The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria

M >> Morris Jastrow >> The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria

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Bel.

Tiglathpileser I. tells us that he rebuilt a temple to Bel in the city
of Ashur, and he qualifies the name of the god by adding the word 'old'
to it. In this way he evidently distinguished the god of Nippur from
Bel-Marduk, similarly as Hammurabi in one place adds Dagan to Bel,[290]
to make it perfectly clear what god he meant. Again, it is Sargon who in
consistent accord with his fondness for displaying his archaeological
tastes, introduces Bel, the 'great mountain,' 'the lord of countries,'
who dwells in E-khar-sag-kurkura, _i.e._, the sacred mountain on which
the gods are born, as participating in the festival that takes place
upon the dedication of the king's palace in Khorsabad. The titles used
by the king are applicable only to the old Bel, but whether he or his
scribes were fully conscious of a differentiation between Bel and
Bel-Marduk, it is difficult to say. Bel is introduced in the inscription
in question[291] immediately after Ashur, and one is therefore inclined
to suspect that Sargon's archaeological knowledge fails him at this
point in speaking of the old Bel, whereas he really meant to invoke the
protection of Bel-Marduk as the chief god of his most important
possession next to Assyria.[292] Besides this, the old Bel is of course
meant, when associated with Anu, as the powers that, together with
Belit, grant victory,[293] or as a member of the old triad, Anu, Bel,
and Ea, whose mention we have seen is as characteristic of the Assyrian
inscriptions as of the Babylonian. Lastly, Sargon calls one of the gates
of his palace after Bel, whom he designates as the one who lays the
foundation of all things. In this case, too, the old Bel is meant.

Belit.

In the case of Belit a curious species of confusion confronts us in the
Assyrian inscriptions. At times Belit appears as the wife of Bel, again
as the consort of Ashur, again as the consort of Ea, and again simply as
a designation of Ishtar.[294] To account for this we must bear in mind,
as has already been pointed out, that just as Bel in the sense of lord
came to be applied merely as a title of the chief god of Babylonia, so
Belit as 'lady' was used in Assyria to designate the chief goddess. This
was, as the case may be, either Ishtar or the pale 'reflection'
associated with Ashur as his consort. Now this Belit, as the wife of
Ashur, absorbs the qualities that distinguish Belit, the wife of
Bel-Marduk. The temple in the city of Ashur, which Tiglathpileser
I.[295] enriches with presents consisting of the images of the deities
vanquished by the king, may in reality have been sacred to the Belit of
Babylonia, but Tiglathpileser, for whom Bel becomes merely a designation
of Marduk, does not feel called upon to pay his devotions to the
Babylonian Sarpanitum, and so converts the old Belit into 'the lofty
wife, beloved of Ashur.' Sargon, on the other hand, who calls one of the
gates of his palace _Belit ilani_ 'mistress of the gods,' seems to mean
by this, the consort of Ea.[296] Similarly, Ashurbanabal regards Belit
as the wife of Ashur, and himself as the offspring of Ashur and Belit.
At the same time he gives to this Belit the title of 'mother of great
gods,' which of right belongs to the consort of the Babylonian Bel. In
the full pantheon as enumerated by him, Belit occupies a place
immediately behind her consort Ashur. Ashurbanabal, however, goes still
further, and, influenced by the title of 'Belit' as applied to Ishtar,
makes the latter the consort of Ashur. This at least is the case in an
inscription from the temple of Belit at Nineveh,[297] known as
E-mash-mash, and in which Ashurbanabal alternately addresses the goddess
as Belit and as Ishtar, while elsewhere[298] this same Belit, whose seat
is in E-mash-mash, is termed the consort of Ashur. How Ashurbanabal or
his scribes came to this confusing identification we need not stop to
inquire. In part, no doubt, it was due to the general sense of
'goddess,' which Ishtar began to acquire in his days.[299] At all
events, Ashurbanabal's conception marks a contrast to the procedure of
Shalmaneser II., who correctly identifies the mother of the great gods
with the wife of Bel.[300] On the other hand, the confusion that took
place in Ashurbanabal's days is foreshadowed by the title of 'Belit
mati,' _i.e._, 'mistress of the land,' by which Ashurbanabal appears to
designate some other than Ishtar.[301] Lastly, it is interesting to note
that Ashurbanabal recognizes by the side of Belit-Ishtar, the wife of
Ashur, the older Belit, the wife of the Bel of Nippur, to whom, in
association with Anu and Bel, he attributes his victory over the
Arabs.[302]

Sarpanitum.

