-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 Bel in the triad served as a factor in maintaining this reverence, and formed in a measure the justification for it, in the minds of those who had separated their conception of Bel almost entirely from his originally local limitations.
We know as yet too little of the earliest history of Eridu—the original seat of the Ea cult—to determine the course of development that led to Ea’s being singled out from among other water gods that were worshipped in early days, to become the general symbol of the watery element in the distribution of the Universe among three chief deities or power. Analogy might suggest that Eridu,+ at the time that it still lay directly at the head of the Persian Gulf, was once an im- portant political centre like Nippur, and that its patron deity rose into prominence in connexion with the political fortunes of the place. There is, however, no evidence to justify the claim that Eridu ever occupied such a position ; and, since our knowledge of the early history of Babylonia now goes back to a remote period, we ought at least to have encountered some traces of a once dominating State in the Euphrates Valley with Eridu as a centre. Such notices as we have in the old Babylonian inscriptions almost all point to the religious § but not to the political significance of the place, and illustrate the devotion of the rulers to En-ki or Ea, who is ealled the king of Eridu. || In the religious literature, likewise, Eridu appears chiefly as a religious centre, though, culture and religious prominence proceeding hand in hand in ancient Babylonia, Eridu was no doubt one of the oldest of the cities of the south. To a late day the
*§o in the inscription of the days of Marduknadinakhe (c. 1100), Rawlinson, ili. 43, col. iii, 31,
+ e.g. Rawlinson, iii. 41, col. ii. 25, Marduk occupies the fourth place after the triad, being preceded by Sin, Shamash, and Ishtar.
t Now represented by the mound 4bu-Shahrein, situated at some distance from the mouth of the Euphrates.
§ Bur-Sin of the Isin dynasty, e.g. (c. 2500 B.C.), refers to the oracle-tree at Eridu (Hilprecht, Old Babylonian Inscriptions, i. 1, No. 19, 5), and among the titles of Ur-Ninib of the same dynasty we find one which designates him (ib. No. 18, 6-7) as ‘fulfilling the commands of Eridu.’
| Inscription of Entemena (Thureau-Dangin in Revue @ Assyriologie, ii. p. 148, col. iv. 5-7).
540 RELIGION OF BABYLONIA
RELIGION OF BABYLONIA
tradition survived which attributed the beginnings of culture to the instruction furnished to mankind by the water deity * who personified the Persian Gulf; and since, as a matter of fact, the course of civilization in the Euphrates Valley is from south to north, we may conclude that the prominence in culture as well as the antiquity of Eridu were the factors which led to the sanctity of the place, and, along with this sanctity, to the prominent posi- tion attained by the chief god of the place, so that his worship spread far beyond its original confines.
There is no god who in certain portions of the religious literature of Babylonia—notably in the numerous incantation texts—plays a greater réle than Ea, He is apt to be appealed to, first of all ; and, where other deities fail, Ea by his superior wisdom, which is his most characteristic feature, is certain to succeed in discovering the cause of the disease that troubles a man, and in effecting a cure. He is essentially the god of mankind, who loves the children of men, who originally tanght them wisdom, and who, according to at least one cosmo- logical system current in Babylonia, was the creator of mankind. This prominence of Ea in portions of the religious literature suggests, in- deed, that the compositions themselves originated at Eridu ; and there is distinct evidence for this in the transformation which many of the incantation texts clearly underwent in order to adapt them to the standards of the priesthood of Babylon, which was naturally jealous of anything that seemed to affect the pre-eminence of Marduk. Just as the titles and attributes as well as the prerogatives of the old Bel of Nippur were transferred to Marduk, so the latter also assumed the role of Ea; but he is represented as doing this with the full consent of Ea, who became in the theological system of the Babylonian priesthood the father of Marduk, proud of the achievements of his son, and rejoicing in the latter’s supremacy. Marduk’s name is either associated in the religious texts with that of Ea, so that both are represented as performing in concert acts that were originally attributed to Ea alone ; or Ea is depicted as asking his son to act for him. This re-editing and adaptation of the ancient literary productions of the Euphrates Valley thus furnishes a valuable aid in tracing the gradual development of a theological system. A reconciliation between the claims of Ea and Marduk, respectively, having thus been brought about, the cult of Ea could be carried on without endangering the position of Marduk, and a sanc- tuary to Ka was erected in the sacred area around Marduk’s own temple in the city of Babylon.