The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria

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...

Was he frank in speaking,
But false in heart,
Was it "yes" with his mouth,
But "no" in his heart?[413]

In this way the exorciser proceeds to enumerate an exceedingly long list
of sins--no less than one hundred--most of which are ethical
misdemeanors, while others are merely ceremonial transgressions. In the
third tablet of this series[414] there is even a longer list of causes
for the ban which Marduk, the "chief exorciser" among the gods, is
called upon to loosen. Here again we find an equal proportion of moral
transgressions placed on a par with errors in performing religious rites
or unwillful offences in neglecting conventional methods of doing
things.

The ethical features of the texts can, without much question, be put
down as the work of the later editors. They belong to a period when
already an advanced conception not only of right and wrong, but also of
sin had arisen among the religious leaders of the people, and perhaps
had made its way already among the masses, without, however, disturbing
the confidence in the traditional superstitions. The strange combination
of primitive and advanced religious beliefs is characteristic, as we
shall have occasion to see, of various divisions of the Babylonian
religious literature. The lapse from the ethical strain to the
incantation refrain is as sudden as it is common. The priest having
exhausted the category of possible sins or mishaps that have caused the
suffering of the petitioner, proceeds to invoke the gods, goddesses, and
the powerful spirits to loosen the ban. There is no question of
retribution for actual acts of injustice or violence, any more than
there is a question of genuine contrition. The enumeration of the causes
for the suffering constitutes in fact a part of the incantation. The
mention of the real cause in the long list--and the list aims to be
exhaustive, so that the exorciser may strike the real cause--goes a long
way towards ensuring the departure of the evil spirit. And if, besides
striking the real cause, the exorciser is fortunate enough in his
enumeration of the various gods, goddesses, and spirits to call by name
upon the _right_ god or spirit, the one who has the power over the demon
in question, his object is achieved. Speaking the right words and
pronouncing the right name, constitute, together with the performance of
the correct ceremony and the bringing of the right sacrifice, the
conditions upon which depends the success of the priest in the
incantation ritual. Hence the striking features of these texts, the
enumeration of long lists of causes for misfortune, long lists of powers
invoked, and a variety of ceremonies prescribed, in the hope that the
priest will "hit it" at one time or the other.

Incantations and Prayers.

The incantations naturally shade off into prayers. Frequently they are
prayers pure and simple. Powerful as the sacred formulas were supposed
to be, the ultimate appeal of the sufferer is to the gods. Upon their
favor it ultimately depends whether the mystic power contained in the
sacred words uttered shall manifest itself to the benefit of the
supplicant or not. While it is proper, therefore, to distinguish
incantations from prayers, the combination of the two could scarcely be
avoided by the priests, who, rising in a measure superior to the popular
beliefs, felt it to be inconsistent with a proper regard for the gods
not to give them a superior place in the magical texts. The addition, to
the sacred formulas, of prayers directly addressed to certain gods may
be put down as due to the adaptation of ancient texts to the needs of a
later age; and, on the other hand, the addition of incantations to what
appear to have been originally prayers, pure and simple, is a concession
made to the persistent belief in the efficacy of certain formulas when
properly uttered. Such combinations of prayers and incantations
constituted, as would appear, a special class of religious texts; and,
in the course of further editing,[415] a number of prayers addressed to
various deities were combined and interspersed with incantation and
ceremonial directions which were to accompany the prayers.

The incantations accordingly lead us to the next division in the
religious literature of the Babylonians,--the prayers and hymns.

FOOTNOTES:

[341] _Die Assyrische Beschwoerungsserie, Maqlu_, p. 14.

[342] There are some preserved solely in the ideographic style, and
others of which we have only the phonetic transliteration.

[343] _Die Propheten in ihrer urspruenglichen Form_, pp. 1, 6. This work
is a valuable investigation of the oldest form of the poetic
compositions of the Semites.

[344] The fifth and sixth tablets of the series. It is probable that
several editions were prepared,--some wholly Babylonian, others
bilingual.

[345] Haupt, _Akkadische und Sumerische Keilschrifttexte_, p. 83. col.
I. ll. 1-10.

[346] Wherever feasible, the Babylonian name of the demon will be used
in the translations.

[347] Our word 'nightmare' still embodies the same ancient view of the
cause of bad dreams as that found among the Babylonians.

[348] See above, p. 182.

[349] IV R. pl. 5.

[350] See Perrot and Chiplez, _History of Art in Chaldaea and Assyria_,
i. 61, 62; ii. 81 for illustrations.

[351] IV R. 2, col. v. ll. 30-60.

