Nevertheless, the Hebrews were attracted by the worship of the sun, under the influence of the heathen nations by whom they were surrounded. A common act of worship is that mentioned in Job SI'-"*-', in which the hand was kissed, and which Ls described as an iniquity to be punished by the judges. The law against idolatrous wor- sliip of the sun and heavenly bodies is given in Dt 4'", and from 17--^ we learn that the penalty was death by stoning at the gate of the city. 'I'he open idolati-y which took place in the time of the kings, however, .shows clearly that the laws re- corded in the passages quoted were not generally ob.served.
On the entrance of the Israelites into the Holy Land, they found there the wor.ship of the sun under the name of Baal-hainmon, the last com- ponent part of this appellation being the singular of the word linmmdnhn, lueaning 'sun-images," and connected with the word hammdh. 'heat or hot,' one of the words used in the OT for the sun (Job 30-* etc.). As pointed out in the article Baal, however, it is not certain that Baal was regarded as the sun, but the sun was a baal, or 'lord.' just as the Babylonian sun-god, SamaS, bore the title of belu, 'lord,' in common with the other deities of the As.syro-Babylonian pantheon. In all proba- bility, therefore, the worship of the sun, properly so called, came from Babylonia, in which country there were at least two shrines to this god — one at Sippar (Abu-liabbah), and the other at Larsa, which is identified with the Ellasar of Gn 14'. He was also worshipped, however, at many other places in Babylonia and Assyria.
Noteworthy in connexion with the worship of the sun by the Jews, and its origin, is the reference to the chariots of the sun in 2 K 23". To all appearance the chariot, as well as the horses, had been dedicated by various idolatrous kings of Judah, •and they were stationed at the western entrance to the temple. ' by the chamber of Nathan-melech the chamberlain, which was in the precincts.' At the temple of the sun at Sippar in Babylonia there was also a chariot, and jiresumably horses, dedi- cated to that deity ; and it is worthy of note that, as one of the sacred objects belonging to the temple of the god, it was the custom to make .sacrifices to it.* In the li'th year of Nabopolassar this was transferred from the keeping of the men who had care of the horses (? of the sun at Sippara) to a man named Bel-ahe-iddina, and a list of the furniture (ud?) of the chariot was drawn up, enumerating about 140 objects belonging to it, many of them of silver, though some were of gold and of bronze. It is doubtful whether the Baby- lonians ever thought of the sun-god coursing through the heavens in a chariot drawn by swift steeds of fiery breed typifying his brilli.ant daily journey through the heavens, as the inscriptions, as far as
* One of the tablets referring? to this states that on the VMh of lyyar, in the I4th year of Nabopolassar, a fUll-grown white sheep was olfered before it.
I
they are known, do not refer to this, and the representation of the suu-god on the stone found by Mr. Uassam at Abu-habbah shows the deity seated in his shrine, with the representation of his disc before him, and two small figures coming out of the top of the shrine, seemingly guiding the disc by means of the cords attached to it, which they hold in their hands. The sacrilicial instru- ments which formed part of the furniture of the chariot suggest that it Wiis used in connexion with tlie woi-sliip of the sun ; and a."!, in its equipment, swords or daggers of gold (3 in number) and of some other material (2 in luimber) are referred to, tlie suggestion that it may have accompanied the army on certain occasions would not be without prcibability. The ceremonies in connexion with thr chariot of the sun at Sippar, in all probability, had their reflexion at Jerusalem. It is hardly likely, however, that the chariot of the sun at Jerusalem, which Josiah burned with fire, wa.s so splendid as that at Sippar in Babylonia.*
The worship of tlie sun at Jerusalem is described by Kzekiel, who speaks of the live and twenty men (? priests) with their backs towards the temple of the Lord, and their faces towards the ea.st, wor- shipping the sun (Ezk 8'*). During this ceremony it is said (v.'') that -they put the branch to their nose,' a doubtful phrase which has been the subject of much discussion. The general opinion, however, is, that this is a reflexion of a Persian custom in wliicli, when repeating the liturgj', the priests held from time to time in the left hand a bunch of twigs called barepniin, and wore, at the offering of the daily sacriiice, a kind of veil. It may be noted in connexion w^ith this, that, in the li.st of tilings belonging to the chariot of the sun at .Sij>par, 2 nurmH are mentioned. Xow tlie word n«r»iS, as is suggested by Frd. Delitzsch {Asuyr. 7/ ir/i), possibly means 'fig,' 'fig-tree,' and two models of a tree of this kind, or of branches, probably belonged to the chariot as ornaments, and may have been carried ' before the face ' wlien worshipping the sun, as his emblems. Whether this practice originated, in Persia or in Babylonia is doubtful.