the couple entered the vessel and shut the
+door. Then Zeus "broke up all the fountains of the deep, and opened
+the well springs of heaven, and it rained for forty days and forty
+nights continually". The Bronze folk perished: not even those who fled
+to the hilltops could escape. The ark rested on Parnassus, and when
+the waters ebbed the old couple descended the mountain and took up
+their abode in a cave.[226]
+
+In Indian mythology the world is destroyed by a flood at the end of
+each Age of the Universe. There are four ages: the Krita or Perfect
+Age, the Treta Age, the Dwapara Age, and the Kali or Wicked Age. These
+correspond closely to the Greek and Celtic ages.[227] There are also
+references in Sanskrit literature to the destruction of the world
+because too many human beings lived upon it. "When the increase of
+population had been so frightful," a sage related, "the Earth,
+oppressed with the excessive burden, sank down for a hundred Yojanas.
+Suffering pain in all her limbs, and being deprived of her senses by
+excessive pressure, the Earth in distress sought the protection of
+Narayana, the foremost of the gods."[228]
+
+Manu's account of the flood has been already referred to (Chapter II).
+The god in fish shape informed him: "The time is ripe for purging the
+world.... Build a strong and massive ark, and furnish it with a long
+rope...." When the waters rose the horned fish towed the ark over the
+roaring sea, until it grounded on the highest peak of the Himavat,
+which is still called Naubandha (the harbour). Manu was accompanied by
+seven rishis.[229]
+
+In the Celtic (Irish) account of the flood, Cessair, granddaughter of
+Noah, was refused a chamber for herself in the ark, and fled to the
+western borders of the world as advised by her idol.[230] Her fleet
+consisted of three ships, but two foundered before Ireland was
+reached. The survivors in addition to Cessair were, her father Bith,
+two other men, Fintan and Ladru, and fifty women. All of these
+perished on the hills except Fintan, who slept on the crest of a great
+billow, and lived to see Partholon, the giant, arriving from Greece.
+
+There is a deluge also in Egyptian mythology. When Ra, the sun god,
+grew old as an earthly king, men began to mutter words against him. He
+called the gods together and said: "I will not slay them (his
+subjects) until I have heard what ye say concerning them." Nu, his
+father, who was the god of primeval waters, advised the wholesale
+destruction of mankind.
+
+Said Ra: "Behold men flee unto the hills; their heart is full of fear
+because of that which they said."
+
+The goddess Hathor-Sekhet, the Eye of Ra, then went forth and slew
+mankind on the hills. Thereafter Ra, desiring to protect the remnant
+of humanity, caused a great offering to be made to the goddess,
+consisting of corn beer mixed with herbs and human blood. This drink
+was poured out during the night. "And the goddess came in the morning;
+she found the fields inundated, she rejoiced thereat, she drank
+thereof, her heart was rejoiced, she went about drunken and took no
+more cognizance of men."[231]
+
+It is obvious that the Egyptian myth refers to the annual inundation
+of the Nile, the "human blood" in the "beer" being the blood of the
+slain corn god, or of his earthly representative. It is probable that
+the flood legends of North and South America similarly reflected local
+phenomena, although the possibility that they were of Asiatic origin,
+like the American Mongoloid tribes, cannot be overlooked. Whether or
+not Mexican civilization, which was flourishing about the time of the
+battle of Hastings, received any cultural stimulus from Asia is a
+question regarding which it would be unsafe to dogmatize, owing to the
+meagre character of the available data.
+
+The Mexican deluge was caused by the "water sun", which suddenly
+discharged the moisture it had been drawing from the earth in the form
+of vapour through long ages. All life was destroyed.
+
+A flood legend among the Nahua tribes resembles closely the Babylonian
+story as told by Pir-napishtim. The god Titlacahuan instructed a man
+named Nata to make a boat by hollowing out a cypress tree, so as to
+escape the coming deluge with his wife Nena. This pair escaped
+destruction. They offered up a fish sacrifice in the boat and enraged
+the deity who visited them, displaying as much indignation as did Bel
+when he discovered that Pir-napishtim had survived the great disaster.
+Nata and Nena had been instructed to take with them one ear of maize
+only, which suggests that they were harvest spirits.
+
+In Brazil, Monan, the chief god, sent a great fire to burn up the
+world and its wicked inhabitants. To extinguish the flames a magician
+caused so much rain to fall that the earth was flooded.
+
+The Californian Indians had a flood legend, and believed that the
+early race was diminutive; and the Athapascan Indians of the
+north-west professed to be descendants of a family who escaped the
+deluge. Indeed, deluge myths were widespread in the "New World".
+
+The American belief that the first beings who were created were unable
+to live on earth was shared by the Babylonians. According to Berosus
+the first creation was a failure, because the animals could not bear
+the light and they all died.[232] Here we meet with the germs of the
+Doctrine of the World's Ages, which reached its highest development in
+Indian, Greek, and Celtic (Irish) mythologies.
+
+The Biblical account of the flood is familiar to readers. "It forms",
+says Professor Pinches, "a good subject for comparison with the
+Babylonian account, with which it agrees so closely in all the main
+points, and from which it differs so much in many essential
+details."[233]
+
+The drift of Babylonian culture was not only directed westward towards
+the coast of Palestine, and from thence to Greece during the
+Phoenician period, but also eastward through Elam to the Iranian
+plateau and India. Reference has already been made to the resemblances
+between early Vedic and Sumerian mythologies. When the "new songs" of
+the Aryan invaders of India were being composed, the sky and ocean
+god, Varuna, who resembles Ea-Oannes, and Mitra, who links with
+Shamash, were already declining in splendour. Other cultural
+influences were at work. Certain of the Aryan tribes, for instance,
+buried their dead in Varuna's "house of clay", while a growing
+proportion cremated their dead and worshipped Agni, the fire god. At
+the close of the Vedic period there were fresh invasions into middle
+India, and the "late comers" introduced new beliefs, including the
+doctrines of the Transmigration of Souls and of the Ages of the
+Universe. Goddesses also rose into prominence, and the Vedic gods
+became minor deities, and subject to Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. These
+"late comers" had undoubtedly been influenced by Babylonian ideas
+before they entered India. In their Doctrine of the World's Ages or
+Yugas, for instance, we are forcibly reminded of the Euphratean ideas
+regarding space and time. Mr. Robert Brown, junr., who is an authority
+in this connection, shows that the system by which the "Day of Brahma"
+was calculated in India resembles closely an astronomical system which
+obtained in Babylonia, where apparently the theory of cosmic periods
+had origin.[234]
+
+The various alien peoples, however, who came under the spell of
+Babylonian modes of thought did not remain in a state of intellectual
+bondage. Thought was stimulated rather than arrested by religious
+borrowing, and the development of ideas regarding the mysteries of
+life and death proceeded apace in areas over which the ritualistic and
+restraining priesthood of Babylonia exercised no sway. As much may be
+inferred from the contrasting conceptions of the Patriarchs of Vedic
+and Sumerian mythologies. Pir-napishtim, the Babylonian Noah, and the
+semi-divine Gilgamesh appear to be represented in Vedic mythology by
+Yama, god of the dead. Yama was "the first man", and, like Gilgamesh,
+he set out on a journey over mountains and across water to discover
+Paradise. He is lauded in the Vedic hymns as the explorer of "the
+path" or "way" to the "Land of the Pitris" (Fathers), the Paradise to
+which the Indian uncremated dead walked on foot. Yama never lost his
+original character. He is a traveller in the Epics as in the
+Vedas.[235]
+
+    Him who along the mighty heights departed, Him who searched and
+    spied the path for many, Son of Vivasvat, gatherer of the people,
+    Yama, the King, with sacrifices worship. _Rigveda_, x, 14, 1.[236]
+    To Yama, mighty King, be gifts and homage paid, He was the first
+    of men that died, the first to brave Death's rapid rushing stream,
+    the first to point the road To heaven, and welcome others to that
+    bright abode. _Sir M. Monier Williams' Translation_.[237]
+
+Yama and his sister Yami were the first human pair. They are identical
+with the Persian Celestial twins, Yima and Yimeh. Yima resembles Mitra
+(Mithra); Varuna, the twin brother of Mitra, in fact, carries the
+noose associated with the god of death.[238]
+
+The Indian Yama, who was also called Pitripati, "lord of the fathers",
+takes Mitra's place in the Paradise of Ancestors beside Varuna, god of
+the sky and the deep. He sits below a tree, playing on a flute and
+drinking the Soma drink which gives immortality. When the descendants
+of Yama reached Paradise they assumed shining forms "refined and from
+all taint set free".[239]
+
+In Persian mythology "Yima", says Professor Moulton, "reigns over a
+community which may well have been composed of his own descendants,
+for he lived yet longer than Adam. To render them immortal, he gives
+them to eat forbidden food, being deceived by the Daevas (demons).
+What was this forbidden food? May we connect it with another legend
+whereby, at the Regeneration, Mithra is to make men immortal by giving
+them to eat the fat of the _Ur-Kuh_, the primeval cow from whose slain
+body, according to the Aryan legends adopted by Mithraism, mankind was
+first created?"
+
+Yima is punished for "presumptuously grasping at immortality for
+himself and mankind, on the suggestion of an evil power, instead of
+waiting Ahura's good time". Professor Moulton wonders if this story,
+which he endeavours to reconstruct, "owed anything to Babylon?"
+
+Yima, like the Babylonian Pir-napishtim, is also a revealer of the
+secrets of creation. He was appointed to be "Guardian, Overseer,
+Watcher over my Creation" by Ahura, the supreme god. Three hundred
+years went past--
+
+    Then the earth became abounding,
+    Full of flocks and full of cattle,
+    Full of men, of birds, dogs likewise,
+    Full of fires all bright and blazing,
+    Nor did men, flocks, herds of cattle,
+    Longer find them places in it.
+
+            _Jackson's Translation_.
+
+The earth was thereafter cloven with a golden arrow. Yima then built a
+refuge in which mankind and the domesticated animals might find
+shelter during a terrible winter. "The picture", says Professor
+Moulton, "strongly tempts us to recognize the influence of the
+Babylonian Flood-Legend."[240] The "Fimbul winter" of Germanic
+mythology is also recalled. Odin asks in one of the Icelandic Eddie
+poems:
+
+    What beings shall live when the long dread winter
+      Comes o'er the people of earth?[241]
+
+In another Eddie poem, the Voluspa, the Vala tells of a Sword Age, an
+Axe Age, a Wind Age, and a Wolf Age which is to come "ere the world
+sinks". After the battle of the gods and demons,
+
+    The sun is darkened, earth sinks in the sea.
+
+In time, however, a new world appears.
+
+    I see uprising a second time
+    Earth from the Ocean, green anew;
+    The waters fall, on high the eagle
+    Flies o'er the fell and catches fish.
+
+When the surviving gods return, they will talk, according to the Vala
+(prophetess), of "the great world serpent" (Tiamat). The fields will
+be sown and "Balder will come"[242]--apparently as Tammuz came. The
+association of Balder with corn suggests that, like Nata of the Nahua
+tribes, he was a harvest spirit, among other things.
+
+Leaving, meantime, the many problems which arise from consideration of
+the Deluge legends and their connection with primitive agricultural
+myths, the attention of readers may be directed to the Babylonian
+conception of the Otherworld.
+
+Pir-napishtim, who escaped destruction at the Flood, resides in an
+Island Paradise, which resembles the Greek "Islands of the Blessed",
+and the Irish "Tir nan og" or "Land of the Young", situated in the
+western ocean, and identical with the British[243]
+
+      island-valley of Avilion,
+    Where falls not hail, or rain, or any snow,
+    Nor ever wind blows loudly, but it lies
+    Deep meadow'd, happy, fair with orchard lawns
+    And bowery hollows crowned with summer sea.[244]
+
+Only two human beings were permitted to reside on the Babylonian
+island paradise, however. These were Pir-napishtim and his wife.
+Apparently Gilgamesh could not join them there. His gods did not
+transport heroes and other favoured individuals to a happy isle or
+isles like those of the Greeks and Celts and Aryo-Indians. There was
+no Heaven for the Babylonian dead. All mankind were doomed to enter
+the gloomy Hades of the Underworld, "the land of darkness and the
+shadow of death; a land of darkness, as darkness itself; and of the
+shadow of death, without any order, and where the light is darkness",
+as Job exclaimed in the hour of despair, lamenting his fate.[245]
+
+This gloomy habitation of the dead resembles the Greek Hades, the
+Teutonic Nifelhel, and the Indian "Put". No detailed description of it
+has been found. The references, however, in the "Descent of Ishtar"
+and the Gilgamesh epic suggest that it resembled the hidden regions of
+the Egyptians, in which souls were tortured by demons who stabbed
+them, plunged them in pools of fire, and thrust them into cold outer
+darkness where they gnashed their teeth, or into places of horror
+swarming with poisonous reptiles.
+
+Ishtar was similarly tortured by the plague demon, Namtar, when she
+boldly entered the Babylonian Underworld to search for Tammuz. Other
+sufferings were, no doubt, in store for her, resembling those,
+perhaps, with which the giant maid in the Eddic poem "Skirnismal" was
+threatened when she refused to marry Frey, the god of fertility and
+harvest:
+
+    Trolls shall torment thee from morn till eve
+      In the realms of the Jotun race,
+    Each day to the dwellings of Frost giants must thou
+      Creep helpless, creep hopeless of love;
+    Thou shalt weeping have in the stead of joy,
+      And sore burden bear with tears....
+    May madness and shrieking, bondage and yearning
+      Burden thee with bondage and tears.[246]
+
+In like manner, too, the inhabitants of the Indian Hell suffered
+endless and complicated tortures.[247]
+
+The Persephone of the Babylonian Underworld was Eresh-ki-gal, who was
+also called Allatu. A myth, which was found among the Egyptian
+Tel-el-Amarna "Letters", sets forth that on one occasion the
+Babylonian gods held a feast. All the deities attended it, except
+Eresh-ki-gal. She was unable to leave her gloomy Underworld, and sent
+her messenger, the plague demon Namtar, to obtain her share. The
+various deities honoured Namtar, except Nergal, by standing up to
+receive him. When Eresh-ki-gal was informed of this slight she became
+very angry, and demanded that Nergal should be delivered up to her so
+that he might be put to death. The storm god at once hastened to the
+Underworld, accompanied by his own group of fierce demons, whom he
+placed as guardians at the various doors so as to prevent the escape
+of Eresh-ki-gal. Then he went boldly towards the goddess, clutched her
+by the hair, and dragged her from her throne. After a brief struggle,
+she found herself overpowered. Nergal made ready to cut off her head,
+but she cried for mercy and said: "Do not kill me, my brother! Let me
+speak to thee."
+
+This appeal indicated that she desired to ransom her life--like the
+hags in the European folk tales--so Nergal unloosed his hold.
+
+Then Eresh-ki-gal continued: "Be thou my husband and I will be thy
+wife. On thee I confer sovereignty over the wide earth, giving thee
+the tablet of wisdom. Thou shalt be my lord and I will be thy lady."
+
+Nergal accepted these terms by kissing the goddess. Affectionately
+drying her tears, he spoke, saying: "Thou shalt now have from me what
+thou hast demanded during these past months."
+
+In other words, Nergal promises to honour her as she desired, after
+becoming her husband and equal.
+
+In the "Descent of Ishtar" the Babylonian Underworld is called Cuthah.
+This city had a famous cemetery, like Abydos in Egypt, where many
+pious and orthodox worshippers sought sepulture. The local god was
+Nergal, who symbolized the destructive power of the sun and the sand
+storm; he was a gloomy, vengeful deity, attended by the spirits of
+tempest, weariness, pestilence, and disease, and was propitiated
+because he was dreaded.
+
+In Nether Cuthah, as Ea-bani informed Gilgamesh, the worm devoured the
+dead amidst the dust and thick darkness.
+
+It is evident that this Underworld was modelled on the grave. In early
+times men believed that the spirits of the dead hovered in or about
+the place of sepulture. They were therefore provided with "houses" to
+protect them, in the same manner as the living were protected in their
+houses above the ground.
+
+The enemies of the human ghosts were the earth spirits. Weapons were
+laid beside the dead in their graves so that they might wage war
+against demons when necessary. The corpse was also charmed, against
+attack, by the magical and protecting ornaments which were worn by the
+living--necklaces, armlets, ear-rings, &c. Even face paint was
+provided, probably as a charm against the evil eye and other subtle
+influences.
+
+So long as corpses were left in their graves, the spirits of the dead
+were, it would appear, believed to be safe. But they required food and
+refreshment. Food vessels and drinking urns were therefore included in
+the funerary furniture, and the dead were given food offerings at
+regular intervals. Once a year the living held feasts in the burial
+ground, and invited the ghosts to share in the repast. This custom was
+observed in Babylonia, and is not yet obsolete in Egypt; Moslems and
+Coptic Christians alike hold annual all-night feasts in their
+cemeteries.
+
+The Japanese "Land of Yomi" is similarly an underworld, or great
+grave, where ghosts mingle with the demons of disease and destruction.
+Souls reach it by "the pass of Yomi". The Mikado, however, may be
+privileged to ascend to heaven and join the gods in the "Eternal
+Land".
+
+Among the ancient Romans the primitive belief survived that the spirit
+of the dead "just sank into the earth where it rested, and returned
+from time to time to the upper world through certain openings in the
+ground (mundi), whose solemn uncovering was one of the regular
+observances of the festal calendar".[248]
+
+According to Babylonian belief, the dead who were not properly buried
+roamed through the streets searching for food, eating refuse and
+drinking impure water.
+
+Prior to the period of ceremonial burials, the dead were interred in
+the houses in which they had lived--a custom which has made it
+possible for present-day scientists to accumulate much valuable data
+regarding primitive races and their habits of life. The Palaeolithic
+cave-dwellers of Europe were buried in their caves. These were then
+deserted and became the haunts of wild animals. After a long interval
+a deserted cave was occupied by strangers. In certain characteristic
+caves the various layers containing human remains represent distinct
+periods of the vast Pleistocene Age.
+
+When Mediterranean man moved northward through Europe, he utilized
+some of these caves, and constructed in them well-built graves for his
+dead, digging down through older layers. In thus making a "house"
+within a "house", he has provided us with a link between an old custom
+and a new. Apparently he was influenced by local practices and
+beliefs, for he met and mingled in certain localities with the men of
+the Late Palaeolithic Age.
+
+The primitive house-burial rite is referred to in the Ethiopic version
+of the life of Alexander the Great. The "Two-horned", as the hero was
+called, conversed with Brahmans when he reached India. He spoke to one
+of them, "saying: 'Have ye no tombs wherein to bury any man among ye
+who may die?' And an interpreter made answer to him, saying: 'Man and
+woman and child grow up, and arrive at maturity, and become old, and
+when any one of them dieth we bury him in the place wherein he lived;
+thus our graves are our houses. And our God knoweth that we desire
+this more than the lust for food and meat which all men have: this is
+our life and manner of living in the darkness of our tombs.'" When
+Alexander desired to make a gift to these Brahmans, and asked them
+what they desired most, their answer was, "Give us immortality".[249]
+
+In the Gilgamesh epic the only ray of hope which relieves the gloomy
+closing passages is Ea-bani's suggestion that the sufferings endured
+by the dead may be alleviated by the performance of strict burial
+rites. Commenting on this point Professor Jastrow says: "A proper
+burial with an affectionate care of the corpse ensures at least a
+quiet repose.
+
+    Such a one rests on a couch and drinks pure water;
+    But he whose shade has no rest in the earth, as I have seen and
+        you will see,
+    His shade has no rest in the earth
+    Whose shade no one cares for ...
+    What is left over in the pot, remains of food
+    That are thrown in the street, he eats."[250]
+
+            _Gilgamesh Epic_.
+
+By disseminating the belief that the dead must be buried with much
+ceremony, the priests secured great power over the people, and
+extracted large fees.
+
+In Egypt, on the other hand, the teachers of the sun cult sold charms
+and received rewards to perform ceremonies so that chosen worshippers
+might enter the sun-barque of Ra; while the Osirian priests promised
+the just and righteous that they would reach an agricultural Paradise
+where they could live and work as on earth, but receive a greater
+return for their labour, the harvests of the Otherworld being of
+unequalled abundance.
+
+In the sacred books of India a number of Paradises are referred to. No
+human beings, however, entered the Paradise of Varuna, who resembles
+the Sumerian Ea-Oannes. The souls of the dead found rest and enjoyment
+in the Paradise of Yama, while "those kings that yield up their lives,
+without turning their backs on the field of battle, attain", as the
+sage told a hero, "to the mansion of Indra", which recalls the Valhal
+of Odin. It will thus be seen that belief in immortality was a tenet
+of the Indian cults of Indra and Yama.
+
+It is possible that the Gilgamesh epic in one of its forms concluded
+when the hero reached the island of Pir-napishtim, like the Indian
+Yama who "searched and spied the path for many". The Indian "Land of
+the Pitris" (Ancestors), over which Yama presided, may be compared to
+the Egyptian heaven of Osiris. It contains, we are told, "all kinds of
+enjoyable articles", and also "sweet, juicy, agreeable and delicious
+edibles ... floral wreaths of the most delicious fragrance, and trees
+that yield fruits that are desired of them". Thither go "all sinners
+among human beings, as also (those) that have died during the winter
+solstice"[251]--a suggestion that this Paradise was not unconnected
+with the Tammuz-like deity who took up his abode in the spirit land
+during the barren season.
+
+The view may be urged that in the Gilgamesh epic we have a development
+of the Tammuz legend in its heroic form. Like Ishtar, when she
+descended to Hades, the King of Erech could not return to earth until
+he had been sprinkled by the water of life. No doubt, an incident of
+this character occurred also in the original Tammuz legend. The life
+of the god had to be renewed before he could return. Did he slumber,
+like one of the Seven Sleepers, in Ea's house, and not awake again
+until he arrived as a child in his crescent moon boat--"the sunken
+boat" of the hymns--like Scef, who came over the waves to the land of
+the Scyldings?
+
+It seems remarkable that the doctrine of Eternal Bliss, which obtained
+in Egypt on the one hand and in India on the other, should never have
+been developed among the Babylonians. Of course, our knowledge in this
+connection is derived from the orthodox religious texts. Perhaps the
+great thinkers, whose influence can be traced in the tendencies
+towards monotheism which became marked at various periods, believed in
+a Heaven for the just and good. If they did, their teachings must have
+been suppressed by the mercenary priests. It was extremely profitable
+for these priests to perpetuate the belief that the spirits of the
+dead were consigned to a gloomy Hades, where the degree of suffering
+which they endured depended on the manner in which their bodies were
+disposed of upon earth. An orthodox funeral ceremony was costly at all
+times. This is made evident by the inscriptions which record the
+social reforms of Urukagina, the ill-fated patesi of Lagash. When he
+came to the throne he cut down the burial fees by more than a half.
+"In the case of an ordinary burial," writes Mr. King, "when a corpse
+was laid in a grave, it had been the custom for the presiding priest
+to demand as a fee for himself seven urns of wine or strong drink,
+four hundred and twenty loaves of bread, one hundred and twenty
+measures of corn, a garment, a kid, a bed, and a seat." The reformer
+reduced the perquisites to "three urns of wine, eighty loaves of
+bread, a bed, and a kid, while the fee of his (the priest's) assistant
+was cut down from sixty to thirty measures of corn".[252]
+
+The conservative element in Babylonian religion is reflected by the
+burial customs. These did not change greatly after the Neolithic
+period. Prehistoric Sumerian graves resemble closely those of
+pre-Dynastic Egypt. The bodies of the dead were laid on their sides in
+crouching posture, with a "beaker", or "drinking cup" urn, beside the
+right hand. Other vessels were placed near the head. In this
+connection it may be noted that the magic food prepared for Gilgamesh
+by Pir-napishtim's wife, when he lay asleep, was also placed near his
+head.
+
+The corpse was always decked with various ornaments, including rings,
+necklaces, and armlets. As has been indicated, these were worn by the
+living as charms, and, no doubt, they served the same purpose for the
+dead. This charm-wearing custom was condemned by the Hebrew teachers.
+On one occasion Jacob commanded his household to "put away the strange
+gods which were in their hand, and all the ear-rings which were in
+their ears; and Jacob buried them under the oak which was by
+Shechem".[253] To Jacob, personal ornaments had quite evidently an
+idolatrous significance.
+
+"A very typical class of grave furniture", writes Mr. King, "consisted
+of palettes, or colour dishes, made of alabaster, often of graceful
+shape, and sometimes standing on four feet.... There is no doubt as to
+their use, for colour still remains in many of them, generally black
+and yellow, but sometimes a light rose and light green." Palettes for
+face paint have also been found in many early Egyptian graves.
+
+The gods had their faces painted like the living and the dead and were
+similarly adorned with charms. In the course of the daily service in
+the Egyptian temples an important ceremony was "dressing the god with
+white, green, bright-red, and dark-red sashes, and supplying two kinds
+of ointment and black and green eye paint".[254] In the word-picture
+of the Aryo-Indian Varuna's heaven in the _Mahabharata_ the deity is
+depicted "attired in celestial robes and decked with celestial
+ornaments and jewels". His attendants, the Adityas, appear "adorned
+with celestial garlands and perfumed with celestial scents and
+besmeared with paste of celestial fragrance".[255] Apparently the
+"paste", like the face paint of the Babylonians and Egyptians, had
+protective qualities. The Picts of Scotland may have similarly painted
+themselves to charm their bodies against magical influences and the
+weapons of their enemies. A painted man was probably regarded as one
+who was likely to have good luck, being guarded against bad luck.
+
+Weapons and implements were also laid in the Sumerian graves,
+indicating a belief that the spirits of the dead could not only
+protect themselves against their enemies but also provide themselves
+with food. The funerary gifts of fish-hooks suggests that spirits were
+expected to catch fish and thus obtain clean food, instead of
+returning to disturb the living as they searched for the remnants of
+the feast, like the Scottish Gunna,
+
+                 perched alone
+    On a chilly old grey stone,
+    Nibbling, nibbling at a bone
+      That we'll maybe throw away.
+
+Some bodies which were laid in Sumerian graves were wrapped up in reed
+matting, a custom which suggests that the reeds afforded protection or
+imparted magical powers. Magical ceremonies were performed in
+Babylonian reed huts. As we have seen, Ea revealed the "purpose" of
+the gods, when they resolved to send a flood, by addressing the reed
+hut in which Pir-napishtim lay asleep. Possibly it was believed that
+the dead might also have visions in their dreams which would reveal
+the "purpose" of demons who were preparing to attack them. In Syria it
+was customary to wrap the dead in a sheep skin.[256] As priests and
+gods were clad in the skins of animals from which their powers were
+derived, it is probable that the dead were similarly supposed to
+receive inspiration in their skin coverings. The Highland seer was
+wrapped in a bull's skin and left all night beside a stream so as to
+obtain knowledge of the future. This was a form of the Taghairm
+ceremony, which is referred to by Scott in his "Lady of the
+Lake".[257] The belief in the magical influence of sacred clothing
+gave origin to the priestly robes. When David desired to ascertain
+what Saul intended to do he said, "Bring hither the ephod". Then he
+came to know that his enemy had resolved to attack Keilah.[258] Elisha
+became a prophet when he received Elijah's mantle.[259]
+
+Sometimes the bodies of the Sumerians were placed in sarcophagi of
+clay. The earlier type was of "bath-tub" shape, round and
+flat-bottomed, with a rounded lid, while the later was the
+"slipper-shaped coffin", which was ornamented with charms. There is a
+close resemblance between the "bath-tub" coffins of Sumeria and the
+Egyptian pottery coffins of oval shape found in Third and Fourth
+Dynasty tombs in rock chambers near Nuerat. Certain designs on wooden
+coffins, and tombs as early as the First Dynasty, have direct
+analogies in Babylonia.[260]
+
+No great tombs were erected in Sumeria. The coffins were usually laid
+in brick vaults below dwellings, or below temples, or in trenches
+outside the city walls. On the "stele of victory", which belongs to
+the period of Eannatum, patesi of Lagash, the dead bodies on the
+battlefield are piled up in pairs quite naked, and earth is being
+heaped over them; this is a specimen of mound burial.
+
+According to Herodotus the Babylonians "buried their dead in honey,
+and had funeral lamentations like the Egyptians".[261] The custom of
+preserving the body in this manner does not appear to have been an
+ancient one, and may have resulted from cultural contact with the Nile
+valley during the late Assyrian period. So long as the bones were
+undisturbed, the spirit was supposed to be assured of rest in the
+Underworld. This archaic belief was widespread, and finds an echo in
+the quaint lines over Shakespeare's grave in Stratford church:--
+
+    Good friend, for Jesus' sake forbeare
+    To dig the dust enclosed heare;
+    Blest be the man that spares these stones,
+    And curst be he that moves my bones.
+
+In Babylonia the return of the spirits of the dead was greatly
+dreaded. Ishtar once uttered the terrible threat: "I will cause the
+dead to rise; they will then eat and live. The dead will be more
+numerous than the living." When a foreign country was invaded, it was
+a common custom to break open the tombs and scatter the bones they
+contained. Probably it was believed, when such acts of vandalism were
+committed, that the offended spirits would plague their kinsfolk.
+Ghosts always haunted the homes they once lived in, and were as
+malignant as demons. It is significant to find in this connection that
+the bodies of enemies who were slain in battle were not given decent
+burial, but mutilated and left for birds and beasts of prey to devour.
+
+The demons that plagued the dead might also attack the living. A
+fragmentary narrative, which used to be referred to as the "Cuthean
+Legend of Creation",[262] and has been shown by Mr. L.W. King to have
+no connection with the struggle between Merodach and the dragon,[263]
+deals with a war waged by an ancient king against a horde of evil
+spirits, led by "the lord of heights, lord of the Anunaki (earth
+spirits)". Some of the supernatural warriors had bodies like birds;
+others had "raven faces", and all had been "suckled by Tiamat".
+
+For three years the king sent out great armies to attack the demons,
+but "none returned alive". Then he decided to go forth himself to save
+his country from destruction. So he prepared for the conflict, and
+took the precaution of performing elaborate and therefore costly
+religious rites so as to secure the co-operation of the gods. His
+expedition was successful, for he routed the supernatural army. On his
+return home, he recorded his great victory on tablets which were
+placed in the shrine of Nergal at Cuthah.
+
+This myth may be an echo of Nergal's raid against Eresh-ki-gal. Or,
+being associated with Cuthah, it may have been composed to encourage
+burial in that city's sacred cemetery, which had been cleared by the
+famous old king of the evil demons which tormented the dead and made
+seasonal attacks against the living.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+BUILDINGS AND LAWS AND CUSTOMS OF BABYLON
+
+
+  Decline and Fall of Sumerian Kingdoms--Elamites and Semites strive
+  for Supremacy--Babylon's Walls, Gates, Streets, and Canals--The
+  Hanging Gardens--Merodach's Great Temple--The Legal Code of
+  Hammurabi--The Marriage Market--Position of Women--Marriage brought
+  Freedom--Vestal Virgins--Breach of Promise and Divorce--Rights of
+  Children--Female Publicans--The Land Laws--Doctors legislated out of
+  Existence--Folk Cures--Spirits of Disease expelled by Magical
+  Charms--The Legend of the Worm--"Touch Iron"--Curative
+  Water--Magical Origin of Poetry and Music.
+
+
+The rise of Babylon inaugurated a new era in the history of Western
+Asia. Coincidentally the political power of the Sumerians came to an
+end. It had been paralysed by the Elamites, who, towards the close of
+the Dynasty of Isin, successfully overran the southern district and
+endeavoured to extend their sway over the whole valley. Two Elamite
+kings, Warad-Sin and his brother Rim-Sin, struggled with the rulers of
+Babylon for supremacy, and for a time it appeared as if the intruders
+from the East were to establish themselves permanently as a military
+aristocracy over Sumer and Akkad. But the Semites were strongly
+reinforced by new settlers of the same blended stock who swarmed from
+the land of the Amorites. Once again Arabia was pouring into Syria
+vast hordes of its surplus population, with the result that ethnic
+disturbances were constant and widespread. This migration is termed
+the Canaanitic or Amorite: it flowed into Mesopotamia and across
+Assyria, while it supplied the "driving power" which secured the
+ascendancy of the Hammurabi Dynasty at Babylon. Indeed, the ruling
+family which came into prominence there is believed to have been of
+Canaanitic origin.
+
+Once Babylon became the metropolis it retained its pre-eminence until
+the end. Many political changes took place during its long and
+chequered history, but no rival city in the south ever attained to its
+splendour and greatness. Whether its throne was occupied by Amorite or
+Kassite, Assyrian or Chaldean, it was invariably found to be the most
+effective centre of administration for the lower Tigro-Euphrates
+valley. Some of the Kassite monarchs, however, showed a preference for
+Nippur.
+
+Of its early history little is known. It was overshadowed in turn by
+Kish and Umma, Lagash and Erech, and may have been little better than
+a great village when Akkad rose into prominence. Sargon I, the royal
+gardener, appears to have interested himself in its development, for
+it was recorded that he cleared its trenches and strengthened its
+fortifications. The city occupied a strategic position, and probably
+assumed importance on that account as well as a trading and industrial
+centre. Considerable wealth had accumulated at Babylon when the
+Dynasty of Ur reached the zenith of its power. It is recorded that
+King Dungi plundered its famous "Temple of the High Head", E-sagila,
+which some identify with the Tower of Babel, so as to secure treasure
+for Ea's temple at Eridu, which he specially favoured. His vandalistic
+raid, like that of the Gutium, or men of Kutu, was remembered for long
+centuries afterwards, and the city god was invoked at the time to cut
+short his days.
+
+No doubt, Hammurabi's Babylon closely resembled the later city so
+vividly described by Greek writers, although it was probably not of
+such great dimensions. According to Herodotus, it occupied an exact
+square on the broad plain, and had a circumference of sixty of our
+miles. "While such is its size," the historian wrote, "in magnificence
+there is no other city that approaches to it." Its walls were
+eighty-seven feet thick and three hundred and fifty feet high, and
+each side of the square was fifteen miles in length. The whole city
+was surrounded by a deep, broad canal or moat, and the river Euphrates
+ran through it.
+
+"Here", continued Herodotus, "I may not omit to tell the use to which
+the mould dug out of the great moat was turned, nor the manner in
+which the wall was wrought. As fast as they dug the moat the soil
+which they got from the cutting was made into bricks, and when a
+sufficient number were completed they baked the bricks in kilns. Then
+they set to building, and began with bricking the borders of the moat,
+after which they proceeded to construct the wall itself, using
+throughout for their cement hot bitumen, and interposing a layer of
+wattled reeds at every thirtieth course of the bricks. On the top,
+along the edges of the wall, they constructed buildings of a single
+chamber facing one another, leaving between them room for a four-horse
+chariot to turn. In the circuit of the wall are a hundred gates, all
+of brass, with brazen lintels and side posts."[264] These were the
+gates referred to by Isaiah when God called Cyrus:
+
+    I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two
+    leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut: I will go before
+    thee, and make the crooked places straight; I will break in pieces
+    the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron.[265]
+
+The outer wall was the main defence of the city, but there was also an
+inner wall less thick but not much inferior in strength. In addition,
+a fortress stood in each division of the city. The king's palace and
+the temple of Bel Merodach were surrounded by walls.
+
+All the main streets were perfectly straight, and each crossed the
+city from gate to gate, a distance of fifteen miles, half of them
+being interrupted by the river, which had to be ferried. As there were
+twenty-five gates on each side of the outer wall, the great
+thoroughfares numbered fifty in all, and there were six hundred and
+seventy-six squares, each over two miles in circumference. From
+Herodotus we gather that the houses were three or four stories high,
+suggesting that the tenement system was not unknown, and according to
+Q. Curtius, nearly half of the area occupied by the city was taken up
+by gardens within the squares.
+
+In Greek times Babylon was famous for the hanging or terraced gardens
+of the "new palace", which had been erected by Nebuchadnezzar II.
+These occupied a square which was more than a quarter of a mile in
+circumference. Great stone terraces, resting on arches, rose up like a
+giant stairway to a height of about three hundred and fifty feet, and
+the whole structure was strengthened by a surrounding wall over twenty
+feet in thickness. So deep were the layers of mould on each terrace
+that fruit trees were grown amidst the plants of luxuriant foliage and
+the brilliant Asian flowers. Water for irrigating the gardens was
+raised from the river by a mechanical contrivance to a great cistern
+situated on the highest terrace, and it was prevented from leaking out
+of the soil by layers of reeds and bitumen and sheets of lead.
+Spacious apartments, luxuriously furnished and decorated, were
+constructed in the spaces between the arches and were festooned by
+flowering creepers. A broad stairway ascended from terrace to terrace.
+
+The old palace stood in a square nearly four miles in circumference,
+and was strongly protected by three walls, which were decorated by
+sculptures in low relief, representing battle scenes and scenes of the
+chase and royal ceremonies. Winged bulls with human heads guarded the
+main entrance.
+
+Another architectural feature of the city was E-sagila, the temple of
+Bel Merodach, known to the Greeks as "Jupiter-Belus". The high wall
+which enclosed it had gates of solid brass. "In the middle of the
+precinct", wrote Herodotus, "there was a tower of solid masonry, a
+furlong in length and breadth, upon which was raised a second tower,
+and on that a third, and so on up to eight. The ascent to the top is
+on the outside, by a path which winds round all the towers. When one
+is about halfway up, one finds a resting-place and seats, where
+persons are wont to sit some time on their way to the summit. On the
+topmost tower there is a spacious temple, and inside the temple stands
+a couch of unusual size, richly adorned, with a golden table by its
+side. There is no statue of any kind set up in the place, nor is the
+chamber occupied of nights by anyone but a single native woman, who,
+as the Chaldaeans, the priests of this god, affirm, is chosen for
+himself by the deity out of all the women of the land."
+
+A woman who was the "wife of Amon" also slept in that god's temple at
+Thebes in Egypt. A similar custom was observed in Lycia.
+
+"Below, in the same precinct," continued Herodotus, "there is a second
+temple, in which is a sitting figure of Jupiter, all of gold. Before
+the figure stands a large golden table, and the throne whereon it
+sits, and the base on which the throne is placed, are likewise of pure
+gold.... Outside the temple are two altars, one of solid gold, on
+which it is only lawful to offer sucklings; the other, a common altar,
+but of great size, on which the full-grown animals are sacrificed. It
+is also on the great altar that the Chaldaeans burn the frankincense,
+which is offered to the amount of a thousand talents' weight, every
+year, at the festival of the god. In the time of Cyrus there was
+likewise in this temple a figure of a man, twelve cubits high,
+entirely of solid gold.... Besides the ornaments which I have
+mentioned, there are a large number of private offerings in this holy
+precinct."[266]
+
+The city wall and river gates were closed every night, and when
+Babylon was besieged the people were able to feed themselves. The
+gardens and small farms were irrigated by canals, and canals also
+controlled the flow of the river Euphrates. A great dam had been
+formed above the town to store the surplus water during inundation and
+increase the supply when the river sank to its lowest.
+
+In Hammurabi's time the river was crossed by ferry boats, but long ere
+the Greeks visited the city a great bridge had been constructed. So
+completely did the fierce Sennacherib destroy the city, that most of
+the existing ruins date from the period of Nebuchadnezzar II.[267]
+
+Our knowledge of the social life of Babylon and the territory under
+its control is derived chiefly from the Hammurabi Code of laws, of
+which an almost complete copy was discovered at Susa, towards the end
+of 1901, by the De Morgan expedition. The laws were inscribed on a
+stele of black diorite 7 ft. 3 in. high, with a circumference at the
+base of 6 ft. 2 in. and at the top of 5 ft. 4 in. This important relic
+of an ancient law-abiding people had been broken in three pieces, but
+when these were joined together it was found that the text was not
+much impaired. On one side are twenty-eight columns and on the other
+sixteen. Originally there were in all nearly 4000 lines of
+inscriptions, but five columns, comprising about 300 lines, had been
+erased to give space, it is conjectured, for the name of the invader
+who carried the stele away, but unfortunately the record was never
+made.
+
+On the upper part of the stele, which is now one of the treasures of
+the Louvre, Paris, King Hammurabi salutes, with his right hand
+reverently upraised, the sun god Shamash, seated on his throne, at the
+summit of E-sagila, by whom he is being presented with the stylus with
+which to inscribe the legal code. Both figures are heavily bearded,
+but have shaven lips and chins. The god wears a conical headdress and
+a flounced robe suspended from his left shoulder, while the king has
+assumed a round dome-shaped hat and a flowing garment which almost
+sweeps the ground.
+
+It is gathered from the Code that there were three chief social
+grades--the aristocracy, which included landowners, high officials and
+administrators; the freemen, who might be wealthy merchants or small
+landholders; and the slaves. The fines imposed for a given offence
+upon wealthy men were much heavier than those imposed upon the poor.
+Lawsuits were heard in courts. Witnesses were required to tell the
+truth, "affirming before the god what they knew", and perjurers were
+severely dealt with; a man who gave false evidence in connection with
+a capital charge was put to death. A strict watch was also kept over
+the judges, and if one was found to have willingly convicted a
+prisoner on insufficient evidence he was fined and degraded.
+
+Theft was regarded as a heinous crime, and was invariably punished by
+death. Thieves included those who made purchases from minors or slaves
+without the sanction of elders or trustees. Sometimes the accused was
+given the alternative of paying a fine, which might exceed by ten or
+even thirty fold the value of the article or animal he had
+appropriated. It was imperative that lost property should be restored.
+If the owner of an article of which he had been wrongfully deprived
+found it in possession of a man who declared that he had purchased it
+from another, evidence was taken in court. When it happened that the
+seller was proved to have been the thief, the capital penalty was
+imposed. On the other hand, the alleged purchaser was dealt with in
+like manner if he failed to prove his case. Compensation for property
+stolen by a brigand was paid by the temple, and the heirs of a man
+slain by a brigand within the city had to be compensated by the local
+authority.
+
+Of special interest are the laws which relate to the position of
+women. In this connection reference may first be made to the
+marriage-by-auction custom, which Herodotus described as follows:
+"Once a year in each village the maidens of age to marry were
+collected all together into one place, while the men stood round them
+in a circle. Then a herald called up the damsels one by one, and
+offered them for sale. He began with the most beautiful. When she was
+sold for no small sum of money, he offered for sale the one who came
+next to her in beauty. All of them were sold to be wives. The richest
+of the Babylonians who wished to wed bid against each other for the
+loveliest maidens, while the humbler wife-seekers, who were
+indifferent about beauty, took the more homely damsels with marriage
+portions. For the custom was that when the herald had gone through the
+whole number of the beautiful damsels, he should then call up the
+ugliest--a cripple, if there chanced to be one--and offer her to the
+men, asking who would agree to take her with the smallest marriage
+portion. And the man who offered to take the smallest sum had her
+assigned to him. The marriage portions were furnished by the money
+paid for the beautiful damsels, and thus the fairer maidens portioned
+out the uglier. No one was allowed to give his daughter in marriage to
+the man of his choice, nor might anyone carry away the damsel whom he
+had purchased without finding bail really and truly to make her his
+wife; if, however, it turned out that they did not agree, the money
+might be paid back. All who liked might come, even from distant
+villages, and bid for the women."[268]
+
+This custom is mentioned by other writers, but it is impossible to
+ascertain at what period it became prevalent in Babylonia and by whom
+it was introduced. Herodotus understood that it obtained also in "the
+Illyrian tribe of the Eneti", which was reputed to have entered Italy
+with Antenor after the fall of Troy, and has been identified with the
+Venetians of later times. But the ethnic clue thus afforded is
+exceedingly vague. There is no direct reference to the custom in the
+Hammurabi Code, which reveals a curious blending of the principles of
+"Father right" and "Mother right". A girl was subject to her father's
+will; he could dispose of her as he thought best, and she always
+remained a member of his family; after marriage she was known as the
+daughter of so and so rather than the wife of so and so. But marriage
+brought her freedom and the rights of citizenship. The power vested in
+her father was never transferred to her husband.
+
+A father had the right to select a suitable spouse for his daughter,
+and she could not marry without his consent. That this law did not
+prevent "love matches" is made evident by the fact that provision was
+made in the Code for the marriage of a free woman with a male slave,
+part of whose estate in the event of his wife's death could be claimed
+by his master.
+
+When a betrothal was arranged, the father fixed the "bride price",
+which was paid over before the contract could be concluded, and he
+also provided a dowry. The amount of the "bride price" might, however,
+be refunded to the young couple to give them a start in life. If,
+during the interval between betrothal and marriage, the man "looked
+upon another woman", and said to his father-in-law, "I will not marry
+your daughter", he forfeited the "bride price" for breach of promise
+of marriage.
+
+A girl might also obtain a limited degree of freedom by taking vows of
+celibacy and becoming one of the vestal virgins, or nuns, who were
+attached to the temple of the sun god. She did not, however, live a
+life of entire seclusion. If she received her due proportion of her
+father's estate, she could make business investments within certain
+limits. She was not, for instance, allowed to own a wineshop, and if
+she even entered one she was burned at the stake. Once she took these
+vows she had to observe them until the end of her days. If she
+married, as she might do to obtain the legal status of a married woman
+and enjoy the privileges of that position, she denied her husband
+conjugal rites, but provided him with a concubine who might bear him
+children, as Sarah did to Abraham. These nuns must not be confused
+with the unmoral women who were associated with the temples of Ishtar
+and other love goddesses of shady repute.
+
+The freedom secured by a married woman had its legal limitations. If
+she became a widow, for instance, she could not remarry without the
+consent of a judge, to whom she was expected to show good cause for
+the step she proposed to take. Punishments for breaches of the
+marriage law were severe. Adultery was a capital crime; the guilty
+parties were bound together and thrown into the river. If it happened,
+however, that the wife of a prisoner went to reside with another man
+on account of poverty, she was acquitted and allowed to return to her
+husband after his release. In cases where no plea of poverty could be
+urged the erring women were drowned. The wife of a soldier who had
+been taken prisoner by an enemy was entitled to a third part of her
+husband's estate if her son was a minor, the remainder was held in
+trust. The husband could enter into possession of all his property
+again if he happened to return home.
+
+Divorce was easily obtained. A husband might send his wife away either
+because she was childless or because he fell in love with another
+woman. Incompatibility of temperament was also recognized as
+sufficient reason for separation. A woman might hate her husband and
+wish to leave him. "If", the Code sets forth, "she is careful and is
+without blame, and is neglected by her husband who has deserted her",
+she can claim release from the marriage contract. But if she is found
+to have another lover, and is guilty of neglecting her duties, she is
+liable to be put to death.
+
+A married woman possessed her own property. Indeed, the value of her
+marriage dowry was always vested in her. When, therefore, she divorced
+her husband, or was divorced by him, she was entitled to have her
+dowry refunded and to return to her father's house. Apparently she
+could claim maintenance from her father.
+
+A woman could have only one husband, but a man could have more than
+one wife. He might marry a secondary wife, or concubine, because he
+was without offspring, but "the concubine", the Code lays down, "shall
+not rank with the wife". Another reason for second marriage recognized
+by law was a wife's state of health. In such circumstances a man could
+not divorce his sickly wife. He had to support her in his house as
+long as she lived.
+
+Children were the heirs of their parents, but if a man during his
+lifetime gifted his property to his wife, and confirmed it on "a
+sealed tablet", the children could have no claim, and the widow was
+entitled to leave her estate to those of her children she preferred;
+but she could not will any portion of it to her brothers. In ordinary
+cases the children of a first marriage shared equally the estate of a
+father with those of a second marriage. If a slave bore children to
+her employer, their right to inheritance depended on whether or not
+the father had recognized them as his offspring during his lifetime. A
+father might legally disown his son if the young man was guilty of
+criminal practices.
+
+The legal rights of a vestal virgin were set forth in detail. If she
+had received no dowry from her father when she took vows of celibacy,
+she could claim after his death one-third of the portion of a son. She
+could will her estate to anyone she favoured, but if she died
+intestate her brothers were her heirs. When, however, her estate
+consisted of fields or gardens allotted to her by her father, she
+could not disinherit her legal heirs. The fields or gardens might be
+worked during her lifetime by her brothers if they paid rent, or she
+might employ a manager on the "share system".
+
+Vestal virgins and married women were protected against the slanderer.
+Any man who "pointed the finger" against them unjustifiably was
+charged with the offence before a judge, who could sentence him to
+have his forehead branded. It was not difficult, therefore, in ancient
+Babylonia to discover the men who made malicious and unfounded
+statements regarding an innocent woman. Assaults on women were
+punished according to the victim's rank; even slaves were protected.
+
+Women appear to have monopolized the drink traffic. At any rate, there
+is no reference to male wine sellers. A female publican had to conduct
+her business honestly, and was bound to accept a legal tender. If she
+refused corn and demanded silver, when the value of the silver by
+"grand weight" was below the price of corn, she was prosecuted and
+punished by being thrown into the water. Perhaps she was simply
+ducked. As much may be inferred from the fact that when she was found
+guilty of allowing rebels to meet in her house, she was put to death.
+
+The land laws were strict and exacting. A tenant could be penalized
+for not cultivating his holding properly. The rent paid was a
+proportion of the crop, but the proportion could be fixed according to
+the average yield of a district, so that a careless or inefficient
+tenant had to bear the brunt of his neglect or want of skill. The
+punishment for allowing a field to lie fallow was to make a man hoe
+and sow it and then hand it over to his landlord, and this applied
+even to a man who leased unreclaimed land which he had contracted to
+cultivate. Damage done to fields by floods after the rent was paid was
+borne by the cultivator; but if it occurred before the corn was reaped
+the landlord's share was calculated in proportion to the amount of the
+yield which was recovered. Allowance was also made for poor harvests,
+when the shortage was not due to the neglect of the tenant, but to
+other causes, and no interest was paid for borrowed money even if the
+farm suffered from the depredations of the tempest god; the
+moneylender had to share risks with borrowers. Tenants who neglected
+their dykes, however, were not exempted from their legal liabilities,
+and their whole estates could be sold to reimburse their creditors.
+
+The industrious were protected against the careless. Men who were
+negligent about controlling the water supply, and caused floods by
+opening irrigation ditches which damaged the crops of their
+neighbours, had to pay for the losses sustained, the damages being
+estimated according to the average yield of a district. A tenant who
+allowed his sheep to stray on to a neighbour's pasture had to pay a
+heavy fine in corn at the harvest season, much in excess of the value
+of the grass cropped by his sheep. Gardeners were similarly subject to
+strict laws. All business contracts had to be conducted according to
+the provisions of the Code, and in every case it was necessary that a
+proper record should be made on clay tablets. As a rule a dishonest
+tenant or trader had to pay sixfold the value of the sum under dispute
+if the judge decided in court against his claim.
+
+The law of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth was strictly
+observed in Babylonia. A freeman who destroyed an eye of a freeman had
+one of his own destroyed; if he broke a bone, he had a bone broken.
+Fines were imposed, however, when a slave was injured. For striking a
+gentleman, a commoner received sixty lashes, and the son who smote his
+father had his hands cut off. A slave might have his ears cut off for
+assaulting his master's son.
+
+Doctors must have found their profession an extremely risky one. No
+allowance was made for what is nowadays known as a "professional
+error". A doctor's hands were cut off if he opened a wound with a
+metal knife and his patient afterwards died, or if a man lost his eye
+as the result of an operation. A slave who died under a doctor's hands
+had to be replaced by a slave, and if a slave lost his eye, the doctor
+had to pay half the man's market value to the owner. Professional fees
+were fixed according to a patient's rank. Gentlemen had to pay five
+shekels of silver to a doctor who set a bone or restored diseased
+flesh, commoners three shekels, and masters for their slaves two
+shekels. There was also a scale of fees for treating domesticated
+animals, and it was not over-generous. An unfortunate surgeon who
+undertook to treat an ox or ass suffering from a severe wound had to
+pay a quarter of its price to its owner if it happened to die. A
+shrewd farmer who was threatened with the loss of an animal must have
+been extremely anxious to engage the services of a surgeon.
+
+It is not surprising, after reviewing this part of the Hammurabi Code,
+to find Herodotus stating bluntly that the Babylonians had no
+physicians. "When a man is ill", he wrote, "they lay him in the public
+square, and the passers-by come up to him, and if they have ever had
+his disease themselves, or have known anyone who has suffered from it,
+they give him advice, recommending him to do whatever they found good
+in their own case, or in the case known to them; and no one is allowed
+to pass the sick man in silence without asking him what his ailment
+is." One might imagine that Hammurabi had legislated the medical
+profession out of existence, were it not that letters have been found
+in the Assyrian library of Ashur-banipal which indicate that skilled
+physicians were held in high repute. It is improbable, however, that
+they were numerous. The risks they ran in Babylonia may account for
+their ultimate disappearance in that country.
+
+No doubt patients received some benefit from exposure in the streets
+in the sunlight and fresh air, and perhaps, too, from some of the old
+wives' remedies which were gratuitously prescribed by passers-by. In
+Egypt, where certain of the folk cures were recorded on papyri, quite
+effective treatment was occasionally given, although the "medicines"
+were exceedingly repugnant as a rule; ammonia, for instance, was taken
+with the organic substances found in farmyards. Elsewhere some
+wonderful instances of excellent folk cures have come to light,
+especially among isolated peoples, who have received them interwoven
+in their immemorial traditions. A medical man who has investigated
+this interesting subject in the Scottish Highlands has shown that "the
+simple observation of the people was the starting-point of our fuller
+knowledge, however complete we may esteem it to be". For dropsy and
+heart troubles, foxglove, broom tops, and juniper berries, which have
+reputations "as old as the hills", are "the most reliable medicines in
+our scientific armoury at the present time". These discoveries of the
+ancient folks have been "merely elaborated in later days". Ancient
+cures for indigestion are still in use. "Tar water, which was a remedy
+for chest troubles, especially for those of a consumptive nature, has
+endless imitations in our day"; it was also "the favourite remedy for
+skin diseases". No doubt the present inhabitants of Babylonia, who
+utilize bitumen as a germicide, are perpetuating an ancient folk
+custom.
+
+This medical man who is being quoted adds: "The whole matter may be
+summed up, that we owe infinitely more to the simple nature study of
+our people in the great affair of health than we owe to all the later
+science."[269]
+
+Herodotus, commenting on the custom of patients taking a census of
+folk cures in the streets, said it was one of the wisest institutions
+of the Babylonian people. It is to be regretted that he did not enter
+into details regarding the remedies which were in greatest favour in
+his day. His data would have been useful for comparative purposes.
+
+So far as can be gathered from the clay tablets, faith cures were not
+unknown, and there was a good deal of quackery. If surgery declined,
+as a result of the severe restrictions which hampered progress in an
+honourable profession, magic flourished like tropical fungi. Indeed,
+the worker of spells was held in high repute, and his operations were
+in most cases allowed free play. There are only two paragraphs in the
+Hammurabi Code which deal with magical practices. It is set forth that
+if one man cursed another and the curse could not be justified, the
+perpetrator of it must suffer the death penalty. Provision was also
+made for discovering whether a spell had been legally imposed or not.
+The victim was expected to plunge himself in a holy river. If the
+river carried him away it was held as proved that he deserved his
+punishment, and "the layer of the spell" was given possession of the
+victim's house. A man who could swim was deemed to be innocent; he
+claimed the residence of "the layer of the spell", who was promptly
+put to death. With this interesting glimpse of ancient superstition
+the famous Code opens, and then strikes a modern note by detailing the
+punishments for perjury and the unjust administration of law in the
+courts.
+
+The poor sufferers who gathered at street corners in Babylon to make
+mute appeal for cures believed that they were possessed by evil
+spirits. Germs of disease were depicted by lively imaginations as
+invisible demons, who derived nourishment from the human body. When a
+patient was wasted with disease, growing thinner and weaker and more
+bloodless day by day, it was believed that a merciless vampire was
+sucking his veins and devouring his flesh. It had therefore to be
+expelled by performing a magical ceremony and repeating a magical
+formula. The demon was either driven or enticed away.
+
+A magician had to decide in the first place what particular demon was
+working evil. He then compelled its attention and obedience by
+detailing its attributes and methods of attack, and perhaps by naming
+it. Thereafter he suggested how it should next act by releasing a
+raven, so that it might soar towards the clouds like that bird, or by
+offering up a sacrifice which it received for nourishment and as
+compensation. Another popular method was to fashion a waxen figure of
+the patient and prevail upon the disease demon to enter it. The figure
+was then carried away to be thrown in the river or burned in a fire.
+
+Occasionally a quite effective cure was included in the ceremony. As
+much is suggested by the magical treatment of toothache. First of all
+the magician identified the toothache demon as "the worm ". Then he
+recited its history, which is as follows: After Anu created the
+heavens, the heavens created the earth, the earth created the rivers,
+the rivers created the canals, the canals created the marshes, and
+last of all the marshes created "the worm".
+
+This display of knowledge compelled the worm to listen, and no doubt
+the patient was able to indicate to what degree it gave evidence of
+its agitated mind. The magician continued:
+
+    Came the worm and wept before Shamash,
+    Before Ea came her tears:
+    "What wilt thou give me for my food,
+    What wilt thou give me to devour?"
+
+One of the deities answered: "I will give thee dried bones and scented
+... wood"; but the hungry worm protested:
+
+    "Nay, what are these dried bones of thine to me?
+    Let me drink among the teeth;
+    And set me on the gums
+    That I may devour the blood of the teeth,
+    And of their gums destroy their strength--
+    Then shall I hold the bolt of the door."
+
+The magician provided food for "the worm", and the following is his
+recipe: "Mix beer, the plant sa-kil-bir, and oil together; put it on
+the tooth and repeat Incantation." No doubt this mixture soothed the
+pain, and the sufferer must have smiled gladly when the magician
+finished his incantation by exclaiming:
+
+    "So must thou say this, O Worm!
+    May Ea smite thee with the might of his fist."[270]
+
+Headaches were no doubt much relieved when damp cloths were wrapped
+round a patient's head and scented wood was burned beside him, while
+the magician, in whom so much faith was reposed, droned out a mystical
+incantation. The curative water was drawn from the confluence of two
+streams and was sprinkled with much ceremony. In like manner the
+evil-eye curers, who still operate in isolated districts in these
+islands, draw water from under bridges "over which the dead and the
+living pass",[271] and mutter charms and lustrate victims.
+
+Headaches were much dreaded by the Babylonians. They were usually the
+first symptoms of fevers, and the demons who caused them were supposed
+to be bloodthirsty and exceedingly awesome. According to the charms,
+these invisible enemies of man were of the brood of Nergal. No house
+could be protected against them. They entered through keyholes and
+chinks of doors and windows; they crept like serpents and stank like
+mice; they had lolling tongues like hungry dogs.
+
+Magicians baffled the demons by providing a charm. If a patient
+"touched iron"--meteoric iron, which was the "metal of heaven"--relief
+could be obtained. Or, perhaps, the sacred water would dispel the evil
+one; as the drops trickled from the patient's face, so would the fever
+spirit trickle away. When a pig was offered up in sacrifice as a
+substitute for a patient, the wicked spirit was commanded to depart
+and allow a kindly spirit to take its place--an indication that the
+Babylonians, like the Germanic peoples, believed that they were
+guarded by spirits who brought good luck.
+
+The numerous incantations which were inscribed on clay tablets and
+treasured in libraries, do not throw much light on the progress of
+medical knowledge, for the genuine folk cures were regarded as of
+secondary importance, and were not as a rule recorded. But these
+metrical compositions are of special interest, in so far as they
+indicate how poetry originated and achieved widespread popularity
+among ancient peoples. Like the religious dance, the earliest poems
+were used for magical purposes. They were composed in the first place
+by men and women who were supposed to be inspired in the literal
+sense; that is, possessed by spirits. Primitive man associated
+"spirit" with "breath", which was the "air of life", and identical
+with wind. The poetical magician drew in a "spirit", and thus received
+inspiration, as he stood on some sacred spot on the mountain summit,
+amidst forest solitudes, beside a' whispering stream, or on the
+sounding shore. As Burns has sung:
+
+    The muse, nae poet ever fand her,
+    Till by himsel' he learn'd to wander,
+    Adown some trottin' burn's meander,
+      An' no think lang:
+    O sweet to stray, an' pensive ponder
+      A heart-felt sang!
+
+Or, perhaps, the bard received inspiration by drinking magic water
+from the fountain called Hippocrene, or the skaldic mead which dripped
+from the moon.
+
+The ancient poet did not sing for the mere love of singing: he knew
+nothing about "Art for Art's sake". His object in singing appears to
+have been intensely practical. The world was inhabited by countless
+hordes of spirits, which were believed to be ever exercising
+themselves to influence mankind. The spirits caused suffering; they
+slew victims; they brought misfortune; they were also the source of
+good or "luck ". Man regarded spirits emotionally; he conjured them
+with emotion; he warded off their attacks with emotion; and his
+emotions were given rhythmical expression by means of metrical magical
+charms.
+
+Poetic imagery had originally a magical significance; if the ocean was
+compared to a dragon, it was because it was supposed to be inhabited
+by a storm-causing dragon; the wind whispered because a spirit
+whispered in it. Love lyrics were charms to compel the love god to
+wound or possess a maiden's heart--to fill it, as an Indian charm sets
+forth, with "the yearning of the Apsaras (fairies)"; satires conjured
+up evil spirits to injure a victim; and heroic narratives chanted at
+graves were statements made to the god of battle, so that he might
+award the mighty dead by transporting him to the Valhal of Odin or
+Swarga of Indra.
+
+Similarly, music had magical origin as an imitation of the voices of
+spirits--of the piping birds who were "Fates", of the wind high and
+low, of the thunder roll, of the bellowing sea. So the god Pan piped
+on his reed bird-like notes, Indra blew his thunder horn, Thor used
+his hammer like a drumstick, Neptune imitated on his "wreathed horn"
+the voice of the deep, the Celtic oak god Dagda twanged his windy
+wooden harp, and Angus, the Celtic god of spring and love, came
+through budding forest ways with a silvern harp which had strings of
+gold, echoing the tuneful birds, the purling streams, the whispering
+winds, and the rustling of scented fir and blossoming thorn.
+
+Modern-day poets and singers, who voice their moods and cast the spell
+of their moods over readers and audiences, are the representatives of
+ancient magicians who believed that moods were caused by the spirits
+which possessed them--the rhythmical wind spirits, those harpers of
+the forest and songsters of ocean.
+
+The following quotations from Mr. R.C. Thompson's translations of
+Babylonian charms will serve to illustrate their poetic qualities:--
+
+      Fever like frost hath come upon the land.
+
+    Fever hath blown upon the man as the wind blast,
+    It hath smitten the man and humbled his pride.
+
+    Headache lieth like the stars of heaven in the desert and hath no
+        praise;
+    Pain in the head and shivering like a scudding cloud turn unto the
+        form of man.
+
+        Headache whose course like the dread windstorm none knoweth.
+
+        Headache roareth over the desert, blowing like the wind,
+        Flashing like lightning, it is loosed above and below,
+        It cutteth off him, who feareth not his god, like a reed ...
+        From amid mountains it hath descended upon the land.
+
+            Headache ... a rushing hag-demon,
+            Granting no rest, nor giving kindly sleep ...
+            Whose shape is as the whirlwind.
+            Its appearance is as the darkening heavens,
+            And its face as the deep shadow of the forest.
+
+        Sickness ... breaking the fingers as a rope of wind ...
+        Flashing like a heavenly star, it cometh like the dew.
+
+These early poets had no canons of Art, and there were no critics to
+disturb their meditations. Many singers had to sing and die ere a
+critic could find much to say. In ancient times, therefore, poets had
+their Golden Age--they were a law unto themselves. Even the "minors"
+were influential members of society.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+THE GOLDEN AGE OF BABYLONIA
+
+
+  Rise of the Sun God--Amorites and Elamites struggle for
+  Ascendancy--The Conquering Ancestors of Hammurabi--Sumerian Cities
+  Destroyed--Widespread Race Movements--Phoenician Migration from
+  Persian Gulf--Wanderings of Abraham and Lot--Biblical References to
+  Hittites and Amorites--Battles of Four Kings with Five--Amraphel,
+  Arioch, and Tidal--Hammurabi's Brilliant Reign--Elamite Power
+  Stamped Out--Babylon's Great General and Statesman--The Growth of
+  Commerce, Agriculture, and Education--An Ancient School--Business
+  and Private Correspondence--A Love Letter--Postal
+  System--Hammurabi's Successors--The Earliest Kassites--The Sealand
+  Dynasty--Hittite Raid on Babylon and Hyksos Invasion of Egypt.
+
+
+Sun worship came into prominence in its most fully developed form
+during the obscure period which followed the decline of the Dynasty of
+Isin. This was probably due to the changed political conditions which
+brought about the ascendancy for a time of Larsa, the seat of the
+Sumerian sun cult, and of Sippar, the seat of the Akkadian sun cult.
+Larsa was selected as the capital of the Elamite conquerors, while
+their rivals, the Amorites, appear to have first established their
+power at Sippar.
