(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 these deities is of a purely local character; and it is natural to find the names of these numerous local gods surviving in the thousands of proper names that we encounter in the legal and commercial documents from the age of Sargon I. to the end of the New Babylonian empire. In the historical texts, on the other
* Hibbert Lectures on The Religion of the Babylonians and Assyrians, p. 129; also Gifford Lectures on “he Religions of Egypt and Babylonia, p. 346.
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hand, gods of merely local significance are intro- duced only in special instances, and generally when the rulers wish to parade their own prominence by invoking as large a number of gods as possible, who are represented as combining to shower their favours on their royal minions. Similarly, in the religious literature, and more particularly in in- cantations, the natural desire to secure the assist- ance of as many deities as possible in the struggle against evil demons and the mischief wrought by sorcerers would lead to the introduction of many other gods besides those recognized in the official pantheon as belonging to the first rank. We have already had occasion to refer to some of these minor gods and goddesses, whose réles were gradu- ally absorbed by some important god to whom they bore a resemblance. Thus we have seen that solar cults centring around Nin- gish-zida, Nin- girsu, Nin-shakh, Za-mal-mal, and others, are all represented in the official pantheon by Ninib. This, however, does not prevent the survival of these solar deities to a late period in proper names and in incantations. Again, as we have seen, Nan& the goddess of Erech, Nina associated with a quarter of Shirpurla known as Nin4, and Anunit connected with Agade, became in the course of time merely names of the great Ishtar, though surviving likewise in the religious litera- ture in myths and legends, as well as in incanta- tions.
Among other gods who in the old Babylonian texts still enjoy an independent existence are Lugal-banda, signifying ‘mighty king,’ and his consort Nin-sun, ‘the destructive lady,’ who were worshipped in Erech. The latter may be identical with Nand; the former is a solar deity of the violent type, and is absorbed by Nergal:—A dis- tinctively local goddess is Nin-mar, the ‘lady of Mar,’ whose seat of worship lay in or near the Persian Gulf; and the name of her temple, Ish- gutur, i.e. ‘the court for all peoples,’ testifies to the prominence given to her at one time by her worshippers.—A. goddess of the agricultural type is Nidaba, invoked by several of the old Baby- lonian rulers, and her name survives to the days of Assurbanipal as a synonym of fertility.— Again, we encounter in the inscriptions of rulers, so far removed from one another as Gudea on the one side (c. 3000 B.C.) and Sennacherib on the other (B.C. 705-681), a god Ka-di (probably an ideo- graphic designation), who appears to have been the patron of Dur-ilu, a town situated near the Elamitic frontier.
The consort of Nin-girsu, known as Bau, is one of the most prominent goddesses in the old Baby- lonian pantheon. She would have been included in the official pantheon as one of the great deities, but for the absorption of the réle of Nin-girsu by Ninib, which led to the substitution of Gula for Bau. As Nin-girsu is more particularly connected with Girsu, one of the quarters of Shirpurla, so Bau belongs to another quarter of the town (or district) known as Uru-azagga, ‘the glorious city,’ where her temple stood. As the ‘mother of Shir- purla’ and ‘the chief daughter of Anu,’ she is pictured as presiding over the fates of her subjects. It is she who grants success to the labours of the tillers of the soil. The rulers of Shirpurla ascribe to Bau the power and glory that they command ; and one of the oldest of the Babylonian festivals, Zag-muk, celebrated as the New Year’s Day, was instituted in her honour. In the oldest period Bau already absorbs the réle of another goddess Ga-tum-dug, from whom, however, she is still dis- tinguished in the inscriptions of Gudea.
A god of the solar type, Dumu-zi, ‘ child of life,’ appears in various of the inscriptions of the Old Babylonian period ; and, besides continuing to play
RELIGION OF BABYLONIA a ee ee Ne ee ee i
an important réle in the eschatology of the Baby- lonians, survives in the name of the fourth Baby- lonian month.*
Owing to the peculiarity that in the Old Baby- lonian inscriptions and in the religious literature the names of the deities are written ideographically, we cannot be certain in all cases whether an ideo- graphic form actually represents a new deity or is merely a designation of one already encountered ; but the enumeration of lists of gods frequently attached by the rulers either at the beginning or at the end of their inscriptions, enables us to gather in a general way the extent of the pantheon in the various periods of Babylonian history; and the study of these lists justifies the distinction which we have emphasized between the period before Hammurabi and the period subsequent to this ruler, when, as we have seen, a shifting of the pantheon took place, and a new direction was given to the development of a theological system by the prominence assigned to Marduk as the chief god of the capital of the Babylonian empire. Two of the oldest lists are furnished by Lugalzaggisi, whose date may be as early as 3500 B.C., though according to other scholars we are not justified in going much beyond 3200 B.c., and by Gudea (e. 3000 B.C.). Lugalzaggisit+ invokes the following ten deities: En-lil (Bel), Anu, Nidaba, Ea, Sham- ash, Sin, Innanna (or Ishtar), Nin-kharsag (or Belit), Shid, and Nin-agid-khadu. We have had occasion to refer to all of these except the two last named, who are both goddesses, and of whom nothing more can be said than that they belong to the immediate pantheon of Erech, and are prob- ably purely local deities. Gudea’s largest list + embraces eighteen deities: Anu, En-lil, Nin- kharsag, Ea, Sin, Nin-girsu, Nina, Nin-dara, Ga- tum-dug, Bau, Innanna (or Ishtar), Shamash, Ishum, Gal-alim, Dun-shagga, Nin-mar, Dumu-zi- zuab, and Nin-gish-zida. Of those not as yet referred to, namely Nin-dara, Ishum, Gal-alim, Dun-shagga, and Dumu-zi-zuab, it is sufficient to remark that they are all deities of a purely local character. The first named is a solar deity, whose réle appears to have been absorbed by Nin-girsu. The same appears to have been the case with Gal- alim and Dun-shagga. Ishum is merely another designation of the fire-god Girru, while Dumu-zi- zuab, ae. ‘child of life of the deep,’ is a water deity, associated with Borsippa, and apparently merely an older designation of the god Nebo, though in later times identified with Marduk.