The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria

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The position of the sun, as the general overseer of the planets, led to
the application of an interesting metaphor to express the relationship
between the sun and the planets. Just as the human chiefs or kings were
called 'shepherds,'--a metaphor suggested, no doubt, by agricultural
life,--so the planets were commonly known as 'sheep' or, as Jensen
suggests,[821] 'wandering sheep,' and it is rather curious that
Mars-Nergal should have been designated as the 'sheep'[822] _par
excellence_. The 'service' in which the planets stood to the sun is
exemplified by another term applied to them, which designates them as
the mediators carrying out the orders of their superior.

Lastly, it may be noted that each planet receives a variety of names and
epithets in the astronomical texts,--a circumstance that points to the
composite character of the developed planetary system of the
Babylonians. Some of these names are of so distinctive a character as to
justify the conclusion that they arose in the different centers where
astronomical schools existed.

The process involved in the development of the system is thus
complicated by factors introducing views originally confined to certain
districts, and it becomes doubtful whether we will ever be able to trace
all the steps involved in the process.

Corresponding to the unique position occupied by the superior triad Anu,
Bel, and Ea in the theological system, a special place was assigned to
them in the astronomical system. Anu is the pole star of the ecliptic,
Bel the pole star of the equator, while Ea in the southern heavens was
identified, according to Jensen,[823] with a star in the constellation
Argo. Anu, Bel, and Ea represented the three most prominent fixed stars,
but by the side of these a large number of other stars were
distinguished and many of them identified with some deity. For some of
these stars the modern equivalents have been ascertained through recent
researches;[824] others still remain to be determined.

The astronomical science of the Babylonians thus resolves itself into
these natural divisions:

(1) the constellations, especially those of the zodiac,
(2) the five great planets,
(3) the fixed stars, Anu, Bel, and Ea,
(4) miscellaneous stars, and
(5) the sun and moon.

The rivalry between the two great luminaries ends in a superior rank
being accorded to the sun. Natural and indeed inevitable as this
conclusion was, the scientific theory in the Euphrates Valley was
presumably influenced to some extent by the circumstance that the head
of the pantheon was a solar deity. We have seen that the tradition of
this original character of Marduk survived in the popular mind.

Of the sun but little need be said here. As represented in the creation
story, he was freer in his movements than any of the planets. He passed
across the heavens daily as an overseer to see that everything was
maintained in good order. As in Greek mythology, the sun was represented
as riding in a chariot drawn by horses.[825] Scientific speculation
advanced but little upon these popular fancies. The course that the sun
took on the ecliptic was determined, and the ecliptic itself served as
the guide for determining the position and movements of the stars. Under
the growing influence of the Marduk cult and of such deities as Ninib,
Nergal, and Nabu, associated with Marduk mythologically or politically,
the old moon worship lost much of its prestige; but in astronomical
science, the former independent rank of the moon is still in large
measure preserved. In the enumeration of the planets the moon is
mentioned first.[826] The moon is not a 'sheep' belonging to the flock
of Shamash. The importance of the moon in the regulation of the calendar
saved her from this fate. The beginning of the calendrical system,
indeed, may well have been of popular origin. Ihering[827] is of the
opinion that agricultural occupations made the marking off of time a
popular necessity, and this view is borne out by the early epithets of
the months among the Babylonians,[828] which, as among the Hebrews, are
connected with agriculture and the life of the agriculturist. The later
names also bear traces of the same train of thoughts. Leaving aside
details into which it is needless to enter here, the part of the
calendar which touches upon the religion of the Babylonians is the
sacred character given to the months by making each one devoted to some
god or gods. In this association there may be observed the same curious
mixture of several factors that controlled the identification of the
planets with the gods. The theory underlying the pantheon and certain
mythological conceptions are two of the factors that can be clearly seen
at work. The triad Anu, Bel, and Ea are accorded the first rank.[829]

The first month, Nisan, is sacred to Anu and Bel.

The second, Iyar, is sacred to Ea as the "lord of humanity."

Then follows Sin to whom, as the first-born of Bel,[830] the third
month, Siwan, is devoted.