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

Nabu.

The intimate association of Nabu with Marduk in the city of Babylon
leads as a natural consequence to a similar association in Assyria, when
once the Marduk cult had for political reasons become established in the
north. The kings invoke the favor of Bel (meaning Marduk) and Nabu,
especially when dealing with the affairs of Babylonia,[304] as they
invoke Ashur and Ishtar. Just as we have certain kings devoted to Nin-ib
and Shamash by the side of Ashur, so there are others whose special
favorite is Nabu. In the days of Ramman-nirari III. (812-783 B.C.) the
Nabu cult reached its highest point of popularity in Assyria. From the
manner in which the king speaks of the god, one might draw the
conclusion that he attempted to concentrate the whole Assyrian cult upon
that god alone. He erects a temple to the god at Calah, and overwhelms
the deity with a great array of titles. The dedicatory inscription which
the king places on a statue of Nebo closes with the significant words,
'O Posterity! trust in Nabu. Trust in no other god.'[305] Still we must
not press such phrases too hard. Ramman-nirari III. had no intention of
suppressing Ashur worship, for he mentions the god elsewhere, and
assigns to him the same rank as the other kings do, but so much we are
justified in concluding, that next to Ashur and Ishtar he feels most
strongly attached to Nabu. That the Babylonian Nabu is meant, is clear
from such designations as 'the offspring of E-sagila, the favorite of
Bel,' 'he who dwells at E-zida,' which appear among the epithets
bestowed upon the god; and the temple in Calah, which one of the last
kings of Assyria, Ashuretililani,[306] is engaged in improving, bears
the same name E-zida, as Nabu's great temple at Borsippa. We have
already set forth the reasons[307] for the popularity of the Nabu cult
in Assyria. Suffice it to recall that the peculiar character of the god
as the patron of wisdom placed him beyond the reach of any jealousy on
the part of the other members of the pantheon. So Ramman-nirari III.
extols Nabu as the protector of the arts, the all-wise who guides the
stylus of the scribe, and the possessor of wisdom in general. He is not
merely the originator of writing, but the source of all wisdom, and for
this reason he is spoken of as the son of Ea. Attributes of mere brutal
force are rarely assigned to Nabu, but as befits a god of wisdom, mercy,
nobility, and majesty constitute his chief attractions. By virtue of his
wisdom, Sargon calls him 'the clear seer who guides all the gods,' and
when the last king of Assyria--Saracus, as the Greek writers called
him--invokes Nabu as the 'leader of forces,' he appears to have in mind
the heavenly troops rather than earthly armies. Such patrons of learning
as Sargon and Ashurbanabal were naturally fond of parading their
devotion to Nabu. The former significantly calls him the 'writer of
everything,' and as for Ashurbanabal, almost every tablet in the great
literary collection that he made at Nineveh closes with a solemn
invocation to Nabu and his consort Tashmitum, to whom he offers thanks
for having opened his ears to receive wisdom, and who persuaded him to
make the vast literary treasures of the past accessible to his subjects.

Tashmitum.

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

Ea.

Ea takes his place in the Assyrian pantheon in the double capacity of
god of wisdom and as a member of the old triad. Ashurnasirbal makes
mention of a sanctuary erected to the honor of Ea in Ashur. A
recollection of the role that Ea plays in Babylonian mythology survives
in the titles of 'creator' and 'king of the ocean,' which Shalmaneser
gives him,[309] and of the 'one who opens the fountains' as Ashurbanabal
declares.[310] He is also, as in Babylonia, the one who determines the
fates of mankind. As the one who has a care for the arts, he is the wise
god, just as Nabu, and under various titles, as Nu-gim-mud,[311]
Nin-igi-azag, and Igi-dug-gu,[312] all emphasizing his skill, he is the
artificer who aids the kings in their building operations. The
similarity of the roles of Nabu and Ea, as gods of wisdom and the arts,
might easily have led to a confusion. Fortunately, the grandiloquent and
all-embracing titles accorded to the former did not alter his character
as essentially the god who presides over the art of writing, while Ea
retains the control over the architectural achievements,--the great
colossi, in the first instance, that guarded the approach of palaces,
the images of the gods in the second, and the temples and palaces in
general as his third function.

Damkina.

