The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria

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The one who pronounces the oracle speaks on behalf of Ishtar, and
therefore employs the first person. The oracles all have reference to
political events. They cannot, of course, be the answers to the
questions asked in the prayers analyzed above, since these were
addressed to the sun-god; but we may feel certain that the oracles of
the Shamash priests or priestesses were much of the same order, varying
only in minor particulars. The goddess invariably encourages the king.
The priest, it would appear, hears the voice of the deity in the wind.

Fear not! The wind which speaks to thee--
Comes with speech from me, withholding nothing.[522]
Thine enemies, like the ... of Siwan,[523]
At thy feet will be poured out.
The great mistress am I.
I am Ishtar of Arbela, who forces thine enemies to submission.
Is there any utterance of mine that I addressed to thee upon which
thou couldst not rely?
I am Ishtar of Arbela.
Thine enemies, the Ukkites (?), I give to thee, even I, Ishtar of
Arbela.
In front and behind thee I march.
Fear not!

This oracle, we are told in the subscript, was pronounced by a certain
Ishtar-la-tashiat, a son [_i.e._, a native] of Arbela. The dignity of
the diction is very marked. The very frequent assurance 'fear not' and
the solemn repetition of 'I am Ishtar' lend impressiveness to the
message. The oracle, it will be seen, deals in general phrases. This
indefiniteness characterizes most of them; and the more impressive the
diction, the greater vagueness in the statements made. So an oracle,
coming from Ishtar and Nabu and uttered by a woman Baya, a native of
Arbela, announces:

Fear not, Esarhaddon,
I, the lord, to thee do I speak.
The beams of thy heart I strengthen as thy mother,[524]
Who gave thee life.
Sixty great gods are with me[525]
Drawn up to protect thee.
The god Sin is on thy right, Shamash on thy left.
Sixty great gods are round about thee
Drawn up in battle array in the center of the citadel.
On men do not rely.
Lift up thine eyes to me. Look up to me!
I am Ishtar of Arbela.
Ashur is gracious to thee.
Thy weakness I will change to strength (?).
Fear not! glorify me!
Is not the enemy subdued
Who has been handed over to thee?
I proclaim it aloud,
What has been will be.[526]
I am Nabu, the lord of the willing tablet,
Glorify me.

A message of this kind could hardly have been satisfactory except as a
general encouragement.

The popularity of the Nabu cult in Assyria, it will be recalled, is an
offset against the supremacy of Marduk in the south. The Assyrian kings
found it to their interest to incorporate as much of the Babylonian cult
as was possible into their own religious ritual. To Shamash they
assigned the role played by Marduk. There was no danger in paying homage
to Nabu, the son of Marduk. Ishtar they regarded as their own goddess
quite as much as Ashur. These four deities, therefore, Ishtar, Shamash,
Nabu, and Ashur, are the special gods of oracles recognized by the
Assyrian rulers. Marduk, who is the chief source of oracles in the
south, is more rarely appealed to in the north, though of course
recognized as powerful. He could not be expected to regard with favor an
empire that so seriously threatened his supremacy in the pantheon.

The occasion when an oracle was announced was often one of great
solemnity. Just as the prayers in which the questions of the kings were
embodied were carefully written out, so that the priest in reciting them
might not commit any mistakes, so the answer to the prayers were
transmitted to the king in writing. Among the oracles of the days of
Esarhaddon, there is one coming from Ashur in which the ceremonies
accompanying the deliverance are instanced.[527] The oracle deals with
the Gimirrites, the same people in regard to whom Esarhaddon so often
consults the sun-god. It is marked by the more definite character of its
announcements when compared with others. The text is in the form of a
communication made to the king, and, like other official documents, it
begins with a salutation. The gods give Esarhaddon greeting.[528]

Ashur has given him the four ends of the earth.
In the house where he shines and is great,[529] the king has no rival.
Like the rising sun he shines.
This is the greeting from Bel Tarbasi[530] and the assembled gods.

The god Ashur himself now addresses the king:

As for those enemies that plot against thee, that force thee to march
out,
Thou didst open thy mouth [saying], "Verily I implore Ashur."
I have heard thy cry.
Out of the great gate of heaven I proclaim aloud,
'Surely I will hasten to let fire devour them.
Thou shall stand among them.
In front of thee I shall rise up.[531]
Up onto the mountain I bring them.
There to rain down upon them destructive stones.
Thine enemies I hew down,
With their blood I fill the river.
Let them behold and glorify me,
For Ashur, the lord of gods, am I.'

