PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
A Dictionary of the Bible — Volume 5
James Hastings · 1,128,046 words · 1137 reading sections
Section 721
eee CONCORDANCES RELIGION OF BABYLONIA 531 (2) For the history of Patristic exegesis there is little to enumerate. The present writer is acquainted with nothing in English that goes further than the brief account appended by bishop Lightfoot to his commentary on the Galatians (ed. 5, pp. 227-236): in this, as in ev…
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(2) New TESTAMENT. —Novi Testamenti Con- cordantie Grece... (Basle, 1546); Bruder, Con- cordance (2nd ed., Leipzig, 1853); Moulton and Geden, Concordance to the Greek Testament, accord- ing to the Texts of Westcott and Hort, Tischen- dorf and the English Revisers (Edinburgh, 1897). iii. LATIN.—The Concordance of Hugo …
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Orn Oe OOP oo The ‘Maklu’ series, OTST tween certain periods in the history of the religion, RELIGION OF BABYLONIA and can indicate political and intellectual factors that contributed to the gradual transformation of certain doctrines, while in a general way the literary process involved in the production of ritu…
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ii. EARLY HisToRY OF BABYLONIA AND ASsSYRIA.—As a preliminary to an understanding of the religion of Babylonia and Assyria, it is essential to have clearly before us the general course taken by the history of these two countries. 1. The striking feature in the earliest period to which we can trace it, is the frequent …
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* Soe Winckler in Helmolt’s History of the World (1903), vol. iii. pp. 8-10, TNS 534 RELIGION OF BABYLONIA RELIGION.OF BABYLONIA ranean. The glory of Gishban, however, appears to have been of short duration, and we next hear of the kings of Agade, to the north of Kish, extend- ing their rule far into the south, and…
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5. The union of the Babylonian States had defi- nitely secured for the patron deity of the city of Babylon —the god Marduk—his position as the head of the pantheon ; and, though attempts were made at times to set Marduk aside in favour of some other god,—Nebo, the god of Borsippa (opposite Babylon), or the old Bel of N…
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iv. ORIGIN OF BABYLONIAN CULTURE.—A ques- tion that suggests itself at this point, and which must be considered before we advance to a con- sideration of some of the details of the religion of Babylonia and Assyria, involves the problem as to the origin of Babylonian culture. At the earliest period to which we can now …
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The sketch furnished at the outset of this article as to the general development of the Babylono- Assyrian religion, so far as the relationship be- tween religion and the political history of the two countries is concerned, suggests a threefold division in the History of the Religion: the first extending from the earli…
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Turning by way of illustration to the historical RELIGION OF BABYLONIA = 5387 and votive inscriptions of the oldest period, one cannot help being impressed by the circumstance that, while the number of deities that may be re- garded as belonging to the really active pantheon is not extraordinarily large—between twent…
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In time this systematization reacts on the popular beliefs, and modifies them considerably ; but, forall that, the popular religion always lags more or less behind the ‘ official’ form as revealed in the scien- tific literature, such as the astronomical and astro- logical texts, and in the official inscriptions of the …
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* Dér—in southern Babylonia, Rawl. v. 55, col. i. 14. t+ An=‘heaven’ + the phonetic complement na. This is the usual form ; but various others occur, e.g. dn with the deter- minative for ‘god,’ and the phonetic writings An-nu-wm with and without the determinative for ‘god.’ See Radau, Creation Story of Genesis, 17, no…
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-object of care to Assyrian kings as well as to Babylonian rulers; but the reverence paid to Bel was merely that due to the local deity, who had, in consequence of the earlier phases of the de- velopment of the Babylonian religion, acquired a greater prominence than the other gods. At the same time, the position of Be…
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Anu is practically entirely freed from local associations, and is viewed as a god for the gods rather than for men—a deity who exercises a general supervision over all the gods. In a sense, the conception of Anu represents the highest put reached in the spiritualization of the Baby- onian religion. He is the ‘lofty god…
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That the name Jshtar—conveying in all proba- bility the force of ‘leading,’ ‘overseeing,’ from a stem asdruw—also originated in the city of Babylon, cannot be definitely stated, but seems likely. The phonetic writing appears for the first time in the inscriptions of Hammurabi,| and it would be natural for the priests o…
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3. Sin.—Next to the triad and the great mother- goddess, the worship of the two great orbs of light ~_the moon and the sun—is a feature of the Baby- lonian religion that clings to it from the earliest period of which we have any record, down to the latest. It is impossible to say definitely that the cult of the one is …