[352] The god of humanity. The phrase is equivalent to saying that the
spirits are hostile to mankind.

[353] Literally, 'to their second time,' _i.e._, repeat 'seven are
they.'

[354] See Hopkins, _The Holy Numbers in the Rig-Veda_ (Oriental
Studies), pp. 144-147.

[355] IV R. 15, col. ll. 21 _seq._

[356] See chapter xi.

[357] For the general views connected with the evil eye among all
nations, see Elworthy's recent volume, _The Evil Eye_. (London, 1896.)

[358] For illustrations taken from various nations, see Fraser, _The
Golden Bough_, ii. 9-12; ii. 85-89.

[359] See for illustrations of similar practices among Egyptians and
Greeks, Budge, _Life and Exploits of Alexander the Great_ (London,
1896), pp. xii-xvii.

[360] Mr. L. W. King describes (_Zeits. fuer Assyr._ xl. 50-62)
interesting fragments of the Dibbarra (or 'plague-god') legend found on
tablets which were evidently intended to be hung up. Mr. King suggests
that such tablets were hung up in the houses of the Babylonians whenever
a plague broke out. One is reminded of the _mezuzoth_, the metallic or
wooden cases, attached to the doorposts of their houses by the Jews, and
which originally served a similar purpose.

[361] Tallqvist, _Assyr. Beschwoerungsserie Maklu_, p. 115, suggests that
the 'veiled bride' may be a name of some goddess of the night. This is
improbable. It sounds more like a direct personification of the night,
for which an epithet as 'veiled bride' seems appropriate. The name may
have arisen in consequence of mythological conceptions affecting the
relationship between day and night.

[362] A magic potion compounded of this plant. 'Maklu' series, i. ll.
8-12.

[363] 'Maklu' series, ii. ll. 148-168.

[364] See Relsner, _Sumerisch-Babylonische Hymnen_ (Berlin, 1896), p.
15.

[365] See p. 137.

[366] Robertson Smith, _Religion of the Semites_, p. 352. Grimm,
_Deutsche Mythologie_, i. 508-596. Tylor, _Primitive Culture_, ii. 383
_seq._ See also the article "Hestia" in Roscher's _Ausfuehrliches Lexikon
der Griechischen und Roemischen Mythologie_.

[367] 'Maklu' series, ii. ll. 1-17.

[368] A reference to the sacred action of the fire in the burnt
offerings.

[369] A favorite title of several gods, Bel, Sin, etc., that emphasizes
their strength.

[370] Here the seeker for help inserts his name.

[371] Here the names of special deities are to be inserted.

[372] See above, Nusku, p. 220.

[373] See p. 67.

[374] A form of Nusku, according to Tallqvist, _Assyr. Beschwoer._ p.
146. It would be more accurate to say a form of Ninib. See p. 92.

[375] See p. 91.

[376] King, _Babylonian Magic_, p. 3.

[377] Humanity.

[378] The reference is to the formal lamentations on the occasion of the
death of any one. The moon-god, having disappeared, is bewailed as
though dead.

[379] _I.e._, under all conditions and at all times.

[380] The reading Naru is not altogether certain, but probable. See
Tallqvist, _Assyr. Beschwoer._ pp. 131, 132, whose suggestion, however,
that Naru may be a female deity, is not acceptable. _Elitti_ is probably
a scribal error.

[381] See above p. 103.

[382] Tallqvist, I. l. 38.

[383] See above, p. 254.

[384] To bewitch me.

[385] The witch.

[386] From which he suffers through the witches.

[387] The identification of the many herbs mentioned in the texts is as
yet impossible. The subject awaits investigation at the hands of one
versed in botanical lore.

[388] _I.e._, be ineffective.

[389] _I.e._, the gods presiding over the watches.

[390] Her words dissolve like wax and honey.

[391] Supposed to be situated at the northern point of the heavens.

[392] The vault of heaven was pictured as having two gates.

[393] So that the witch cannot leave her habitation.

[394] With the order 'to cast the lock,' etc.

[395] To prevent her from uttering her charms.

[396] The following four lines constitute the incantation.

[397] _I.e._, the witches.

[398] See above, p. 278, where one has been given.

[399] Maklu, I. 122-143.

[400] The fiery element belongs to all three divisions of the
universe,--to heaven, earth, and water.

[401] Maklu, III. ll. 89-103.

[402] Many of the seals used by the Babylonians were of white stone or
bone.

[403] Zimmern's edition, pp. 25-29.

[404] _I.e._, the evil word.

[405] His protecting deity has deserted him.

[406] Of his body.

