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,’ and it is significant that as early as the days of Ham- murabi } he is in fact designated simply ilu ‘od.’ At no subsequent period, either in Babylonian or Assyrian history, do we find a closer approach to a monotheistic belief than in this early con- ception of Anu, although it must be borne in mind that the actual step of regarding one god as embodying the essence of all others was not taken in Hammurabi’s days, nor was it taken in later days despite certain appearances to the contrary. While not entering to the same extent as did Bel and Ea into the popular religion, yet the concep-
* Called Oannes by Berosus in his account of this tradition (Cory, Ancient Fragments (2nd ed.), p. 57).
,t ‘Code de Hammourabi,’ col. i. 45, etc. (ed. Scheil, Teates Hlamites-Sénvritiques, ii. p. 16).
{ See below, p. 5504, and Jastrow, Die Religion Babyloniens
und Assyriens, p. 203, note 1,
tion of Anu as an outcome of the best speculative thought in Babylonia is a most important feature of the Babylonian religion, and must not be lost sight of in an estimate of the best that this religion stood for.
It will thus be seen that each one of the three gods embraced in the doctrine of the triad has his peculiar origin, and retains his peculiar place out- side of the rank accorded to him in the triad itself. The local cult of Bel of Nippur proceeds undisturbed by the admission of Bel to the second place in the triad, while the transfer of Bel’s attri- butes to Marduk marks the concession made to the new order of things which eventually gave the patron god of the city of Babylon his undisputed rank at the head of the active pantheon. Lastly, Ea, rising to a place of importance through the sacred associations connected with the old city of Eridu, is stripped of local limitations to a much greater extent than is the case with Bel, and out- side of his rank as a third member of the triad is worshipped and appealed to throughout Babylonia as the god of humanity par excellence, whose chief trait is wisdom, and one of whose chief functions consists in his power of healing disease and of relieving suffering in general.
2. Ishtar.— We have already had occasion to point out that with the gods of the triad their consorts are occasionally associated, and that, even when this is not the case, the consort of En-lil or Bel, under the form of Nin-kharsag, appears oceasionally as a fourth member associated with Anu, Bel, Ea. The association of consorts with the three gods is due merely to the influence of the general belief, which is a part both of the popular religion and of the system devised by the priests, according to which every male deity was supposed to have a partner—who, however, is generally merely his pale reflexion. The case is different, however, in the association of Nin- kharsag with the triad. Although bearing a name signifying ‘lady of the mountain,’ which belongs to the consort of En-lil, the chief god of Nippur, and whose chief sanctuary was known as H-kur, ‘mountain-house,’ the fact that this name is subsequently replaced by a more general one, Nin-makh, which has the force of ‘ great lady,’ and is generally added as a fourth member of the triad after Ea, is sufficient to show that we are dealing here, not with the associate of a male deity, but with some more general principle recognized by the priests at least as a factor in the workings and divisions of the Universe. That factor may in a general way be defined as the life-producing power manifested in the world, without which heaven, earth, and water would be a desolate waste. The influence of this doctrine, which appears to have been formulated as early at least as the third millennium, leads to the phenomenon which, next to the constitution of the triad at the head of the pantheon, is the most characteristic feature of the Babylonian doctrine of the gods, according to which, from a certain time onwards, only one goddess occupying an independent position is recognized. The general name by which the goddess comes to be known is Ishtar. She is the great mother to whom vegeta- tion, as well as fertility in the animal world, is due, and she is naturally viewed also as the mother of mankind. That in the triad she is designated as Nin-kharsag, may possibly point to the formulation of the doctrine at a time when the Bel cult of Nippur was still in the ascendency, and when naturally the consort of this god—who was called Belit, ‘lady’ par excellence, as En-lil was called Bel—had the distinction of representing the life-giving principle assigned to her. However this may be, the choice of the later and specific
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designation Ishtar, as the name of the great god- dess, is due to influences emanating again from the city of Babylon, for it is there that down to the latest days we find Nin-makh used as one of the designations of the chief goddess. *