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the god who far above any other reveals wrong- doing and brings wickedness to light. Sin, in short, while his cult remains prominent, loses his touch, as it were, with his worshippers. The personal element is moved into the background. As he no longer entered into the daily life of a population that became agricultural…
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The chief centres of the Babylonian Shamash cult were, as already indicated, Sippar and Larsa, both of them cities whose foundation reaches back to a high antiquity. Of the two, Larsa appears to have been politically the more important, whereas Bee acquired greater religious sanctity, from which we may perhaps conclude…
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This violent character of the god also leads to his being invoked by the Assyrian rulers as the one who, with Nergal, presides over the sports— hunting of lions, bulls, and stags—to which the Assyrians were devoted. Indeed, some of the Assyrian kings, notably Ashurnasirpal (B.C, 885- 860), are so devoted to Ninib that …
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5. Adad.—Shamash, Ninib, and Nergal, as we have seen, symbolize the sun in general, and in its twofold aspects as a beneticial and a harmful power. But, besides the destruction brought about by the fierce rays of the summer sun, Babylonia and Assyria suffered from the even greater havoc wrought by the rainstorms, accom…
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The Babylonian creation story in the final form in which it has come down to us may be taken as the typical illustration of the transformation of doctrines brought about through Marduk’s advance to the head of the pantheon. Several old nature myths have been combined in this story to form a great ‘Marduk’ epic—a grand …
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8. Girru-Nusku.—Another phase of solar worship in Babylonia is represented by the conception of a deity symbolizing the element of fire. In the Babylonian pantheon this fire-god commonly bears the name of Girru* (formerly read Gibil), whereas in Assyria he is generally known as Nusku.+ Though decidedly to be classed am…
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Instead of Marduk, indeed, the Assyrians re- cognized as the practical head of their pantheon the deity who presided over the fortunes of the ancient city on the Tigris, known in earlier times as A-usar, and later on as Ashur; and the circumstance that in the north a powerful State developed by the extension of a city …
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(B) MiNOR DEITIES.—Besides the chief deities to whom in a general sketch we must largely con- fine ourselves, the historical texts, the religious literature, and proper names, reveal the existence of a large number of gods that may in a general way be included under the term ‘minor.’ To a large extent, the cult of thes…
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Altogether, we encounter about thirty distinct deities in the historical and votive inscriptions of the rulers before Hammurabi; but that this number is far from exhausting the minor deities worshipped by the side of those holding the front rank as the greater gods, is demonstrated by the circumstance that the names of…
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Of course it must be borne in mind again that in some cases the place where the monument is erected leads to the introduction of specifically local deities, who are designated as such; and, since it is a matter of chance which local deities are invoked in this way, we ought properly to remove these from the total. Simi…
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eighteen and twenty-five deities respectively; among them some like Gaga, Azag-shud, that occur again only in the religious literature ; also the list of twelve and eleven deities respectively in inscriptions of Esarhaddon, dealing with building operations in Babylonia (Meissner-Rost in Bettriige z. Assyr. iil. pp. 228…
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* See, ¢.g., the illustration in Thompson, Devils and Evil Spirits of Babytonia (1908), vol. i. pl. 2. in the body of the afflicted individual, and was causing the pain or the wasting away from fever or the decay of a diseased organ. 3. Incantation rituals.— Against the demons appeal was made to the gods, and, throug…
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Before entering upon a description of one of these rituals, which may serve as an example of this division of the religious literature of Babylonia, there is one feature connected with them that yet remains to be considered. Correlative to the belief in the power of the priest to exorcize the evil demons, we find among…
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‘May she die! Let me live!’ Cleansing potions concocted of various herbs are drunk by the victim, who hopes in this way to become ‘as pure as water,’ ‘resplendent as fire.’ As a specimen of a genuine incantation formula the following may serve— *Karth, earth, earth ! Gilgamesh* is the master of your witchcraft ; What …
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Corresponding to the tendency to differentiate gods from spirits, the view seems to have arisen that in general the gods were favourably inclined, or could be made so, by propitiation, appeals, and gifts ; whereas the demons, as a rule, were hostile, and could be overcome only with the help of the gods. The shedu and l…