[407] _I.e._, whoever may have invoked the evil demon to settle upon
him.

[408] The translation of these lines follows in all but some minor
passages the correct one given by Sayce, _Hibbert Lectures_, p. 446.

[409] Of the sick man.

[410] Zimmern, _Die Beschwoerungstafeln Shurpu_, pp. 5, 6.

[411] In mercantile transactions.

[412] _I.e._, lied.

[413] _I.e._, did he say one thing, but mean the contrary?

[414] Zimmern, _ib._ pp. 13-20.

[415] For details as to the manner in which this editing was done, see
King's admirable remarks in the Introduction to his _Babylonian Magic
and Sorcery_, pp. xx-xxiv.

CHAPTER XVII.

THE PRAYERS AND HYMNS.

From what has just been said, it follows that the step from magical
formulas to prayers and hymns is but a small one, and does not, indeed,
carry with it the implication of changed or higher religious
conceptions. While the incantation texts in their entirety may be
regarded as the oldest _fixed_ ritual of the Babylonian-Assyrian
religion, there were occasions even in the oldest period of Babylonian
history when the gods were approached in prayer without the
accompaniment of magic formulas. Such occasions were the celebration of
festivals in honor of the gods, the dedication of temples or of sacred
statues, and the completion of such purely secular undertakings as the
building of a canal. Gudea, we are told, upon completing a statue to his
god Nin-girsu, prayed: 'O King, whose great strength the land cannot
endure (?); Nin-girsu! grant to Gudea, who has built this house, a good
fate.'[416] As in the earliest, so in the latest, period, the Babylonian
kings approach the gods in prayer upon completing their great sacred
edifices. The prayers of Nebuchadnezzar are particularly
fine--remarkable, indeed, for their diction and elevation of thought.
Upon completing the restoration of a temple to Nin-karrak or Gula in
Sippar, he prays:[417]

Nin-karrak, lofty goddess, look with favor upon the work of my hands,
Mercy towards me be the command of thy lips,
Long life, abundance of strength,
Health, and joy, grant to me as a gift.
In the presence of Shamash and Marduk cause my deeds to be regarded
with favor,
Command grace for me.

A prayer of the same king addressed to Shamash, upon restoring the great
temple at Sippar, E-babbara, runs:[418]

O Shamash, great lord, upon entering joyfully into thy glorious temple
E-babbara,
Look with favor upon my precious handiwork,
Mercy towards me be thy command;
Through thy righteous order, may I have abundance of strength.
Long life, and a firm throne, grant to me.
May my rule last forever!
With a righteous sceptre of blissful rulership,
With a legitimate staff, bringing salvation to mankind, adorn my
sovereignty forever.
With strong weapons for the fray, protect my soldiers;
Then, O Shamash, by oracle and dream, answer me correctly!
By thy supreme command, which is unchangeable,
May my weapons advance, and strike and overthrow the weapons of the
enemies.

Nebuchadnezzar's inscriptions are characterized by the prayer with which
they almost invariably close. Whether erecting a sanctuary or building a
canal or improving the walls of Babylon, he does not fail to add to the
description of his achievements a prayer to some deity, in which he asks
for divine grace and the blessings of long life and prosperity.

There were other occasions, too, in which, both in ancient times and in
more modern periods, prayers were sent up to the gods. Kudur-mabuk, of
the second dynasty of Ur, informs us that he built a temple, E-nun-makh,
to Sin in gratitude to the god for having hearkened to his prayer.

The Assyrian kings pray to Ashur or Ishtar before the battle, and offer
thanks after the victory has been gained. "O goddess of Arbela!" says
Ashurbanabal,[419] "I am Ashurbanabal, the king of Assyria, the product
of thy hands, created by thee in the house of my father. To renew the
sanctuaries of Assyria, and to enlarge the cities of Babylonia, ... have
I devoted myself to thy dwelling-places, and have steadfastly worshipped
thy sovereignty.... Hearken unto me! O thou mistress of mistresses,
supreme in battle, mistress of the fray, queen of the gods, ... who
speakest good things in the presence of Ashur, the father, that produced
thee. Teumman, king of Elam, has arrayed his army and fixed upon battle,
brandishes his weapons to proceed against Assyria. Do thou now, O
warrior, like ... drive him into the midst of the fray, pursue him with
a storm, with an evil wind." Ishtar, the narrative tells us, hearkened
to the fervent words of the king. "Be not afraid," says the goddess to
her royal subject. Elsewhere the same king prays more briefly to Ashur
and Ishtar. "May his corpse [viz., of a certain enemy] be cast before
his enemy [_i.e._, before Ashurbanabal], and his remains be carried
off."[420]