+
+Babbar, the sun god of Sippar, whose Semitic name was Shamash, must
+have been credited with the early successes of the Amorites, who
+became domiciled under his care, and it was possibly on that account
+that the ruling family subsequently devoted so much attention to his
+worship in Merodach's city of Babylon, where a sun temple was erected,
+and Shamash received devout recognition as an abstract deity of
+righteousness and law, who reflected the ideals of well organized and
+firmly governed communities.
+
+The first Amoritic king was Sumu-abum, but little is known regarding
+him except that he reigned at Sippar. He was succeeded by Sumu-la-ilu,
+a deified monarch, who moved from Sippar to Babylon, the great wall of
+which he either repaired or entirely reconstructed in his fifth year.
+With these two monarchs began the brilliant Hammurabi, or First
+Dynasty of Babylonia, which endured for three centuries. Except
+Sumu-abum, who seems to stand alone, all its kings belonged to the
+same family, and son succeeded father in unbroken succession.
+
+Sumu-la-ilu was evidently a great general and conqueror of the type of
+Thothmes III of Egypt. His empire, it is believed, included the rising
+city states of Assyria, and extended southward as far as ancient
+Lagash.
+
+Of special interest on religious as well as political grounds was his
+association with Kish. That city had become the stronghold of a rival
+family of Amoritic kings, some of whom were powerful enough to assert
+their independence. They formed the Third Dynasty of Kish. The local
+god was Zamama, the Tammuz-like deity, who, like Nin-Girsu of Lagash,
+was subsequently identified with Merodach of Babylon. But prominence
+was also given to the moon god Nannar, to whom a temple had been
+erected, a fact which suggests that sun worship was not more
+pronounced among the Semites than the Arabians, and may not, indeed,
+have been of Semitic origin at all. Perhaps the lunar temple was a
+relic of the influential Dynasty of Ur.
+
+Sumu-la-ilu attacked and captured Kish, but did not slay
+Bunutakhtunila, its king, who became his vassal. Under the
+overlordship of Sumu-la-ilu, the next ruler of Kish, whose name was
+Immerum, gave prominence to the public worship of Shamash. Politics
+and religion went evidently hand in hand.
+
+Sumu-la-ilu strengthened the defences of Sippar, restored the wall and
+temple of Cuthah, and promoted the worship of Merodach and his consort
+Zerpanitu^m at Babylon. He was undoubtedly one of the forceful
+personalities of his dynasty. His son, Zabium, had a short but
+successful reign, and appears to have continued the policy of his
+father in consolidating the power of Babylon and securing the
+allegiance of subject cities. He enlarged Merodach's temple, E-sagila,
+restored the Kish temple of Zamama, and placed a golden image of
+himself in the temple of the sun god at Sippar. Apil-Sin, his son,
+surrounded Babylon with a new wall, erected a temple to Ishtar, and
+presented a throne of gold and silver to Shamash in that city, while
+he also strengthened Borsippa, renewed Nergal's temple at Cuthah, and
+dug canals.
+
+The next monarch was Sin-muballit, son of Apil-Sin and father of
+Hammurabi. He engaged himself in extending and strengthening the area
+controlled by Babylon by building city fortifications and improving
+the irrigation system. It is recorded that he honoured Shamash with
+the gift of a shrine and a golden altar adorned with jewels. Like
+Sumu-la-ilu, he was a great battle lord, and was specially concerned
+in challenging the supremacy of Elam in Sumeria and in the western
+land of the Amorites.
+
+For a brief period a great conqueror, named Rim-Anum, had established
+an empire which extended from Kish to Larsa, but little is known
+regarding him. Then several kings flourished at Larsa who claimed to
+have ruled over Ur. The first monarch with an Elamite name who became
+connected with Larsa was Kudur-Mabug, son of Shimti-Shilkhak, the
+father of Warad-Sin and Rim-Sin.
+
+It was from one of these Elamite monarchs that Sin-muballit captured
+Isin, and probably the Elamites were also the leaders of the army of
+Ur which he had routed before that event took place. He was not
+successful, however, in driving the Elamites from the land, and
+possibly he arranged with them a treaty of peace or perhaps of
+alliance.
+
+Much controversy has been waged over the historical problems connected
+with this disturbed age. The records are exceedingly scanty, because
+the kings were not in the habit of commemorating battles which proved
+disastrous to them, and their fragmentary references to successes are
+not sufficient to indicate what permanent results accrued from their
+various campaigns. All we know for certain is that for a considerable
+period, extending perhaps over a century, a tremendous and disastrous
+struggle was waged at intervals, which desolated middle Babylonia. At
+least five great cities were destroyed by fire, as is testified by the
+evidence accumulated by excavators. These were Lagash, Umma,
+Shurruppak, Kisurra, and Adab. The ancient metropolis of Lagash, whose
+glory had been revived by Gudea and his kinsmen, fell soon after the
+rise of Larsa, and lay in ruins until the second century B.C., when,
+during the Seleucid Period, it was again occupied for a time. From its
+mound at Tello, and the buried ruins of the other cities, most of the
+relics of ancient Sumerian civilization have been recovered.
+
+It was probably during one of the intervals of this stormy period that
+the rival kings in Babylonia joined forces against a common enemy and
+invaded the Western Land. Probably there was much unrest there. Great
+ethnic disturbances were in progress which were changing the political
+complexion of Western Asia. In addition to the outpourings of Arabian
+peoples into Palestine and Syria, which propelled other tribes to
+invade Mesopotamia, northern Babylonia, and Assyria, there was also
+much unrest all over the wide area to north and west of Elam. Indeed,
+the Elamite migration into southern Babylonia may not have been
+unconnected with the southward drift of roving bands from Media and
+the Iranian plateau.
+
+It is believed that these migrations were primarily due to changing
+climatic conditions, a prolonged "Dry Cycle" having caused a shortage
+of herbage, with the result that pastoral peoples were compelled to go
+farther and farther afield in quest of "fresh woods and pastures new".
+Innumerable currents and cross currents were set in motion once these
+race movements swept towards settled districts either to flood them
+with human waves, or surround them like islands in the midst of
+tempest-lashed seas, fretting the frontiers with restless fury, and
+ever groping for an inlet through which to flow with irresistible
+force.
+
+The Elamite occupation of Southern Babylonia appears to have propelled
+migrations of not inconsiderable numbers of its inhabitants. No doubt
+the various sections moved towards districts which were suitable for
+their habits of life. Agriculturists, for instance, must have shown
+preference for those areas which were capable of agricultural
+development, while pastoral folks sought grassy steppes and valleys,
+and seafarers the shores of alien seas.
+
+Northern Babylonia and Assyria probably attracted the tillers of the
+soil. But the movements of seafarers must have followed a different
+route. It is possible that about this time the Phoenicians began to
+migrate towards the "Upper Sea". According to their own traditions
+their racial cradle was on the northern shore of the Persian Gulf. So
+far as we know, they first made their appearance on the Mediterranean
+coast about 2000 B.C., where they subsequently entered into
+competition as sea traders with the mariners of ancient Crete.
+Apparently the pastoral nomads pressed northward through Mesopotamia
+and towards Canaan. As much is suggested by the Biblical narrative
+which deals with the wanderings of Terah, Abraham, and Lot. Taking
+with them their "flocks and herds and tents ", and accompanied by
+wives, and families, and servants, they migrated, it is stated, from
+the Sumerian city of Ur northwards to Haran "and dwelt there". After
+Terah's death the tribe wandered through Canaan and kept moving
+southward, unable, it would seem, to settle permanently in any
+particular district. At length "there was a famine in the land"--an
+interesting reference to the "Dry Cycle"--and the wanderers found it
+necessary to take refuge for a time in Egypt. There they appear to
+have prospered. Indeed, so greatly did their flocks and herds increase
+that when they returned to Canaan they found that "the land was not
+able to bear them", although the conditions had improved somewhat
+during the interval. "There was", as a result, "strife between the
+herdmen of Abram's cattle and the herdmen of Lot's cattle."
+
+It is evident that the area which these pastoral flocks were allowed
+to occupy must have been strictly circumscribed, for more than once it
+is stated significantly that "the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled
+in the land". The two kinsmen found it necessary, therefore, to part
+company. Lot elected to go towards Sodom in the plain of Jordan, and
+Abraham then moved towards the plain of Mamre, the Amorite, in the
+Hebron district.[272] With Mamre, and his brothers, Eshcol and Aner,
+the Hebrew patriarch formed a confederacy for mutual protection.[273]
+
+Other tribes which were in Palestine at this period included the
+Horites, the Rephaims, the Zuzims, the Zamzummims, and the Emims.
+These were probably representatives of the older stocks. Like the
+Amorites, the Hittites or "children of Heth" were evidently "late
+comers", and conquerors. When Abraham purchased the burial cave at
+Hebron, the landowner with whom he had to deal was one Ephron, son of
+Zohar, the Hittite.[274] This illuminating statement agrees with what
+we know regarding Hittite expansion about 2000 B.C. The "Hatti" or
+"Khatti" had constituted military aristocracies throughout Syria and
+extended their influence by forming alliances. Many of their settlers
+were owners of estates, and traders who intermarried with the
+indigenous peoples and the Arabian invaders. As has been indicated
+(Chapter I), the large-nosed Armenoid section of the Hittite
+confederacy appear to have contributed to the racial blend known
+vaguely as the Semitic. Probably the particular group of Amorites with
+whom Abraham became associated had those pronounced Armenoid traits
+which can still be traced in representatives of the Hebrew people. Of
+special interest in this connection is Ezekiel's declaration regarding
+the ethnics of Jerusalem: "Thy birth and thy nativity", he said, "is
+of the land of Canaan; thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother an
+Hittite."[275]
+
+It was during Abraham's residence in Hebron that the Western Land was
+raided by a confederacy of Babylonian and Elamite battle lords. The
+Biblical narrative which deals with this episode is of particular
+interest and has long engaged the attention of European scholars:
+
+"And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel (Hammurabi) king of
+Shinar (Sumer), Arioch (Eri-aku or Warad-Sin) king of Ellasar (Larsa),
+Chedor-laomer (Kudur-Mabug) king of Elam, and Tidal (Tudhula) king of
+nations; that these made war with Bera king of Sodom, and with Birsha
+king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, and Shemeber king of Zeboiim,
+and the king of Bela, which is Zoar. All these joined together in the
+vale of Siddim, which is the salt sea. Twelve years they served
+Chedor-laomer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled."[276]
+Apparently the Elamites had conquered part of Syria after entering
+southern Babylonia.
+
+Chedor-laomer and his allies routed the Rephaims, the Zuzims, the
+Emims, the Horites and others, and having sacked Sodom and Gomorrah,
+carried away Lot and "his goods". On hearing of this disaster, Abraham
+collected a force of three hundred and eighteen men, all of whom were
+no doubt accustomed to guerrilla warfare, and delivered a night attack
+on the tail of the victorious army which was withdrawing through the
+area afterwards allotted to the Hebrew tribe of Dan. The surprise was
+complete; Abraham "smote" the enemy and "pursued them unto Hobah,
+which is on the left hand of Damascus. And he brought back all the
+goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the
+women also, and the people."[277]
+
+The identification of Hammurabi with Amraphel is now generally
+accepted. At first the guttural "h", which gives the English rendering
+"Khammurabi", presented a serious difficulty, but in time the form
+"Ammurapi" which appears on a tablet became known, and the conclusion
+was reached that the softer "h" sound was used and not the guttural.
+The "l" in the Biblical Amraphel has suggested "Ammurapi-ilu",
+"Hammurabi, the god", but it has been argued, on the other hand, that
+the change may have been due to western habitual phonetic conditions,
+or perhaps the slight alteration of an alphabetical sign.
+Chedor-laomer, identified with Kudur-Mabug, may have had several local
+names. One of his sons, either Warad-Sin or Rim-Sin, but probably the
+former, had his name Semitized as Eri-Aku, and this variant appears in
+inscriptions. "Tidal, king of nations", has not been identified. The
+suggestion that he was "King of the Gutium" remains in the realm of
+suggestion. Two late tablets have fragmentary inscriptions which read
+like legends with some historical basis. One mentions Kudur-lahmal
+(?Chedor-laomer) and the other gives the form "Kudur-lahgumal", and
+calls him "King of the land of Elam". Eri-Eaku (?Eri-aku) and Tudhula
+(?Tidal) are also mentioned. Attacks had been delivered on Babylon,
+and the city and its great temple E-sagila were flooded. It is
+asserted that the Elamites "exercised sovereignty in Babylon" for a
+period. These interesting tablets have been published by Professor
+Pinches.
+
+The fact that the four leaders of the expedition to Canaan are all
+referred to as "kings" in the Biblical narrative need not present any
+difficulty. Princes and other subject rulers who governed under an
+overlord might be and, as a matter of fact, were referred to as kings.
+"I am a king, son of a king", an unidentified monarch recorded on one
+of the two tablets just referred to. Kudur-Mabug, King of Elam, during
+his lifetime called his son Warad-Sin (Eri-Aku = Arioch) "King of
+Larsa". It is of interest to note, too, in connection with the
+Biblical narrative regarding the invasion of Syria and Palestine, that
+he styled himself "overseer of the Amurru (Amorites)".
+
+No traces have yet been found in Palestine of its conquest by the
+Elamites, nor have the excavators been able to substantiate the claim
+of Lugal-zaggizi of a previous age to have extended his empire to the
+shores of the Mediterranean. Any relics which these and other eastern
+conquerors may have left were possibly destroyed by the Egyptians and
+Hittites.
+
+When Hammurabi came to the throne he had apparently to recognize the
+overlordship of the Elamite king or his royal son at Larsa. Although
+Sin-muballit had captured Isin, it was retaken, probably after the
+death of the Babylonian war-lord, by Rim-Sin, who succeeded his
+brother Warad-Sin, and for a time held sway in Lagash, Nippur, and
+Erech, as well as Larsa.
+
+It was not until the thirty-first year of his reign that Hammurabi
+achieved ascendancy over his powerful rival. Having repulsed an
+Elamite raid, which was probably intended to destroy the growing power
+of Babylon, he "smote down Rim-Sin", whose power he reduced almost to
+vanishing point. For about twenty years afterwards that subdued
+monarch lived in comparative obscurity; then he led a force of allies
+against Hammurabi's son and successor, Samsu-iluna, who defeated him
+and put him to death, capturing, in the course of his campaign, the
+revolting cities of Emutbalum, Erech, and Isin. So was the last
+smouldering ember of Elamite power stamped out in Babylonia.
+
+Hammurabi, statesman and general, is one of the great personalities of
+the ancient world. No more celebrated monarch ever held sway in
+Western Asia. He was proud of his military achievements, but preferred
+to be remembered as a servant of the gods, a just ruler, a father of
+his people, and "the shepherd that gives peace". In the epilogue to
+his code of laws he refers to "the burden of royalty", and declares
+that he "cut off the enemy" and "lorded it over the conquered" so that
+his subjects might have security. Indeed, his anxiety for their
+welfare was the most pronounced feature of his character. "I carried
+all the people of Sumer and Akkad in my bosom", he declared in his
+epilogue. "By my protection, I guided in peace its brothers. By my
+wisdom I provided for them." He set up his stele, on which the legal
+code was inscribed, so "that the great should not oppress the weak"
+and "to counsel the widow and orphan", and "to succour the injured....
+The king that is gentle, king of the city, exalted am I."[278]
+
+Hammurabi was no mere framer of laws but a practical administrator as
+well. He acted as supreme judge, and his subjects could appeal to him
+as the Romans could to Caesar. Nor was any case too trivial for his
+attention. The humblest man was assured that justice would be done if
+his grievance were laid before the king. Hammurabi was no respecter of
+persons, and treated alike all his subjects high and low. He punished
+corrupt judges, protected citizens against unjust governors, reviewed
+the transactions of moneylenders with determination to curb
+extortionate demands, and kept a watchful eye on the operations of
+taxgatherers.
+
+There can be little doubt but that he won the hearts of his subjects,
+who enjoyed the blessings of just administration under a well-ordained
+political system. He must also have endeared himself to them as an
+exemplary exponent of religious tolerance. He respected the various
+deities in whom the various groups of people reposed their faith,
+restored despoiled temples, and re-endowed them with characteristic
+generosity. By so doing he not only afforded the pious full freedom
+and opportunity to perform their religious ordinances, but also
+promoted the material welfare of his subjects, for the temples were
+centres of culture and the priests were the teachers of the young.
+Excavators have discovered at Sippar traces of a school which dates
+from the Hammurabi Dynasty. Pupils learned to read and write, and
+received instruction in arithmetic and mensuration. They copied
+historical tablets, practised the art of composition, and studied
+geography.
+
+Although there were many professional scribes, a not inconsiderable
+proportion of the people of both sexes were able to write private and
+business letters. Sons wrote from a distance to their fathers when in
+need of money then as now, and with the same air of undeserved
+martyrdom and subdued but confident appeal. One son indited a long
+complaint regarding the quality of the food he was given in his
+lodgings. Lovers appealed to forgetful ladies, showing great concern
+regarding their health. "Inform me how it fares with thee," one wrote
+four thousand years ago. "I went up to Babylon so that I might meet
+thee, but did not, and was much depressed. Let me know why thou didst
+go away so that I may be made glad. And do come hither. Ever have care
+of thy health, remembering me." Even begging-letter writers were not
+unknown. An ancient representative of this class once wrote to his
+employer from prison. He expressed astonishment that he had been
+arrested, and, having protested his innocence, he made touching appeal
+for little luxuries which were denied to him, adding that the last
+consignment which had been forwarded had never reached him.
+
+Letters were often sent by messengers who were named, but there also
+appears to have been some sort of postal system. Letter carriers,
+however, could not have performed their duties without the assistance
+of beasts of burden. Papyri were not used as in Egypt. Nor was ink
+required. Babylonian letters were shapely little bricks resembling
+cushions. The angular alphabetical characters, bristling with
+thorn-like projections, were impressed with a wedge-shaped stylus on
+tablets of soft clay which were afterwards carefully baked in an oven.
+Then the letters were placed in baked clay envelopes, sealed and
+addressed, or wrapped in pieces of sacking transfixed by seals. If the
+ancient people had a festive season which was regarded, like the
+European Yuletide or the Indian Durga fortnight, as an occasion
+suitable for the general exchange of expressions of goodwill, the
+Babylonian streets and highways must have been greatly congested by
+the postal traffic, while muscular postmen worked overtime
+distributing the contents of heavy and bulky letter sacks. Door to
+door deliveries would certainly have presented difficulties. Wood
+being dear, everyone could not afford doors, and some houses were
+entered by stairways leading to the flat and partly open roofs.
+
+King Hammurabi had to deal daily with a voluminous correspondence. He
+received reports from governors in all parts of his realm, legal
+documents containing appeals, and private communications from
+relatives and others. He paid minute attention to details, and was
+probably one of the busiest men in Babylonia. Every day while at home,
+after worshipping Merodach at E-sagila, he dictated letters to his
+scribes, gave audiences to officials, heard legal appeals and issued
+interlocutors, and dealt with the reports regarding his private
+estates. He looks a typical man of affairs in sculptured
+representations--shrewd, resolute, and unassuming, feeling "the
+burden of royalty", but ever ready and well qualified to discharge his
+duties with thoroughness and insight. His grasp of detail was equalled
+only by his power to conceive of great enterprises which appealed to
+his imagination. It was a work of genius on his part to weld together
+that great empire of miscellaneous states extending from southern
+Babylonia to Assyria, and from the borders of Elam to the
+Mediterranean coast, by a universal legal Code which secured
+tranquillity and equal rights to all, promoted business, and set
+before his subjects the ideals of right thinking and right living.
+
+Hammurabi recognized that conquest was of little avail unless followed
+by the establishment of a just and well-arranged political system, and
+the inauguration of practical measures to secure the domestic,
+industrial, and commercial welfare of the people as a whole. He
+engaged himself greatly, therefore, in developing the natural
+resources of each particular district. The network of irrigating
+canals was extended in the homeland so that agriculture might prosper:
+these canals also promoted trade, for they were utilized for
+travelling by boat and for the distribution of commodities. As a
+result of his activities Babylon became not only the administrative,
+but also the commercial centre of his Empire--the London of Western
+Asia--and it enjoyed a spell of prosperity which was never surpassed
+in subsequent times. Yet it never lost its pre-eminent position
+despite the attempts of rival states, jealous of its glory and
+influence, to suspend its activities. It had been too firmly
+established during the Hammurabi Age, which was the Golden Age of
+Babylonia, as the heartlike distributor and controller of business
+life through a vast network of veins and arteries, to be displaced by
+any other Mesopotamian city to pleasure even a mighty monarch. For two
+thousand years, from the time of Hammurabi until the dawn of the
+Christian era, the city of Babylon remained amidst many political
+changes the metropolis of Western Asiatic commerce and culture, and
+none was more eloquent in its praises than the scholarly pilgrim from
+Greece who wondered at its magnificence and reverenced its
+antiquities.
+
+Hammurabi's reign was long as it was prosperous. There is no general
+agreement as to when he ascended the throne--some say in 2123 B.C.,
+others hold that it was after 2000 B.C.--but it is certain that he
+presided over the destinies of Babylon for the long period of
+forty-three years.
+
+There are interesting references to the military successes of his
+reign in the prologue to the legal Code. It is related that when he
+"avenged Larsa", the seat of Rim-Sin, he restored there the temple of
+the sun god. Other temples were built up at various ancient centres,
+so that these cultural organizations might contribute to the welfare
+of the localities over which they held sway. At Nippur he thus
+honoured Enlil, at Eridu the god Ea, at Ur the god Sin, at Erech the
+god Anu and the goddess Nana (Ishtar), at Kish the god Zamama and the
+goddess Ma-ma, at Cuthah the god Nergal, at Lagash the god Nin-Girsu,
+while at Adab and Akkad, "celebrated for its wide squares", and other
+centres he carried out religious and public works. In Assyria he
+restored the colossus of Ashur, which had evidently been carried away
+by a conqueror, and he developed the canal system of Nineveh.
+
+Apparently Lagash and Adab had not been completely deserted during his
+reign, although their ruins have not yielded evidence that they
+flourished after their fall during the long struggle with the
+aggressive and plundering Elamites.
+
+Hammurabi referred to himself in the Prologue as "a king who commanded
+obedience in all the four quarters". He was the sort of benevolent
+despot whom Carlyle on one occasion clamoured vainly for--not an
+Oriental despot in the commonly accepted sense of the term. As a
+German writer puts it, his despotism was a form of Patriarchal
+Absolutism. "When Marduk (Merodach)", as the great king recorded,
+"brought me to direct all people, and commissioned me to give
+judgment, I laid down justice and right in the provinces, I made all
+flesh to prosper."[279] That was the keynote of his long life; he
+regarded himself as the earthly representative of the Ruler of
+all--Merodach, "the lord god of right", who carried out the decrees of
+Anu, the sky god of Destiny.
+
+The next king, Samsu-iluna, reigned nearly as long as his illustrious
+father, and similarly lived a strenuous and pious life. Soon after he
+came to the throne the forces of disorder were let loose, but, as has
+been stated, he crushed and slew his most formidable opponent,
+Rim-Sin, the Elamite king, who had gathered together an army of
+allies. During his reign a Kassite invasion was repulsed. The earliest
+Kassites, a people of uncertain racial affinities, began to settle in
+the land during Hammurabi's lifetime. Some writers connect them with
+the Hittites, and others with the Iranians, vaguely termed as
+Indo-European or Indo-Germanic folk. Ethnologists as a rule regard
+them as identical with the Cossaei, whom the Greeks found settled
+between Babylon and Media, east of the Tigris and north of Elam. The
+Hittites came south as raiders about a century later. It is possible
+that the invading Kassites had overrun Elam and composed part of
+Rim-Sin's army. After settled conditions were secured many of them
+remained in Babylonia, where they engaged like their pioneers in
+agricultural pursuits. No doubt they were welcomed in that capacity,
+for owing to the continuous spread of culture and the development of
+commerce, rural labour had become scarce and dear. Farmers had a
+long-standing complaint, "The harvest truly is plenteous, but the
+labourers are few".[280] "Despite the existence of slaves, who were
+for the most part domestic servants, there was", writes Mr. Johns,
+"considerable demand for free labour in ancient Babylonia. This is
+clear from the large number of contracts relating to hire which have
+come down to us.... As a rule, the man was hired for the harvest and
+was free directly after. But there are many examples in which the term
+of service was different--one month, half a year, or a whole year....
+Harvest labour was probably far dearer than any other, because of its
+importance, the skill and exertion demanded, and the fact that so many
+were seeking for it at once." When a farm worker was engaged he
+received a shekel for "earnest money" or arles, and was penalized for
+non-appearance or late arrival.[281]
+
+So great was the political upheaval caused by Rim-Sin and his allies
+and imitators in southern Babylonia, that it was not until the
+seventeenth year of his reign that Samsu-iluna had recaptured Erech
+and Ur and restored their walls. Among other cities which had to be
+chastised was ancient Akkad, where a rival monarch endeavoured to
+establish himself. Several years were afterwards spent in building new
+fortifications, setting up memorials in temples, and cutting and
+clearing canals. On more than one occasion during the latter part of
+his reign he had to deal with aggressive bands of Amorites.
+
+The greatest danger to the Empire, however, was threatened by a new
+kingdom which had been formed in Bit-Jakin, a part of Sealand which
+was afterwards controlled by the mysterious Chaldeans. Here may have
+collected evicted and rebel bands of Elamites and Sumerians and
+various "gentlemen of fortune" who were opposed to the Hammurabi
+regime. After the fall of Rim-Sin it became powerful under a king
+called Ilu-ma-ilu. Samsu-iluna conducted at least two campaigns
+against his rival, but without much success. Indeed, he was in the end
+compelled to retreat with considerable loss owing to the difficult
+character of that marshy country.
+
+Abeshu, the next Babylonian king, endeavoured to shatter the cause of
+the Sealanders, and made it possible for himself to strike at them by
+damming up the Tigris canal. He achieved a victory, but the wily
+Ilu-ma-ilu eluded him, and after a reign of sixty years was succeeded
+by his son, Kiannib. The Sealand Dynasty, of which little is known,
+lasted for over three and a half centuries, and certain of its later
+monarchs were able to extend their sway over part of Babylonia, but
+its power was strictly circumscribed so long as Hammurabi's
+descendants held sway.
+
+During Abeshu's reign of twenty-eight years, of which but scanty
+records survive, he appears to have proved an able statesman and
+general. He founded a new city called Lukhaia, and appears to have
+repulsed a Kassite raid.
+
+His son, Ammiditana, who succeeded him, apparently inherited a
+prosperous and well-organized Empire, for during the first fifteen
+years of his reign he attended chiefly to the adornment of temples and
+other pious undertakings. He was a patron of the arts with
+archaeological leanings, and displayed traits which suggest that he
+inclined, like Sumu-la-ilu, to ancestor worship. Entemena, the pious
+patesi of Lagash, whose memory is associated with the famous silver
+vase decorated with the lion-headed eagle form of Nin-Girsu, had been
+raised to the dignity of a god, and Ammiditana caused his statue to be
+erected so that offerings might be made to it. He set up several
+images of himself also, and celebrated the centenary of the accession
+to the throne of his grandfather, Samsu-iluna, "the warrior lord", by
+unveiling his statue with much ceremony at Kish. About the middle of
+his reign he put down a Sumerian rising, and towards its close had to
+capture a city which is believed to be Isin, but the reference is too
+obscure to indicate what political significance attached to this
+incident. His son, Ammizaduga, reigned for over twenty years quite
+peacefully so far as is known, and was succeeded by Samsuditana, whose
+rule extended over a quarter of a century. Like Ammiditana, these two
+monarchs set up images of themselves as well as of the gods, so that
+they might be worshipped, no doubt. They also promoted the interests
+of agriculture and commerce, and incidentally increased the revenue
+from taxation by paying much attention to the canals and extending the
+cultivatable areas.
+
+But the days of the brilliant Hammurabi Dynasty were drawing to a
+close. It endured for about a century longer than the Twelfth Dynasty
+of Egypt, which came to an end, according to the Berlin calculations,
+in 1788 B.C. Apparently some of the Hammurabi and Amenemhet kings were
+contemporaries, but there is no evidence that they came into direct
+touch with one another. It was not until at about two centuries after
+Hammurabi's day that Egypt first invaded Syria, with which, however,
+it had for a long period previously conducted a brisk trade. Evidently
+the influence of the Hittites and their Amoritic allies predominated
+between Mesopotamia and the Delta frontier of Egypt, and it is
+significant to find in this connection that the "Khatti" or "Hatti"
+were referred to for the first time in Egypt during the Twelfth
+Dynasty, and in Babylonia during the Hammurabi Dynasty, sometime
+shortly before or after 2000 B.C. About 1800 B.C. a Hittite raid
+resulted in the overthrow of the last king of the Hammurabi family at
+Babylon. The Hyksos invasion of Egypt took place after 1788 B.C.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+RISE OF THE HITTITES, MITANNIANS, KASSITES, HYKSOS, AND ASSYRIANS
+
+
+  The War God of Mountaineers--Antiquity of Hittite
+  Civilization--Prehistoric Movements of "Broad Heads"--Evidence of
+  Babylon and Egypt--Hittites and Mongolians--Biblical References to
+  Hittites in Canaan--Jacob's Mother and her Daughters-in-law--Great
+  Father and Great Mother Cults--History in Mythology--The Kingdom of
+  Mitanni--Its Aryan Aristocracy--The Hyksos Problem--The Horse in
+  Warfare--Hittites and Mitannians--Kassites and Mitannians--Hyksos
+  Empire in Asia--Kassites overthrow Sealand Dynasty--Egyptian
+  Campaigns in Syria--Assyria in the Making--Ethnics of
+  Genesis--Nimrod as Merodach--Early Conquerors of Assyria--Mitannian
+  Overlords--Tell-el-Amarna Letters--Fall of Mitanni--Rise of Hittite
+  and Assyrian Empires--Egypt in Eclipse--Assyrian and Babylonian
+  Rivalries.
+
+
+When the Hammurabi Dynasty, like the Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt, is
+found to be suffering languid decline, the gaps in the dulled
+historical records are filled with the echoes of the thunder god,
+whose hammer beating resounds among the northern mountains. As this
+deity comes each year in Western Asia when vegetation has withered and
+after fruits have dropped from trees, bringing tempests and black
+rainclouds to issue in a new season of growth and fresh activity, so
+he descended from the hills in the second millennium before the
+Christian era as the battle lord of invaders and the stormy herald of
+a new age which was to dawn upon the ancient world.
+
+He was the war god of the Hittites as well as of the northern
+Amorites, the Mitannians, and the Kassites; and he led the Aryans from
+the Iranian steppes towards the verdurous valley of the Punjab. His
+worshippers engraved his image with grateful hands on the beetling
+cliffs of Cappadocian chasms in Asia Minor, where his sway was
+steadfast and pre-eminent for long centuries. In one locality he
+appears mounted on a bull wearing a fringed and belted tunic with
+short sleeves, a conical helmet, and upturned shoes, while he grasps
+in one hand the lightning symbol, and in the other a triangular bow
+resting on his right shoulder. In another locality he is the bringer
+of grapes and barley sheaves. But his most familiar form is the
+bearded and thick-set mountaineer, armed with a ponderous thunder
+hammer, a flashing trident, and a long two-edged sword with a
+hemispherical knob on the hilt, which dangles from his belt, while an
+antelope or goat wearing a pointed tiara prances beside him. This
+deity is identical with bluff, impetuous Thor of northern Europe,
+Indra of the Himalayas, Tarku of Phrygia, and Teshup or Teshub of
+Armenia and northern Mesopotamia, Sandan, the Hercules of Cilicia,
+Adad or Hadad of Amurru and Assyria, and Ramman, who at an early
+period penetrated Akkad and Sumer in various forms. His Hittite name
+is uncertain, but in the time of Rameses II he was identified with
+Sutekh (Set). He passed into southern Europe as Zeus, and became "the
+lord" of the deities of the Aegean and Crete.
+
+The Hittites who entered Babylon about 1800 B.C., and overthrew the
+last king of the Hammurabi Dynasty, may have been plundering raiders,
+like the European Gauls of a later age, or a well-organized force of a
+strong, consolidated power, which endured for a period of uncertain
+duration. They were probably the latter, for although they carried off
+Merodach and Zerpanitu^m, these idols were not thrust into the melting
+pot, but retained apparently for political reasons.
+
+These early Hittites are "a people of the mist". More than once in
+ancient history casual reference is made to them; but on most of these
+occasions they soon vanish suddenly behind their northern mountains.
+The explanation appears to be that at various periods great leaders
+arose who were able to weld together the various tribes, and make
+their presence felt in Western Asia. But when once the organization
+broke down, either on account of internal rivalries or the influence
+of an outside power, they lapsed back again into a state of political
+insignificance in the affairs of the ancient world. It is possible
+that about 1800 B.C. the Hittite confederacy was controlled by an
+ambitious king who had dreams of a great empire, and was accordingly
+pursuing a career of conquest.
+
+Judging from what we know of the northern worshippers of the hammer
+god in later times, it would appear that when they were referred to as
+the Hatti or Khatti, the tribe of that name was the dominating power
+in Asia Minor and north Syria. The Hatti are usually identified with
+the broad-headed mountaineers of Alpine or Armenoid type--the
+ancestors of the modern Armenians. Their ancient capital was at
+Boghaz-Koei, the site of Pteria, which was destroyed, according to the
+Greeks, by Croesus, the last King of Lydia, in the sixth century B.C.
+It was strongly situated in an excellent pastoral district on the
+high, breezy plateau of Cappadocia, surrounded by high mountains, and
+approached through narrow river gorges, which in winter were blocked
+with snow.
+
+Hittite civilization was of great antiquity. Excavations which have
+been conducted at an undisturbed artificial mound at Sakje-Geuzi have
+revealed evidences of a continuous culture which began to flourish
+before 3000 B.C.[282] In one of the lower layers occurred that
+particular type of Neolithic yellow-painted pottery, with black
+geometric designs, which resembles other specimens of painted fabrics
+found in Turkestan by the Pumpelly expedition; in Susa, the capital of
+Elam, and its vicinity, by De Morgan; in the Balkan peninsula by
+Schliemann; in a First Dynasty tomb at Abydos in Egypt by Petrie; and
+in the late Neolithic and early Bronze Age (Minoan) strata of Crete by
+Evans. It may be that these interesting relics were connected with the
+prehistoric drift westward of the broad-headed pastoral peoples who
+ultimately formed the Hittite military aristocracy.
+
+According to Professor Elliot Smith, broad-headed aliens from Asia
+Minor first reached Egypt at the dawn of history. There they blended
+with the indigenous tribes of the Mediterranean or Brown Race. A
+mesocephalic skull then became common. It is referred to as the Giza
+type, and has been traced by Professor Elliot Smith from Egypt to the
+Punjab, but not farther into India.[283]
+
+During the early dynasties this skull with alien traits was confined
+chiefly to the Delta region and the vicinity of Memphis, the city of
+the pyramid builders. It is not improbable that the Memphite god Ptah
+may have been introduced into Egypt by the invading broad heads. This
+deity is a world artisan like Indra, and is similarly associated with
+dwarfish artisans; he hammers out the copper sky, and therefore links
+with the various thunder gods--Tarku, Teshup, Adad, Ramman, &c, of the
+Asian mountaineers. Thunderstorms were of too rare occurrence in Egypt
+to be connected with the food supply, which has always depended on the
+river Nile. Ptah's purely Egyptian characteristics appear to have been
+acquired after fusion with Osiris-Seb, the Nilotic gods of inundation,
+earth, and vegetation. The ancient god Set (Sutekh), who became a
+demon, and was ultimately re-exalted as a great deity during the
+Nineteenth Dynasty, may also have had some connection with the
+prehistoric Hatti.
+
+Professor Elliot Smith, who has found alien traits in the mummies of
+the Rameses kings, is convinced that the broad-headed folks who
+entered Europe by way of Asia Minor, and Egypt through the Delta, at
+the close of the Neolithic Age, represent "two streams of the same
+Asiatic folk".[284] The opinion of such an authority cannot be lightly
+set aside.
+
+The earliest Egyptian reference to the Kheta, as the Hittites were
+called, was made in the reign of the first Amenemhet of the Twelfth
+Dynasty, who began to reign about 2000 B.C. Some authorities,
+including Maspero,[285] are of opinion that the allusion to the Hatti
+which is found in the Babylonian _Book of Omens_ belongs to the
+earlier age of Sargon of Akkad and Naram-Sin, but Sayce favours the
+age of Hammurabi. Others would connect the Gutium, or men of Kutu,
+with the Kheta or Hatti. Sayce has expressed the opinion that the
+Biblical Tidal, identified with Tudkhul or Tudhula, "king of nations",
+the ally of Arioch, Amraphel, and Chedor-laomer, was a Hittite king,
+the "nations" being the confederacy of Asia Minor tribes controlled by
+the Hatti. "In the fragments of the Babylonian story of Chedor-laomer
+published by Dr. Pinches", says Professor Sayce, "the name of
+Tid^{c}al is written Tudkhul, and he is described as King of the
+_Umman Manda_, or Nations of the North, of which the Hebrew _Goyyim_
+is a literal translation. Now the name is Hittite. In the account of
+the campaign of Rameses II against the Hittites it appears as
+Tid^{c}al, and one of the Hittite kings of Boghaz-Koei bears the same
+name, which is written as Dud-khaliya in cuneiform.[286]
+
+One of the racial types among the Hittites wore pigtails. These head
+adornments appear on figures in certain Cappadocian sculptures and on
+Hittite warriors in the pictorial records of a north Syrian campaign
+of Rameses II at Thebes. It is suggestive, therefore, to find that on
+the stele of Naram-Sin of Akkad, the mountaineers who are conquered by
+that battle lord wear pigtails also. Their split robes are unlike the
+short fringed tunics of the Hittite gods, but resemble the long split
+mantles worn over their tunics by high dignitaries like King
+Tarku-dimme, who figures on a famous silver boss of an ancient Hittite
+dagger. Naram-Sin inherited the Empire of Sargon of Akkad, which
+extended to the Mediterranean Sea. If his enemies were not natives of
+Cappadocia, they may have been the congeners of the Hittite pigtailed
+type in another wooded and mountainous country.
+
+It has been suggested that these wearers of pigtails were Mongolians.
+But although high cheek bones and oblique eyes occurred in ancient
+times, and still occur, in parts of Asia Minor, suggesting occasional
+Mongolian admixture with Ural-Altaic broad heads, the Hittite
+pigtailed warriors must not be confused with the true small-nosed
+Mongols of north-eastern Asia. The Egyptian sculptors depicted them
+with long and prominent noses, which emphasize their strong Armenoid
+affinities.
+
+Other tribes in the Hittite confederacy included the representatives
+of the earliest settlers from North Africa of Mediterranean racial
+stock. These have been identified with the Canaanites, and especially
+the agriculturists among them, for the Palestinian Hittites are also
+referred to as Canaanites in the Bible, and in one particular
+connection under circumstances which afford an interesting glimpse of
+domestic life in those far-off times. When Esau, Isaac's eldest son,
+was forty years of age, "he took to wife Judith the daughter of Beeri
+the Hittite, and Bashemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite"[287].
+Apparently the Hittite ladies considered themselves to be of higher
+caste than the indigenous peoples and the settlers from other
+countries, for when Ezekiel declared that the mother of Jerusalem was
+a Hittite he said: "Thou art thy mother's daughter, that lotheth her
+husband and her children."[288] Esau's marriage was "a grief of mind
+unto Isaac and to Rebekah".[287] The Hebrew mother seems to
+have entertained fears that her favourite son Jacob would
+fall a victim to the allurements of other representatives of
+the same stock as her superior and troublesome daughters-in-law,
+for she said to Isaac: "I am weary of my life
+because of the daughters of Heth; if Jacob take a wife
+of the daughters of Heth, such as these which are of the
+daughters of the land, what good shall my life do me?"[289]
+Isaac sent for Jacob, "and charged him, and said unto
+him, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of
+Canaan. Arise, go to Padan-aram, to the house of
+Bethuel, thy mother's father; and take thee a wife from
+thence of the daughters of Laban, thy mother's brother."[290]
+From these quotations two obvious deductions may be
+drawn: the Hebrews regarded the Hittites "of the land"
+as one with the Canaanites, the stocks having probably
+been so well fused, and the worried Rebekah had the
+choosing of Jacob's wife or wives from among her own
+relations in Mesopotamia who were of Sumerian stock
+and kindred of Abraham.[291] It is not surprising to find
+traces of Sumerian pride among the descendants of the
+evicted citizens of ancient Ur, especially when brought
+into association with the pretentious Hittites.
+
+Evidence of racial blending in Asia Minor is also afforded by Hittite
+mythology. In the fertile agricultural valleys and round the shores of
+that great Eur-Asian "land bridge" the indigenous stock was also of
+the Mediterranean race, as Sergi and other ethnologists have
+demonstrated. The Great Mother goddess was worshipped from the
+earliest times, and she bore various local names. At Comana in Pontus
+she was known to the Greeks as Ma, a name which may have been as old
+as that of the Sumerian Mama (the creatrix), or Mamitu^m (goddess of
+destiny); in Armenia she was Anaitis; in Cilicia she was Ate ('Atheh
+of Tarsus); while in Phrygia she was best known as Cybele, mother of
+Attis, who links with Ishtar as mother and wife of Tammuz, Aphrodite
+as mother and wife of Adonis, and Isis as mother and wife of Osiris.
+The Great Mother was in Phoenicia called Astarte; she was a form of
+Ishtar, and identical with the Biblical Ashtoreth. In the Syrian city
+of Hierapolis she bore the name of Atargatis, which Meyer, with whom
+Frazer agrees, considers to be the Greek rendering of the Aramaic
+'Athar-'Atheh--the god 'Athar and the goddess 'Atheh. Like the
+"bearded Aphrodite", Atargatis may have been regarded as a bisexual
+deity. Some of the specialized mother goddesses, whose outstanding
+attributes reflected the history and politics of the states they
+represented, were imported into Egypt--the land of ancient mother
+deities--during the Empire period, by the half-foreign Rameses kings;
+these included the voluptuous Kadesh and the warlike Anthat. In every
+district colonized by the early representatives of the Mediterranean
+race, the goddess cult came into prominence, and the gods and the
+people were reputed to be descendants of the great Creatrix. This rule
+obtained as far distant as Ireland, where the Danann folk and the
+Danann gods were the children of the goddess Danu.
+
+Among the Hatti proper--that is, the broad-headed military
+aristocracy--the chief deity of the pantheon was the Great Father, the
+creator, "the lord of Heaven", the Baal. As Sutekh, Tarku, Adad, or
+Ramman, he was the god of thunder, rain, fertility, and war, and he
+ultimately acquired solar attributes. A famous rock sculpture at
+Boghaz-Koei depicts a mythological scene which is believed to represent
+the Spring marriage of the Great Father and the Great Mother,
+suggesting a local fusion of beliefs which resulted from the union of
+tribes of the god cult with tribes of the goddess cult. So long as the
+Hatti tribe remained the predominant partner in the Hittite
+confederacy, the supremacy was assured of the Great Father who
+symbolized their sway. But when, in the process of time, the power of
+the Hatti declined, their chief god "fell... from his predominant
+place in the religion of the interior", writes Dr. Garstang. "But the
+Great Mother lived on, being the goddess of the land."[292]
+
+In addition to the Hittite confederacy of Asia Minor and North Syria,
+another great power arose in northern Mesopotamia. This was the
+Mitanni Kingdom. Little is known regarding it, except what is derived
+from indirect sources. Winckler believes that it was first established
+by early "waves" of Hatti people who migrated from the east.
+
+The Hittite connection is based chiefly on the following evidence. One
+of the gods of the Mitanni rulers was Teshup, who is identical with
+Tarku, the Thor of Asia Minor. The raiders who in 1800 B.C. entered
+Babylon, set fire to E-sagila, and carried off Merodach and his
+consort Zerpanitu^m, were called the Hatti. The images of these
+deities were afterwards obtained from Khani (Mitanni).
+
+At a later period, when we come to know more about Mitanni from the
+letters of one of its kings to two Egyptian Pharaohs, and the Winckler
+tablets from Bog-haz-Koei, it is found that its military aristocracy
+spoke an Indo-European language, as is shown by the names of their
+kings--Saushatar, Artatama, Sutarna, Artashshumara, Tushratta, and
+Mattiuza. They worshipped the following deities:
+
+    Mi-it-ra, Uru-w-na, In-da-ra, and Na-sa-at-ti-ia--
+
+Mitra, Varuna, Indra, and Nasatyau (the "Twin Aswins" = Castor and
+Pollux)--whose names have been deciphered by Winckler. These gods were
+also imported into India by the Vedic Aryans. The Mitanni tribe (the
+military aristocracy probably) was called "Kharri", and some
+philologists are of opinion that it is identical with "Arya", which
+was "the normal designation in Vedic literature from the Rigveda
+onwards of an Aryan of the three upper classes".[293] Mitanni
+signifies "the river lands", and the descendants of its inhabitants,
+who lived in Cappadocia, were called by the Greeks "Mattienoi". "They
+are possibly", says Dr. Haddon, "the ancestors of the modern
+Kurds",[294] a conspicuously long-headed people, proverbial, like the
+ancient Aryo-Indians and the Gauls, for their hospitality and their
+raiding propensities.
+
+It would appear that the Mitannian invasion of northern Mesopotamia
+and the Aryan invasion of India represented two streams of diverging
+migrations from a common cultural centre, and that the separate groups
+of wanderers mingled with other stocks with whom they came into
+contact. Tribes of Aryan speech were associated with the Kassite
+invaders of Babylon, who took possession of northern Babylonia soon
+after the disastrous Hittite raid. It is believed that they came from
+the east through the highlands of Elam.
+
+For a period, the dating of which is uncertain, the Mitannians were
+overlords of part of Assyria, including Nineveh and even Asshur, as
+well as the district called "Musri" by the Assyrians, and part of
+Cappadocia. They also occupied the cities of Harran and Kadesh.
+Probably they owed their great military successes to their cavalry.
+The horse became common in Babylon during the Kassite Dynasty, which
+followed the Hammurabi, and was there called "the ass of the east", a
+name which suggests whence the Kassites and Mitannians came.
+
+The westward movement of the Mitannians in the second millennium B.C.
+may have been in progress prior to the Kassite conquest of Babylon and
+the Hyksos invasion of Egypt. Their relations in Mesopotamia and Syria
+with the Hittites and the Amorites are obscure. Perhaps they were for
+a time the overlords of the Hittites. At any rate it is of interest to
+note that when Thothmes III struck at the last Hyksos stronghold
+during his long Syrian campaign of about twenty years' duration, his
+operations were directly against Kadesh on the Orontes, which was then
+held by his fierce enemies the Mitannians of Naharina.[295]
+
+During the Hyksos Age the horse was introduced into Egypt. Indeed the
+Hyksos conquest was probably due to the use of the horse, which was
+domesticated, as the Pumpelly expedition has ascertained, at a remote
+period in Turkestan, whence it may have been obtained by the
+horse-sacrificing Aryo-Indians and the horse-sacrificing ancestors of
+the Siberian Buriats.
+
+If the Mitanni rulers were not overlords of the Hittites about 1800
+B.C., the two peoples may have been military allies of the Kassites.
+Some writers suggest, indeed, that the Kassites came from Mitanni.
+Another view is that the Mitannians were the Aryan allies of the
+Kassites who entered Babylon from the Elamite highlands, and that they
+afterwards conquered Mesopotamia and part of Cappadocia prior to the
+Hyksos conquest of Egypt. A third solution of the problem is that the
+Aryan rulers of the Mitannian Hittites were the overlords of northern
+Babylonia, which they included in their Mesopotamian empire for a
+century before the Kassites achieved political supremacy in the
+Tigro-Euphrates valley, and that they were also the leaders of the
+Hyksos invasion of Egypt, which they accomplished with the assistance
+of their Hittite and Amoritic allies.
+
+The first Kassite king of Babylonia of whom we have knowledge was
+Gandash. He adopted the old Akkadian title, "king of the four
+quarters", as well as the title "king of Sumer and Akkad", first used
+by the rulers of the Dynasty of Ur. Nippur appears to have been
+selected by Gandash as his capital, which suggests that his war and
+storm god, Shuqamuna, was identified with Bel Enlil, who as a "world
+giant" has much in common with the northern hammer gods. After
+reigning for sixteen years, Gandash was succeeded by his son, Agum the
+Great, who sat on the throne for twenty-two years. The great-grandson
+of Agum the Great was Agum II, and not until his reign were the
+statues of Merodach and his consort Zerpanitu^m brought back to the
+city of Babylon. This monarch recorded that, in response to the oracle
+of Shamash, the sun god, he sent to the distant land of Khani
+(Mitanni) for the great deity and his consort. Babylon would therefore
+appear to have been deprived of Merodach for about two centuries. The
+Hittite-Mitanni raid is dated about 1800 B.C., and the rise of
+Gandash, the Kassite, about 1700 B.C. At least a century elapsed
+between the reigns of Gandash and Agum II. These calculations do not
+coincide, it will be noted, with the statement in a Babylonian hymn,
+that Merodach remained in the land of the Hatti for twenty-four years,
+which, however, may be either a priestly fiction or a reference to a
+later conquest. The period which followed the fall of the Hammurabi
+Dynasty of Babylonia is as obscure as the Hyksos Age of Egypt.
+
+Agum II, the Kassite king, does not state whether or not he waged war
+against Mitanni to recover Babylon's god Merodach. If, however, he was
+an ally of the Mitanni ruler, the transference of the deity may have
+been an ordinary diplomatic transaction. The possibility may also be
+suggested that the Hittites of Mitanni were not displaced by the Aryan
+military aristocracy until after the Kassites were firmly established
+in northern Babylonia between 1700 B.C. and 1600 B.C. This may account
+for the statements that Merodach was carried off by the Hatti and
+returned from the land of Khani.
+
+The evidence afforded by Egypt is suggestive in this connection. There
+was a second Hyksos Dynasty in that country. The later rulers became
+"Egyptianized" as the Kassites became "Babylonianized", but they were
+all referred to by the exclusive and sullen-Egyptians as "barbarians"
+and "Asiatics". They recognized the sun god of Heliopolis, but were
+also concerned in promoting the worship of Sutekh, a deity of sky and
+thunder, with solar attributes, whom Rameses II identified with the
+"Baal" of the Hittites. The Mitannians, as has been stated, recognized
+a Baal called Teshup, who was identical with Tarku of the Western
+Hittites and with their own tribal Indra also. One of the Hyksos
+kings, named Ian or Khian, the Ianias of Manetho, was either an
+overlord or the ally of an overlord, who swayed a great empire in
+Asia. His name has been deciphered on relics found as far apart as
+Knossos in Crete and Baghdad on the Tigris, which at the time was
+situated within the area of Kassite control. Apparently peaceful
+conditions prevailed during his reign over a wide extent of Asia and
+trade was brisk between far-distant centres of civilization. The very
+term Hyksos is suggestive in this connection. According to Breasted it
+signifies "rulers of countries", which compares with the Biblical
+"Tidal king of nations", whom Sayce, as has been indicated, regards as
+a Hittite monarch. When the Hittite hieroglyphics have been read and
+Mesopotamia thoroughly explored, light may be thrown on the relations
+of the Mitannians, the Hittites, the Hyksos, and the Kassites between
+1800 B.C. and 1500 B.C. It is evident that a fascinating volume of
+ancient history has yet to be written.
+
+The Kassites formed the military aristocracy of Babylonia, which was
+called Karduniash, for nearly six centuries. Agum II was the first of
+their kings who became thoroughly Babylonianized, and although he
+still gave recognition to Shuqamuna, the Kassite god of battle, he
+re-exalted Merodach, whose statue he had taken back from "Khani", and
+decorated E-sagila with gifts of gold, jewels, rare woods, frescoes,
+and pictorial tiles; he also re-endowed the priesthood. During the
+reign of his successor, Burnaburiash I, the Dynasty of Sealand came to
+an end.
+
+Little is known regarding the relations between Elam and Babylonia
+during the Kassite period. If the Kassite invaders crossed the Tigris
+soon after the raid of the Mitannian Hittites they must have
+previously overrun a great part of Elam, but strongly situated Susa
+may have for a time withstood their attacks. At first the Kassites
+held northern Babylonia only, while the ancient Sumerian area was
+dominated by the Sealand power, which had gradually regained strength
+during the closing years of the Hammurabi Dynasty. No doubt many
+northern Babylonian refugees reinforced its army.
+
+The Elamites, or perhaps the Kassites of Elam, appear to have made
+frequent attacks on southern Babylonia. At length Ea-gamil, king of
+Sealand, invaded Elam with purpose, no doubt, to shatter the power of
+his restless enemies. He was either met there, however, by an army
+from Babylon, or his country was invaded during his absence. Prince
+Ulamburiash, son of Burnaburiash I, defeated Ea-gamil and brought to
+an end the Sealand Dynasty which had been founded by Ilu-ma-ilu, the
+contemporary and enemy of Samsu-la-ilu, son of Hammurabi. Ulamburiash
+is referred to on a mace-head which was discovered at Babylon as "king
+of Sealand", and he probably succeeded his father at the capital. The
+whole of Babylonia thus came under Kassite sway.
+
+Agum III, a grandson of Ulamburiash, found it necessary, however, to
+invade Sealand, which must therefore have revolted. It was probably a
+centre of discontent during the whole period of Kassite ascendancy.
+
+After a long obscure interval we reach the period when the Hyksos
+power was broken in Egypt, that is, after 1580 B.C. The great Western
+Asiatic kingdoms at the time were the Hittite, the Mitannian, the
+Assyrian, and the Babylonian (Kassite). Between 1557 B.C. and 1501
+B.C. Thothmes I of Egypt was asserting his sway over part of Syria.
+Many years elapsed, however, before Thothmes III, who died in 1447
+B.C., established firmly, after waging a long war of conquest, the
+supremacy of Egypt between the Euphrates and the Mediterranean coast
+as far north as the borders of Asia Minor.
+
+"At this period", as Professor Flinders Petrie emphasizes, "the
+civilization of Syria was equal or superior to that of Egypt." Not
+only was there in the cities "luxury beyond that of the Egyptians",
+but also "technical work which could teach them". The Syrian soldiers
+had suits of scale armour, which afterwards were manufactured in
+Egypt, and they had chariots adorned with gold and silver and highly
+decorated, which were greatly prized by the Egyptians when they
+captured them, and reserved for royalty. "In the rich wealth of gold
+and silver vases", obtained from captured cities by the Nilotic
+warriors, "we see also", adds Petrie, "the sign of a people who were
+their (the Egyptians') equals, if not their superiors in taste and
+skill."[296] It is not to be wondered at, therefore, when the Pharaohs
+received tribute from Syria that they preferred it to be carried into
+Egypt by skilled workmen. "The keenness with which the Egyptians
+record all the beautiful and luxurious products of the Syrians shows
+that the workmen would probably be more in demand than other kinds or
+slave tribute."[297]
+
+One of the monarchs with whom Thothmes III corresponded was the king
+of Assyria. The enemies of Egypt in northern Mesopotamia were the
+Hittites and Mitannians, and their allies, and these were also the
+enemies of Assyria. But to enable us to deal with the new situation
+which was created by Egypt in Mesopotamia, it is necessary in the
+first place to trace the rise of Assyria, which was destined to become
+for a period the dominating power in Western Asia, and ultimately in
+the Nile valley also.
+
+The Assyrian group of cities grew up on the banks of the Tigris to the
+north of Babylonia, the mother country. The following Biblical
+references regarding the origins of the two states are of special
+interest:--
+
+    Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and
+    Japheth.... The sons of Ham: Cush, and Mizraim, and Phut, and
+    Canaan.... And Cush begat Nimrod; he began to be a mighty one in
+    the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the Lord; wherefore it is
+    said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord. And the
+    beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and
+    Calneh, in the land of Shinar. Out of that land went forth Asshur
+    and builded Nineveh, and the city Rehoboth, and Calah, and Resen
+    between Nineveh and Calah: the same is a great city. The children
+    of Shem: Elam and Asshur ... (_Genesis_, x, 1-22). The land of
+    Assyria ... and the land of Nimrod in the entrances thereof
+    (_Micah_, v, 6).
+
+It will be observed that the Sumero-Babylonians are Cushites or
+Hamites, and therefore regarded as racially akin to the
+proto-Egyptians of the Mediterranean race--an interesting confirmation
+of recent ethnological conclusions.
+
+Nimrod, the king of Babel (Babylon), in Shinar (Sumer), was, it would
+appear, a deified monarch who became ultimately identified with the
+national god of Babylonia. Professor Pinches has shown[298] that his
+name is a rendering of that of Merodach. In Sumerian Merodach was
+called Amaruduk or Amarudu, and in the Assyro-Babylonian language
+Marduk. By a process familiar to philologists the suffix "uk" was
+dropped and the rendering became Marad. The Hebrews added "ni" =
+"ni-marad", assimilating the name "to a certain extent to the 'niphal
+forms' of the Hebrew verbs and making a change", says Pinches, "in
+conformity with the genius of the Hebrew language".
+
+Asshur, who went out of Nimrod's country to build Nineveh, was a son
+of Shem--a Semite, and so far as is known it was after the Semites
+achieved political supremacy in Akkad that the Assyrian colonies were
+formed. Asshur may have been a subject ruler who was deified and
+became the god of the city of Asshur, which probably gave its name to
+Assyria.
+
+According to Herodotus, Nineveh was founded by King Ninus and Queen
+Semiramis. This lady was reputed to be the daughter of Derceto, the
+fish goddess, whom Pliny identified with Atargatis. Semiramis was
+actually an Assyrian queen of revered memory. She was deified and took
+the place of a goddess, apparently Nina, the prototype of Derceto.
+This Nina, perhaps a form of Damkina, wife of Ea, was the great mother
+of the Sumerian city of Nina, and there, and also at Lagash, received
+offerings of fish. She was one of the many goddesses of maternity
+absorbed by Ishtar. The Greek Ninus is regarded as a male form of her
+name; like Atargatis, she may have become a bisexual deity, if she was
+not always accompanied by a shadowy male form. Nineveh (Ninua) was
+probably founded or conquered by colonists from Nina or Lagash, and
+called after the fish goddess.
+
+All the deities of Assyria were imported from Babylonia except, as
+some hold, Ashur, the national god.[299] The theory that Ashur was
+identical with the Aryo-Indian Asura and the Persian Ahura is not
+generally accepted. One theory is that he was an eponymous hero who
+became the city god of Asshur, although the early form of his name,
+Ashir, presents a difficulty in this connection. Asshur was the first
+capital of Assyria. Its city god may have become the national god on
+that account.
+
+At an early period, perhaps a thousand years before Thothmes III
+battled with the Mitannians in northern Syria, an early wave of one of
+the peoples of Aryan speech may have occupied the Assyrian cities. Mr.
+Johns points out in this connection that the names of Ushpia, Kikia,
+and Adasi, who, according to Assyrian records, were early rulers in
+Asshur, "are neither Semitic nor Sumerian". An ancient name of the
+goddess of Nineveh was Shaushka, which compares with Shaushkash, the
+consort of Teshup, the Hittite-Mitanni hammer god. As many of the
+Mitannian names "are", according to Mr. Johns, "really Elamitic", he
+suggests an ethnic connection between the early conquerors of Assyria
+and the people of Elam.[300] Were the pre-Semitic Elamites originally
+speakers of an agglutinative language, like the Sumerians and
+present-day Basques, who were conquered in prehistoric times by a
+people of Aryan speech?
+
+The possibility is urged by Mr. Johns's suggestion that Assyria may
+have been dominated in pre-Semitic times by the congeners of the Aryan
+military aristocracy of Mitanni. As has been shown, it was Semitized
+by the Amoritic migration which, about 2000 B.C., brought into
+prominence the Hammurabi Dynasty of Babylon.
+
+A long list of kings with Semitic names held sway in the Assyrian
+cities during and after the Hammurabi Age. But not until well on in
+the Kassite period did any of them attain prominence in Western Asia.
+Then Ashur-bel-nish-eshu, King of Asshur, was strong enough to deal on
+equal terms with the Kassite ruler Kara-indash I, with whom he
+arranged a boundary treaty. He was a contemporary of Thothmes III of
+Egypt.
+
+After Thothmes III had secured the predominance of Egypt in Syria and
+Palestine he recognized Assyria as an independent power, and supplied
+its king with Egyptian gold to assist him, no doubt, in strengthening
+his territory against their common enemy. Gifts were also sent from
+Assyria to Egypt to fan the flame of cordial relations.
+
+The situation was full of peril for Saushatar, king of Mitanni.
+Deprived by Egypt of tribute-paying cities in Syria, his exchequer
+must have been sadly depleted. A standing army had to be maintained,
+for although Egypt made no attempt to encroach further on his
+territory, the Hittites were ever hovering on his north-western
+frontier, ready when opportunity offered to win back Cappadocia.
+Eastward, Assyria was threatening to become a dangerous rival. He had
+himself to pay tribute to Egypt, and Egypt was subsidizing his enemy.
+It was imperative on his part, therefore, to take action without
+delay. The power of Assyria had to be crippled; its revenues were
+required for the Mitannian exchequer. So Saushatar raided Assyria
+during the closing years of the reign of Thothmes III, or soon after
+his successor, Amenhotep II, ascended the Egyptian throne.
+
+Nothing is known from contemporary records regarding this campaign;
+but it can be gathered from the references of a later period that the
+city of Asshur was captured and plundered; its king, Ashur-nadin-akhe,
+ceased corresponding and exchanging gifts with Egypt. That Nineveh
+also fell is made clear by the fact that a descendant of Saushatar
+(Tushratta) was able to send to a descendant of Thothmes III at Thebes
+(Amenhotep III) the image of Ishtar (Shaushka) of Nineveh. Apparently
+five successive Mitannian kings were overlords of Assyria during a
+period which cannot be estimated at much less than a hundred years.
+
+Our knowledge regarding these events is derived chiefly from the
+Tell-el-Amarna letters, and the tablets found by Professor Hugo
+Winckler at Boghaz-Koei in Cappadocia, Asia Minor.
+
+The Tell-el-Amarna letters were discovered among the ruins of the
+palace of the famous Egyptian Pharaoh, Akhenaton, of the Eighteenth
+Dynasty, who died about 1358 B.C. During the winter of 1887-8 an
+Egyptian woman was excavating soil for her garden, when she happened
+upon the cellar of Akhenaton's foreign office in which the official
+correspondence had been stored. The "letters" were baked clay tablets
+inscribed with cuneiform alphabetical signs in the Babylonian-Assyrian
+language, which, like French in modern times, was the language of
+international diplomacy for many centuries in Western Asia after the
+Hyksos period.
+
+The Egyptian natives, ever so eager to sell antiquities so as to make
+a fortune and retire for life, offered some specimens of the tablets
+for sale. One or two were sent to Paris, where they were promptly
+declared to be forgeries, with the result that for a time the
+inscribed bricks were not a marketable commodity. Ere their value was
+discovered, the natives had packed them into sacks, with the result
+that many were damaged and some completely destroyed. At length,
+however, the majority of them reached the British Museum and the
+Berlin Museum, while others drifted into the museums at Cairo, St.
+Petersburg, and Paris. When they were deciphered, Mitanni was
+discovered, and a flood of light thrown on the internal affairs of
+Egypt and its relations with various kingdoms in Asia, while glimpses
+were also afforded of the life and manners of the times.
+
+The letters covered the reigns of Amenhotep III, the great-grandson of
+Thothmes III, and of his son Akhenaton, "the dreamer king", and
+included communications from the kings of Babylonia, Assyria, Mitanni,
+Cyprus, the Hittites, and the princes of Phoenicia and Canaan. The
+copies of two letters from Amenhotep III to Kallima-Sin, King of
+Babylonia, had also been preserved. One deals with statements made by
+Babylonian ambassadors, whom the Pharaoh stigmatizes as liars.
+Kallima-Sin had sent his daughter to the royal harem of Egypt, and
+desired to know if she was alive and well. He also asked for "much
+gold" to enable him to carry on the work of extending his temple. When
+twenty minas of gold was sent to him, he complained in due course that
+the quantity received was not only short but that the gold was not
+pure; it had been melted in the furnace, and less than five minas came
+out. In return he sent to Akhenaton two minas of enamel, and some
+jewels for his daughter, who was in the Egyptian royal harem.
+
+Ashur-uballit, king of Ashur, once wrote intimating to Akhenaton that
+he was gifting him horses and chariots and a jewel seal. He asked for
+gold to assist in building his palace. "In your country", he added,
+"gold is as plentiful as dust." He also made an illuminating statement
+to the effect that no ambassador had gone from Assyria to Egypt since
+the days of his ancestor Ashur-nadin-akhe. It would therefore appear
+that Ashur-uballit had freed part of Assyria from the yoke of Mitanni.