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+ z.e. moves in all directions, and passes to and fro. t A reference apparently to sexual vigour. § z.e, prevents conception, or brings about a miscarriage. || 7.e. the moon-god. { z.e. ‘May thy face glow with the heat of the fire like the metallic setting of a stone seal cylinder, and then lose its colour —like th…
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This fifth tablet illustrates also the faintness of the demarcation between witch and demon, to which attention has already been directed, || for almost imperceptibly the incantations pass from denunciations of the witches to imprecations hurled against the demons. The last incantation of the tablet, applicable to the …
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*The ‘Labartu’ Zeitschrift fur Assyr. xvi. p. 190f. + No fewer than six distinct series are now known, distin- guished by the following names :—1. Maklu, edited by Knudtzon ; 3, Shurpu, ‘Burning,’ ed. by Zimmern, Bettrdge zw Kenntnis der Babylonischen Religion, i., Leipzig, 1896; 3. Labartu, ed. by Myhrman, Ztschr. fi…
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‘O Shamash, great lord, as I ask thee, do thou in thy mercy answer me. ‘From this day, the 8rd day of this month of Iyyar (the 2nd month), to the 11th day of the month of Ab (the 5th month) of this year, a period of one hundred days and one hundred nights is the prescribed term for the oracular inquiry.’ The request …
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Of a more definite character is a message sent to Esarhaddon from Ashur, who is, like N ebo and Ishtar, represented as addressing the king directly {f— * As for those enemies that plot against thee, that force thee to march out, since thou didst open thy mouth [saying], ‘I implore Ashur !” I have heard thy cry. Out of…
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But such conditions represented, after all, the exceptional state of affairs. Unless the country was engaged in warfare, or unless some accident had befallen a member of the royal family, the supposition was that the gods were inclined to listen to petitions or to assist the individual in his appeals for help or advice…
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{ t.e. Babylonia. § An expression which apparently refers to the destruction of animal life in the waters. || Abkaddu is a title of a high officer, ll. The sense of this pre- diction is obscure. RELIGION OF BABYLONIA If on the 21st day, the obscuration portends destruction to the country. Tf on the 28th day, Bel …
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‘If the moon appears covered with a headband,{ the king will be supreme. If the moon is seen on the first day, the day being, in accordance with calculation, long, it portends a long rule. The month will have 80 days in full. If the moon appears on the first day, it is favourable to Akkad (i.e. Babylonia), un- favourab…
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In general, as will be seen, the eclipse, by a natural association of ideas, reinforced by the survival of the primitive sense of terror at the startling phenomenon of the moon passing into a shadow, was generally regarded as an evil omen, and it was merely a question which quarter of the world was to be affected. The …
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4] Thompson, No. 195. RELIGION OF BABYLONIA most circumstances with Marduk. Again, though the omens connected with Nergal-Mars are on the whole unfavourable, there are notable exceptions ; as, ¢.g., When a report* tells us that if Mars is visible in the month of Elul—the 6th month—the crops of the land will be plenti…
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‘Tf the earth quakes all day, it portends destruction of the © et ; if it quakes continually, (?) there will bean invasion of the and.’ And again }}— ‘If in the month of Tishri the earth quakes, the country will rebel against the king; if the earth quakes during the night, the land will incur disaster or devastation…
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In this enumeration it will be observed that a defect in regard to a ‘right’ limb or organ portends evil to the owner or the country, or both, while the defect in a ‘left’ limb or organ is an omen of disaster to the enemy, but not to the owner or his country—a reversal, though a perfectly logical one, * Boissier, Docu…
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Before leaving this large subject, the importance of which for an understanding of the alison of Babylonia and Assyria justifies the rather elaborate treatment accorded to it here, it is necessary to consider briefly one more of its phases, which, because of its direct bearing on the fate of the individual, is of consi…
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As a consequence, higher speculations regard- ing the manner of the Divine government of the Universe could be introduced into the incantations themselves, without seriously affecting the much more primitive conceptions on which the incanta- tions rested. The ‘Maklu’ series furnishes ex- amples of compositions worthy o…
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“O eternal ruler, lord of everything, grant that the name of the king whom thou lovest, whose name thou hast proclaimed, may flourish, as seems pleasing to thee. Lead him in the right path. I am the prince who obeys thee, the creature of thy hand. Thou hast created me, and hast entrusted to me sovereignty over mankind.…
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life ! Before thee have I most humbly bowed myself. May Bel be thy light, Ea rejoice thee ! May the gods of the universe pay homage to thee! May the great gods do what is pleasing to thee |’ While this hymn evidently forms part of an in- cantation text, or was originally composed as an incantation, yet it serves as a…