Upon ascending the throne, we find Nebuchadnezzar addressing a fervent
prayer to the great god Marduk:

O Eternal Ruler! Lord of the Universe!
Grant that the name[421] of the king whom thou lovest,
Whose name thou hast mentioned,[422] may flourish as seems good to
thee.
Guide him on the right path.
I am the ruler who obeys thee, the creation of thy hand.
It is thou who hast created me,
And thou hast entrusted to me sovereignty over mankind.
According to thy mercy, O lord, which thou bestowest upon all,
Cause me to love thy supreme rule.
Implant the fear of thy divinity in my heart,
Grant to me whatsoever may seem good before thee,
Since it is thou that dost control my life.

The curses also with which so many of the historical texts of Babylonia
and Assyria close may be regarded as prayers. We are also justified in
assuming that the offering of sacrifices, which formed at all times an
essential feature of the cult, both in Babylonia and Assyria, was always
accompanied by some form of prayer addressed to some deity or to a group
of deities. In view of all this, no sharp chronological line, any more
than a logical one, can be drawn marking off the incantation formulas
from the hymns and prayers pure and simple. The conceptions formed of
the gods in the incantation texts are precisely those which we have
found to be characteristic of them in the period when this phase of the
religion reached its highest development. Ea is the protector of
humanity, Shamash the lord of justice; and, if certain ideas that in the
prayers are attached to the gods--as wisdom to Sin--are absent from the
incantations, it may be regarded rather as an accident than as an
indication of any difference of conception. The pantheon too, barring
the omission of certain gods, is the same that we find it to be in the
historical texts, and the order in which the gods are enumerated
corresponds quite closely with the rank accorded to them in the
inscriptions of the kings. What variations there are are not
sufficiently pronounced to warrant any conclusions. All this points, as
has been emphasized several times, to the subsequent remodeling of the
texts in question. It is true that we find more traces of earlier and
purely mythological notions in the incantations than in the hymns and
prayers, but such notions are by no means foreign to the latter. Even in
those religious productions of Babylonia which represent the flower of
religious thought, we meet with views that reflect a most primitive mode
of thought. The proper view, therefore, to take of the prayers and hymns
is to regard them as twin productions to the magical texts, due to the
same conceptions of the power of the gods, an emanation of the same
religious spirit, and produced at the same time that the incantation
rituals enjoyed popular favor and esteem, and without in any way
interfering with the practice of the rites that these rituals involved.

This position does not of course preclude that among the prayers and
hymns that have been preserved there are some betraying a loftier
spirit, a higher level of religious thought, and more pronounced ethical
tendencies than others. Indeed, the one important result of the
dissociation of the address to the gods from the purely practical magic
rites was to produce the conditions favorable to a development of higher
religious thought. An offering of praise to the gods, whether it was for
victory granted or for a favor shown, called forth the best and purest
sentiments of which the individual was capable. Freed from all lower
associations, such an act proved an incentive to view the deity
addressed from his most favorable side, to emphasize those phases which
illustrated his affection for his worshippers, his concern for their
needs, his discrimination, and not merely his power and strength. In
short, the softer and the more humane aspects of the religion would thus
be brought out. The individual would address his god in terms betraying
his affection, and would couple with him attributes that would reflect
the worshipper's rather than the god's view of the purpose and aim of
existence. Whatever powers of idealization there lay in the worshipper's
nature would be brought into the foreground by the intellectual effort
involved in giving expression to his best thoughts, when aiming to come
into close communion with a power upon which he felt himself dependent.
For an understanding, therefore, of the ethical tendencies of the
Babylonian religion, an appreciation of the prayers and hymns is of
prime importance; and we shall presently see that, as a matter of fact,
the highest level of ethical and religious thought is reached in some of
these hymns.

The prayers of Nebuchadnezzar represent, perhaps, the best that has been
attained in this branch of religious literature. Returning, for a
moment, to the dedication prayer to Marduk, addressed by the king on the
occasion of his mounting the throne,[423] one cannot fail to be struck
by the high sense of the importance of his station with which the king
is inspired. Sovereignty is not a right that he can claim--it is a trust
granted to him by Marduk. He holds his great office not for purposes of
self-glorification, but for the benefit of his subjects. In profound
humility he confesses that what he has he owes entirely to Marduk. He
asks to be guided so that he may follow the path of righteousness.
Neither riches nor power constitute his ambition, but to have the fear
of his lord in his heart. Such a plane of thought is never reached in
the incantation texts. For all that, the original dependence of the
prayers and hymns upon incantation formulas, tinges even the best
productions. Some of the finest hymns, in which elevated thoughts are
elaborated with considerable skill, reveal their origin by having
incantations attached to them. Again, others which are entirely
independent productions are full of allusions to sickness, demons, and
sorcerers, that show the outgrowth of the hymns from the incantations;
and none are entirely free from traces of the conceptions that are
characteristic of the incantation texts. The essential difference
between these two classes of closely related texts may be summed up in
the proposition that the religious thought which produced them both is
carried to a higher point of elaboration in the hymns. The prayers and
hymns represent the attempt of the Babylonian mind to free itself from a
superstitious view of the relationship of man to the powers around him;
an attempt, but--it must be added--an unsuccessful one.

