was lavishly adorned. It is referred to in the fragments of early literature which have survived as "the splendid house, shady as the forest", that "none may enter". The mythological spell exercised by Eridu in later times suggests that the civilization of Sumeria owed much to the worshippers of Ea. At the sacred city the first man was created: there the souls of the dead passed towards the
great Deep. Its proximity to the sea--Ea was Nin-bubu, "god of the sailor"--may have brought it into contact with other peoples and other early civilizations. Like the early Egyptians, the early Sumerians may have been in touch with Punt (Somaliland), which some regard as the cradle of the Mediterranean race. The Egyptians obtained from that sacred land incense-bearing trees which had magical potency. In a fragmentary Babylonian charm there is a reference to a sacred tree or bush at Eridu. Professor Sayce has suggested that it is the Biblical "Tree of Life" in the Garden of Eden. His translations of certain vital words, however, is sharply questioned by Mr. R. Campbell Thompson of the British Museum, who does not accept the theory.[49] It may be that Ea's sacred bush or tree is a survival of tree and water worship.
If Eridu was not the "cradle" of the Sumerian race, it was possibly the cradle of Sumerian civilization. Here, amidst the shifting riv-ers in early times, the agriculturists may have learned to control and distribute the water supply by utilizing dried-up beds of streams to irrigate the land. Whatever successes they achieved were credited to Ea, their instructor and patron; he was Nadimmud, "god of everything".
[28] 2 Kings, xviii, 32. [29] Herodotus, i, 193.
[30] Peter's Nippur, i, p. 160.
[31] A Babylonian priest of Bel Merodach. In the third century a.c. he composed in Greek a history of his native land, which has perished. Extracts from it are given by Eusebius, Josephus, Apollodorus, and others.
[32] Indian Myth and Legend, pp. 140, 141.
[33] The Religion of the Semites, pp. 159, 160.
[34] Religion of Babylonia and Assyria, M. Jastrow, p. 88.
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[35] The Seven Tablets of Creation, L.W. King, vol. i, p. 129.
[36] Religious Belief in Babylonia and Assyria, M. Jastrow, p. 88.
[37] Cosmology of the Rigveda, Wallis, and Indian Myth and Legend, p. 10.
[38] The Old Testament in the Light of the Historical Records and Legends of Assyria and Babylonia, T.G. Pinches, pp. 59-61.
[39] The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria, T.G. Pinches, pp. 91, 92.
[40] Joshua, xv, 41; xix, 27.
[41] Judges, xvi, 14. [42] I Sam., v, 1-9. [43] I Sam., vi, 5.
[44] The Devils and Evil Spirits of Babylonia, R. Campbell Thompson, London, 1903, vol. i, p. xlii.
[45] The Devils and Evil Spirits of Babylonia, R. C. Thompson, vol. i, p. xliii.
[46] A History of Sumer and Akkad, L. W. King, p. 54.
[47] The Gods of the Egyptians, E. Wallis Budge, vol. i, p. 290. [48] The Gods of the Egyptians, vol. i, p. 287.
[49] The Devils and Evil Spirits of Babylonia, vol. i, Intro. See also Sayce's The Religion of Ancient Egypt and Babylonia (Gifford
Lectures, 1902), p. 385, and Pinches' The Old Testament in the Light of Historical Records, &c., p. 71.
Chapter III. Rival Pantheons and Representative Deities
Abstract
Why Different Gods were Supreme at Different Centres--Theories regarding Origin of Life--Vital Principle in Water--Creative Tears of Weeping Deities--Significance of widespread Spitting Customs--Divine Water in Blood and Divine Blood in Water--Liver as the Seat of Life--Inspiration derived by Drinking Mead, Blood, &c.--Life Principle in Breath--Babylonian Ghosts as "Evil Wind Gusts"-
-Fire Deities--Fire and Water in Magical Ceremonies--Moon Gods of Ur and Harran--Moon Goddess and Babylonian "Jack and
Jill"--Antiquity of Sun Worship--Tammuz and Ishtar--Solar Gods of War, Pestilence, and Death--Shamash as the "Great Judge"--His Mitra Name--Aryan Mitra or Mithra and linking Babylonian Deities--Varuna and Shamash Hymns compared--The Female Origin of Life--Goddesses of Maternity--The Babylonian Thor--Deities of Good and Evil.
In dealing with the city cults of Sumer and Akkad, consideration must be given to the problems involved by the rival mythological systems. Pantheons not only varied in detail, but were presided over by different supreme gods. One city's chief deity might be regarded as a secondary deity at another centre. Although Ea, for instance, was given first place at Eridu, and was so pronouncedly Sumerian in character, the moon god Nannar remained supreme at Ur, while the sun god, whose Semitic name was Shamash, presided at Larsa and Sippar. Other deities were similarly exalted in other states.
As has been indicated, a mythological system must have been strongly influenced by city politics. To hold a community in sway, it was necessary to recognize officially the various gods worshipped by different sections, so as to secure the constant allegiance of
all classes to their rulers. Alien deities were therefore associated with local and tribal deities, those of the nomads with those of the agriculturists, those of the unlettered folks with those of the learned people. Reference has been made to the introduction of strange deities by conquerors. But these were not always imposed upon a community by violent means. Indications are not awanting that the worshippers of alien gods were sometimes welcomed and encouraged to settle in certain states. When they came as military allies to assist a city folk against a fierce enemy, they were naturally much admired and praised, honoured by the women and the bards, and rewarded by the rulers.
In the epic of Gilgamesh, the Babylonian Hercules, we meet with Ea-bani, a Goliath of the wilds, who is entreated to come to the aid of the besieged city of Erech when it seemed that its deities were unable to help the people against their enemies.
The gods of walled-round Erech
To flies had turned and buzzed in the streets;
The winged bulls of walled-round Erech
Were turned to mice and departed through the holes.
Ea-bani was attracted to Erech by the gift of a fair woman for wife. The poet who lauded him no doubt mirrored public opinion. We can see the slim, shaven Sumerians gazing with wonder and admiration on their rough heroic ally.
All his body was covered with hair, His locks were like a woman's,
Thick as corn grew his abundant hair.
He was a stranger to the people and in that land. Clad in a garment like Gira, the god,
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He had eaten grass with the gazelles,
He had drunk water with savage beasts.
His delight was to be among water dwellers.
Like the giant Alban, the eponymous ancestor of a people who invaded prehistoric Britain, Ea-bani appears to have represented in Babylonian folk legends a certain type of foreign settlers in the land. No doubt the city dwellers, who were impressed by the prowess of the hairy and powerful warriors, were also ready to acknowledge the greatness of their war gods, and to admit them into the pantheon. The fusion of beliefs which followed must have stimulated thought and been productive of speculative ideas. "Nowhere", remarks Professor Jastrow, "does a high form of culture arise without the commingling of diverse ethnic elements."
We must also take into account the influence exercised by leaders of thought like En-we-dur-an-ki, the famous high priest of Sippar, whose piety did much to increase the reputation of the cult of Shamesh, the sun god. The teachings and example of Buddha, for instance, revolutionized Brahmanic religion in India.
A mythology was an attempt to solve the riddle of the Universe, and to adjust the relations of mankind with the various forces