‘Fetch for him food of life, that he may eat thereof. They brought him food of life, but he did not eat. They brought him water of life, but he did not drink. They brought him a
garment; he put it on. They brought him oil; he anointed himself therewith.’
Adapa, it will be observed, strictly carries out Ea’s orders, and thus forfeits the boon of im- mortality, which was placed within his reach. The story presents parallels and contrasts with the Biblical story of the Fall. Adam’s loss of im- mortality is due to disobedience ; but in his case an intentional deception is practised on him by an evil spirit in the guise of a serpent, as against the unintentional deception of Adapa by Ea. It is evident that the story of Adapa is based on the common nature myth of the change of seasons, portrayed as a conflict between the storms of the rainy season and the vegetation symbolized b Adapa, who stands in some direct connexion with . the solar deity, Marduk, the son of Ea. The story reflects the religious doctrine, developed in Baby- lonia, that man, though of Divine origin, does not share in the Divine trait of immortality, but the reference to the food and water of life may be taken as an indication that a contrary doctrine must also have had its advocates; and this view is confirmed by allusions to a ‘life’ plant and to ‘life’ waters in historical inscriptions and in literary productions. Marduk is addressed as the one who bestows this ‘life’ plant; * and if a king like Esarhaddon expresses the hope that his rule may be as beneficial as the ‘life’ plant,+ it is evident that the conception of the existence of such a plant must have been a current one. So, again, whatever the purpose that Gilgamesh, the hero of the great Babylonian epic, has in mind in seeking for a plant bearing the remarkable name ‘restorer of yeuth to old age,’ + the incident would be unintelligible if it did not rest on the view that ‘life’ was a gift that could be given to man by the will of the gods, and that the life meant was not merely a limited existence but life without end. The same conclusion may be drawn from the occurrence of the phrase ‘water of life’ in the re- ligious literature. In the story of Ishtar’s descent to the lower world she is sprinkled with the ‘ waters of life’ before she ascends to earth again,§ and on the idea that water is a symbol of life is based an entire series of rites practised in the Babylonian temples. ||
The doctrine, thus combined in the story of Adapa with an old nature myth, furnishes the proof of the deep interest which the problem of
* Craig, (K 8961, 5). t+ Meissner-Rost in Beitrdge zur Assyr, iii, 255 (col. viii. 10-13), Nps 1, 298. See Jensen, Keilinschriftl. Bibliothek, vi. 1, p. 252. § See below, p. 576. || See Zimmern’s article, ‘Lebensbrot u. Lebenswasser im Babylonischen und in der Bibel’ in Archiv J. Religionswissen- schaft, ii. 165-177.
Assyrian and Babylonian Religious Teats, i. 59
RELIGION OF BABYLONIA
death awakened in the Babylonian schools. Along with the development of a systematized pantheon we find the attempt made to give some definite shape to the views regarding man’s fate after death has touched his body. The mystery of death was deepened in the mind of primitive man by the difficulty of conceiving that life could come to an end; and the daily phenomenon of the awakening from sleep—which must have appeared to him as temporary death—strengthened in him the conviction that life does not come to an end, or perhaps it would be more correct to say, made it more difficult for him to persuade himself that death was equivalent to an annihilation of life. The problem that thus presented itself was how to reconcile the evident extinction of earthly activity in the case of death with the conviction or the instinct that life as such cannot come to an end. There thus arose, as a result of primitive and popular speculation on the mysterious theme, the idea that, corresponding to the surface of the earth as the scene of man’s activity while life was in his body, there was an abode in which those whose earthly careers were over continued to enjoy the privilege of the spark of life. The prevailing custom of earth-burial, at least within the period for which historical documents are at our dis- posal, suggested, as a further natural conclusion, that the abode in question was situated below the surface of the earth. At this point, however, popular speculation appears to have stopped, and the theologians of the Euphrates Valley stepped in to develop the conception further, and to bring it into accord with the theological system devised by them. The sharp division between life and death led them to select out of the company of gods and goddesses a number that seemed fitted to be placed in control of the dead. A nether world pantheon thus, gradually, arose by the side of the group of great gods whose concern was with the living.
(ii.) A nature myth found among the Tel el- Amara tablets,* based upon the phenomenon of the change of seasons, has been made the medium for giving expression to some of the doc- trines of the priests regarding this pantheon for the dead. It appears from the story, that origin- ally a goddess known as Eresh-kigal, signifying the ‘lady of the nether world,’ was placed at the head of this pantheon. Pictured as the sister of the gods, she is supposed to have her abode in the interior of the earth, and is the counterpart of the great goddess Ishtar, who, it will be recalled, is the great mother-goddess, the symbol of vegeta- tion and fertility on the earth. The gods are represented as gathered together at a banquet, and they send a message to their sister Eresh- kigal, asking her, inasmuch as she cannot come up to the gods, whose seat, according to the astro- theology of the priests, is in heaven, at least to send a messenger to fetch some of the food for her. Eresh-kigal sends Namtar, the god of pesti- lence, who is welcomed by all the gods except Nergal. This god fails to pay proper respect to Eresh-kigal’s messenger, and accordingly, on the demand of the ‘lady of the lower world,’ Nergal is handed over to her to receive the punishment of death. At this juncture Ea steps in, and reassures Nergal by giving him a bodyguard of fourteen demons, who will aid him in ‘his encounter with Eresh-kigal. To judge from the names of these demons—Burning, Fever, Abyss, etc.—they seem to symbolize misfortunes, ills, and accidents, that bring death in their wake. Accompanied by these