+
+The contemporary king of Mitanni was Tushratta. He corresponded both
+with his cousin Amenhotep III and his son-in-law Akhenaton. In his
+correspondence with Amenhotep III Tushratta tells that his kingdom had
+been invaded by the Hittites, but his god Teshup had delivered them
+into his hand, and he destroyed them; "not one of them", he declared,
+"returned to his own country". Out of the booty captured he sent
+Amenhotep several chariots and horses, and a boy and a girl. To his
+sister Gilu-khipa, who was one of the Egyptian Pharaoh's wives, he
+gifted golden ornaments and a jar of oil. In another letter Tushratta
+asked for a large quantity of gold "without measure". He complained
+that he did not receive enough on previous occasions, and hinted that
+some of the Egyptian gold looked as if it were alloyed with copper.
+Like the Assyrian king, he hinted that gold was as plentiful as dust
+in Egypt. His own presents to the Pharaoh included precious stones,
+gold ornaments, chariots and horses, and women (probably slaves). This
+may have been tribute. It was during the third Amenhotep's illness
+that Tushratta forwarded the Nineveh image of Ishtar to Egypt, and he
+made reference to its having been previously sent thither by his
+father, Sutarna.
+
+When Akhenaton came to the throne Tushratta wrote to him, desiring to
+continue the friendship which had existed for two or three generations
+between the kings of Mitanni and Egypt, and made complimentary
+references to "the distinguished Queen Tiy", Akhenaton's mother, who
+evidently exercised considerable influence in shaping Egypt's foreign
+policy. In the course of his long correspondence with the Pharaohs,
+Tushratta made those statements regarding his ancestors which have
+provided so much important data for modern historians of his kingdom.
+
+During the early part of the Tell-el-Amarna period, Mitanni was the
+most powerful kingdom in Western Asia. It was chiefly on that account
+that the daughters of its rulers were selected to be the wives and
+mothers of great Egyptian Pharaohs. But its numerous enemies were ever
+plotting to accomplish its downfall. Among these the foremost and most
+dangerous were the Hittites and the Assyrians.
+
+The ascendancy of the Hittites was achieved in northern Syria with
+dramatic suddenness. There arose in Asia Minor a great conqueror,
+named Subbi-luliuma, the successor of Hattusil I, who established a
+strong Hittite empire which endured for about two centuries. His
+capital was at Boghaz-Koei. Sweeping through Cappadocia, at the head of
+a finely organized army, remarkable for its mobility, he attacked the
+buffer states which owed allegiance to Mitanni and Egypt. City after
+city fell before him, until at length he invaded Mitanni; but it is
+uncertain whether or not Tushratta met him in battle. Large numbers of
+the Mitannians were, however, evicted and transferred to the land of
+the Hittites, where the Greeks subsequently found them, and where they
+are believed to be represented by the modern Kurds, the hereditary
+enemies of the Armenians.
+
+In the confusion which ensued, Tushratta was murdered by Sutarna II,
+who was recognized by Subbi-luliuma. The crown prince, Mattiuza, fled
+to Babylon, where he found protection, but was unable to receive any
+assistance. Ultimately, when the Hittite emperor had secured his sway
+over northern Syria, he deposed Sutarna II and set Mattiuza as his
+vassal on the throne of the shrunken Mitanni kingdom.
+
+Meanwhile the Egyptian empire in Asia had gone to pieces. When
+Akhenaton, the dreamer king, died in his palace at Tell-el-Amarna, the
+Khabiri were conquering the Canaanite cities which had paid him
+tribute, and the Hittite ruler was the acknowledged overlord of the
+Amorites.
+
+The star of Assyria was also in the ascendant. Its king,
+Ashur-uballit, who had corresponded with Akhenaton, was, like the
+Hittite king, Subbi-luliuma, a distinguished statesman and general,
+and similarly laid the foundations of a great empire. Before or after
+Subbi-luliuma invaded Tushratta's domains, he drove the Mitannians out
+of Nineveh, and afterwards overcame the Shubari tribes of Mitanni on
+the north-west, with the result that he added a wide extent of
+territory to his growing empire.
+
+He had previously thrust southward the Assyro-Babylonian frontier. In
+fact, he had become so formidable an opponent of Babylonia that his
+daughter had been accepted as the wife of Karakhardash, the Kassite
+king of that country. In time his grandson, Kadashman-Kharbe, ascended
+the Babylonian throne. This young monarch co-operated with his
+grandfather in suppressing the Suti, who infested the trade routes
+towards the west, and plundered the caravans of merchants and the
+messengers of great monarchs with persistent impunity.
+
+A reference to these bandits appears in one of the Tell-el-Amarna
+letters. Writing to Akhenaton, Ashur-uballit said: "The lands (of
+Assyria and Egypt) are remote, therefore let our messengers come and
+go. That your messengers were late in reaching you, (the reason is
+that) if the Suti had waylaid them, they would have been dead men. For
+if I had sent them, the Suti would have sent bands to waylay them;
+therefore I have retained them. My messengers (however), may they not
+(for this reason) be delayed."[301]
+
+Ashur-uballit's grandson extended his Babylonian frontier into Amurru,
+where he dug wells and erected forts to protect traders. The Kassite
+aristocracy, however, appear to have entertained towards him a strong
+dislike, perhaps because he was so closely associated with their
+hereditary enemies the Assyrians. He had not reigned for long when the
+embers of rebellion burst into flame and he was murdered in his
+palace. The Kassites then selected as their king a man of humble
+origin, named Nazibugash, who was afterwards referred to as "the son
+of nobody". Ashur-uballit deemed the occasion a fitting one to
+interfere in the affairs of Babylonia. He suddenly appeared at the
+capital with a strong army, overawed the Kassites, and seized and slew
+Nazibugash. Then he set on the throne his great grandson the infant
+Kurigalzu II, who lived to reign for fifty-five years.
+
+Ashur-uballit appears to have died soon after this event. He was
+succeeded by his son Bel-nirari, who carried on the policy of
+strengthening and extending the Assyrian empire. For many years he
+maintained excellent relations with his kinsman Kurigalzu II, but
+ultimately they came into conflict apparently over disputed territory.
+A sanguinary battle was fought, in which the Babylonians suffered
+heavily and were put to rout. A treaty of peace was afterwards
+arranged, which secured for the Assyrians a further extension of their
+frontier "from the borders of Mitanni as far as Babylonia". The
+struggle of the future was to be for the possession of Mesopotamia, so
+as to secure control over the trade routes.
+
+Thus Assyria rose from a petty state in a comparatively brief period
+to become the rival of Babylonia, at a time when Egypt at the
+beginning of its Nineteenth Dynasty was endeavouring to win back its
+lost empire in Syria, and the Hittite empire was being consolidated in
+the north.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+ASTROLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
+
+
+  Culture and Superstition--Primitive Star Myths--Naturalism,
+  Totemism, and Animism--Stars as Ghosts of Men, Giants, and Wild
+  Animals--Gods as Constellations and Planets--Babylonian and Egyptian
+  Mysticism--Osiris, Tammuz, and Merodach--Ishtar and Isis as Bisexual
+  Deities--The Babylonian Planetary Deities--Planets as Forms of
+  Tammuz and Ghosts of Gods--The Signs of the Zodiac--The "Four
+  Quarters"--Cosmic Periods in Babylonia, India, Greece, and
+  Ireland--Babylonian System of Calculation--Traced in Indian Yuga
+  System--Astrology--Beliefs of the Masses--Rise of
+  Astronomy--Conflicting Views of Authorities--Greece and
+  Babylonia--Eclipses Foretold--The Dial of Ahaz--Omens of Heaven and
+  Air--Biblical References to Constellations--The Past in the Present.
+
+
+The empire builders of old who enriched themselves with the spoils of
+war and the tribute of subject States, not only satisfied personal
+ambition and afforded protection for industrious traders and workers,
+but also incidentally promoted culture and endowed research. When a
+conqueror returned to his capital laden with treasure, he made
+generous gifts to the temples. He believed that his successes were
+rewards for his piety, that his battles were won for him by his god or
+goddess of war. It was necessary, therefore, that he should continue
+to find favour in the eyes of the deity who had been proved to be more
+powerful than the god of his enemies. Besides, he had to make
+provision during his absence on long campaigns, or while absorbed in
+administrative work, for the constant performance of religious rites,
+so that the various deities of water, earth, weather, and corn might
+be sustained or propitiated with sacrificial offerings, or held in
+magical control by the performance of ceremonial rites. Consequently
+an endowed priesthood became a necessity in all powerful and
+well-organized states.
+
+Thus came into existence in Babylonia, as elsewhere, as a result of
+the accumulation of wealth, a leisured official class, whose duties
+tended to promote intellectual activity, although they were primarily
+directed to perpetuate gross superstitious practices. Culture was
+really a by-product of temple activities; it flowed forth like pure
+gold from furnaces of thought which were walled up by the crude ores
+of magic and immemorial tradition.
+
+No doubt in ancient Babylonia, as in Europe during the Middle Ages,
+the men of refinement and intellect among the upper classes were
+attracted to the temples, while the more robust types preferred the
+outdoor life, and especially the life of the soldier.[302] The
+permanent triumphs of Babylonian civilization were achieved either by
+the priests, or in consequence of the influence they exercised. They
+were the grammarians and the scribes, the mathematicians and the
+philosophers of that ancient country, the teachers of the young, and
+the patrons of the arts and crafts. It was because the temples were
+centres of intellectual activity that the Sumerian language remained
+the language of culture for long centuries after it ceased to be the
+everyday speech of the people.
+
+Reference has already been made to the growth of art, and the
+probability that all the arts had their origin in magical practices,
+and to the growth of popular education necessitated by the
+centralization of business in the temples. It remains with us to deal
+now with priestly contributions to the more abstruse sciences. In
+India the ritualists among the Brahmans, who concerned themselves
+greatly regarding the exact construction and measurements of altars,
+gave the world algebra; the pyramid builders of Egypt, who erected
+vast tombs to protect royal mummies, had perforce to lay the
+groundwork of the science of geometry; and the Babylonian priests who
+elaborated the study of astrology became great astronomers because
+they found it necessary to observe and record accurately the movements
+of the heavenly bodies.
+
+From the earliest times of which we have knowledge, the religious
+beliefs of the Sumerians had vague stellar associations. But it does
+not follow that their myths were star myths to begin with. A people
+who called constellations "the ram", "the bull", "the lion", or "the
+scorpion", did not do so because astral groups suggested the forms of
+animals, but rather because the animals had an earlier connection with
+their religious life.
+
+At the same time it should be recognized that the mystery of the stars
+must ever have haunted the minds of primitive men. Night with all its
+terrors appealed more strongly to their imaginations than refulgent
+day when they felt more secure; they were concerned most regarding
+what they feared most. Brooding in darkness regarding their fate, they
+evidently associated the stars with the forces which influenced their
+lives--the ghosts of ancestors, of totems, the spirits that brought
+food or famine and controlled the seasons. As children see images in a
+fire, so they saw human life reflected in the starry sky. To the
+simple minds of early folks the great moon seemed to be the parent of
+the numerous twinkling and moving orbs. In Babylon, indeed, the moon
+was regarded as the father not only of the stars but of the sun also;
+there, as elsewhere, lunar worship was older than solar worship.
+
+Primitive beliefs regarding the stars were of similar character in
+various parts of the world. But the importance which they assumed in
+local mythologies depended in the first place on local phenomena. On
+the northern Eur-Asian steppes, for instance, where stars vanished
+during summer's blue nights, and were often obscured by clouds in
+winter, they did not impress men's minds so persistently and deeply as
+in Babylonia, where for the greater part of the year they gleamed in
+darkness through a dry transparent atmosphere with awesome intensity.
+The development of an elaborate system of astral myths, besides, was
+only possible in a country where the people had attained to a high
+degree of civilization, and men enjoyed leisure and security to make
+observations and compile records. It is not surprising, therefore, to
+find that Babylonia was the cradle of astronomy. But before this
+science had destroyed the theory which it was fostered to prove, it
+lay smothered for long ages in the debris of immemorial beliefs. It is
+necessary, therefore, in dealing with Babylonian astral myths to
+endeavour to approach within reasonable distance of the point of view,
+or points of view, of the people who framed them.
+
+Babylonian religious thought was of highly complex character. Its
+progress was ever hampered by blended traditions. The earliest
+settlers in the Tigro-Euphrates valley no doubt imported many crude
+beliefs which they had inherited from their Palaeolithic
+ancestors--the modes of thought which were the moulds of new theories
+arising from new experiences. When consideration is given to the
+existing religious beliefs of various peoples throughout the world, in
+low stages of culture, it is found that the highly developed creeds of
+Babylonia, Egypt and other countries where civilization flourished
+were never divested wholly of their primitive traits.
+
+Among savage peoples two grades of religious ideas have been
+identified, and classified as Naturalism and Animism. In the plane of
+Naturalism the belief obtains that a vague impersonal force, which may
+have more than one manifestation and is yet manifested in everything,
+controls the world and the lives of human beings. An illustration of
+this stage of religious consciousness is afforded by Mr. Risley, who,
+in dealing with the religion of the jungle dwellers of Chota Nagpur,
+India, says that "in most cases the indefinite something which they
+fear and attempt to propitiate is not a person at all in any sense of
+the word; if one must state the case in positive terms, I should say
+that the idea which lies at the root of their religion is that of a
+power rather than many powers".[303]
+
+Traces of Naturalism appear to have survived in Sumeria in the belief
+that "the spiritual, the Zi, was that which manifested life.... The
+test of the manifestation of life was movement."[304] All things that
+moved, it was conceived in the plane of Naturalism, possessed "self
+power"; the river was a living thing, as was also the fountain; a
+stone that fell from a hill fell of its own accord; a tree groaned
+because the wind caused it to suffer pain. This idea that inanimate
+objects had conscious existence survived in the religion of the
+Aryo-Indians. In the Nala story of the Indian epic, the _Mahabharata_,
+the disconsolate wife Damayanti addresses a mountain when searching
+for her lost husband:
+
+    This, the monarch of all mountains, ask I of the king of men;
+    O all-honoured Prince of Mountains, with thy heavenward soaring
+        peaks ...
+    Hast thou seen the kingly Nala in this dark and awful wood....
+    Why repliest thou not, O Mountain?"
+
+She similarly addresses the Asoka tree:
+
+    "Hast thou seen Nishadha's monarch, hast thou seen my only
+        love?...
+    That I may depart ungrieving, fair Asoka, answer me...."
+    Many a tree she stood and gazed on....[305]
+
+It will be recognized that when primitive men gave names to mountains,
+rivers, or the ocean, these possessed for them a deeper significance
+than they do for us at the present day. The earliest peoples of
+Indo-European speech who called the sky "dyeus", and those of Sumerian
+speech who called it "ana", regarded it not as the sky "and nothing
+more", but as something which had conscious existence and "self
+power". Our remote ancestors resembled, in this respect, those
+imaginative children who hold conversations with articles of
+furniture, and administer punishment to stones which, they believe,
+have tripped them up voluntarily and with desire to commit an offence.
+
+In this early stage of development the widespread totemic beliefs
+appear to have had origin. Families or tribes believed that they were
+descended from mountains, trees, or wild animals.
+
+Aesop's fable about the mountain which gave birth to a mouse may be a
+relic of Totemism; so also may be the mountain symbols on the
+standards of Egyptian ships which appear on pre-dynastic pottery; the
+black dwarfs of Teutonic mythology were earth children.[306]
+
+Adonis sprang from a tree; his mother may have, according to primitive
+belief, been simply a tree; Dagda, the patriarchal Irish corn god, was
+an oak; indeed, the idea of a "world tree", which occurs in Sumerian,
+Vedic-Indian, Teutonic, and other mythologies, was probably a product
+of Totemism.
+
+Wild animals were considered to be other forms of human beings who
+could marry princes and princesses as they do in so many fairy tales.
+Damayanti addressed the tiger, as well as the mountain and tree,
+saying:
+
+    I approach him without fear.
+    "Of the beasts art thou the monarch, all this forest thy
+        domain;...
+    Thou, O king of beasts, console me, if my Nala thou hast
+        seen."[307]
+
+A tribal totem exercised sway over a tribal district. In Egypt, as
+Herodotus recorded, the crocodile was worshipped in one district and
+hunted down in another. Tribes fought against tribes when totemic
+animals were slain. The Babylonian and Indian myths about the
+conflicts between eagles and serpents may have originated as records
+of battles between eagle clans and serpent clans. Totemic animals were
+tabooed. The Set pig of Egypt and the devil pig of Ireland, Scotland,
+and Wales were not eaten except sacrificially. Families were supposed
+to be descended from swans and were named Swans, or from seals and
+were named Seals, like the Gaelic "Mac Codrums", whose surname
+signifies "son of the seal"; the nickname of the Campbells, "sons of
+the pig", may refer to their totemic boar's head crest, which
+commemorated the slaying, perhaps the sacrificial slaying, of the boar
+by their ancestor Diarmid. Mr. Garstang, in _The Syrian Goddess_,
+thinks it possible that the boar which killed Adonis was of totemic
+origin. So may have been the fish form of the Sumerian god Ea. When an
+animal totem was sacrificed once a year, and eaten sacrificially so
+that the strength of the clan might be maintained, the priest who
+wrapped himself in its skin was supposed to have transmitted to him
+certain magical powers; he became identified with the totem and
+prophesied and gave instruction as the totem. Ea was depicted clad in
+the fish's skin.
+
+Animism, the other early stage of human development, also produced
+distinctive modes of thought. Men conceived that the world swarmed
+with spirits, that a spirit groaned in the wind-shaken tree, that the
+howling wind was an invisible spirit, that there were spirits in
+fountains, rivers, valleys, hills, and in ocean, and in all animals;
+and that a hostile spirit might possess an individual and change his
+nature. The sun and the moon were the abodes of spirits, or the
+vessels in which great spirits sailed over the sea of the sky; the
+stars were all spirits, the "host of heaven". These spirits existed in
+groups of seven, or groups of three, and the multiple of three, or in
+pairs, or operated as single individuals.
+
+Although certain spirits might confer gifts upon mankind, they were at
+certain seasons and in certain localities hostile and vengeful, like
+the grass-green fairies in winter, or the earth-black elves when their
+gold was sought for in forbidden and secret places. These spirits were
+the artisans of creation and vegetation, like the Egyptian Khnumu and
+the Indian Rhibus; they fashioned the grass blades and the stalks of
+corn, but at times of seasonal change they might ride on their tempest
+steeds, or issue forth from flooding rivers and lakes. Man was greatly
+concerned about striking bargains with them to secure their services,
+and about propitiating them, or warding off their attacks with
+protective charms, and by performing "ceremonies of riddance". The
+ghosts of the dead, being spirits, were similarly propitious or
+harmful on occasion; as emissaries of Fate they could injure the
+living.
+
+Ancestor worship, the worship of ghosts, had origin in the stage of
+Animism. But ancestor worship was not developed in Babylonia as in
+China, for instance, although traces of it survived in the worship of
+stars as ghosts, in the deification of kings, and the worship of
+patriarchs, who might be exalted as gods or identified with a supreme
+god. The Egyptian Pharaoh Unas became the sun god and the
+constellation of Orion by devouring his predecessors[308]. He ate his
+god as a tribe ate its animal totem; he became the "bull of heaven".
+
+There were star totems as well as mountain totems. A St. Andrew's
+cross sign, on one of the Egyptian ship standards referred to, may
+represent a star. The Babylonian goddess Ishtar was symbolized as a
+star, and she was the "world mother". Many primitive currents of
+thought shaped the fretted rocks of ancient mythologies.
+
+In various countries all round the globe the belief prevailed that the
+stars were ghosts of the mighty dead--of giants, kings, or princes, or
+princesses, or of pious people whom the gods loved, or of animals
+which were worshipped. A few instances may be selected at random. When
+the Teutonic gods slew the giant Thjasse, he appeared in the heavens
+as Sirius. In India the ghosts of the "seven Rishis", who were
+semi-divine Patriarchs, formed the constellation of the Great Bear,
+which in Vedic times was called the "seven bears". The wives of the
+seven Rishis were the stars of the Pleiades. In Greece the Pleiades
+were the ghosts of the seven daughters of Atlas and Pleione, and in
+Australia they were and are a queen and six handmaidens. In these
+countries, as elsewhere, stories were told to account for the "lost
+Pleiad", a fact which suggests that primitive men were more constant
+observers of the heavenly bodies than might otherwise be supposed. The
+Arcadians believed that they were descended, as Hesiod recorded, from
+a princess who was transformed by Zeus into a bear; in this form
+Artemis slew her and she became the "Great Bear" of the sky. The
+Egyptian Isis was the star Sirius, whose rising coincided with the
+beginning of the Nile inundation. Her first tear for the dead Osiris
+fell into the river on "the night of the drop". The flood which ensued
+brought the food supply. Thus the star was not only the Great Mother
+of all, but the sustainer of all.
+
+The brightest stars were regarded as being the greatest and most
+influential. In Babylonia all the planets were identified with great
+deities. Jupiter, for instance, was Merodach, and one of the astral
+forms of Ishtar was Venus. Merodach was also connected with "the fish
+of Ea" (Pisces), so that it is not improbable that Ea worship had
+stellar associations. Constellations were given recognition before the
+planets were identified.
+
+A strange blending of primitive beliefs occurred when the deities were
+given astral forms. As has been shown (Chapter III) gods were supposed
+to die annually. The Egyptian priests pointed out to Herodotus the
+grave of Osiris and also his star. There are "giants' graves" also in
+those countries in which the gods were simply ferocious giants. A god
+might assume various forms; he might take the form of an insect, like
+Indra, and hide in a plant, or become a mouse, or a serpent, like the
+gods of Erech in the Gilgamesh epic. The further theory that a god
+could exist in various forms at one and the same time suggests that it
+had its origin among a people who accepted the idea of a personal god
+while yet in the stage of Naturalism. In Egypt Osiris, for instance,
+was the moon, which came as a beautiful child each month and was
+devoured as the wasting "old moon" by the demon Set; he was the young
+god who was slain in his prime each year; he was at once the father,
+husband, and son of Isis; he was the Patriarch who reigned over men
+and became the Judge of the Dead; he was the earth spirit, he was the
+bisexual Nile spirit, he was the spring sun; he was the Apis bull of
+Memphis, and the ram of Mendes; he was the reigning Pharaoh. In his
+fusion with Ra, who was threefold--Khepera, Ra, and Tum--he died each
+day as an old man; he appeared in heaven at night as the constellation
+Orion, which was his ghost, or was, perhaps, rather the Sumerian Zi,
+the spiritual essence of life. Osiris, who resembled Tammuz, a god of
+many forms also, was addressed as follows in one of the Isis chants:
+
+    There proceedeth from thee the strong Orion in heaven at evening,
+        at the resting of every day!
+    Lo it is I (Isis), at the approach of the Sothis (Sirius) period,
+        who doth watch for him (the child Osiris),
+    Nor will I leave off watching for him; for that which proceedeth
+        from thee (the living Osiris) is revered.
+    An emanation from thee causeth life to gods and men, reptiles and
+        animals, and they live by means thereof.
+    Come thou to us from thy chamber, in the day when thy soul
+        begetteth emanations,--
+    The day when offerings upon offerings are made to thy spirit,
+        which causeth the gods and men likewise to live.[309]
+
+This extract emphasizes how unsafe it is to confine certain deities
+within narrow limits by terming them simply "solar gods", "lunar
+gods", "astral gods", or "earth gods". One deity may have been
+simultaneously a sun god and moon god, an air god and an earth god,
+one who was dead and also alive, unborn and also old. The priests of
+Babylonia and Egypt were less accustomed to concrete and logical
+definitions than their critics and expositors of the twentieth
+century. Simple explanations of ancient beliefs are often by reason of
+their very simplicity highly improbable. Recognition must ever be
+given to the puzzling complexity of religious thought in Babylonia and
+Egypt, and to the possibility that even to the priests the doctrines
+of a particular cult, which embraced the accumulated ideas of
+centuries, were invariably confusing and vague, and full of
+inconsistencies; they were mystical in the sense that the
+understanding could not grasp them although it permitted their
+acceptance. A god, for instance, might be addressed at once in the
+singular and plural, perhaps because he had developed from an
+animistic group of spirits, or, perhaps, for reasons we cannot
+discover. This is shown clearly by the following pregnant extract from
+a Babylonian tablet: "_Powerful, O Sevenfold, one are ye_". Mr. L.W.
+King, the translator, comments upon it as follows: "There is no doubt
+that the name was applied to a group of gods who were so closely
+connected that, though addressed in the plural, they could in the same
+sentence be regarded as forming a single personality".[310]
+
+Like the Egyptian Osiris, the Babylonian Merodach was a highly complex
+deity. He was the son of Ea, god of the deep; he died to give origin
+to human life when he commanded that his head should be cut off so
+that the first human beings might be fashioned by mixing his blood
+with the earth; he was the wind god, who gave "the air of life"; he
+was the deity of thunder and the sky; he was the sun of spring in his
+Tammuz character; he was the daily sun, and the planets Jupiter and
+Mercury as well as Sharru (Regulus); he had various astral
+associations at various seasons. Ishtar, the goddess, was Iku
+(Capella), the water channel star, in January-February, and Merodach
+was Iku in May-June. This strange system of identifying the chief
+deity with different stars at different periods, or simultaneously,
+must not be confused with the monotheistic identification of him with
+other gods. Merodach changed his forms with Ishtar, and had similarly
+many forms. This goddess, for instance, was, even when connected with
+one particular heavenly body, liable to change. According to a tablet
+fragment she was, as the planet Venus, "a female at sunset and a male
+at sunrise[311]"--that is, a bisexual deity like Nannar of Ur, the
+father and mother deity combined, and Isis of Egypt. Nannar is
+addressed in a famous hymn:
+
+    Father Nannar, Lord, God Sin, ruler among the gods....
+    _Mother body which produceth all things_....
+    Merciful, gracious Father, in whose hand the life of the whole
+        land is contained.
+
+One of the Isis chants of Egypt sets forth, addressing Osiris:
+
+    There cometh unto thee Isis, lady of the horizon, who hath
+        begotten herself alone in the image of the gods....
+    She hath taken vengeance before Horus, _the woman who was made a
+        male by her father Osiris_.[312]
+
+Merodach, like Osiris-Sokar, was a "lord of many existences", and
+likewise "the mysterious one, he who is unknown to mankind[313]". It
+was impossible for the human mind "a greater than itself to know".
+
+Evidence has not yet been forthcoming to enable us to determine the
+period at which the chief Babylonian deities were identified with the
+planets, but it is clear that Merodach's ascendancy in astral form
+could not have occurred prior to the rise of that city god of Babylon
+as chief of the pantheon by displacing Enlil. At the same time it must
+be recognized that long before the Hammurabi age the star-gazers of
+the Tigro-Euphrates valley must have been acquainted with the
+movements of the chief planets and stars, and, no doubt, they
+connected them with seasonal changes as in Egypt, where Isis was
+identified with Sirius long before the Ptolemaic age, when Babylonian
+astronomy was imported. Horus was identified not only with the sun but
+also with Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars.[314] Even the primitive
+Australians, as has been indicated, have their star myths; they refer
+to the stars Castor and Pollux as two young men, like the ancient
+Greeks, while the African Bushmen assert that these stars are two
+girls. It would be a mistake, however, to assume that the prehistoric
+Sumerians were exact astronomers. Probably they were, like the
+Aryo-Indians of the Vedic period, "not very accurate observers".[315]
+
+It is of special interest to find that the stars were grouped by the
+Babylonians at the earliest period in companies of seven. The
+importance of this magical number is emphasized by the group of seven
+demons which rose from the deep to rage over the land (p. 71). Perhaps
+the sanctity of Seven was suggested by Orion, the Bears, and the
+Pleiad, one of which constellations may have been the "Sevenfold"
+deity addressed as "one". At any rate arbitrary groupings of other
+stars into companies of seven took place, for references are made to
+the seven Tikshi, the seven Lumashi, and the seven Mashi, which are
+older than the signs of the Zodiac; so far as can be ascertained these
+groups were selected from various constellations. When the five
+planets were identified, they were associated with the sun and moon
+and connected with the chief gods of the Hammurabi pantheon. A
+bilingual list in the British Museum arranges the sevenfold planetary
+group in the following order:--
+
+    The moon, Sin.
+    The sun, Shamash.
+    Jupiter, Merodach.
+    Venus, Ishtar.
+    Saturn, Ninip (Nirig).
+    Mercury, Nebo.
+    Mars, Nergal.
+
+An ancient name of the moon was Aa, A, or Ai, which recalls the
+Egyptian Aah or Ah. The Sumerian moon was Aku, "the measurer", like
+Thoth of Egypt, who in his lunar character as a Fate measured out the
+lives of men, and was a god of architects, mathematicians, and
+scribes. The moon was the parent of the sun or its spouse; and might
+be male, or female, or both as a bisexual deity.
+
+As the "bull of light" Jupiter had solar associations; he was also the
+shepherd of the stars, a title shared by Tammuz as Orion; Nin-Girsu, a
+developed form of Tammuz, was identified with both Orion and Jupiter.
+
+Ishtar's identification with Venus is of special interest. When that
+planet was at its brightest phase, its rays were referred to as "the
+beard" of the goddess; she was the "bearded Aphrodite"--a bisexual
+deity evidently. The astrologers regarded the bright Venus as lucky
+and the rayless Venus as unlucky.
+
+Saturn was Nirig, who is best known as Ninip, a deity who was
+displaced by Enlil, the elder Bel, and afterwards regarded as his son.
+His story has not been recovered, but from the references made to it
+there is little doubt that it was a version of the widespread myth
+about the elder deity who was slain by his son, as Saturn was by
+Jupiter and Dyaus by Indra. It may have resembled the lost Egyptian
+myth which explained the existence of the two Horuses--Horus the
+elder, and Horus, the posthumous son of Osiris. At any rate, it is of
+interest to find in this connection that in Egypt the planet Saturn
+was Her-Ka, "Horus the Bull". Ninip was also identified with the bull.
+Both deities were also connected with the spring sun, like Tammuz, and
+were terrible slayers of their enemies. Ninip raged through Babylonia
+like a storm flood, and Horus swept down the Nile, slaying the
+followers of Set. As the divine sower of seed, Ninip may have
+developed from Tammuz as Horus did from Osiris. Each were at once the
+father and the son, different forms of the same deity at various
+seasons of the year. The elder god was displaced by the son (spring),
+and when the son grew old his son slew him in turn. As the planet
+Saturn, Ninip was the ghost of the elder god, and as the son of Bel he
+was the solar war god of spring, the great wild bull, the god of
+fertility. He was also as Ber "lord of the wild boar", an animal
+associated with Rimmon[316].
+
+Nebo (Nabu), who was identified with Mercury, was a god of Borsippa.
+He was a messenger and "announcer" of the gods, as the Egyptian Horus
+in his connection with Jupiter was Her-ap-sheta, "Horus the opener of
+that which is secret[317]". Nebo's original character is obscure. He
+appears to have been a highly developed deity of a people well
+advanced in civilization when he was exalted as the divine patron of
+Borsippa. Although Hammurabi ignored him, he was subsequently invoked
+with Merodach, and had probably much in common with Merodach. Indeed,
+Merodach was also identified with the planet Mercury. Like the Greek
+Hermes, Nebo was a messenger of the gods and an instructor of mankind.
+Jastrow regards him as "a counterpart of Ea", and says: "Like Ea, he
+is the embodiment and source of wisdom. The art of writing--and
+therefore of all literature--is more particularly associated with him.
+A common form of his name designates him as the 'god of the
+stylus'."[318] He appears also to have been a developed form of
+Tammuz, who was an incarnation of Ea. Professor Pinches shows that one
+of his names, Mermer, was also a non-Semitic name of Ramman.[319]
+Tammuz resembled Ramman in his character as a spring god of war. It
+would seem that Merodach as Jupiter displaced at Babylon Nebo as
+Saturn, the elder god, as Bel Enlil displaced the elder Ninip at
+Nippur.
+
+The god of Mars was Nergal, the patron deity of Cuthah,[320] who
+descended into the Underworld and forced into submission Eresh-ki-gal
+(Persephone), with whom he was afterwards associated. His "name", says
+Professor Pinches, "is supposed to mean 'lord of the great
+habitation', which would be a parallel to that of his spouse,
+Eresh-ki-gal".[321] At Erech he symbolized the destroying influence of
+the sun, and was accompanied by the demons of pestilence. Mars was a
+planet of evil, plague, and death; its animal form was the wolf. In
+Egypt it was called Herdesher, "the Red Horus", and in Greece it was
+associated with Ares (the Roman Mars), the war god, who assumed his
+boar form to slay Adonis (Tammuz).
+
+Nergal was also a fire god like the Aryo-Indian Agni, who, as has been
+shown, links with Tammuz as a demon slayer and a god of fertility. It
+may be that Nergal was a specialized form of Tammuz, who, in a version
+of the myth, was reputed to have entered the Underworld as a conqueror
+when claimed by Eresh-ki-gal, and to have become, like Osiris, the
+lord of the dead. If so, Nergal was at once the slayer and the slain.
+
+The various Babylonian deities who were identified with the planets
+had their characters sharply defined as members of an organized
+pantheon. But before this development took place certain of the
+prominent heavenly bodies, perhaps all the planets, were evidently
+regarded as manifestations of one deity, the primeval Tammuz, who was
+a form of Ea, or of the twin deities Ea and Anu. Tammuz may have been
+the "sevenfold one" of the hymns. At a still earlier period the stars
+were manifestations of the Power whom the jungle dwellers of Chota
+Nagpur attempt to propitiate--the "world soul" of the cultured
+Brahmans of the post-Vedic Indian Age. As much is suggested by the
+resemblances which the conventionalized planetary deities bear to
+Tammuz, whose attributes they symbolized, and by the Egyptian
+conception that the sun, Jupiter, Saturn, and Mars were manifestations
+of Horus. Tammuz and Horus may have been personifications of the Power
+or World Soul vaguely recognized in the stage of Naturalism.
+
+The influence of animistic modes of thought may be traced in the idea
+that the planets and stars were the ghosts of gods who were superseded
+by their sons. These sons were identical with their fathers; they
+became, as in Egypt, "husbands of their mothers". This idea was
+perpetuated in the Aryo-Indian _Laws of Manu_, in which it is set
+forth that "the husband, after conception by his wife, becomes an
+embryo and is born again of her[322]". The deities died every year,
+but death was simply change. Yet they remained in the separate forms
+they assumed in their progress round "the wide circle of necessity".
+Horus was remembered as various planets--as the falcon, as the elder
+sun god, and as the son of Osiris; and Tammuz was the spring sun, the
+child, youth, warrior, the deity of fertility, and the lord of death
+(Orion-Nergal), and, as has been suggested, all the planets.
+
+The stars were also the ghosts of deities who died daily. When the sun
+perished as an old man at evening, it rose in the heavens as Orion, or
+went out and in among the stars as the shepherd of the flock, Jupiter,
+the planet of Merodach in Babylonia, and Attis in Asia Minor. The
+flock was the group of heavenly spirits invisible by day, the "host of
+heaven"--manifestations or ghosts of the emissaries of the controlling
+power or powers.
+
+The planets presided over various months of the year. Sin (the moon)
+was associated with the third month; it also controlled the calendar;
+Ninip (Saturn) was associated with the fourth month, Ishtar (Venus)
+with the sixth, Shamash (the sun) with the seventh, Merodach (Jupiter)
+with the eighth, Nergal (Mars) with the ninth, and a messenger of the
+gods, probably Nebo (Mercury), with the tenth.
+
+Each month was also controlled by a zodiacal constellation. In the
+Creation myth of Babylon it is stated that when Merodach engaged in
+the work of setting the Universe in order he "set all the great gods
+in their several stations", and "also created their images, the stars
+of the Zodiac,[323] and fixed them all" (p. 147).
+
+Our signs of the Zodiac are of Babylonian origin. They were passed on
+to the Greeks by the Phoenicians and Hittites. "There was a time ",
+says Professor Sayce, "when the Hittites were profoundly affected by
+Babylonian civilization, religion, and art...." They "carried the
+time-worn civilizations of Babylonia and Egypt to the furthest
+boundary of Egypt, and there handed them over to the West in the grey
+dawn of European history.... Greek traditions affirmed that the rulers
+of Mykenae had come from Lydia, bringing with them the civilization
+and treasures of Asia Minor. The tradition has been confirmed by
+modern research. While certain elements belonging to the prehistoric
+culture of Greece, as revealed at Mykenae and elsewhere, were derived
+from Egypt and Phoenicia, there are others which point to Asia Minor
+as their source. And the culture of Asia Minor was Hittite."[324]
+
+The early Babylonian astronomers did not know, of course, that the
+earth revolved round the sun. They believed that the sun travelled
+across the heavens flying like a bird or sailing like a boat.[325] In
+studying its movements they observed that it always travelled from
+west to east along a broad path, swinging from side to side of it in
+the course of the year. This path is the Zodiac--the celestial "circle
+of necessity". The middle line of the sun's path is the Ecliptic. The
+Babylonian scientists divided the Ecliptic into twelve equal parts,
+and grouped in each part the stars which formed their constellations;
+these are also called "Signs of the Zodiac". Each month had thus its
+sign or constellation.
+
+The names borne at the present day by the signs of the Zodiac are
+easily remembered even by children, who are encouraged to repeat the
+following familiar lines:
+
+    The _Ram_, the _Bull_, the heavenly _Twins_,
+    And next the _Crab_, the _Lion_ shines.
+        The _Virgin_ and the _Scales_;
+    The _Scorpion, Archer_, and _Sea goat_,
+    The man that holds the _water pot_,
+        And _Fish_ with glitt'ring[326] tails.
+
+The table on p. 308 shows that our signs are derived from ancient
+Babylonia.
+
+The celestial regions were also divided into three or more parts.
+Three "fields" were allotted to the ancient triad formed by Ea, Anu,
+and Bel. The zodiacal "path" ran through these "fields". Ea's field
+was in the west, and was associated with Amurru, the land of the
+Amorites; Anu's field was in the south, and was associated with Elam;
+and Bel's central "field" was associated with the land of Akkad. When
+the rulers of Akkad called themselves "kings of the four quarters",
+the reference was to the countries associated with the three divine
+fields and to Gutium[327](east = our north-east). Was Gutium
+associated with demons, as in Scandinavia the north-east was
+associated with the giants against whom Thor waged war?
+
+
++---------------------------------------------------------------------+
+|               | Date of Sun's Entry |                               |
+|Constellations.|(Babylonian Month in |    Babylonian Equivalent.     |
+|               |     brackets).      |                               |
+|---------------+---------------------+-------------------------------|
+|Aries (the     |20th March (Nisan =  |The Labourer or Messenger.     |
+|Ram).          |March-April)         |                               |
+|---------------+---------------------+-------------------------------|
+|Taurus (the    |20th April (Iyyar =  |A divine figure and the "bull  |
+|Bull).         |April-May)           |of heaven".                    |
+|---------------+---------------------+-------------------------------|
+|Gemini (the    |21st May (Sivan =    |The Faithful Shepherd and Twins|
+|Twins).        |May-June).           |side by side, or head to head  |
+|               |                     |and feet to teet.              |
+|---------------+---------------------+-------------------------------|
+|Cancer (the    |21st June (Tammuz =  |Crab or Scorpion.              |
+|Crab).         |June-July).          |                               |
+|---------------+---------------------+-------------------------------|
+|Leo (the Lion).|22nd July (Ab =      |The big dog (Lion).            |
+|               |July-August).        |                               |
+|---------------+---------------------+-------------------------------|
+|Virgo (the     |23rd August (Elul =  |Ishtar, the Virgin's ear of    |
+|Virgin).       |August-Sept.).       |corn.                          |
+|---------------+---------------------+-------------------------------|
+|Libra (the     |23rd September (Tisri|The Balance.                   |
+|Balance).      |= Sept.-Oct.).       |                               |
+|---------------+---------------------+-------------------------------|
+|Scorpio (the   |23rd October         |                               |
+|Scorpion).     |(Marcheswan =        |Scorpion of darkness.          |
+|               |Oct.-Nov.).          |                               |
+|---------------+---------------------+-------------------------------|
+|Sagittarius    |22nd November        |Man or man-horse with bow, or  |
+|(the Archer).  |(Chisleu =           |an arrow symbol.               |
+|               |Nov.-Dec.).          |                               |
+|---------------+---------------------+-------------------------------|
+|Capricornus    |21st December (Tebet |Ea's goat-fish.                |
+|(the Goat).    |= Dec.-Jan.).        |                               |
+|---------------+---------------------+-------------------------------|
+|Aquarius (the  |19th January (Sebat =|God with water urn.            |
+|Water Carrier).|Jan.-Feb.).          |                               |
+|---------------+---------------------+-------------------------------|
+|Pisces (the    |18th February (Adar =|Fish tails in canal.           |
+|Fishes).       |Feb.-March).         |                               |
++---------------------------------------------------------------------+
+
+
+The Babylonian Creation myth states that Merodach, having fixed the
+stars of the Zodiac, made three stars for each month (p. 147). Mr.
+Robert Brown, jun., who has dealt as exhaustively with the
+astronomical problems of Babylonia as the available data permitted
+him, is of opinion that the leading stars of three constellations are
+referred to, viz.: (1) the central or zodiacal constellations, (2) the
+northern constellations, and (3) the southern constellations. We have
+thus a scheme of thirty-six constellations. The "twelve zodiacal stars
+were flanked on either side by twelve non-zodiacal stars". Mr. Brown
+quotes Diodorus, who gave a resume of Babylonian
+astronomico-astrology, in this connection. He said that "the five
+planets were called 'Interpreters'; and in subjection to these were
+marshalled 'Thirty Stars', which were styled 'Divinities of the
+Council'.... The chiefs of the Divinities are twelve in number, to
+each of whom they assign a month and one of the twelve signs of the
+Zodiac." Through these twelve signs sun, moon, and planets run their
+courses. "And with the zodiacal circle they mark out twenty-four
+stars, half of which they say are arranged in the north and half in
+the south."[328] Mr. Brown shows that the thirty stars referred to
+"constituted the original Euphratean Lunar Zodiac, the parent of the
+seven ancient lunar zodiacs which have come down to us, namely, the
+Persian, Sogdian, Khorasmian, Chinese, Indian, Arab, and Coptic
+schemes".
+
+The three constellations associated with each month had each a
+symbolic significance: they reflected the characters of their months.
+At the height of the rainy season, for instance, the month of Ramman,
+the thunder god, was presided over by the zodiacal constellation of
+the water urn, the northern constellation "Fish of the Canal", and the
+southern "the Horse". In India the black horse was sacrificed at
+rain-getting and fertility ceremonies. The months of growth,
+pestilence, and scorching sun heat were in turn symbolized. The "Great
+Bear" was the "chariot" = "Charles's Wain", and the "Milky Way" the
+"river of the high cloud", the Celestial Euphrates, as in Egypt it was
+the Celestial Nile.
+
+Of special interest among the many problems presented by Babylonian
+astronomical lore is the theory of Cosmic periods or Ages of the
+Universe. In the Indian, Greek, and Irish mythologies there are four
+Ages--the Silvern (white), Golden (yellow), the Bronze (red), and the
+Iron (black). As has been already indicated, Mr. R. Brown, jun., shows
+that "the Indian system of Yugas, or ages of the world, presents many
+features which forcibly remind us of the Euphratean scheme". The
+Babylonians had ten antediluvian kings, who were reputed to have
+reigned for vast periods, the total of which amounted to 120 saroi, or
+432,000 years. These figures at once recall the Indian Maha-yuga of
+4,320,000 years = 432,000 x 10. Apparently the Babylonian and Indian
+systems of calculation were of common origin. In both countries the
+measurements of time and space were arrived at by utilizing the
+numerals 10 and 6.
+
+When primitive man began to count he adopted a method which comes
+naturally to every schoolboy; he utilized his fingers. Twice five gave
+him ten, and from ten he progressed to twenty, and then on to a
+hundred and beyond. In making measurements his hands, arms, and feet
+were at his service. We are still measuring by feet and yards
+(standardized strides) in this country, while those who engage in the
+immemorial art of knitting, and, in doing so, repeat designs found on
+neolithic pottery, continue to measure in finger breadths, finger
+lengths, and hand breadths as did the ancient folks who called an arm
+length a cubit. Nor has the span been forgotten, especially by boys in
+their games with marbles; the space from the end of the thumb to the
+end of the little finger when the hand is extended must have been an
+important measurement from the earliest times.
+
+As he made progress in calculations, the primitive Babylonian appears
+to have been struck by other details in his anatomy besides his sets
+of five fingers and five toes. He observed, for instance, that his
+fingers were divided into three parts and his thumb into two parts
+only;[329] four fingers multiplied by three gave him twelve, and
+multiplying 12 by 3 he reached 36. Apparently the figure 6 attracted
+him. His body was divided into 6 parts--2 arms, 2 legs, the head, and
+the trunk; his 2 ears, 2 eyes, and mouth, and nose also gave him 6.
+The basal 6, multiplied by his 10 fingers, gave him 60, and 60 x 2
+(for his 2 hands) gave him 120. In Babylonian arithmetic 6 and 60 are
+important numbers, and it is not surprising to find that in the system
+of numerals the signs for 1 and 10 combined represent 60.
+
+In fixing the length of a mythical period his first great calculation
+of 120 came naturally to the Babylonian, and when he undertook to
+measure the Zodiac he equated time and space by fixing on 120 degrees.
+His first zodiac was the Sumerian lunar zodiac, which contained thirty
+moon chambers associated with the "Thirty Stars" of the tablets, and
+referred to by Diodorus as "Divinities of the Council". The chiefs of
+the Thirty numbered twelve. In this system the year began in the
+winter solstice. Mr. Hewitt has shown that the chief annual festival
+of the Indian Dravidians begins with the first full moon after the
+winter festival, and Mr. Brown emphasizes the fact that the list of
+Tamil (Dravidian) lunar and solar months are named like the Babylonian
+constellations.[330] "Lunar chronology", wrote Professor Max Mailer,
+"seems everywhere to have preceded solar chronology."[331] The later
+Semitic Babylonian system had twelve solar chambers and the thirty-six
+constellations.
+
+Each degree was divided into sixty minutes, and each minute into sixty
+seconds. The hours of the day and night each numbered twelve.
+
+Multiplying 6 by 10 (pur), the Babylonian arrived at 60 (soss); 60x10
+gave him 600 (ner), and 600x6, 3600 (sar), while 3600x10 gave him
+36,000, and 36,000x12, 432,000 years, or 120 saroi, which is equal to
+the "sar" multiplied by the "soss"x2. "Pur" signifies "heap"--the ten
+fingers closed after being counted; and "ner" signifies "foot". Mr.
+George Bertin suggests that when 6x10 fingers gave 60 this number was
+multiplied by the ten toes, with the result that 600 was afterwards
+associated with the feet (ner). The Babylonian sign for 10 resembles
+the impression of two feet with heels closed and toes apart. This
+suggests a primitive record of the first round of finger counting.
+
+In India this Babylonian system of calculation was developed during
+the Brahmanical period. The four Yugas or Ages, representing the four
+fingers used by the primitive mathematicians, totalled 12,000 divine
+years, a period which was called a Maha-yuga; it equalled the
+Babylonian 120 saroi, multiplied by 100. Ten times a hundred of these
+periods gave a "Day of Brahma".
+
+Each day of the gods, it was explained by the Brahmans, was a year to
+mortals. Multiplied by 360 days, 12,000 divine years equalled
+4,320,000 human years. This Maha-yuga, multiplied by 1000, gave the
+"Day of Brahma" as 4,320,000,000 human years.
+
+The shortest Indian Yuga is the Babylonian 120 saroi multiplied by
+10=1200 divine years for the Kali Yuga; twice that number gives the
+Dvapara Yuga of 2400 divine years; then the Treta Yuga is 2400 + 1200
+= 3600 divine years, and Krita Yuga 3600 + 1200 = 4800 divine years.
+
+The influence of Babylonia is apparent in these calculations. During
+the Vedic period "Yuga" usually signified a "generation", and there
+are no certain references to the four Ages as such. The names "Kali",
+"Dvapara", "Treta", and "Krita" "occur as the designations of throws
+of dice".[332] It was after the arrival of the "late comers", the
+post-Vedic Aryans, that the Yuga system was developed in India.[333]
+
+In _Indian Myth and Legend_[334] it is shown that the Indian and Irish
+Ages have the same colour sequence: (1) White or Silvern, (2) Red or
+Bronze, (3) Yellow or Golden, and (4) Black or Iron. The Greek order
+is: (1) Golden, (2) Silvern, (3) Bronze, and (4) Iron.
+
+The Babylonians coloured the seven planets as follows: the moon,
+silvern; the sun, golden; Mars, red; Saturn, black; Jupiter, orange;
+Venus, yellow; and Mercury, blue.
+
+As the ten antediluvian kings who reigned for 120 saroi had an astral
+significance, their long reigns corresponding "with the distances
+separating certain of the principal stars in or near the
+ecliptic",[335]) it seems highly probable that the planets were
+similarly connected with mythical ages which were equated with the
+"four quarters" of the celestial regions and the four regions of the
+earth, which in Gaelic story are called "the four red divisions of the
+world".
+
+Three of the planets may have been heralds of change. Venus, as "
+Dilbat", was the "Proclaimer", and both Jupiter and Mercury were
+called "Face voices of light", and "Heroes of the rising sun" among
+other names. Jupiter may have been the herald of the "Golden Age" as a
+morning star. This planet was also associated with bronze, as "Kakkub
+Urud", "the star of bronze", while Mars was "Kakkub Aban Kha-urud,"
+"the star of the bronze fish stone". Mercury, the lapis lazuli planet,
+may have been connected with the black Saturn, the ghost of the dead
+sun, the demoniac elder god; in Egypt lapis lazuli was the hair colour
+of Ra when he grew old, and Egyptologists translate it as black.[336]
+The rare and regular appearances of Mercury may have suggested the
+planet's connection with a recurring Age. Venus as an evening star
+might be regarded as the herald of the lunar or silver age; she was
+propitious as a bearded deity and interchanged with Merodach as a
+seasonal herald.
+
+Connecting Jupiter with the sun as a propitious planet, and with Mars
+as a destroying planet, Venus with the moon, and Mercury with Saturn,
+we have left four colour schemes which suggest the Golden, Silvern,
+Bronze, and Iron Ages. The Greek order of mythical ages may have had a
+solar significance, beginning as it does with the "golden" period. On
+the other hand the Indian and Irish systems begin with the Silvern or
+white lunar period. In India the White Age (Treta Yuga) was the age of
+perfect men, and in Greece the Golden Age was the age of men who lived
+like gods. Thus the first ages in both cases were "Perfect" Ages. The
+Bronze Age of Greece was the age of notorious fighters and takers of
+life; in Babylonia the bronze planet Mars was the symbol of the
+destroying Nergal, god of war and pestilence, while Jupiter was also a
+destroyer as Merodach, the slayer of Tiamat. In India the Black Age is
+the age of wickedness. The Babylonian Saturn, as we have seen, is
+black, and its god, Ninip, was the destroying boar, which recalls the
+black boar of the Egyptian demon (or elder god) Set. The Greek Cronos
+was a destroyer even of his own children. All the elder gods had
+demoniac traits like the ghosts of human beings.
+
+As the Babylonian lunar zodiac was imported into India before solar
+worship and the solar zodiac were developed, so too may have been the
+germs of the Yuga doctrine, which appears to have a long history.
+Greece, on the other hand, came under the influence of Babylon at a
+much later period. In Egypt Ra, the sun god, was an antediluvian king,
+and he was followed by Osiris. Osiris was slain by Set, who was
+depicted sometimes red and sometimes black. There was also a Horus
+Age.
+
+The Irish system of ages suggests an early cultural drift into Europe,
+through Asia Minor, and along the uplands occupied by the
+representatives of the Alpine or Armenoid peoples who have been traced
+from Hindu Kush to Brittany. The culture of Gaul resembles that of
+India in certain particulars; both the Gauls and the post-Vedic
+Aryans, for instance, believed in the doctrine of Transmigration of
+Souls, and practised "suttee". After the Roman occupation of Gaul,
+Ireland appears to have been the refuge of Gaulish scholars, who
+imported their beliefs and traditions and laid the foundations of that
+brilliant culture which shed lustre on the Green Isle in late Pagan
+and early Christian times.
+
+The part played by the Mitanni people of Aryan speech in distributing
+Asiatic culture throughout Europe may have been considerable, but we
+know little or nothing regarding their movements and influence, nor
+has sufficient evidence been forthcoming to connect them with the
+cremating invaders of the Bronze Age, who penetrated as far as
+northern Scotland and Scandinavia. On the other hand it is certain
+that the Hittites adopted the planetary system of Babylonia and passed
+it on to Europeans, including the Greeks. The five planets Ninip,
+Merodach, Nergal, Ishtar, and Nebo were called by the Greeks after
+their gods Kronos, Zeus, Ares, Aphrodite, and Hermes, and by the
+Romans Saturnus, Jupiter, Mars, Venus, and Mercurius. It must be
+recognized, however, that these equations were somewhat arbitrary.
+Ninip resembled Kronos and Saturnus as a father, but he was also at
+the same time a son; he was the Egyptian Horus the elder and Horus the
+younger in one. Merodach was similarly of complex character--a
+combination of Ea, Anu, Enlil, and Tammuz, who acquired, when exalted
+by the Amoritic Dynasty of Babylon, the attributes of the thunder god
+Adad-Ramman in the form of Amurru, "lord of the mountains". During the
+Hammurabi Age Amurru was significantly popular in personal names. It
+is as Amurru-Ramman that Merodach bears comparison with Zeus. He also
+links with Hercules. Too much must not be made, therefore, of the
+Greek and Roman identifications of alien deities with their own.
+Mulla, the Gaulish mule god, may have resembled Mars somewhat, but it
+is a "far cry" from Mars-Mulla to Mars-Nergal, as it is also from the
+Gaulish Moccus, the boar, called "Mercury", to Nebo, the god of
+culture, who was the "Mercury" of the Tigro-Euphrates valley.
+Similarly the differences between "Jupiter-Amon" of Egypt and
+"Jupiter-Merodach" of Babylon were more pronounced than the
+resemblances.
+
+The basal idea in Babylonian astrology appears to be the recognition
+of the astral bodies as spirits or fates, who exercised an influence
+over the gods, the world, and mankind. These were worshipped in groups
+when they were yet nameless. The group addressed, "Powerful, O
+sevenfold, one are ye", may have been a constellation consisting of
+seven stars.[337] The worship of stars and planets, which were
+identified and named, "seems never to have spread", says Professor
+Sayce, "beyond the learned classes, and to have remained to the last
+an artificial system. The mass of the people worshipped the stars as a
+whole, but it was only as a whole and not individually."[338] The
+masses perpetuated ancient animistic beliefs, like the pre-Hellenic
+inhabitants of Greece. "The Pelasgians, as I was informed at Dodona,"
+wrote Herodotus, "formerly offered all things indiscriminately to the
+gods. They distinguished them by no name or surname, for they were
+hitherto unacquainted with either; but they called them gods, which by
+its etymology means disposers, from observing the orderly disposition
+and distribution of the various parts of the universe."[339] The
+oldest deities are those which bore no individual names. They were
+simply "Fates" or groups called "Sevenfold". The crude giant gods of
+Scotland are "Fomhairean" (Fomorians), and do not have individual
+names as in Ireland. Families and tribes were controlled by the Fates
+or nameless gods, which might appear as beasts or birds, or be heard
+knocking or screaming.
+
+In the Babylonian astral hymns, the star spirits are associated with
+the gods, and are revealers of the decrees of Fate. "Ye brilliant
+stars... ye bright ones... to destroy evil did Anu create you.... At
+thy command mankind was named (created)! Give thou the Word, and with
+thee let the great gods stand! Give thou my judgment, make my
+decision!"[340]
+
+The Indian evidence shows that the constellations, and especially the
+bright stars, were identified before the planets. Indeed, in Vedic
+literature there is no certain reference to a single planet, although
+constellations are named. It seems highly probable that before the
+Babylonian gods were associated with the astral bodies, the belief
+obtained that the stars exercised an influence over human lives. In
+one of the Indian "Forest Books", for instance, reference is made to a
+man who was "born under the Nakshatra Rohini ".[341] "Nakshatras" are
+stars in the _Rigveda_ and later, and "lunar mansions" in Brahmanical
+compositions.[342] "Rohini, 'ruddy', is the name of a conspicuously
+reddish star, [Greek: alpha] Tauri or Aldebaran, and denotes the group
+of the Hyades."[343] This reference may be dated before 600 B.C.,
+perhaps 800 B.C.
+
+From Greece comes the evidence of Plutarch regarding the principles of
+Babylonian astrology. "Respecting the planets, which they call _the
+birth-ruling divinities_, the Chaldeans", he wrote, "lay down that two
+(Venus and Jupiter) are propitious, and two (Mars and Saturn) malign,
+and three (Sun, Moon, and Mercury) of a middle nature, and one
+common." "That is," Mr. Brown comments, "an astrologer would say,
+these three are propitious with the good, and may be malign with the
+bad."[344]
+
+Jastrow's views in this connection seem highly controversial. He holds
+that Babylonian astrology dealt simply with national affairs, and had
+no concern with "the conditions under which the individual was born";
+it did not predict "the fate in store for him". He believes that the
+Greeks transformed Babylonian astrology and infused it with the spirit
+of individualism which is a characteristic of their religion, and that
+they were the first to give astrology a personal significance.
+
+Jastrow also perpetuates the idea that astronomy began with the
+Greeks. "Several centuries before the days of Alexander the Great," he
+says, "the Greeks had begun to cultivate the study of the heavens, not
+for purposes of divination, but prompted by a scientific spirit as an
+intellectual discipline that might help them to solve the mysteries of
+the universe." It is possible, however, to overrate the "scientific
+spirit" of the Greeks, who, like the Japanese in our own day, were
+accomplished borrowers from other civilizations. That astronomy had
+humble beginnings in Greece as elsewhere is highly probable. The late
+Mr. Andrew Lang wrote in this connection: "The very oddest example of
+the survival of the notion that the stars are men and women is found
+in the _Pax_ of Aristophanes. Trygaeus in that comedy has just made an
+expedition to heaven. A slave meets him, and asks him: 'Is not the
+story true, then, that we become stars when we die?' The answer is,
+'Certainly'; and Trygaeus points out the star into which Ion of Chios
+has just been metamorphosed." Mr. Lang added: "Aristophanes is making
+fun of some popular Greek superstition". The Eskimos, Persians,
+Aryo-Indians, Germans, New Zealanders, and others had a similar
+superstition.[345]
+
+Jastrow goes on to say that the Greeks "imparted their scientific view
+of the Universe to the East. They became the teachers of the East in
+astronomy as in medicine and other sciences, and the credit of having
+discovered the law of the precession of the equinoxes belongs to
+Hipparchus, the Greek astronomer, who announced this important theory
+about the year 130 B.C."[346] Undoubtedly the Greeks contributed to
+the advancement of the science of astronomy, with which, as other
+authorities believe, they became acquainted after it had become well
+developed as a science by the Assyrians and Babylonians.
+
+"In return for improved methods of astronomical calculation which,"
+Jastrow says, "_it may be assumed_ (the italics are ours), contact
+with Greek science gave to the Babylonian astronomers, the Greeks
+accepted from the Babylonians the names of the constellations of the
+ecliptic."[347] This is a grudging admission; they evidently accepted
+more than the mere names.
+
+Jastrow's hypothesis is certainly interesting, especially as he is an
+Oriental linguist of high repute. But it is not generally accepted.
+The sudden advance made by the Tigro-Euphratean astronomers when
+Assyria was at the height of its glory, may have been due to the
+discoveries made by great native scientists, the Newtons and the
+Herschels of past ages, who had studied the data accumulated by
+generations of astrologers, the earliest recorders of the movements of
+the heavenly bodies. It is hard to believe that the Greeks made much
+progress as scientists before they had identified the planets, and
+become familiar with the Babylonian constellations through the medium
+of the Hittites or the Phoenicians. What is known for certain is that
+long centuries before the Greek science was heard of, there were
+scientists in Babylonia. During the Sumerian period "the forms and
+relations of geometry", says Professor Goodspeed, "were employed for
+purposes of augury. The heavens were mapped out, and the courses of
+the heavenly bodies traced to determine the bearing of their movements
+upon human destinies."[348]
+
+Several centuries before Hipparchus was born, the Assyrian kings had
+in their palaces official astronomers who were able to foretell, with
+varying degrees of accuracy, when eclipses would take place.
+Instructions were sent to various observatories, in the king's name,
+to send in reports of forthcoming eclipses. A translation of one of
+these official documents sent from the observatory of Babylon to
+Nineveh, has been published by Professor Harper. The following are
+extracts from it: "As for the eclipse of the moon about which the king
+my lord has written to me, a watch was kept for it in the cities of
+Akkad, Borsippa, and Nippur. We observed it ourselves in the city of
+Akkad.... And whereas the king my lord ordered me to observe also the
+eclipse of the sun, I watched to see whether it took place or not, and
+what passed before my eyes I now report to the king my lord. It was an
+eclipse of the moon that took place.... It was total over Syria, and
+the shadow fell on the land of the Amorites, the land of the Hittites,
+and in part on the land of the Chaldees." Professor Sayce comments:
+"We gather from this letter that there were no less than three
+observatories in Northern Babylonia: one at Akkad, near Sippara; one
+at Nippur, now Niffer; and one at Borsippa, within sight of Babylon.
+As Borsippa possessed a university, it was natural that one of the
+three observatories should be established there."[349]
+
+It is evident that before the astronomers at Nineveh could foretell
+eclipses, they had achieved considerable progress as scientists. The
+data at their disposal probably covered nearly two thousand years. Mr.
+Brown, junior, calculates that the signs of the Zodiac were fixed in
+the year 2084 B.C.[350] These star groups do not now occupy the
+positions in which they were observed by the early astronomers,
+because the revolving earth is rocking like a top, with the result
+that the pole does not always keep pointing at the same spot in the
+heavens. Each year the meeting-place of the imaginary lines of the
+ecliptic and equator is moving westward at the rate of about fifty
+seconds. In time--ages hence--the pole will circle round to the point
+it spun at when the constellations were named by the Babylonians. It
+is by calculating the period occupied by this world-curve that the
+date 2084 B.C. has been arrived at.
+
+As a result of the world-rocking process, the present-day "signs of
+the Zodiac" do not correspond with the constellations. In March, for
+instance, when the sun crosses the equator it enters the sign of the
+Ram (Aries), but does not reach the constellation till the 20th, as
+the comparative table shows on p. 308.
+
+When "the ecliptic was marked off into the twelve regions" and the
+signs of the Zodiac were designated, "the year of three hundred
+sixty-five and one-fourth days was known", says Goodspeed, "though the
+common year was reckoned according to twelve months of thirty days
+each[351], and equated with the solar year by intercalating a month at
+the proper times.... The month was divided into weeks of seven
+days.... The clepsydra and the sundial were Babylonian inventions for
+measuring time."[352]
+
+The sundial of Ahaz was probably of Babylonian design. When the shadow
+went "ten degrees backward" (_2 Kings_, xx, II) ambassadors were sent
+from Babylon "to enquire of the wonder that was done in the land" (_2
+Chron._ xxxii, 31). It was believed that the king's illness was
+connected with the incident. According to astronomical calculation
+there was a partial eclipse of the sun which was visible at Jerusalem
+on 11th January, 689 B.C, about 11.30 a.m. When the upper part of the
+solar disc was obscured, the shadow on the dial was strangely
+affected.
+
+The Babylonian astrologers in their official documents were more
+concerned regarding international omens than those which affected
+individuals. They made observations not only of the stars, but also
+the moon, which, as has been shown, was one of their planets, and took
+note of the clouds and the wind likewise.
+
+As portions of the heavens were assigned to various countries, so was
+the moon divided into four quarters for the same purpose--the upper
+part for the north, Gutium, the lower for the south, Akkad or
+Babylonia, the eastern part for Elam, and the western for Amurru. The
+crescent was also divided in like manner; looking southward the
+astrologers assigned the right horn to the west and the left to the
+east. In addition, certain days and certain months were connected with
+the different regions. Lunar astrology was therefore of complicated
+character. When the moon was dim at the particular phase which was
+connected with Amurru, it was believed that the fortunes of that
+region were in decline, and if it happened to shine brightly in the
+Babylonian phase the time was considered auspicious to wage war in the
+west. Great importance was attached to eclipses, which were
+fortunately recorded, with the result that the ancient astronomers
+were ultimately enabled to forecast them.
+
+The destinies of the various states in the four quarters were
+similarly influenced by the planets. When Venus, for instance, rose
+brightly in the field of Anu, it was a "prosperor" for Elam; if it
+were dim it foretold misfortune. Much importance was also attached to
+the positions occupied by the constellations when the planets were
+propitious or otherwise; no king would venture forth on an expedition
+under a "yoke of inauspicious stars".
