BABYLONIA
BABYLONIA
217
The Heb. j^i also has its equivalent in the Bab. miuU-'inii (from mii.^kahinii), ' one who pays homage or worships.' The rich cultus of the Babjloniaas, in addition to its immerous sacrifices, prayers, and litanies, included from an early period also sacred water (aijuhbu), censers (arftji/Hcii), processions (maHdaliu). barges of the gods (as in Kgypt). All these naturally had their chief place at the numerous festivals.
Not only were there Festivals which were re- peated on certain fi.Ked days every month (as the nuhaltii or festival specially connected with the worship of Merodach and his consort Zarpanit on the 3rd, 7th, and IGth days of the month, or the so-called 'unlucky-day,' umn limnu [corre- si)onding to the Hebrew Sabbath], which Wius held on the 7th, I4th, 10th. 21st, and 28th of the month, <and ha<l to be observed as a day of fasting and repents ance even by the king), but there was also a series of annual festivals, of which the Festival of the New Year (zarjmnL-ku. ak'itu) was regarded as the most sacred. At this festival Bel (in Babylon Bel- .Merodach, in SiriiuUa Xingirsu, as the consort of Ba'u) entered the holy assembly-ruoin {uhiugiuna) in order to fix the fates of men, es])ecially that of the king, for the coming year. This Festival of the Xew Year and the Spring wa.s also held in re- membrance of the day of Creation. After Bel had comiuered the dragon and made the world, on the 8th and 11th days of the new year he entered Dnlnzagijn, the ' holy of holies' of Ubsuc/inna, for the purpose mentioned above (Epic of the Creation, Table iii. 1. til, Nebuk. ii. .a-l-tioj.
In this connexion the ancient names of the Babylonian Months, as they are given from about B.I'. 20110 both ill Sumerian and Semitic, are as follows : —
1. Barag-zag-gar ('the Holy of Holies of the
Temple'). Xisminii, also named Arah — rahrili (month of the great gods, i.e. Ann and Bel) : begins on iilst of March. March- April.
2. Gu(l:i)-di (' ox of right guidance ' (?)). lyaru.
April-May.
3. Sliigga (month of bricks). Sivanu, likewise
called KuKallu and Sitau. May-.June.
4. .S'/i"-f/"«iia (sowing). JDi/'Ssw (Taininuz), also
I'U-hahi (' opening of door'). .June-July.
5. Bil-hil-gar (fire month). Abu, also month
of the star or bow (or Sirius). July- August. 0. Gur-Xinni (harvest of Istar). Uliilu (Elul). Auiiust-September.
7. Diil-aziigga (see above). Tashrltu ( = begin-
ning). September-October.
8. Aphi-diia (the lifting of the watering-can ?).
Anih-samna (the eighth month, Marches- van). October-November.
9. Gan-gan-na-ud-dii (month of clouds). JCisilivu.
November-December.
10. Ab-ba-ud-du (month of the sea). Tibitu, also
Tamtiru (rain). December-January.
11. AnU-a-an (curse of rain). fyhdhatu, also
Jaiii-Jiamman (festival of the storm-god), .laiiuary -February.
12. Shi'-yiir-kud (grain-harvest). Adam, also
Arah-sibuli (month of the seven evil gods).
February-March. The names of months in use amongst the Hebrews after the Exile are well known to have been derived from the Semitic names which are always mentioned second in the foregning li.st. As the names Dul-azagga, which is used in connexion with the New Year, and Ti.iri, which signifies ' beginning,' show, the New Year Festival must, at some early date, have been held in harvest instead of in spring. This .also exphiins why the god of the seventli month is Samas (the sun,
who rules the year), and why the Babylonians, even in later times, instead of a second Adar, intercalated occvsioiially a second Elul (very rarely a second Nisan) as the last month of the year. In the time of Abraham the month in Babylonia h.id .30 days, as is clear from the contract-tablets. The year thus consisting of 300 days, it was necessary every six years to inter- calate a thirteenth month — generally a second Adar. The Babylonians also recognised a lunar year of 324 days, whose months each contained 27 days. From this they fixed the ratio of silver (moon) to gold (sun) as 27 : 3(50 (lunar month : solar year) =3 : 40 = 1 : 13|. A lunar month had three weeks of 9 days or (iO nddit (the itddu was reckoned as 6x6x6 = 216 minutes). The Babylonians divided the day into twelve double- hours, and the double-hour into 60 minutes, their unit of time being thus equal to about two minutes of our reckoning, corresponding to the time taken by the sun to traverse a space in the heavens equal to his apparent diameter.
In the contract-tablets of the later kings of Vr (about no. 2300), some centuries therefore before Abraham, we find a list of Sumerian names for the months, only three of which correspond with those mentioned above, viz. the 4th (Shu-gunna),the 5th (Festival of the Fire-god), and the 12th (Shc- gur-kud). The first month in this old li-st is called She-ilia ('when the grain grows tall'), the 7tli ' Feast of Tamnniz,' the 8th ' Feast of king Dungi ' (who was worshipped as a god), and the 9tli ' Fea.st of Ba'u.' Even at this date there is already evidence of the intercalation of a second Adar (dir she-gtir-kud).
It is much to be regretted that no special calendar of festivals has been discovered up to the present. We only know that Bel was the patron god of Ni.san. Ea of lyyar. Sin of Sivaii, Niii-ib of Tammuz, Nin-gis-zidda (Nebo, as Fire-god) of Ab, Istar of Elul, Samas of Tisri, Merodach of Arah.samna, Nerg,al of Kislcv, and Kaniman of Shebat, and that jirobably the chief festival of the gods mentioned was held in the months that corresponded to them. It is most likely, however, that not only different epochs, but also different places of worship, had their own special festivals. At Sippar, for instance, the City of the Sun in N. Babylonia, Sani.as bad special fea.st-days not only on 7th Nisan and 7th Tisri, but also on 10th lyyar, 3rd Elul, loth Marcheshvan, and loth Adar. In this connexion it may be noted that, judging from the Ueb. Feast of Puriin (14lh and 15th Adar), there was probably in Babylonia a feast observed in honour of Istar the sister of Samas.