Ancient As>^vriau rioU''h.
rising from the centre seem a contrivance intended for sowing the seed in drills. The plough is supposed to
have been drawn by two oxen moving in line, the one before the other. Scales and weights are also pictured on the monuments; many metallic weights have been found ; and there appears to have been, at one time at least, a clay currency, as small pieces of clay bear upon them, according to Mr. Birch's reading, an order to pay a certain M'eight of gold.
VII. The relif/ion of Assi/?-ia, as gathered from the Ninevitic monuments, was probably at first a species of Sabaism — the host of heaven was deified and adored — sun, moon, and stars, with zodiacal signs, are often en- graven on cylinders. Idols were, however, in course of time introduced; and the heroes or benefactors of other and ancient times were elevated to the rank of divini- ties. Tlie father of the race, from being its patron grew into its god, and national pride in him deepened at length into religious veneration. Therefore at the head of the pantheon stood Asshur, the deified patri- arch, his name and that of the country being the same; and he is regarded as " the great god, king of all the gods," the national divinity, giving each king life and power. The sovereign, when referring to him, calls him "Asshur my lord ;" his people are '' the servants of Asshur," and his foes the " enemies of Asshur." This deity was never superseded, though he had at length many colleagues or rivals. His common emblem is that of a winged circle or globe, with a single figure, and
Symbol of the god Asshur.
l.From bass-relief of triumjilial return of thelviut; from battle. -Brit. Mus. 2, From the royal cylinder of Sennacherib. — Brit. Mus.
sometimes a triune human figure in the centre, and this symbol is generally found in immediate connection with the sovereign. The sacred tree was also associated with Asshur — connected perhaps with the Biblical Asherah, rendered " grove" (q. v.) — and perhaps also derived ulti- mately from the Edenic tree of life. Other Assyrian gods were Anu, often placed after Asshur, Bil or Bel, Hea or Hoa, Mylitta or Beltis, Sin or the Moon, Sha- mas or the Sun,Vul or Iva the wielder of the thunder- bolt, Gula the sun-goddess, Nin, after whom the capital was named, and whose symbol is the winged bull, Me- rodach, Nergar, Ishtar, and Nebo. Some of these gods were borrowed from Chaldrea. Each god was usually associated with a corresponding goddess; and the god and his idol, made of metal, clay, or stone, were identi- fied, as in the challenge of Rabshakeh (Isa. xxxvi, 19, 20). Sacrifice was offered to them, and altars of vari- ous shapes have been found. Solemn processions were made, and the king appears to be also a priest — his per- son was divinely sacred, and his palace seems also to have been the temple — though there was at the same time a regular priesthood. Easting, as seen in the book of Jonah, may not have been an uncommon ordinance. The prophet Nahum styles Nineveh "the mistress of witchcrafts," and many superstitious forms of ascertain- ing the will of Heaven must have been in constant practice. Layard mentions that dark spots resembling blood are seen on the slabs which form the entrance to the oldest palaces in Nimrud. The nation appears to have been intensely religious; religious symbols are found not onlj' on the robes and armor of the king, and on the columns and friezes of public buildings, but also on chariots, trappings of horses, and on ordinary house- hold furniture — hangings, tables, chairs, and couches. The sensual or phallic sj-mbols, so common in classical coimtries, are not found in As.syria; yet, if the worship of Beltis in Assvria resembled at all her worshij) in
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NINEVEH
Babylon (Herod, i, 99), it must have been grosslj' las- civious, as women were required to go once ia their lives to her temple, and prostitute themselves to the first man who wished them. The prophet Nahum calls Nineveli " the well-favored harlot, that selleth nations through her whoredoms;" but this language may refer, in Jewish prophetic style, to shamefaced and prosely- tizing idolatries.
Associated with the national worship were those com- posite animal figures, with the grotesque appearance of Avhich vve are now so well acquainted. The idea em- bodied iu those strange forms must have been familiar to the ancient and Eastern world. Modifications of such figures are found in the sphinxes of Egypt, and have also been sought in the cherubim. See Cherub. These figures guard the sacred thresholds in Nineveh, as if such a function needed the strength of a bull, the courage of a lion, the intelligence of a man, and the winged speed of an eagle. In Assyria and Egypt they occur as outer guardians and representatives, whereas in tlie Hebrew worship they were concealed in the dense gloom of the holj' of holies. Perhaps, apart from the special human relations of the Hebrew cherubim, the generic idea underlying the strange symbol was that the noblest creatures on earth are claimed by God as his servants; that their highest duty and honor are to be near him, and to keep his temples from profane intru- sion ; and that the divine service in its ideal perfection is such as combines in it the various elements of intel- lect and power, which those forms in their composite unit}' symbolize.