vii. TEMPLES AND CULT.—The existence of numerous temples, particularly in Babylonia, but also, though to a lesser degree, in Assyria, may be taken as an index of the firm hold which the religion we have been describing had upon the people. The political centres during the various periods of Babylono-Assyrian history are also the religious centres, and the rulers of Babylonia and Assyria vie with one another in manifesting their devotion to the gods, by rebuilding, restoring, enlarging, and beautifying the sacred edifices. These temples, unaffected by the political vicissi- tudes of the cities in which they stood, gained in sanctity as the years and centuries rolled on. Whether we turn to some of the oldest rulers known to us, like Naram-Sin and Gudea, or to the members of the New Babylonian dynasty, one of their chief concerns was the care of the temples. Gudea tells us in great detail of a dream which was sent to him, and which is interpreted as the order of Ninib to build his temple E-ninnu at Shirpurla.|| At the close of Babylonian his- tory we find Nebuchadrezzar 11. invariably add- ing to his titles ‘the beautifier of E-sagila and E-zida,’ the sacred edifices of Babylon and Bor- sippa respectively. Considerably over one hundred temples and sanctuaries are mentioned in the native and historical inscriptions known to us; and if we add to these the several hundred inci-
* A full discussion of the various divisions of the epic, with an interpretation of its religious features, will be found in the 23rd chapter of the present writer's Religion Babyloniens und Assyriens (1905).
+ The reading now adopted for the name of the hero of the Flood. See Zimmern, Keilinschriften wu. d. Alte Testament,
. 545, n. 2. ; :
i tSee Jensen, Keilinschriftliche Bibl. vi. 1, p. 480; Zimmern, Reilinschriften und das Alte Testament, i. pp. 638-639 ; Delitzsch, Babel und Bibel (Erster Vortrag), p. 38 ff. ‘
§ See the illustration in Mittheilungen d. Deutschen Orient. Gesellsch. No.9; Weissbach, Babylonische Miscellen. p. 42; and a similar tablet in Perrot and Chipiez, History of Art in Chaldea and Assyria, vol. i. 350-351. ’
| Cylinder A, col. ivii. See Thureau-Dangin, ‘Le Songe de Goudéa’ (Comptes rendus de V Académie des Inscriptions, 1901, pp. 112-128).
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RELIGION OF BABYLONIA 577
dentally mentioned in the religious literature, in the commercial tablets, and those occurring as elements in proper names, and in lists or sylla- baries, it becomes evident that the Euphrates Valley was fairly studded with edifices of one kind or another dedicated to the gods and goddesses of the pantheon.
The names of these temples are both interesting and instructive, as reflecting the ideals and hopes by which their builders were swayed. Marduk’s main edifice at Babylon is called H-sagila, ‘the lofty house’; the temple of Nebo at Borsippa is L-zida, ‘the true or legitimate house’; the temple of the sun-god at Sippar and Larsa is appropriately called E-barra, ‘the brilliant house’; and in the same spirit the temple of the moon-god at Ur was designated as H-gish-shir-gal, ‘house of the great luminary’; while his sanctuary at Harran was called H-khul-khul, ‘the house of joys.’ Bel’s sanctuary at Nippur was known as &£-kur, ‘the mountain house’; Ishtar’s temple at Erech as H-anna, ‘house of heaven’ or ‘lofty house,’ her sanctuary in Nineveh as L-mash-mash, signifying probably ‘house of oracles’; a sanctuary of Nin- kharsag is known as &£-gal-makh, ‘the great palace.’ Other names are H-kharsag-kurkura, ‘the house of the mountain of alllands’ ; L-kharsag- ella, ‘house of the shining mountain’; H-dim- anna, ‘the house of heavenly construction’ ; E-nun-makh, ‘house of the great lord’; E-nin- makh, ‘house of the great lady’; H-tila, ‘ house of life,’ and so on, ad infinitum. In the ease of these names, it is to be observed that some of them designate a temple. by an attribute or descriptive epithet of the god to whom it is dedi- eated, like H-barra, ‘house of splendour,’ for Shamash, or H-nin-makh, ‘house of the great lady,’ for Ishtar ; others are expressive of a hope or ideal, as ‘house of life,’ or ‘legitimate house.’ Many of the names embody the idea of great height, as of a mountain. To this category belong not only those which contain the word ‘moun- tain’ as one of their parts, but such as convey the idea of reaching up to heaven. Such names are more than mere metaphors. They furnish, indeed, the keynote to the explanation of what is the most characteristic feature of sacred edifices in Babylonia. Besides the temple proper, in which the worshippers assembled, and in which there was an inner chamber for the reception of the sacred image of the god, every temple in an important centre had attached to it a tower, consisting of three to seven storeys, provided either with a sloping ascent leading around each storey till the top was reached, or having a staircase from one storey to another. The winding ascent described by Herodotus (i. 181) appears to have been the more characteristic form, and suggests a mountain road; while the main purpose served by these towers, namely, to erect something that would be impressive by its height, points likewise in the direction of their being, in fact, imitations of mountain peaks. To such towers the name zik- kurat, signifying a ‘high’ place or edifice, was given. If it were certain that the zikkurat repre- sented the oldest type of the Babylonian sanctuary, important conclusions might be drawn as to the origin of the race that laid the foundations of Babylonian culture. The proof, however, for such a view is not forthcoming, and all therefore that can be said is that the idea of erecting a sacred edifice in imitation of a mountain must have been introduced by some group which, before settling in the flat Euphrates Valley (which is absolutely devoid of hills, and where not even stone is found to serve as building material), must have lived in a mountainous country. One naturally thinks of Arabia, whence we know