+
+Biblical references to the stars make mention of well-known Babylonian
+constellations:
+
+    Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the
+    bands of Orion? Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth (? the Zodiac) in
+    his season? or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons? Knowest
+    thou the ordinances of heaven? canst thou set the dominion thereof
+    in the earth? _Job_, xxxviii, 31-33. Which maketh Arcturus, Orion,
+    and Pleiades, and the chambers of the south. _Job_, ix, 9. Seek
+    him that maketh the seven stars and Orion, and turneth the shadow
+    of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night.
+    _Amos_, v, 8.
+
+The so-called science of astrology, which had origin in ancient
+Babylonia and spread eastward and west, is not yet extinct, and has
+its believers even in our own country at the present day, although
+they are not nearly so numerous as when Shakespeare made Malvolio
+read:
+
+    In my stars I am above thee; but be not afraid of greatness: some
+    are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness
+    thrust upon 'em. Thy Fates open their hands....[353]
+
+or when Byron wrote:
+
+    Ye stars! which are the poetry of heaven!
+    If in your bright leaves we would read the fate
+    Of men and empires--'t is to be forgiven
+    That in our aspirations to be great,
+    Our destinies o'erleap their mortal state
+    And claim a kindred with you....[354]
+
+Our grave astronomers are no longer astrologers, but they still call
+certain constellations by the names given them in Babylonia. Every
+time we look at our watches we are reminded of the ancient
+mathematicians who counted on their fingers and multiplied 10 by 6, to
+give us minutes and seconds, and divided the day and the night into
+twelve hours by multiplying six by the two leaden feet of Time. The
+past lives in the present.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+ASHUR THE NATIONAL GOD OF ASSYRIA
+
+
+  Derivation of Ashur--Ashur as Anshar and Anu--Animal forms of Sky
+  God--Anshar as Star God on the Celestial Mount--Isaiah's
+  Parable--Symbols of World God and World Hill--Dance of the
+  Constellations and Dance of Satyrs--Goat Gods and Bull Gods--Symbols
+  of Gods as "High Heads"--The Winged Disc--Human Figure as Soul of
+  the Sun--Ashur as Hercules and Gilgamesh--Gods differentiated by
+  Cults--Fertility Gods as War Gods--Ashur's Tree and Animal
+  forms--Ashur as Nisroch--Lightning Symbol in Disc--Ezekiel's
+  Reference to Life Wheel--Indian Wheel and Discus--Wheels of Shamash
+  and Ahura-Mazda--Hittite Winged Disc--Solar Wheel causes Seasonal
+  Changes--Bonfires to stimulate Solar Deity--Burning of Gods and
+  Kings--Magical Ring and other Symbols of Scotland--Ashur's Wheel of
+  Life and Eagle Wings--King and Ashur--Ashur associated with Lunar,
+  Fire, and Star Gods--The Osirian Clue--Hittite and Persian
+  Influences.
+
+
+The rise of Assyria brings into prominence the national god Ashur,
+who had been the city god of Asshur, the ancient capital. When first
+met with, he is found to be a complex and mystical deity, and the
+problem of his origin is consequently rendered exceedingly difficult.
+Philologists are not agreed as to the derivation of his name, and
+present as varied views as they do when dealing with the name of
+Osiris. Some give Ashur a geographical significance, urging that its
+original form was Aushar, "water field"; others prefer the renderings
+"Holy", "the Beneficent One", or "the Merciful One"; while not a few
+regard Ashur as simply a dialectic form of the name of Anshar, the god
+who, in the Assyrian version, or copy, of the Babylonian Creation
+myth, is chief of the "host of heaven", and the father of Anu, Ea, and
+Enlil.
+
+If Ashur is to be regarded as an abstract solar deity, who was
+developed from a descriptive place name, it follows that he had a
+history, like Anu or Ea, rooted in Naturalism or Animism. We cannot
+assume that his strictly local character was produced by modes of
+thought which did not obtain elsewhere. The colonists who settled at
+Asshur no doubt imported beliefs from some cultural area; they must
+have either given recognition to a god, or group of gods, or regarded
+the trees, hills, rivers, sun, moon, and stars, and the animals as
+manifestations of the "self power" of the Universe, before they
+undertook the work of draining and cultivating the "water field" and
+erecting permanent homes. Those who settled at Nineveh, for instance,
+believed that they were protected by the goddess Nina, the patron
+deity of the Sumerian city of Nina. As this goddess was also
+worshipped at Lagash, and was one of the many forms of the Great
+Mother, it would appear that in ancient times deities had a tribal
+rather than a geographical significance.
+
+If the view is accepted that Ashur is Anshar, it can be urged that he
+was imported from Sumeria. "Out of that land (Shinar)", according to
+the Biblical reference, "went forth Asshur, and builded Nineveh."[355]
+Asshur, or Ashur (identical, Delitzsch and Jastrow believe, with
+Ashir),[356] may have been an eponymous hero--a deified king like
+Etana, or Gilgamesh, who was regarded as an incarnation of an ancient
+god. As Anshar was an astral or early form of Anu, the Sumerian city
+of origin may have been Erech, where the worship of the mother goddess
+was also given prominence.
+
+Damascius rendered Anshar's name as "Assoros", a fact usually cited to
+establish Ashur's connection with that deity. This writer stated that
+the Babylonians passed over "Sige,[357] the mother, that has begotten
+heaven and earth", and made two--Apason (Apsu), the husband, and
+Tauthe (Tiawath or Tiamat), whose son was Moymis (Mummu). From these
+another progeny came forth--Lache and Lachos (Lachmu and Lachamu).
+These were followed by the progeny Kissare and Assoros (Kishar and
+Anshar), "from which were produced Anos (Anu), Illillos (Enlil) and
+Aos (Ea). And of Aos and Dauke (Dawkina or Damkina) was born Belos
+(Bel Merodach), whom they say is the Demiurge"[358] (the world artisan
+who carried out the decrees of a higher being).
+
+Lachmu and Lachamu, like the second pair of the ancient group of
+Egyptian deities, probably symbolized darkness as a reproducing and
+sustaining power. Anshar was apparently an impersonation of the night
+sky, as his son Anu was of the day sky. It may have been believed that
+the soul of Anshar was in the moon as Nannar (Sin), or in a star, or
+that the moon and the stars were manifestations of him, and that the
+soul of Anu was in the sun or the firmament, or that the sun,
+firmament, and the wind were forms of this "self power".
+
+If Ashur combined the attributes of Anshar and Anu, his early mystical
+character may be accounted for. Like the Indian Brahma, he may have
+been in his highest form an impersonation, or symbol, of the "self
+power" or "world soul" of developed Naturalism--the "creator",
+"preserver", and "destroyer" in one, a god of water, earth, air, and
+sky, of sun, moon, and stars, fire and lightning, a god of the grove,
+whose essence was in the fig, or the fir cone, as it was in all
+animals. The Egyptian god Amon of Thebes, who was associated with
+water, earth, air, sky, sun and moon, had a ram form, and was "the
+hidden one", was developed from one of the elder eight gods; in the
+Pyramid Texts he and his consort are the fourth pair. When Amon was
+fused with the specialized sun god Ra, he was placed at the head of
+the Ennead as the Creator. "We have traces", says Jastrow, "of an
+Assyrian myth of Creation in which the sphere of creator is given to
+Ashur."[359]
+
+Before a single act of creation was conceived of, however, the early
+peoples recognized the eternity of matter, which was permeated by the
+"self power" of which the elder deities were vague phases. These were
+too vague, indeed, to be worshipped individually. The forms of the
+"self power" which were propitiated were trees, rivers, hills, or
+animals. As indicated in the previous chapter, a tribe worshipped an
+animal or natural object which dominated its environment. The animal
+might be the source of the food supply, or might have to be
+propitiated to ensure the food supply. Consequently they identified
+the self power of the Universe with the particular animal with which
+they were most concerned. One section identified the spirit of the
+heavens with the bull and another with the goat. In India Dyaus was a
+bull, and his spouse, the earth mother, Prithivi, was a cow. The
+Egyptian sky goddess Hathor was a cow, and other goddesses were
+identified with the hippopotamus, the serpent, the cat, or the
+vulture. Ra, the sun god, was identified in turn with the cat, the
+ass, the bull, the ram, and the crocodile, the various animal forms of
+the local deities he had absorbed. The eagle in Babylonia and India,
+and the vulture, falcon, and mysterious Phoenix in Egypt, were
+identified with the sun, fire, wind, and lightning. The animals
+associated with the god Ashur were the bull, the eagle, and the lion.
+He either absorbed the attributes of other gods, or symbolized the
+"Self Power" of which the animals were manifestations.
+
+The earliest germ of the Creation myth was the idea that night was the
+parent of day, and water of the earth. Out of darkness and death came
+light and life. Life was also motion. When the primordial waters
+became troubled, life began to be. Out of the confusion came order and
+organization. This process involved the idea of a stable and
+controlling power, and the succession of a group of deities--passive
+deities and active deities. When the Babylonian astrologers assisted
+in developing the Creation myth, they appear to have identified with
+the stable and controlling spirit of the night heaven that steadfast
+orb the Polar Star. Anshar, like Shakespeare's Caesar, seemed to say:
+
+    I am constant as the northern star, Of whose true-fixed and
+    resting quality There is no fellow in the firmament. The skies are
+    painted with unnumbered sparks; They are all fire, and every one
+    doth shine; But there's but one in all doth hold his place.[360]
+
+Associated with the Polar Star was the constellation Ursa Minor, "the
+Little Bear", called by the Babylonian astronomers, "the Lesser
+Chariot". There were chariots before horses were introduced. A patesi
+of Lagash had a chariot which was drawn by asses.
+
+The seemingly steadfast Polar Star was called "Ilu Sar", "the god
+Shar", or Anshar, "star of the height", or "Shar the most high". It
+seemed to be situated at the summit of the vault of heaven. The god
+Shar, therefore, stood upon the Celestial mountain, the Babylonian
+Olympus. He was the ghost of the elder god, who in Babylonia was
+displaced by the younger god, Merodach, as Mercury, the morning star,
+or as the sun, the planet of day; and in Assyria by Ashur, as the sun,
+or Regulus, or Arcturus, or Orion. Yet father and son were identical.
+They were phases of the One, the "self power".
+
+A deified reigning king was an incarnation of the god; after death he
+merged in the god, as did the Egyptian Unas. The eponymous hero Asshur
+may have similarly merged in the universal Ashur, who, like Horus, an
+incarnation of Osiris, had many phases or forms.
+
+Isaiah appears to have been familiar with the Tigro-Euphratean myths
+about the divinity of kings and the displacement of the elder god by
+the younger god, of whom the ruling monarch was an incarnation, and
+with the idea that the summit of the Celestial mountain was crowned by
+the "north star", the symbol of Anshar. "Thou shalt take up this
+parable", he exclaimed, making use of Babylonian symbolism, "against
+the king of Babylon and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden
+city ceased!... How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the
+morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the
+nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend unto heaven,
+I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will sit also upon
+the mount of the congregation, _in the sides of the north_; I will
+ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most
+High."[361] The king is identified with Lucifer as the deity of fire
+and the morning star; he is the younger god who aspired to occupy the
+mountain throne of his father, the god Shar--the Polar or North Star.
+
+It is possible that the Babylonian idea of a Celestial mountain gave
+origin to the belief that the earth was a mountain surrounded by the
+outer ocean, beheld by Etana when he flew towards heaven on the
+eagle's back. In India this hill is Mount Meru, the "world spine",
+which "sustains the earth"; it is surmounted by Indra's Valhal, or
+"the great city of Brahma". In Teutonic mythology the heavens revolve
+round the Polar Star, which is called "Veraldar nagli",[362] the
+"world spike"; while the earth is sustained by the "world tree". The
+"ded" amulet of Egypt symbolized the backbone of Osiris as a world
+god: "ded" means "firm", "established";[363] while at burial
+ceremonies the coffin was set up on end, inside the tomb, "on a small
+sandhill intended to represent the Mountain of the West--the realm of
+the dead".[364] The Babylonian temple towers were apparently symbols
+of the "world hill". At Babylon, the Du-azaga, "holy mound", was
+Merodach's temple E-sagila, "the Temple of the High Head". E-kur,
+rendered "the house or temple of the Mountain", was the temple of Bel
+Enlil at Nippur. At Erech, the temple of the goddess Ishtar was
+E-anna, which connects her, as Nina or Ninni, with Anu, derived from
+"ana", "heaven". Ishtar was "Queen of heaven".
+
+Now Polaris, situated at the summit of the celestial mountain, was
+identified with the sacred goat, "the highest of the flock of
+night".[365] Ursa Minor (the "Little Bear" constellation) may have
+been "the goat with six heads", referred to by Professor Sayce.[366]
+The six astral goats or goat-men were supposed to be dancing round the
+chief goat-man or Satyr (Anshar). Even in the dialogues of Plato the
+immemorial belief was perpetuated that the constellations were "moving
+as in a dance". Dancing began as a magical or religious practice, and
+the earliest astronomers saw their dancing customs reflected in the
+heavens by the constellations, whose movements were rhythmical. No
+doubt, Isaiah had in mind the belief of the Babylonians regarding the
+dance of their goat-gods when he foretold: "Their houses shall be full
+of doleful creatures; and owls (ghosts) shall dwell there, and _satyrs
+shall dance there_".[367] In other words, there would be no people
+left to perform religious dances beside the "desolate houses"; the
+stars only would be seen dancing round Polaris.
+
+Tammuz, like Anshar, as sentinel of the night heaven, was a goat, as
+was also Nin-Girsu of Lagash. A Sumerian reference to "a white kid of
+En Mersi (Nin-Girsu)" was translated into Semitic, "a white kid of
+Tammuz". The goat was also associated with Merodach. Babylonians,
+having prayed to that god to take away their diseases or their sins,
+released a goat, which was driven into the desert. The present Polar
+Star, which was not, of course, the Polar star of the earliest
+astronomers, the world having rocked westward, is called in Arabic
+Al-Jedy, "the kid". In India, the goat was connected with Agni and
+Varuna; it was slain at funeral ceremonies to inform the gods that a
+soul was about to enter heaven. Ea, the Sumerian lord of water, earth,
+and heaven, was symbolized as a "goat fish". Thor, the Teutonic
+fertility and thunder god, had a chariot drawn by goats. It is of
+interest to note that the sacred Sumerian goat bore on its forehead
+the same triangular symbol as the Apis bull of Egypt.
+
+Ashur was not a "goat of heaven", but a "bull of heaven", like the
+Sumerian Nannar (Sin), the moon god of Ur, Ninip of Saturn, and Bel
+Enlil. As the bull, however, he was, like Anshar, the ruling animal of
+the heavens; and like Anshar he had associated with him "six
+divinities of council".
+
+Other deities who were similarly exalted as "high heads" at various
+centres and at various periods, included Anu, Bel Enlil, and Ea,
+Merodach, Nergal, and Shamash. A symbol of the first three was a
+turban on a seat, or altar, which may have represented the "world
+mountain". Ea, as "the world spine", was symbolized as a column, with
+ram's head, standing on a throne, beside which crouched a "goat fish".
+Merodach's column terminated in a lance head, and the head of a lion
+crowned that of Nergal. These columns were probably connected with
+pillar worship, and therefore with tree worship, the pillar being the
+trunk of the "world tree". The symbol of the sun god Shamash was a
+disc, from which flowed streams of water; his rays apparently were
+"fertilizing tears", like the rays of the Egyptian sun god Ra. Horus,
+the Egyptian falcon god, was symbolized as the winged solar disc.
+
+It is necessary to accumulate these details regarding other deities
+and their symbols before dealing with Ashur. The symbols of Ashur must
+be studied, because they are one of the sources of our knowledge
+regarding the god's origin and character. These include (1) a winged
+disc with horns, enclosing four circles revolving round a middle
+circle; rippling rays fall down from either side of the disc; (2) a
+circle or wheel, suspended from wings, and enclosing a warrior drawing
+his bow to discharge an arrow; and (3) the same circle; the warrior's
+bow, however, is carried in his left hand, while the right hand is
+uplifted as if to bless his worshippers. These symbols are taken from
+seal cylinders.
+
+An Assyrian standard, which probably represented the "world column",
+has the disc mounted on a bull's head with horns. The upper part of
+the disc is occupied by a warrior, whose head, part of his bow, and
+the point of his arrow protrude from the circle. The rippling water
+rays are V-shaped, and two bulls, treading river-like rays, occupy the
+divisions thus formed. There are also two heads--a lion's and a
+man's--with gaping mouths, which may symbolize tempests, the
+destroying power of the sun, or the sources of the Tigris and
+Euphrates.
+
+Jastrow regards the winged disc as "the purer and more genuine symbol
+of Ashur as a solar deity". He calls it "a sun disc with protruding
+rays", and says: "To this symbol the warrior with the bow and arrow
+was added--a despiritualization that reflects the martial spirit of
+the Assyrian empire".[368]
+
+The sun symbol on the sun boat of Ra encloses similarly a human
+figure, which was apparently regarded as the soul of the sun: the life
+of the god was in the "sun egg". In an Indian prose treatise it is set
+forth: "Now that man in yonder orb (the sun) and that man in the right
+eye truly are no other than Death (the soul). His feet have stuck fast
+in the heart, and having pulled them out he comes forth; and when he
+comes forth then that man dies; whence they say of him who has passed
+away, 'he has been cut off (his life or life string has been
+severed)'."[369] The human figure did not indicate a process of
+"despiritualization" either in Egypt or in India. The Horus "winged
+disc" was besides a symbol of destruction and battle, as well as of
+light and fertility. Horus assumed that form in one legend to destroy
+Set and his followers.[370] But, of course, the same symbols may not
+have conveyed the same ideas to all peoples. As Blake put it:
+
+    What to others a trifle appears Fills me full of smiles and
+    tears.... With my inward Eye, 't is an old Man grey, With my
+    outward, a Thistle across my way.
+
+Indeed, it is possible that the winged disc meant one thing to an
+Assyrian priest, and another thing to a man not gifted with what Blake
+called "double vision".
+
+What seems certain, however, is that the archer was as truly solar as
+the "wings" or "rays". In Babylonia and Assyria the sun was, among
+other things, a destroyer from the earliest times. It is not
+surprising, therefore, to find that Ashur, like Merodach, resembled,
+in one of his phases, Hercules, or rather his prototype Gilgamesh. One
+of Gilgamesh's mythical feats was the slaying of three demon birds.
+These may be identical with the birds of prey which Hercules, in
+performing his sixth labour, hunted out of Stymphalus.[371] In the
+Greek Hipparcho-Ptolemy star list Hercules was the constellation of
+the "Kneeler", and in Babylonian-Assyrian astronomy he was (as
+Gilgamesh or Merodach) "Sarru", "the king". The astral "Arrow"
+(constellation of Sagitta) was pointed against the constellations of
+the "Eagle", "Vulture", and "Swan". In Phoenician astronomy the
+Vulture was "Zither" (Lyra), a weapon with which Hercules (identified
+with Melkarth) slew Linos, the musician. Hercules used a solar arrow,
+which he received from Apollo. In various mythologies the arrow is
+associated with the sun, the moon, and the atmospheric deities, and is
+a symbol of lightning, rain, and fertility, as well as of famine,
+disease, war, and death. The green-faced goddess Neith of Libya,
+compared by the Greeks to Minerva, carries in one hand two arrows and
+a bow.[372] If we knew as little of Athena (Minerva), who was armed
+with a lance, a breastplate made of the skin of a goat, a shield, and
+helmet, as we do of Ashur, it might be held that she was simply a
+goddess of war. The archer in the sun disc of the Assyrian standard
+probably represented Ashur as the god of the people--a deity closely
+akin to Merodach, with pronounced Tammuz traits, and therefore linking
+with other local deities like Ninip, Nergal, and Shamash, and
+partaking also like these of the attributes of the elder gods Anu, Bel
+Enlil, and Ea.
+
+All the other deities worshipped by the Assyrians were of Babylonian
+origin. Ashur appears to have differed from them just as one local
+Babylonian deity differed from another. He reflected Assyrian
+experiences and aspirations, but it is difficult to decide whether the
+sublime spiritual aspect of his character was due to the beliefs of
+alien peoples, by whom the early Assyrians were influenced, or to the
+teachings of advanced Babylonian thinkers, whose doctrines found
+readier acceptance in a "new country" than among the conservative
+ritualists of ancient Sumerian and Akkadian cities. New cults were
+formed from time to time in Babylonia, and when they achieved
+political power they gave a distinctive character to the religion of
+their city states. Others which did not find political support and
+remained in obscurity at home, may have yet extended their influence
+far and wide. Buddhism, for instance, originated in India, but now
+flourishes in other countries, to which it was introduced by
+missionaries. In the homeland it was submerged by the revival of
+Brahmanism, from which it sprung, and which it was intended
+permanently to displace. An instance of an advanced cult suddenly
+achieving prominence as a result of political influence is afforded by
+Egypt, where the fully developed Aton religion was embraced and
+established as a national religion by Akhenaton, the so-called
+"dreamer". That migrations were sometimes propelled by cults, which
+sought new areas in which to exercise religious freedom and propagate
+their beliefs, is suggested by the invasion of India at the close of
+the Vedic period by the "later comers", who laid the foundations of
+Brahmanism. They established themselves in Madhyadesa, "the Middle
+Country", "the land where the Brahmanas and the later Samhitas were
+produced". From this centre went forth missionaries, who accomplished
+the Brahmanization of the rest of India.[373]
+
+It may be, therefore, that the cult of Ashur was influenced in its
+development by the doctrines of advanced teachers from Babylonia, and
+that Persian Mithraism was also the product of missionary efforts
+extended from that great and ancient cultural area. Mitra, as has been
+stated, was one of the names of the Babylonian sun god, who was also a
+god of fertility. But Ashur could not have been to begin with merely a
+battle and solar deity. As the god of a city state he must have been
+worshipped by agriculturists, artisans, and traders; he must have been
+recognized as a deity of fertility, culture, commerce, and law. Even
+as a national god he must have made wider appeal than to the cultured
+and ruling classes. Bel Enlil of Nippur was a "world god" and war god,
+but still remained a local corn god.
+
+Assyria's greatness was reflected by Ashur, but he also reflected the
+origin and growth of that greatness. The civilization of which he was
+a product had an agricultural basis. It began with the development of
+the natural resources of Assyria, as was recognized by the Hebrew
+prophet, who said: "Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with
+fair branches.... The waters made him great, the deep set him up on
+high with her rivers running round about his plants, and sent out her
+little rivers unto all the trees of the field. Therefore his height
+was exalted above all the trees of the field, and his boughs were
+multiplied, and his branches became long because of the multitude of
+waters when he shot forth. All the fowls of heaven made their nests in
+his boughs, and under his branches did all the beasts of the field
+bring forth their young, and under his shadow dwelt all great nations.
+Thus was he fair in his greatness, in the length of his branches; for
+his root was by great waters. The cedars in the garden of God could
+not hide him: the fir trees were not like his boughs, and the chestnut
+trees were not like his branches; nor any tree in the garden of God
+was like unto him in his beauty."[374]
+
+Asshur, the ancient capital, was famous for its merchants. It is
+referred to in the Bible as one of the cities which traded with Tyre
+"in all sorts of things, in blue clothes, and broidered work, and in
+chests of rich apparel, bound with cords, and made of cedar".[375]
+
+As a military power, Assyria's name was dreaded. "Behold," Isaiah
+said, addressing King Hezekiah, "thou hast heard what the kings of
+Assyria have done to all lands by destroying them utterly."[376] The
+same prophet, when foretelling how Israel would suffer, exclaimed: "O
+Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine
+indignation. I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and
+against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the
+spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of
+the streets."[377]
+
+We expect to find Ashur reflected in these three phases of Assyrian
+civilization. If we recognize him in the first place as a god of
+fertility, his other attributes are at once included. A god of
+fertility is a corn god and a water god. The river as a river was a
+"creator" (p. 29), and Ashur was therefore closely associated with the
+"watery place", with the canals or "rivers running round about his
+plants". The rippling water-rays, or fertilizing tears, appear on the
+solar discs. As a corn god, he was a god of war. Tammuz's first act
+was to slay the demons of winter and storm, as Indra's in India was to
+slay the demons of drought, and Thor's in Scandinavia was to
+exterminate the frost giants. The corn god had to be fed with human
+sacrifices, and the people therefore waged war against foreigners to
+obtain victims. As the god made a contract with his people, he was a
+deity of commerce; he provided them with food and they in turn fed him
+with offerings.
+
+In Ezekiel's comparison of Assyria to a mighty tree, there is no doubt
+a mythological reference. The Hebrew prophets invariably utilized for
+their poetic imagery the characteristic beliefs of the peoples to whom
+they made direct reference. The "owls", "satyrs", and "dragons" of
+Babylon, mentioned by Isaiah, were taken from Babylonian mythology, as
+has been indicated. When, therefore, Assyria is compared to a cedar,
+which is greater than fir or chestnut, and it is stated that there are
+nesting birds in the branches, and under them reproducing beasts of
+the field, and that the greatness of the tree is due to "the multitude
+of waters", the conclusion is suggested that Assyrian religion, which
+Ashur's symbols reflect, included the worship of trees, birds, beasts,
+and water. The symbol of the Assyrian tree--probably the "world tree"
+of its religion--appears to be "the rod of mine anger ... the staff in
+their hand"; that is, the battle standard which was a symbol of Ashur.
+Tammuz and Osiris were tree gods as well as corn gods.
+
+Now, as Ashur was evidently a complex deity, it is futile to attempt
+to read his symbols without giving consideration to the remnants of
+Assyrian mythology which are found in the ruins of the ancient cities.
+These either reflect the attributes of Ashur, or constitute the
+material from which he evolved.
+
+As Layard pointed out many years ago, the Assyrians had a sacred tree
+which became conventionalized. It was "an elegant device, in which
+curved branches, springing from a kind of scroll work, terminated in
+flowers of graceful form. As one of the figures last described[378]
+was turned, as if in act of adoration, towards this device, it was
+evidently a sacred emblem; and I recognized in it the holy tree, or
+tree of life, so universally adored at the remotest period in the
+East, and which was preserved in the religious systems of the Persians
+to the final overthrow of their Empire.... The flowers were formed by
+seven petals."[379]
+
+This tree looks like a pillar, and is thrice crossed by
+conventionalized bull's horns tipped with ring symbols which may be
+stars, the highest pair of horns having a larger ring between them,
+but only partly shown as if it were a crescent. The tree with its many
+"sevenfold" designs may have been a symbol of the
+"Sevenfold-one-are-ye" deity. This is evidently the Assyrian tree
+which was called "the rod" or "staff".
+
+What mythical animals did this tree shelter? Layard found that "the
+four creatures continually introduced on the sculptured walls", were
+"a man, a lion, an ox, and an eagle".[380]
+
+In Sumeria the gods were given human form, but before this stage was
+reached the bull symbolized Nannar (Sin), the moon god, Ninip (Saturn,
+the old sun), and Enlil, while Nergal was a lion, as a tribal sun god.
+The eagle is represented by the Zu bird, which symbolized the storm
+and a phase of the sun, and was also a deity of fertility. On the
+silver vase of Lagash the lion and eagle were combined as the
+lion-headed eagle, a form of Nin-Girsu (Tammuz), and it was associated
+with wild goats, stags, lions, and bulls. On a mace head dedicated to
+Nin-Girsu, a lion slays a bull as the Zu bird slays serpents in the
+folk tale, suggesting the wars of totemic deities, according to one
+"school", and the battle of the sun with the storm clouds according to
+another. Whatever the explanation may be of one animal deity of
+fertility slaying another, it seems certain that the conflict was
+associated with the idea of sacrifice to procure the food supply.
+
+In Assyria the various primitive gods were combined as a winged bull,
+a winged bull with human head (the king's), a winged lion with human
+head, a winged man, a deity with lion's head, human body, and eagle's
+legs with claws, and also as a deity with eagle's head and feather
+headdress, a human body, wings, and feather-fringed robe, carrying in
+one hand a metal basket on which two winged men adored the holy tree,
+and in the other a fir cone.[381]
+
+Layard suggested that the latter deity, with eagle's head, was
+Nisroch, "the word Nisr signifying, in all Semitic languages, an eagle
+".[382] This deity is referred to in the Bible: "Sennacherib, king of
+Assyria, ... was worshipping in the house of Nisroch, his god".[383]
+Professor Pinches is certain that Nisroch is Ashur, but considers that
+the "ni" was attached to "Ashur" (Ashuraku or Ashurachu), as it was to
+"Marad" (Merodach) to give the reading Ni-Marad = Nimrod. The names of
+heathen deities were thus made "unrecognizable, and in all probability
+ridiculous as well.... Pious and orthodox lips could pronounce them
+without fear of defilement."[384] At the same time the "Nisr" theory
+is probable: it may represent another phase of this process. The names
+of heathen gods were not all treated in like manner by the Hebrew
+teachers. Abed-_nebo_, for instance, became Abed-_nego_, _Daniel_, i,
+7), as Professor Pinches shows.
+
+Seeing that the eagle received prominence in the mythologies of
+Sumeria and Assyria, as a deity of fertility with solar and
+atmospheric attributes, it is highly probable that the Ashur symbol,
+like the Egyptian Horus solar disk, is a winged symbol of life,
+fertility, and destruction. The idea that it represents the sun in
+eclipse, with protruding rays, seems rather far-fetched, because
+eclipses were disasters and indications of divine wrath;[385] it
+certainly does not explain why the "rays" should only stretch out
+sideways, like wings, and downward like a tail, why the "rays" should
+be double, like the double wings of cherubs, bulls, &c, and divided
+into sections suggesting feathers, or why the disk is surmounted by
+conventionalized horns, tipped with star-like ring symbols, identical
+with those depicted in the holy tree. What particular connection the
+five small rings within the disk were supposed to have with the
+eclipse of the sun is difficult to discover.
+
+In one of the other symbols in which appears a feather-robed archer,
+it is significant to find that the arrow he is about to discharge has
+a head shaped like a trident; it is evidently a lightning symbol.
+
+When Ezekiel prophesied to the Israelitish captives at Tel-abib, "by
+the river of Chebar" in Chaldea (Kheber, near Nippur), he appears to
+have utilized Assyrian symbolism. Probably he came into contact in
+Babylonia with fugitive priests from Assyrian cities.
+
+This great prophet makes interesting references to "four living
+creatures", with "four faces "--the face of a man, the face of a lion,
+the face of an ox, and the face of an eagle; "they had the hands of a
+man under their wings, ... their wings were joined one to another; ...
+their wings were stretched upward: two wings of every one were joined
+one to another.... Their appearance was like burning coals of fire and
+like the appearance of lamps.... The living creatures ran and returned
+as the appearance of a flash of lightning."[386]
+
+Elsewhere, referring to the sisters, Aholah and Aholibah, who had been
+in Egypt and had adopted unmoral ways of life Ezekiel tells that when
+Aholibah "doted upon the Assyrians" she "saw men pourtrayed upon the
+wall, the images of the Chaldeans pourtrayed with vermilion, girded
+with girdles upon their loins".[387] Traces of the red colour on the
+walls of Assyrian temples and palaces have been observed by
+excavators. The winged gods "like burning coals" were probably painted
+in vermilion.
+
+Ezekiel makes reference to "ring" and "wheel" symbols. In his vision
+he saw "one wheel upon the earth by the living creatures, with his
+four faces. The appearance of the wheels and their work was like unto
+the colour of beryl; and they four had one likeness; and their
+appearance and their work was as it were a wheel in the middle of a
+wheel.... As for their rings, they were so high that they were
+dreadful; and their rings were full of eyes round about them four. And
+when the living creatures went, the wheels went by them; and when the
+living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted
+up. Whithersoever the spirit was to go, they went, thither was their
+spirit to go; and the wheels were lifted up over against them; _for
+the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels_....[388] And the
+likeness of the firmament upon the heads of the living creature was as
+the colour of terrible crystal, stretched forth over their heads
+above.... And when they went I heard the noise of their wings, like
+the noise of great waters, as the voice of the Almighty, the voice of
+speech, as the noise of an host; when they stood they let down their
+wings...."[389]
+
+Another description of the cherubs states: "Their whole body, and
+their backs, and their hands, and their wings, and the wheels, were
+full of eyes (? stars) round about, even the wheels that they four
+had. As for the wheels, it was cried unto them in my hearing, O
+wheel!"--or, according to a marginal rendering, "they were called in
+my hearing, wheel, or Gilgal," i.e. move round.... "And the cherubims
+were lifted up."[390]
+
+It would appear that the wheel (or hoop, a variant rendering) was a
+symbol of life, and that the Assyrian feather-robed figure which it
+enclosed was a god, not of war only, but also of fertility. His
+trident-headed arrow resembles, as has been suggested, a lightning
+symbol. Ezekiel's references are suggestive in this connection. When
+the cherubs "ran and returned" they had "the appearance of a flash of
+lightning", and "the noise of their wings" resembled "the noise of
+great waters". Their bodies were "like burning coals of fire".
+Fertility gods were associated with fire, lightning, and water. Agni
+of India, Sandan of Asia Minor, and Melkarth of Phoenicia were highly
+developed fire gods of fertility. The fire cult was also represented
+in Sumeria (pp. 49-51).
+
+In the Indian epic, the _Mahabharata_, the revolving ring or wheel
+protects the Soma[391] (ambrosia) of the gods, on which their
+existence depends. The eagle giant Garuda sets forth to steal it. The
+gods, fully armed, gather round to protect the life-giving drink.
+Garuda approaches "darkening the worlds by the dust raised by the
+hurricane of his wings". The celestials, "overwhelmed by that dust",
+swoon away. Garuda afterwards assumes a fiery shape, then looks "like
+masses of black clouds", and in the end its body becomes golden and
+bright "as the rays of the sun". The Soma is protected by fire, which
+the bird quenches after "drinking in many rivers" with the numerous
+mouths it has assumed. Then Garuda finds that right above the Soma is
+"a wheel of steel, keen edged, and sharp as a razor, revolving
+incessantly. That fierce instrument, of the lustre of the blazing sun
+and of terrible form, was devised by the gods for cutting to pieces
+all robbers of the Soma." Garuda passes "through the spokes of the
+wheel", and has then to contend against "two great snakes of the
+lustre of blazing fire, of tongues bright as the lightning flash, of
+great energy, of mouth emitting fire, of blazing eyes". He slays the
+snakes.... The gods afterwards recover the stolen Soma.
+
+Garuda becomes the vehicle of the god Vishnu, who carries the discus,
+another fiery wheel which revolves and returns to the thrower like
+lightning. "And he (Vishnu) made the bird sit on the flagstaff of his
+car, saying: 'Even thus thou shalt stay above me'."[392]
+
+The Persian god Ahura Mazda hovers above the king in sculptured
+representations of that high dignitary, enclosed in a winged wheel, or
+disk, like Ashur, grasping a ring in one hand, the other being lifted
+up as if blessing those who adore him.
+
+Shamash, the Babylonian sun god; Ishtar, the goddess of heaven; and
+other Babylonian deities carried rings as the Egyptian gods carried
+the ankh, the symbol of life. Shamash was also depicted sitting on his
+throne in a pillar-supported pavilion, in front of which is a sun
+wheel. The spokes of the wheel are formed by a star symbol and
+threefold rippling "water rays".
+
+In Hittite inscriptions there are interesting winged emblems; "the
+central portion" of one "seems to be composed of two crescents
+underneath a disk (which is also divided like a crescent). Above the
+emblem there appear the symbol of sanctity (the divided oval) and the
+hieroglyph which Professor Sayce interprets as the name of the god
+Sandes." In another instance "the centre of the winged emblem may be
+seen to be a rosette, with a curious spreading object below. Above,
+two dots follow the name of Sandes, and a human arm bent 'in
+adoration' is by the side...." Professor Garstang is here dealing with
+sacred places "on rocky points or hilltops, bearing out the suggestion
+of the sculptures near Boghaz-Keui[393], in which there may be
+reasonably suspected the surviving traces of mountain cults, or cults
+of mountain deities, underlying the newer religious symbolism". Who
+the deity is it is impossible to say, but "he was identified at some
+time or other with Sandes".[394] It would appear, too, that the god
+may have been "called by a name which was that used also by the
+priest". Perhaps the priest king was believed to be an incarnation of
+the deity.
+
+Sandes or Sandan was identical with Sandon of Tarsus, "the prototype
+of Attis",[395] who links with the Babylonian Tammuz. Sandon's animal
+symbol was the lion, and he carried the "double axe" symbol of the god
+of fertility and thunder. As Professor Frazer has shown in _The Golden
+Bough_, he links with Hercules and Melkarth.[396]
+
+All the younger gods, who displaced the elder gods as one year
+displaces another, were deities of fertility, battle, lightning, fire,
+and the sun; it is possible, therefore, that Ashur was like Merodach,
+son of Ea, god of the deep, a form of Tammuz in origin. His spirit was
+in the solar wheel which revolved at times of seasonal change. In
+Scotland it was believed that on the morning of May Day (Beltaine) the
+rising sun revolved three times. The younger god was a spring sun god
+and fire god. Great bonfires were lit to strengthen him, or as a
+ceremony of riddance; the old year was burned out. Indeed the god
+himself might be burned (that is, the old god), so that he might renew
+his youth. Melkarth was burned at Tyre. Hercules burned himself on a
+mountain top, and his soul ascended to heaven as an eagle.
+
+These fiery rites were evidently not unknown in Babylonia and Assyria.
+When, according to Biblical narrative, Nebuchadnezzar "made an image
+of gold" which he set up "in the plain of Dura, in the province of
+Babylon", he commanded: "O people, nations, and languages... at the
+time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery,
+dulcimer, and all kinds of musick... fall down and worship the golden
+image". Certain Jews who had been "set over the affairs of the
+province of Babylonia", namely, "Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego",
+refused to adore the idol. They were punished by being thrown into "a
+burning fiery furnace", which was heated "seven times more than it was
+wont to be heated". They came forth uninjured.[397]
+
+In the Koran it is related that Abraham destroyed the images of
+Chaldean gods; he "brake them all in pieces except the biggest of
+them; that they might lay the blame on that".[398] According to the
+commentators the Chaldaeans were at the time "abroad in the fields,
+celebrating a great festival". To punish the offender Nimrod had a
+great pyre erected at Cuthah. "Then they bound Abraham, and putting
+him into an engine, shot him into the midst of the fire, from which he
+was preserved by the angel Gabriel, who was sent to his assistance."
+Eastern Christians were wont to set apart in the Syrian calendar the
+25th of January to commemorate Abraham's escape from Nimrod's
+pyre.[399]
+
+It is evident that the Babylonian fire ceremony was observed in the
+spring season, and that human beings were sacrificed to the sun god. A
+mock king may have been burned to perpetuate the ancient sacrifice of
+real kings, who were incarnations of the god.
+
+Isaiah makes reference to the sacrificial burning of kings in Assyria:
+"For through the voice of the Lord shall the Assyrian be beaten down,
+which smote with a rod. And in every place where the grounded staff
+shall pass, which the Lord shall lay upon him, it shall be with
+tabrets and harps: and in battles of shaking will he fight with it.
+For Tophet is ordained of old; yea, for the king it is prepared: he
+hath made it deep and large: the pile thereof is fire and much wood:
+the breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle
+it."[400] When Nineveh was about to fall, and with it the Assyrian
+Empire, the legendary king, Sardanapalus, who was reputed to have
+founded Tarsus, burned himself, with his wives, concubines, and
+eunuchs, on a pyre in his palace. Zimri, who reigned over Israel for
+seven days, "burnt the king's house over him with fire"[401]. Saul,
+another fallen king, was burned after death, and his bones were buried
+"under the oak in Jabesh".[402] In Europe the oak was associated with
+gods of fertility and lightning, including Jupiter and Thor. The
+ceremony of burning Saul is of special interest. Asa, the orthodox
+king of Judah, was, after death, "laid in the bed which was filled
+with sweet odours and divers kinds of spices prepared by the
+apothecaries' art: and they made a very great burning for him" (_2
+Chronicles_, xvi, 14). Jehoram, the heretic king of Judah, who "walked
+in the way of the kings of Israel", died of "an incurable disease. And
+his people made no burning for him like the burning of his fathers"
+(_2 Chronicles_, xxi, 18, 19).
+
+The conclusion suggested by the comparative study of the beliefs of
+neighbouring peoples, and the evidence afforded by Assyrian
+sculptures, is that Ashur was a highly developed form of the god of
+fertility, who was sustained, or aided in his conflicts with demons,
+by the fires and sacrifices of his worshippers.
+
+It is possible to read too much into his symbols. These are not more
+complicated and vague than are the symbols on the standing stones of
+Scotland--the crescent with the "broken" arrow; the trident with the
+double rings, or wheels, connected by two crescents; the circle with
+the dot in its centre; the triangle with the dot; the large disk with
+two small rings on either side crossed by double straight lines; the
+so-called "mirror", and so on. Highly developed symbolism may not
+indicate a process of spiritualization so much, perhaps, as the
+persistence of magical beliefs and practices. There is really no
+direct evidence to support the theory that the Assyrian winged disk,
+or disk "with protruding rays", was of more spiritual character than
+the wheel which encloses the feather-robed archer with his
+trident-shaped arrow.
+
+The various symbols may have represented phases of the god. When the
+spring fires were lit, and the god "renewed his life like the eagle",
+his symbol was possibly the solar wheel or disk with eagle's wings,
+which became regarded as a symbol of life. The god brought life and
+light to the world; he caused the crops to grow; he gave increase; he
+sustained his worshippers. But he was also the god who slew the demons
+of darkness and storm. The Hittite winged disk was Sandes or Sandon,
+the god of lightning, who stood on the back of a bull. As the
+lightning god was a war god, it was in keeping with his character to
+find him represented in Assyria as "Ashur the archer" with the bow and
+lightning arrow. On the disk of the Assyrian standard the lion and the
+bull appear with "the archer" as symbols of the war god Ashur, but
+they were also symbols of Ashur the god of fertility.
+
+The life or spirit of the god was in the ring or wheel, as the life of
+the Egyptian and Indian gods, and of the giants of folk tales, was in
+"the egg". The "dot within the circle", a widespread symbol, may have
+represented the seed within "the egg" of more than one mythology, or
+the thorn within the egg of more than one legendary story. It may be
+that in Assyria, as in India, the crude beliefs and symbols of the
+masses were spiritualized by the speculative thinkers in the
+priesthood, but no literary evidence has survived to justify us in
+placing the Assyrian teachers on the same level as the Brahmans who
+composed the Upanishads.
+
+Temples were erected to Ashur, but he might be worshipped anywhere,
+like the Queen of Heaven, who received offerings in the streets of
+Jerusalem, for "he needed no temple", as Professor Pinches says.
+Whether this was because he was a highly developed deity or a product
+of folk religion it is difficult to decide. One important fact is that
+the ruling king of Assyria was more closely connected with the worship
+of Ashur than the king of Babylonia was with the worship of Merodach.
+This may be because the Assyrian king was regarded as an incarnation
+of his god, like the Egyptian Pharaoh. Ashur accompanied the monarch
+on his campaigns: he was their conquering war god. Where the king was,
+there was Ashur also. No images were made of him, but his symbols were
+carried aloft, as were the symbols of Indian gods in the great war of
+the _Mahabharata_ epic.
+
+It would appear that Ashur was sometimes worshipped in the temples of
+other gods. In an interesting inscription he is associated with the
+moon god Nannar (Sin) of Haran. Esarhaddon, the Assyrian king, is
+believed to have been crowned in that city. "The writer", says
+Professor Pinches, "is apparently addressing Assur-bani-apli, 'the
+great and noble Asnapper':
+
+"When the father of my king my lord went to Egypt, he was crowned (?)
+in the _ganni_ of Harran, the temple (lit. 'Bethel') of cedar. The god
+Sin remained over the (sacred) standard, two crowns upon his head,
+(and) the god Nusku stood beside him. The father of the king my lord
+entered, (and) he (the priest of Sin) placed (the crown?) upon his
+head, (saying) thus: 'Thou shalt go and capture the lands in the
+midst'. (He we)nt, he captured the land of Egypt. The rest of the
+lands not submitting (?) to Assur (Ashur) and Sin, the king, the lord
+of kings, shall capture (them)."[403]
+
+Ashur and Sin are here linked as equals. Associated with them is
+Nusku, the messenger of the gods, who was given prominence in Assyria.
+The kings frequently invoked him. As the son of Ea he acted as the
+messenger between Merodach and the god of the deep. He was also a son
+of Bel Enlil, and like Anu was guardian or chief of the Igigi, the
+"host of heaven". Professor Pinches suggests that he may have been
+either identical with the Sumerian fire god Gibil, or a brother of the
+fire god, and an impersonation of the light of fire and sun. In Haran
+he accompanied the moon god, and may, therefore, have symbolized the
+light of the moon also. Professor Pinches adds that in one inscription
+"he is identified with Nirig or En-reshtu" (Nin-Girsu = Tammuz).[404]
+The Babylonians and Assyrians associated fire and light with moisture
+and fertility.
+
+The astral phase of the character of Ashur is highly probable. As has
+been indicated, the Greek rendering of Anshar as "Assoros", is
+suggestive in this connection. Jastrow, however, points out that the
+use of the characters Anshar for Ashur did not obtain until the eighth
+century B.C. "Linguistically", he says, "the change of Ashir to Ashur
+can be accounted for, but not the transformation of An-shar to Ashur
+or Ashir; so that we must assume the 'etymology' of Ashur, proposed by
+some learned scribe, to be the nature of a play upon the name."[405]
+On the other hand, it is possible that what appears arbitrary to us
+may have been justified in ancient Assyria on perfectly reasonable, or
+at any rate traditional, grounds. Professor Pinches points out that as
+a sun god, and "at the same time not Shamash", Ashur resembled
+Merodach. "His identification with Merodach, if that was ever
+accepted, may have been due to the likeness of the word to Asari, one
+of the deities' names."[406] As Asari, Merodach has been compared to
+the Egyptian Osiris, who, as the Nile god, was Asar-Hapi. Osiris
+resembles Tammuz and was similarly a corn deity and a ruler of the
+living and the dead, associated with sun, moon, stars, water, and
+vegetation. We may consistently connect Ashur with Aushar, "water
+field", Anshar, "god of the height", or "most high", and with the
+eponymous King Asshur who went out on the land of Nimrod and "builded
+Nineveh", if we regard him as of common origin with Tammuz, Osiris,
+and Attis--a developed and localized form of the ancient deity of
+fertility and corn.
+
+Ashur had a spouse who is referred to as Ashuritu, or Beltu, "the
+lady". Her name, however, is not given, but it is possible that she
+was identified with the Ishtar of Nineveh. In the historical texts
+Ashur, as the royal god, stands alone. Like the Hittite Great Father,
+he was perhaps regarded as the origin of life. Indeed, it may have
+been due to the influence of the northern hillmen in the early
+Assyrian period, that Ashur was developed as a father god--a Baal.
+When the Hittite inscriptions are read, more light may be thrown on
+the Ashur problem. Another possible source of cultural influence is
+Persia. The supreme god Ahura-Mazda (Ormuzd) was, as has been
+indicated, represented, like Ashur, hovering over the king's head,
+enclosed in a winged disk or wheel, and the sacred tree figured in
+Persian mythology. The early Assyrian kings had non-Semitic and
+non-Sumerian names. It seems reasonable to assume that the religious
+culture of the ethnic elements they represented must have contributed
+to the development of the city god of Asshur.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+CONFLICTS FOR TRADE AND SUPREMACY
+
+
+  Modern Babylonia--History repeating itself--Babylonian Trade Route
+  in Mesopotamia--Egyptian Supremacy in Syria--Mitanni and
+  Babylonia--Bandits who plundered Caravans--Arabian Desert Trade
+  Route opened--Assyrian and Elamite Struggles with Babylonia--Rapid
+  Extension of Assyrian Empire--Hittites control Western Trade
+  Routes--Egypt's Nineteenth Dynasty Conquests--Campaigns of Rameses
+  II--Egyptians and Hittites become Allies--Babylonian Fears of
+  Assyria--Shalmaneser's Triumphs--Assyria Supreme in
+  Mesopotamia--Conquest of Babylonia--Fall of a Great King--Civil War
+  in Assyria--Its Empire goes to pieces--Babylonian Wars with
+  Elam--Revival of Babylonian Power--Invasions of Assyrians and
+  Elamites--End of the Kassite Dynasty--Babylonia contrasted with
+  Assyria.
+
+
+It is possible that during the present century Babylonia may once
+again become one of the great wheat-producing countries of the world.
+A scheme of land reclamation has already been inaugurated by the
+construction of a great dam to control the distribution of the waters
+of the Euphrates, and, if it is energetically promoted on a generous
+scale in the years to come, the ancient canals, which are used at
+present as caravan roads, may yet be utilized to make the whole
+country as fertile and prosperous as it was in ancient days. When that
+happy consummation is reached, new cities may grow up and flourish
+beside the ruins of the old centres of Babylonian culture.
+
+With the revival of agriculture will come the revival of commerce.
+Ancient trade routes will then be reopened, and the slow-travelling
+caravans supplanted by speedy trains. A beginning has already been
+made in this direction. The first modern commercial highway which is
+crossing the threshold of Babylonia's new Age is the German railway
+through Asia Minor, North Syria, and Mesopotamia to Baghdad.[407] It
+brings the land of Hammurabi into close touch with Europe, and will
+solve problems which engaged the attention of many rival monarchs for
+long centuries before the world knew aught of "the glory that was
+Greece and the grandeur that was Rome".
+
+These sudden and dramatic changes are causing history to repeat
+itself. Once again the great World Powers are evincing much concern
+regarding their respective "spheres of influence" in Western Asia, and
+pressing together around the ancient land of Babylon. On the east,
+where the aggressive Elamites and Kassites were followed by the
+triumphant Persians and Medes, Russia and Britain have asserted
+themselves as protectors of Persian territory, and the influence of
+Britain is supreme in the Persian Gulf. Turkey controls the land of
+the Hittites, while Russia looms like a giant across the Armenian
+highlands; Turkey is also the governing power in Syria and
+Mesopotamia, which are being crossed by Germany's Baghdad railway.
+France is constructing railways in Syria, and will control the ancient
+"way of the Philistines". Britain occupies Cyprus on the Mediterranean
+coast, and presides over the destinies of the ancient land of Egypt,
+which, during the brilliant Eighteenth Dynasty, extended its sphere of
+influence to the borders of Asia Minor. Once again, after the lapse of
+many centuries, international politics is being strongly influenced by
+the problems connected with the development of trade in Babylonia and
+its vicinity.
+
+The history of the ancient rival States, which is being pieced
+together by modern excavators, is, in view of present-day political
+developments, invested with special interest to us. We have seen
+Assyria rising into prominence. It began to be a great Power when
+Egypt was supreme in the "Western Land" (the land of the Amorites) as
+far north as the frontiers of Cappadocia. Under the Kassite regime
+Babylonia's political influence had declined in Mesopotamia, but its
+cultural influence remained, for its language and script continued in
+use among traders and diplomatists.
+
+At the beginning of the Pharaoh Akhenaton period, the supreme power in
+Mesopotamia was Mitanni. As the ally of Egypt it constituted a buffer
+state on the borders of North Syria, which prevented the southern
+expansion from Asia Minor of the Hittite confederacy and the western
+expansion of aggressive Assyria, while it also held in check the
+ambitions of Babylonia, which still claimed the "land of the
+Amorites". So long as Mitanni was maintained as a powerful kingdom the
+Syrian possessions of Egypt were easily held in control, and the
+Egyptian merchants enjoyed preferential treatment compared with those
+of Babylonia. But when Mitanni was overcome, and its territories were
+divided between the Assyrians and the Hittites, the North Syrian
+Empire of Egypt went to pieces. A great struggle then ensued between
+the nations of western Asia for political supremacy in the "land of
+the Amorites".
+
+Babylonia had been seriously handicapped by losing control of its
+western caravan road. Prior to the Kassite period its influence was
+supreme in Mesopotamia and middle Syria; from the days of Sargon of
+Akkad and of Naram-Sin until the close of the Hammurabi Age its
+merchants had naught to fear from bandits or petty kings between the
+banks of the Euphrates and the Mediterranean coast. The city of
+Babylon had grown rich and powerful as the commercial metropolis of
+Western Asia.
+
+Separated from the Delta frontier by the broad and perilous wastes of
+the Arabian desert, Babylonia traded with Egypt by an indirect route.
+Its caravan road ran northward along the west bank of the Euphrates
+towards Haran, and then southward through Palestine. This was a long
+detour, but it was the only possible way.
+
+During the early Kassite Age the caravans from Babylon had to pass
+through the area controlled by Mitanni, which was therefore able to
+impose heavy duties and fill its coffers with Babylonian gold. Nor did
+the situation improve when the influence of Mitanni suffered decline
+in southern Mesopotamia. Indeed the difficulties under which traders
+operated were then still further increased, for the caravan roads were
+infested by plundering bands of "Suti", to whom references are made in
+the Tell-el-Amarna letters. These bandits defied all the great powers,
+and became so powerful that even the messengers sent from one king to
+another were liable to be robbed and murdered without discrimination.
+When war broke out between powerful States they harried live stock and
+sacked towns in those areas which were left unprotected.
+
+The "Suti" were Arabians of Aramaean stock. What is known as the
+"Third Semitic Migration" was in progress during this period. The
+nomads gave trouble to Babylonia and Assyria, and, penetrating
+Mesopotamia and Syria, sapped the power of Mitanni, until it was
+unable to resist the onslaughts of the Assyrians and the Hittites.
+
+The Aramaean tribes are referred to, at various periods and by various
+peoples, not only as the "Suti", but also as the "Achlame", the
+"Arimi", and the "Khabiri". Ultimately they were designated simply as
+"Syrians", and under that name became the hereditary enemies of the
+Hebrews, although Jacob was regarded as being of their stock: "A
+Syrian ready to perish", runs a Biblical reference, "was my father
+(ancestor), and he went down into Egypt and sojourned there with a
+few, and became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous".[408]
+
+An heroic attempt was made by one of the Kassite kings of Babylonia to
+afford protection to traders by stamping out brigandage between Arabia
+and Mesopotamia, and opening up a new and direct caravan road to Egypt
+across the Arabian desert. The monarch in question was
+Kadashman-Kharbe, the grandson of Ashur-uballit of Assyria. As we have
+seen, he combined forces with his distinguished and powerful kinsman,
+and laid a heavy hand on the "Suti". Then he dug wells and erected a
+chain of fortifications, like "block-houses", so that caravans might
+come and go without interruption, and merchants be freed from the
+imposts of petty kings whose territory they had to penetrate when
+travelling by the Haran route.
+
+This bold scheme, however, was foredoomed to failure. It was shown
+scant favour by the Babylonian Kassites. No record survives to
+indicate the character of the agreement between Kadashman-Kharbe and
+Ashur-uballit, but there can be little doubt that it involved the
+abandonment by Babylonia of its historic claim upon Mesopotamia, or
+part of it, and the recognition of an Assyrian sphere of influence in
+that region. It was probably on account of his pronounced pro-Assyrian
+tendencies that the Kassites murdered Kadashman-Kharbe, and set the
+pretender, known as "the son of nobody", on the throne for a brief
+period.
+
+Kadashman-Kharbe's immediate successors recognized in Assyria a
+dangerous and unscrupulous rival, and resumed the struggle for the
+possession of Mesopotamia. The trade route across the Arabian desert
+had to be abandoned. Probably it required too great a force to keep it
+open. Then almost every fresh conquest achieved by Assyria involved it
+in war with Babylonia, which appears to have been ever waiting for a
+suitable opportunity to cripple its northern rival.
+
+But Assyria was not the only power which Babylonia had to guard itself
+against. On its eastern frontier Elam was also panting for expansion.
+Its chief caravan roads ran from Susa through Assyria towards Asia
+Minor, and through Babylonia towards the Phoenician coast. It was
+probably because its commerce was hampered by the growth of Assyrian
+power in the north, as Servia's commerce in our own day has been
+hampered by Austria, that it cherished dreams of conquering Babylonia.
+In fact, as Kassite influence suffered decline, one of the great
+problems of international politics was whether Elam or Assyria would
+enter into possession of the ancient lands of Sumer and Akkad.
+
+Ashur-uballit's vigorous policy of Assyrian expansion was continued,
+as has been shown, by his son Bel-nirari. His grandson, Arik-den-ilu,
+conducted several successful campaigns, and penetrated westward as far
+as Haran, thus crossing the Babylonian caravan road. He captured great
+herds of cattle and flocks of sheep, which were transported to Asshur,
+and on one occasion carried away 250,000 prisoners.
+
+Meanwhile Babylonia waged war with Elam. It is related that
+Khur-batila, King of Elam, sent a challenge to Kurigalzu III, a
+descendant of Kadashman-Kharbe, saying: "Come hither; I will fight
+with thee". The Babylonian monarch accepted the challenge, invaded the
+territory of his rival, and won a great victory. Deserted by his
+troops, the Elamite king was taken prisoner, and did not secure
+release until he had ceded a portion of his territory and consented to
+pay annual tribute to Babylonia.
+
+Flushed with his success, the Kassite king invaded Assyria when
+Adad-nirari I died and his son Arik-den-ilu came to the throne. He
+found, however, that the Assyrians were more powerful than the
+Elamites, and suffered defeat. His son, Na'zi-mar-ut'tash[409], also
+made an unsuccessful attempt to curb the growing power of the northern
+Power.
+
+These recurring conflicts were intimately associated with the
+Mesopotamian question. Assyria was gradually expanding westward and
+shattering the dreams of the Babylonian statesmen and traders who
+hoped to recover control of the caravan routes and restore the
+prestige of their nation in the west.
+
+Like his father, Adad-nirari I of Assyria had attacked the Aramaean
+"Suti" who were settling about Haran. He also acquired a further
+portion of the ancient kingdom of Mitanni, with the result that he
+exercised sway over part of northern Mesopotamia. After defeating
+Na'zi-mar-ut'tash, he fixed the boundaries of the Assyrian and
+Babylonian spheres of influence much to the advantage of his own
+country.
+
+At home Adad-nirari conducted a vigorous policy. He developed the
+resources of the city state of Asshur by constructing a great dam and
+quay wall, while he contributed to the prosperity of the priesthood
+and the growth of Assyrian culture by extending the temple of the god
+Ashur. Ere he died, he assumed the proud title of "Shar Kishshate",
+"king of the world", which was also used by his son Shalmaneser I. His
+reign extended over a period of thirty years and terminated about 1300
+B.C.
+
+Soon after Shalmaneser came to the throne his country suffered greatly
+from an earthquake, which threw down Ishtar's temple at Nineveh and
+Ashur's temple at Asshur. Fire broke out in the latter building and
+destroyed it completely.
+
+These disasters did not dismay the young monarch. Indeed, they appear
+to have stimulated him to set out on a career of conquest, to secure
+treasure and slaves, so as to carry out the work of reconstructing the
+temples without delay. He became as great a builder, and as tireless a
+campaigner as Thothmes III of Egypt, and under his guidance Assyria
+became the most powerful nation in Western Asia. Ere he died his
+armies were so greatly dreaded that the Egyptians and Assyrians drew
+their long struggle for supremacy in Syria to a close, and formed an
+alliance for mutual protection against their common enemy.
+
+It is necessary at this point to review briefly the history of
+Palestine and north Syria after the period of Hittite expansion under
+King Subbi-luliuma and the decline of Egyptian power under Akhenaton.
+The western part of Mitanni and the most of northern Syria had been
+colonized by the Hittites.[410] Farther south, their allies, the
+Amorites, formed a buffer State on the borders of Egypt's limited
+sphere of influence in southern Palestine, and of Babylonia's sphere
+in southern Mesopotamia. Mitanni was governed by a subject king who
+was expected to prevent the acquisition by Assyria of territory in the
+north-west.
+
+Subbi-luliuma was succeeded on the Hittite throne by his son, King
+Mursil, who was known to the Egyptians as "Meraser", or "Maurasar".
+The greater part of this monarch's reign appears to have been peaceful
+and prosperous. His allies protected his frontiers, and he was able to
+devote himself to the work of consolidating his empire in Asia Minor
+and North Syria. He erected a great palace at Boghaz Koei, and appears
+to have had dreams of imitating the splendours of the royal Courts of
+Egypt, Assyria, and Babylon.
+
+At this period the Hittite Empire was approaching the zenith of its
+power. It controlled the caravan roads of Babylonia and Egypt, and its
+rulers appear not only to have had intimate diplomatic relations with
+both these countries, but even to have concerned themselves regarding
+their internal affairs. When Rameses I came to the Egyptian throne, at
+the beginning of the Nineteenth Dynasty, he sealed an agreement with
+the Hittites, and at a later date the Hittite ambassador at Babylon,
+who represented Hattusil II, the second son of King Mursil, actually
+intervened in a dispute regarding the selection of a successor to the
+throne.
+
+The closing years of King Mursil's reign were disturbed by the
+military conquests of Egypt, which had renewed its strength under
+Rameses I. Seti I, the son of Rameses I, and the third Pharaoh of the
+powerful Nineteenth Dynasty, took advantage of the inactivity of the
+Hittite ruler by invading southern Syria. He had first to grapple with
+the Amorites, whom he successfully defeated. Then he pressed northward
+as far as Tunip, and won a decisive victory over a Hittite army, which
+secured to Egypt for a period the control of Palestine as far north as
+Phoenicia.
+
+When Mursil died he was succeeded on the Hittite throne by his son
+Mutallu, whom the Egyptians referred to as "Metella" or "Mautinel". He
+was a vigorous and aggressive monarch, and appears to have lost no
+time in compelling the Amorites to throw off their allegiance to Egypt
+and recognize him as their overlord. As a result, when Rameses II
+ascended the Egyptian throne he had to undertake the task of winning
+back the Asiatic possessions of his father.
+
+The preliminary operations conducted by Rameses on the Palestinian
+coast were attended with much success. Then, in his fifth year, he
+marched northward with a great army, with purpose, it would appear, to
+emulate the achievements of Thothmes III and win fame as a mighty
+conqueror. But he underestimated the strength of his rival and
+narrowly escaped disaster. Advancing impetuously, with but two of his
+four divisions, he suddenly found himself surrounded by the army of
+the wily Hittite, King Mutallu, in the vicinity of the city of Kadesh,
+on the Orontes. His first division remained intact, but his second was
+put to flight by an intervening force of the enemy. From this perilous
+position Rameses extricated himself by leading a daring charge against
+the Hittite lines on the river bank, which proved successful. Thrown
+into confusion, his enemies sought refuge in the city, but the Pharaoh
+refrained from attacking them there.
+
+Although Rameses boasted on his return home of having achieved a great
+victory, there is nothing more certain than that this campaign proved
+a dismal failure. He was unable to win back for Egypt the northern
+territories which had acknowledged the suzerainty of Egypt during the
+Eighteenth Dynasty. Subsequently he was kept fully engaged in
+maintaining his prestige in northern Palestine and the vicinity of
+Phoenicia. Then his Asiatic military operations, which extended
+altogether over a period of about twenty years, were brought to a
+close in a dramatic and unexpected manner. The Hittite king Mutallu
+had died in battle, or by the hand of an assassin, and was succeeded
+by his brother Hattusil II (Khetasar), who sealed a treaty of peace
+with the great Rameses.
+
+An Egyptian copy of this interesting document can still be read on the
+walls of a Theban temple, but it is lacking in certain details which
+interest present-day historians. No reference, for instance, is made
+to the boundaries of the Egyptian Empire in Syria, so that it is
+impossible to estimate the degree of success which attended the
+campaigns of Rameses. An interesting light, however, is thrown on the
+purport of the treaty by a tablet letter which has been discovered by
+Professor Hugo Winckler at Boghaz Koei. It is a copy of a communication
+addressed by Hattusil II to the King of Babylonia, who had made an
+enquiry regarding it. "I will inform my brother," wrote the Hittite
+monarch; "the King of Egypt and I have made an alliance, and made
+ourselves brothers. Brothers we are and will [unite against] a common
+foe, and with friends in common."[411] The common foe could have been
+no other than Assyria, and the Hittite king's letter appears to convey
+a hint to Kadashman-turgu of Babylon that he should make common cause
+with Rameses II and Hattusil.
+
+Shalmaneser I of Assyria was pursuing a determined policy of western
+and northern expansion. He struck boldly at the eastern Hittite States
+and conquered Malatia, where he secured great treasure for the god
+Ashur. He even founded colonies within the Hittite sphere of influence
+on the borders of Armenia. Shalmaneser's second campaign was conducted
+against the portion of ancient Mitanni which was under Hittite
+control. The vassal king, Sattuari, apparently a descendant of
+Tushratta's, endeavoured to resist the Assyrians with the aid of
+Hittites and Aramaeans, but his army of allies was put to flight. The
+victorious Shalmaneser was afterwards able to penetrate as far
+westward as Carchemish on the Euphrates.
+
+Having thus secured the whole of Mitanni, the Assyrian conqueror
+attacked the Aramaean hordes which were keeping the territory round
+Haran in a continuous state of unrest, and forced them to recognize
+him as their overlord.
+
+Shalmaneser thus, it would appear, gained control of northern
+Mesopotamia and consequently of the Babylonian caravan route to Haran.