This important and striking message, coming direct from Ashur we are
told, is to be formally presented and read in the presence of the king.
Instructions are added to the priests to pour out a libation of precious
oil. Sacrifices of animals and waving of incense are to accompany the
presentation.

The oracle, as the god's answer to the king's questions, thus gave rise
to a ritual as elaborate as the rites connected with the preparations
for the answer. The oracles were not always trustworthy, as we can well
believe, and often they were not definite enough. If we may judge from
an expression in one of the divine messages to Esarhaddon, the king
appears to have entered a complaint against a former oracle, which was
not to his liking. Ishtar accordingly sends the following message:[532]

The former word which I spoke to thee,
On it thou didst not rely.
Now, then, in the later one you may have confidence.
Glorify me!

Clearly, the Assyrian kings believed that the oracles existed to
announce what they wanted to hear. They probably did not hesitate to
follow their own judgment whenever they considered it superior to the
advice given to them by the gods. There would, of course, be no
difficulty in accounting for failures brought about through obedience to
the oracles. The priests, hemmed in on every side by minute ceremonial
observances, forfeited their power as mediators by the slightest failure
in the observance of these rites. An error or a mishap would entail most
serious consequences. A misleading oracle, therefore, and to a certain
extent, unfavorable omens, would be the fault of the priests. The deity
would send 'a lying message'[533] or bring about unfavorable omens as a
sign of his or her displeasure. On the other hand, the priests in turn
would not hesitate--speaking of course in the name of the gods--to
accuse the kings of neglecting Ishtar or Nabu or Shamash, as the case
may be. In an oracle addressed to Esarhaddon,[534] Ishtar of Arbela is
represented as complaining that the king has done nothing for her,
although she has done so much for him. Such a state of affairs cannot go
on.

Since they do nothing for me,
I will not give anything to thee.

The king promptly responds by copious offerings, and the goddess appears
to be pacified.

There is another feature connected with the oracles that must be touched
upon before passing on. The oracles stand obviously in close
relationship to the penitential psalms. It was, naturally, in times of
political distress that the kings would be particularly zealous in
maintaining themselves on good terms with the powerful gods. Without
their aid success could not be expected to crown any efforts. Guiding
their steps by frequent consultations of the priests, the appeals of the
kings would increase in earnestness and fervor as the campaign
progressed and assumed more serious aspects. When disaster stared them
in the face, they would be forced to conclude that the gods were
angered, and there was only one way left of averting the divine wrath--a
free confession of sins, accompanied, of course, by offerings and magic
rites. The Assyrian kings do not tell us in their annals of
discomfitures that they encountered. The penitential psalms supply this
omission. We have such a psalm written in the days of Ashurbanabal,[535]
in which that proud monarch humbles himself before the great god Nabu,
and has the satisfaction in return of receiving a reassuring oracle. He
prays:

I confess to thee, Nabu, in the presence of the great gods,
[Many[536] (?)] are my sins beyond endurance?[537]
[Lord (?)] of Nineveh, I come before thee, the warrior among the gods,
his brothers.
[Prolong (?)] the life of Ashurbanabal for a long period.
... At the feet of Nabu I prostrate myself.

The god reassures the king:

I will grant thee life, O Ashurbanabal, even I,
Nabu, to the end of days
Thy feet shall not grow weary, nor thy hands weak (?),
These lips of thine shall not cease to approach me,
Thy tongue shall not be removed from thy lips,
For I give thee a favorable message.
I will raise thy head, I will increase thy glory in the temple of
E-babbara.[538]

The reference to the temple of Shamash at Sippar reveals the situation.
Babylonia was the cause of much trouble to Ashurbanabal, owing chiefly
to the intrigues of his treacherous brother Shamash-shumukin.[539]
Ashurbanabal at one time was not merely in danger of losing control over
the south, but of losing his life in the rebellion organized by his
'faithless brother.' A successful rebellion is a clear sign of a god's
displeasure. Marduk, as we have seen, was not often appealed to by the
Assyrian kings, but Nabu seemed always ready to help them. Hence the
king confesses his sins and makes an appeal to the great Babylonian god
and not to Ashur. He is encouraged by the promise that his life will be
spared, and that his supremacy will be recognized in Babylonia. The
great sanctuary of Sippar is here employed figuratively for the temples
of Babylonia in general. To be glorified in that famous temple was
equivalent to a recognition of royal authority.

