Abundant as is the material now at our disposal for a study of the religious rites and ceremonies observed in Babylonia and Assyria, it is not sufficient to enable us to reconstruct in detail the ritual observed in the temples in connexion with the offering of sacrifices, the seeking of oracles, the interpretation of omens, and the homage to the gods on festive occasions. All that we can do at present is, by piecing together the references to the cult scattered through the historical litera- ture, and by combining these references with data furnished by the religious texts, to present a general picture of the different phases of the cult carried on at the temples of Babylonia and Assyria.
As in other religions of antiquity which had
* See an article by the present writer, ‘The Textbook Litera- ture of the Babylonians’ (Biblical World, 1897, pp. 248-268, and chap. 3 of Scheil’s Une Saison de Fouilles a Sippar.
+ See Zimmern’s Introduction to part ii. of his Beitrage zur Kenntnis der Babylonischen Religion, p. 87.
t See above, p. 5574.
§ Kadishtu is of frequent occurrence ; kizritw occurs as early as the days of Hammurabi (King, Letters and Inscriptions of Hammurabi, vol. i. No. 34); while the three last named in the list are found in the Gilgamesh epic (Tablet vi. ll. 184, 185).
580 RELIGION OF BABYLONIA
reached an advanced stage of organization, sacri- fices, both of animals and of vegetable products, played the most prominent part in the official cult. Gudea, in one of his inscriptions,* furnishes us with a long list of offerings made by him. These include oxen, sheep, goats, lambs, fish, birds (e.g. eagles, doves, etc.), and such products as dates, milk, and greens. From other sources we may add gazelles, wine, butter, honey, garlic, corn, herbs, oil, spices, and incense. The list itself shows that the conception of sacrifice had advanced from mere homage to the gods to providing an income for the needs of the temple service. While there are some traces in the Babylonian religion pointing to the existence, at one time, of the con- ception of sacrifice as a meal to be shared by the worshipper with his deity,} this stage had long been passed before the days of Gudea (ec. 3000 B.C.). The organization of the priesthood, with the various functions of the priests above set forth, necessitated a system that might secure to the temples a regular income; and the frequent references to tithes in the tablets forming part of the temple archives, and even to monthly tributes, indicate a fixed system of taxes levied upon the people. The sacrifice, which invariably accom- panies the act of consulting the priest for an particular purpose, falls likewise within the cate- gory of an assessment for the service rendered, and not a merely voluntary offering or a ritualistic observance, though such an observance is also a factor involved. The pure homage to the gods, by virtue of this development of the cult, was re- served largely for the priests, who, on their part, offered a daily sacrifice, as well as on stated occasions during the year, to ensure the goodwill of the gods in whose service they were. We have indeed reason to believe that, in the large temples, sacrifices of animals were brought twice every day —in the morning and in the evening ; but in the case of these sacrifices, likewise, only certain por- tions were consumed on the altar, while the rest belonged to the priests.
Besides the tithes and the regular sacrifices, there were frequent occasions—as after a victory, or at the rebuilding of a sacred edifice, or the reinstitu- tion of a temple cult, which, for some reason, had suffered interruption—when the rulers bestowed liberal gifts, or pledged themselves to a regular offering of animals, produce of the fields, garments, ornaments, and the like,—all of which helped to swell the income of the temples. Gifts of vari- ous kinds, and votive tablets of precious stone or of precious metals, are also frequently referred to as having been presented to the temples by State officials, and by individuals in their private capacity, so that the element of personal homage to the gods did not entirely disappear in the ever- increasing share taken by the official cult in the performance of religious rites.
There were also certain occasions of the year when the people repaired to the temples to join in the homage to be rendered to the gods. Indeed the religious calendars drawn up by the Baby- lonian priests show that in the course of time every day of the year was invested with some significance ; but, in addition to this, there were certain months and certain days set aside for special homage to some god or goddess. Thus the sixth and eleventh months— Elul and Shebat — appear to have been sacred to Ninib.§ This same sixth month was observed as a sacred period in honour of Ishtar. At the temple to Shamash in
* Inscription G, cols. iii-vi. (de Sarzec, Décowvertes en Chaldée, pl. 18.
t See W. Robertson Smith, Religion of the Semites (2nd ed. London, 1894), Lectures vi.-ix.
{ See, ¢.g., Rawlinson, iv.? pl. 32, 38; v. pl. 48, 49.
§ Rawlinson, i. 23, col. ii. 184,
RELIGION OF BABYLONIA
Sippar we learn of six days in the year *—the 7th day of Nisan (first month), 10th of Lyyar (second month), 3rd of Elul (sixth month), 7th of Tishri (seventh month), 15th of Arakhshamna (eighth month), and the 15th of Adar (twelfth month)— that were invested with a special significance. There are two festivals, however, that appear to have been particularly prominent from the oldest period down to the latest days—the New Year's festival, celebrated for a period of eleven days during the month of Nisan, which fell-in the’ spring; and the festival of Tammuz, which occurred in the fourth month.