+As a result Hittite prestige must have suffered decline in Babylon.
+For a generation the Hittites had had the Babylonian merchants at
+their mercy, and apparently compelled them to pay heavy duties.
+Winckler has found among the Boghaz Koei tablets several letters from
+the king of Babylon, who made complaints regarding robberies committed
+by Amoritic bandits, and requested that they should be punished and
+kept in control. Such a communication is a clear indication that he
+was entitled, in lieu of payment, to have an existing agreement
+fulfilled.
+
+Shalmaneser found that Asshur, the ancient capital, was unsuitable for
+the administration of his extended empire, so he built a great city at
+Kalkhi (Nimrud), the Biblical Calah, which was strategically situated
+amidst fertile meadows on the angle of land formed by the Tigris and
+the Upper Zab. Thither to a new palace he transferred his brilliant
+Court.
+
+He was succeeded by his son, Tukulti-Ninip I, who was the most
+powerful of the Assyrian monarchs of the Old Empire. He made great
+conquests in the north and east, extended and strengthened Assyrian
+influence in Mesopotamia, and penetrated into Hittite territory,
+bringing into subjection no fewer than forty kings, whom he compelled
+to pay annual tribute. It was inevitable that he should be drawn into
+conflict with the Babylonian king, who was plotting with the Hittites
+against him. One of the tablet letters found by Winckler at Boghaz Koei
+is of special interest in this connection. Hattusil advises the young
+monarch of Babylonia to "go and plunder the land of the foe".
+Apparently he sought to be freed from the harassing attention of the
+Assyrian conqueror by prevailing on his Babylonian royal friend to act
+as a "cat's paw".
+
+It is uncertain whether or not Kashtiliash II of Babylonia invaded
+Assyria with purpose to cripple his rival. At any rate war broke out
+between the two countries, and Tukulti-Ninip proved irresistible in
+battle. He marched into Babylonia, and not only defeated Kashtiliash,
+but captured him and carried him off to Asshur, where he was presented
+in chains to the god Ashur.
+
+The city of Babylon was captured, its wall was demolished, and many of
+its inhabitants were put to the sword. Tukulti-Ninip was evidently
+waging a war of conquest, for he pillaged E-sagila, "the temple of the
+high head", and removed the golden statue of the god Merodach to
+Assyria, where it remained for about sixteen years. He subdued the
+whole of Babylonia as far south as the Persian Gulf, and ruled it
+through viceroys.
+
+Tukulti-Ninip, however, was not a popular emperor even in his own
+country. He offended national susceptibilities by showing preference
+for Babylonia, and founding a new city which has not been located.
+There he built a great palace and a temple for Ashur and his pantheon.
+He called the city after himself, Kar-Tukulti-Ninip[412].
+
+Seven years after the conquest of Babylonia revolts broke out against
+the emperor in Assyria and Babylonia, and he was murdered in his
+palace, which had been besieged and captured by an army headed by his
+own son, Ashur-natsir-pal I, who succeeded him. The Babylonian nobles
+meantime drove the Assyrian garrisons from their cities, and set on
+the throne the Kassite prince Adad-shum-utsur.
+
+Thus in a brief space went to pieces the old Assyrian Empire, which,
+at the close of Tukulti-Ninip's thirty years' reign, embraced the
+whole Tigro-Euphrates valley from the borders of Armenia to the
+Persian Gulf. An obscure century followed, during which Assyria was
+raided by its enemies and broken up into petty States.
+
+The Elamites were not slow to take advantage of the state of anarchy
+which prevailed in Babylonia during the closing years of Assyrian
+rule. They overran a part of ancient Sumer, and captured Nippur, where
+they slew a large number of inhabitants and captured many prisoners.
+On a subsequent occasion they pillaged Isin. When, however, the
+Babylonian king had cleared his country of the Assyrians, he attacked
+the Elamites and drove them across the frontier.
+
+Nothing is known regarding the reign of the parricide Ashur-natsir-pal
+I of Assyria. He was succeeded by Ninip-Tukulti-Ashur and
+Adad-shum-lishir, who either reigned concurrently or were father and
+son. After a brief period these were displaced by another two rulers,
+Ashur-nirari III and Nabu-dan.
+
+It is not clear why Ninip-Tukulti-Ashur was deposed. Perhaps he was an
+ally of Adad-shum-utsur, the Babylonian king, and was unpopular on
+that account. He journeyed to Babylon on one occasion, carrying with
+him the statue of Merodach, but did not return. Perhaps he fled from
+the rebels. At any rate Adad-shum-utsur was asked to send him back, by
+an Assyrian dignitary who was probably Ashur-nirari III. The king of
+Babylon refused this request, nor would he give official recognition
+to the new ruler or rulers.
+
+Soon afterwards another usurper, Bel-kudur-utsur, led an Assyrian army
+against the Babylonians, but was slain in battle. He was succeeded by
+Ninip-apil-esharia, who led his forces back to Asshur, followed by
+Adad-shum-utsur. The city was besieged but not captured by the
+Babylonian army.
+
+Under Adad-shum-utsur, who reigned for thirty years, Babylonia
+recovered much of its ancient splendour. It held Elam in check and
+laid a heavy hand on Assyria, which had been paralysed by civil war.
+Once again it possessed Mesopotamia and controlled its caravan road to
+Haran and Phoenicia, and apparently its relations with the Hittites
+and Syrians were of a cordial character. The next king, Meli-shipak,
+assumed the Assyrian title "Shar Kishshati", "king of the world", and
+had a prosperous reign of fifteen years. He was succeeded by
+Marduk-aplu-iddin I, who presided over the destinies of Babylonia for
+about thirteen years. Thereafter the glory of the Kassite Dynasty
+passed away. King Zamama-shum-iddin followed with a twelvemonth's
+reign, during which his kingdom was successfully invaded from the
+north by the Assyrians under King Ashur-dan I, and from the east by
+the Elamites under a king whose name has not been traced. Several
+towns were captured and pillaged, and rich booty was carried off to
+Asshur and Susa.
+
+Bel-shum-iddin succeeded Zamama-shum-iddin, but three years afterwards
+he was deposed by a king of Isin. So ended the Kassite Dynasty of
+Babylonia, which had endured for a period of 576 years and nine
+months.
+
+Babylonia was called Karduniash during the Kassite Dynasty. This name
+was originally applied to the district at the river mouths, where the
+alien rulers appear to have first achieved ascendancy. Apparently they
+were strongly supported by the non-Semitic elements in the population,
+and represented a popular revolt against the political supremacy of
+the city of Babylon and its god Merodach. It is significant to find in
+this connection that the early Kassite kings showed a preference for
+Nippur as their capital and promoted the worship of Enlil, the elder
+Bel, who was probably identified with their own god of fertility and
+battle. Their sun god, Sachi, appears to have been merged in Shamash.
+In time, however, the kings followed the example of Hammurabi by
+exalting Merodach.
+
+The Kassite language added to the "Babel of tongues" among the common
+people, but was never used in inscriptions. At an early period the
+alien rulers became thoroughly Babylonianized, and as they held sway
+for nearly six centuries it cannot be assumed that they were
+unpopular. They allowed their mountain homeland, or earliest area of
+settlement in the east, to be seized and governed by Assyria, and
+probably maintained as slight a connection with it after settlement in
+Babylonia as did the Saxons of England with their Continental area of
+origin.
+
+Although Babylonia was not so great a world power under the Kassites
+as it had been during the Hammurabi Dynasty, it prospered greatly as
+an industrial, agricultural, and trading country. The Babylonian
+language was used throughout western Asia as the language of diplomacy
+and commerce, and the city of Babylon was the most important
+commercial metropolis of the ancient world. Its merchants traded
+directly and indirectly with far-distant countries. They imported
+cobalt--which was used for colouring glass a vivid blue--from China,
+and may have occasionally met Chinese traders who came westward with
+their caravans, while a brisk trade in marble and limestone was
+conducted with and through Elam. Egypt was the chief source of the
+gold supply, which was obtained from the Nubian mines; and in exchange
+for this precious metal the Babylonians supplied the Nilotic merchants
+with lapis-lazuli from Bactria, enamel, and their own wonderful
+coloured glass, which was not unlike the later Venetian, as well as
+chariots and horses. The Kassites were great horse breeders, and the
+battle steeds from the Babylonian province of Namar were everywhere in
+great demand. They also promoted the cattle trade. Cattle rearing was
+confined chiefly to the marshy districts at the head of the Persian
+Gulf, and the extensive steppes on the borders of the Arabian desert,
+so well known to Abraham and his ancestors, which provided excellent
+grazing. Agriculture also flourished; as in Egypt it constituted the
+basis of national and commercial prosperity.
+
+It is evident that great wealth accumulated in Karduniash during the
+Kassite period. When the images of Merodach and Zerpanitu^m were taken
+back to Babylon, from Assyria, they were clad, as has been recorded,
+in garments embroidered with gold and sparkling with gems, while
+E-sagila was redecorated on a lavish scale with priceless works of
+art.
+
+Assyria presented a sharp contrast to Babylonia, the mother land, from
+which its culture was derived. As a separate kingdom it had to develop
+along different lines. In fact, it was unable to exist as a world
+power without the enforced co-operation of neighbouring States.
+Babylonia, on the other hand, could have flourished in comparative
+isolation, like Egypt during the Old Kingdom period, because it was
+able to feed itself and maintain a large population so long as its
+rich alluvial plain was irrigated during its dry season, which
+extended over about eight months in the year.
+
+The region north of Baghdad was of different geographical formation to
+the southern plain, and therefore less suitable for the birth and
+growth of a great independent civilization. Assyria embraced a chalk
+plateau of the later Mesozoic period, with tertiary deposits, and had
+an extremely limited area suitable for agricultural pursuits. Its
+original inhabitants were nomadic pastoral and hunting tribes, and
+there appears to be little doubt that agriculture was introduced along
+the banks of the Tigris by colonists from Babylonia, who formed city
+States which owed allegiance to the kings of Sumer and Akkad.
+
+After the Hammurabi period Assyria rose into prominence as a predatory
+power, which depended for its stability upon those productive
+countries which it was able to conquer and hold in sway. It never had
+a numerous peasantry, and such as it had ultimately vanished, for the
+kings pursued the short-sighted policy of colonizing districts on the
+borders of their empire with their loyal subjects, and settling aliens
+in the heart of the homeland, where they were controlled by the
+military. In this manner they built up an artificial empire, which
+suffered at critical periods in its history because it lacked the
+great driving and sustaining force of a population welded together by
+immemorial native traditions and the love of country which is the
+essence of true patriotism. National sentiment was chiefly confined to
+the military aristocracy and the priests; the enslaved and uncultured
+masses of aliens were concerned mainly with their daily duties, and no
+doubt included communities, like the Israelites in captivity, who
+longed to return to their native lands.
+
+Assyria had to maintain a standing army, which grew from an alliance
+of brigands who first enslaved the native population, and ultimately
+extended their sway over neighbouring States. The successes of the
+army made Assyria powerful. Conquering kings accumulated rich booty by
+pillaging alien cities, and grew more and more wealthy as they were
+able to impose annual tribute on those States which came under their
+sway. They even regarded Babylonia with avaricious eyes. It was to
+achieve the conquest of the fertile and prosperous mother State that
+the early Assyrian emperors conducted military operations in the
+north-west and laid hands on Mesopotamia. There was no surer way of
+strangling it than by securing control of its trade routes. What the
+command of the sea is to Great Britain at the present day, the command
+of the caravan roads was to ancient Babylonia.
+
+Babylonia suffered less than Assyria by defeat in battle; its natural
+resources gave it great recuperative powers, and the native population
+was ever so intensely patriotic that centuries of alien sway could not
+obliterate their national aspirations. A conqueror of Babylon had to
+become a Babylonian. The Amorites and Kassites had in turn to adopt
+the modes of life and modes of thought of the native population. Like
+the Egyptians, the Babylonians ever achieved the intellectual conquest
+of their conquerors.
+
+The Assyrian Empire, on the other hand, collapsed like a house of
+cards when its army of mercenaries suffered a succession of disasters.
+The kings, as we have indicated, depended on the tribute of subject
+States to pay their soldiers and maintain the priesthood; they were
+faced with national bankruptcy when their vassals successfully
+revolted against them.
+
+The history of Assyria as a world power is divided into three periods:
+(1) the Old Empire; (2) the Middle Empire; (3) the New or Last Empire.
+
+We have followed the rise and growth of the Old Empire from the days
+of Ashur-uballit until the reign of Tukulti-Ninip, when it flourished
+in great splendour and suddenly went to pieces. Thereafter, until the
+second period of the Old Empire, Assyria comprised but a few city
+States which had agricultural resources and were trading centres. Of
+these the most enterprising was Asshur. When a ruler of Asshur was
+able, by conserving his revenues, to command sufficient capital with
+purpose to raise a strong army of mercenaries as a business
+speculation, he set forth to build up a new empire on the ruins of the
+old. In its early stages, of course, this process was slow and
+difficult. It necessitated the adoption of a military career by native
+Assyrians, who officered the troops, and these troops had to be
+trained and disciplined by engaging in brigandage, which also brought
+them rich rewards for their services. Babylonia became powerful by
+developing the arts of peace; Assyria became powerful by developing
+the science of warfare.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+RACE MOVEMENTS THAT SHATTERED EMPIRES
+
+
+  The Third Semitic Migration--Achaean Conquest of Greece--Fall of
+  Crete--Tribes of Raiders--European Settlers in Asia Minor--The Muski
+  overthrow the Hittites--Sea Raids on Egypt--The Homeric
+  Age--Israelites and Philistines in Palestine--Culture of
+  Philistines--Nebuchadrezzar I of Babylonia--Wars against Elamites
+  and Hittites--Conquests in Mesopotamia and Syria--Assyrians and
+  Babylonians at War--Tiglath-pileser I of Assyria--His Sweeping
+  Conquests--Muski Power broken--Big-game Hunting in
+  Mesopotamia--Slaying of a Sea Monster--Decline of Assyria and
+  Babylonia--Revival of Hittite Civilization--An Important Period in
+  History--Philistines as Overlords of Hebrews--Kingdom of David and
+  Saul--Solomon's Relations with Egypt and Phoenicia--Sea Trade with
+  India--Aramaean Conquests--The Chaldaeans--Egyptian King plunders
+  Judah and Israel--Historical Importance of Race Movements.
+
+
+Great changes were taking place in the ancient world during the
+period in which Assyria rose into prominence and suddenly suffered
+decline. These were primarily due to widespread migrations of pastoral
+peoples from the steppe lands of Asia and Europe, and the resulting
+displacement of settled tribes. The military operations of the great
+Powers were also a disturbing factor, for they not only propelled
+fresh movements beyond their spheres of influence, but caused the
+petty States to combine against a common enemy and foster ambitions to
+achieve conquests on a large scale.
+
+Towards the close of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, of which
+Amenhotep III and Akhenaton were the last great kings, two
+well-defined migrations were in progress. The Aramaean folk-waves had
+already begun to pour in increasing volume into Syria from Arabia, and
+in Europe the pastoral fighting folk from the mountains were
+establishing themselves along the south-eastern coast and crossing the
+Hellespont to overrun the land of the Hittites. These race movements
+were destined to exercise considerable influence in shaping the
+history of the ancient world.
+
+The Aramaean, or Third Semitic migration, in time swamped various
+decaying States. Despite the successive efforts of the great Powers to
+hold it in check, it ultimately submerged the whole of Syria and part
+of Mesopotamia. Aramaean speech then came into common use among the
+mingled peoples over a wide area, and was not displaced until the time
+of the Fourth Semitic or Moslem migration from Arabia, which began in
+the seventh century of the Christian era, and swept northward through
+Syria to Asia Minor, eastward across Mesopotamia into Persia and
+India, and westward through Egypt along the north African coast to
+Morocco, and then into Spain.
+
+When Syria was sustaining the first shocks of Aramaean invasion, the
+last wave of Achaeans, "the tamers of horses" and "shepherds of the
+people", had achieved the conquest of Greece, and contributed to the
+overthrow of the dynasty of King Minos of Crete. Professor Ridgeway
+identifies this stock, which had been filtering southward for several
+centuries, with the tall, fair-haired, and grey-eyed "Keltoi"
+(Celts),[413] who, Dr. Haddon believes, were representatives of "the
+mixed peoples of northern and Alpine descent".[414] Mr. Hawes,
+following Professor Sergi, holds, on the other hand, that the Achaeans
+were "fair in comparison with the native (Pelasgian-Mediterranean)
+stock, but not necessarily blonde".[415] The earliest Achaeans were
+rude, uncultured barbarians, but the last wave came from some unknown
+centre of civilization, and probably used iron as well as bronze
+weapons.
+
+The old Cretans were known to the Egyptians as the "Keftiu", and
+traded on the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. It is significant to
+find, however, that no mention is made of them in the inscriptions of
+the Pharaohs after the reign of Amenhotep III. In their place appear
+the Shardana, the Mykenaean people who gave their name to Sardinia,
+the Danauna, believed to be identical with the Danaoi of Homer, the
+Akhaivasha, perhaps the Achaeans, and the Tursha and Shakalsha, who
+may have been of the same stock as the piratical Lycians.
+
+When Rameses II fought his famous battle at Kadesh the Hittite king
+included among his allies the Aramaeans from Arabia, and other
+mercenaries like the Dardanui and Masa, who represented the
+Thraco-Phrygian peoples who had overrun the Balkans, occupied Thrace
+and Macedonia, and crossed into Asia Minor. In time the Hittite
+confederacy was broken up by the migrating Europeans, and their
+dominant tribe, the Muski[416]--the Moschoi of the Greeks and the
+Meshech of the Old Testament--came into conflict with the Assyrians.
+The Muski were forerunners of the Phrygians, and were probably of
+allied stock.
+
+Pharaoh Meneptah, the son of Rameses II, did not benefit much by the
+alliance with the Hittites, to whom he had to send a supply of grain
+during a time of famine. He found it necessary, indeed, to invade
+Syria, where their influence had declined, and had to beat back from
+the Delta region the piratical invaders of the same tribes as were
+securing a footing in Asia Minor. In Syria, Meneptah fought with the
+Israelites, who apparently had begun their conquest of Canaan during
+his reign.
+
+Before the Kassite Dynasty had come to an end, Rameses III of Egypt
+(1198-1167 B.C.) freed his country from the perils of a great invasion
+of Europeans by land and sea. He scattered a fleet on the Delta coast,
+and then arrested the progress of a strong force which was pressing
+southward through Phoenicia towards the Egyptian frontier. These
+events occurred at the beginning of the Homeric Age, and were followed
+by the siege of Troy, which, according to the Greeks, began about 1194
+B.C.
+
+The land raiders who were thwarted by Rameses III were the
+Philistines, a people from Crete.[417] When the prestige of Egypt
+suffered decline they overran the coastline of Canaan, and that
+country was then called Palestine, "the land of the Philistines",
+while the Egyptian overland trade route to Phoenicia became known as
+"the way of the Philistines". Their conflicts with the Hebrews are
+familiar to readers of the Old Testament. "The only contributions the
+Hebrews made to the culture of the country", writes Professor
+Macalister, "were their simple desert customs and their religious
+organization. On the other hand, the Philistines, sprung from one of
+the great homes of art of the ancient world, had brought with them the
+artistic instincts of their race: decayed no doubt, but still superior
+to anything they met with in the land itself. Tombs to be ascribed to
+them, found in Gezer, contained beautiful jewellery and ornaments. The
+Philistines, in fact, were the only cultured or artistic race who ever
+occupied the soil of Palestine, at least until the time when the
+influence of classical Greece asserted itself too strongly to be
+withstood. Whatsoever things raised life in the country above the dull
+animal existence of fellahin were due to this people.... The peasantry
+of the modern villages ... still tell of the great days of old when it
+(Palestine) was inhabited by the mighty race of the 'Fenish'."[418]
+
+When the Kassite Dynasty of Babylonia was extinguished, about 1140
+B.C., the Amorites were being displaced in Palestine by the
+Philistines and the Israelitish tribes; the Aramaeans were extending
+their conquests in Syria and Mesopotamia; the Muski were the overlords
+of the Hittites; Assyrian power was being revived at the beginning of
+the second period of the Old Empire; and Egypt was governed by a
+weakly king, Rameses VIII, a puppet in the hands of the priesthood,
+who was unable to protect the rich tombs of the Eighteenth Dynasty
+Pharaohs against the bands of professional robbers who were plundering
+them.
+
+A new dynasty--the Dynasty of Pashe--had arisen at the ancient
+Sumerian city of Isin. Its early kings were contemporary with some of
+the last Kassite monarchs, and they engaged in conflicts with the
+Elamites, who were encroaching steadily upon Babylonian territory, and
+were ultimately able to seize the province of Namar, famous for its
+horses, which was situated to the east of Akkad. The Assyrians, under
+Ashur-dan I, were not only reconquering lost territory, but invading
+Babylonia and carrying off rich plunder. Ashur-dan inflicted a
+crushing defeat upon the second-last Kassite ruler.
+
+There years later Nebuchadrezzar I, of the Dynasty of Pashe, seized
+the Babylonian throne. He was the most powerful and distinguished
+monarch of his line--an accomplished general and a wise statesman. His
+name signifies: "May the god Nebo protect my boundary". His first duty
+was to drive the Elamites from the land, and win back from them the
+statue of Merodach which they had carried off from E-sagila. At first
+he suffered a reverse, but although the season was midsummer, and the
+heat overpowering, he persisted in his campaign. The Elamites were
+forced to retreat, and following up their main force he inflicted upon
+them a shattering defeat on the banks of the Ula, a tributary of the
+Tigris. He then invaded Elam and returned with rich booty. The
+province of Namar was recovered, and its governor, Ritti Merodach, who
+was Nebuchadrezzar's battle companion, was restored to his family
+possessions and exempted from taxation. A second raid to Elam resulted
+in the recovery of the statue of Merodach. The Kassite and Lullume
+mountaineers also received attention, and were taught to respect the
+power of the new monarch.
+
+Having freed his country from the yoke of the Elamites, and driven the
+Assyrians over the frontier, Nebuchadrezzar came into conflict with
+the Hittites, who appear to have overrun Mesopotamia. Probably the
+invaders were operating in conjunction with the Muski, who were
+extending their sway over part of northern Assyria. They were not
+content with securing control of the trade route, but endeavoured also
+to establish themselves permanently in Babylon, the commercial
+metropolis, which they besieged and captured. This happened in the
+third year of Nebuchadrezzar, when he was still reigning at Isin.
+Assembling a strong force, he hastened northward and defeated the
+Hittites, and apparently followed up his victory. Probably it was at
+this time that he conquered the "West Land" (the land of the Amorites)
+and penetrated to the Mediterranean coast. Egyptian power had been
+long extinguished in that region.
+
+The possession of Mesopotamia was a signal triumph for Babylonia. As
+was inevitable, however, it brought Nebuchadrezzar into conflict some
+years later with the Assyrian king, Ashur-resh-ishi I, grandson of
+Ashur-dan, and father of the famous Tiglath-pileser I. The northern
+monarch had engaged himself in subduing the Lullume and Akhlami hill
+tribes in the south-east, whose territory had been conquered by
+Nebuchadrezzar. Thereafter he crossed the Babylonian frontier.
+Nebuchadrezzar drove him back and then laid siege to the border
+fortress of Zanki, but the Assyrian king conducted a sudden and
+successful reconnaissance in force which rendered perilous the
+position of the attacking force. By setting fire to his siege train
+the Babylonian war lord was able, however, to retreat in good order.
+
+Some time later Nebuchadrezzar dispatched another army northward, but
+it suffered a serious defeat, and its general, Karashtu, fell into the
+hands of the enemy.
+
+Nebuchadrezzar reigned less than twenty years, and appears to have
+secured the allegiance of the nobility by restoring the feudal system
+which had been abolished by the Kassites. He boasted that he was "the
+sun of his country, who restored ancient landmarks and boundaries",
+and promoted the worship of Ishtar, the ancient goddess of the people.
+By restoring the image of Merodach he secured the support of Babylon,
+to which city he transferred his Court.
+
+Nebuchadrezzar was succeeded by his son Ellil-nadin-apil, who reigned
+a few years; but little or nothing is known regarding him. His
+grandson, Marduk-nadin-akhe, came into conflict with Tiglath-pileser I
+of Assyria, and suffered serious reverses, from the effects of which
+his country did not recover for over a century.
+
+Tiglath-pileser I, in one of his inscriptions, recorded significantly:
+"The feet of the enemy I kept from my country". When he came to the
+throne, northern Assyria was menaced by the Muski and their allies,
+the Hittites and the Shubari of old Mitanni. The Kashiari hill tribes
+to the north of Nineveh, whom Shalmaneser I subdued, had half a
+century before thrown off the yoke of Assyria, and their kings were
+apparently vassals of the Muski.
+
+Tiglath-pileser first invaded Mitanni, where he routed a combined
+force of Shubari hillmen and Hittites. Thereafter a great army of the
+Muski and their allies pressed southward with purpose to deal a
+shattering blow against the Assyrian power. The very existence of
+Assyria as a separate power was threatened by this movement.
+Tiglath-pileser, however, was equal to the occasion. He surprised the
+invaders among the Kashiari mountains and inflicted a crushing defeat,
+slaying about 14,000 and capturing 6000 prisoners, who were
+transported to Asshur. In fact, he wiped the invading army out of
+existence and possessed himself of all its baggage. Thereafter he
+captured several cities, and extended his empire beyond the Kashiari
+hills and into the heart of Mitanni.
+
+His second campaign was also directed towards the Mitanni district,
+which had been invaded during his absence by a force of Hittites,
+about 4000 strong. The invaders submitted to him as soon as he drew
+near, and he added them to his standing army.
+
+Subsequent operations towards the north restored the pre-eminence of
+Assyria in the Nairi country, on the shores of Lake Van, in Armenia,
+where Tiglath-pileser captured no fewer than twenty-three petty kings.
+These he liberated after they had taken the oath of allegiance and
+consented to pay annual tribute.
+
+In his fourth year the conqueror learned that the Aramaeans were
+crossing the Euphrates and possessing themselves of Mitanni, which he
+had cleared of the Hittites. By a series of forced marches he caught
+them unawares, scattered them in confusion, and entered Carchemish,
+which he pillaged. Thereafter his army crossed the Euphrates in boats
+of skin, and plundered and destroyed six cities round the base of the
+mountain of Bishru.
+
+While operating in this district, Tiglath-pileser engaged in big-game
+hunting. He recorded: "Ten powerful bull elephants in the land of
+Haran and on the banks of the Khabour I killed; four elephants alive I
+took. Their skins, their teeth, with the living elephants, I brought
+to my city of Asshur."[419] He also claimed to have slain 920 lions,
+as well as a number of wild oxen, apparently including in his record
+the "bags" of his officers and men. A later king credited him with
+having penetrated to the Phoenician coast, where he put to sea and
+slew a sea monster called the "nakhiru". While at Arvad, the narrative
+continues, the King of Egypt, who is not named, sent him a
+hippopotamus (pagutu). This story, however, is of doubtful
+authenticity. About this time the prestige of Egypt was at so low an
+ebb that its messengers were subjected to indignities by the
+Phoenician kings.
+
+The conquests of Tiglath-pileser once more raised the Mesopotamian
+question in Babylonia, whose sphere of influence in that region had
+been invaded. Marduk-nadin-akhe, the grandson of Nebuchadrezzar I,
+"arrayed his chariots" against Tiglath-pileser, and in the first
+conflict achieved some success, but subsequently he was defeated in
+the land of Akkad. The Assyrian army afterwards captured several
+cities, including Babylon and Sippar.
+
+Thus once again the Assyrian Empire came into being as the predominant
+world Power, extending from the land of the Hittites into the heart of
+Babylonia. Its cities were enriched by the immense quantities of booty
+captured by its warrior king, while the coffers of state were glutted
+with the tribute of subject States. Fortifications were renewed,
+temples were built, and great gifts were lavished on the priesthood.
+Artists and artisans were kept fully employed restoring the faded
+splendours of the Old Empire, and everywhere thousands of slaves
+laboured to make the neglected land prosperous as of old. Canals were
+repaired and reopened; the earthworks and quay wall of Ashur were
+strengthened, and its great wall was entirely rebuilt, faced with a
+rampart of earth, and protected once again by a deep moat. The royal
+palace was enlarged and redecorated.
+
+Meanwhile Babylonia was wasted by civil war and invasions. It was
+entered more than once by the Aramaeans, who pillaged several cities
+in the north and the south. Then the throne was seized by
+Adad-aplu-iddina, the grandson of "a nobody", who reigned for about
+ten years. He was given recognition, however, by the Assyrian king,
+Ashur-bel-kala, son of Tiglath-pileser I, who married his daughter,
+and apparently restored to him Sippar and Babylon after receiving a
+handsome dowry. Ashur-bel-kala died without issue, and was succeeded
+by his brother, Shamshi-Adad.
+
+An obscure period followed. In Babylonia there were two weak dynasties
+in less than half a century, and thereafter an Elamite Dynasty which
+lasted about six years. An Eighth Dynasty ensued, and lasted between
+fifty and sixty years. The records of its early kings are exceedingly
+meagre and their order uncertain. During the reign of Nabu-mukin-apli,
+who was perhaps the fourth monarch, the Aramaeans constantly raided
+the land and hovered about Babylon. The names of two or three kings
+who succeeded Nabu-mukin-apli are unknown.
+
+A century and a half after Tiglath-pileser I conquered the north
+Syrian possessions of the Hittites, the Old Assyrian Empire reached
+the close of its second and last period. It had suffered gradual
+decline, under a series of inert and luxury-loving kings, until it was
+unable to withstand the gradual encroachment on every side of the
+restless hill tribes, who were ever ready to revolt when the authority
+of Ashur was not asserted at the point of the sword.
+
+After 950 B.C. the Hittites of North Syria, having shaken off the last
+semblance of Assyrian authority, revived their power, and enjoyed a
+full century of independence and prosperity. In Cappadocia their
+kinsmen had freed themselves at an earlier period from the yoke of the
+Muski, who had suffered so severely at the hands of Tiglath-pileser I.
+The Hittite buildings and rock sculptures of this period testify to
+the enduring character of the ancient civilization of the "Hatti".
+Until the hieroglyphics can be read, however, we must wait patiently
+for the detailed story of the pre-Phrygian period, which was of great
+historical importance, because the tide of cultural influence was then
+flowing at its greatest volume from the old to the new world, where
+Greece was emerging in virgin splendour out of the ruins of the
+ancient Mykenaean and Cretan civilizations.
+
+It is possible that the conquest of a considerable part of Palestine
+by the Philistines was not unconnected with the revival of Hittite
+power in the north. They may have moved southward as the allies of the
+Cilician State which was rising into prominence. For a period they
+were the overlords of the Hebrews, who had been displacing the older
+inhabitants of the "Promised Land", and appear to have been armed with
+weapons of iron. In fact, as is indicated by a passage in the Book of
+Samuel, they had made a "corner" in that metal and restricted its use
+among their vassals. "Now", the Biblical narrative sets forth, "there
+was no smith found throughout all the land of Israel; for the
+Philistines said, Lest the Hebrews make them swords and spears; but
+all the Israelites went down to the Philistines, to sharpen every man
+his share, and his coulter, and his axe, and his mattock".[420] "We
+are inclined", says Professor Macalister, "to picture the West as a
+thing of yesterday, new fangled with its inventions and its
+progressive civilization, and the East as an embodiment of hoary and
+unchanging traditions. But when West first met East on the shores of
+the Holy Land, it was the former which represented the magnificent
+traditions of the past, and the latter which looked forward to the
+future. The Philistines were of the remnant of the dying glories of
+Crete; the Hebrews had no past to speak of, but were entering on the
+heritage they regarded as theirs, by right of a recently ratified
+divine covenant."[421]
+
+Saul was the leader of a revolt against the Philistines in northern
+Palestine, and became the ruler of the kingdom of Israel. Then David,
+having liberated Judah from the yoke of the Philistines, succeeded
+Saul as ruler of Israel, and selected Jerusalem as his capital. He
+also conquered Edom and Moab, but was unsuccessful in his attempt to
+subjugate Ammon. The Philistines were then confined to a restricted
+area on the seacoast, where they fused with the Semites and ultimately
+suffered loss of identity. Under the famous Solomon the united kingdom
+of the Hebrews reached its highest splendour and importance among the
+nations.
+
+If the Philistines received the support of the Hittites, the Hebrews
+were strengthened by an alliance with Egypt. For a period of two and a
+half centuries no Egyptian army had crossed the Delta frontier into
+Syria. The ancient land of the Pharaohs had been overshadowed meantime
+by a cloud of anarchy, and piratical and robber bands settled freely
+on its coast line. At length a Libyan general named Sheshonk (Shishak)
+seized the throne from the Tanite Dynasty. He was the Pharaoh with
+whom Solomon "made affinity",[422] and from whom he received the city
+of Gezer, which an Egyptian army had captured.[423] Solomon had
+previously married a daughter of Sheshonk's.
+
+Phoenicia was also flourishing. Freed from Egyptian, Hittite, and
+Assyrian interference, Tyre and Sidon attained to a high degree of
+power as independent city States. During the reigns of David and
+Solomon, Tyre was the predominant Phoenician power. Its kings, Abibaal
+and his son Hiram, had become "Kings of the Sidonians", and are
+believed to have extended their sway over part of Cyprus. The
+relations between the Hebrews and the Phoenicians were of a cordial
+character, indeed the two powers became allies.
+
+    And Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants unto Solomon; for he had
+    heard that they had anointed him king in the room of his father:
+    for Hiram was ever a lover of David. And Solomon sent to Hiram,
+    saying, Thou knowest how that David my father could not build an
+    house unto the name of the Lord His God for the wars which were
+    about him on every side, until the Lord put them under the soles
+    of his feet. But now the Lord my God hath given me rest on every
+    side, so that there is neither adversary nor evil occurrent. And,
+    behold, I purpose to build an house unto the name of the Lord my
+    God, as the Lord spake unto David my father, saying, Thy son, whom
+    I will set upon thy throne in thy room, he shall build an house
+    unto my name. Now therefore command thou that they hew me cedar
+    trees out of Lebanon; and my servants shall be with thy servants:
+    and unto thee will I give hire for thy servants according to all
+    that thou shalt appoint: for thou knowest that there is not among
+    us any that can skill to hew timber like unto the Sidonians. And
+    it came to pass, when Hiram heard the words of Solomon, that he
+    rejoiced greatly, and said, Blessed be the Lord this day, which
+    hath given unto David a wise son over this great people. And Hiram
+    sent to Solomon, saying, I have considered the things which thou
+    sentest to me for: and I will do all thy desire concerning timber
+    of cedar, and concerning timber of fir. My servants shall bring
+    them down from Lebanon unto the sea: and I will convey them by sea
+    in floats unto the place that thou shalt appoint me, and will
+    cause them to be discharged there, and thou shalt receive them:
+    and thou shalt accomplish my desire, in giving food for my
+    household. So Hiram gave Solomon cedar trees and fir trees
+    according to all his desire. And Solomon gave Hiram twenty
+    thousand measures of wheat for food to his household, and twenty
+    measures of pure oil: thus gave Solomon to Hiram year by year. And
+    the Lord gave Solomon wisdom, as he promised him: and there was
+    peace between Hiram and Solomon; and they two made a league
+    together.[424]
+
+Hiram also sent skilled workers to Jerusalem to assist in the work of
+building the temple and Solomon's palace, including his famous
+namesake, "a widow's son of the (Hebrew) tribe of Naphtali", who, like
+his father, "a man of Tyre", had "understanding and cunning to work
+all works in brass".[425]
+
+Solomon must have cultivated good relations with the Chaldaeans, for
+he had a fleet of trading ships on the Persian Gulf which was manned
+by Phoenician sailors. "Once in three years", the narrative runs,
+"came the navy of Tharshish, bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and
+apes, and peacocks."[426] Apparently he traded with India, the land of
+peacocks, during the Brahmanical period, when the Sanskrit name
+"Samudra", which formerly signified the "collected waters" of the
+broadening Indus, was applied to the Indian Ocean.[427]
+
+The Aramaeans of the Third Semitic migration were not slow to take
+advantage of the weakness of Assyria and Babylon. They overran the
+whole of Syria, and entered into the possession of Mesopotamia, thus
+acquiring full control of the trade routes towards the west. From time
+to time they ravaged Babylonia from the north to the south. Large
+numbers of them acquired permanent settlement in that country, like
+the Amorites of the Second Semitic migration in the pre-Hammurabi Age.
+
+In Syria the Aramaeans established several petty States, and were
+beginning to grow powerful at Damascus, an important trading centre,
+which assumed considerable political importance after the collapse of
+Assyria's Old Empire.
+
+At this period, too, the Chaldaeans came into prominence in Babylonia.
+Their kingdom of Chaldaea (Kaldu, which signifies Sealand) embraces a
+wide stretch of the coast land at the head of the Persian Gulf between
+Arabia and Elam. As we have seen, an important dynasty flourished in
+this region in the time of Hammurabi. Although more than one king of
+Babylon recorded that he had extinguished the Sealand Power, it
+continued to exist all through the Kassite period. It is possible that
+this obscure kingdom embraced diverse ethnic elements, and that it was
+controlled in turn by military aristocracies of Sumerians, Elamites,
+Kassites, and Arabians. After the downfall of the Kassites it had
+become thoroughly Semitized, perhaps as a result of the Aramaean
+migration, which may have found one of its outlets around the head of
+the Persian Gulf. The ancient Sumerian city of Ur, which dominated a
+considerable area of steppe land to the west of the Euphrates, was
+included in the Sealand kingdom, and was consequently referred to in
+after-time as "Ur of the Chaldees".
+
+When Solomon reigned over Judah and Israel, Babylonia was broken up
+into a number of petty States, as in early Sumerian times. The feudal
+revival of Nebuchadrezzar I had weakened the central power, with the
+result that the nominal high kings were less able to resist the
+inroads of invaders. Military aristocracies of Aramaeans, Elamites,
+and Chaldaeans held sway in various parts of the valley, and struggled
+for supremacy.
+
+When Assyria began to assert itself again, it laid claim on Babylonia,
+ostensibly as the protector of its independence, and the Chaldaeans
+for a time made common cause with the Elamites against it. The future,
+however, lay with the Chaldaeans, who, like the Kassites, became the
+liberators of the ancient inhabitants. When Assyria was finally
+extinguished as a world power they revived the ancient glory of
+Babylonia, and supplanted the Sumerians as the scholars and teachers
+of Western Asia. The Chaldaeans became famous in Syria, and even in
+Greece, as "the wise men from the east", and were renowned as
+astrologers.
+
+The prestige of the Hebrew kingdom suffered sharp and serious decline
+after Solomon's death. Pharaoh Sheshonk fostered the elements of
+revolt which ultimately separated Israel from Judah, and, when a
+favourable opportunity arose, invaded Palestine and Syria and
+reestablished Egypt's suzerainty over part of the area which had been
+swayed by Rameses II, replenishing his exhausted treasury with rich
+booty and the tribute he imposed. Phoenicia was able, however, to
+maintain its independence, but before the Assyrians moved westward
+again, Sidon had shaken off the yoke of Tyre and become an independent
+State.
+
+It will be seen from the events outlined in this chapter how greatly
+the history of the ancient world was affected by the periodic
+migrations of pastoral folks from the steppe lands. These human tides
+were irresistible. The direction of their flow might be diverted for a
+time, but they ultimately overcame every obstacle by sheer persistency
+and overpowering volume. Great emperors in Assyria and Egypt
+endeavoured to protect their countries from the "Bedouin peril" by
+strengthening their frontiers and extending their spheres of
+influence, but the dammed-up floods of humanity only gathered strength
+in the interval for the struggle which might be postponed but could
+not be averted.
+
+These migrations, as has been indicated, were due to natural causes.
+They were propelled by climatic changes which caused a shortage of the
+food supply, and by the rapid increase of population under peaceful
+conditions. Once a migration began to flow, it set in motion many
+currents and cross currents, but all these converged towards the
+districts which offered the most attractions to mankind. Prosperous
+and well-governed States were ever in peril of invasion by barbarous
+peoples. The fruits of civilization tempted them; the reward of
+conquest was quickly obtained in Babylon and Egypt with their
+flourishing farms and prosperous cities. Waste land was reclaimed then
+as now by colonists from centres of civilization; the migrating
+pastoral folks lacked the initiative and experience necessary to
+establish new communities in undeveloped districts. Highly civilized
+men sowed the harvest and the barbarians reaped it.
+
+It must not be concluded, however, that the migrations were historical
+disasters, or that they retarded the general advancement of the human
+race. In time the barbarians became civilized and fused with the
+peoples whom they conquered. They introduced, too, into communities
+which had grown stagnant and weakly, a fresh and invigorating
+atmosphere that acted as a stimulant in every sphere of human
+activity. The Kassite, for instance, was a unifying and therefore a
+strengthening influence in Babylonia. He shook off the manacles of the
+past which bound the Sumerian and the Akkadian alike to traditional
+lines of policy based on unforgotten ancient rivalries. His concern
+was chiefly with the future. The nomads with their experience of
+desert wandering promoted trade, and the revival of trade inaugurated
+new eras of prosperity in ancient centres of culture, and brought them
+into closer touch than ever before with one another. The rise of
+Greece was due to the blending of the Achaeans and other pastoral
+fighting folks with the indigenous Pelasgians. Into the early States
+which fostered the elements of ancient Mykenaean civilization, poured
+the cultural influences of the East through Asia Minor and Phoenicia
+and from the Egyptian coast. The conquerors from the steppes meanwhile
+contributed their genius for organization, their simple and frugal
+habits of life, and their sterling virtues; they left a deep impress
+on the moral, physical, and intellectual life of Greece.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+THE HEBREWS IN ASSYRIAN HISTORY
+
+
+  Revival of Assyrian Power--The Syro-Cappadocian Hittites--The
+  Aramaean State of Damascus--Reign of Terror in
+  Mesopotamia--Barbarities of Ashur-natsir-pal III--Babylonia and
+  Chaldaea subdued--Glimpse of the Kalkhi Valley--The Hebrew Kingdoms
+  of Judah and Israel--Rival Monarchs and their Wars--How Judah became
+  subject to Damascus--Ahab and the Phoenician Jezebel--Persecution of
+  Elijah and other Prophets--Israelites fight against
+  Assyrians--Shalmaneser as Overlord of Babylonia--Revolts of Jehu in
+  Israel and Hazael in Damascus--Shalmaneser defeats Hazael--Jehu
+  sends Tribute to Shalmaneser--Baal Worship Supplanted by Golden Calf
+  Worship in Israel--Queen Athaliah of Judah--Crowning of the Boy King
+  Joash--Damascus supreme in Syria and Palestine--Civil War in
+  Assyria--Triumphs of Shamshi-Adad VII--Babylonia becomes an Assyrian
+  Province.
+
+
+In one of the Scottish versions of the Seven Sleepers legend a
+shepherd enters a cave, in which the great heroes of other days lie
+wrapped in magic slumber, and blows two blasts on the horn which hangs
+suspended from the roof. The sleepers open their eyes and raise
+themselves on their elbows. Then the shepherd hears a warning voice
+which comes and goes like the wind, saying: "If the horn is blown once
+again, the world will be upset altogether". Terrified by the Voice and
+the ferocious appearance of the heroes, the shepherd retreats
+hurriedly, locking the door behind him; he casts the key into the sea.
+The story proceeds: "If anyone should find the key and open the door,
+and blow but a single blast on the horn, Finn and all the Feans would
+come forth. And that would be a great day in Alban."[428]
+
+After the lapse of an obscure century the national heroes of Assyria
+were awakened as if from sleep by the repeated blasts from the horn of
+the triumphant thunder god amidst the northern and western
+mountains--Adad or Rimmon of Syria, Teshup of Armenia, Tarku of the
+western Hittites. The great kings who came forth to "upset the world"
+bore the familiar names, Ashur-natsir-pal, Shalmaneser, Shamash-Adad,
+Ashur-dan, Adad-nirari, and Ashur-nirari. They revived and increased
+the ancient glory of Assyria during its Middle Empire period.
+
+The Syro-Cappadocian Hittites had grown once again powerful and
+prosperous, but no great leader like Subbiluliuma arose to weld the
+various States into an Empire, so as to ensure the protection of the
+mingled peoples from the operations of the aggressive and ambitious
+war-lords of Assyria. One kingdom had its capital at Hamath and
+another at Carchemish on the Euphrates. The kingdom of Tabal
+flourished in Cilicia (Khilakku); it included several city States like
+Tarsus, Tiana, and Comana (Kammanu). Farther west was the dominion of
+the Thraco-Phrygian Muski. The tribes round the shores of Lake Van had
+asserted themselves and extended their sphere of influence. The State
+of Urartu was of growing importance, and the Nairi tribes had spread
+round the south-eastern shores of Lake Van. The northern frontier of
+Assyria was continually menaced by groups of independent hill States
+which would have been irresistible had they operated together against
+a common enemy, but were liable to be extinguished when attacked in
+detail.
+
+A number of Aramaean kingdoms had come into existence in Mesopotamia
+and throughout Syria. The most influential of these was the State of
+Damascus, the king of which was the overlord of the Hebrew kingdoms of
+Israel and Judah when Ashur-natsir-pal III ascended the Assyrian
+throne about 885 B.C. Groups of the Aramaeans had acquired a high
+degree of culture and become traders and artisans. Large numbers had
+filtered, as well, not only into Babylonia but also Assyria and the
+north Syrian area of Hittite control. Accustomed for generations to
+desert warfare, they were fearless warriors. Their armies had great
+mobility, being composed mostly of mounted infantry, and were not
+easily overpowered by the Assyrian forces of footmen and charioteers.
+Indeed, it was not until cavalry was included in the standing army of
+Assyria that operations against the Aramaeans were attended with
+permanent success.
+
+Ashur-natsir-pal III[429] was preceded by two vigorous Assyrian
+rulers, Adad-nirari III (911-890 B.C.) and Tukulti-Ninip II (890-885
+B.C). The former had raided North Syria and apparently penetrated as
+far as the Mediterranean coast. In consequence he came into conflict
+with Babylonia, but he ultimately formed an alliance with that
+kingdom. His son, Tukulti-Ninip, operated in southern Mesopotamia, and
+apparently captured Sippar. In the north he had to drive back invading
+bands of the Muski. Although, like his father, he carried out great
+works at Asshur, he appears to have transferred his Court to Nineveh,
+a sure indication that Assyria was once again becoming powerful in
+northern Mesopotamia and the regions towards Armenia.
+
+Ashur-natsir-pal III, son of Tukulti-Ninip II, inaugurated a veritable
+reign of terror in Mesopotamia and northern Syria. His methods of
+dealing with revolting tribes were of a most savage character. Chiefs
+were skinned alive, and when he sacked their cities, not only
+fighting-men but women and children were either slaughtered or burned
+at the stake. It is not surprising to find therefore that, on more
+than one occasion, the kings of petty States made submission to him
+without resistance as soon as he invaded their domains.
+
+In his first year he overran the mountainous district between Lake Van
+and the upper sources of the Tigris. Bubu, the rebel son of the
+governor of Nishtun, who had been taken prisoner, was transported to
+Arbela, where he was skinned alive. Like his father, Ashur-natsir-pal
+fought against the Muski, whose power was declining. Then he turned
+southward from the borders of Asia Minor and dealt with a rebellion in
+northern Mesopotamia.
+
+An Aramaean pretender named Akhiababa had established himself at Suru
+in the region to the east of the Euphrates, enclosed by its
+tributaries the Khabar and the Balikh. He had come from the
+neighbouring Aramaean State of Bit-Adini, and was preparing, it would
+appear, to form a powerful confederacy against the Assyrians.
+
+When Ashur-natsir-pal approached Suru, a part of its population
+welcomed him. He entered the city, seized the pretender and many of
+his followers. These he disposed of with characteristic barbarity.
+Some were skinned alive and some impaled on stakes, while others were
+enclosed in a pillar which the king had erected to remind the
+Aramaeans of his determination to brook no opposition. Akhiababa the
+pretender was sent to Nineveh with a few supporters; and when they had
+been flayed their skins were nailed upon the city walls.
+
+Another revolt broke out in the Kirkhi district between the upper
+reaches of the Tigris and the southwestern shores of Lake Van. It was
+promoted by the Nairi tribes, and even supported by some Assyrian
+officials. Terrible reprisals were meted out to the rebels. When the
+city of Kinabu was captured, no fewer than 3000 prisoners were burned
+alive, the unfaithful governor being flayed. The city of Damdamusa was
+set on fire. Then Tela was attacked. Ashur-natsir-pal's own account of
+the operations runs as follows:--
+
+    The city (of Tello) was very strong; three walls surrounded it.
+    The inhabitants trusted to their strong walls and numerous
+    soldiers; they did not come down or embrace my feet. With battle
+    and slaughter I assaulted and took the city. Three thousand
+    warriors I slew in battle. Their booty and possessions, cattle,
+    sheep, I carried away; many captives I burned with fire. Many of
+    their soldiers I took alive; of some I cut off hands and limbs; of
+    others the noses, ears, and arms; of many soldiers I put out the
+    eyes. I reared a column of the living and a column of heads. I
+    hung on high their heads on trees in the vicinity of their city.
+    Their boys and girls I burned up in flames. I devastated the city,
+    dug it up, in fire burned it; I annihilated it.[430]
+
+The Assyrian war-lord afterwards forced several Nairi kings to
+acknowledge him as their overlord. He was so greatly feared by the
+Syro-Cappadocian Hittites that when he approached their territory they
+sent him tribute, yielding without a struggle.
+
+For several years the great conqueror engaged himself in thus subduing
+rebellious tribes and extending his territory. His military
+headquarters were at Kalkhi, to which city the Court had been
+transferred. Thither he drafted thousands of prisoners, the great
+majority of whom he incorporated in the Assyrian army. Assyrian
+colonies were established in various districts for strategical
+purposes, and officials supplanted the petty kings in certain of the
+northern city States.
+
+The Aramaeans of Mesopotamia gave much trouble to Ashur-natsir-pal.
+Although he had laid a heavy hand on Suru, the southern tribes, the
+Sukhi, stirred up revolts in Mesopotamia as the allies of the
+Babylonians. On one occasion Ashur-natsir-pal swept southward through
+this region, and attacked a combined force of Sukhi Aramaeans and
+Babylonians. The Babylonians were commanded by Zabdanu, brother of
+Nabu-aplu-iddin, king of Babylonia, who was evidently anxious to
+regain control of the western trade route. The Assyrian war-lord,
+however, proved to be too powerful a rival. He achieved so complete a
+victory that he captured the Babylonian general and 3000 of his
+followers. The people of Kashshi (Babylonia) and Kaldu (Chaldaea) were
+"stricken with terror", and had to agree to pay increased tribute.
+
+Ashur-natsir-pal reigned for about a quarter of a century, but his
+wars occupied less than half of that period. Having accumulated great
+booty, he engaged himself, as soon as peace was secured throughout his
+empire, in rebuilding the city of Kalkhi, where he erected a great
+palace and made records of his achievements. He also extended and
+redecorated the royal palace at Nineveh, and devoted much attention to
+the temples.
+
+Tribute poured in from the subject States. The mountain and valley
+tribes in the north furnished in abundance wine and corn, sheep and
+cattle and horses, and from the Aramaeans of Mesopotamia and the
+Syro-Cappadocian Hittites came much silver and gold, copper and lead,
+jewels and ivory, as well as richly decorated furniture, armour and
+weapons. Artists and artisans were also provided by the vassals of
+Assyria. There are traces of Phoenician influence in the art of this
+period.
+
+Ashur-natsir-pal's great palace at Kalkhi was excavated by Layard, who
+has given a vivid description of the verdant plain on which the
+ancient city was situated, as it appeared in spring. "Its pasture
+lands, known as the 'Jaif', are renowned", he wrote, "for their rich
+and luxuriant herbage. In times of quiet, the studs of the Pasha and
+of the Turkish authorities, with the horses of the cavalry and of the
+inhabitants of Mosul, are sent here to graze.... Flowers of every hue
+enamelled the meadows; not thinly scattered over the grass as in
+northern climes, but in such thick and gathering clusters that the
+whole plain seemed a patchwork of many colours. The dogs, as they
+returned from hunting, issued from the long grass dyed red, yellow, or
+blue, according to the flowers through which they had last forced
+their way.... In the evening, after the labour of the day, I often sat
+at the door of my tent, giving myself up to the full enjoyment of that
+calm and repose which are imparted to the senses by such scenes as
+these.... As the sun went down behind the low hills which separate the
+river from the desert--even their rocky sides had struggled to emulate
+the verdant clothing of the plain--its receding rays were gradually
+withdrawn, like a transparent veil of light from the landscape. Over
+the pure cloudless sky was the glow of the last light. In the distance
+and beyond the Zab, Keshaf, another venerable ruin, rose indistinctly
+into the evening mist. Still more distant, and still more indistinct,
+was a solitary hill overlooking the ancient city of Arbela. The
+Kurdish mountains, whose snowy summits cherished the dying sunbeams,
+yet struggled with the twilight. The bleating of sheep and lowing of
+cattle, at first faint, became louder as the flocks returned from
+their pastures and wandered amongst the tents. Girls hurried over the
+greensward to seek their fathers' cattle, or crouched down to milk
+those which had returned alone to their well-remembered folds. Some
+were coming from the river bearing the replenished pitcher on their
+heads or shoulders; others, no less graceful in their form, and erect
+in their carriage, were carrying the heavy loads of long grass which
+they had cut in the meadows."[431]
+
+Across the meadows so beautiful in March the great armies of
+Ashur-natsir-pal returned with the booty of great campaigns--horses
+and cattle and sheep, bales of embroidered cloth, ivory and jewels,
+silver and gold, the products of many countries; while thousands of
+prisoners were assembled there to rear stately buildings which
+ultimately fell into decay and were buried by drifting sands.
+
+Layard excavated the emperor's palace and dispatched to London, among
+other treasures of antiquity, the sublime winged human-headed lions
+which guarded the entrance, and many bas reliefs.
+
+The Assyrian sculptures of this period lack the technical skill, the
+delicacy and imagination of Sumerian and Akkadian art, but they are
+full of energy, dignified and massive, and strong and lifelike. They
+reflect the spirit of Assyria's greatness, which, however, had a
+materialistic basis. Assyrian art found expression in delineating the
+outward form rather than in striving to create a "thing of beauty"
+which is "a joy for ever".
+
+When Ashur-natsir-pal died, he was succeeded by his son Shalmaneser
+III (860-825 B.C.), whose military activities extended over his whole
+reign. No fewer than thirty-two expeditions were recorded on his
+famous black obelisk.
+
+As Shalmaneser was the first Assyrian king who came into direct touch
+with the Hebrews, it will be of interest here to review the history of
+the divided kingdoms of Israel and Judah, as recorded in the Bible,
+because of the light it throws on international politics and the
+situation which confronted Shalmaneser in Mesopotamia and Syria in the
+early part of his reign.
+
+After Solomon died, the kingdom of his son Rehoboam was restricted to
+Judah, Benjamin, Moab, and Edom. The "ten tribes" of Israel had
+revolted and were ruled over by Jeroboam, whose capital was at
+Tirzah.[432] "There were wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam
+continually."[433]
+
+The religious organization which had united the Hebrews under David
+and Solomon was thus broken up. Jeroboam established the religion of
+the Canaanites and made "gods and molten images". He was condemned for
+his idolatry by the prophet Ahijah, who declared, "The Lord shall
+smite Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water; and he shall root up
+Israel out of this good land, which he gave to their fathers, and
+shall scatter them beyond the river, because they have made their
+groves, provoking the Lord to anger. And he shall give Israel up
+because of the sins of Jeroboam, who did sin, and who made Israel to
+sin."[434]
+
+In Judah Rehoboam similarly "did evil in the sight of the Lord"; his
+subjects "also built them high places and images and groves, on every
+high hill, and under every green tree".[435] After the raid of the
+Egyptian Pharaoh Shishak (Sheshonk) Rehoboam repented, however. "And
+when he humbled himself, the wrath of the Lord turned from him, that
+he would not destroy him altogether: and also in Judah things went
+well."[436]
+
+Rehoboam was succeeded by his son Abijah, who shattered the power of
+Jeroboam, defeating that monarch in battle after he was surrounded as
+Rameses II had been by the Hittite army. "The children of Israel fled
+before Judah: and God delivered them into their hand. And Abijah and
+his people slew them with a great slaughter: so there fell down slain
+in Israel five hundred thousand chosen men. Thus the children of
+Israel were brought under at that time, and the children of Judah
+prevailed, because they relied upon the Lord God of their fathers. And
+Abijah pursued after Jeroboam, and took cities from him, Bethel with
+the towns thereof, and Jeshanah with the towns thereof, and Ephraim
+with the towns thereof. Neither did Jeroboam recover strength again in
+the days of Abijah, and the Lord struck him and he died."[437]
+
+Ere Jeroboam died, however, "Abijah slept with his fathers, and they
+buried him in the city of David: and Asa his son reigned in his stead.
+In his days the land was quiet ten years. And Asa did that which was
+good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God. For he took away the
+altars of the strange gods, and the high places, and brake down the
+images, and cut down the groves. And commanded Judah to seek the Lord
+God of their fathers and to do the law and the commandment. Also he
+took away out of all the cities of Judah the high places and the
+images: and the kingdom was quiet before him. And he built fenced
+cities in Judah: for the land had rest, and he had no war in those
+years; because the Lord had given him rest."[438]
+
+Jeroboam died in the second year of Asa's reign, and was succeeded by
+his son Nadab, who "did evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in
+the way of his father, and in his sin wherewith he made Israel to
+sin".[439] Nadab waged war against the Philistines, and was besieging
+Gibbethon when Baasha revolted and slew him. Thus ended the First
+Dynasty of the Kingdom of Israel.
+
+Baasha was declared king, and proceeded to operate against Judah.
+Having successfully waged war against Asa, he proceeded to fortify
+Ramah, a few miles to the north of Jerusalem, "that he might not
+suffer any to go out or come in to Asa king of Judah".[440]
+
+Now Israel was at this time one of the allies of the powerful Aramaean
+State of Damascus, which had resisted the advance of the Assyrian
+armies during the reign of Ashur-natsir-pal I, and apparently
+supported the rebellions of the northern Mesopotamian kings. Judah was
+nominally subject to Egypt, which, however, was weakened by internal
+troubles, and therefore unable either to assert its authority in Judah
+or help its king to resist the advance of the Israelites.
+
+In the hour of peril Judah sought the aid of the king of Damascus.
+"Asa took all the silver and the gold that were left in the treasures
+of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king's house, and
+delivered them into the hand of his servants: and King Asa sent them
+to Ben-hadad, the son of Tabrimon, the son of Hezion, king of Syria,
+that dwelt at Damascus, saying, There is a league between me and thee,
+and between my father and thy father: behold, I have sent unto thee a
+present of silver and gold: _come and break thy league with Baasha
+king of Israel, that he may depart from me_".[441]
+
+Ben-hadad accepted the invitation readily. He waged war against
+Israel, and Baasha was compelled to abandon the building of the
+fortifications at Ramah. "Then king Asa made a proclamation throughout
+all Judah; none was exempted: and they took away the stones of Ramah,
+and the timber thereof, wherewith Baasha had builded; and king Asa
+built with them Geba of Benjamin, and Mizpah."[442]
+
+Judah and Israel thus became subject to Damascus, and had to recognize
+the king of that city as arbiter in all their disputes.
+
+After reigning about twenty-four years, Baasha of Israel died in 886
+B.C. and was succeeded by his son Elah who came to the throne "in the
+twenty and sixth year of Asa". He had ruled a little over a year when
+he was murdered by "his servant Zimri, captain of half his chariots",
+while he was "drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza steward of
+his house in Tirzah".[443] Thus ended the Second Dynasty of the
+Kingdom of Israel.
+
+Zimri's revolt was shortlived. He reigned only "seven days in Tirzah".
+The army was "encamped against Gibbethon, which belonged to the
+Philistines. And the people that were encamped heard say, Zimri hath
+conspired and hath also slain the king; wherefore all Israel made
+Omri, the captain of the host, king over Israel that day in the camp.
+And Omri went up from Gibbethon and all Israel with him, and they
+besieged Tirzah. And it came to pass when Zimri saw that the city was
+taken, that he went into the palace of the king's house, and burnt the
+king's house over him with fire, and died."[444]
+
+Omri's claim to the throne was disputed by a rival named Tibni. "But
+the people that followed Omri prevailed against the people that
+followed Tibni, son of Ginath: so Tibni died, and Omri reigned."[445]
+
+Omri was the builder of Samaria, whither his Court was transferred
+from Tirzah towards the close of his six years reign. He was followed
+by his son Ahab, who ascended the throne "in the thirty and eighth
+year of Asa king of Judah.... And Ahab ... did evil in the sight of
+the Lord above all that were before him." So notorious indeed were
+father and son that the prophet Micah declared to the backsliders of
+his day, "For the statutes of Omri are kept, and all the works of the
+house of Ahab, and ye walk in their counsel; that I should make thee a
+desolation, and the inhabitants thereof an hissing: therefore ye shall
+bear the reproach of my people".[446]
+
+Ahab was evidently an ally of Sidon as well as a vassal of Damascus,
+for he married the notorious princess Jezebel, the daughter of the
+king of that city State. He also became a worshipper of the Phoenician
+god Baal, to whom a temple had been erected in Samaria. "And Ahab made
+a grove; and Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger
+than all the kings of Israel that were before him."[447] Obadiah, who
+"feared the Lord greatly", was the governor of Ahab's house, but the
+outspoken prophet Elijah, whose arch enemy was the notorious Queen
+Jezebel, was an outcast like the hundred prophets concealed by Obadiah
+in two mountain caves.[448]
+
+Ahab became so powerful a king that Ben-hadad II of Damascus picked a
+quarrel with him, and marched against Samaria. It was on this occasion
+that Ahab sent the famous message to Ben-hadad: "Let not him that
+girdeth on his harness (armour) boast himself as he that putteth it
+off". The Israelites issued forth from Samaria and scattered the
+attacking force. "And Israel pursued them: and Ben-hadad the king of
+Syria escaped on a horse with the horseman. And the king of Israel
+went out, and smote the horses and chariots, and slew the Syrians with
+a great slaughter." Ben-hadad was made to believe afterwards by his
+counsellors that he owed his defeat to the fact that the gods of
+Israel were "gods of the hills; therefore they are stronger than we".
+They added: "Let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we
+shall be stronger than they". In the following year Ben-hadad fought
+against the Israelites at Aphek, but was again defeated. He then found
+it necessary to make "a covenant" with Ahab.[449]
+
+In 854 B.C. Shalmaneser III of Assyria was engaged in military
+operations against the Aramaean Syrians. Two years previously he had
+broken the power of Akhuni, king of Bit-Adini in northern Mesopotamia,
+the leader of a strong confederacy of petty States. Thereafter the
+Assyrian monarch turned towards the south-west and attacked the
+Hittite State of Hamath and the Aramaean State of Damascus. The
+various rival kingdoms of Syria united against him, and an army of
+70,000 allies attempted to thwart his progress at Qarqar on the
+Orontes. Although Shalmaneser claimed a victory on this occasion, it
+was of no great advantage to him, for he was unable to follow it up.
+Among the Syrian allies were Bir-idri (Ben-hadad II) of Damascus, and
+Ahab of Israel ("Akhabbu of the land of the Sir'ilites"). The latter
+had a force of 10,000 men under his command.
+
+Four years after Ahab began to reign, Asa died at Jerusalem and his
+son Jehoshaphat was proclaimed king of Judah. "And he walked in all
+the ways of Asa his father; he turned not aside from it, doing that
+which was right in the eyes of the Lord: nevertheless the high places
+were not taken away; for the people offered and burnt incense yet in
+the high places."[450]
+
+There is no record of any wars between Israel and Judah during this
+period, but it is evident that the two kingdoms had been drawn
+together and that Israel was the predominating power. Jehoshaphat
+"joined affinity with Ahab", and some years afterwards visited
+Samaria, where he was hospitably entertained.[451] The two monarchs
+plotted together. Apparently Israel and Judah desired to throw off the
+yoke of Damascus, which was being kept constantly on the defence by
+Assyria. It is recorded in the Bible that they joined forces and set
+out on an expedition to attack Ramoth in Gilead, which Israel claimed,
+and take it "out of the hand of the king of Syria".[452] In the battle
+which ensued (in 853 B.C.) Ahab was mortally wounded, "and about the
+time of the sun going down he died". He was succeeded by his son
+Ahaziah, who acknowledged the suzerainty of Damascus. After a reign of
+two years Ahaziah was succeeded by Joram.