That these oracles served a practical purpose is definitely proved by
the manner in which they are introduced by the kings in their annals.
Ashurbanabal tells us that in the course of one of his campaigns against
Elam, he addressed a fervent prayer to Ishtar of Arbela, and in reply
the message comes, as in the texts we have been considering, "Fear not";
and she adds, "Thy hands raised towards me, and thy eyes filled with
tears, I look upon with favor."[540]

Dreams.

It is, of course, not necessary to assume that the oracles of the gods
were always delivered in the same formal manner, accompanied by
elaborate ceremonies. The gods at times reveal themselves in a more
direct manner to their favorites. In visions of the night they appear to
encourage the Assyrian army by an oracle. On one occasion, when the army
of Ashurbanabal approached a rushing stream which they were afraid to
cross, Ishtar makes her appearance at night, and declares, "I walk in
front of Ashurbanabal, the king who is the creation of my hands."[541]
The army, thus reassured, crosses the river in safety. On another
occasion, Ashurbanabal, when threatened by the king of Elam, receives a
message from Ishtar revealed to a seer in a dream at night. The seer--no
doubt a priest--reports to the king:[542] 'Ishtar, dwelling in Arbela,
came with quivers hung on her right and left side, with a bow in her
hand, and girded (?) with a pointed, unsheathed sword. Before thee
[_i.e._, the king] she stood, and like the mother that bore thee.[543]
Ishtar, supreme among the gods, addressed thee, commanding: "Be
encouraged[544] for the fray. Wherever thou art, I am."'

In connection with the importance that the Babylonians and Assyrians, in
common with all ancient nations, attached to dreams, divine messages
thus revealed had a special significance fully on a par with the oracles
that were formally delivered with an accompaniment of elaborate rites. A
god appearing to one in a dream was a manifestation, the force of which
could not be disputed. It mattered little to whom the dream was sent.
Ashur, on one occasion, chose to reveal himself to an enemy of
Ashurbanabal with a message. He appears in a dream before Gyges, the
king of Lydia, and tells him,[545] "Pay homage to Ashurbanabal, the king
of Assyria, and by the power of his name conquer thine enemies." Gyges
obeys and sends a messenger to the Assyrian monarch to inform him of the
dream. Occasionally in this way a deity might appear to a king, but in
general it was to the professional 'dreamer' rather than to the laity to
whom oracles were thus sent. The message was not necessarily delivered
in person by the deity. Sin, the moon-god, on one occasion writes his
message on the moon's disc:

Against all who have evil designs
And hostile sentiments towards
Ashurbanabal, the king of Assyria,
Will I send a miserable death.[546]

Every dream was of course sent by some god, but the dreams of others
than those who acted as mediators between the gods and men were of a
different character. They were omens. The gods would reveal themselves
indirectly by means of pictures or symbols, and it would require the
services of a priest again to interpret such symbols or omens. The gods
were asked to send such dreams as might receive a favorable
interpretation,[547] and when a dream came unsolicited, the gods were
implored to convert the dream into a favorable omen.

In the case of dreams, it will be apparent, the dividing line between
oracles proper and omens becomes exceedingly faint and it is very
doubtful whether the Babylonians or Assyrians recognized any essential
difference between the two. The suggestion has already been thrown out
that there is a wider aspect to omens in the Babylonian religion than
their employment in connection with sacrificial offerings. We have
reached a point when it will be proper to take up this wider aspect.

FOOTNOTES:

[491] See King, _Babylonian Magic_, p. xxx.

[492] Harper's _Assyrian Letters_, no. 219.

[493] _Assyrische Gebete an den Sonnengott fuer Staat und Koenigliches
Haus_ (Leipzig, 1893, 2 vols.).

[494] Knudtzon, no. 1.

[495] That the priest recites the prayer and not the king is shown by
the frequent introduction of the king's name in the 3d person. See,
_e.g._, Knudtzon, nos. 40-47.

[496] 2d month.

[497] 5th month.

[498] _I.e._, the priest is only asked for an oracle regarding the
events of the next one hundred days.

[499] Various machines are mentioned. The precise meaning of the
technical terms employed is not known.

[500] By invoking the assistance of the gods.

[501] Peacefully, by mutual agreement and the promise of favors.

[502] One is reminded of the Arabic phrase "Allah alone knows it," so
frequently introduced in Mohammedan writings.

[503] Lit., 'Seen will it be seen, heard will it be heard?' The emphatic
construction is identical with the one frequently employed in Biblical
Hebrew.