Of the consort of Ea, it is sufficient to note that she is occasionally
referred to in the historical texts of the Assyrian period. In the
inscriptions of Sargon she appears under the rather strange title of
'Belit ilani,' _i.e._, the mistress of the gods.[313] This 'mistress'
cannot be, as might at first blush appear, Ishtar or the old Belit, for
elsewhere[314] Ishtar, Belit, and Belit ilani occur side by side. Sargon
declares that he owes his wisdom to Ea and Belit ilani. In naming the
gates of his palace, he again associates Ea with 'the mistress of the
gods,' from which it is clear that the epithet is used of Ea's consort.

Nin-gal.

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

Dibharra.

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

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

In an interesting passage recounting the restoration of the city
Magganubba, Sargon[319] says that he prayed to Damku, _i.e._, 'grace,'
Sharru-ilu, _i.e._, 'king-god,' and Sha-nit(?)-ka. The two former he
calls the judges of mankind. That Damku and Sharru-ilu are titles and
not names is evident from the meaning of the words, but at present it
is impossible to say what gods are meant.[320] Perhaps that these are
the translations of names of the old deities of Magganubba. We have
at least one other example of a foreign deity introduced into the
Assyrian pantheon. At Dur-ilu, a town lying near the Elamitic
frontier, there flourished the cult of Ka-di,[321] evidently a god
imported into the Assyrian pantheon from Elam or some other eastern
district. Sargon's scribes are fond of translating foreign names and
words, and they may have done so in this case, and thus added two new
deities to the glorious pantheon protecting their royal chief. As for
Sha-nit(?)-ka,[322] were it not that she is called the mistress of
Nineveh, one would also put her down as a foreign goddess. In view of
this, however, it may be that Sha-nit(?)-ka is an ideographic
designation of Ishtar.

Before leaving the subject, a word needs to be said regarding the
relation between the active Assyrian pantheon and the long lists of
deities prepared by the schoolmen of Babylonia and Assyria. Reference
has already been made to these lists.[323] They vary in character. Some
of them furnish an index of the various names under which a god was
known,[324] or the titles assigned to him. These names and titles are
frequently indications that some great god has absorbed the attributes
of smaller ones, whose independence was in this way destroyed. Other
lists[325] are simple enumerations of local deities, and when to these
names some indications are added, as to the locality to which the gods
belong,[326] their importance is correspondingly increased. There can be
no doubt that most of these lists were prepared on the basis of the
occurrence of these gods in texts, and it seems most plausible to
conclude that the texts in question were of a religious character.
References to local cults are numerous in the incantations which form a
considerable proportion of the religious literature, while in hymns and
prayers, gods are often referred to by their titles instead of their
names. In some respects, however, these lists of gods are still obscure.
It is often difficult to determine whether we are dealing with gods or
spirits, and the origin and meaning of many of the names and epithets
assigned to gods are similarly involved in doubt. Use has been made of
these lists in determining the character of the gods included in this
survey of the Babylonian and Assyrian pantheon, but it would be
manifestly precarious to make additions to this pantheon on the basis of
the lists alone. Despite the tendency towards centralization of divine
power in a limited number of gods, local cults, no doubt, continued to
enjoy some importance in Assyria as well as Babylonia; but, in the
present stage of our knowledge, we have no means of determining either
the number or the character of these local cults. While, therefore, a
complete treatment of the pantheon of Babylonia and Assyria would
include all the minor local cults, we may feel quite certain that these
local cults furnish few, if any, additions to the concepts connected
with these gods which we have discussed. I have therefore contented
myself with some illustrations, in each of the three divisions under
which the pantheon has been surveyed, of some of the minor deities
chosen, such as actually occur in historical, commercial, or religious
texts. For the Assyrian pantheon, we may place Nin-gal and most of the
consorts of the gods among the minor gods, and also such deities as
Ka-di, Khani, Gaga, Dibbarra, Sherua, and Azag-sir, who are merely
incidentally referred to.[327] These illustrations suffice for placing
clearly before us the distinction to be made in the pantheon between
gods whose worship was actively carried on, and those who occupy more of
a theoretical position in the system perfected by the schoolmen,
standing under the political and social influences of their days. With
this distinction clearly impressed upon us, we will be prepared for such
modifications of our views of the Babylonian-Assyrian pantheon as
further researches and discoveries may render necessary.

FOOTNOTES:

[222] Semitic alphabet.

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

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

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

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

[227] Tiele (_Babyl.-Assyr. Geschichte_, p. 519) suggests Ea.