+
+Jehoshaphat did not again come into conflict with Damascus. He devoted
+himself to the development of his kingdom, and attempted to revive the
+sea trade on the Persian gulf which had flourished under Solomon. "He
+made ships of Tharshish to go to Ophir for gold; but they went not;
+for the ships were broken (wrecked) at Ezion-geber." Ahaziah offered
+him sailors--probably Phoenicians--but they were refused.[453]
+Apparently Jehoshaphat had close trading relations with the
+Chaldaeans, who were encroaching on the territory of the king of
+Babylon, and menacing the power of that monarch. Jehoram succeeded
+Jehoshaphat and reigned eight years.
+
+After repulsing the Syrian allies at Qarqar on the Orontes in 854
+B.C., Shalmaneser III of Assyria found it necessary to invade
+Babylonia. Soon after he came to the throne he had formed an alliance
+with Nabu-aplu-iddin of that kingdom, and was thus able to operate in
+the north-west without fear of complications with the rival claimant
+of Mesopotamia. When Nabu-aplu-iddin died, his two sons
+Marduk-zakir-shum and Marduk-bel-usate were rivals for the throne. The
+former, the rightful heir, appealed for help to Shalmaneser, and that
+monarch at once hastened to assert his authority in the southern
+kingdom. In 851 B.C. Marduk-bel-usate, who was supported by an Aramaean
+army, was defeated and put to death.
+
+Marduk-zakir-shum afterwards reigned over Babylonia as the vassal of
+Assyria, and Shalmaneser, his overlord, made offerings to the gods at
+Babylon, Borsippa, and Cuthah. The Chaldaeans were afterwards subdued,
+and compelled to pay annual tribute.
+
+In the following year Shalmaneser had to lead an expedition into
+northern Mesopotamia and suppress a fresh revolt in that troubled
+region. But the western allies soon gathered strength again, and in
+846 B.C. he found it necessary to return with a great army, but was
+not successful in achieving any permanent success, although he put his
+enemies to flight. The various western kingdoms, including Damascus,
+Israel, and Tyre and Sidon, remained unconquered, and continued to
+conspire against him.
+
+The resisting power of the Syrian allies, however, was being greatly
+weakened by internal revolts, which may have been stirred up by
+Assyrian emissaries. Edom threw off the yoke of Judah and became
+independent. Jehoram, who had married Athaliah, a royal princess of
+Israel, was dead. His son Ahaziah, who succeeded him, joined forces
+with his cousin and overlord, King Joram of Israel, to assist him in
+capturing Ramoth-gilead from the king of Damascus. Joram took
+possession of the city, but was wounded, and returned to Jezreel to be
+healed.[454] He was the last king of the Omri Dynasty of Israel. The
+prophet Elisha sent a messenger to Jehu, a military leader, who was at
+Ramoth-gilead, with a box of oil and the ominous message, "Thus saith
+the Lord, I have anointed thee king over Israel. And thou shalt smite
+the house of Ahab thy master, that I may avenge the blood of my
+servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the Lord,
+at the hand of Jezebel.... And the dogs shall eat Jezebel in the
+portion of Jezreel, and there shall be none to bury her."
+
+Jehu "conspired against Joram", and then, accompanied by an escort,
+"rode in a chariot and went to Jezreel", so that he might be the first
+to announce the revolt to the king whom he was to depose.
+
+The watchman on the tower of Jezreel saw Jehu and his company
+approaching and informed Joram, who twice sent out a messenger to
+enquire, "Is it peace?" Neither messenger returned, and the watchman
+informed the wounded monarch of Israel, "He came even unto them, and
+cometh not again; and the driving is like the driving of Jehu the son
+of Nimshi; for he driveth furiously".
+
+King Joram went out himself to meet the famous charioteer, but turned
+to flee when he discovered that he came as an enemy. Then Jehu drew
+his bow and shot Joram through the heart. Ahaziah endeavoured to
+conceal himself in Samaria, but was slain also. Jezebel was thrown
+down from a window of the royal harem and trodden under foot by the
+horsemen of Jehu; her body was devoured by dogs.[455]
+
+The Syrian king against whom Joram fought at Ramoth-gilead was Hazael.
+He had murdered Ben-hadad II as he lay on a bed of sickness by
+smothering him with a thick cloth soaked in water. Then he had himself
+proclaimed the ruler of the Aramaean State of Damascus. The prophet
+Elisha had previously wept before him, saying, "I know the evil that
+thou wilt do unto the children of Israel; their strongholds wilt thou
+set on fire, and their young men wilt thou slay with the sword, and
+wilt dash their children and rip up their women with child".[456]
+
+The time seemed ripe for Assyrian conquest. In 843 B.C. Shalmaneser
+III crossed the Euphrates into Syria for the sixteenth time. His first
+objective was Aleppo, where he was welcomed. He made offerings there
+to Hadad, the local Thor, and then suddenly marched southward. Hazael
+went out to oppose the advancing Assyrians, and came into conflict
+with them in the vicinity of Mount Hermon. "I fought with him",
+Shalmaneser recorded, "and accomplished his defeat; I slew with the
+sword 1600 of his warriors and captured 1121 chariots and 470 horses.
+He fled to save his life."
+
+Hazael took refuge within the walls of Damascus, which the Assyrians
+besieged, but failed, however, to capture. Shalmaneser's soldiers
+meanwhile wasted and burned cities without number, and carried away
+great booty. "In those days", Shalmaneser recorded, "I received
+tribute from the Tyrians and Sidonians and from Yaua (Jehu) son
+(successor) of Khumri (Omri)." The following is a translation from a
+bas relief by Professor Pinches of a passage detailing Jehu's tribute:
+
+    The tribute of Yaua, son of Khumri: silver, gold, a golden cup,
+    golden vases, golden vessels, golden buckets, lead, a staff for
+    the hand of the king (and) sceptres, I received.[457]
+
+The scholarly translator adds, "It is noteworthy that the Assyrian
+form of the name, Yaua, shows that the unpronounced aleph at the end
+was at that time sounded, so that the Hebrews must have called him
+Yahua (Jehua)".
+
+Shalmaneser did not again attack Damascus. His sphere of influence was
+therefore confined to North Syria. He found it more profitable,
+indeed, to extend his territories into Asia Minor. For several years
+he engaged himself in securing control of the north-western caravan
+road, and did not rest until he had subdued Cilicia and overrun the
+Hittite kingdoms of Tabal and Malatia.
+
+Hazael of Damascus avenged himself meanwhile on his unfaithful allies
+who had so readily acknowledged the shadowy suzerainty of Assyria. "In
+those days the Lord began to cut Israel short: and Hazael smote them
+in all the coasts of Israel; from Jordan eastward, all the land of
+Gilead, the Gadites, and the Reubenites, and the Manassites, from
+Aroer, which is by the river Arnon, even Gilead and Bashan."[458]
+Israel thus came completely under the sway of Damascus.
+
+Jehu appears to have cherished the ambition of uniting Israel and
+Judah under one crown. His revolt received the support of the orthodox
+Hebrews, and he began well by inaugurating reforms in the northern
+kingdom with purpose apparently to re-establish the worship of David's
+God. He persecuted the prophets of Baal, but soon became a backslider,
+for although he stamped out the Phoenician religion he began to
+worship "the golden calves that were in Bethel and that were in
+Dan.... He departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, which made Israel
+to sin."[459] Apparently he found it necessary to secure the support
+of the idolators of the ancient cult of the "Queen of Heaven".
+
+The crown of Judah had been seized by the Israelitish Queen mother
+Athaliah after the death of her son Ahaziah at the hands of Jehu.[460]
+She endeavoured to destroy "all the seed royal of the house of Judah".
+But another woman thwarted the completion of her monstrous design.
+This was Jehoshabeath, sister of Ahaziah and wife of the priest
+Jehoiada, who concealed the young prince Joash "and put him and his
+nurse in a bedchamber", in "the house of God". There Joash was
+strictly guarded for six years.[461]
+
+In time Jehoiada stirred up a revolt against the Baal-worshipping
+queen of Judah. Having secured the support of the captains of the
+royal guard and a portion of the army, he brought out from the temple
+the seven years old prince Joash, "the king's son, and put upon him
+the crown, and gave him the testimony, and made him king. And Jehoiada
+and his sons anointed him, and said, God save the king.
+
+"Now when Athaliah heard the noise of the people running and praising
+the king, she came to the people into the house of the Lord: and she
+looked, and, behold the king stood at his pillar at the entering in,
+and the princes and the trumpets by the king: and all the people of
+the land rejoiced, and sounded with trumpets, also the singers with
+instruments of musick, and such as taught to sing praise. Then
+Athaliah rent her clothes, and said, Treason, Treason.
+
+"Then Jehoiada the priest brought out the captains of hundreds that
+were set over the host, and said unto them, Have her forth of the
+ranges: and whoso followeth her, let him be slain by the sword. For
+the priest said, Slay her not in the house of the Lord. So they laid
+hands on her; and when she was come to the entering of the horse gate
+by the king's house, they slew her there.
+
+"And Jehoiada made a covenant between him, and between all the people,
+and between the king, that they should be the Lord's people. Then all
+the people went to the house of Baal, and brake it down, and brake his
+altars and his images in pieces, and slew Mattan the priest of Baal
+before the altars."[462]
+
+When Jehu of Israel died, he was succeeded by Jehoahaz. "The Lord was
+kindled against Israel, and he delivered them into the hand of
+Ben-hadad the son of Hazael all their days." Then Jehoahaz repented.
+He "besought the Lord, and the Lord hearkened unto him: for he saw the
+oppression of Israel, because the king of Syria oppressed them. And
+the Lord gave Israel a saviour, so that they went out from under the
+hands of the Syrians."[463] The "saviour", as will be shown, was
+Assyria. Not only Israel, but Judah, under King Joash, Edom, the
+Philistines and the Ammonites were compelled to acknowledge the
+suzerainty of Damascus.
+
+Shalmaneser III swayed an extensive and powerful empire, and kept his
+generals continually employed suppressing revolts on his frontiers.
+After he subdued the Hittites, Kati, king of Tabal, sent him his
+daughter, who was received into the royal harem. Tribes of the Medes
+came under his power: the Nairi and Urartian tribes continued battling
+with his soldiers on his northern borders like the frontier tribes of
+India against the British troops. The kingdom of Urartu was growing
+more and more powerful.
+
+In 829 B.C. the great empire was suddenly shaken to its foundations by
+the outbreak of civil war. The party of rebellion was led by
+Shalmaneser's son Ashur-danin-apli, who evidently desired to supplant
+the crown prince Shamshi-Adad. He was a popular hero and received the
+support of most of the important Assyrian cities, including Nineveh,
+Asshur, Arbela, Imgurbel, and Dur-balat, as well as some of the
+dependencies. Shalmaneser retained Kalkhi and the provinces of
+northern Mesopotamia, and it appears that the greater part of the army
+also remained loyal to him.
+
+After four years of civil war Shalmaneser died. His chosen heir,
+Shamshi-Adad VII, had to continue the struggle for the throne for two
+more years.
+
+When at length the new king had stamped out the last embers of revolt
+within the kingdom, he had to undertake the reconquest of those
+provinces which in the interval had thrown off their allegiance to
+Assyria. Urartu in the north had grown more aggressive, the Syrians
+were openly defiant, the Medes were conducting bold raids, and the
+Babylonians were plotting with the Chaldaeans, Elamites, and Aramaeans
+to oppose the new ruler. Shamshi-Adad, however, proved to be as great
+a general as his father. He subdued the Medes and the Nairi tribes,
+burned many cities and collected enormous tribute, while thousands of
+prisoners were taken and forced to serve the conqueror.
+
+Having established his power in the north, Shamshi-Adad then turned
+attention to Babylonia. On his way southward he subdued many villages.
+He fell upon the first strong force of Babylonian allies at
+Dur-papsukal in Akkad, and achieved a great victory, killing 13,000
+and taking 3000 captives. Then the Babylonian king,
+Marduk-balatsu-ikbi, advanced to meet him with his mixed force of
+Babylonians, Chaldaeans, Elamites, and Aramaeans, but was defeated in
+a fierce battle on the banks of the Daban canal. The Babylonian camp
+was captured, and the prisoners taken by the Assyrians included 5000
+footmen, 200 horsemen, and 100 chariots
+
+Shamshi-Adad conducted in all five campaigns in Babylonia and
+Chaldaea, which he completely subdued, penetrating as far as the
+shores of the Persian Gulf. In the end he took prisoner the new king,
+Bau-akh-iddina, the successor of Marduk-balatsu-ikbi, and transported
+him to Assyria, and offered up sacrifices as the overlord of the
+ancient land at Babylon, Borsippa, and Cuthah. For over half a century
+after this disaster Babylonia was a province of Assyria. During that
+period, however, the influence which it exercised over the Assyrian
+Court was so great that it contributed to the downfall of the royal
+line of the Second Empire.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+THE AGE OF SEMIRAMIS
+
+
+  Queen Sammu-rammat the original of Semiramis--"Mother-right" among
+  "Mother Worshippers"--Sammu-rammat compared to Queen Tiy--Popularity
+  of Goddess Cults--Temple Worship and Domestic Worship--Babylonian
+  Cultural Influence in Assyria--Ethical Tendency in Shamash
+  Worship--The Nebo Religious Revolt--Aton Revolt in Egypt--The Royal
+  Assyrian Library--Fish Goddess of Babylonia in Assyria--The
+  Semiramis and Shakuntala Stories--The Mock King and Queen--Dove
+  Goddesses of Assyria, Phoenicia, and Cyprus--Ishtar's Dove Form--St.
+  Valentine's Day beliefs--Sacred Doves of Cretans, Hittites, and
+  Egyptians--Pigeon Lore in Great Britain and Ireland--Deities
+  associated with various Animals--The Totemic Theory--Common Element
+  in Ancient Goddess Cults--Influence of Agricultural Beliefs--Nebo a
+  form of Ea--His Spouse Tashmit a Love Goddess and
+  Interceder--Traditions of Famous Mother Deities--Adad-nirari IV the
+  "Saviour" of Israel--Expansion of the Urartian Empire--Its Famous
+  Kings--Decline and Fall of Assyria's Middle Empire Dynasty.
+
+
+One of the most interesting figures in Mesopotamian history came into
+prominence during the Assyrian Middle Empire period. This was the
+famous Sammu-rammat, the Babylonian wife of an Assyrian ruler. Like
+Sargon of Akkad, Alexander the Great, and Dietrich von Bern, she made,
+by reason of her achievements and influence, a deep impression on the
+popular imagination, and as these monarchs became identified in
+tradition with gods of war and fertility, she had attached to her
+memory the myths associated with the mother goddess of love and battle
+who presided over the destinies of mankind. In her character as the
+legendary Semiramis of Greek literature, the Assyrian queen was
+reputed to have been the daughter of Derceto, the dove and fish
+goddess of Askalon, and to have departed from earth in bird form.
+
+It is not quite certain whether Sammu-rammat was the wife of
+Shamshi-Adad VII or of his son, Adad-nirari IV. Before the former
+monarch reduced Babylonia to the status of an Assyrian province, he
+had signed a treaty of peace with its king, and it is suggested that
+it was confirmed by a matrimonial alliance. This treaty was repudiated
+by King Bau-akh-iddina, who was transported with his palace treasures
+to Assyria.
+
+As Sammu-rammat was evidently a royal princess of Babylonia, it seems
+probable that her marriage was arranged with purpose to legitimatize
+the succession of the Assyrian overlords to the Babylonian throne. The
+principle of "mother right" was ever popular in those countries where
+the worship of the Great Mother was perpetuated if not in official at
+any rate in domestic religion. Not a few Egyptian Pharaohs reigned as
+husbands or as sons of royal ladies. Succession by the female line was
+also observed among the Hittites. When Hattusil II gave his daughter
+in marriage to Putakhi, king of the Amorites, he inserted a clause in
+the treaty of alliance "to the effect that the sovereignty over the
+Amorite should belong to the son and descendants of his daughter for
+evermore".[464]
+
+As queen or queen-mother, Sammu-rammat occupied as prominent a
+position in Assyria as did Queen Tiy of Egypt during the lifetime of
+her husband, Amenhotep III, and the early part of the reign of her
+son, Amenhotep IV (Akhenaton). The Tell-el-Amarna letters testify to
+Tiy's influence in the Egyptian "Foreign Office", and we know that at
+home she was joint ruler with her husband and took part with him in
+public ceremonials. During their reign a temple was erected to the
+mother goddess Mut, and beside it was formed a great lake on which
+sailed the "barque of Aton" in connection with mysterious religious
+ceremonials. After Akhenaton's religious revolt was inaugurated, the
+worship of Mut was discontinued and Tiy went into retirement. In
+Akhenaton's time the vulture symbol of the goddess Mut did not appear
+above the sculptured figures of royalty.
+
+What connection the god Aton had with Mut during the period of the Tiy
+regime remains obscure. There is no evidence that Aton was first
+exalted as the son of the Great Mother goddess, although this is not
+improbable.
+
+Queen Sammu-rammat of Assyria, like Tiy of Egypt, is associated with
+social and religious innovations. She was the first, and, indeed, the
+only Assyrian royal lady, to be referred to on equal terms with her
+royal husband in official inscriptions. In a dedication to the god
+Nebo, that deity is reputed to be the protector of "the life of
+Adad-nirari, king of the land of Ashur, his lord, and the life of
+Sammu-rammat, she of the palace, his lady".[465]
+
+During the reign of Adad-nirari IV the Assyrian Court radiated
+Babylonian culture and traditions. The king not only recorded his
+descent from the first Shalmaneser, but also claimed to be a
+descendant of Bel-kap-kapu, an earlier, but, to us, unknown,
+Babylonian monarch than "Sulili", i.e. Sumu-la-ilu, the
+great-great-grandfather of Hammurabi. Bel-kap-kapu was reputed to have
+been an overlord of Assyria.
+
+Apparently Adad-nirari desired to be regarded as the legitimate heir
+to the thrones of Assyria and Babylonia. His claim upon the latter
+country must have had a substantial basis. It is not too much to
+assume that he was a son of a princess of its ancient royal family.
+Sammurammat may therefore have been his mother. She could have been
+called his "wife" in the mythological sense, the king having become
+"husband of his mother". If such was the case, the royal pair probably
+posed as the high priest and high priestess of the ancient goddess
+cult--the incarnations of the Great Mother and the son who displaced
+his sire.
+
+The worship of the Great Mother was the popular religion of the
+indigenous peoples of western Asia, including parts of Asia Minor,
+Egypt, and southern and western Europe. It appears to have been
+closely associated with agricultural rites practised among
+representative communities of the Mediterranean race. In Babylonia and
+Assyria the peoples of the goddess cult fused with the peoples of the
+god cult, but the prominence maintained by Ishtar, who absorbed many
+of the old mother deities, testifies to the persistence of immemorial
+habits of thought and antique religious ceremonials among the
+descendants of the earliest settlers in the Tigro-Euphrates valley.
+Merodach's spouse Zerpanitu^m was not a shadowy deity but a goddess
+who exercised as much influence as her divine husband. As Aruru she
+took part with him in the creation of mankind. In Asia Minor the
+mother goddess was overshadowed by the father god during the period of
+Hatti predominance, but her worship was revived after the early people
+along the coast and in the agricultural valleys were freed from the
+yoke of the father-god worshippers.
+
+It must be recognized, in this connection, that an official religion
+was not always a full reflection of popular beliefs. In all the great
+civilizations of antiquity it was invariably a compromise between the
+beliefs of the military aristocracy and the masses of mingled peoples
+over whom they held sway. Temple worship had therefore a political
+aspect; it was intended, among other things, to strengthen the
+position of the ruling classes. But ancient deities could still be
+worshipped, and were worshipped, in homes and fields, in groves and on
+mountain tops, as the case might be. Jeremiah has testified to the
+persistence of the folk practices in connection with the worship of
+the mother goddess among the inhabitants of Palestine. Sacrificial
+fires were lit and cakes were baked and offered to the "Queen of
+Heaven" in the streets of Jerusalem and other cities. In Babylonia and
+Egypt domestic religious practices were never completely supplanted by
+temple ceremonies in which rulers took a prominent part. It was always
+possible, therefore, for usurpers to make popular appeal by reviving
+ancient and persistent forms of worship. As we have seen, Jehu of
+Israel, after stamping out Phoenician Baal worship, secured a strong
+following by giving official recognition to the cult of the golden
+calf.
+
+It is not possible to set forth in detail, or with intimate knowledge,
+the various innovations which Sammu-rammat introduced, or with which
+she was credited, during the reigns of Adad-nirari IV (810-782 B.C.)
+and his father. No discovery has been made of documents like the
+Tell-el-Amarna "letters", which would shed light on the social and
+political life of this interesting period. But evidence is not
+awanting that Assyria was being suffused with Babylonian culture.
+Royal inscriptions record the triumphs of the army, but suppress the
+details of barbarities such as those which sully the annals of
+Ashur-natsir-pal, who had boys and girls burned on pyres and the
+heroes of small nations flayed alive. An ethical tendency becomes
+apparent in the exaltation of the Babylonian Shamash as an abstract
+deity who loved law and order, inspired the king with wisdom and
+ordained the destinies of mankind. He is invoked on equal terms with
+Ashur.
+
+The prominence given to Nebo, the god of Borsippa, during the reign of
+Adad-nirari IV is highly significant. He appears in his later
+character as a god of culture and wisdom, the patron of scribes and
+artists, and the wise counsellor of the deities. He symbolized the
+intellectual life of the southern kingdom, which was more closely
+associated with religious ethics than that of war-loving Assyria.
+
+A great temple was erected to Nebo at Kalkhi, and four statues of him
+were placed within it, two of which are now in the British Museum. On
+one of these was cut the inscription, from which we have quoted,
+lauding the exalted and wise deity and invoking him to protect
+Adad-nirari and the lady of the palace, Sammu-rammat, and closing with
+the exhortation, "Whoso cometh in after time, let him trust in Nebo
+and trust in no other god".
+
+The priests of Ashur in the city of Asshur must have been as deeply
+stirred by this religious revolt at Kalkhi as were the priests of Amon
+when Akhenaton turned his back on Thebes and the national god to
+worship Aton in his new capital at Tell-el-Amarna.
+
+It would appear that this sudden stream of Babylonian culture had
+begun to flow into Assyria as early as the reign of Shalmaneser III,
+and it may be that it was on account of that monarch's pro-Babylonian
+tendencies that his nobles and priests revolted against him.
+Shalmaneser established at Kalkhi a royal library which was stocked
+with the literature of the southern kingdom. During the reign of
+Adad-nirari IV this collection was greatly increased, and subsequent
+additions were made to it by his successors, and especially
+Ashur-nirari IV, the last monarch of the Middle Empire. The
+inscriptions of Shamshi-Adad, son of Shalmaneser III, have literary
+qualities which distinguish them from those of his predecessors, and
+may be accounted for by the influence exercised by Babylonian scholars
+who migrated northward.
+
+To the reign of Adad-nirari belongs also that important compilation
+the "Synchronistic History of Assyria and Babylonia", which deals with
+the relations of the two kingdoms and refers to contemporary events
+and rulers.
+
+The legends of Semiramis indicate that Sammu-rammat was associated
+like Queen Tiy with the revival of mother worship. As we have said,
+she went down to tradition as the daughter of the fish goddess,
+Derceto. Pliny identified that deity with Atargatis of
+Hierapolis.[466]
+
+In Babylonia the fish goddess was Nina, a developed form of Damkina,
+spouse of Ea of Eridu. In the inscription on the Nebo statue, that god
+is referred to as the "son of Nudimmud" (Ea). Nina was the goddess who
+gave her name to Nineveh, and it is possible that Nebo may have been
+regarded as her son during the Semiramis period.
+
+The story of Semiramis's birth is evidently of great antiquity. It
+seems to survive throughout Europe in the nursery tale of the "Babes
+in the Wood". A striking Indian parallel is afforded by the legend of
+Shakuntala, which may be first referred to for the purpose of
+comparative study. Shakuntala was the daughter of the rishi,
+Viswamitra, and Menaka, the Apsara (celestial fairy). Menaka gave
+birth to her child beside the sacred river Malini. "And she cast the
+new-born infant on the bank of that river and went away. And beholding
+the newborn infant lying in that forest destitute of human beings but
+abounding with lions and tigers, a number of vultures sat around to
+protect it from harm." A sage discovered the child and adopted her.
+"Because", he said, "she was surrounded by _Shakuntas_ (birds),
+therefore hath she been named by me _Shakuntala_ (bird
+protected)."[467]
+
+Semiramis was similarly deserted at birth by her Celestial mother. She
+was protected by doves, and her Assyrian name, Sammu-rammat, is
+believed to be derived from "Summat"--"dove", and to signify "the dove
+goddess loveth her". Simmas, the chief of royal shepherds, found the
+child and adopted her. She was of great beauty like Shakuntala, the
+maiden of "perfect symmetry", "sweet smiles", and "faultless
+features", with whom King Dushyanta fell in love and married in
+Gandharva fashion.[468]
+
+Semiramis became the wife of Onnes, governor of Nineveh, and one of
+the generals of its alleged founder, King Ninus. She accompanied her
+husband to Bactria on a military campaign, and is said to have
+instructed the king how that city should be taken. Ninus fell in love
+with Semiramis, and Onnes, who refused to give her up, went and hanged
+himself. The fair courtesan then became the wife of the king.
+
+The story proceeds that Semiramis exercised so great an influence over
+the impressionable King Ninus, that she persuaded him to proclaim her
+Queen of Assyria for five days. She then ascended the throne decked in
+royal robes. On the first day she gave a great banquet, and on the
+second thrust Ninus into prison, or had him put to death. In this
+manner she secured the empire for herself. She reigned for over forty
+years.
+
+Professor Frazer inclines to the view that the legend is a
+reminiscence of the custom of appointing a mock king and queen to whom
+the kingdom was yielded up for five days. Semiramis played the part of
+the mother goddess, and the priestly king died a violent death in the
+character of her divine lover. "The mounds of Semiramis which were
+pointed out all over Western Asia were said to have been the graves of
+her lovers whom she buried alive.... This tradition is one of the
+surest indications of the identity of the mythical Semiramis with the
+Babylonian goddess Ishtar or Astarte."[469] As we have seen, Ishtar
+and other mother goddesses had many lovers whom they deserted like La
+Belle Dame sans Merci (pp. 174-175).
+
+As Queen of Assyria, Semiramis was said to have cut roads through
+mountainous districts and erected many buildings. According to one
+version of the legend she founded the city of Babylon. Herodotus,
+however, says in this connection: "Semiramis held the throne for five
+generations before the later princess (Nitocris).... She raised
+certain embankments, well worthy of inspection, in the plain near
+Babylon, to control the river (Euphrates), which, till then, used to
+overflow and flood the whole country round about."[470] Lucian, who
+associates the famous queen with "mighty works in Asia", states that
+she was reputed by some to be the builder of the ancient temple of
+Aphrodite in the Libanus, although others credited it to Cinyras, or
+Deukalion.[471] Several Median places bear her name, and according to
+ancient Armenian tradition she was the founder of Van, which was
+formerly called "Shamiramagerd". Strabo tells that unidentified
+mountains in Western Asia were named after Semiramis.[472] Indeed,
+many of the great works in the Tigro-Euphrates valley, not excepting
+the famous inscription of Darius, were credited to the legendary queen
+of Babylonia and Assyria.[473] She was the rival in tradition of the
+famous Sesostris of Egypt as a ruler, builder, and conqueror.
+
+All the military expeditions of Semiramis were attended with success,
+except her invasion of India. She was supposed to have been defeated
+in the Punjab. After suffering this disaster she died, or abdicated
+the throne in favour of her son Ninyas. The most archaic form of the
+legend appears to be that she was turned into a dove and took flight
+to heaven in that form. After her death she was worshipped as a dove
+goddess like "Our Lady of Trees and Doves" in Cyprus, whose shrine at
+old Paphos was founded, Herodotus says, by Phoenician colonists from
+Askalon.[474] Fish and doves were sacred to Derceto (Attar),[475] who
+had a mermaid form. "I have beheld", says Lucian, "the image of
+Derceto in Phoenicia. A marvellous spectacle it is. One half is a
+woman, but the part which extends from thighs to feet terminates with
+the tail of a fish."[476]
+
+Derceto was supposed to have been a woman who threw herself in despair
+into a lake. After death she was adored as a goddess and her
+worshippers abstained from eating fish, except sacrificially. A golden
+image of a fish was suspended in her temple. Atargatis, who was
+identical with Derceto, was reputed in another form of the legend to
+have been born of an egg which the sacred fishes found in the
+Euphrates and thrust ashore (p. 28). The Greek Aphrodite was born of
+the froth of the sea and floated in a sea-shell. According to Hesiod,
+
+          The wafting waves
+    First bore her to Cythera the divine:
+    To wave-encircled Cyprus came she then,
+    And forth emerged, a goddess, in the charms
+    Of awful beauty. Where her delicate feet
+    Had pressed the sands, green herbage flowering sprang.
+    Her Aphrodite gods and mortals name,
+    The foam-born goddess; and her name is known
+    As Cytherea with the blooming wreath,
+    For that she touched Cythera's flowery coast;
+    And Cypris, for that on the Cyprian shore
+    She rose, amid the multitude of waves. _Elton's translation_.
+
+The animals sacred to Aphrodite included the sparrow, the dove, the
+swan, the swallow, and the wryneck.[477] She presided over the month
+of April, and the myrtle, rose, poppy, and apple were sacred to her.
+
+Some writers connect Semiramis, in her character as a dove goddess,
+with Media and the old Persian mother goddess Anaitis, and regard as
+arbitrary her identification with the fish goddess Derceto or
+Atargatis. The dove was certainly not a popular bird in the religious
+art of Babylonia and Assyria, but in one of the hymns translated by
+Professor Pinches Ishtar says, "Like a lonely dove I rest". In another
+the worshipper tries to touch Ishtar's heart by crying, "Like the dove
+I moan". A Sumerian psalmist makes a goddess (Gula, who presided over
+Larak, a part of Isin) lament over the city after it was captured by
+the enemy:
+
+    My temple E-aste, temple of Larak,
+    Larak the city which Bel Enlil gave,
+    Beneath are turned to strangeness, above are turned to
+        strangeness,
+    With wailings on the lyre my dwelling-place is surrendered to the
+        stranger,
+    _The dove cots they wickedly seized, the doves they entrapped_....
+    The ravens he (Enlil) caused to fly.[478]
+
+Apparently there were temple and household doves in Babylonia. The
+Egyptians had their household dovecots in ancient as in modern times.
+Lane makes reference to the large pigeon houses in many villages. They
+are of archaic pattern, "with the walls slightly inclining inwards
+(like many of the ancient Egyptian buildings)", and are "constructed
+upon the roofs of the huts with crude brick, pottery, and mud.... Each
+pair of pigeons occupies a separate (earthen) pot."[479] It may be
+that the dove bulked more prominently in domestic than in official
+religion, and had a special seasonal significance. Ishtar appears to
+have had a dove form. In the Gilgamesh epic she is said to have loved
+the "brilliant Allalu bird" (the "bright-coloured wood pigeon",
+according to Sayce), and to have afterwards wounded it by breaking its
+wings.[480] She also loved the lion and the horse, and must therefore
+have assumed the forms of these animals. The goddess Bau, "she whose
+city is destroyed", laments in a Sumerian psalm:
+
+    Like a dove to its dwelling-place, how long to my dwelling-place
+        will they pursue me,
+    To my sanctuary ... the sacred place they pursue me....
+    My resting place, the brick walls of my city Isin, thou art
+        destroyed;
+    My sanctuary, shrine of my temple Galmah, thou art destroyed.
+
+            _Langdon's translation._
+
+Here the goddess appears to be identified with the doves which rest on
+the walls and make their nests in the shrine. The Sumerian poets did
+not adorn their poems with meaningless picturesque imagery; their
+images were stern facts; they had a magical or religious significance
+like the imagery of magical incantations; the worshipper invoked the
+deity by naming his or her various attributes, forms, &c.
+
+Of special interest are the references in Sumerian psalms to the
+ravens as well as the doves of goddesses. Throughout Asia and Europe
+ravens are birds of ill omen. In Scotland there still linger curious
+folk beliefs regarding the appearance of ravens and doves after death.
+Michael Scott, the great magician, when on his deathbed told his
+friends to place his body on a hillock. "Three ravens and three doves
+would be seen flying towards it. If the ravens were first the body was
+to be burned, but if the doves were first it was to receive Christian
+burial. The ravens were foremost, but in their hurry flew beyond their
+mark. So the devil, who had long been preparing a bed for Michael, was
+disappointed."[481]
+
+In Indian mythology Purusha, the chaos giant, first divided himself.
+"Hence were husband and wife produced." This couple then assumed
+various animal forms and thus "created every living pair whatsoever
+down to the ants".[482] Goddesses and fairies in the folk tales of
+many countries sometimes assume bird forms. The "Fates" appear to
+Damayanti in the Nala story as swans which carry love messages.[483]
+
+According to Aryo-Indian belief, birds were "blessed with fecundity".
+The Babylonian Etana eagle and the Egyptian vulture, as has been
+indicated, were deities of fertility. Throughout Europe birds, which
+were "Fates", mated, according to popular belief, on St. Valentine's
+Day in February, when lots were drawn for wives by rural folks.
+Another form of the old custom is referred to by the poet Gay:--
+
+    Last Valentine, the day when birds of kind
+    Their paramours with mutual chirpings find,
+    I early rose....
+    Thee first I spied, and the first swain we see,
+    In spite of fortune, shall our true love be.
+
+The dove appears to have been a sacred bird in various areas occupied
+by tribes of the Mediterranean race. Models of a shrine found in two
+royal graves at Mycenae are surmounted by a pair of doves, suggesting
+twin goddesses like Isis and Nepthys of Egypt and Ishtar and
+Belitsheri of Babylonia. Doves and snakes were associated with the
+mother goddess of Crete, "typifying", according to one view, "her
+connection with air and earth. Although her character was distinctly
+beneficent and pacific, yet as Lady of the Wild Creatures she had a
+more fearful aspect, one that was often depicted on carved gems, where
+lions are her companions."[484] Discussing the attributes and symbols
+of this mother goddess, Professor Burrows says: "As the serpent,
+coming from the crevices of the earth, shows the possession of the
+tree or pillar from the underworld, so the dove, with which this
+goddess is also associated, shows its possession from the world of the
+sky".[485] Professor Robertson Smith has demonstrated that the dove
+was of great sanctity among the Semites.[486] It figures in Hittite
+sculptures and was probably connected with the goddess cult in Asia
+Minor. Although Egypt had no dove goddess, the bird was addressed by
+lovers--
+
+    I hear thy voice, O turtle dove--
+      The dawn is all aglow--
+    Weary am I with love, with love,
+      Oh, whither shall I go?[487]
+
+Pigeons, as indicated, are in Egypt still regarded as sacred birds,
+and a few years ago British soldiers created a riot by shooting them.
+Doves were connected with the ancient Greek oracle at Dodona. In many
+countries the dove is closely associated with love, and also
+symbolizes innocence, gentleness, and holiness.
+
+The pigeon was anciently, it would appear, a sacred bird in these
+islands, and Brand has recorded curious folk beliefs connected with
+it. In some districts the idea prevailed that no person could die on a
+bed which contained pigeon feathers: "If anybody be sick and lye a
+dying, if they lye upon pigeon feathers they will be languishing and
+never die, but be in pain and torment," wrote a correspondent. A
+similar superstition about the feathers of different varieties of wild
+fowl[488] obtained in other districts. Brand traced this interesting
+traditional belief in Yorkshire, Lancashire, Derbyshire, and some of
+the Welsh and Irish counties.[489] It still lingers in parts of the
+Scottish Highlands. In the old ballad of "The Bloody Gardener" the
+white dove appears to a young man as the soul of his lady love who was
+murdered by his mother. He first saw the bird perched on his breast
+and then "sitting on a myrtle tree".[490]
+
+The dove was not only a symbol of Semiramis, but also of her mother
+Derceto, the Phoenician fish goddess. The connection between bird and
+fish may have been given an astral significance. In "Poor Robin's
+Almanack" for 1757 a St. Valentine rhyme begins:--
+
+    This month bright Phoebus enters Pisces,
+    The maids will have good store of kisses,
+    For always when the sun comes there,
+    Valentine's day is drawing near,
+    And both the men and maids incline
+    To choose them each a Valentine.
+
+As we have seen, the example was set by the mating birds. The
+"Almanack" poet no doubt versified an old astrological belief: when
+the spring sun entered the sign of the Fishes, the love goddess in
+bird form returned to earth.
+
+Advocates of the Totemic theory, on the other hand, may hold that the
+association of doves with snake goddesses and fish goddesses of
+fertility was due to the fusion of tribes who had various animal
+totems. "The Pelew Islanders believed", says Professor Frazer, "that
+the souls of their forefathers lived in certain species of animals,
+which accordingly they held sacred and would not injure. For this
+reason one man would not kill snakes, another would not harm pigeons,
+and so on; but everyone was quite ready to kill and eat the sacred
+animals of his neighbours."[491] That the Egyptians had similar
+customs is suggested by what Herodotus tells us regarding their sacred
+animals: "Those who live near Thebes and the lake Moeris hold the
+crocodile in religious veneration.... Those who live in or near
+Elephantine, so far from considering these beasts as sacred, make them
+an article of food.... The hippopotamus is esteemed sacred in the
+district of Papremis, but in no other part of Egypt.... They roast and
+boil ... birds and fishes ... excepting those which are preserved for
+sacred purposes."[492] Totemic animals controlled the destinies of
+tribes and families. "Grose tells us", says Brand, "that, besides
+general notices of death, many families have particular warnings or
+notices: some by the appearance of a bird, and others by the figure of
+a tall woman, dressed all in white.... Pennant says that many of the
+great families in Scotland had their demon or genius, who gave them
+monitions of future events."[493] Members of tribes which venerated
+the pigeon therefore invoked it like the Egyptian love poet and drew
+omens from its notes, or saw one appearing as the soul of the dead
+like the lover in the ballad of "The Bloody Gardener". They refrained
+also from killing the pigeon except sacrificially, and suffered
+agonies on a deathbed which contained pigeon feathers, the "taboo"
+having been broken.
+
+Some such explanation is necessary to account for the specialization
+of certain goddesses as fish, snake, cat, or bird deities. Aphrodite,
+who like Ishtar absorbed the attributes of several goddesses of
+fertility and fate, had attached to her the various animal symbols
+which were prominent in districts or among tribes brought into close
+contact, while the poppy, rose, myrtle, &c., which were used as love
+charms, or for making love potions, were also consecrated to her.
+Anthropomorphic deities were decorated with the symbols and flowers of
+folk religion.
+
+From the comparative evidence accumulated here, it will be seen that
+the theory of the mythical Semiramis's Median or Persian origin is
+somewhat narrow. It is possible that the dove was venerated in Cyprus,
+as it certainly was in Crete, long centuries before Assyrian and
+Babylonian influence filtered westward through Phoenician and Hittite
+channels. In another connection Sir Arthur Evans shows that the
+resemblance between Cretan and early Semitic beliefs "points rather to
+some remote common element, the nature of which is at present obscure,
+than to any definite borrowing by one side or another".[494]
+
+From the evidence afforded by the Semiramis legends and the
+inscriptions of the latter half of the Assyrian Middle Empire period,
+it may be inferred that a renascence of "mother worship" was favoured
+by the social and political changes which were taking place. In the
+first place the influence of Babylon must have been strongly felt in
+this connection. The fact that Adadnirari found it necessary to win
+the support of the Babylonians by proclaiming his descent from one of
+their ancient royal families, suggests that he was not only concerned
+about the attitude assumed by the scholars of the southern kingdom,
+but also that of the masses of old Sumerian and Akkadian stocks who
+continued to bake cakes to the Queen of Heaven so as to ensure good
+harvests. In the second place it is not improbable that even in
+Assyria the introduction of Nebo and his spouse made widespread
+appeal. That country had become largely peopled by an alien
+population; many of these aliens came from districts where "mother
+worship" prevailed, and had no traditional respect for Ashur, while
+they regarded with hostility the military aristocracy who conquered
+and ruled in the name of that dreaded deity. Perhaps, too, the
+influence of the Aramaeans, who in Babylonia wrecked the temples of
+the sun god, tended to revive the ancient religion of the
+Mediterranean race. Jehu's religious revolt in Israel, which
+established once again the cult of Ashtoreth, occurred after he came
+under the sway of Damascus, and may have not been unconnected with the
+political ascendancy elsewhere of the goddess cult.
+
+Nebo, whom Adad-nirari exalted at Kalkhi, was more than a local god of
+Borsippa. "The most satisfactory view", says Jastrow, "is to regard
+him as a counterpart of Ea. Like Ea, he is the embodiment and source
+of wisdom.... The study of the heavens formed part of the wisdom which
+is traced back to Nebo, and the temple school at Borsippa became one
+of the chief centres for the astrological, and, subsequently, for the
+astronomical lore of Babylonia.... Like Nebo, Ea is also associated
+with the irrigation of the fields and with their consequent fertility.
+A hymn praises him as the one who fills the canals and the dikes, who
+protects the fields and brings the crops to maturity." Nebo links with
+Merodach (Marduk), who is sometimes referred to as his father. Jastrow
+assumes that the close partnership between Nebo and Merodach "had as a
+consequence a transfer of some of the father Marduk's attributes as a
+solar deity to Nebo,[495] his son, just as Ea passed his traits on to
+his son, Marduk".[496]
+
+As the "recorder" or "scribe" among the gods, Nebo resembles the
+Egyptian god Thoth, who links with Khonsu, the lunar and spring sun
+god of love and fertility, and with Osiris. In Borsippa he had, like
+Merodach in Babylon, pronounced Tammuz traits. Nebo, in fact, appears
+to be the Tammuz of the new age, the son of the ancient goddess, who
+became "Husband of his Mother". If Nebo had no connection with Great
+Mother worship, it is unlikely that his statue would have borne an
+inscription referring to King Adad-nirari and Queen Sammu-rammat on
+equal terms. The Assyrian spouse of Nebo was called Tashmit. This
+"goddess of supplication and love" had a lunar significance. A prayer
+addressed to her in association with Nannar (Sin) and Ishtar,
+proceeds:
+
+    In the evil of the eclipse of the moon which ... has taken place,
+    In the evil of the powers, of the portents, evil and not good,
+        which are in my palace and my land,
+    (I) have turned towards thee!...
+    Before Nabu (Nebo) thy spouse, thy lord, the prince, the
+        first-born of E-sagila, intercede for me!
+    May he hearken to my cry at the word of thy mouth; may he remove
+        my sighing, may he learn my supplication!
+
+Damkina is similarly addressed in another prayer:
+
+    O Damkina, mighty queen of all the gods,
+    O wife of Ea, valiant art thou,
+    O Ir-nina, mighty queen of all the gods ...
+    Thou that dwellest in the Abyss, O lady of heaven and earth!...
+    In the evil of the eclipse of the moon, etc.
+
+Bau is also prayed in a similar connection as "mighty lady that
+dwellest in the bright heavens", i.e. "Queen of heaven".[497]
+
+Tashmit, whose name signifies "Obedience", according to Jastrow, or
+"Hearing", according to Sayce, carried the prayers of worshippers to
+Nebo, her spouse. As Isis interceded with Osiris, she interceded with
+Nebo, on behalf of mankind. But this did not signify that she was the
+least influential of the divine pair. A goddess played many parts: she
+was at once mother, daughter, and wife of the god; the servant of one
+god or the "mighty queen of all the gods". The Great Mother was, as
+has been indicated, regarded as the eternal and undecaying one; the
+gods passed away, son succeeding father; she alone remained. Thus,
+too, did Semiramis survive in the popular memory, as the queen-goddess
+of widespread legends, after kings and gods had been forgotten. To her
+was ascribed all the mighty works of other days in the lands where the
+indigenous peoples first worshipped the Great Mother as Damkina, Nina,
+Bau, Ishtar, or Tashmit, because the goddess was anciently believed to
+be the First Cause, the creatrix, the mighty one who invested the
+ruling god with the powers he possessed--the god who held sway because
+he was her husband, as did Nergal as the husband of Eresh-ki-gal,
+queen of Hades.
+
+The multiplication of well-defined goddesses was partly due to the
+tendency to symbolize the attributes of the Great Mother, and partly
+due to the development of the great "Lady" in a particular district
+where she reflected local phenomena and where the political influence
+achieved by her worshippers emphasized her greatness. Legends
+regarding a famous goddess were in time attached to other goddesses,
+and in Aphrodite and Derceto we appear to have mother deities who
+absorbed the traditions of more than one local "lady" of river and
+plain, forest and mountain. Semiramis, on the other hand, survived as
+a link between the old world and the new, between the country from
+which emanated the stream of ancient culture and the regions which
+received it. As the high priestess of the cult, she became identified
+with the goddess whose bird name she bore, as Gilgamesh and Etana
+became identified with the primitive culture-hero or patriarch of the
+ancient Sumerians, and Sargon became identified with Tammuz. No doubt
+the fame of Semiramis was specially emphasized because of her close
+association, as Queen Sammu-rammat, with the religious innovations
+which disturbed the land of the god Ashur during the Middle Empire
+period.
+
+Adad-nirari IV, the son or husband of Sammu-rammat, was a vigorous and
+successful campaigner. He was the Assyrian king who became the
+"saviour" of Israel. Although it is not possible to give a detailed
+account of his various expeditions, we find from the list of these
+which survives in the Eponym Chronicle that he included in the
+Assyrian Empire a larger extent of territory than any of his
+predecessors. In the north-east he overcame the Median and other
+tribes, and acquired a large portion of the Iranian plateau; he
+compelled Edom to pay tribute, and established his hold in Babylonia
+by restricting the power of the Chaldaeans in Sealand. In the north he
+swayed--at least, so he claimed--the wide domains of the Nairi people.
+He also confirmed his supremacy over the Hittites.
+
+The Aramaean state of Damascus, which had withstood the attack of the
+great Shalmaneser and afterwards oppressed, as we have seen, the
+kingdoms of Israel and Judah, was completely overpowered by
+Adad-nirari. The old king, Hazael, died when Assyria's power was being
+strengthened and increased along his frontiers. He was succeeded by
+his son Mari, who is believed to be identical with the Biblical
+Ben-Hadad III.[498]
+
+Shortly after this new monarch came to the throne, Adad-nirari IV led
+a great army against him. The Syrian ruler appears to have been taken
+by surprise; probably his kingdom was suffering from the three defeats
+which had been previously administered by the revolting
+Israelites.[499] At any rate Mari was unable to gather together an
+army of allies to resist the Assyrian advance, and took refuge behind
+the walls of Damascus. This strongly fortified city was closely
+invested, and Mari had at length to submit and acknowledge Adad-nirari
+as his overlord. The price of peace included 23,000 talents of silver,
+20 of gold, 3000 of copper, and 5000 of iron, as well as ivory
+ornaments and furniture, embroidered materials, and other goods "to a
+countless amount". Thus "the Lord gave Israel a saviour, so that they
+went out from under the hand of the Syrians: and the children of
+Israel dwelt in their tents, as beforetime". This significant
+reference to the conquest of Damascus by the Assyrian king is followed
+by another which throws light on the religious phenomena of the
+period: "Nevertheless they departed not from the sins of the house of
+Jeroboam, who made Israel sin, but walked therein: and there remained
+the grove also in Samaria".[500] Ashtoreth and her golden calf
+continued to be venerated, and doves were sacrificed to the local
+Adonis.
+
+It is not certain whether Adad-nirari penetrated farther than
+Damascus. Possibly all the states which owed allegiance to the king of
+that city became at once the willing vassals of Assyria, their
+protector. The tribute received by Adad-nirari from Tyre, Sidon, the
+land of Omri (Israel), Edom, and Palastu (Philistia) may have been
+gifted as a formal acknowledgment of his suzerainty and with purpose
+to bring them directly under Assyrian control, so that Damascus might
+be prevented from taking vengeance against them.
+
+Meagre details survive regarding the reign of the next king,
+Shalmaneser IV (781-772 B.C). These are, however, supplemented by the
+Urartian inscriptions. Although Adad-nirari boasted that he had
+subdued the kingdom of Urartu in the north, he appears to have done no
+more than limit its southern expansion for a time.
+
+The Urarti were, like the Mitanni, a military aristocracy[501] who
+welded together by conquest the tribes of the eastern and northern
+Highlands which several Assyrian monarchs included in their Empire.
+They acquired the elements of Assyrian culture, and used the Assyrian
+script for their own language. Their god was named Khaldis, and they
+called their nation Khaldia. During the reign of Ashur-natsir-pal
+their area of control was confined to the banks of the river Araxes,
+but it was gradually extended under a succession of vigorous kings
+towards the south-west until they became supreme round the shores of
+Lake Van. Three of their early kings were Lutipris, Sharduris I, and
+Arame.
+
+During the reign of Shamshi-Adad the Assyrians came into conflict with
+the Urarti, who were governed at the time by "Ushpina of Nairi"
+(Ishpuinis, son of Sharduris II). The Urartian kingdom had extended
+rapidly and bordered on Assyrian territory. To the west were the
+tribes known as the Mannai, the northern enemies of the Medes, a
+people of Indo-European speech.
+
+When Adad-nirari IV waged war against the Urarti, their king was
+Menuas, the son of Ishpuinis. Menuas was a great war-lord, and was
+able to measure his strength against Assyria on equal terms. He had
+nearly doubled by conquest the area controlled by his predecessors.
+Adad-nirari endeavoured to drive his rival northward, but all along
+the Assyrian frontier from the Euphrates to the Lower Zab, Menuas
+forced the outposts of Adad-nirari to retreat southward. The
+Assyrians, in short, were unable to hold their own.
+
+Having extended his kingdom towards the south, Menuas invaded Hittite
+territory, subdued Malatia and compelled its king to pay tribute. He
+also conquered the Mannai and other tribes. Towards the north and
+north-west he added a considerable area to his kingdom, which became
+as large as Assyria.
+
+Menuas's capital was the city of Turushpa or Dhuspas (Van), which was
+called Khaldinas[502] after the national god. For a century it was the
+seat of Urartian administration. The buildings erected there by Menuas
+and his successors became associated in after-time with the traditions
+of Semiramis, who, as Queen Sammu-rammat of Assyria, was a
+contemporary of the great Urartian conqueror. Similarly a sculptured
+representation of the Hittite god was referred to by Herodotus as a
+memorial of the Egyptian king Sesostris.
+
+The strongest fortification at Dhuspas was the citadel, which was
+erected on a rocky promontory jutting into Lake Van. A small garrison
+could there resist a prolonged siege. The water supply of the city was
+assured by the construction of subterranean aqueducts. Menuas erected
+a magnificent palace, which rivalled that of the Assyrian monarch at
+Kalkhi, and furnished it with the rich booty brought back from
+victorious campaigns. He was a lover of trees and planted many, and he
+laid out gardens which bloomed with brilliant Asian flowers. The
+palace commanded a noble prospect of hill and valley scenery on the
+south-western shore of beautiful Lake Van.
+
+Menuas was succeeded by his son Argistis, who ascended the throne
+during the lifetime of Adad-nirari of Assyria. During the early part
+of his reign he conducted military expeditions to the north beyond the
+river Araxes. He afterwards came into conflict with Assyria, and
+acquired more territory on its northern frontier. He also subdued the
+Mannai, who had risen in revolt.
+
+For three years (781-778 B.C.) the general of Shalmaneser IV waged war
+constantly with Urartu, and again in 776 B.C. and 774 B.C. attempts
+were made to prevent the southern expansion of that Power. On more
+than one occasion the Assyrians were defeated and compelled to
+retreat.
+
+Assyria suffered serious loss of prestige on account of its inability
+to hold in check its northern rival. Damascus rose in revolt and had
+to be subdued, and northern Syria was greatly disturbed. Hadrach was
+visited in the last year of the king's reign.
+
+Ashur-dan III (771-763 B.C.) occupied the Assyrian throne during a
+period of great unrest. He was unable to attack Urartu. His army had
+to operate instead on his eastern and southern frontiers. A great
+plague broke out in 765 B.C., the year in which Hadrach had again to
+be dealt with. On June 15, 763 B.C., there was a total eclipse of the
+sun, and that dread event was followed by a revolt at Asshur which was
+no doubt of priestly origin. The king's son Adad-nirari was involved
+in it, but it is not certain whether or not he displaced his father
+for a time. In 758 B.C. Ashur-dan again showed signs of activity by
+endeavouring to suppress the revolts which during the period of civil
+war had broken out in Syria.
+
+Adad-nirari V came to the throne in 763 B.C. He had to deal with
+revolts in Asshur in other cities. Indeed for the greater part of his
+reign he seems to have been kept fully engaged endeavouring to
+establish his authority within the Assyrian borders. The Syrian
+provinces regained their independence.
+
+During the first four years of his successor Ashurnirari IV (753-746
+B.C.) the army never left Assyria. Namri was visited in 749-748 B.C.,
+but it is not certain whether he fought against the Urartians, or the
+Aramaeans who had become active during this period of Assyrian
+decline. In 746 B.C. a revolt broke out in the city of Kalkhi and the
+king had to leave it. Soon afterwards he died--perhaps he was
+assassinated--and none of his sons came to the throne. A year
+previously Nabu-natsir, known to the Greeks as Nabonassar, was crowned
+king of Babylonia.
+
+Ashur-nirari IV appears to have been a monarch of somewhat like
+character to the famous Akhenaton of Egypt--an idealist for whom war
+had no attractions. He kept his army at home while his foreign
+possessions rose in revolt one after another. Apparently he had dreams
+of guarding Assyria against attack by means of treaties of peace. He
+arranged one with a Mesopotamian king, Mati-ilu of Agusi, who pledged
+himself not to go to war without the consent of his Assyrian overlord,
+and it is possible that there were other documents of like character
+which have not survived to us. During his leisure hours the king
+engaged himself in studious pursuits and made additions to the royal
+library. In the end his disappointed soldiers found a worthy leader in
+one of its generals who seized the throne and assumed the royal name
+of Tiglath-pileser.
+
+Ashur-nirari IV was the last king of the Middle Empire of Assyria. He
+may have been a man of high character and refinement and worthy of our
+esteem, although an unsuitable ruler for a predatory State.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+ASSYRIA'S AGE OF SPLENDOUR
+
+
+  Tiglath-pileser IV, the Biblical Pul--Babylonian Campaign--Urartian
+  Ambitions in North Syria--Battle of Two Kings and Flight of
+  Sharduris--Conquest of Syro-Cappadocian States--Hebrew History from
+  Jehu to Menahem--Israel subject to Assyria--Urartu's Power
+  broken--Ahaz's Appeal to Assyria--Damascus and Israel
+  subdued--Babylonia united to Assyria--Shalmaneser and Hoshea--Sargon
+  deports the "Lost Ten Tribes"--Merodach Baladan King of
+  Babylonia--Egyptian Army of Allies routed--Ahaz and Isaiah--Frontier
+  Campaigns--Merodach Baladan overthrown--Sennacherib and the Hittite
+  States--Merodach Baladan's second and brief Reign--Hezekiah and
+  Sennacherib--Destruction of Assyrian Army--Sack of Babylon--
+  Esarhaddon--A Second Semiramis--Raids of Elamites, Cimmerians,
+  Scythians, and Medes--Sack of Sidon--Manasseh and Isaiah's
+  Fate--Esarhaddon conquers Lower Egypt--Revolt of Assyrian
+  Nobles--Ashurbanipal.
+
+
+We now enter upon the last and most brilliant phase of Assyrian
+civilization--the period of the Third or New Empire during which
+flourished Tiglath-pileser IV, the mighty conqueror; the Shalmaneser
+of the Bible; "Sargon the Later", who transported the "lost ten
+tribes" of Israel; Sennacherib, the destroyer of Babylon, and
+Esarhaddon, who made Lower Egypt an Assyrian province. We also meet
+with notable figures of Biblical fame, including Ahaz, Hezekiah,
+Isaiah, and the idolatrous Manasseh.
+
+Tiglath-pileser IV, who deposed Ashur-nirari IV, was known to the
+Babylonians as Pulu, which, some think, was a term of contempt
+signifying "wild animal". In the Bible he is referred to as Pul,
+Tiglath-pilneser, and Tiglath-pileser.[503] He came to the Assyrian
+throne towards the end of April in 745 B.C. and reigned until 727 B.C.
+We know nothing regarding his origin, but it seems clear that he was
+not of royal descent. He appears to have been a popular leader of the
+revolt against Ashur-nirari, who, like certain of his predecessors,
+had pronounced pro-Babylonian tendencies. It is significant to note in
+this connection that the new king was an unswerving adherent of the
+cult of Ashur, by the adherents of which he was probably strongly
+supported.
+
+Tiglath-pileser combined in equal measure those qualities of
+generalship and statesmanship which were necessary for the
+reorganization of the Assyrian state and the revival of its military
+prestige. At the beginning of his reign there was much social
+discontent and suffering. The national exchequer had been exhausted by
+the loss of tribute from revolting provinces, trade was paralysed, and
+the industries were in a languishing condition. Plundering bands of
+Aramaeans were menacing the western frontiers and had overrun part of
+northern Babylonia. New political confederacies in Syria kept the
+north-west regions in a constant state of unrest, and the now powerful
+Urartian kingdom was threatening the Syro-Cappadocian states as if its
+rulers had dreams of building up a great world empire on the ruins of
+that of Assyria.
+
+Tiglath-pileser first paid attention to Babylonia, and extinguished
+the resistance of the Aramaeans in Akkad. He appears to have been
+welcomed by Nabonassar, who became his vassal, and he offered
+sacrifices in the cities of Babylon, Sippar, Cuthah, and Nippur.
+Sippar had been occupied by Aramaeans, as on a previous occasion when
+they destroyed the temple of the sun god Shamash which was restored by
+Nabu-aplu-iddina of Babylon.
+
+Tiglath-pileser did not overrun Chaldaea, but he destroyed its
+capital, Sarrabanu, and impaled King Nabu-ushabshi. He proclaimed
+himself "King of Sumer and Akkad" and "King of the Four Quarters". The
+frontier states of Elam and Media were visited and subdued.
+
+Having disposed of the Aramaeans and other raiders, the Assyrian
+monarch had next to deal with his most powerful rival, Urartu.
+Argistis I had been succeeded by Sharduris III, who had formed an
+alliance with the north Mesopotamian king, Mati-ilu of Agusi, on whom
+Ashur-nirari had reposed his faith. Ere long Sharduris pressed
+southward from Malatia and compelled the north Syrian Hittite states,
+including Carchemish, to acknowledge his suzerainty. A struggle then
+ensued between Urartu and Assyria for the possession of the
+Syro-Cappadocian states.
+
+At this time the reputation of Tiglath-pileser hung in the balance. If
+he failed in his attack on Urartu, his prestige would vanish at home
+and abroad and Sharduris might, after establishing himself in northern
+Syria, invade Assyria and compel its allegiance.
+
+Two courses lay before Tiglath-pileser. He could either cross the
+mountains and invade Urartu, or strike at his rival in north Syria,
+where the influence of Assyria had been completely extinguished. The
+latter appeared to him to be the most feasible and judicious
+procedure, for if he succeeded in expelling the invaders he would at
+the same time compel the allegiance of the rebellious Hittite states.
+
+In the spring of 743 B.C. Tiglath-pileser led his army across the
+Euphrates and reached Arpad without meeting with any resistance. The
+city appears to have opened its gates to him although it was in the
+kingdom of Mati-ilu, who acknowledged Urartian sway. Its foreign
+garrison was slaughtered. Well might Sharduris exclaim, in the words
+of the prophet, "Where is the king of Arpad? where are the gods of
+Arpad?"[504]
+
+Leaving Arpad, Tiglath-pileser advanced to meet Sharduris, who was
+apparently hastening southward to attack the Assyrians in the rear.
+Tiglath-pileser, however, crossed the Euphrates and, moving northward,
+delivered an unexpected attack on the Urartian army in Qummukh. A
+fierce battle ensued, and one of its dramatic incidents was a single
+combat between the rival kings. The tide of battle flowed in Assyria's
+favour, and when evening was falling the chariots and cavalry of
+Urartu were thrown into confusion. An attempt was made to capture King
+Sharduris, who leapt from his chariot and made hasty escape on
+horseback, hotly pursued in the gathering darkness by an Assyrian
+contingent of cavalry. Not until "the bridge of the Euphrates" was
+reached was the exciting night chase abandoned.
+
+Tiglath-pileser had achieved an overwhelming victory against an army
+superior to his own in numbers. Over 70,000 of the enemy were slain or
+taken captive, while the Urartian camp with its stores and horses and
+followers fell into the hands of the triumphant Assyrians.
+Tiglath-pileser burned the royal tent and throne as an offering to
+Ashur, and carried Sharduris's bed to the temple of the goddess of
+Nineveh, whither he returned to prepare a new plan of campaign against
+his northern rival.
+
+Despite the blow dealt against Urartu, Assyria did not immediately
+regain possession of north Syria. The shifty Mati-ilu either cherished
+the hope that Sharduris would recover strength and again invade north
+Syria, or that he might himself establish an empire in that region.
+Tiglath-pileser had therefore to march westward again. For three years
+he conducted vigorous campaigns in "the western land", where he met
+with vigorous resistance. In 740 B.C. Arpad was captured and Mati-ilu
+deposed and probably put to death. Two years later Kullani and Hamath
+fell, and the districts which they controlled were included in the
+Assyrian empire and governed by Crown officials.
+
+Once again the Hebrews came into contact with Assyria. The Dynasty of
+Jehu had come to an end by this time. Its fall may not have been
+unconnected with the trend of events in Assyria during the closing
+years of the Middle Empire.
+
+Supported by Assyria, the kings of Israel had become powerful and
+haughty. Jehoash, the grandson of Jehu, had achieved successes in
+conflict with Damascus. In Judah the unstable Amaziah, son of Joash,
+was strong enough to lay a heavy hand on Edom, and flushed with
+triumph then resolved to readjust his relations with his overlord, the
+king of Israel. Accordingly he sent a communication to Jehoash which
+contained some proposal regarding their political relations,
+concluding with the offer or challenge, "Come, let us look one another
+in the face". A contemptuous answer was returned.
+
+    Jehoash the king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying,
+    The thistle that was in Lebanon sent to the cedar that was in
+    Lebanon, saying, Give thy daughter to my son to wife: and there
+    passed by a wild beast that was in Lebanon, and trode down the
+    thistle. Thou hast indeed smitten Edom, and thine heart hath
+    lifted thee up: glory of this, and tarry at home, for why
+    shouldest thou meddle to thy hurt, that thou shouldest fall, even
+    thou, and Judah with thee? But Amaziah would not hear. Therefore
+    Jehoash king of Israel went up; and he and Amaziah king of Judah
+    looked one another in the face at Beth-shemesh [city of Shamash,
+    the sun god], which belongeth to Judah. And Judah was put to the
+    worse before Israel; and they fled every man to their tents.
+
+Jehoash afterwards destroyed a large portion of the wall of Jerusalem
+and plundered the temple and palace, returning home to Samaria with
+rich booty and hostages.[505] Judah thus remained a vassal state of
+Israel's.
+
+Jeroboam, son of Jehoash, had a long and prosperous reign. About 773
+B.C. he appears to have co-operated with Assyria and conquered
+Damascus and Hamath. His son Zachariah, the last king of the Jehu
+Dynasty of Israel, came to the throne in 740 B.C. towards the close of
+the reign of Azariah, son of Amaziah, king of Judah. Six months
+afterwards he was assassinated by Shallum. This usurper held sway at
+Samaria for only a month. "For Menahem the son of Gadi went up from
+Tirzah, and came to Samaria, and smote Shallum the son of Jabesh in
+Samaria, and slew him, and reigned in his stead."[506]
+
+Tiglath-pileser was operating successfully in middle Syria when he had
+dealings with, among others, "Menihimme (Menahem) of the city of the
+Samarians", who paid tribute. No resistance was possible on the part
+of Menahem, the usurper, who was probably ready to welcome the
+Assyrian conqueror, so that, by arranging an alliance, he might secure
+his own position. The Biblical reference is as follows: "And Pul the
+king of Assyria came against the land: and Menahem gave Pul a thousand
+talents of silver, that his hand might be with him to confirm the
+kingdom in his hand. And Menahem exacted the money of Israel, even of
+all the mighty men of wealth, of each man fifty shekels of silver, to
+give to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria turned back, and
+stayed not there in the land."[507] Rezin of Damascus, Hiram of Tyre,
+and Zabibi, queen of the Arabians, also sent gifts to Tiglath-pileser
+at this time (738 B.C.). Aramaean revolts on the borders of Elam were
+suppressed by Assyrian governors, and large numbers of the inhabitants
+were transported to various places in Syria.
+
+Tiglath-pileser next operated against the Median and other hill tribes
+in the north-east. In 735 B.C. he invaded Urartu, the great Armenian
+state which had threatened the supremacy of Assyria in north Syria and
+Cappadocia. King Sharduris was unable to protect his frontier or
+hamper the progress of the advancing army, which penetrated to his
+capital. Dhuspas was soon captured, but Sharduris took refuge in his
+rocky citadel which he and his predecessors had laboured to render
+impregnable. There he was able to defy the might of Assyria, for the
+fortress could be approached on the western side alone by a narrow
+path between high walls and towers, so that only a small force could
+find room to operate against the numerous garrison.