[504] Knudtzon (p. 25) did not grasp the negative force of _ezib_. The
word is a request that something might _not_ happen.

[505] Where the animal is to be inspected, probably the altar itself.

[506] In the Jewish ritual and many others, stress is laid upon
pronouncing the words of a prayer clearly and deliberately, especially
such words as have a particularly sacred value.

[507] _Assyrische Gebete_, p. 50.

[508] Exactly of what nature cannot be ascertained. The text (Knudtzon,
no. 29, rev. 15) is defective at this point.

[509] The prayer or the lamb.

[510] Lit., 'proceed.'

[511] Knudtzon, no. 66. Other examples are furnished in George Smith's
_History of Ashurbanabal_, pp. 184, 185.

[512] A district to the northeast of Assyria; Knudtzon, no. 29.

[513] _Ib._ no. 107.

[514] _Ib._ no. 101.

[515] Four volumes comprising several hundred letters have already
appeared under the title, _Assyrian Letters of the K. Collection_
(London, 1896). For a good summary of the character of the Assyrian
epistolary literature, see Johnston's article in the _Journal of the
American Oriental Society_, xviii. 1, pp. 125-134.

[516] Harper, no. 77.

[517] _E.g._, Knudtzon, no. 124.

[518] Zimmern, _Busspsalmen_, p. 32. The popularity of the sun-cult in
Assyria in connection with omens and oracles is probably due also in
part to the influence of Marduk, who was, as we have seen, a solar
deity.

[519] Lehman, _Samassumukin_, p. 42.

[520] See Ploss, _Das Weib_, pp. 594-606; also above, p. 267.

[521] IVR. pl. 61.

[522] _I.e._, Ishtar sends the wind with a clear message.

[523] 3d month.

[524] Perhaps a proverbial phrase, having the force of 'I nurture thee
as thy own mother did.'

[525] Constituting the host of Ishtar, which is elsewhere referred to,
_e.g._, IVR. 2d Ed. pt. 61, col. i. 27.

[526] Lit., 'the future or later things like the former.'

[527] Published by S. A. Strong, _Beitraege zur Assyriologie_, ii.
627-33.

[528] The opening lines, containing a reference to the Gimirrites, are
imperfectly preserved.

[529] _I.e._, he is the greatest scion of the reigning dynasty.

[530] 'Lord of the court'--a title of Ashur.

[531] As a protection, just as Jahwe appears in a pillar of cloud to
protect his people.

[532] IVR. 2d Ed. 61, col. vi. 47-52.

[533] See I Kings, xxii. 23.

[534] Strong, _Beitraege zur Assyriologie_, ii. 628, 629.

[535] Published and translated by S. A. Strong, _Transactions of the
Ninth International Oriental Congress_ (1893), ii. 199-208.

[536] Supplied from the context, through comparison with similar
compositions.

[537] Lit., 'my soul cannot overcome.'

[538] The composition continues in this strain, Ashurbanabal and Nabu
speaking alternately.

[539] See Tiele, _Babyl.-Assyr. Geschichte_, pp. 371 _seq_.

[540] George Smith, _Annals of Ashurbanabal_, p. 121.

[541] Rassam Cylinder, VR. col. v. ll. 95-103.

[542] George Smith, _Annals of Ashurbanabal_, pp. 119-121.

[543] With maternal kindness.

[544] Lit., 'look up.'

[545] Rassam Cylinder, col ii. ll. 98 _seq._

[546] _Ib._ col. iii. ll. 122-124.

[547] _E.g._, IVR. 59, no. 2, 21b.

CHAPTER XX.

VARIOUS CLASSES OF OMENS.

