Whether these same five days were observed in the other months of the Babylonian calendar, is again a question that cannot be answered defi- nitely. It seems, likely, however, that such was the case, and, if not those days, there were at all events some days in each month that were desig- nated as ‘evil ones.’
Both for joyous and for sombre occasions sac- rifices were enjoined, coupled with prayers, but the details as to the specific kind of sacrifices chosen for the various occasions are still unknown to us. Accompanying the sacrifice of animals there were libations and incense-offerings ; and,
* See above, p. 566.
+ Rawlinson, v. pl. 48 and 49.
t Rawlinson, iv.? pl. 32-33 *.
§ Lit. ‘days of rest for the heart.’
|| See the recent discussion of the question by Zimmern, Keilinschviften u. das Alte Test. pp. 592-594.
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from the numerous terms found in Babylonian conveying the idea of sacrifices of one kind or another, it is evident that there were a variety of classes of sacrifice which must have corresponded, in a general way, to the subdivisions enumerated in the religious codes of the Hebrews.*
Summary and General Estimate.—If we judge the Babylono- Assyrian religion from the point of view of the general character of the civiliza- tions developed in ancient times, it may fairly be said that, with one exception, it represents on its best side the high-water mark of ancient thought. That exception is the Hebrew religion, which, by reason of the supreme emphasis which, as_a consequence of the teachings of the pre- exilic and exilic prophets, was laid upon the ethi- cal conception of the Divine government of the Universe, took an entirely unique direction. The religious literature produced in Babylonia tran- scends in variety, extent, and depth that which arose in Babylonia’s great rival—Egypt. The influence of this literature may be measured by the traces of Babylonian conceptions, Babylonian myths, and Babylonian customs and rites to be found in the pages of the Old Testament. For, while a protest must be entered on purely scientific grounds against endeavours to carry back specifically Jewish ideas and institutions to Babylonian prototypes, merely because of resemblances that may in part be acci- dental; yet the general thesis may be maintained, that an understanding of the Hebrew religion is impossible without a constant consideration of the religion and culture that were developed in the Euphrates Valley. The stories in Genesis em- bodying traditions of the creation of the world . and of the early fortunes of mankind, contain fragments of Babylonian myths, the specifically Hebrew contribution consisting in the interpreta- tions put upon traditions which, largely through Babylonian influence, became current throughout the Semitic world, and from the Semites spread to other nations. Again, in the Hebrew codes, both as regards the purely legal portions and those sections dealing with religious ritual, Babylonian methods of legal procedure and the ritual developed in the Babylonian temples must be taken into con- sideration as determining factors.t And when we come to New Testament times we have not yet passed beyond the sphere of Babylonian influence, + though here likewise caution must be exercised lest we vitiate the results of a legitimate compara- tive method by straining it beyond proper bounds.
We have seen throughout this article that a distinction must be made between popular concep- tions and the attempts of the priests to systematize these conceptions, leading to the establishment of a more or less fixed body of doctrines regarding the relationship of the gods to one another and to their worshippers. Asa result of the influence exerted by the theologians upon popular beliefs, the local cults, both in the large centres and in the smaller
laces, gradually lost their distinctive character ; and the numerous gods, who once enjoyed an in- dependent and individual character, came to be regarded as aspects or forms or specific manifesta- tions of one or another of the limited number of great gods, who as a whole represent the deities worshipped in sanctuaries which for political or
* See, especially, Ly 1-7.
} For a sober and careful discussion of Babylonian influences in the legal portions of the Pentateuchal codes, S. A. Cook’s The Laws of Moses and the Code of Hammurabi (London, 1903) is to be especially recommended.
t See, in connexion with this subject, an article by Gunkel,
entitled ‘Religio-Historical Interpretation of the New Testa- ment’ in the Monist for April 1903, also the same writer's
Schipfung und Chaos (Gottingen, 1895), pp. 379-398 ; Zimmern, Keilinschriften wu. d. Alte Testament, especially pp. 377-395,
and the same author’s Keilinschriften und Bibel (Leipzig, 1903).
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other reasons acquired great prominence. A move- ment of this kind led to the identification of practically all the goddesses (except those who were merely the consorts of male gods) as forms of one great goddess, Ishtar. This process likewise gave rise to a large number of names, all repre- senting some phase of the solar deity, and paved the way for the grouping of those great gods as a kind of court around one who was regarded as presiding over the assembly. At an early period, lying as yet beyond our ken, Ea, the chief deity of Eridu, appears to have. occupied this position. Within historic times, we know that En-lil or Bel, the ‘lord’ of Nippur, enjoyed this distinction at a time when his centre of worship was also the seat of a powerful succession of rulers, who controlled a large portion of the Euphrates Valley. From En-lil this supremacy appears to have been passed on to Ninib, but after the union of the Babylonian States, and the transfer of the political centre to the city of Babylon, the local deity Marduk usurped the place ‘once occupied by Ea and Bel, and retained it, despite sporadic attempts to restore the old Bel to power, until the end of the New Babylonian empire.