[228] An interesting example of this tendency is furnished by a tablet
published by T. G. Pinches (_Journal of the Victoria Institute_, xxviii.
8-10), in which the name Marduk is treated almost as a generic term for
deity. Nergal is called 'the Marduk of warfare'; Nebo, 'the Marduk of
earthly possessions'; Ninib, 'the Marduk of strength'; En-lil, 'the
Marduk of sovereignty'; and so on, in a long enumeration, the gods are
regarded as so many forms of Marduk. Pinches' conclusion that the list
points to monotheistic beliefs is, however, unwarranted. The list only
illustrates a tendency towards a centralization of divine powers in
Marduk, that accompanies the political centralization of the period.

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

[230] So the gods of the Assyrian pantheon are generally termed in the
inscriptions of the kings.

[231] See below, p. 195.

[232] See below, p. 220.

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

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

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

[236] _Babyl.-Assyr. Geschichte_, p. 533.

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

[238] _Geschichte_, p. 533.

[239] See Jensen _Zeits. fuer Assyr._ i. 1 _seq._ and Delitzsch, _Das
Babylonische Weltschoepfungsepos_, p. 94.

[240] By the assimilation of the _n_ to the following consonant.

[241] See above, pp. 173, 175.

[242] Jensen, _Kosmologie_, p. 275.

[243] The combination of religious supremacy with political power, which
characterizes the social state of ancient Babylonia and Assyria, gives
to the title _patesi_ a double significance. In Babylonia, moreover, it
acquires the force of vassal-king.

[244] The full list is Anu, Ashur, Shamash, Ramman, and Ishtar.

[245] More precisely Arba-ilu, signifying 'city of the fourfold
divinity' or 'four-god' city. _Cf._ the Palestinian form Kiryath-Arba,
"four city,"--originally perhaps, likewise, a city of four gods, rather
than four roads or four quarters, as commonly explained.

[246] IR. 14, l. 86.

[247] _Babyl.-Assyr. Geschichte_, p. 85.

[248] See above, p. 83.

[249] See above, pp. 83, 84.

[250] Cylinder B, col. v. ll. 30 _seq._; elsewhere (Rassam Cylinder,
col. ii. ll. 115 _seq._) he prays to Ashur and Ishtar.

[251] Rassam Cylinder, col. viii. l. 92. Elsewhere, Cylinder B, col. v.
17, Ishtar is called the daughter of Bel. This, however, must be an
error; either Sin must be read for Bel, or _khirat_ (consort) for
_marat_ (daughter).

[252] See above, p. 151.

[253] See Barton, "The Semitic Ishtar Cult" (_Hebraica_, x. 9-12).

[254] _I.e._, _c._ 1800 B.C.

[255] See p. 154.

[256] See above, p. 149.

[257] See below, p. 237.

[258] A king of Nippur (_c._ 2500 B.C.) bears the name Ishme-Dagan.

[259] See above, p. 154; Tiele, _Geschichte der Religion im Alterthum_,
i. 172.

[260] See Hommel, _Geschichte_, p. 490. How much earlier Samsi-Ramman I.
reigned is not known--perhaps only 40 or 50 years.

[261] The _d_ of Dagon would be represented by _d_ in cuneiform writing.

[262] See p. 154.

[263] An eponym in his days bears the name Daganbelusur.

[264] In the El-Amarna tablets (_c._ 1400 B.C.) the governors of the
Palestinian states generally address their Egyptian lord as 'my sun'.

[265] Exactly of what nature we do not know. The Assyrian word used,
Cylinder, l. 43, is obscure.

[266] See p. 160.

[267] IR. 8, col. i. 85. See above, p. 166.

[268] Ashurnasirbal calls him so in his annals, _e.g._, col. iii. 1.
130.

[269] Bavian Inscription, ll. 48-50. See also Meissner-Rost,
_Bauinschriften Sanherib's_, p. 102. The reading of the name of the city
is not certain. It signifies 'city of palaces.'

[270] _c._ 1120 B.C.

[271] II Rawlinson, 57, 33.

[272] So Tiglathpileser associates Ashur and Nin-ib, as those 'who
fulfill his desire.'

[273] Ashurnasirbal's father bears the name Tukulti-Ninib.

[274] See above, pp. 151, 206.

[275] One of the gates of Sargon's palace is called after Nin-ib.

[276] See above, p. 57.

[277] See above, pp. 92-94.

[278] _Kosmologie_, pp. 457-475.

[279] He is also called the offspring of a goddess, Ku-tu-shar, but this
reference is not clear. See Jensen, _Kosmologie_, p. 468, note 5.

[280] In a religious text he is addressed as 'holy, holy, holy.'

[281] Balawat, col. v. ll. 4, 5.

[282] Kar = fortress.

