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The
name of this god was read "Nisrok" by Oppert,
"Nouah"
by Hincks and Lenormant. The true reading is Ia, Ea,
usually
translated "house," "water-house"; this is a popular
interpretation
which appears to have occurred to the
Chaldæans
from the values of the signs entering into the
name
of the god. From the outset H. Rawlinson recognized in
Ea,
which he read Hea, Hoa, the divinity presiding over the
abyss
of waters; he compared him with the serpent of Holy
Scripture,
in its relation to the Tree of Knowledge and the
Tree
of Life, and deduced therefrom his character of lord of
wisdom.
His position as lord of the primordial waters, from
which
all things proceeded, clearly denned by Lenormant, is
now
fully recognized. His name was transcribed Aôs by
Damascius,
a form which is not easily explained; the most
probable
hypothesis is that of Hommel who considers Aos as a
shortened
form of Iaôs = Ia, Ea.
Subordinate
to these limitless and vague beings, the theologians placed
their
second triad, made up of gods of restricted power and invariable
form.
They recognized in the unswerving regularity with which the moon
waxed
and waned, or with which the sun rose and set every day, a
proof
of their subjection to the control of a superior will, and they
signalized
this dependence by making them sons of one or other of the
three
great gods. Sin was the offspring of Bel, Shamash of Sin,
Kamman
of Anu. Sin was indebted for this primacy among the subordinate
divinities
to the preponderating influence which Uru exercised over
Southern
Chaldæa. Mar, where Ramman was the chief deity, never emerged
from
its obscurity, and Larsam acquired supremacy only many centuries
after
its neighbour, and did not succeed in maintaining it for any
length
of time. The god of the suzerain city necessarily took precedence
of
those of the vassal towns, and when once his superiority was
admitted
by
the people, he was able to maintain his place in spite of all
political
revolutions. Sin was called in Uru, "Uruki," or "Nannar the
glorious,"
and his priests sometimes succeeded in identifying him
with
Anu. "Lord, prince of the gods, who alone in heaven and earth is
exalted,--father
Nannar, lord of the hosts of heaven, prince of the
gods,--father
Nannar, lord, great Anu, prince of the gods,--father
Nannar,
lord, moon-god, prince of the gods,--father Nannar, lord of Uni,
prince
of the gods....--Lord, thy deity fills the far-off heavens,
like
the vast sea, with reverential fear! Master of the earth, thou
who
fixest
there the boundaries [of the towns] and assignest to them their
names,--father,
begetter of gods and men, who establishest for them
dwellings
and institutest for them that which is good, who proclaimest
royalty
and bestowest the exalted sceptre on those whose destiny was
determined
from distant times,--chief, mighty, whose heart is great, god
whom
no one can name, whose limbs are steadfast, whose knees never
bend,
who
preparest the paths of thy brothers the gods....--In heaven, who
is
supreme?
As for thee, it is thou alone who art supreme! As for thee, thy
decree
is made known in heaven, and the Igigi bow their faces!--As for
thee,
thy decree is made known upon earth, and the spirits of the abyss
kiss
the dust!--As for thee, thy decree blows above like the wind,
and
stall and pasture become fertile!--As for thee, thy decree is
accomplished
upon earth below, and the grass and green things grow!--As
for
thee, thy degree is seen in the cattle-folds and in the lairs of
the
wild
beasts, and it multiplies living things!--As for thee, thy
decree
has called into being equity and justice, and the peoples have
promulgated
thy law!--As for thee, thy decree, neither in the far-off
heaven,
nor in the hidden depths of the earth, can any one recognize
it!--As
for thee, thy decree, who can learn it, who can try conclusions
with
it?--O Lord, mighty in heaven, sovereign upon earth, among the
gods
thy
brothers, thou hast no rival." Outside Uru and Harran, Sin did
not
obtain
this rank of creator and ruler of things; he was simply the
moon-god,
and was represented in human form, usually accompanied by a
thin
crescent, upon which he sometimes stands upright, sometimes
appears
with
the bust only rising out of it, in royal costume and pose.
[Illustration:
169.jpg THE GOD SUN RECEIVES THE HOMAGE OF TWO
WORSHIPPERS.]
Drawn
by Faucher-Gudin, from a heliogravure by Menant.
His
mitre is so closely associated with him that it takes his place
on
the
astrological tablets; the name he bears--"agu"--often indicates
the
moon regarded simply as a celestial body and without connotation
of
deity. Babbar-Shamash, "the light of the gods, his fathers," "the
illustrious
scion of Sin," passed the night in the depths of the north,
behind
the polished metal walls which shut in the part of the firmament
visible
to human eyes.