The four succeeding months are parceled out among deities closely
connected with one another,--Ninib, Nin-gishzida, Ishtar, and Shamash.
Of these, Ninib and Nin-gishzida are solar deities. Ninib, as the
morning sun, symbolizes the approach of the summer season, while
Nin-gishzida, another solar deity,[831] represents an advance in this
season. To them, therefore, the fourth and fifth months, Tammuz (or
Du'zu) and Ab respectively, are sacred. Ishtar is the goddess of
fertility, and the sixth month, which represents the culmination of the
summer season, is accordingly devoted to her. As the last of the group
comes Shamash himself, to whom the seventh month, Tishri (or Tashritum),
is sacred. Marduk and Nergal come next, the eighth month,
Marcheshwan,[832] being sacred to the former, the ninth Kislev to the
great warrior Nergal. The factors here involved are not clear, nor do we
know why the tenth month is sacred to Papsukal--perhaps here used as an
epithet of Nabu--to Anu, and to Ishtar. The eleventh month, the height
of the rainy season and known as the "month of the course of
rainstorms," is appropriately made sacred to Ramman, 'the god of
storms.' The last month, Adar, falling within the rainy season is
presided over by the seven evil spirits. Lastly, an interesting trace of
Assyrian influence is to be seen in devoting to Ashur, "the father of
the gods," the intercalated month, the second Adar. This introduction of
Ashur points to the late addition of this intercalated month, and makes
it probable also that the intercalation is the work of astronomers
standing under Assyrian authority. A second intercalated month is Elul
the second. This month is sacred to Anu and Bel, just like Nisan, the
first month. The list, therefore, begins anew with the intercalated
month. Such a procedure is natural, and one is inclined to conclude that
the intercalated Elul is of Babylonian origin and older than the
intercalated Adar.

It does not appear that the female consorts of the gods shared in the
honors thus bestowed upon the male deities. Variations from the list as
given also occur. So Ashurbanabal calls the seventh month, Elul, the
month of 'the king of gods Ashur,'[833] while Sargon[834] assigns the
fourth month to the 'servant of Gibil,' the fire-god, by which
Nin-gishzida is meant, and the third month he calls the month of "the
god of brick structures."[835]

In fact, the assigning of the months to the gods appears to partake more
or less of an arbitrary character. Absolute uniformity probably did not
prevail throughout Babylonia until a comparatively late period. Nor does
it appear that any popular significance was attached to the sacred
character thus given to the months. It was the work of the schools, as
are most of the features involved in the elaboration of the calendar.

In somewhat closer touch with popular notions and popular observances
were the names of the months. Confining ourselves to the later
names,--the forms in which they were transmitted during the period of
the Babylonian exile to the Jews,[836]--we find that the first month
which, as we shall see, was marked by sacred observances in the temples
of Marduk and Nabu at Babylon and Borsippa was designated
ideographically as 'the month of the sanctuary,' the third as the period
of 'brick-making,' the fifth as the 'fiery' month, the sixth as the
month of the 'mission of Ishtar'--a reference to the goddess' descent
into the region of darkness. Designations like 'taking (_i.e._,
scattering) seed' for the fourth month, 'copious fertility' for the
ninth month, 'grain-cutting' period for the twelfth, and 'opening of
dams'[837] for the eighth contain distinct references to agriculture.
The name 'destructive rain' for the eleventh month is suggested by
climatic conditions. Still obscure is the designation of the seventh
month as the month of the 'resplendent mound,'[838] and so also is the
designation of the second month.[839]

The calendar is thus shown to be the product of the same general order
of religious ideas that we have detected in the zodiacal and planetary
systems. Its growth must have been gradual, for its composite character
is one of its most striking features. The task was no easy one to bring
the lunar year into proper conjunction with the solar year, and there
are grounds for believing that prior to the division of the year into
twelve parts, there was a year of ten months corresponding to a simpler,
perhaps a decimal, system, which appears to have preceded the elaborate
sexagesimal system.[840]