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|| See OC. D. Gray, Shamash Religious Texts (Chicago, 1901), pp. 17-19. 566 RELIGION OF BABYLONIA RELIGION OF BABYLONIA Thou hearest, O Shamash, petition, prayer, and appeal, Humility, prostration, petitioning, and reverence. With loud voice the unfortunate one cries to thee. The weak, the exhausted, the oppresse…
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Thou givest strength. Strong art thou, lady of victory, who dost overthrow those who oppose me.’ Addressing her as Gushea,§ the petitioner ex- claims— ppaored chambers, shrines, temples, and sanctuaries look to thee. Where is thy name not (pronounced)? Where is thy decree not (obeyed)? Where are thine images not …
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7. The Babylonian Cosmology.—It is natural to find in a country which developed such a remark- able culture as that of Babylonia and Assyria, that the popular and more or less crude speculations regarding the beginnings of things should in the *The same direction is given, e.g., in the ‘Labartu’ series (Myhrman, Zeits…
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Bearing in mind that in its present form the most complete Babylonian Creation story known to us has assumed the character of a pan in honour of the chief god Marduk, we find that it consisted of seven tablets, and contained, accord- ing to King’s calculation, about one thousand lines, * The story itself, known from it…
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* 7,e. called into being. t Rishtu, literally ‘first,’ which is added to distinguish this Apsu from the ordinary use of the word as ‘the watery deep,’ which actually occurs in Tablet iv. line 142. t It has been customary to regard Mummuw here as an epithet of Tiamat in the sense of ‘chaos,’ ‘raging,’ and the like ; b…
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the offspring of Apsu and Tiamat. We may therefore, in view of this, venture to proceed a step further, and look upon Apsu and Tiamat as the ‘male’ and ‘female’ elements respectively of the primeval chaos, through whom not only Mummu and the brood of monsters, but also the This, indeed, is implied, although not disti…
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* Tiamat. 4 t In Eusebius, Chronicle (ed. Schoene), vol. i. pp. 14, 15. See Zimmern, Keilinschrijten wnd das Alte Testament, pp. 488- 490, RELIGION OF BABYLONTA the Babylonian and Assyrian theologians ; and it is to be observed that even in the Biblical account, where the Universe, with all it contains, is con- ceiv…
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‘If I, your avenger, Bind Tiamat and save your life, Call an assembly, declare the pre-eminence of my fate. In Upshukkinaku + gather together in joy, Let my utterance, like yours, decree fates. May whatever I do remain unalterable ! May my orders be unchangeable and irrevocable Me In speeches like these-the purpose of…
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* Literally, Anu. 572 RELIGION OF BABYLONIA He seized the spear and pierced her stomach, He cut through her organs and slit open her heart. He bound her and cut off her life. He cast down her carcass and stood upon it.’ The followers of Tiamat, dismayed at the over- throw of their leader, take to flight; but Bel- …
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‘My blood will I take, and bonet. . I will setup man, thatman... I will create man to inhabit [the earth], To establish the service of the gods, and that shrines [may be built.’ From the ‘blood’ of Marduk himself man is thus formed—a remarkable doctrine, which illus- trates the high position accorded to man in the the…
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+ For the reading, see Zimmern, Keilinschriften und das Alte Testament, P 587; for a recent translation, see Jensen, Keilin- schriftliche Bibliothek, vi. 1, pp. 57-73. t See Hrozny, Sumerisch-babylonische Mythen von dem Gotte Ninrag (Ninib), Berlin, 1903. § Jensen, U.c, 47-57. es RELIGION OF BABYLONIA = 573 tailin…
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‘Fetch for him food of life, that he may eat thereof. They brought him food of life, but he did not eat. They brought him water of life, but he did not drink. They brought him a garment; he put it on. They brought him oil; he anointed himself therewith.’ Adapa, it will be observed, strictly carries out Ea’s orders, a…
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* Published by. Bezold, Tell el-Amarna Tablets in the British Museum (London, 1892), p. 141 (No. 82), and Winckler-Abel, Thontafelfund von El-Amarna (Berlin, 1889), pp. 164, 165. See Jensen, Keilinschriftl. Bibl. vi. 1, pp. 74-79. RELIGION OF BABYLONIA RELIGION OF BABYLONIA 575 demons, Nergal comes to the gates of …
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‘What has prompted her, what has induced her spirit? Should I indeed sit with her, Eat clay instead of food, drink water instead of wine? Should I weep over the husbands who left their wives? Over the women who were snatched away from the embrace of their consorts? Over the young taken before their time should I w…
968 wordsSource & rights
Public-domain historical reference work (1898–1905); OCR text from Internet Archive. Historical scholarship and terminology reflect its era; OCR may contain errors. Verify quotations and current scholarly claims independently.
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Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.