[Illustration:
170.jpg SHAMASH SETS OUT, IN THE MORNING, FROM THE
INTERIOR
OF THE HEAVEN BY THE EASTERN GATE.]
Drawn
by Faucher-Gudin, from a Chaldæan intaglio of green
jasper
in the Louvre. The original measures about 1 3/10
inch
in height.
As
soon as the dawn had opened the gates for him, he rose in the
east
all
aflame, his club in his hand, and he set forth on his headlong
course
over the chain of mountains which surrounds the world;* six hours
later
he had attained the limit of his journey towards the south, he
then
continued his journey to the west, gradually lessening his heat,
and
at length re-entered his accustomed resting-place by the western
gate,
there to remain until the succeeding morning. He accomplished his
journey
round the earth in a chariot conducted by two charioteers,
and
drawn by two vigorous onagers, "whose legs never grew weary;" the
flaming
disk which was seen from earth was one of the wheels of his
chariot.**
*
His course along the embankment which runs round the
celestial
vault was the origin of the title, _Line of Union
between
Heaven and Earth_; he moved, in fact, where the
heavens
and the earth come into contact, and appeared to
weld
them into one by the circle of fire which he described.
Another
expression of this idea occurs in the preamble of
Nergal
and Ninib, who were called "the separators"; the
course
of the sun might, in fact, be regarded as separating,
as
well as uniting, the two parts of the universe.
**
The disk has sometimes four, sometimes eight rays
inscribed
on it, indicating wheels with four or eight spokes
respectively.
Rawlinson supposed "that these two figures
indicate
a distinction between the male and female power of
the
deity, the disk with four rays symbolizing Shamash, the
orb
with eight rays being the emblem of Ai, Gula, or
Anunit."
[Illustration:
171.jpg SHAMASH IN HIS SHRINE, HIS EMBLEM BEFORE HIM ON
THE
ALTAR.]
Drawn
by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by Rassam. The
busts
of the two deities on the front of the roof of the
shrine
are the two charioteers of the sun; they uphold and
guide
the rayed disk upon the altar. Cf. in the Assyrian
period
the winged disk led with cords by two genii.
As
soon as he appeared he was hailed with the chanting of hymns: "O
Sun,
thou
appearest on the foundation of the heavens,--thou drawest back
the
bolts
which bar the scintillating heavens, thou openest the gate of
the
heavens! O Sun, thou raisest thy head above the earth,--Sun, thou
extendest
over the earth the brilliant vaults of the heavens."
The
powers of darkness fly at his approach or take refuge in their
mysterious
caverns, for "he destroys the wicked, he scatters them, the
omens
and gloomy portents, dreams, and wicked ghouls--he converts evil
to
good, and he drives to their destruction the countries and
men--who
devote
themselves to black magic." In addition to natural light, he
sheds
upon
the earth truth and justice abundantly; he is the "high judge"
before
whom everything makes obeisance, his laws never waver, his
decrees
are never set at naught. "O Sun, when thou goest to rest in the
middle
of the heavens--may the bars of the bright heaven salute thee
in
peace, and may the gate of heaven bless thee!--May Misharu, thy
well-beloved
servant, guide aright thy progress, so that on Rbarra,
the
seat of thy rule, thy greatness may rise, and that A, thy
cherished
spouse,
may receive thee joyfully! May thy glad heart find in her thy
rest!--May
the food of thy divinity be brought to thee by her,--warrior,
hero,
sun, and may she increase thy vigour;--lord of Ebarra, when
thou
ap-proachest, mayest thou direct thy course aright!---0 Sun, urge
rightly
thy way along the fixed road determined for thee,--O Sun, thou
who
art the judge of the land, and the arbiter of its laws!"
It
would appear that the triad had begun by having in the third place
a
goddess,
Ishtar of Dilbat. Ishtar is the evening star which precedes the
appearance
of the moon, and the morning star which heralds the approach
of
the sun: the brilliance of its light justifies the choice which
made
it an associate of the greater heavenly bodies. "In the days of
the
past.... Ea charged Sin, Shamash, and Ishtar with the ruling of
the
firmament
of heaven; he distributed among them, with Anu, the command
of
the army of heaven, and among these three gods, his children,
he
apportioned the day and the night, and compelled them to work
ceaselessly."