However this may be, the point of importance for our purposes is to
detect the extension of religious ideas into the domain of science, and,
on the other hand, to note the reaction of scientific theories on the
development of religious thought. The cosmology of the Babylonians
results from the continued play of these two factors. Hence the strange
mixture of popular notions and fancies with comparatively advanced
theological speculations and still more advanced scientific theories
that is found in the cosmological system. Even mysticism is given a
scientific aspect in Babylonia. The identification of the gods with the
stars arises, as we have seen, from a scientific impulse, and it is a
scientific spirit again that leads to the introduction of the gods into
the mathematics of the day.[841] A number is assigned to each of the
chief gods. And, though such a procedure has its natural outcome in
Cabbalistic tendencies, we can still discern in the ideas that lead to
this association of numbers with gods, influences at work that emanated
from the astronomical schools. Thus the moon-god Sin is identified with
the number thirty, suggested by the days of the ordinary month. Ishtar,
the daughter of Sin, is number fifteen, the half of thirty. The unit in
the sexagesimal--the number sixty--is assigned to Anu, the chief of the
triad, while the other two members, Bel and Ea, follow as fifty and
forty respectively. The dependence of this species of identification
upon the calendrical system is made manifest by the inferior rank given
to the sun, which receives the number twenty, the decimal next to that
assigned to Sin, while Ramman, the third member of the second
triad,[842] is identified with ten.[843] Absolute consistency in this
process is, of course, as little to be expected as in other
semi-mystical aspects of the science of the Babylonians; nor is it
necessary for our purposes to enter upon the further consequences
resulting from this combination of gods with numbers. The association of
ideas involved in the combination furnishes another and rather striking
illustration of the close contact between science and religion in the
remarkable culture of the Euphrates Valley.

There was no conflict between science and religion in ancient Babylonia.
Each reacted on the other, but the two factors were at all times closely
united in perfect harmony,--a harmony so perfect, indeed, as to be
impressive despite its _naivete_.

FOOTNOTES:

[808] _E.g._, IR. 52, no. 3, col. ii. l. 2; IIR. 38, 27b.

[809] The Greek name for the letters of the alphabet--_symbolon_,
_i.e._, a "likeness"--illustrates the same view of the pictorial origin
of writing.

[810] For illustrations, see Lenomant, _Magie und Wahrsagekunst der
Chaldaer_, pp. 520-523.

[811] See the summary on pp. 198, 199, of Delitzsch, _Ursprung der
Keilschriftzeichen._

[812] See p. 436.

[813] Epping and Strassmaier, _Astronomisches aus Babylon_ (Freiburg,
1889).

[814] _Kosmologie_, pp. 57-95. See especially the summary, pp. 82-84.

[815] See p. 89.

[816] See p. 48.

[817] On this ideograph, see Jensen, _Kosmologie_ pp. 43, 44.

[818] _Kosmologie_, p. 134.

[819] See the following chapter on "The Gilgamesh Epic," and chapter
xxv, "The Views of the Babylonians and Assyrians of the Life after
Death."

[820] Jensen, _ib._ p. 140. See above, p. 67.

[821] _bibbu._

[822] _Ib._ p. 99.

[823] _Ib._ p. 27.

[824] See especially Jensen's _Kosmologie_, pp. 46-57 and 144-160.

[825] Jensen, _ib._ pp. 108, 109.

[826] The constant order is moon, sun, Marduk, Ishtar, Ninib, Nergal,
Nabu. _E.g._, IIR. 48, 48-34a-b.

[827] _Vorgeschichte der Indo-Europaer_, pp. 151 _seq._

[828] On the older and later names of the Babylonians, see Meissner,
_Zeitschrift fuer die Kunde des Morgenlandes_, v. 180, 181, and on the
general subject of the Babylonian months, Muss-Arnolt's valuable
articles in the _Journal of Biblical Literature_, xi. 72-94 and 160-176.

[829] IVR. pl. 33.

[830] En-lil.

[831] See above, p. 99.

[832] Lit., 'Arakh-shamnu,' _i.e._, month eight.

[833] Rassam, Cylinder, col. lii. l. 32.

[834] Cylinder, Inscription l. 61.

[835] _Ib._ l. 58,--a rather curious title of Sin.

[836] The Talmud preserves the tradition of the Babylonian origin of the
Hebrew calendar (_Ierusalem Talmud Rosh-Hashshana_, l. 1).

[837] For the irrigation of the fields.

[838] In some way indicative of its sacred character. It is to be noted
that this month--Tishri--is the festival month among the Hebrews and
originally also among the Arabs. The 'mound' is a reference to the
temples which were erected on natural or artificial eminences.

[839] The latter is described by a series of ideographs, "herd" and "to
prosper." Is there perhaps a reference to cows giving birth to calves in
this month, the early spring? For another, but improbable, explanation,
see _Babylonian and Oriental Record_, iv. 37.

[840] Lehmann (_Actes du 8^eme Congres Internationel des Orientalists_,
Leiden, 1891, i. 169, note) admits the probability of an earlier and
more natural system.

[841] Lotz, _Quaestiones de Historia Sabbati_, pp. 27-29.