[283] See Sayce, _Hibbert Lectures_, p. 438, and Jensen's important
note, _Kosmologie_, pp. 492-494.

[284] See pp. 124, 125.

[285] Cylinder, l. 61.

[286] See pp. 117 _seq._

[287] We may therefore expect, some day, to come across the name Marduk
in Assyrian texts earlier than the ninth century.

[288] See p. 131.

[289] So also Shalmaneser II., Obelisk, l. 179, unless Marduk here is an
error for Ramman, _cf._ l. 175.

[290] See above, p. 146.

[291] The so-called _Prunkinschrift_, ll. 174 _seq._

[292] Note the frequent use of Ashur and Bel for Assyria and Babylonia.

[293] Ashurbanabal, Rassam Cylinder, col ix. ll. 76, 77.

[294] See above, p. 205.

[295] IR. II. col. iv. ll. 34, 35.

[296] See below, pp. 231, 237.

[297] Rawlinson, ii. 66.

[298] Rassam Cylinder, col. x. ll. 25-27.

[299] See Tiele, _Babyl. Assyr. Geschichte_, p. 127.

[300] Obelisk, l. 52.

[301] Annals, col. ii. l. 135.

[302] Rassam Cylinder, col. x. l. 75.

[303] _Prunkinschrift_, l. 143.

[304] Esarhaddon, IR. 46, col. ii. l. 48; Rawlinson, iii. 16, col. iii.
l. 24.

[305] IR. 35, no. 2, l. 12.

[306] IR. 8, no. 3, ll. 5 _seq._

[307] See above, p. 126.

[308] _E.g._, Tiglathpileser III., Nimrud inscription (Layard, pl. 17,
l. 12).

[309] Obelisk, l. 5.

[310] Rassam Cylinder, col. i. l. 45.

[311] Delitzsch (_Das Babylonische Weltschoepfungsepos_, p. 99) questions
whether Nu-gim-mud (or Nu-dim-mud) was originally a designation of Ea.
Nu-dim-mud being an epithet might, of course, be applied to other gods,
but there can be no doubt that it was used to designate more
particularly Ea as the artificer. See my remarks, pp. 138, 177 _seq._

[312] Meissner-Rost, _Bauinscriften Sanherib's_, p. 105.

[313] Cylinder, l. 48, ideographically as Nin-men-an-na, 'lady of the
heavenly crown.' In the parallel passage, however, as Lyon
(_Sargontexte_, p. 71) points out, _Belit ilani_ is used.

[314] Cylinder, l. 70.

[315] Cylinder, l. 68.

[316] Jensen, _Kosmologie_, p. 445, reads the name _Gira_. See pp.
527-28.

[317] See the author's work on _A Fragment of the Dibbarra Epic_. (Ginn
& Co., Boston, 1891).

[318] Rassam Cylinder, col. lv. ll. 79 _seq._

[319] Cylinder, ll. 44-53.

[320] Delitzsch's supposition (see Lyon, _Sargontexte_, p. 71) that
Sharru-ilu is Izdubar is untenable.

[321] _Babyl. Chronicle_, col. iii. l. 44.

[322] May also be read Sha-ush-ka.

[323] See above, pp. 13, 170.

[324] _E.g._, IIR. 58, no. 5, titles of Ea; IIR. 60, no. 2, titles of
Nabu.

[325] _E.g._, IIR. 60, no. 1.

[326] _E.g._, IIIR. 66, lists of gods worshipped in various temples of
Assyria and also of Babylonia.

[327] See pp. 189, 238.

CHAPTER XIII.

THE TRIAD AND THE COMBINED INVOCATION OF DEITIES.

The Assyrian kings, in imitation of the example set by their Babylonian
predecessors, are fond of introducing into their inscriptions, a series
of gods under whose protection they place themselves. They do not do
this as the earlier Babylonian rulers did, to emphasize the extent of
their jurisdiction by adding to their pantheon the deities of towns or
districts vanquished by them. The day of independent states being over,
the importance of merely local deities had ceased. The theological
system evolved in Babylonia in combination with the popular instinct had
led to a selection out of the mass of deities of a limited number, each
with tolerably definite attributes, and who together embraced all the
forces under whose power mankind stood. Of these deities again, as we
have seen, some acquired greater favor in Assyria than others, but for
all that, the kings especially of the later period of Assyrian history
were fond of including in an enumeration of the pantheon, even those who
had no special significance. Policy and the meaningless imitation of
earlier examples played an equal part in thus giving to the lists an
aspect of formality that deprives them of the impression that they might
otherwise make.