‘O Shamash, great lord, as I ask thee, do thou in thy mercy answer me.
‘From this day, the 8rd day of this month of Iyyar (the 2nd
month), to the 11th day of the month of Ab (the 5th month) of this year, a period of one hundred days and one hundred nights is the prescribed term for the oracular inquiry.’ The request is thus specified—for an oracle that should indicate what is to take place during the coming 100 days. The question itself, always un- folded in a most elaborate manner, concludes in one case as follows :—
‘The capture of that city Kishassu, through any enemy what- soever within the specified period—is it definitely ordained by thy great and divine will, O Shamash? Will it actually come to pass?’
The phrases used to prevent any interference with the correct and proper inspection of the animal are generally as follows :—
‘Prevent anything unclean from defiling the place of inspec- tion. Prevent the lamb of thy divinity which is to be inspected from being imperfect and unfit.
‘Guard him who takes hold of the body of the lamb, who is clothed in the proper sacrificial dress, from having eaten, drunk, or handled anything unclean. Make his hand firm; guard the diviner, thy servant, from speaking a word hastily.’
After the inspection has been made and all the various points noted, the priest prays—
‘By virtue of this sacrificial lamb, arise and grant true mercy, favourable conditions of the parts of the animal; may a declaration favourable and beneficial be ordained by thy great divinity ; grant that this may come to pass! To thy great divinity, O Shamash, great lord, may it be pleasing, and may an oracle be sent as an answer !’
Following the same general model, a large number of questions regarding the outcome of military movements on the part of the Assyrian rulers are propounded through the priest, who, in his capacity as diviner, bears the specific designa- tion of bdrd.* Subjects of a more personal char- acter, connected with the royal household, are likewise introduced. So in one instance an oracle is sought of Shamash to determine whether Nika, the mother of Esarhaddon, will recover from a
*7,e, ‘the seer,’ from bara, ‘to see.’ -
“RELIGION OF BABYLONIA
RELIGION OF BABYLONIA = 557
sickness from which she is suffering ;* and again, before giving his daughter in marriage to a foreigner, Bartatua, the king of Ishkuza,t+ Esar- haddon inquires whether he is to be trusted, ‘whether he will fulfil the promises that he has made, and execute the decrees of the Assyrian king in good faith.’ Another interesting illustra- tion is furnished by an inquiry on the occasion when the same king proposes to associate his son with him in the affairs of government {—
*O Shamash, great lord, as I ask thee, do thou in good faith answer me. Esarhaddon, the king of Assyria, may his purpose be pleasing and meet with success! Siniddinapal his son, whose name is written on this tablet and placed before thy great divinity, is it pleasing to thy great divinity, that he should enter into the government,$ is it acceptable in thine eyes? Thy great divinity knows it. Is the entry of Siniddinapal the
son of Esarhaddon, whose name is written on this tablet by -
command of thy great divinity, is it ordained and fixed, O Shamash, great lord! Will it actually come to pass?’
In the oracle texts of the class published by Knudtzon the answers to the questions are not given, the purpose of the texts being to furnish and preserve the rituals observed for the occasions referred to, so that these might serve as models for future days, just as these rituals, no doubt, followed models that had been preserved from earlier days, reverting, in all probability, to the usages developed in the temples of Shamash in Babylonia. Other texts, however, furnish the answers. So we have a series of eight oracles delivered to the same Esarhaddon by the goddess Ishtar of Arbela.|| An interesting feature of these oracles is that, in most cases, the medium of com- munication is a priestess, which recalls the pro- minent part played by women as sorceresses in incantation texts. The female soothsayer forms the natural complement to the priestess ; it is the attachment to the service of a deity that changes the priestess from a messenger of evil into one who can fathom the Divine intention. But both func- tions rest on the belief in the mysterious power of women—a belief which is widespread among ancient nations, and survives among people who are still in the primitive stage of culture. A reassur- ing message given to the king by a priestess Baya, a native of Arbela, and uttered by her in the name of Ishtar and Nebo, reads as follows : {]—
‘Fear not, Esarhaddon, I, the Lord,** speak to thee. The beams of thy heart I strengthen as thy mother who gave thee life. Sixty+t great gods are with me, drawn up to protect thee. The god Sin is on thy right side, Shamash on thy left. Sixty great gods are round about thee, drawn up in battle array in the centre of the citadel. On men do not rely. Lift up thine eyes and look to me. I am Ishtar of Arbela, who has made Ashur gracious to thee. Thy weakness I will change to strength. Fear not! Glorifyme! Is not the enemy subdued who has been handed over to thee? I proclaim italoud. The future I will make glorious, as [I did] the past. Iam Nebo, the lord of the writing tablet. Glorify me!’