[842] Sin, Shamash, and Ramman. See pp. 108, 163.

[843] See for other combinations Lotz _ib._, and compare, _e.g._, VR.
36, where the number ten is associated with a large number of
gods,--Anu, Anatum, Bel, Ishtar, etc.

CHAPTER XXIII.

THE GILGAMESH EPIC.

We have seen[844] that the religion of Babylonia permeates all branches
of literature, so that it is not always possible to draw a sharp
dividing line between sacred and secular productions.

To account for this, it is but necessary to bear in mind what the
previous chapters have aimed to make clear, that religion furnished the
stimulus for the unfolding of intellectual life, and that the literary
and scientific productions represent the work of men primarily
interested in religion. The significance attached as omens to heavenly
phenomena led by degrees to the elaborate astronomical system outlined
in the previous chapter. But the astronomers of Babylonia were priests,
and indeed the same priests who compiled the hymns and incantations.
What is true of astronomy applies to medicine, so far as medicine had an
existence independent of incantations, and also to law. The physician
was a priest, as was the judge and likewise the scribe.

It is natural, therefore, to find that what may be called the great
national epic of the Babylonians was of a religious character. The
interpretation given to the traditions of the past was religious. The
distant past blended with the phenomena of nature in such a way as to
form a strange combination of poetry and realism. But thanks to this
combination, which is essentially a process of the popular mind, the
production that we are about to consider brings us much closer to the
popular phases of the Babylonian religion than does the cosmology or the
zodiacal system.

After all, a nation is much more interested in its heroes and in its own
beginnings, than in the beginnings of things in general. Some
speculation regarding the origin of the universe is perhaps inevitable
the moment that the spirit of inquiry arises, but these speculations are
soon entrusted into the hands of a minority,--the thinkers, the priests,
the astronomers,--who elaborate a system that gradually separates itself
from popular thought and exercises little influence upon the development
of religious ideas among the masses.

The Book of Genesis passes rapidly over the creation of stars, plants,
and animals, as though anxious to reach the history of man, and when it
comes to the traditions regarding the ancestors of the Hebrews, the
details are dwelt upon at length and pictured with a loving hand.
Similarly among the Babylonians, there is a freshness about the story of
the adventures of a great hero of the past that presents a contrast to
the rather abstruse speculations embodied in the creation epic. In this
story, in which a variety of ancient traditions have been combined,
there is comparatively little trace of the scholastic spirit, and
although, as we shall see, the story has been given its final shape
under the same influences that determined the other branches of
religious literature, the form has not obscured the popular character of
the material out of which the story has been constructed.

The name of the hero of the story was for a long time a puzzle to
scholars. Written invariably in ideographic fashion, the provisional
reading Izdubar[845] was the only safe recourse until a few years ago,
when Pinches discovered in a lexicographical tablet the equation

Izdubar = Gilgamesh.[846]

The equation proved that the Babylonians and Assyrians identified the
hero with a legendary king, Gilgamos, who is mentioned by Aelian.[847]
To be sure, what Aelian tells of this hero is not found in the Izdubar
epic, and appears to have originally been recounted of another legendary
personage, Etana.[848] There is therefore a reasonable doubt whether the
identification made by Babylonian scholars represents an old tradition
or is merely a late conjecture arising at a time when the traditions of
Izdubar were confused with those of Etana. Still, since Etana appears to
be a phonetic reading and can be explained etymologically in a
satisfactory manner, the presumption is in favor of connecting Gilgamesh
with the hero of the great epic. For the present, therefore, we may
accept the identification and assume that in Aelian, as well as in the
sources whence he drew his information, Izdubar-Gilgamesh has been
confused with Etana.[849]

The ideographic form of the name is preceded invariably by the
determinative for deity, but the three elements composing the name,
_iz_, _du_, and _bar_, are exceedingly obscure. The first element is a
very common determinative, preceding objects made of wood or any hard
substance. The word for weapon is always written with this
determinative; and since Izdubar is essentially a warrior, one should
expect _dubar_ to represent some kind of a weapon that he carries. On
seal cylinders Gilgamesh appears armed with a large lance.[850] However
this may be, Jeremias' proposition to render the name as "divine judge
of earthly affairs"[851] is untenable, and the same may be said of other
conjectures.

