Of a more definite character is a message sent to Esarhaddon from Ashur, who is, like N ebo and Ishtar, represented as addressing the king directly {f—
* As for those enemies that plot against thee, that force thee to march out, since thou didst open thy mouth [saying], ‘I implore Ashur !” I have heard thy cry. Out of the great gate of heaven I proclaim it aloud. Surely I will hasten to let fire devour them. Thou shalt stand among them. Before thee I
shall appear. Into the mountains I shall bring them to rain
* See the text in Knudtzon, 1b. No. 101.
+A district to the north-east of Assyria. See Knudtzon, No. 29.
+ Knudtzon, No. 107. ,
§ Literally, bit ridati, i.e. ‘house of government. .
| Rawl. iv. pl. 61. See the translations of Banks, American Journal of Semitic Languages, xiv. 272f., which, however, require correction at many points.
4] Rawlinson, iv. 61; obv. col. ii. 16-39.
** 7.e. Nebo. .
+t The number ‘sixty’ is chosen as representative of all the gods, so that_the phrase is equivalent to ‘the entire pantheon.
tt Strong, Beitrdge z. Assyriologie, ii. 628.
down upon them stones. of destruction. Thy foes I shall cut down, filling the river with their blood. Let them behold and glorify me, for Ashur the lord of gods am I.’
Accompanying this message are instructions to pour out precious oil, and to offer sacrifices with sweet-smelling incense. The oil and the sacrifices at the delivery of an oracle may properly be regarded as prompted by the desire to retain the favour of the gods, and as a manifestation of grateful homage; but oil and the offering of animals also pay an important part in securing the oracle itself. Inthe series of prayers addressed to the sun-god, of which we have above given a brief account, there are included indications of the features in the animals, the position of the organs, special marks and peculiarities to which the atten- tion of the officiating priests is directed. ‘These indications are of primal significance, for on the results of the inspection the answer to the ques- tions depended. One is probably safe in asserting that no oracle was furnished without the inter- pretation of omens, so that, even when no refer- ence to omens is expressly made, we may feel certain that it is implied. Indeed the study and interpretation of omens appear to have formed in Babylonia and Assyria the basis of oracular utter- ances. In the prayers in question the priest is instructed to observe whether there is a slit at the nape of the neck on the left side, whether there is some peculiarity at the bottom of the bladder on the left side, whether the viscera are sound. The size of the limbs and organs of the animal were likewise of importance; and indeed there is no feature of any special character that could be overlooked, before, as a result of the most careful study, the priest was in a position to reveal from the various omens the intention of the gods. A special significance appears to have been attached to the diver, due, apparently, to an association of ideas—found among many nations of antiquity—between the liver and the general disposition and character. Among the tablets in the British Museum* there is an interesting dia- gram of the liver of a sheep, divided off into small sections, with cxplanatory notes, to serve as a guide for the priests in their inspection.
Not only the omens derived from sacrifices, but the appearance, position, number, and size of the bubbles formed by oil poured into a goblet or bowl of water, constituted a means of determining the will or purpose of the gods. Here was a phase of the ‘oracle’ ritual that lent itself to an almost more detailed development than even the inspection of sacrificial animals. There were innumerable pos- sibilities to be considered, and we are fortunate in possessing some texts ‘t+ which furnish the proof of the care expended in taking all imaginable con- tingencies into consideration. From these texts, which served as handbooks to the bdrd priests, it appears that, according as the oil bubbles appeared to the left or the right side of the goblet or bowl, separated into smaller bubbles or united into larger ones, it portended good or evil. The size and also the colour of the oil bubbles had a significance, as well as the action of the bubbles after their appear- ance on the surface. In short, an elaborate science of divination grew up in the course of time in Babylonia and Assyria, which embraced many more elements than the inspection of sacrificial animals, and the action of oil when mixed with water.
Before turning to some of these other phases of
* Cuneiform Leats from Babylonian Tablets, etc., in the British Museum, pt. vi. pl. 1 (Bu. 89-4-28, 238). See Boissier, (a) ‘Note sur un monument babylonien se rapportant & l’extis- picine’ (Geneva, 1899); and (b) ‘Note sur un nouveau document babylonien se rapportant a Vextispicine’ (Geneva, 1901).
+ Cuneiform eats, etc., pt. tii. pl. 2-4, and pt. v. pl. 4-7. See Hunger, Becherwahrsagung bei den Babyloniern (Leipzig, 1903).
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RELIGION OF BABYLONIA
RELIGION OF BABYLONIA
the science, it is necessary to. point out here the natural extension of oracles and omens from public affairs of the State, and from the semi- public interests of royalty to the affairs of the individual. The fact that, in such a large portion of the oracle and omen literature, the national welfare and conditions affecting the political situation form the subject, must not mislead us into under- estimating the share that the individual had in benefiting from the prerogatives enjoyed by the priests as the mediators between the gods and their worshippers. The preponderance of public affairs over the concerns of the individual which appears in these texts, is due in part to the circumstance that most of them were drawn up at the instigation of the rulers, and in part to the natural desire of the priests to provide, first of all, for proper guides in carrying out the demands made upon them by their royal masters. The example of Assurbanipal in ordering his scribes to provide him with copies of the literary productions of the country, was probably merely a continuation of a much older custom of Babylonian rulers in ordering the rituals required for the various purposes of official exigencies, and for the various occasions of the year, to be perpetuated in writing. Furthermore, the welfare of the country was a natural preliminary condition to the happi- ness of the individual ; for, unless the gods showed a favourable attitude towards the country as a whole, it was not to be. assumed that the indi- vidual could hope for Divine favour. Next to the attitude of the gods towards the State, their good- will towards the ruler was of primary importance, partly because of the close identification of the career of the ruler with the State, partly because of the continued strength of the belief that the ruler stood nearer to the gods than the ordinary individual, and that upon his conduct and upon the consequent disposition of the gods towards him a large share of the national welfare depended.* Hence even such an event as illness or misfortune in the royal family was of public significance, for it portended, or at all events might portend, that some deity was angry with the ruler himself, and had thus manifested his displeasure. The ordinary individual could hardly hope for consideration in noproneumns a deity who had plainly shown his ill-humour towards the most important personage in the land.