[Illustration:
173.jpg ISHTAR HOLDING HER STAR BEFORE SIN.]
Drawn
by Faucher-Gudin, from an intaglio at Rome.
Ishtar
was separated from her two companions, when the group of the
planets
was definitely organized and claimed the adoration of the
devout;
the theologians then put in her place an individual of a less
original
aspect, Ramman. Ramman embraced within him the elements of many
very
ancient genii, all of whom had been set over the atmosphere, and
the
phenomena which are daily displayed in it--wind, rain, and
thunder.
These
genii occupied an important place in the popular religion which
had
been cleverly formulated by the theologians of Uruk, and there
have
come
down to us many legends in which their incarnations play a part.
They
are usually represented as enormous birds flocking on their swift
wings
from below the horizon, and breathing flame or torrents of water
upon
the countries over which they hovered. The most terrible of them
was
Zu, who presided over tempests: he gathered the clouds together,
causing
them to burst in torrents of rain or hail; he let loose the
winds
and lightnings, and nothing remained standing where he had
passed.
He
had a numerous family: among them cross-breeds of extraordinary
species
which would puzzle a modern naturalist, but were matters of
course
to the ancient priests. His mother Siris, lady of the rain and
clouds,
was a bird like himself; but Zu had as son a vigorous bull,
which,
pasturing in the meadows, scattered abundance and fertility
around
him. The caprices of these strange beings, their malice, and
their
crafty attacks, often brought upon them vexatious misfortunes.
Shutu,
the south wind, one day beheld Adapa, one of the numerous
offspring
of Ea, fishing in order to provide food for his family. In
spite
of his exalted origin, Adapa was no god; he did not possess the
gift
of immortality, and he was not at liberty to appear in the
presence
of
Anu in heaven. He enjoyed, nevertheless, certain privileges,
thanks
to
his familiar intercourse with his father Ea, and owing to his
birth
he
was strong enough to repel the assaults of more than one deity.
When,
therefore,
Shutu, falling upon him unexpectedly, had overthrown him, his
anger
knew no bounds: "'Shutu, thou hast overwhelmed me with thy
hatred,
great
as it is,--I will break thy wings! 'Having thus spoken with his
mouth
unto Shutu, Adapa broke his wings. For seven days,--Shutu
breathed
no
longer upon the earth." Anu, being disturbed at this quiet, which
seemed
to him not very consonant with the meddling temperament of the
wind,
made inquiries as to its cause through his messenger Ilabrât.
"His
messenger
Ilabrât answered him: 'My master,--Adapa, the son of Ea,
has
broken Shutu's wings.'--Anu, when he heard these words, cried
out:
'Help!'"
and he sent to Ea Barku, the genius of the lightning, with an
order
to bring the guilty one before him. Adapa was not quite at his
ease,
although he had right on his side; but Ea, the cleverest of the
immortals,
prescribed a line of conduct for him. He was to put on at
once
a garment of mourning, and to show himself along with the
messenger
at
the gates of heaven. Having arrived there, he would not fail to
meet
the
two divinities who guarded them,--Dumuzi and Gishzida: "'In whose
honour
this garb, in whose honour, Adapa, this garment of mourning?'
'On
our earth two gods have disappeared--it is on this account I am
as
I
am.' Dumuzi and Gishzida will look at each other,* they will
begin
to
lament, they will say a friendly word--to the god Anu for thee,
they
will
render clear the countenance of Anu,--in thy favour. When thou
shalt
appear before the face of Anu, the food of death, it shall be
offered
to thee, do not eat it. The drink of death, it shall be offered
to
thee, drink it not. A garment, it shall be offered to the, put it
on.
Oil,
it shall be offered to thee, anoint thyself with it. The command
I
have
given thee observe it well.'"
*
Dumuzi and Gishzida are the two gods whom Adapa indicates
without
naming them; insinuating that he has put on mourning
on
their account, Adapa is secure of gaining their sympathy,
and
of obtaining their intervention with the god Anu in his
favour.
As to Dumuzi, see pp. 158, 159 of the present work;
the
part played by Gishzida, as well as the event noted in
the
text regarding him, is unknown.
Everything
takes place as Ea had foreseen. Dumuzi and Gishzida
welcome
the poor wretch, speak in his favour, and present him: "as he
approached,
Anu perceived him, and said to him: 'Come, Adapa, why didst
thou
break the wings of Shutu?' Adapa answered Anu: 'My lord,--for the
household
of my lord Ea, in the middle of the sea,---I was fishing,
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