The fact that the name is written with the determinative for deity must
not lead us to a purely mythical interpretation of the epic. There was a
strong tendency in Babylonia to regard the early kings as gods. Dungi
and Gudea, who are far from being the earliest rulers in the Euphrates
Valley, appear in tablets with the determinative for deity attached to
their names,[852] and it would be natural, therefore, that a hero
belonging to a remote period should likewise be deified. There can be no
doubt that there is a historical background to the Gilgamesh epic, and
there is equally no reason to question the existence of an ancient king
or hero who bore the name Gilgamesh. The deification of the hero
superinduced the introduction of mythical elements. It was an easy
process also, that led to tales which arose as popular symbols of
occurrences in nature, being likewise brought into connection with a
hero, who was at the same time a god.

The Gilgamesh epic thus takes shape as a compound of faint historical
tradition and of nature myths. The deified hero becomes more
particularly a solar deity. The popularity of the hero-god is attested
by the introduction of his name in incantations,[853] and by special
hymns being composed in his honor. One of these hymns,[854] of a
penitential character, is interesting as illustrating the survival of
the recollection of his human origin. Gilgamesh is addressed by a
penitent, who seeks healing from disease:

O Gilgamesh, great king, judge of the Anunnaki,
Prince, great oracle[855] of mankind,
Overseer of all regions, ruler of the world, lord of what is on earth,
Thou dost judge and, like a god, thou givest decisions,[856]
Thou art established on the earth, thou fulfillest judgment,
Thy judgment is unchangeable, thy [command is not revoked],
Thou dost inquire, thou commandest, thou judgest, thou seest, and
thou directest.
Shamash has entrusted into thy hand sceptre and decision.

It will be observed that Gilgamesh is appealed to as a 'king' and
'prince.' His dominion is the earth, and the emphasis placed upon this
circumstance is significant. In accord with this peculiar province of
the god, the hymn continues:

Kings, chiefs, and princes bow before thee,
Thou seest their laws, thou presidest over their decisions.

At the same time, his dependence upon Shamash is emphasized. As a minor
solar deity, he receives his powers from the great judge Shamash. This
double character of Gilgamesh furnishes the key to the interpretation of
the epic in which he is the central figure.

The poem in its final shape comprised twelve tablets of about three
thousand lines. Unfortunately only about half of the epic has been found
up to the present time. The numerous fragments represent at least four
distinct copies, all belonging to the library of Ashurbanabal. To
Professor Paul Haupt we are indebted for a practically complete
publication of the fragments of the epic;[857] and it is likewise owing,
chiefly, to Professor Haupt that the sequence in the incidents of the
epic as well as the general interpretation of the composition has been
established.[858]

The center of action in the first tablets of the series and in the
oldest portions of the epic is the ancient city Uruk, or Erech, in
southern Babylonia, invariably spoken of as _Uruk supuri_, that is, the
'walled' or fortified Uruk. A special significance attaches to this
epithet. It was the characteristic of every ancient town, for reasons
which Ihering has brilliantly set forth,[859] to be walled.[860] The
designation of Uruk as 'walled,' therefore, stamps it as a city, but
that the term was added, also points to the great antiquity of the
place,--to a period when towns as distinguished from mere agricultural
villages were sufficiently rare to warrant some special nomenclature.
From other sources the great age of Uruk is confirmed, and
Hilprecht[861] is of the opinion that it was the capitol of a kingdom
contemporaneous with the earliest period of Babylonian history. A
lexicographical tablet[862] informs us that Uruk was specially well
fortified. It was known as the place of seven walls and, in view of the
cosmic significance of the number seven among the Babylonians, Jensen
supposes[863] that the city's walls are an imitation of the seven
concentric zones into which the world was divided. However this may be,
a city so ancient and so well fortified must have played a most
important part in old Babylonian history, second only in importance, if
not equal, to Nippur. The continued influence of the Ishtar or Nana cult
of Erech also illustrates the significance of the place. It is natural,
therefore, to find traditions surviving of the history of the place.

The first tablet of the Gilgamesh epic contains such a reminiscence. The
city is hard pressed by an enemy. The misfortune appears to be sent as a
punishment for some offence.[864] Everything is in a state of confusion.
Asses and cows destroy their young. Men weep and women sigh. The gods
and spirits of "walled Uruk" have become hostile forces. For three years
the enemy lays siege to the place. The gates of the city remain closed.
Who the enemy is we are not told, and such is the fragmentary condition
of the tablet that we are left to conjecture the outcome of the city's
distress.