+
+Tiglath-pileser had to content himself by devastating the city on the
+plain and the neighbouring villages. He overthrew buildings, destroyed
+orchards, and transported to Nineveh those of the inhabitants he had
+not put to the sword, with all the live stock he could lay hands on.
+Thus was Urartu crippled and humiliated: it never regained its former
+prestige among the northern states.
+
+In the following year Tiglath-pileser returned to Syria. The
+circumstances which made this expedition necessary are of special
+interest on account of its Biblical associations. Menahem, king of
+Israel, had died, and was succeeded by his son Pekahiah. "But Pekah
+the son of Remaliah, a captain of his, conspired against him and smote
+him in Samaria, in the palace of the king's house, ... and he killed
+him, and reigned in his room."[508] When Pekah was on the throne, Ahaz
+began to reign over Judah.
+
+Judah had taken advantage of the disturbed conditions in Israel to
+assert its independence. The walls of Jerusalem were repaired by
+Jotham, father of Ahaz, and a tunnel constructed to supply it with
+water. Isaiah refers to this tunnel: "Go forth and meet Ahaz ... at
+the end of the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the
+fuller's field" (_Isaiah_, vii, 3).
+
+Pekah had to deal with a powerful party in Israel which favoured the
+re-establishment of David's kingdom in Palestine. Their most prominent
+leader was the prophet Amos, whose eloquent exhortations were couched
+in no uncertain terms. He condemned Israel for its idolatries, and
+cried:
+
+    For thus saith the Lord unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me and
+    ye shall live.... Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and offerings
+    in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel? But ye have
+    borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the
+    star of your god, which ye made to yourselves.[509]
+
+Pekah sought to extinguish the orthodox party's movement by subduing
+Judah. So he plotted with Rezin, king of Damascus. Amos prophesied,
+
+    Thus saith the Lord.... I will send a fire into the house of
+    Hazael, which will devour the palaces of Ben-hadad. I will break
+    also the bar of Damascus ... and the people of Syria shall go into
+    captivity unto Kir.... The remnant of the Philistines shall
+    perish.
+
+Tyre, Edom, and Ammon would also be punished.[510] Judah was
+completely isolated by the allies who acknowledged the suzerainty of
+Damascus. Soon after Ahaz came to the throne he found himself hemmed
+in on every side by adversaries who desired to accomplish his fall.
+"At that time Rezin, king of Syria, and Pekah ...came up to Jerusalem
+to war: and they besieged Ahaz, but could not overcome him."[511]
+Judah, however, was overrun; the city of Elath was captured and
+restored to Edom, while the Philistines were liberated from the
+control of Jerusalem.
+
+Isaiah visited Ahaz and said,
+
+    Take heed, and be quiet; fear not, neither be faint-hearted for
+    the two tails of these smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of
+    Rezin with Syria, and of the son of Remaliah. Because Syria,
+    Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah, have taken evil counsel against
+    thee, saying, Let us go up against Judah, and vex it, and let us
+    make a breach therein for us, and set a king in the midst of it,
+    even the son of Tabeal: Thus saith the Lord God, It shall not
+    stand, neither shall it come to pass.[512]
+
+The unstable Ahaz had sought assistance from the Baal, and "made his
+son to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the
+heathen".[513] Then he resolved to purchase the sympathy of one of the
+great Powers. There was no hope of assistance from "the fly that is in
+the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt", for the Ethiopian Pharaohs
+had not yet conquered the Delta region, so he turned to "the bee that
+is in the land of Assyria".[514] Assyria was the last resource of the
+king of Judah.
+
+    So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria,
+    saying, I am thy servant and thy son: come up and save me out of
+    the hand of Syria and out of the hand of the king of Israel, which
+    rise up against me. And Ahaz took the silver and gold that was
+    found in the house of the Lord, and in the treasures of the king's
+    house, and sent it for a present to the king of Assyria. And the
+    king of Assyria hearkened unto him: for the king of Assyria went
+    up against Damascus, and took it, and carried the people of it
+    captive to Kir[515] and slew Rezin.[516]
+
+Tiglath-pileser recorded that Rezin took refuge in his city like "a
+mouse". Israel was also dealt with.
+
+    In the days of Pekah king of Israel came Tiglath-pileser king of
+    Assyria, and took Ijon and Abel-beth-maachah, and Janoah and
+    Kedesh, and Hazor, and Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of
+    Naphtali, and carried them captive to Assyria. And Hoshea the son
+    of Elah made a conspiracy against Pekah the son of Remaliah, and
+    smote him, and slew him, and reigned in his stead.[517]
+
+Tiglath-pileser recorded: "They overthrew Paqaha (Pekah), their king,
+and placed Ausi'a (Hoshea) over them". He swept through Israel "like a
+hurricane". The Philistines and the Arabians of the desert were also
+subdued. Tribute was sent to the Assyrian monarch by Phoenicia, Moab,
+Ammon, and Edom. It was a proud day for Ahaz when he paid a visit to
+Tiglath-pileser at Damascus.[518] An Assyrian governor was appointed
+to rule over Syria and its subject states.
+
+Babylon next claimed the attention of Tiglath-pileser. Nabonassar had
+died and was succeeded by his son Nabu-nadin-zeri, who, after reigning
+for two years, was slain in a rebellion. The throne was then seized by
+Nabu-shum-ukin, but in less than two months this usurper was
+assassinated and the Chaldaeans had one of their chiefs, Ukinzer,
+proclaimed king (732 B.C.).
+
+When the Assyrian king returned from Syria in 731 B.C. he invaded
+Babylonia. He was met with a stubborn resistance. Ukinzer took refuge
+in his capital, Shapia, which held out successfully, although the
+surrounding country was ravaged and despoiled. Two years afterwards
+Tiglath-pileser returned, captured Shapia, and restored peace
+throughout Babylonia. He was welcomed in Babylon, which opened its
+gates to him, and he had himself proclaimed king of Sumer and Akkad.
+The Chaldaeans paid tribute.
+
+Tiglath-pileser had now reached the height of his ambition. He had not
+only extended his empire in the west from Cappadocia to the river of
+Egypt, crippled Urartu and pacified his eastern frontier, but brought
+Assyria into close union with Babylonia, the mother land, the home of
+culture and the land of the ancient gods. He did not live long,
+however, to enjoy his final triumph, for he died a little over twelve
+months after he "took the hands of Bel (Merodach)" at Babylon.
+
+He was succeeded by Shalmaneser V (727-722 B.C.), who may have been
+his son, but this is not quite certain. Little is known regarding his
+brief reign. In 725 B.C. he led an expedition to Syria and Phoenicia.
+Several of the vassal peoples had revolted when they heard of the
+death of Tiglath-pileser. These included the Phoenicians, the
+Philistines, and the Israelites who were intriguing with either Egypt
+or Mutsri.
+
+Apparently Hoshea, king of Israel, pretended when the Assyrians
+entered his country that he remained friendly. Shalmaneser, however,
+was well informed, and made Hoshea a prisoner. Samaria closed its
+gates against him although their king had been dispatched to Assyria.
+
+The Biblical account of the campaign is as follows: "Against him
+(Hoshea) came up Shalmaneser king of Assyria; and Hoshea became his
+servant, and gave him presents. And the king of Assyria found
+conspiracy in Hoshea: for he had sent messengers to So king of
+Egypt,[519] and brought no present to the king of Assyria, as he had
+done year by year; therefore the king of Assyria shut him up and bound
+him in prison.
+
+"Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, and went up
+to Samaria, and besieged it three years."[520]
+
+Shalmaneser died before Samaria was captured, and may have been
+assassinated. The next Assyrian monarch, Sargon II (722-705 B.C.), was
+not related to either of his two predecessors. He is referred to by
+Isaiah,[521] and is the Arkeanos of Ptolemy. He was the Assyrian
+monarch who deported the "Lost Ten Tribes".
+
+"In the ninth year of Hoshea" (and the first of Sargon) "the king of
+Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed
+them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of
+the Medes."[522] In all, according to Sargon's record, "27,290 people
+dwelling in the midst of it (Samaria) I carried off".
+
+    They (the Israelites) left all the commandments of the Lord their
+    God, and made them molten images, even two calves, and made a
+    grove, and worshipped all the host of heaven (the stars), and
+    served Baal. And they caused their sons and their daughters to
+    pass through the fire, and used divination and enchantments, and
+    sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke
+    him to anger. Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel, and
+    removed them out of his sight: there was none left but the tribe
+    of Judah only. And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon,
+    and from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from
+    Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of
+    the children of Israel: and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in
+    the cities thereof.... And the men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth,
+    and the men of Cuth (Cuthah) made Nergal, and the men of Hamath
+    made Ashima, and the Avites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the
+    Sepharites burnt their children in fire to Adram-melech and
+    Anam-melech, the gods of Sepharvaim.
+
+A number of the new settlers were slain by lions, and the king of
+Assyria ordered that a Samaritan priest should be sent to "teach them
+the manner of the God of the land". This man was evidently an orthodox
+Hebrew, for he taught them "how they should fear the Lord.... So they
+feared the Lord", but also "served their own gods ... their graven
+images".[523]
+
+There is no evidence to suggest that the "Ten Lost Tribes", "regarding
+whom so many nonsensical theories have been formed", were not
+ultimately absorbed by the peoples among whom they settled between
+Mesopotamia and the Median Highlands.[524] The various sections must
+have soon lost touch with one another. They were not united like the
+Jews (the people of Judah), who were transported to Babylonia a
+century and a half later, by a common religious bond, for although a
+few remained faithful to Abraham's God, the majority of the Israelites
+worshipped either the Baal or the Queen of Heaven.
+
+The Assyrian policy of transporting the rebellious inhabitants of one
+part of their empire to another was intended to break their national
+spirit and compel them to become good and faithful subjects amongst
+the aliens, who must have disliked them. "The colonists," says
+Professor Maspero, "exposed to the same hatred as the original
+Assyrian conquerors, soon forgot to look upon the latter as the
+oppressors of all, and, allowing their present grudge to efface the
+memory of past injuries, did not hesitate to make common cause with
+them. In time of peace the (Assyrian) governor did his best to protect
+them against molestation on the part of the natives, and in return for
+this they rallied round him whenever the latter threatened to get out
+of hand, and helped him to stifle the revolt, or hold it in check
+until the arrival of reinforcements. Thanks to their help, the empire
+was consolidated and maintained without too many violent outbreaks in
+regions far removed from the capital, and beyond the immediate reach
+of the sovereign."[525]
+
+While Sargon was absent in the west, a revolt broke out in Babylonia.
+A Chaldaean king, Merodach Baladan III, had allied himself with the
+Elamites, and occupied Babylon. A battle was fought at Dur-ilu and the
+Elamites retreated. Although Sargon swept triumphantly through the
+land, he had to leave his rival, the tyrannous Chaldaean, in
+possession of the capital, and he reigned there for over eleven years.
+
+Trouble was brewing in Syria. It was apparently fostered by an
+Egyptian king--probably Bocchoris of Sais, the sole Pharaoh so far as
+can be ascertained of the Twenty-fourth Dynasty, who had allied
+himself with the local dynasts of Lower Egypt and apparently sought to
+extend his sway into Asia, the Ethiopians being supreme in Upper
+Egypt. An alliance had been formed to cast off the yoke of Assyria.
+The city states involved Arpad, Simirra, Damascus, Samaria, and Gaza.
+Hanno of Gaza had fled to Egypt after Tiglath-pileser came to the
+relief of Judah and broke up the league of conspirators by capturing
+Damascus, and punishing Samaria, Gaza, and other cities. His return in
+Sargon's reign was evidently connected with the new rising in which he
+took part. The throne of Hamath had been seized by an adventurer,
+named Ilu-bi'di, a smith. The Philistines of Ashdod and the Arabians
+being strongly pro-Egyptian in tendency, were willing sympathizers and
+helpers against the hated Assyrians.
+
+Sargon appeared in the west with a strong army before the allies had
+matured their plans. He met the smith king of Hamath in battle at
+Qarqar, and, having defeated him, had him skinned alive. Then he
+marched southward. At Rapiki (Raphia) he routed an army of allies.
+Shabi (?So), the Tartan (commander-in-chief) of Pi'ru[526] (Pharaoh),
+King of Mutsri (an Arabian state confused, perhaps, with Misraim =
+Egypt), escaped "like to a shepherd whose sheep have been taken". Piru
+and other two southern kings, Samsi and Itamara, afterwards paid
+tribute to Sargon. Hanno of Gaza was transported to Asshur.
+
+In 715 B.C. Sargon, according to his records, appeared with his army
+in Arabia, and received gifts in token of homage from Piru of Mutsri,
+Samsi of Aribi, and Itamara of Saba.
+
+Four years later a revolt broke out in Ashdod which was, it would
+appear, directly due to the influence of Shabaka, the Ethiopian
+Pharaoh, who had deposed Bocchoris of Sais. Another league was about
+to be formed against Assyria. King Azuri of Ashdod had been deposed
+because of his Egyptian sympathies by the Assyrian governor, and his
+brother Akhimiti was placed on the throne. The citizens, however,
+overthrew Akhimiti, and an adventurer from Cyprus was proclaimed king
+(711 B.C).
+
+It would appear that advances were made by the anti-Assyrians to Ahaz
+of Judah. That monarch was placed in a difficult position. He knew
+that if the allies succeeded in stamping out Assyrian authority in
+Syria and Palestine they would certainly depose him, but if on the
+other hand he joined them and Assyria triumphed, its emperor would
+show him small mercy. As Babylon defied Sargon and received the active
+support of Elam, and there were rumours of risings in the north, it
+must have seemed to the western kings as if the Assyrian empire was
+likely once again to go to pieces.
+
+Fortunately for Ahaz he had a wise counsellor at this time in the
+great statesman and prophet, the scholarly Isaiah. The Lord spake by
+Isaiah saying, "Go and loose the sackcloth from off thy loins, and put
+off thy shoe from thy foot. And he did so, walking naked and barefoot.
+And the Lord said, Like as my servant Isaiah hath walked naked and
+barefoot three years for a sign and wonder upon Egypt and upon
+Ethiopia; so shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians
+prisoners.... And they (the allies) shall be afraid and ashamed of
+Ethiopia their expectation, and of Egypt their glory."[527]
+
+Isaiah warned Ahaz against joining the league, "in the year that
+Tartan[528] came unto Ashdod (when Sargon the king of Assyria sent
+him)". The Tartan "fought against Ashdod and took it".[529] According
+to Sargon's record the Pretender of Ashdod fled to Arabia, where he
+was seized by an Arabian chief and delivered up to Assyria. The
+pro-Egyptian party in Palestine went under a cloud for a period
+thereafter.
+
+Before Sargon could deal with Merodach Baladan of Babylon, he found it
+necessary to pursue the arduous task of breaking up a powerful league
+which had been formed against him in the north. The Syro-Cappadocian
+Hittite states, including Tabal in Asia Minor and Carchemish in north
+Syria, were combining for the last time against Assyria, supported by
+Mita (Midas), king of the Muski-Phrygians, and Rusas, son of Sharduris
+III, king of Urartu.
+
+Urartu had recovered somewhat from the disasters which it had suffered
+at the hands of Tiglath-pileser, and was winning back portions of its
+lost territory on the north-east frontier of Assyria. A buffer state
+had been formed in that area by Tiglath-pileser, who had assisted the
+king of the Mannai to weld together the hill tribesmen between Lake
+Van and Lake Urmia into an organized nation. Iranzu, its ruler,
+remained faithful to Assyria and consequently became involved in war
+with Rusas of Urartu, who either captured or won over several cities
+of the Mannai. Iranzu was succeeded by his son Aza, and this king was
+so pronounced a pro-Assyrian that his pro-Urartian subjects
+assassinated him and set on the throne Bagdatti of Umildish.
+
+Soon after Sargon began his operations in the north he captured
+Bagdatti and had him skinned alive. The flag of revolt, however, was
+kept flying by his brother, Ullusunu, but ere long this ambitious man
+found it prudent to submit to Sargon on condition that he would retain
+the throne as a faithful Assyrian vassal. His sudden change of policy
+appears to have been due to the steady advance of the Median tribes
+into the territory of the Mannai. Sargon conducted a vigorous and
+successful campaign against the raiders, and extended Ullusunu's area
+of control.
+
+The way was now clear to Urartu. In 714 B.C. Sargon attacked the
+revolting king of Zikirtu, who was supported by an army led by Rusas,
+his overlord. A fierce battle was fought in which the Assyrians
+achieved a great victory. King Rusas fled, and when he found that the
+Assyrians pressed home their triumph by laying waste the country
+before them, he committed suicide, according to the Assyrian records,
+although those of Urartu indicate that he subsequently took part in
+the struggle against Sargon. The Armenian peoples were compelled to
+acknowledge the suzerainty of Assyria, and the conqueror received
+gifts from various tribes between Lake Van and the Caspian Sea, and
+along the frontiers from Lake Van towards the south-east as far as the
+borders of Elam.
+
+Rusas of Urartu was succeeded by Argistes II, who reigned over a
+shrunken kingdom. He intrigued with neighbouring states against
+Assyria, but was closely watched. Ere long he found himself caught
+between two fires. During his reign the notorious Cimmerians and
+Scythians displayed much activity in the north and raided his
+territory.
+
+The pressure of fresh infusions of Thraco-Phrygian tribes into western
+Asia Minor had stirred Midas of the Muski to co-operate with the
+Urartian power in an attempt to stamp out Assyrian influence in
+Cilicia, Cappadocia, and north Syria. A revolt in Tabal in 718 B.C.
+was extinguished by Sargon, but in the following year evidences were
+forthcoming of a more serious and widespread rising. Pisiris, king of
+Carchemish, threw off the Assyrian yoke. Before, however, his allies
+could hasten to his assistance he was overcome by the vigilant Sargon,
+who deported a large proportion of the city's inhabitants and
+incorporated it in an Assyrian province. Tabal revolted in 713 B.C.
+and was similarly dealt with. In 712 B.C. Milid had to be overcome.
+The inhabitants were transported, and "Suti" Aramaean peoples settled
+in their homes. The king of Commagene, having remained faithful,
+received large extensions of territory. Finally in 709 B.C. Midas of
+the Muski-Phrygians was compelled to acknowledge the suzerainty of
+Assyria. The northern confederacy was thus completely worsted and
+broken up. Tribute was paid by many peoples, including the rulers of
+Cyprus.
+
+Sargon was now able to deal with Babylonia, which for about twelve
+years had been ruled by Merodach Baladan, who oppressed the people and
+set at defiance ancient laws by seizing private estates and
+transferring them to his Chaldaean kinsmen. He still received the
+active support of Elam.
+
+Sargon's first move was to interpose his army between those of the
+Babylonians and Elamites. Pushing southward, he subdued the Aramaeans
+on the eastern banks of the Tigris, and drove the Elamites into the
+mountains. Then he invaded middle Babylonia from the east. Merodach
+Baladan hastily evacuated Babylon, and, moving southward, succeeded in
+evading Sargon's army. Finding Elam was unable to help him, he took
+refuge in the Chaldaean capital, Bit Jakin, in southern Babylonia.
+
+Sargon was visited by the priests of Babylon and Borsippa, and hailed
+as the saviour of the ancient kingdom. He was afterwards proclaimed
+king at E-sagila, where he "took the hands of Bel". Then having
+expelled the Aramaeans from Sippar, he hastened southward, attacked
+Bit Jakin and captured it. Merodach Baladan escaped into Elam. The
+whole of Chaldaea was subdued.
+
+Thus "Sargon the Later" entered at length into full possession of the
+empire of Sargon of Akkad. In Babylonia he posed as an incarnation of
+his ancient namesake, and had similarly Messianic pretensions which
+were no doubt inspired by the Babylonian priesthood. Under him Assyria
+attained its highest degree of splendour.
+
+He recorded proudly not only his great conquests but also his works of
+public utility: he restored ancient cities, irrigated vast tracts of
+country, fostered trade, and promoted the industries. Like the pious
+Pharaohs of Egypt he boasted that he fed the hungry and protected the
+weak against the strong.
+
+Sargon found time during his strenuous career as a conqueror to lay
+out and build a new city, called Dur-Sharrukin, "the burgh of Sargon",
+to the north of Nineveh. It was completed before he undertook the
+Babylonian campaign. The new palace was occupied in 708 B.C. Previous
+to that period he had resided principally at Kalkhi, in the restored
+palace of Ashur-natsir-pal III.
+
+He was a worshipper of many gods. Although he claimed to have restored
+the supremacy of Asshur "which had come to an end", he not only adored
+Ashur but also revived the ancient triad of Anu, Bel, and Ea, and
+fostered the growth of the immemorial "mother-cult" of Ishtar. Before
+he died he appointed one of his sons, Sennacherib, viceroy of the
+northern portion of the empire. He was either assassinated at a
+military review or in some frontier war. As much is suggested by the
+following entry in an eponym list.
+
+    Eponymy of Upahhir-belu, prefect of the city of Amedu ...
+    According to the oracle of the Kulummite(s).... A soldier
+    (entered) the camp of the king of Assyria (and killed him?), month
+    Ab, day 12th, Sennacherib (sat on the throne).[530]
+
+The fact that Sennacherib lamented his father's sins suggests that the
+old king had in some manner offended the priesthood. Perhaps, like
+some of the Middle Empire monarchs, he succumbed to the influence of
+Babylon during the closing years of his life. It is stated that "he
+was not buried in his house", which suggests that the customary
+religious rites were denied him, and that his lost soul was supposed
+to be a wanderer which had to eat offal and drink impure water like
+the ghost of a pauper or a criminal.
+
+The task which lay before Sennacherib (705-680 B.C.) was to maintain
+the unity of the great empire of his distinguished father. He waged
+minor wars against the Kassite and Illipi tribes on the Elamite
+border, and the Muski and Hittite tribes in Cappadocia and Cilicia.
+The Kassites, however, were no longer of any importance, and the
+Hittite power had been extinguished, for ere the states could recover
+from the blows dealt by the Assyrians the Cimmerian hordes ravaged
+their territory. Urartu was also overrun by the fierce barbarians from
+the north. It was one of these last visits of the Assyrians to Tabal
+of the Hittites and the land of the Muski (Meshech) which the Hebrew
+prophet referred to in after-time when he exclaimed:
+
+    Asshur is there and all her company: his graves are about him:
+    all of them slain, fallen by the sword.... There is Meshech,
+    Tubal, and all her multitude: her graves are round about him: all
+    of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword, though they caused
+    their terror in the land of the living.... (_Ezekiel_, xxxii.)
+
+Sennacherib found that Ionians had settled in Cilicia, and he deported
+large numbers of them to Nineveh. The metal and ivory work at Nineveh
+show traces of Greek influence after this period.
+
+A great conspiracy was fomented in several states against Sennacherib
+when the intelligence of Sargon's death was bruited abroad. Egypt was
+concerned in it. Taharka (the Biblical Tirhakah[531]), the last
+Pharaoh of the Ethiopian Dynasty, had dreams of re-establishing
+Egyptian supremacy in Palestine and Syria, and leagued himself with
+Luli, king of Tyre, Hezekiah, king of Judah, and others. Merodach
+Baladan, the Chaldaean king, whom Sargon had deposed, supported by
+Elamites and Aramaeans, was also a party to the conspiracy. "At that
+time Merodach Baladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent
+letters and a present to Hezekiah.... And Hezekiah was glad of
+them."[532]
+
+Merodach Baladan again seized the throne of Babylon. Sargon's son, who
+had been appointed governor, was murdered and a pretender sat on the
+throne for a brief period, but Merodach Baladan thrust him aside and
+reigned for nine months, during which period he busied himself by
+encouraging the kings of Judah and Tyre to revolt. Sennacherib invaded
+Babylonia with a strong army, deposed Merodach Baladan, routed the
+Chaldaeans and Aramaeans, and appointed as vassal king Bel-ibni, a
+native prince, who remained faithful to Assyria for about three years.
+
+In 707 B.C. Sennacherib appeared in the west. When he approached Tyre,
+Luli, the king, fled to Cyprus. The city was not captured, but much of
+its territory was ceded to the king of Sidon. Askalon was afterwards
+reduced. At Eltekeh Sennacherib came into conflict with an army of
+allies, including Ethiopian, Egyptian, and Arabian Mutsri forces,
+which he routed. Then he captured a number of cities in Judah and
+transported 200,150 people. He was unable, however, to enter
+Jerusalem, in which Hezekiah was compelled to remain "like a bird in a
+cage". It appears that Hezekiah "bought off" the Assyrians on this
+occasion with gifts of gold and silver and jewels, costly furniture,
+musicians, and female slaves.
+
+In 689 B.C. Sennacherib found it necessary to penetrate Arabia.
+Apparently another conspiracy was brewing, for Hezekiah again
+revolted. On his return from the south--according to Berosus he had
+been in Egypt--the Assyrian king marched against the king of Judah.
+
+    And when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib was come, and that he was
+    purposed to fight against Jerusalem, he took counsel with the
+    princes and his mighty men to stop the waters of the fountains
+    which were without the city: and they did help him.... Why should
+    the kings of Assyria come and find much water?
+
+Sennacherib sent messengers to Jerusalem to attempt to stir up the
+people against Hezekiah. "He wrote also letters to rail on the Lord
+God of Israel, and to speak against him, saying, As the gods of the
+nations of other lands have not delivered their people out of mine
+hand, so shall not the God of Hezekiah deliver his people out of mine
+hand."[533]
+
+Hezekiah sent his servants to Isaiah, who was in Jerusalem at the
+time, and the prophet said to them:
+
+    Thus shall ye say to your master. Thus saith the Lord, Be not
+    afraid of the words which thou hast heard, with which the servants
+    of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. Behold, I will send a
+    blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, and shall return to
+    his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own
+    land.[534]
+
+According to Berosus, the Babylonian priestly historian, the camp of
+Sennacherib was visited in the night by swarms of field mice which ate
+up the quivers and bows and the (leather) handles of shields. Next
+morning the army fled.
+
+The Biblical account of the disaster is as follows:
+
+    And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the Lord went
+    out, and smote the camp of the Assyrians an hundred and four score
+    and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning,
+    behold, they were all dead corpses. So Sennacherib king of Assyria
+    departed, and went and returned and dwelt at Nineveh.[535]
+
+A pestilence may have broken out in the camp, the infection, perhaps,
+having been carried by field mice. Byron's imagination was stirred by
+the vision of the broken army of Assyria.
+
+    The Assyrian came down like a wolf on the fold,
+    And his cohorts were gleaming with purple and gold;
+    And the sheen of their spears was like stars of the sea,
+    When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee.
+
+    Like the leaves of the forest when summer is green,
+    That host with their banners at sunset were seen;
+    Like the leaves of the forest when autumn hath blown,
+    That host on the morrow lay withered and strown.
+
+    For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast,
+    And breathed on the face of the foe as he passed;
+    And the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill,
+    And their hearts but once heaved--and forever grew still!
+
+    And there lay the steed with his nostril all wide,
+    But through it there rolled not the breath of his pride;
+    And the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf,
+    And cold as the spray of the rock-beating surf.
+
+    And there lay the rider distorted and pale,
+    With the dew on his brow, and the rust on his mail;
+    And the tents were all silent--the banners alone--
+    Thelances uplifted--the trumpet unblown.
+
+    And the widows of Asshur are loud in their wail,
+    And the idols are broke in the temple of Baal;
+    And the might of the Gentile, unsmote by the sword,
+    Hath melted like snow in the glance of the Lord.
+
+Before this disaster occurred Sennacherib had to invade Babylonia
+again, for the vassal king, Bel-ibni, had allied himself with the
+Chaldaeans and raised the standard of revolt. The city of Babylon was
+besieged and captured, and its unfaithful king deported with a number
+of nobles to Assyria. Old Merodach Baladan was concerned in the plot
+and took refuge on the Elamite coast, where the Chaldaeans had formed
+a colony. He died soon afterwards.
+
+Sennacherib operated in southern Babylonia and invaded Elam. But ere
+he could return to Assyria he was opposed by a strong army of allies,
+including Babylonians, Chaldaeans, Aramaeans, Elamites, and Persians,
+led by Samunu, son of Merodach Baladan. A desperate battle was fought.
+Although Sennacherib claimed a victory, he was unable to follow it up.
+This was in 692 B.C. A Chaldaean named Mushezib-Merodach seized the
+Babylonian throne.
+
+In 691 B.C. Sennacherib again struck a blow for Babylonia, but was
+unable to depose Mushezib-Merodach. His opportunity came, however, in
+689 B.C. Elam had been crippled by raids of the men of Parsua
+(Persia), and was unable to co-operate with the Chaldaean king of
+Babylon. Sennacherib captured the great commercial metropolis, took
+Mushezib-Merodach prisoner, and dispatched him to Nineveh. Then he
+wreaked his vengeance on Babylon. For several days the Assyrian
+soldiers looted the houses and temples, and slaughtered the
+inhabitants without mercy. E-sagila was robbed of its treasures,
+images of deities were either broken in pieces or sent to Nineveh: the
+statue of Bel-Merodach was dispatched to Asshur so that he might take
+his place among the gods who were vassals of Ashur. "The city and its
+houses," Sennacherib recorded, "from foundation to roof, I destroyed
+them, I demolished them, I burned them with fire; walls, gateways,
+sacred chapels, and the towers of earth and tiles, I laid them low and
+cast them into the Arakhtu."[536]
+
+"So thorough was Sennacherib's destruction of the city in 689 B.C.,"
+writes Mr. King, "that after several years of work, Dr. Koldewey
+concluded that all traces of earlier buildings had been destroyed on
+that occasion. More recently some remains of earlier strata have been
+recognized, and contract-tablets have been found which date from the
+period of the First Dynasty. Moreover, a number of earlier pot-burials
+have been unearthed, but a careful examination of the greater part of
+the ruins has added little to our knowledge of this most famous city
+before the Neo-Babylonian period."[537]
+
+It is possible that Sennacherib desired to supplant Babylon as a
+commercial metropolis by Nineveh. He extended and fortified that city,
+surrounding it with two walls protected by moats. According to
+Diodorus, the walls were a hundred feet high and about fifty feet
+wide. Excavators have found that at the gates they were about a
+hundred feet in breadth. The water supply of the city was ensured by
+the construction of dams and canals, and strong quays were erected to
+prevent flooding. Sennacherib repaired a lofty platform which was
+isolated by a canal, and erected upon it his great palace. On another
+platform he had an arsenal built.
+
+Sennacherib's palace was the most magnificent building of its kind
+ever erected by an Assyrian emperor. It was lavishly decorated, and
+its bas-reliefs display native art at its highest pitch of excellence.
+The literary remains of the time also give indication of the growth of
+culture: the inscriptions are distinguished by their prose style. It
+is evident that men of culture and refinement were numerous in
+Assyria. The royal library of Kalkhi received many additions during
+the reign of the destroyer of Babylon.
+
+Like his father, Sennacherib died a violent death. According to the
+Babylonian Chronicle he was slain in a revolt by his son "on the
+twentieth day of Tebet" (680 B.C). The revolt continued from the "20th
+of Tebet" (early in January) until the 2nd day of Adar (the middle of
+February). On the 18th of Adar, Esarhaddon, son of Sennacherib, was
+proclaimed king.
+
+Berosus states that Sennacherib was murdered by two of his sons, but
+Esarhaddon was not one of the conspirators. The Biblical reference is
+as follows: "Sennacherib ... dwelt at Nineveh. And it came to pass, as
+he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch (?Ashur) his god, that
+Adrammelech and Sharezer (Ashur-shar-etir) his sons smote him with the
+sword: and they escaped into the land of Armenia (Urartu). And
+Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead." Ashur-shar-etir appears to
+have been the claimant to the throne.
+
+Esarhaddon (680-668 B.C.) was a man of different type from his father.
+He adopted towards vassal states a policy of conciliation, and did
+much to secure peace within the empire by his magnanimous treatment of
+rebel kings who had been intimidated by their neighbours and forced to
+entwine themselves in the meshes of intrigue. His wars were directed
+mainly to secure the protection of outlying provinces against
+aggressive raiders.
+
+The monarch was strongly influenced by his mother, Naki'a, a
+Babylonian princess who appears to have been as distinguished a lady
+as the famous Sammu-rammat. Indeed, it is possible that traditions
+regarding her contributed to the Semiramis legends. But it was not
+only due to her that Esarhaddon espoused the cause of the
+pro-Babylonian party. He appears to be identical with the Axerdes of
+Berosus, who ruled over the southern kingdom for eight years.
+Apparently he had been appointed governor by Sennacherib after the
+destruction of Babylon, and it may be that during his term of office
+in Babylonia he was attracted by its ethical ideals, and developed
+those traits of character which distinguished him from his father and
+grandfather. He married a Babylonian princess, and one of his sons,
+Shamash-shum-ukin, was born in a Babylonian palace, probably at
+Sippar. He was a worshipper of the mother goddess Ishtar of Nineveh
+and Ishtar of Arbela, and of Shamash, as well as of the national god
+Ashur.
+
+As soon as Esarhaddon came to the throne he undertook the restoration
+of Babylon, to which many of the inhabitants were drifting back. In
+three years the city resumed its pre-eminent position as a trading and
+industrial centre. Withal, he won the hearts of the natives by
+expelling Chaldaeans from the private estates which they had seized
+during the Merodach-Baladan regime, and restoring them to the rightful
+heirs.
+
+A Chaldaean revolt was inevitable. Two of Merodach Baladan's sons gave
+trouble in the south, but were routed in battle. One fled to Elam,
+where he was assassinated; the other sued for peace, and was accepted
+by the diplomatic Esarhaddon as a vassal king.
+
+Egypt was intriguing in the west. Its Ethiopian king, Taharka (the
+Biblical Tirhakah) had stirred up Hezekiah to revolt during
+Sennacherib's reign. An Assyrian ambassador who had visited Jerusalem
+"heard say concerning Tirhakah.... He sent messengers to Hezekiah
+saying.... Let not thy God, in whom thou trustest, deceive thee
+saying, Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of
+Assyria. Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done
+to all lands by destroying them utterly; and shalt thou be delivered?
+Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have
+destroyed, as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden
+which were in Telassar? Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of
+Arphad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah?"[538]
+Sidon was a party to the pro-Egyptian league which had been formed in
+Palestine and Syria.
+
+Early in his reign Esarhaddon conducted military operations in the
+west, and during his absence the queen-mother Naki'a held the reins of
+government. The Elamites regarded this innovation as a sign of
+weakness, and invaded Babylon. Sippar was plundered, and its gods
+carried away. The Assyrian governors, however, ultimately repulsed the
+Elamite king, who was deposed soon after he returned home. His son,
+who succeeded him, restored the stolen gods, and cultivated good
+relations with Esarhaddon. There was great unrest in Elam at this
+period: it suffered greatly from the inroads of Median and Persian
+pastoral fighting folk.
+
+In the north the Cimmerians and Scythians, who were constantly warring
+against Urartu, and against each other, had spread themselves westward
+and east. Esarhaddon drove Cimmerian invaders out of Cappadocia, and
+they swamped Phrygia.
+
+The Scythian peril on the north-east frontier was, however, of more
+pronounced character. The fierce mountaineers had allied themselves
+with Median tribes and overrun the buffer State of the Mannai. Both
+Urartu and Assyria were sufferers from the brigandage of these allies.
+Esarhaddon's generals, however, were able to deal with the situation,
+and one of the notable results of the pacification of the
+north-eastern area was the conclusion of an alliance with Urartu.
+
+The most serious situation with which the emperor had to deal was in
+the west. The King of Sidon, who had been so greatly favoured by
+Sennacherib, had espoused the Egyptian cause. He allied himself with
+the King of Cilicia, who, however, was unable to help him much. Sidon
+was besieged and captured; the royal allies escaped, but a few years
+later were caught and beheaded. The famous seaport was destroyed, and
+its vast treasures deported to Assyria (about 676 B.C). Esarhaddon
+replaced it by a new city called Kar-Esarhaddon, which formed the
+nucleus of the new Sidon.
+
+It is believed that Judah and other disaffected States were dealt with
+about this time. Manasseh had succeeded Hezekiah at Jerusalem when but
+a boy of twelve years. He appears to have come under the influence of
+heathen teachers.
+
+    For he built up again the high places which Hezekiah his father
+    had destroyed; and he reared up altars for Baal, and made a grove,
+    as did Ahab king of Israel; and worshipped all the host of heaven,
+    and served them.... And he built altars for all the host of heaven
+    in the two courts of the house of the Lord. And he made his son
+    pass through the fire, and observed times, and used enchantments,
+    and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards: he wrought much
+    wickedness in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger. And
+    he set a graven image of the grove that he had made in the house,
+    of which the Lord said to David, and to Solomon his son, In this
+    house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all tribes of
+    Israel, will I put my name for ever.[539]
+
+Isaiah ceased to prophesy after Manasseh came to the throne. According
+to Rabbinic traditions he was seized by his enemies and enclosed in
+the hollow trunk of a tree, which was sawn through. Other orthodox
+teachers appear to have been slain also. "Manasseh shed innocent blood
+very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another."[540]
+It is possible that there is a reference to Isaiah's fate in an early
+Christian lament regarding the persecutions of the faithful: "Others
+had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and
+imprisonment: they were stoned, _they were sawn asunder_, were
+tempted, were slain with the sword".[541] There is no Assyrian
+evidence regarding the captivity of Manasseh. "Wherefore the Lord
+brought upon them (the people of Judah) the captains of the host of
+the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh among the thorns, and bound
+him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon. And when he was in
+affliction, he besought the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly
+before the God of his fathers, and prayed unto him: and he was
+intreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to
+Jerusalem into his kingdom."[542] It was, however, in keeping with the
+policy of Esarhaddon to deal in this manner with an erring vassal. The
+Assyrian records include Manasseh of Judah (Menase of the city of
+Yaudu) with the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, Ashdod, Gaza,
+Byblos, &c, and "twenty-two kings of Khatti" as payers of tribute to
+Esarhaddon, their overlord. Hazael of Arabia was conciliated by having
+restored to him his gods which Sennacherib had carried away.
+
+Egypt continued to intrigue against Assyria, and Esarhaddon resolved
+to deal effectively with Taharka, the last Ethiopian Pharaoh. In 674
+B.C. he invaded Egypt, but suffered a reverse and had to retreat. Tyre
+revolted soon afterwards (673 B.C).
+
+Esarhaddon, however, made elaborate preparations for his next
+campaign. In 671 B.C. he went westward with a much more powerful army.
+A detachment advanced to Tyre and invested it. The main force
+meanwhile pushed on, crossed the Delta frontier, and swept
+victoriously as far south as Memphis, where Taharka suffered a
+crushing defeat. That great Egyptian metropolis was then occupied and
+plundered by the soldiers of Esarhaddon. Lower Egypt became an
+Assyrian province; the various petty kings, including Necho of Sais,
+had set over them Assyrian governors. Tyre was also captured.
+
+When he returned home Esarhaddon erected at the Syro-Cappadocian city
+of Singirli[543] a statue of victory, which is now in the Berlin
+museum. On this memorial the Assyrian "King of the kings of Egypt" is
+depicted as a giant. With one hand he pours out an oblation to a god;
+in the other he grasps his sceptre and two cords attached to rings,
+which pierce the lips of dwarfish figures representing the Pharaoh
+Taharka of Egypt and the unfaithful King of Tyre.
+
+In 668 B.C. Taharka, who had fled to Napata in Ethiopia, returned to
+Upper Egypt, and began to stir up revolts. Esarhaddon planned out
+another expedition, so that he might shatter the last vestige of power
+possessed by his rival. But before he left home he found it necessary
+to set his kingdom in order.
+
+During his absence from home the old Assyrian party, who disliked the
+emperor because of Babylonian sympathies, had been intriguing
+regarding the succession to the throne. According to the Babylonian
+Chronicle, "the king remained in Assyria" during 669 B.C., "and he
+slew with the sword many noble men". Ashur-bani-pal was evidently
+concerned in the conspiracy, and it is significant to find that he
+pleaded on behalf of certain of the conspirators. The crown prince
+Sinidinabal was dead: perhaps he had been assassinated.
+
+At the feast of the goddess Gula (identical with Bau, consort of
+Ninip), towards the end of April in 668 B.C., Esarhaddon divided his
+empire between two of his sons. Ashur-bani-pal was selected to be King
+of Assyria, and Shamash-shum-ukin to be King of Babylon and the vassal
+of Ashur-banipal. Other sons received important priestly appointments.
+
+Soon after these arrangements were completed Esarhaddon, who was
+suffering from bad health, set out for Egypt. He died towards the end
+of October, and the early incidents of his campaign were included in
+the records of Ashur-bani-pal's reign. Taharka was defeated at
+Memphis, and retreated southward to Thebes.
+
+So passed away the man who has been eulogized as "the noblest and most
+sympathetic figure among the Assyrian kings". There was certainly much
+which was attractive in his character. He inaugurated many social
+reforms, and appears to have held in check his overbearing nobles.
+Trade flourished during his reign. He did not undertake the erection
+of a new city, like his father, but won the gratitude of the
+priesthood by his activities as a builder and restorer of temples. He
+founded a new "house of Ashur" at Nineveh, and reconstructed several
+temples in Babylonia. His son Ashur-bani-pal was the last great
+Assyrian ruler.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+THE LAST DAYS OF ASSYRIA AND BABYLONIA
+
+
+  Doom of Nineveh and Babylon--Babylonian Monotheism--Ashur-banipal
+  and his Brother, King of Babylon--Ceremony of "Taking the Hands of
+  Bel"--Merodach restored to E-sagila--Assyrian Invasion of Egypt and
+  Sack of Thebes--Lydia's Appeal to Assyria--Elam subdued--Revolt of
+  Babylon--Death of Babylonian King--Sack of Susa--Psamtik of
+  Egypt--Cimmerians crushed--Ashur-bani-pal's Literary Activities--The
+  Sardanapalus Legend--Last Kings of Assyria--Fall of Nineveh--The New
+  Babylonian Empire--Necho of Egypt expelled from Syria--King
+  Jehoaikin of Judah deposed--Zedekiah's Revolt and Punishment--Fall
+  of Jerusalem and Hebrew Captivity--Jeremiah laments over
+  Jerusalem--Babylonia's Last Independent King--Rise of Cyrus the
+  Conqueror--The Persian Patriarch and Eagle Legend--Cyrus conquers
+  Lydia--Fall of Babylon--Jews return to Judah--Babylon from Cyrus to
+  Alexander the Great.
+
+
+The burden of Nineveh.... The Lord is slow to anger, and great in
+power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the Lord hath his way in
+the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his
+feet. He rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry, and drieth up all the
+rivers: Bashan languisheth, and Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon
+languisheth.... He that dasheth in pieces is come up before thy
+face.... The gates of the rivers shall be opened, and the palace shall
+be dissolved. And Huzzab shall be led away captive, she shall be
+brought up, and her maids shall lead her as with the voice of doves,
+tabering upon their breasts.... Draw thee waters for the siege,
+fortify thy strong holds: go into clay, and tread the morter, make
+strong the brick-kiln. There shall the fire devour thee; the sword
+shall cut thee off.... Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria: thy
+nobles shall dwell in the dust: thy people is scattered upon the
+mountains, and no man gathereth them. There is no healing of thy
+bruise; thy wound is grievous: all that hear the bruit of thee shall
+clap the hands over thee: for upon whom hath not thy wickedness passed
+continually?[544]
+
+The doom of Babylon was also foretold:
+
+    Bel boweth down, Nebo stoopeth.... Come down, and sit in the
+    dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon, sit on the ground: there is no
+    throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans.... Stand now with thine
+    enchantments, and with the multitude of thy sorceries, wherein
+    thou hast laboured from thy youth; if so be thou shalt be able to
+    profit, if so be thou mayest prevail. Thou art wearied in the
+    multitude of thy counsels. Let now the astrologers, the
+    star-gazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee
+    from these things that shall come upon thee. Behold, they shall be
+    as stubble; the fire shall burn them.... Thus shall they be unto
+    thee with whom thou hast laboured, even thy merchants, from thy
+    youth: they shall wander every one to his quarter; none shall save
+    thee.[545]
+
+Against a gloomy background, dark and ominous as a thundercloud, we
+have revealed in the last century of Mesopotamian glory the splendour
+of Assyria and the beauty of Babylon. The ancient civilizations
+ripened quickly before the end came. Kings still revelled in pomp and
+luxury. Cities resounded with "the noise of a whip, and the noise of
+the rattling of the wheels, and of the prancing horses, and of the
+jumping chariots. The horseman lifteth up both the bright sword and
+the glittering spear.... The valiant men are in scarlet."[546] But the
+minds of cultured men were more deeply occupied than ever with the
+mysteries of life and creation. In the libraries, the temples, and
+observatories, philosophers and scientists were shattering the
+unsubstantial fabric of immemorial superstition; they attained to
+higher conceptions of the duties and responsibilities of mankind; they
+conceived of divine love and divine guidance; they discovered, like
+Wordsworth, that the soul has--
+
+                 An obscure sense
+    Of possible sublimity, whereto
+    With growing faculties she doth aspire.
+
+One of the last kings of Babylon, Nebuchadrezzar, recorded a prayer
+which reveals the loftiness of religious thought and feeling attained
+by men to whom graven images were no longer worthy of adoration and
+reverence--men whose god was not made by human hands--
+
+    O eternal prince! Lord of all being!
+    As for the king whom thou lovest, and
+    Whose name thou hast proclaimed
+    As was pleasing to thee,
+    Do thou lead aright his life,
+    Guide him in a straight path.
+    I am the prince, obedient to thee,
+    The creature of thy hand;
+    Thou hast created me, and
+    With dominion over all people
+    Thou hast entrusted me.
+    According to thy grace, O Lord,
+    Which thou dost bestow on
+    All people,
+    Cause me to love thy supreme dominion,
+    And create in my heart
+    The worship of thy godhead
+    And grant whatever is pleasing to thee,
+    Because thou hast fashioned my life.[547]
+
+The "star-gazers" had become scientists, and foretold eclipses: in
+every sphere of intellectual activity great men were sifting out truth
+from the debris of superstition. It seemed as if Babylon and Assyria
+were about to cross the threshold of a new age, when their doom was
+sounded and their power was shattered for ever. Nineveh perished with
+dramatic suddenness: Babylon died of "senile decay".
+
+When, in 668 B.C., intelligence reached Nineveh that Esarhaddon had
+passed away, on the march through Egypt, the arrangements which he had
+made for the succession were carried out smoothly and quickly. Naki'a,
+the queen mother, was acting as regent, and completed her lifework by
+issuing a proclamation exhorting all loyal subjects and vassals to
+obey the new rulers, her grandsons, Ashur-bani-pal, Emperor of
+Assyria, and Shamash-shum-ukin, King of Babylon. Peace prevailed in
+the capital, and there was little or no friction throughout the
+provinces: new rulers were appointed to administer the States of Arvad
+and Ammon, but there were no changes elsewhere.
+
+Babylon welcomed its new king--a Babylonian by birth and the son of a
+Babylonian princess. The ancient kingdom rejoiced that it was no
+longer to be ruled as a province; its ancient dignities and privileges
+were being partially restored. But one great and deep-seated grievance
+remained. The god Merodach was still a captive in the temple of Ashur.
+No king could reign aright if Merodach were not restored to E-sagila.
+Indeed he could not be regarded as the lord of the land until he had
+"taken the hands of Bel".
+
+The ceremony of taking the god's hands was an act of homage. When it
+was consummated the king became the steward or vassal of Merodach, and
+every day he appeared before the divine one to receive instructions
+and worship him. The welfare of the whole kingdom depended on the
+manner in which the king acted towards the god. If Merodach was
+satisfied with the king he sent blessings to the land; if he was angry
+he sent calamities. A pious and faithful monarch was therefore the
+protector of the people.
+
+This close association of the king with the god gave the priests great
+influence in Babylon. They were the power behind the throne. The
+destinies of the royal house were placed in their hands; they could
+strengthen the position of a royal monarch, or cause him to be deposed
+if he did not satisfy their demands. A king who reigned over Babylon
+without the priestly party on his side occupied an insecure position.
+Nor could he secure the co-operation of the priests unless the image
+of the god was placed in the temple. Where king was, there Merodach
+had to be also.
+
+Shamash-shum-ukin pleaded with his royal brother and overlord to
+restore Bel Merodach to Babylon. Ashur-bani-pal hesitated for a time;
+he was unwilling to occupy a less dignified position, as the
+representative of Ashur, than his distinguished predecessor, in his
+relation to the southern kingdom. At length, however, he was prevailed
+upon to consult the oracle of Shamash, the solar lawgiver, the
+revealer of destiny. The god was accordingly asked if
+Shamash-shum-ukin could "take the hands of Bel" in Ashur's temple, and
+then proceed to Babylon as his representative. In response, the
+priests of Shamash informed the emperor that Bel Merodach could not
+exercise sway as sovereign lord so long as he remained a prisoner in a
+city which was not his own.
+
+Ashur-bani-pal accepted the verdict, and then visited Ashur's temple
+to plead with Bel Merodach to return to Babylon. "Let thy thoughts",
+he cried, "dwell in Babylon, which in thy wrath thou didst bring to
+naught. Let thy face be turned towards E-sagila, thy lofty and divine
+temple. Return to the city thou hast deserted for a house unworthy of
+thee. O Merodach! lord of the gods, issue thou the command to return
+again to Babylon."
+
+Thus did Ashur-bani-pal make pious and dignified submission to the
+will of the priests. A favourable response was, of course, received
+from Merodach when addressed by the emperor, and the god's image was
+carried back to E-sagila, accompanied by a strong force.
+Ashur-bani-pal and Shamash-shum-ukin led the procession of priests and
+soldiers, and elaborate ceremonials were observed at each city they
+passed, the local gods being carried forth to do homage to Merodach.
+
+Babylon welcomed the deity who was thus restored to his temple after
+the lapse of about a quarter of a century, and the priests celebrated
+with unconcealed satisfaction and pride the ceremony at which
+Shamash-shum-ukin "took the hands of Bel". The public rejoicings were
+conducted on an elaborate scale. Babylon believed that a new era of
+prosperity had been inaugurated, and the priests and nobles looked
+forward to the day when the kingdom would once again become free and
+independent and powerful.
+
+Ashur-bani-pal (668-626 B.C.) made arrangements to complete his
+father's designs regarding Egypt. His Tartan continued the campaign,
+and Taharka, as has been stated, was driven from Memphis. The beaten
+Pharaoh returned to Ethiopia and did not again attempt to expel the
+Assyrians. He died in 666 B.C. It was found that some of the petty
+kings of Lower Egypt had been intriguing with Taharka, and their
+cities were severely dealt with. Necho of Sais had to be arrested,
+among others, but was pardoned after he appeared before
+Ashur-bani-pal, and sent back to Egypt as the Assyrian governor.
+
+Tanutamon, a son of Pharaoh Shabaka, succeeded Taharka, and in 663
+B.C. marched northward from Thebes with a strong army. He captured
+Memphis. It is believed Necho was slain, and Herodotus relates that
+his son Psamtik took refuge in Syria. In 661 B.C. Ashur-bani-pal's
+army swept through Lower Egypt and expelled the Ethiopians. Tanutamon
+fled southward, but on this occasion the Assyrians followed up their
+success, and besieged and captured Thebes, which they sacked. Its
+nobles were slain or taken captive. According to the prophet Nahum,
+who refers to Thebes as No (Nu-Amon = city of Amon), "her young
+children also were dashed in pieces at the top of all the streets: and
+they (the Assyrians) cast lots for her honourable men, and all her
+great men were bound in chains".[548] Thebes never again recovered its
+prestige. Its treasures were transported to Nineveh. The Ethiopian
+supremacy in Egypt was finally extinguished, and Psamtik, son of
+Necho, who was appointed the Pharaoh, began to reign as the vassal of
+Assyria.
+
+When the kings on the seacoasts of Palestine and Asia Minor found that
+they could no longer look to Egypt for help, they resigned themselves
+to the inevitable, and ceased to intrigue against Assyria. Gifts were
+sent to Ashur-bani-pal by the kings of Arvad, Tyre, Tarsus, and Tabal.
+The Arvad ruler, however, was displaced, and his son set on his
+throne. But the most extraordinary development was the visit to
+Nineveh of emissaries from Gyges, king of Lydia, who figures in the
+legends of Greece. This monarch had been harassed by the Cimmerians
+after they accomplished the fall of Midas of Phrygia in 676 B.C., and
+he sought the help of Ashur-bani-pal. It is not known whether the
+Assyrians operated against the Cimmerians in Tabal, but, as Gyges did
+not send tribute, it would appear that he held his own with the aid of
+mercenaries from the State of Caria in southwestern Asia Minor. The
+Greeks of Cilicia, and the Achaeans and Phoenicians of Cyprus remained
+faithful to Assyria.
+
+Elam gave trouble in 665 B.C. by raiding Akkad, but the Assyrian army
+repulsed the invaders at Dur-ilu and pushed on to Susa. The Elamites
+received a crushing defeat in a battle on the banks of the River Ula.
+King Teumman was slain, and a son of the King of Urtagu was placed on
+his throne. Elam thus came under Assyrian sway.
+
+The most surprising and sensational conspiracy against Ashur-bani-pal
+was fomented by his brother Shamash-shum-ukin of Babylon, after the
+two had co-operated peacefully for fifteen years. No doubt the
+priestly party at E-sagila were deeply concerned in the movement, and
+the king may have been strongly influenced by the fact that Babylonia
+was at the time suffering from severe depression caused by a series of
+poor harvests. Merodach, according to the priests, was angry; it was
+probably argued that he was punishing the people because they had not
+thrown off the yoke of Assyria.
+
+The temple treasures of Babylon were freely drawn upon to purchase the
+allegiance of allies. Ere Ashur-bani-pal had any knowledge of the
+conspiracy his brother had won over several governors in Babylonia,
+the Chaldaeans, Aramaeans and Elamites, and many petty kings in
+Palestine and Syria: even Egypt and Libya were prepared to help him.
+When, however, the faithful governor of Ur was approached, he
+communicated with his superior at Erech, who promptly informed
+Ashur-bani-pal of the great conspiracy. The intelligence reached
+Nineveh like a bolt from the blue. The emperor's heart was filled with
+sorrow and anguish. In after-time he lamented in an inscription that
+his "faithless brother" forgot the favours he had shown him.
+"Outwardly with his lips he spoke friendly things, while inwardly his
+heart plotted murder."
+
+In 652 B.C. Shamash-shum-ukin precipitated the crisis by forbidding
+Ashur-bani-pal to make offerings to the gods in the cities of
+Babylonia. He thus declared his independence.
+
+War broke out simultaneously. Ur and Erech were besieged and captured
+by the Chaldaeans, and an Elamite army marched to the aid of the King
+of Babylon, but it was withdrawn before long on account of the
+unsettled political conditions at home. The Assyrian armies swept
+through Babylonia, and the Chaldeans in the south were completely
+subjugated before Babylon was captured. That great commercial
+metropolis was closely besieged for three years, and was starved into
+submission. When the Assyrians were entering the city gates a
+sensational happening occurred. Shamash-shum-ukin, the rebel king,
+shut himself up in his palace and set fire to it, and perished there
+amidst the flames with his wife and children, his slaves and all his
+treasures. Ashur-bani-pal was in 647 B.C. proclaimed King
+Kandalanu[549] of Babylon, and reigned over it until his death in 626
+B.C.
+
+Elam was severely dealt with. That unhappy country was terribly
+devastated by Assyrian troops, who besieged and captured Susa, which
+was pillaged and wrecked. It was recorded afterwards as a great
+triumph of this campaign that the statue of Nana of Erech, which had
+been carried off by Elamites 1635 years previously, was recovered and
+restored to the ancient Sumerian city. Elam's power of resistance was
+finally extinguished, and the country fell a ready prey to the Medes
+and Persians, who soon entered into possession of it. Thus, by
+destroying a buffer State, Ashur-bani-pal strengthened the hands of
+the people who were destined twenty years after his death to destroy
+the Empire of Assyria.
+
+The western allies of Babylon were also dealt with, and it may be that
+at this time Manasseh of Judah was taken to Babylon (_2 Chronicles_,
+xxxiii, II), where, however, he was forgiven. The Medes and the Mannai
+in the north-west were visited and subdued, and a new alliance was
+formed with the dying State of Urartu.
+
+Psamtik of Egypt had thrown off the yoke of Assyria, and with the
+assistance of Carian mercenaries received from his ally, Gyges, king
+of Lydia, extended his sway southward. He made peace with Ethiopia by
+marrying a princess of its royal line. Gyges must have weakened his
+army by thus assisting Psamtik, for he was severely defeated and slain
+by the Cimmerians. His son, Ardys, appealed to Assyria for help.
+Ashur-bani-pal dispatched an army to Cilicia. The joint operations of
+Assyria and Lydia resulted in the extinction of the kingdom of the
+Cimmerians about 645 B.C.
+
+The records of Ashur-bani-pal cease after 640 B.C., so that we are
+unable to follow the events of his reign during its last fourteen
+years. Apparently peace prevailed everywhere. The great monarch, who
+was a pronounced adherent of the goddess cults, appears to have given
+himself up to a life of indulgence and inactivity. Under the name
+Sardanapalus he went down to tradition as a sensual Oriental monarch
+who lived in great pomp and luxury, and perished in his burning palace
+when the Medes revolted against him. It is evident, however, that the
+memory of more than one monarch contributed to the Sardanapalus
+legend, for Ashur-bani-pal had lain nearly twenty years in his grave
+before the siege of Nineveh took place.
+
+In the Bible he is referred to as "the great and noble Asnapper", and
+he appears to have been the emperor who settled the Babylonian,
+Elamite, and other colonists "in the cities of Samaria".[550]
+
+He erected at Nineveh a magnificent palace, which was decorated on a
+lavish scale. The sculptures are the finest productions of Assyrian
+art, and embrace a wide variety of subjects--battle scenes, hunting
+scenes, and elaborate Court and temple ceremonies. Realism is combined
+with a delicacy of touch and a degree of originality which raises the
+artistic productions of the period to the front rank among the
+artistic triumphs of antiquity.
+
+Ashur-bani-pal boasted of the thorough education which he had received
+from the tutors of his illustrious father, Esarhaddon. In his palace
+he kept a magnificent library. It contained thousands of clay tablets
+on which were inscribed and translated the classics of Babylonia. To
+the scholarly zeal of this cultured monarch is due the preservation of
+the Babylonian story of creation, the Gilgamesh and Etana legends, and
+other literary and religious products of remote antiquity. Most of the
+literary tablets in the British Museum were taken from
+Ashur-bani-pal's library.
+
+There are no Assyrian records of the reigns of Ashur-bani-pal's two
+sons, Ashur-etil-ilani--who erected a small palace and reconstructed
+the temple to Nebo at Kalkhi--and Sin-shar-ishkun, who is supposed to
+have perished in Nineveh. Apparently Ashur-etil-ilani reigned for at
+least six years, and was succeeded by his brother.
+
+A year after Ashur-bani-pal died, Nabopolassar, who was probably a
+Chaldaean, was proclaimed king at Babylon. According to Babylonian
+legend he was an Assyrian general who had been sent southward with an
+army to oppose the advance of invaders from the sea. Nabopolassar's
+sway at first was confined to Babylon and Borsippa, but he
+strengthened himself by forming an offensive and defensive alliance
+with the Median king, whose daughter he had married to his son
+Nebuchadrezzar. He strengthened the fortifications of Babylon, rebuilt
+the temple of Merodach, which had been destroyed by Ashur-bani-pal,
+and waged war successfully against the Assyrians and their allies in
+Mesopotamia.
+
+About 606 B.C. Nineveh fell, and Sin-shar-ishkun may have burned
+himself there in his palace, like his uncle, Shamash-shum-ukin of
+Babylon, and the legendary Sardanapalus. It is not certain, however,
+whether the Scythians or the Medes were the successful besiegers of
+the great Assyrian capital. "Woe to the bloody city! it is all full of
+lies and robbery", Nahum had cried."... The gates of the rivers shall
+be opened, and the palace shall be dissolved.... Take ye the spoil of
+silver, take the spoil of gold.... Behold, I am against thee, saith
+the Lord of hosts[551]."
+
+According to Herodotus, an army of Medes under Cyaxares had defeated
+the Assyrians and were besieging Nineveh when the Scythians overran
+Media. Cyaxares raised the siege and went against them, but was
+defeated. Then the Scythians swept across Assyria and Mesopotamia, and
+penetrated to the Delta frontier of Egypt. Psamtik ransomed his
+kingdom with handsome gifts. At length, however, Cyaxares had the
+Scythian leaders slain at a banquet, and then besieged and captured
+Nineveh.
+
+Assyria was completely overthrown. Those of its nobles and priests who
+escaped the sword no doubt escaped to Babylonia. Some may have found
+refuge also in Palestine and Egypt.
+
+Necho, the second Pharaoh of the Twenty-sixth Egyptian Dynasty, did
+not hesitate to take advantage of Assyria's fall. In 609 B.C. he
+proceeded to recover the long-lost Asiatic possessions of Egypt, and
+operated with an army and fleet. Gaza and Askalon were captured.
+Josiah, the grandson of Manasseh, was King of Judah. "In his days
+Pharaoh-nechoh king of Egypt went up against the king of Assyria to
+the river Euphrates: and king Josiah went against him; and he (Necho)
+slew him at Megiddo."[552] His son, Jehoahaz, succeeded him, but was
+deposed three months later by Necho, who placed another son of Josiah,
+named Eliakim, on the throne, "and turned his name to Jehoiakim".[553]
+The people were heavily taxed to pay tribute to the Pharaoh.
+
+When Necho pushed northward towards the Euphrates he was met by a
+Babylonian army under command of Prince Nebuchadrezzar.[554] The
+Egyptians were routed at Carchemish in 605 B.C. (_Jeremiah_, xvi, 2).
+
+In 604 B.C. Nabopolassar died, and the famous Nebuchadrezzar II
+ascended the throne of Babylon. He lived to be one of its greatest
+kings, and reigned for over forty years. It was he who built the city
+described by Herodotus (pp. 219 _et seq._), and constructed its outer
+wall, which enclosed so large an area that no army could invest it.
+Merodach's temple was decorated with greater magnificence than ever
+before. The great palace and hanging gardens were erected by this
+mighty monarch, who no doubt attracted to the city large numbers of
+the skilled artisans who had fled from Nineveh. He also restored
+temples at other cities, and made generous gifts to the priests.
+Captives were drafted into Babylonia from various lands, and employed
+cleaning out the canals and as farm labourers.
+
+The trade and industries of Babylon flourished greatly, and
+Nebuchadrezzar's soldiers took speedy vengeance on roving bands which
+infested the caravan roads. "The king of Egypt", after his crushing
+defeat at Carchemish, "came not again any more out of his land: for
+the king of Babylon had taken from the river of Egypt unto the river
+Euphrates all that pertained to the king of Egypt."[555] Jehoiakim of
+Judah remained faithful to Necho until he was made a prisoner by
+Nebuchadrezzar, who "bound him in fetters to carry him to
+Babylon".[556] He was afterwards sent back to Jerusalem. "And
+Jehoiakim became his (Nebuchadrezzar's) servant three years: then he
+turned and rebelled against him."[557]
+
+Bands of Chaldaeans, Syrians, Moabites, and Ammonites were harassing
+the frontiers of Judah, and it seemed to the king as if the Babylonian
+power had collapsed. Nebuchadrezzar hastened westward and scattered
+the raiders before him. Jehoiakim died, and his son Jehoiachan, a
+youth of eighteen years, succeeded him. Nebuchadrezzar laid siege to
+Jerusalem, and the young king submitted to him and was carried off to
+Babylon, with "all the princes, and all the mighty men of valour, even
+ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths: none remained
+save the poorest sort of the people of the land".[558] Nebuchadrezzar
+had need of warriors and workmen.
+
+Zedekiah was placed on the throne of Judah as an Assyrian vassal. He
+remained faithful for a few years, but at length began to conspire
+with Tyre and Sidon, Moab, Edom, and Ammon in favour of Egyptian
+suzerainty. Pharaoh Hophra (Apries), the fourth king of the
+Twenty-sixth Dynasty, took active steps to assist the conspirators,
+and "Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon[559]".
+
+Nebuchadrezzar led a strong army through Mesopotamia, and divided it
+at Riblah, on the Orontes River. One part of it descended upon Judah
+and captured Lachish and Azekah. Jerusalem was able to hold out for
+about eighteen months. Then "the famine was sore in the city, so that
+there was no bread for the people of the land. Then the city was
+broken up, and all the men of war fled, and went forth out of the city
+by night by way of the gate between the two walls, which was by the
+king's garden." Zedekiah attempted to escape, but was captured and
+carried before Nebuchadrezzar, who was at Riblah, in the land of
+Hamath.
+
+    And the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah before his
+    eyes.... Then he put out the eyes of Zedekiah; and the king of
+    Babylon bound him in chains and carried him to Babylon and put him
+    in prison till the day of his death[560].