It is rather unfortunate that many of the hymns found in the library of
Ashurbanabal are in so fragmentary a condition. As a consequence we are
frequently unable to determine more than their general contents. The
colophons generally are missing,--at least in those hymns hitherto
published,[424]--so that we are left in the dark as to the special
occasion for which the hymn was composed. Without this knowledge it is
quite impossible to assign to it any definite date except upon internal
evidence. In the course of time, the hymnal literature of the great
temples of Babylonia must have grown to large proportions, and, in
collecting them, some system was certainly followed by the priests
engaged in this work. There is evidence of a collection having been made
at some time of hymns addressed to Shamash. Some of these were intended
as a salute upon the sun's rising, others celebrated his setting. These
hymns convey the impression of having been composed for the worship of
the god in one of his great temples--perhaps in E-babbara, at Sippar. We
have several hymns also addressed to Marduk, and one can well suppose
that at the great temple E-sagila, in Babylon, a collection of Marduk
hymns must have been prepared, and so for others of the great gods. But,
again, many of the hymns convey the impression of being merely sporadic
productions--composed for certain occasions, and without any reference
to a possible position in a ritual.

Of the hymns so far published, those to Shamash are probably the finest.
The conception of the sun-god as the judge of mankind lent itself
readily to an ethical elaboration. Accordingly, we find in these hymns
justice and righteousness as the two prominent themes. A striking
passage in one of these hymns reads:[425]

The law of mankind dost thou direct,
Eternally just in the heavens art thou,
Of faithful judgment towards all the world art thou.
Thou knowest what is right, thou knowest what is wrong.
O Shamash! Righteousness has lifted up its neck(?);
O Shamash! Wrong like a ---- has been cut(?);
O Shamash! The support of Anu and Bel art thou;
O Shamash! Supreme judge of heaven and earth art thou.

After a break in the tablet, the hymn continues:

O Shamash! Supreme judge, great lord of all the world art thou;
Lord of creation, merciful one of the world art thou.

The following lines now reveal the purpose of the hymn. It is a prayer
for the life of the king:

O Shamash! on this day purify and cleanse the king, the son of his
god.
Whatever is evil within him, let it be taken out.

The next few lines are a distinct echo of the incantation formulas, and
show how readily prayer passes from a higher to a lower stage of
thought:

Cleanse him like a vessel ----[426]
Illumine him like a vessel of ----[426]
Like the copper of a polished tablet,[427] let him be bright.
Release him from the ban.

The same incantation occurs at the close of another hymn to Shamash,
addressed to the sun upon his rising.[428] The colophon furnishes the
opening line of the next tablet, which also begins with an address to
Shamash. We have here a clear indication of a kind of Shamash ritual
extending, perhaps, over a number of tablets, and to which, in all
probability, the hymn just quoted also belongs.

The opening lines of the second hymn read:

O Shamash! out of the horizon of heaven thou issuest forth,
The bolt of the bright heavens thou openest,
The door of heaven thou dost open.
O Shamash! over the world dost thou raise thy head.
O Shamash! with the glory of heaven thou coverest the world.

It would be difficult to believe, but for the express testimony
furnished by the hymn itself, that a production giving evidence of such
a lofty view of the sun-god should, after all, be no more than an
incantation. The same is the case, however, with all the Shamash hymns
so far published. They either expressly or by implication form part of
an incantation ritual. Evidently, then, such addresses to Shamash are to
be viewed in no other light than the exaltation of Nusku in the 'Maklu'
series,[429] and which we have found were in many cases elaborate,
beautiful in diction, and elevated in thought. So--to give one more
example--a hymn addressed to the sun-god at the setting, and which is
especially interesting because of the metaphors chosen to describe the
sun's course, is proved by the colophon to be again an incantation. It
belongs to a series--perhaps, indeed, to the same as the specimens
furnished:[430]