There is a close connection between the various branches of the
religious literature of Babylonia and Assyria that we have hitherto been
considering. The magic incantations are, as we have seen, a form of
prayer. On the other hand, prayers, whether hymns or confessions of sin
with an appeal for relief from suffering or distress, or embodying the
petition for a divine response to some question or questions, are never
entirely dissociated from incantations, and are invariably based upon
the same beliefs that give to the element of magic such a prominent
place in the religion. The omens form part of this same order of
beliefs. The connecting link between incantations and omens is the sense
of mystery impressed upon man by two orders of phenomena--the phenomena
of his own life and the phenomena of the things about him. In his own
life, nothing was more mysterious to him than the power of speech. It is
doubtful whether he recognized that the animals communicated with one
another by means of the sounds that they emitted; but even if he did,
the great gap separating such means of communication from the power
residing in the combination of sounds, of which he could avail himself,
must have been all the more impressive. In view of this, it is not
difficult to understand that a magic force was attributed to words as
such. Of course, a somewhat advanced degree of culture must have been
reached before such a belief would be given a definite form of
expression; but even in the simplest form of social organization the
notion of _authority_ necessarily exists, and authority is inseparable
from words. The chief commands, and the conclusion is naturally drawn
that the words he utters are imbued with the power to force obedience.
These two factors--the mystery of speech and the practical demonstration
of the power residing in words--are sufficient to account for the part
played by incantations among all nations at a certain stage of their
religious development; and once introduced, the conservatism attaching
to religious rites would ensure their continuance even after the popular
religious beliefs had passed far beyond the stage in question. The
modifications introduced into the incantations would be nigh endless.
There would develop a tendency to greater complications in the
combination of words. At the same time their literary form would be
improved. Prayers and hymns reflecting advanced religious sentiments
would be produced, but the magic element connected with the words as
such would not for that reason be lost sight of. The efficacy of such
prayers would still depend upon their being uttered in the right manner
and--what is equally to the point--by the right person. Corresponding to
the chief in secular affairs--who alone can pronounce words that give
evidence of their power by the results produced--is the priest in
religious affairs to whom, as the mediator between the gods and men, the
secret is entrusted of uttering the right words in the right way, so as
to produce the desired results, to force, as it were, obedience from the
gods, as a chief forces obedience from his subjects. In a more advanced
stage of religious culture, the position of the priest is no less
powerful and important. When incantations yield to prayers in the proper
sense, or are combined with prayers, it is only the priests who can make
the prayers effective by their interceding in some way with the gods,
whether by adding their appeal to that of the supplicant, or by the
performance of the rites accompanying prayer, or by their aid in leading
the worshipper into the presence of the deity and standing with him
before the throne of grace.

When man turns from a contemplation of self to the things around him,
there is added to the sense of the mysterious which is aroused in him,
the feeling of his own weakness which is borne in upon him with
overpowering force. He cannot fail to realize how dependent he is upon
the sun, the moon, the rain, and the storm. At every step he takes
dangers beset his path. The animal world is at times hostile, at times
friendly; but whether the one or the other, it is essential for him to
carefully _note_ all that is going on around him. Every happening or
sight of an unusual character arouses now his sense of fear, and again
his hope. He learns to attach special importance to deviations from the
normal course of things. There must be a reason for the exception from
the rule. It betokens something, and, concerned as man primarily is for
his own welfare, he naturally comes to connect both the regular
phenomena of nature as well as the deviations, the normal traits and
habits of the animal world as well as peculiar features occasionally
occurring, with his own fate. To forestall the future was his only
safeguard against the dangers in store for him. It was of the utmost
importance to him to know what was coming or, at all events, to be on
the lookout for _something_, in order to be in a proper frame to receive
either the benefits or to meet the difficulties of the situation.

His powers of observation--upon which man in a primitive state depended
almost entirely for his sustenance--were thus further strengthened by
the necessity of protecting himself, so far as possible, against the
uncertainties of the future. Nothing would escape him. The movement of
the stars and planets, their position at different seasons and periods,
the appearance of the clouds, an eclipse, the conditions of the streams,
an earthquake, the direction of the winds, storms, the flight of birds,
the barking of dogs, the movements of snakes and serpents, peculiar
marks on the bodies of children, of adults and animals, monstrosities
among mankind or the brute creation, the meeting with certain persons or
animals, the rustling of leaves, the change of seasons, the lustre of
precious stones, all attracted man's attention. Whatever he saw might
portend something to him, in fact _did_ portend something; hence the one
great aim and ideal of his life was to _see_ everything. Seeing meant
foreseeing, and the man who could see everything--the _seer par
excellence_, who could also understand what he saw--held in his hands
the key that would unlock the secrets of the future. He possessed the
means of forecasting events.

Apart, then, from the interpretation of omens in connection with
sacrifices and incantations, the individual had to be on the outlook at
all times for signs and portents. To neglect them would entail serious
consequences.

This wider aspect of omens accounts for the extensive omen literature
that arose in Babylonia and Assyria. Fully one-fourth of the portion of
Ashurbanabal's library that has been discovered consists of omens,[548]
tablets of various size in which explanations are afforded of all
physical peculiarities to be observed in animals and men, of natural
phenomena, of the position and movements of the planets and stars, of
the incidents and accidents of public and private life,--in short, of
all possible occurrences and situations.