+
+The majority of the Jews were deported to Babylonia, where they were
+employed as farm labourers. Some rose to occupy important official
+positions. A remnant escaped to Egypt with Jeremiah.
+
+Jerusalem was plundered and desolated. The Assyrians "burned the house
+of the Lord and the king's house, and all the houses of Jerusalem",
+and "brake down all the walls of Jerusalem round about". Jeremiah
+lamented:
+
+    How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people! how is
+    she become as a widow! she that was great among the nations, and
+    princess among the provinces, how is she become tributary! She
+    weepeth sore in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks: among
+    all her lovers she hath none to comfort her: all her friends have
+    dealt treacherously with her, they are become her enemies. Judah
+    is gone into captivity because of affliction, and because of great
+    servitude: she dwelleth among the heathen, she findeth no rest:
+    all her persecutors overtook her between the straits.... Jerusalem
+    remembered in the days of her affliction and of her miseries all
+    her pleasant things that she had in the days of old....[561]
+
+Tyre was besieged, but was not captured. Its king, however, arranged
+terms of peace with Nebuchadrezzar.
+
+Amel-Marduk, the "Evil Merodach" of the Bible, the next king of
+Babylon, reigned for a little over two years. He released Jehoiachin
+from prison, and allowed him to live in the royal palace.[562] Berosus
+relates that Amel-Marduk lived a dissipated life, and was slain by his
+brother-in-law, Nergal-shar-utsur, who reigned two years (559-6 B.C.).
+Labashi-Marduk, son of Nergal-shar-utsur, followed with a reign of
+nine months. He was deposed by the priests. Then a Babylonian prince
+named Nabu-na'id (Nabonidus) was set on the throne. He was the last
+independent king of Babylonia. His son Belshazzar appears to have
+acted as regent during the latter part of the reign.
+
+Nabonidus engaged himself actively during his reign (556-540 B.C.) in
+restoring temples. He entirely reconstructed the house of Shamash, the
+sun god, at Sippar, and, towards the end of his reign, the house of
+Sin, the moon god, at Haran. The latter building had been destroyed by
+the Medes.
+
+The religious innovations of Nabonidus made him exceedingly unpopular
+throughout Babylonia, for he carried away the gods of Ur, Erech,
+Larsa, and Eridu, and had them placed in E-sagila. Merodach and his
+priests were displeased: the prestige of the great god was threatened
+by the policy adopted by Nabonidus. As an inscription composed after
+the fall of Babylon sets forth; Merodach "gazed over the surrounding
+lands ... looking for a righteous prince, one after his own heart, who
+should take his hands.... He called by name Cyrus."
+
+Cyrus was a petty king of the shrunken Elamite province of Anshan,
+which had been conquered by the Persians. He claimed to be an
+Achaemenian--that is a descendant of the semi-mythical Akhamanish (the
+Achaemenes of the Greeks), a Persian patriarch who resembled the
+Aryo-Indian Manu and the Germanic Mannus. Akhamanish was reputed to
+have been fed and protected in childhood by an eagle--the sacred eagle
+which cast its shadow on born rulers. Probably this eagle was remotely
+Totemic, and the Achaemenians were descendants of an ancient eagle
+tribe. Gilgamesh was protected by an eagle, as we have seen, as the
+Aryo-Indian Shakuntala was by vultures and Semiramis by doves. The
+legends regarding the birth and boyhood of Cyrus resemble those
+related regarding Sargon of Akkad and the Indian Karna and Krishna.
+
+Cyrus acknowledged as his overlord Astyages, king of the Medes. He
+revolted against Astyages, whom he defeated and took prisoner.
+Thereafter he was proclaimed King of the Medes and Persians, who were
+kindred peoples of Indo-European speech. The father of Astyages was
+Cyaxares, the ally of Nabopolassar of Babylon. When this powerful king
+captured Nineveh he entered into possession of the northern part of
+the Assyrian Empire, which extended westward into Asia Minor to the
+frontier of the Lydian kingdom; he also possessed himself of Urartu
+(Armenia). Lydia had, after the collapse of the Cimmerian power,
+absorbed Phrygia, and its ambitious king, Alyattes, waged war against
+the Medes. At length, owing to the good offices of Nebuchadrezzar of
+Babylon and Syennesis of Cilicia, the Medes and Lydians made peace in
+585 B.C. Astyages then married a daughter of the Lydian ruler.
+
+When Cyrus overthrew Cyaxares, king of the Medes, Croesus, king of
+Lydia, formed an alliance against him with Amasis, king of Egypt, and
+Nabonidus, king of Babylon. The latter was at first friendly to Cyrus,
+who had attacked Cyaxares when he was advancing on Babylon to dispute
+Nabonidus's claim to the throne, and perhaps to win it for a
+descendant of Nebuchadrezzar, his father's ally. It was after the fall
+of the Median Dynasty that Nabonidus undertook the restoration of the
+moon god's temple at Haran.
+
+Cyrus advanced westward against Croesus of Lydia before that monarch
+could receive assistance from the intriguing but pleasure-loving
+Amasis of Egypt; he defeated and overthrew him, and seized his kingdom
+(547-546 B.C.). Then, having established himself as supreme ruler in
+Asia Minor, he began to operate against Babylonia. In 539 B.C.
+Belshazzar was defeated near Opis. Sippar fell soon afterwards.
+Cyrus's general, Gobryas, then advanced upon Babylon, where Belshazzar
+deemed himself safe. One night, in the month of Tammuz--
+
+    Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his
+    lords, and drank wine before the thousand. Belshazzar, whiles he
+    tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels
+    which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which
+    was in Jerusalem; that the king, and his princes, his wives, and
+    his concubines, might drink therein.... They drank wine, and
+    praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of
+    wood, and of stone.... In that night was Belshazzar the king of
+    the Chaldeans slain.[563]
+
+On the 16th of Tammuz the investing army under Gobryas entered
+Babylon, the gates having been opened by friends within the city. Some
+think that the Jews favoured the cause of Cyrus. It is quite as
+possible, however, that the priests of Merodach had a secret
+understanding with the great Achaemenian, the "King of kings".
+
+A few days afterwards Cyrus arrived at Babylon. Belshazzar had been
+slain, but Nabonidus still lived, and he was deported to Carmania.
+Perfect order prevailed throughout the city, which was firmly policed
+by the Persian soldiers, and there was no looting. Cyrus was welcomed
+as a deliverer by the priesthood. He "took the hands" of Bel Merodach
+at E-sagila, and was proclaimed "King of the world, King of Babylon,
+King of Sumer and Akkad, and King of the Four Quarters".
+
+Cyrus appointed his son Cambyses as governor of Babylon. Although a
+worshipper of Ahura-Mazda and Mithra, Cambyses appears to have
+conciliated the priesthood. When he became king, and swept through
+Egypt, he was remembered as the madman who in a fit of passion slew a
+sacred Apis bull. It is possible, however, that he performed what he
+considered to be a pious act: he may have sacrificed the bull to
+Mithra.
+
+The Jews also welcomed Cyrus. They yearned for their native land.
+
+    By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when
+    we remembered Zion. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the
+    midst thereof. For there they that carried us away captive
+    required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us
+    mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. How shall we sing
+    the Lord's song in a strange land? If I forget thee, O Jerusalem,
+    let my right hand forget her cunning. If I do not remember thee,
+    let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not
+    Jerusalem above my chief joy.[564]
+
+Cyrus heard with compassion the cry of the captives.
+
+    Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of
+    the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord
+    stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a
+    proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in
+    writing, saying, Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The Lord God of
+    heaven hath given me all kingdoms of the earth; and he hath
+    charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.
+    Who is there among you of all his people? his God be with him, and
+    let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house
+    of the Lord God of Israel (he is the God) which is in
+    Jerusalem.[565]
+
+In 538 B.C. the first party of Jews who were set free saw through
+tears the hills of home, and hastened their steps to reach Mount Zion.
+Fifty years later Ezra led back another party of the faithful. The
+work of restoring Jerusalem was undertaken by Nehemiah in 445 B.C.
+
+The trade of Babylon flourished under the Persians, and the influence
+of its culture spread far and wide. Persian religion was infused with
+new doctrines, and their deities were given stellar attributes.
+Ahura-Mazda became identified with Bel Merodach, as, perhaps, he had
+previously been with Ashur, and the goddess Anahita absorbed the
+attributes of Nina, Ishtar, Zerpanitu^m, and other Babylonian "mother
+deities".
+
+Another "Semiramis" came into prominence. This was the wife and sister
+of Cambyses. After Cambyses died she married Darius I, who, like
+Cyrus, claimed to be an Achaemenian. He had to overthrow a pretender,
+but submitted to the demands of the orthodox Persian party to purify
+the Ahura-Mazda religion of its Babylonian innovations. Frequent
+revolts in Babylon had afterwards to be suppressed. The Merodach
+priesthood apparently suffered loss of prestige at Court. According to
+Herodotus, Darius plotted to carry away from E-sagila a great statue
+of Bel "twelve cubits high and entirely of solid gold". He, however,
+was afraid "to lay his hands upon it". Xerxes, son of Darius (485-465
+B.C.), punished Babylon for revolting, when intelligence reached them
+of his disasters in Greece, by pillaging and partly destroying the
+temple. "He killed the priest who forbade him to move the statue, and
+took it away."[566] The city lost its vassal king, and was put under
+the control of a governor. It, however, regained some of its ancient
+glory after the burning of Susa palace, for the later Persian monarchs
+resided in it. Darius II died at Babylon, and Artaxerxes II promoted
+in the city the worship of Anaitis.
+
+When Darius III, the last Persian emperor, was overthrown by Alexander
+the Great in 331 B.C., Babylon welcomed the Macedonian conqueror as it
+had welcomed Cyrus. Alexander was impressed by the wisdom and
+accomplishments of the astrologers and priests, who had become known
+as "Chaldaeans", and added Bel Merodach to his extraordinary pantheon,
+which already included Amon of Egypt, Melkarth, and Jehovah. Impressed
+by the antiquity and magnificence of Babylon, he resolved to make it
+the capital of his world-wide empire, and there he received
+ambassadors from countries as far east as India and as far west as
+Gaul.
+
+The canals of Babylonia were surveyed, and building operations on a
+vast scale planned out. No fewer than ten thousand men were engaged
+working for two months reconstructing and decorating the temple of
+Merodach, which towered to a height of 607 feet. It looked as if
+Babylon were about to rise to a position of splendour unequalled in
+its history, when Alexander fell sick, after attending a banquet, and
+died on an evening of golden splendour sometime in June of 323 B.C.
+
+One can imagine the feelings of the Babylonian priests and astrologers
+as they spent the last few nights of the emperor's life reading "the
+omens of the air"--taking note of wind and shadow, moon and stars and
+planets, seeking for a sign, but unable to discover one favourable.
+Their hopes of Babylonian glory were suspended in the balance, and
+they perished completely when the young emperor passed away in the
+thirty-third year of his life. For four days and four nights the
+citizens mourned in silence for Alexander and for Babylon.
+
+The ancient city fell into decay under the empire of the Seleucidae.
+Seleucus I had been governor of Babylon, and after the break-up of
+Alexander's empire he returned to the ancient metropolis as a
+conqueror. "None of the persons who succeeded Alexander", Strabo
+wrote, "attended to the undertaking at Babylon"--the reconstruction of
+Merodach's temple. "Other works were neglected, and the city was
+dilapidated partly by the Persians and partly by time and through the
+indifference of the Greeks, particularly after Seleucus Nicator
+fortified Seleukeia on the Tigris."[567]
+
+Seleucus drafted to the city which bore his name the great bulk of the
+inhabitants of Babylon. The remnant which was left behind continued to
+worship Merodach and other gods after the walls had crumbled and the
+great temple began to tumble down. Babylon died slowly, but at length
+the words of the Hebrew prophet were fulfilled:
+
+    The cormorant and the bittern shall possess it; the owl also and
+    the raven shall dwell in it.... They shall call the nobles thereof
+    to the kingdom, but none shall be there, and all her princes shall
+    be nothing. And thorns shall come up in her palaces, nettles and
+    brambles in the fortresses thereof: and it shall be an habitation
+    of dragons, and a court for owls. The wild beasts of the desert
+    shall also meet with the wild beasts of the island, and the satyr
+    shall cry to his fellow: the screech owl also shall rest there,
+    and find for herself a place of rest.[568]
+
+
+
+
+FOOTNOTES
+
+
+[1] _Life of Apollonius of Tyana_, i, 2O.
+
+[2] _Egyptian Tales_ (Second Series), W.M. Flinders Petrie, pp. 98 _et
+seq._
+
+[3] _Revelation_, xviii. The Babylon of the Apocalypse is generally
+believed to symbolize or be a mystic designation of Rome.
+
+[4] _Nineveh and Its Remains_, vol. i, p. 17.
+
+[5] _Ezra_, iv, 10.
+
+[6] The culture god.
+
+[7] Langdon's _Sumerian and Babylonian Psalms_, p. 179.
+
+[8] _Crete the Forerunner of Greece_, p. 18.
+
+[9] _The Scapegoat vol._, p. 409 (3rd edition).
+
+[10] _The Seven Tablets of Creation_, L. W. King, p. 129.
+
+[11] _Ibid_, pp. 133-4.
+
+[12] _The Races of Europe_, W.Z. Ripley, p. 203.
+
+[13] _The Ancient Egyptians_, by Elliot Smith, p. 41 _et seq._
+
+[14] _The Ancient Egyptians_, p. 140.
+
+[15] _Crete the Forerunner of Greece_, C. H. and H. B. Hawes, 1911, p. 23
+_et seq._
+
+[16] _The Races of Europe_, W. Z. Ripley, p. 443 _et seq._
+
+[17] _The Ancient Egyptians_, pp. 144-5.
+
+[18] _The Ancient Egyptians_, p. 114.
+
+[19] _The Ancient Egyptians_, p. 136.
+
+[20] _A History of Palestine_, R.A.S. Macalister, pp. 8-16.
+
+[21] _The Mediterranean Race_ (1901 trans.), G. Sergi, p. 146 _et seq._
+
+[22] _The Ancient Egyptians_, p. 130.
+
+[23] _A History of Civilization in Palestine, p. 20 et seq._
+
+[24] _Joshua_, xi. 21.
+
+[25] _Genesis_, xxiii.
+
+[26] _Genesis_, xvi. 8, 9.
+
+[27] _1 Kings_, xvi. 16.
+
+[28] _2 Kings_, xviii, 32.
+
+[29] _Herodotus_, i, 193.
+
+[30] Peter's _Nippur_, i, p. 160.
+
+[31] A Babylonian priest of Bel Merodach. In the third century a.c. he
+composed in Greek a history of his native land, which has perished.
+Extracts from it are given by Eusebius, Josephus, Apollodorus, and
+others.
+
+[32] _Indian Myth and Legend_, pp. 140, 141.
+
+[33] _The Religion of the Semites_, pp. 159, 160.
+
+[34] _Religion of Babylonia and Assyria_, M. Jastrow, p. 88.
+
+[35] _The Seven Tablets of Creation_, L.W. King, vol. i, p. 129.
+
+[36] _Religious Belief in Babylonia and Assyria_, M. Jastrow, p. 88.
+
+[37] _Cosmology of the Rigveda_, Wallis, and _Indian Myth and Legend_, p.
+10.
+
+[38] _The Old Testament in the Light of the Historical Records and Legends
+of Assyria and Babylonia_, T.G. Pinches, pp. 59-61.
+
+[39] _The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria_, T.G. Pinches, pp. 91, 92.
+
+[40] _Joshua_, xv, 41; xix, 27.
+
+[41] _Judges_, xvi, 14.
+
+[42] _I Sam_., v, 1-9.
+
+[43] _I Sam_., vi, 5.
+
+[44] _The Devils and Evil Spirits of Babylonia_, R. Campbell Thompson,
+London, 1903, vol. i, p. xlii.
+
+[45] _The Devils and Evil Spirits of Babylonia_, R. C. Thompson, vol. i, p.
+xliii.
+
+[46] _A History of Sumer and Akkad_, L. W. King, p. 54.
+
+[47] _The Gods of the Egyptians_, E. Wallis Budge, vol. i, p. 290.
+
+[48] _The Gods of the Egyptians_, vol. i, p. 287.
+
+[49] _The Devils and Evil Spirits of Babylonia_, vol. i, _Intro_. See also
+Sayce's _The Religion of Ancient Egypt and Babylonia_ (Gifford
+Lectures, 1902), p. 385, and Pinches' _The Old Testament in the Light
+of Historical Records_, &c., p. 71.
+
+[50] _Indian Myth and Legend_, p. 100.
+
+[51] Maspero's _Dawn of Civilization_, p. 156 _et seq._
+
+[52] _Egyptian Myth and Legend_, p. I _et seq._ The saliva of the frail and
+elderly was injurious.
+
+[53] _Osiris and the Egyptian Resurrection_, E. Wallis Budge, vol. ii, p.
+203 _et seq._
+
+[54] _Brana's Popular Antiquities_, vol. iii, pp. 259-263 (1889 ed.).
+
+[55] _The Religion of the Semites_, pp. 158, 159.
+
+[56] _Castes and Tribes of Southern India_, E. Thurston, iv, 187.
+
+[57] _Omens and Superstitions of Southern India_, E. Thurston (1912), pp.
+245, 246.
+
+[58] Pausanias, ii, 24, 1.
+
+[59] _Devils and Evil Spirits of Babylonia_, R.C. Thompson, vol. ii, tablet
+Y.
+
+[60] _Animism_, E. Clodd, p. 37.
+
+[61] _2 Kings_, xvi, 3.
+
+[62] _Ezekiel_, xx, 31.
+
+[63] _Leviticus_, xviii, 21.
+
+[64] _Indian Myth and Legend_, p. 65.
+
+[65] _Religious Belief in Babylonia and Assyria_, M. Jastrow, pp. 312, 313.
+
+[66] _The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria_, T.G. Pinches, p. 81.
+
+[67] In early times two goddesses searched for Tammuz at different periods.
+
+[68] _Indian Myth and Legend_, p. 30.
+
+[69] _Early Religious Poetry of Persia_, p. 35.
+
+[70] _Early Religious Poetry of Persia_, p. 37.
+
+[71] _The Golden Bough_ (Spirits of the Corn and Wild, vol. ii, p. 10), 3rd
+edition.
+
+[72] _Indian Wisdom_, Sir Monier Monier-Williams.
+
+[73] _A History of Sanskrit Literature_, Professor Macdonell.
+
+[74] _Religious Belief and Practice in Babylonia and Assyria_, M. Jastrow,
+pp. 111, 112.
+
+[75] _Indian Myth and Legend_, pp. xxxii, and 38 _et seq._
+
+[76] _The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria_, T.G. Pinches, p. 94.
+
+[77] _The Religion of Ancient Greece_, J.E. Harrison, p. 46, and Isoc.
+_Orat._, v, 117
+
+[78] _The Acts_, xvii, 22-31.
+
+[79] _Devils and Evil Spirits of Babylonia_, vol. ii, p. 149 _et seq._
+
+[80] _Egyptian Myth and Legend_, xxxix, _n._
+
+[81] _Development of Religion and Thought in Ancient Egypt_, J.H. Breasted,
+pp. 38, 74.
+
+[82] _Custom and Myth_, p. 45 _et seq._
+
+[83] _The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria_, p. 108.
+
+[84] Act iv, scene 1.
+
+[85] _Paradise Lost_, book ix.
+
+[86] Chapman's _Caesar and Pompey_.
+
+[87] _Natural History_, 2nd book.
+
+[88] _Indian Myth and Legend_, 70, n.
+
+[89] _Indian Myth and Legend_, pp. 202-5, 400, 401.
+
+[90] _Teutonic Myth and Legend_, p. 424 et seq.
+
+[91] _Indian Myth and Legend_, p. 164 et seq.
+
+[92] _Popular Religion and Folk Lore of Northern India_, W. Crooke, vol. i,
+p. 254.
+
+[93] When a person, young or old, is dying, near relatives must not call
+out their names in case the soul may come back from the spirit world.
+A similar belief still lingers, especially among women, in the
+Lowlands. The writer was once present in a room when a child was
+supposed to be dying. Suddenly the mother called out the child's name
+in agonized voice. It revived soon afterwards. Two old women who had
+attempted to prevent "the calling" shook their heads and remarked:
+"She has done it! The child will never do any good in this world after
+being called back." In England and Ireland, as well as in Scotland,
+the belief also prevails in certain localities that if a dying person
+is "called back" the soul will tarry for another twenty-four hours,
+during which the individual will suffer great agony.
+
+[94] _A Journey in Southern Siberia_, Jeremiah Curtin, pp. 103, 104.
+
+[95] Vol. i, p. 305.
+
+[96] _Adi Parva_ section of _Mahabharata_, Roy's trans., p. 635.
+
+[97] Jastrow's _Aspects of Religious Belief in Babylonia_, &c., p. 312.
+
+[98] R.C. Thompson's trans.
+
+[99] _The Elder or Poetic Edda_, Olive Bray, part i, p. 53.
+
+[100] _Babylonian Religion_, L.W. King, pp. 186-8.
+
+[101] _The Devils and Evil Spirits of Babylonia_, R. Campbell Thompson, vol.
+i, p. 53 et seq.
+
+[102] _Omens and Superstitions of Southern India_, E. Thurston, p. 124.
+
+[103] _The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria_, p. 110.
+
+[104] _Beowulf_, Clark Hall, p. 14.
+
+[105] _Ezekiel_, viii.
+
+[106] _Psalms_, cxxvi.
+
+[107] _The Burden of Isis_, J.T. Dennis _(Wisdom of the East_ series), pp.
+21, 22.
+
+[108] _Religion of the Semites_, pp. 412, 414.
+
+[109] _Egyptian Myth and Legend_, pp. 45 et seq.
+
+[110] Langdon's _Sumerian and Babylonian Psalms_, pp. 319-321.
+
+[111] Campbell's _West Highland Tales_, vol. iii, p. 74.
+
+[112] _West Highland Tales_, vol. iii, pp. 85, 86.
+
+[113] If Finn and his band were really militiamen--the original Fenians--as
+is believed in Ireland, they may have had attached to their memories
+the legends of archaic Iberian deities who differed from the Celtic
+Danann deities. Theodoric the Goth, as Dietrich von Bern, was
+identified, for instance, with Donar or Thunor (Thor), the thunder
+god. In Scotland Finn and his followers are all giants. Diarmid is the
+patriarch of the Campbell clan, the MacDiarmids being "sons of
+Diarmid".
+
+[114] Isaiah condemns a magical custom connected with the worship of Tammuz
+in the garden, _Isaiah_, xvii, 9, 11. This "Garden of Adonis" is dealt
+with in the next chapter.
+
+[115] Quotations are from _Sumerian and Babylonian Psalms_, translated by
+Stephen Langdon, Ph.D. (Paris and London, 1909), pp. 299-341.
+
+[116] _Beowulf_, translated by J.R. Clark Hall (London, 1911), pp. 9-11.
+
+[117] For Frey's connection with the Ynglings see Morris and Magnusson's
+_Heimskringla_ (_Saga Library_, vol. iii), pp. 23-71.
+
+[118] _The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria_, p. 72.
+
+[119] Langdon's _Sumerian and Babylonian Psalms_, pp. 325, 339.
+
+[120] Professor Oldenberg's translation.
+
+[121] Osiris is also invoked to "remove storms and rain and give fecundity
+in the nighttime". As a spring sun god he slays demons; as a lunar god
+he brings fertility.
+
+[122] Like the love-compelling girdle of Aphrodite.
+
+[123] A wedding bracelet of crystal is worn by Hindu women; they break it
+when the husband dies.
+
+[124] Quotations from the translation in _The Chaldean Account of Genesis_,
+by George Smith.
+
+[125] Langdon's _Sumerian and Babylonian Psalms_, p. 329 _et seq._
+
+[126] _The Burden of Isis_, translated by J.T. Dennis (_Wisdom of the East_
+series), pp. 24, 31, 32, 39, 45, 46, 49.
+
+[127] _The Burden of Isis_, pp. 22, 46.
+
+[128] _Aspects of Religious Belief and Practice in Babylonia and Assyria_,
+p. 137, and _Herodotus_, book i, 199.
+
+[129] _The Burden of Isis_, p. 47.
+
+[130] _Original Sanskrit Texts_, J. Muir, London, 1890, vol. i, p. 67.
+
+[131] _Original Sanskrit Texts_, vol. i, p. 44.
+
+[132] _Adi Parva_ section of _Mahabharata_ (Roy's translation), pp. 553,
+555.
+
+[133] _Ancient Irish Poetry_, Kuno Meyer (London, 1911), pp. 88-90.
+
+[134] Translations from _The Elder Edda_, by O. Bray (part i), London, 1908.
+
+[135] _Babylonian Religion_, L.W. King, pp. 160, 161.
+
+[136] Tennyson's _A Dream of Fair Women._
+
+[137] _Greece and Babylon_, L.R. Farnell (Edinburgh, 1911), p. 35.
+
+[138] The goddesses did not become prominent until the "late invasion" of
+the post-Vedic Aryans.
+
+[139] _Greece and Babylon_, p. 96.
+
+[140] _Jeremiah_, xliv.
+
+[141] _Jeremiah, vii, 18._
+
+[142] _Aspects of Religious Belief and Practice in Babylonia and Assyria_,
+pp. 348, 349.
+
+[143] _Jeremiah, vii, 17._
+
+[144] _Nehemiah_, i, 1.
+
+[145] _Esther_, i, 6.
+
+[146] _Isaiah_, xiii, 19-22.
+
+[147] _Indian Myth and Legend_, pp. 173-175 and 192-194.
+
+[148] Or Rimush.
+
+[149] _Genesis_, xiv.
+
+[150] That is, the equivalent of Babylonia. During the Kassite period the
+name was Karduniash.
+
+[151] The narrative follows _The Seven Tablets of Creation_ and other
+fragments, while the account given by Berosus is also drawn upon.
+
+[152] The elder Bel was Enlil of Nippur and the younger Merodach of Babylon.
+According to Damascius the elder Bel came into existence before Ea,
+who as Enki shared his attributes.
+
+[153] This is the inference drawn from fragmentary texts.
+
+[154] A large portion of the narrative is awaiting here.
+
+[155] A title of Tiamat; pron. _ch_ guttural.
+
+[156] There is another gap here which interrupts the narrative.
+
+[157] This may refer to Ea's first visit when he overcame Kingu, but did not
+attack Tiamat.
+
+[158] The lightning trident or thunderstone.
+
+[159] The authorities are not agreed as to the meaning of "Ku-pu." Jensen
+suggests "trunk, body". In European dragon stories the heroes of the
+Siegfried order roast and eat the dragon's heart. Then they are
+inspired with the dragon's wisdom and cunning. Sigurd and Siegfried
+immediately acquire the language of birds. The birds are the "Fates",
+and direct the heroes what next they should do. Apparently Merodach's
+"cunning plan" was inspired after he had eaten a part of the body of
+Tiamat.
+
+[160] The waters above the firmament.
+
+[161] According to Berosus.
+
+[162] This portion is fragmentary and seems to indicate that the Babylonians
+had made considerable progress in the science of astronomy. It is
+suggested that they knew that the moon derived its light from the sun.
+
+[163] _The Seven Tablets of Creation_, L.W. King, pp. 134, 135.
+
+[164] _The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria_, T.G. Pinches, p. 43.
+
+[165] _The Seven Tablets of Creation_, L. W. King, vol. i, pp. 98, 99.
+
+[166] _Trans. Soc. Bib. Arch_., iv, 251-2.
+
+[167] Shakespeare's _Julius Caesar_, i, 3, 8.
+
+[168] _Isaiah_, li, 8.
+
+[169] Campbell's _West Highland Tales_, pp. 136 _et seq._
+
+[170] _The Life and Exploits of Alexander the Great_, E. A. Wallis Budge,
+pp. 284, 285.
+
+[171] Campbell's _West Highland Tales_.
+
+[172] _Nehemiah_, ii, 13.
+
+[173] _The Tempest_, i, 2, 212.
+
+[174] _Waifs and Strays of Celtic Tradition_, vol. iv, p. 176 et seq.
+
+[175] From unpublished folk tale.
+
+[176] _Beowulf_, translated by Clark Hall, London, 1911, p. 18 et seq.
+
+[177] _Beowulf_, translated by Clark Hall, London, 1911, p. 69, lines
+1280-1287.
+
+[178] _Egyptian Myth and Legend_, pp. 260, 261.
+
+[179] _Egyptian Myth and Legend_, pp. 8, 9.
+
+[180] _Indian Myth and Legend_, pp. xli, 149, 150.
+
+[181] _Isaiah_, li, 9.
+
+[182] _Psalms_, lxxiv, 13, 14. It will be noted that the Semitic dragon,
+like the Egyptian, is a male.
+
+[183] _Job_, xxvi, 12, 13.
+
+[184] _Psalms_, lxxxix, 10.
+
+[185] _Isaiah_, xxvii, I.
+
+[186] _Sumerian and Babylonian Psalms_, p. 204.
+
+[187] _Custom and Myth_, pp. 45 et seq.
+
+[188] Translation by Dr. Langdon, pp. 199 _et seq._
+
+[189] _The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria_, T.G. Pinches, pp. 118, 119.
+
+[190] It is suggested that Arthur is derived from the Celtic word for
+"bear". If so, the bear may have been the "totem" of the Arthur tribe
+represented by the Scottish clan of MacArthurs.
+
+[191] See "Lady in the Straw" beliefs in _Brand's Popular Antiquities_, vol.
+ii, 66 _et seq._ 1899 ed.).
+
+[192] Like the Etana "mother eagle" Garuda was a slayer of serpents (Chapter
+III).
+
+[193] _Vana Parva_ section of the _Mahabharata_ (Roy's trans.), p. 818 _et
+seq._, and _Indian Myth and Legend_, p. 413.
+
+[194] _The Koran_ (with notes from approved commentators), trans. by George
+Sale, P-246, _n_.
+
+[195] _The Life and Exploits of Alexander the Great_, E. Wallis Budge
+(London, 1896), pp. 277-8, 474-5.
+
+[196] Campbell's _West Highland Tales_, vol. iii, pp. 251-4 (1892 ed.).
+
+[197] _Religion of the Ancient Egyptians_, A. Wiedemann, p. 141.
+
+[198] _Adi Parva_ section of the _Mahabharata_ (Hymn to Garuda), Roy's
+trans., p. 88, 89.
+
+[199] Herodian, iv, 2.
+
+[200] The image made by Nebuchadnezzar is of interest in this connection. He
+decreed that "whoso falleth not down and worshippeth" should be burned
+in the "fiery furnace". The Hebrews, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego,
+were accordingly thrown into the fire, but were delivered by God.
+_Daniel_, iii, 1-30.
+
+[201] The Assyrian and Phoenician Hercules is discussed by Raoul Rochette in
+_Memoires de l'Academie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres_ (Paris,
+1848), pp. 178 et seq.
+
+[202] G. Sale's _Koran_, p. 246, n.
+
+[203] In the Eddic poem "Lokasenna" the god Byggvir (Barley) is addressed by
+Loki, "Silence, Barleycorn!" _The Elder Edda_, translation by Olive
+Bray, pp. 262, 263.
+
+[204] _De Nat. Animal_., xii, 21, ed. Didot, p. 210, quoted by Professor
+Budge in _The Life and Exploits of Alexander the Great_, p. 278, n.
+
+[205] _Isaiah_, lvii, 4 and 5.
+
+[206] _The Golden Bough (Adonis, Attis, Osiris_ vol.), "The Gardens of
+Adonis", pp. 194 _et seq._ (3rd ed.).
+
+[207] _Daniel_, iv, 33. It is possible that Nebuchadnezzar, as the human
+representative of the god of corn and fertility, imitated the god by
+living a time in the wilds like Ea-bani.
+
+[208] Pronounce _ch_ guttural.
+
+[209] On a cylinder seal the heroes each wrestle with a bull.
+
+[210] Alexander the Great in the course of his mythical travels reached a
+mountain at the world-end. "Its peak reached to the first heaven and
+its base to the seventh earth."--_Budge_.
+
+[211] Jastrow's trans., _Aspects of Religious Belief and Practice in
+Babylonia and Assyria_, p. 374.
+
+[212] _Development of Religion and Thought in Ancient Egypt_ (1912), J.H.
+Breasted, pp. 183-5.
+
+[213] _Ecclesiastes_, ix, 7-9.
+
+[214] Ibid., xii, 13.
+
+[215] Perhaps brooding and undergoing penance like an Indian Rishi with
+purpose to obtain spiritual power.
+
+[216] Probably to perform the ceremony of pouring out a libation.
+
+[217] _Saxo_, iii, 71.
+
+[218] Ibid., viii, 291.
+
+[219] _The Elder Edda_, O. Bray, pp. 157 et seq. See also _Teutonic Myth and
+Legend_.
+
+[220] _The Life and Exploits of Alexander the Great_, E. Wallis Budge, pp.
+xl et seq., 167 et seq.
+
+[221] _The Koran_, trans, by G. Sale, pp. 222, 223 (chap. xviii).
+
+[222] _Vana Parva_ section of the _Mahabharata_ (Roy's trans.), pp. 435-60,
+and _Indian Myth and Legend_, pp. 105-9.
+
+[223] _Vana Parva_ section of the _Mahabharata_ (Roy's translation), pp.
+832, 833.
+
+[224] Ea addresses the hut in which his human favourite, Pir-napishtim,
+slept. His message was conveyed to this man in a dream.
+
+[225] The second sentence of Ea's speech is conjectural, as the lines are
+mutilated.
+
+[226] _The Muses' Pageant_, W.M.L. Hutchinson, pp. 5 _et seq._
+
+[227] _Indian Myth and Legend_, pp. 107 _et seq._
+
+[228] _Vana Parva_ section of the _Mahabharata_ (Roy's trans.), p. 425.
+
+[229] _Indian Myth and Legend_, p. 141.
+
+[230] _Book of Leinster_, and Keating's _History of Ireland_, p. 150 (1811
+ed.).
+
+[231] _Religion of the Ancient Egyptians_, A. Wiedemann, pp. 58 _et seq._
+
+[232] Pinches' _The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria_, p. 42.
+
+[233] The problems involved are discussed from different points of view by
+Mr. L.W. King in _Babylonian Religion_ (Books on Egypt and Chaldaea,
+vol. iv), Professor Pinches in _The Old Testament in the Light of the
+Historical Records and Legends of Assyria and Babylonia_, and other
+vols.
+
+[234] _Primitive Constellations_, vol. i, pp. 334-5.
+
+[235] _Indian Myth and Legend_, chap. iii.
+
+[236] Professor Macdonell's translation.
+
+[237] _Indian Wisdom_.
+
+[238] "Varuna, the deity bearing the noose as his weapon", _Sabha Parva_
+section of the _Mahabharata_ (Roy's trans.), p. 29.
+
+[239] _Indian Myth and Legend_, pp. 38-42.
+
+[240] _Early Religious Poetry of Persia_, J.H. Moulton, pp. 41 _et seq._ and
+154 _et seq._
+
+[241] _The Elder Edda_, O. Bray, p. 55.
+
+[242] _The Elder Edda_, O. Bray, pp. 291 _et seq._
+
+[243] _Celtic Myth and Legend_, pp. 133 _et seq._
+
+[244] Tennyson's _The Passing of Arthur_.
+
+[245] _Job_, x, 1-22.
+
+[246] _The Elder Edda_, O. Bray, pp. 150-1.
+
+[247] _Indian Myth and Legend_, p. 326.
+
+[248] _The Religion of Ancient Rome_, Cyril Bailey, p. 50.
+
+[249] _The Life and Exploits of Alexander the Great (Ethiopic version of the
+Pseudo Callisthenes)_, pp. 133-4. The conversation possibly never took
+place, but it is of interest in so far as it reflects beliefs which
+were familiar to the author of this ancient work. His Brahmans
+evidently believed that immortality was denied to ordinary men, and
+reserved only for the king, who was the representative of the deity,
+of course.
+
+[250] _Aspects of Religious Belief and Practice in Babylonia and Assyria_,
+Morris Jastrow, pp. 358-9.
+
+[251] The _Mahabharata_ (_Sabha Parva_ section), Roy's translation, pp.
+25-7.
+
+[252] _A History of Sumer and Akkad_, L.W. King, pp. 181-2.
+
+[253] _Genesis_, xxxv, 2-4.
+
+[254] _The Religion of Ancient Egypt_, W.M. Flinders Petrie, p. 72.
+
+[255] _Sabha Parva_ section of the _Mahabharata_ (Roy's trans.), p. 29.
+
+[256] _Egyptian Myth and Legend_, p. 214.
+
+[257] Canto iv:--
+
+[258] _1 Samuel_, xxiii, 9-11.
+
+[259] _1 Kings_, xix, 19 and _2 Kings_, ii, 13-15.
+
+[260] _The Burial Customs of Ancient Egypt_, John Garstang, pp. 28, 29
+(London, 1907).
+
+[261] _Herod._, book i, 198.
+
+[262] _Records of the Past_ (old series), xi, pp. 109 et seq., and (new
+series), vol. i, pp. 149 et seq.
+
+[263] L.W. King's _The Seven Tablets of Creation_.
+
+[264] _Herodotus_, book i, 179 (Rawlinson's translation).
+
+[265] _Isaiah_, xlv, 1, 2.
+
+[266] _Herodotus_, book i, 181-3 (Rawlinson's translation).
+
+[267] _History of Sumer and Akkad_, L.W. King, p. 37.
+
+[268] _Herodotus_, book i, 196 (Rawlinson's translation).
+
+[269] _Home Life of the Highlanders_ (Dr. Cameron Gillies on _Medical
+Knowledge_,) pp. 85 _et seq._ Glasgow, 1911.
+
+[270] Translations by R.C. Thompson in _The Devils and Spirits of Babylon_,
+vol. i, pp. lxiii _et seq._
+
+[271] Bridges which lead to graveyards.
+
+[272] _Genesis_, xii and xiii.
+
+[273] _Genesis_, xiv, 13.
+
+[274] _Ibid_., xxiii.
+
+[275] _Ezekiel_, xvi, 3.
+
+[276] _Genesis_, xiv, 1-4.
+
+[277] _Ibid_., 5-24.
+
+[278] _Babylonian and Assyrian Laws, Contracts, and Letters_, C.H.W. Johns,
+pp. 392 _et seq._
+
+[279] Translation by Johns in _Babylonian and Assyrian Laws, Contracts, and
+Letters_, pp. 390 _et seq._
+
+[280] _Matthew_, ix, 37.
+
+[281] Johns's _Babylonian and Assyrian Laws, &c._, pp. 371-2.
+
+[282] _The Land of the Hittites_, John Garstang, pp. 312 _et seq._ and 315
+_et seq._
+
+[283] _The Ancient Egyptian_, pp. 106 _et seq._
+
+[284] _The Ancient Egyptians_, p. 130.
+
+[285] _Struggle of the Nations_ (1896), p. 19.
+
+[286] Note contributed to _The Land of the Hittites_, J. Garstang, p. 324.
+
+[287] _Genesis_, xxvi, 34, 35.
+
+[288] _Ezekiel_, xvi, 45.
+
+[289] _Genesis_, xxvii, 46.
+
+[290] _Genesis_, xxviii, 1, 2.
+
+[291] _Genesis_, xxiv.
+
+[292] _The Syrian Goddess_, John Garstang (London, 1913), pp. 17-8.
+
+[293] _Vedic Index of Names and Subjects_, Macdonald & Keith, vol. i, pp.
+64-5 (London, 1912).
+
+[294] _The Wanderings of Peoples_, p. 21.
+
+[295] Breasted's _History of Egypt_, pp. 219-20.
+
+[296] _A History of Egypt_, W.M. Flinders Petrie, vol. ii, p. 146 _et seq._
+(1904 ed.).
+
+[297] _A History of Egypt_, W.M. Flinders Petrie, vol. ii, p. 147 (1904
+ed.).
+
+[298] _The Old Testament in the Light of the Historical Records and Legends
+of Assyria and Babylonia_, pp. 126 _et seq._
+
+[299] His connection with Anu is discussed in chapter xiv.
+
+[300] _Ancient Assyria_, C.H.W. Johns, p. 11 (London, 1912).
+
+[301] _The Tell-el-Amarna Letters_, Hugo Winckler, p. 31.
+
+[302] "It may be worth while to note again", says Beddoe, "how often finely
+developed skulls are discovered in the graveyards of old monasteries,
+and how likely seems Galton's conjecture, that progress was arrested
+in the Middle Ages, because the celibacy of the clergy brought about
+the extinction of the best strains of blood." _The Anthropological
+History of Europe_, p. 161 (1912).
+
+[303] _Census of India_, vol. I, part i, pp. 352 et seq.
+
+[304] _Hibbert Lectures_, Professor Sayce, p. 328.
+
+[305] _The Story of Nala_, Monier Williams, pp. 68-9 and 77.
+
+[306] "In Ymer's flesh (the earth) the dwarfs were engendered and began to
+move and live.... The dwarfs had been bred in the mould of the earth,
+just as worms are in a dead body." _The Prose Edda_. "The gods ...
+took counsel whom they should make the lord of dwarfs out of Ymer's
+blood (the sea) and his swarthy limbs (the earth)." _The Elder Edda
+(Voluspa_, stanza 9).
+
+[307] _The Story of Nala_, Monier Williams, p. 67.
+
+[308] _Egyptian Myth and Legend_, pp. 168 _it seq._
+
+[309] _The Burden of Isis_, Dennis, p. 24.
+
+[310] _Babylonian Magic and Sorcery_, p. 117.
+
+[311] _Babylonian and Assyrian Religion_, T.G. Pinches, p. l00.
+
+[312] _The Burden of Isis_, J.T. Dennis, p. 49.
+
+[313] _Ibid_., p. 52.
+
+[314] _Religion of the Ancient Egyptians_, A. Wiedemann, p. 30.
+
+[315] _Vedic Index_, Macdonell & Keith, vol. i, pp. 423 _et seq._
+
+[316] _Religion of the Ancient Babylonians_, Sayce, p. 153, n. 6.
+
+[317] _Religion of the Ancient Egyptians_, A. Wiedemann, p. 30.
+
+[318] _Aspects of Religious Belief and Practice in Babylonia and Assyria_,
+p. 95.
+
+[319] _Babylonian and Assyrian Religion_, pp. 63 and 83.
+
+[320] When the King of Assyria transported the Babylonians, &c., to Samaria
+"the men of Cuth made Nergal", _2 Kings_, xvii, 30.
+
+[321] _Babylonian and Assyrian Religion_, p. 80.
+
+[322] _Indian Myth and Legend_, p. 13.
+
+[323] Derived from the Greek zoon, an animal.
+
+[324] _The Hittites_, pp. 116, 119, 120, 272.
+
+[325] "The sun... is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and
+rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race." (_Psalm_ xix, 4 _et seq._)
+The marriage of the sun bridegroom with the moon bride appears to
+occur in Hittite mythology. In Aryo-Indian Vedic mythology the bride
+of the sun (Surya) is Ushas, the Dawn. The sun maiden also married the
+moon god. The Vedic gods ran a race and Indra and Agni were the
+winners. The sun was "of the nature of Agni". _Indian Myth and
+Legend_, pp. 14, 36, 37.
+
+[326] Or golden.
+
+[327] The later reference is to Assyria. There was no Assyrian kingdom when
+these early beliefs were developed.
+
+[328] _Primitive Constellations_, R. Brown, jun., vol. ii, p. 1 _et seq._
+
+[329] In India "finger counting" (Kaur guna) is associated with prayer or
+the repeating of mantras. The counting is performed by the thumb,
+which, when the hand is drawn up, touches the upper part of the third
+finger. The two upper "chambers" of the third finger are counted, then
+the two upper "chambers" of the little finger; the thumb then touches
+the tip of each finger from the little finger to the first; when it
+comes down into the upper chamber of the first finger 9 is counted. By
+a similar process each round of 9 on the right hand is recorded by the
+left up to 12; 12 X 9 = 108 repetitions of a mantra. The upper
+"chambers" of the fingers are the "best" or "highest" (uttama), the
+lower (adhama) chambers are not utilized in the prayer-counting
+process. When Hindus sit cross-legged at prayers, with closed eyes,
+the right hand is raised from the elbow in front of the body, and the
+thumb moves each time a mantra is repeated; the left hand lies palm
+upward on the left knee, and the thumb moves each time nine mantras
+have been counted.
+
+[330] _Primitive Constellations_, R. Brown, jun., vol. ii, p. 61; and _Early
+History of Northern India_, J.F. Hewitt, pp. 551-2.
+
+[331] _Rigveda-Samhita_, vol. iv (1892), p. 67.
+
+[332] _Vedic Index_, Macdonell & Keith, vol. ii, pp. 192 _et seq._
+
+[333] _Indian Myth and Legend_
+
+[334] Pp. 107 _et seq._
+
+[335] _Primitive Constellation_, R. Brown, jun., vol. i, 1. 333. A table is
+given showing how 120 saroi equals 360 degrees, each king being
+identified with a star.
+
+[336] "Behold, his majesty the god Ra is grown old; his bones are become
+silver, his limbs gold, and his hair pure lapis lazuli." _Religion of
+the Ancient Egyptians_, A. Wiedemann, p. 58. Ra became a destroyer
+after completing his reign as an earthly king.
+
+[337] As Nin-Girau, Tammuz was associated with "sevenfold" Orion.
+
+[338] _Babylonian and Assyrian Life_, pp. 61, 62.
+
+[339] Herodotus (ii, 52) as quoted in _Egypt and Scythia_ (London, 1886), p.
+49.
+
+[340] _Babylonian Magic and Sorcery_, L.W. King (London, 1896), pp. 43 and
+115.
+
+[341] _Vedic Index_, Macdonell & Keith, vol. ii, p. 229.
+
+[342] _Ibid_ vol. i, pp. 409, 410.
+
+[343] _Ibid_ vol. i, p. 415.
+
+[344] _Primitive Constellations_, vol. i, p. 343.
+
+[345] _Custom and Myth_, pp. 133 _et seq._
+
+[346] Dr. Alfred Jeremias gives very forcible reasons for believing that the
+ancient Babylonians were acquainted with the precession of the
+equinoxes. _Das Alter der Babylonischen Astronomie_ (Hinrichs,
+Leipzig, 1908), pp. 47 _et seq._
+
+[347] _Aspects of Religious Belief and Practice in Babylonia and Assyria_,
+pp. 207 _et seq._
+
+[348] _A History of the Babylonians and Assyrians_, p. 93.
+
+[349] _Babylonians and Assyrians: Life and Customs_, pp. 219, 220.
+
+[350] _Primitive Constellations_, vol. ii, pp. 147 et seq.
+
+[351] The Aryo-Indians had a lunar year of 360 days (_Vedic Index_, ii,
+158).
+
+[352] _A History of the Babylonians and Assyrians_, p. 94.
+
+[353] _Twelfth Night_, act ii, scene 5.
+
+[354] _Childe Harold_, canto iii, v, 88.
+
+[355] _Genesis_, x, 11.
+
+[356] "A number of tablets have been found in Cappadocia of the time of the
+Second Dynasty of Ur which show marked affinities with Assyria. The
+divine name Ashir, as in early Assyrian texts, the institution of
+eponyms and many personal names which occur in Assyria, are so
+characteristic that we must assume kinship of peoples. But whether
+they witness to a settlement in Cappadocia from Assyria, or vice
+versa, is not yet clear." _Ancient Assyria_, C.H.W. Johns (Cambridge,
+1912), pp. 12-13.
+
+[357] Sumerian Ziku, apparently derived from Zi, the spiritual essence of
+life, the "self power" of the Universe.
+
+[358] _Peri Archon_, cxxv.
+
+[359] _Religion of Babylonia and Assyria_, p. 197 et seq.
+
+[360] _Julius Caesar_, act iii, scene I.
+
+[361] _Isaiah_, xiv, 4-14.
+
+[362] _Eddubrott_, ii.
+
+[363] _Religion of the Ancient Egyptians_, A. Wiedemann, pp. 289-90.
+
+[364] _Ibid_., p. 236. Atlas was also believed to be in the west.
+
+[365] _Primitive Constellations_, vol. ii, p. 184.
+
+[366] _Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia_, xxx, II.
+
+[367] _Isaiah_, xiii, 21. For "Satyrs" the Revised Version gives the
+alternative translation, "or he-goats".
+
+[368] _Aspects of Religious Belief and Practice in Babylonia and Assyria_,
+p. 120, plate 18 and note.
+
+[369] _Satapatha Brahmana_, translated by Professor Eggeling, part iv, 1897,
+p. 371. _(Sacred Books of the East_.)
+
+[370] _Egyptian Myth and Legend_, pp. 165 et seq.
+
+[371] _Classic Myth and Legend_, p. 105. The birds were called
+"Stymphalides".
+
+[372] The so-called "shuttle" of Neith may be a thunderbolt. Scotland's
+archaic thunder deity is a goddess. The bow and arrows suggest a
+lightning goddess who was a deity of war because she was a deity of
+fertility.
+
+[373] _Vedic Index_, Macdonell & Keith, vol. ii, pp. 125-6, and vol. i,
+168-9.
+
+[374] _Ezekiel_, xxxi, 3-8.
+
+[375] _Ezekiel_, xxvii, 23, 24.
+
+[376] _Isaiah_, xxxvii, 11.
+
+[377] _Ibid_., x, 5, 6.
+
+[378] A winged human figure, carrying in one hand a basket and in another a
+fir cone.
+
+[379] Layard's _Nineveh_ (1856), p. 44.
+
+[380] _Ibid_., p. 309.
+
+[381] The fir cone was offered to Attis and Mithra. Its association with
+Ashur suggests that the great Assyrian deity resembled the gods of
+corn and trees and fertility.
+
+[382] _Nineveh_, p. 47.
+
+[383] _Isaiah_, xxxvii, 37-8.
+
+[384] _The Old Testament in the Light of the Historical Records and Legends
+of Assyria and Babylonia_, pp. 129-30.
+
+[385] An eclipse of the sun in Assyria on June 15, 763 B.C., was followed by
+an outbreak of civil war.
+
+[386] _Ezekiel_, i, 4-14.
+
+[387] _Ezekiel_, xxiii, 1-15.
+
+[388] As the soul of the Egyptian god was in the sun disk or sun egg.
+
+[389] _Ezekiel_, i, 15-28.
+
+[390] _Ezekiel_, x, 11-5.
+
+[391] Also called "Amrita".
+
+[392] The _Mahabharata_ (_Adi Parva_), Sections xxxiii-iv.
+
+[393] Another way of spelling the Turkish name which signifies "village of
+the pass". The deep "gh" guttural is not usually attempted by English
+speakers. A common rendering is "Bog-haz' Kay-ee", a slight "oo" sound
+being given to the "a" in "Kay"; the "z" sound is hard and hissing.
+
+[394] _The Land of the Hittites_, J. Garstang, pp. 178 _et seq._
+
+[395] _Ibid_., p. 173.
+
+[396] _Adonis, Attis, Osiris_, chaps. v and vi.
+
+[397] _Daniel_, iii, 1-26.
+
+[398] The story that Abraham hung an axe round the neck of Baal after
+destroying the other idols is of Jewish origin.
+
+[399] _The Koran_, George Sale, pp. 245-6.
+
+[400] _Isaiah_, xxx, 31-3. See also for Tophet customs _2 Kings_, xxiii, 10;
+_Jeremiah_, vii, 31, 32 and xix, 5-12.
+
+[401] _1 Kings_, xvi, 18.
+
+[402] _1 Samuel_, xxxi, 12, 13 and _1 Chronicles_, x, 11, 12.
+
+[403] _The Old Testament in the Light of the Historical Records and Legends
+of Assyria and Babylonia_, pp. 201-2.
+
+[404] _Babylonian and Assyrian Religion_, pp. 57-8.
+
+[405] _Aspects of Religious Belief and Practice in Babylonia and Assyria_,
+p. 121.
+
+[406] _Babylonian and Assyrian Religion_, p. 86.
+
+[407] At Carchemish a railway bridge spans the mile-wide river ferry which
+Assyria's soldiers were wont to cross with the aid of skin floats. The
+engineers have found it possible to utilize a Hittite river wall about
+3000 years old--the oldest engineering structure in the world. The
+ferry was on the old trade route.
+
+[408] _Deuteronomy_, xxvi, 5
+
+[409] Pr. _u_ as _oo_.
+
+[410] The chief cities of North Syria were prior to this period Hittite.
+This expansion did not change the civilization but extended the area
+of occupation and control.
+
+[411] Garstang's _The Land of the Hittites_, p. 349.
+
+[412] "Burgh of Tukulti-Ninip."
+
+[413] Article "Celts" in _Encyclopaedia Britannica_, eleventh ed.
+
+[414] _The Wanderings of Peoples_, p. 41.
+
+[415] _Crete, the Forerunner of Greece_, p. 146.
+
+[416] Pr. Moosh'kee.
+
+[417] "Have I not brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt and the
+Philistines from Caphtor (Crete)?" _Amos_, viii, 7.
+
+[418] _A History of Civilization in Palestine_, p. 58.
+
+[419] Pinches' translation.
+
+[420] _I Samuel_, xiii, 19.
+
+[421] _A History of Civilization in Palestine_, p. 54.
+
+[422] _1 Kings_, iii, 1.
+
+[423] _Ibid_., ix, 16.
+
+[424] _1 Kings_, v, 1-12.
+
+[425] _Ibid_., vii, 14 _et seq._
+
+[426] _Ibid_., x, 22-3.
+
+[427] _Indian Myth and Legend_, pp. 83-4.
+
+[428] _Finn and His Warrior Band_, pp. 245 _et seq._ (London, 1911).
+
+[429] Also rendered Ashur-na'sir-pal.
+
+[430] _A History of the Babylonians and Assyrians_, G.S. Goodspeed, p. 197.
+
+[431] _Discoveries at Nineveh_, Sir A.H. Layard (London, 1856), pp. 55, 56.
+
+[432] "Thou art beautiful, O my love, as Tirzah, comely as Jerusalem."
+_Solomon's Song_, vi, 4.
+
+[433] _2 Chronicles_, xii, 15.
+
+[434] _1 Kings_, xiv, 1-20.
+
+[435] _Ibid._, 21-3.
+
+[436] _2 Chronicles_, xii, 1-12.
+
+[437] _2 Chronicles_, xiii, 1-20.
+
+[438] _Ibid._, xiv, 1-6.
+
+[439] _1 Kings_, xv, 25-6.
+
+[440] _1 Kings_, xv, 16-7.
+
+[441] _Ibid._, 18-9.
+
+[442] _Ibid._, 20-2.
+
+[443] _1 Kings_, xvi, 9-10.
+
+[444] _Ibid._, 15-8.
+
+[445] _Ibid._, 21-2.
+
+[446] _Micah_, vi, 16.
+
+[447] _1 Kings_, xvi, 29-33.
+
+[448] _Ibid._, xviii, 1-4.
+
+[449] _1 Kings_, xx.
+
+[450] _Ibid._, xxii, 43.
+
+[451] _2 Chronicles_, xviii, 1-2.
+
+[452] _1 Kings_, xxii and _2 Chronicles_, xviii.
+
+[453] _1 Kings_, xxii, 48-9.
+
+[454] _1 Kings_, viii.
+
+[455] _2 Kings_, ix and _2 Chronicles_, xxii.
+
+[456] _2 Kings_, viii, 1-15.
+
+[457] _The Old Testament in the Light of the Historical Records and Legends
+of Assyria and Babylonia_, pp. 337 _et seq._
+
+[458] _2 Kings_, x, 32-3.
+
+[459] _Ibid._, 1-31.
+
+[460] _2 Kings_, xi, 1-3.
+
+[461] _2 Chronicles_, xxii, 10-12.
+
+[462] _2 Chronicles_, xxiii, 1-17.
+
+[463] _2 Kings_, xiii, 1-5.
+
+[464] _The Land of the Hittites_, J. Garstang, p. 354.
+
+[465] _The Old Testament in the Light of the Historical Records and Legends
+of Assyria and Babylonia_, T.G. Pinches, p. 343.
+
+[466] _Nat. Hist_., v, 19 and _Strabo_ xvi, 1-27.
+
+[467] _The Mahabharata_: _Adi Parva_, sections lxxi and lxxii (Roy's
+translation, pp. 213 216, and _Indian Myth and Legend_, pp. 157 _et
+seq._
+
+[468] That is, without ceremony but with consent.
+
+[469] _The Golden Bough_ (_The Scapegoat_), pp. 369 _et seq._, (3rd
+edition). Perhaps the mythic Semiramis and legends connected were in
+existence long before the historic Sammu-rammat, though the two got
+mixed up.
+
+[470] _Herodotus_, i, 184.
+
+[471] _De dea Syria_, 9-14.
+
+[472] _Strabo_, xvi, 1, 2.
+
+[473] _Diodorus Siculus_, ii, 3.
+
+[474] _Herodotus_, i, 105.
+
+[475] _Diodorus Siculus_, ii, 4.
+
+[476] _De dea Syria_, 14.
+
+[477] This little bird allied to the woodpecker twists its neck strangely
+when alarmed. It may have symbolized the coquettishness of fair
+maidens. As love goddesses were "Fates", however, the wryneck may have
+been connected with the belief that the perpetrator of a murder, or a
+death spell, could be detected when he approached his victim's corpse.
+If there was no wound to "bleed afresh", the "death thraw" (the
+contortions of death) might indicate who the criminal was. In a
+Scottish ballad regarding a lady, who was murdered by her lover, the
+verse occurs:
+
+[478] Langdon's _Sumerian and Babylonian Psalms_, pp. 133, 135.
+
+[479] Introduction to Lane's _Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians._
+
+[480] Tammuz is referred to in a Sumerian psalm as "him of the dovelike
+voice, yea, dovelike". He may have had a dove form. Angus, the Celtic
+god of spring, love, and fertility, had a swan form; he also had his
+seasonal period of sleep like Tammuz.
+
+[481] Campbell's _Superstitions of the Scottish Highlands_, p. 288.
+
+[482] _Indian Myth and Legend_, p. 95.
+
+[483] _Ibid_., pp. 329-30.
+
+[484] _Crete, the Forerunner of Greece_, C.H. and H.B. Hawes, p. 139
+
+[485] _The Discoveries in Crete_, pp. 137-8.
+
+[486] _Religion of the Semites_, p. 294.
+
+[487] _Egyptian Myth and Legend_, p. 59.
+
+[488] Including the goose, one of the forms of the harvest goddess.
+
+[489] _Brand's Popular Antiquities_, vol. ii, 230-1 and vol. iii, 232 (1899
+ed.).
+
+[490] _Ibid_., vol. iii, 217. The myrtle was used for love charms.
+
+[491] _The Golden Bough_ (_Spirits of the Corn and of the Wild_), vol. ii,
+p. 293 (3rd ed.).
+
+[492] _Herodotus_, ii, 69, 71, and 77.
+
+[493] _Brand's Popular Antiquities_, vol. iii, p. 227.
+
+[494] Cited by Professor Burrows in _The Discoveries in Crete_, p. 134.
+
+[495] Like the Egyptian Horus, Nebo had many phases: he was connected with
+the sun and moon, the planet Mercury, water and crops; he was young
+and yet old--a mystical god.
+
+[496] _Aspects of Religious Belief and Practice in Babylonia and Assyria_,
+pp. 94 _et seq._
+
+[497] _Babylonian Magic and Sorcery_, L.W. King, pp. 6-7 and 26-7.
+
+[498] _2 Kings_, xiii, 3.
+
+[499] _2 Kings_, xiii, 14-25.
+
+[500] _3 Kings_, xiii, 5, 6.
+
+[501] The masses of the Urartian folk appear to have been of Hatti
+stock--"broad heads", like their descendants, the modern Armenians.
+
+[502] It is uncertain whether this city or Kullani in north Syria it the
+Biblical Calno. _Isaiah_, x, 9.
+
+[503] _2 Kings_, xv, 19 and 29; _2 Chronicles_, xxviii, 20.
+
+[504] _2 Kings_, xviii, 34 and xix, 13.
+
+[505] _2 Kings_, xiv, 1-14.
+
+[506] _2 Kings_, xv, 1-14.
+
+[507] _2 Kings_, xv, 19, 20.
+
+[508] _2 Kings_, xv, 25.
+
+[509] _Amos_, v.
+
+[510] _Amos_, i.
+
+[511] _2 Kings_, xvi, 5.
+
+[512] _Isaiah_, vii, 3-7.
+
+[513] _2 Kings_, xv, 3.
+
+[514] _Isaiah_, vii, 18.
+
+[515] Kir was probably on the borders of Elam.
+
+[516] _2 Kings_, xvi, 7-9.
+
+[517] _2 Kings_, xv, 29, 30.
+
+[518] _2 Kings_, xvi, 10.
+
+[519] In the Hebrew text this monarch is called Sua, Seveh, and So, says
+Maspero. The Assyrian texts refer to him as Sebek, Shibahi, Shabe, &c.
+He has been identified with Pharaoh Shabaka of the Twenty-fifth
+Egyptian Dynasty; that monarch may have been a petty king before he
+founded his Dynasty. Another theory is that he was Seve, king of
+Mutsri, and still another that he was a petty king of an Egyptian
+state in the Delta and not Shabaka.
+
+[520] _2 Kings_, xvii, 3-5.
+
+[521] _Isaiah_, xx, 1.
+
+[522] _2 Kings_, xvii, 6.
+
+[523] _2 Kings_, xvii, 16-41.
+
+[524] The people carried away would not be the whole of the
+inhabitants--only, one would suppose, the more important personages,
+enough to make up the number 27,290 given above.
+
+[525] _Passing of the Empires_, pp. 200-1.
+
+[526] Those who, like Breasted, identify "Piru of Mutsri" with "Pharaoh of
+Egypt" adopt the view that Bocchoris of Sais paid tribute to Sargon.
+Piru, however, is subsequently referred to with two Arabian kings as
+tribute payers to Sargon apparently after Lower Egypt had come under
+the sway of Shabaka, the first king of the Ethiopian or Twenty-fifth
+Dynasty.
+
+[527] _Isaiah_, xx, 2-5.
+
+[528] Commander-in-chief.
+
+[529] _Isaiah_, xx, 1.
+
+[530] _The Old Testament in the Light of the Historical Records and Legends
+of Assyria and Babylonia_, T.G. Pinches, p. 372.
+
+[531] _Isaiah_, xxxvii, 9.
+
+[532] _Isaiah_, xxix, 1, 2.
+
+[533] _2 Chronicles_, xxxii, 9-17.
+
+[534] _2 Kings_, xix, 6, 7.
+
+[535] _2 Kings_, xix, 35, 36.
+
+[536] Smith-Sayce, _History of Sennacherib_, pp. 132-5.
+
+[537] _A History of Sumer and Akkad_, p. 37.
+
+[538] _Isaiah_, xxxvii, 8-13.
+
+[539] _2 Kings_, xxi, 3-7.
+
+[540] _2 Kings_, xxi, 16.
+
+[541] _Hebrews_, xi, 36, 37.
+
+[542] _2 Chronicles_, xxxiii, 11-3. It may be that Manasseh was taken to
+Babylon during Ashur-bani-pal's reign. See next chapter.
+
+[543] Pronounce _g_ as in _gem_.
+
+[544] _Nahum_, i, ii, and iii.
+
+[545] _Isaiah_, xlvi, 1; xlvii, 1-15.
+
+[546] _Nahum_, iii, 2, 3; ii, 3.
+
+[547] Goodspeed's _A History of the Babylonians and Assyrians_, p. 348.
+
+[548] _Nahum_, iii, 8-11.
+
+[549] Ptolemy's Kineladanus.
+
+[550] _Ezra_, iv, 10.
+
+[551] _Nahum_, iii and ii.
+
+[552] 2 _Kings_, xxiii, 29.
+
+[553] _Ibid._, 33-5.
+
+[554] Nebuchadrezzar is more correct than Nebuchadnezzar.
+
+[555] _2 Kings_, xxiv, 7.
+
+[556] _2 Chronicles_, xxxvi, 6.
+
+[557] _2 Kings_, xxiv, 1.
+
+[558] _2 Kings_, xxiv, 8-15.
+
+[559] _Jeremiah_, lii, 3.
+
+[560] _Jeremiah_, lii, 4-11.
+
+[561] _The Laminations of Jeremiah_, i, 1-7.
+
+[562] _Jeremiah_, lii, 31-4.
+
+[563] _Daniel_, v, I et seq.
+
+[564] _Psalms_, cxxxvii, 1-6.
+
+[565] _Ezra_, i, 1-3.
+
+[566] _Herodotus_, i, 183; _Strabo_, xvi, 1, 5; and _Arrian_, vii, 17.
+
+[567] _Strabo_, xvi, 1-5.
+
+[568] _Isaiah_, xxiiv, 11-4.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Myths of Babylonia and Assyria
+by Donald A. Mackenzie
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