The Old Testament in the Light of the Historical Records and Legends of Assyria and Babylonia

by Theophilus G. Pinches

The Religious Element.

As may be judged from the specimens of Babylonian names already given, the inhabitants of this part of the world were exceedingly religious. In [pg 160] every city of the land there were great temples, each of which made its claim on the people who formed the congregation—in other words, the whole population. In the district of which we are at present treating—the tract where the majority of early contract-tablets were found, namely, Sippar—the chief objects of worship were the Sun-god Šamaš; his consort, the Moon-goddess, Aa; Bunene, a deity of whom but little is known; Anunitum, a goddess identified with Ištar or Venus; Addu or Rammanu (Hadad or Rimmon), and, in later times at least, among others, “the divine Daughters of Ê-babbarra.[24]” All these deities were worshipped in the temple of the place, called Ê-babbarra, “the (divinely) brilliant house,” the earthly abode of the god Šamaš and his companions. In addition to this great and celebrated temple, of such renown in later times that even Egyptians, sun-devotees in their own country, attended the services and made gifts, temples were erected to the other gods of Babylon, notably Sin, the Moon-god; to Merodach, the chief deity of Babylon; and likewise in all probability to Merodach's consort, Zer-panitum, who was worshipped along with him. There was probably hardly a town in ancient Babylonia and Assyria where one or more of these gods were not honoured—indeed, the sun had also another centre of worship, namely, Larsa, the Ellasar of Gen. xiv. 1, as well as less renowned shrines. Ištar was venerated at Erech along with Anu; Sin, the moon, under the name of Nannar, had a great and celebrated temple at Ur (generally regarded as Ur of the Chaldees), and also at Haran, the city of Abraham's sojourning; Nebo was worshipped at Borsippa; Nergal at Cuthah; Gula, goddess of healing, at Babylon; Ê-girsu (“the lord of Girsu”) at the city of Girsu, apparently a part of Lagaš; Êa and Tammuz at Eridu, etc.

In the province of which Sippar was capital, however, the people were more than usually religious, or else more records of their piety have come down to us. Numerous persons, more especially women, are described as devotees, or perhaps priestesses, of the Sun-god there, and sometimes similar devotees of Merodach are mentioned. Though we have no certain information, it is very probable that there were all over the country people dedicated to the various deities, “the gods of the land,” for what was customary in the district of Sippar (Sippar-Amnanu and Sippar-Ya'ruru) was in all probability equally so in the other provinces of the empire. From the earliest times the temples acquired and held large tracts of land, which the priests let to various people, agriculturists and others, to cultivate, a certain proportion of the produce being paid to them, added to the revenues of the temples, and passed into the treasury of the god. To this lucrative business of land-letting was added that of money-lending, and interest in the weaving-industry of the place, both of which increased enormously in later times. That the temples received from time to time rich gifts from the king, goes without saying, for the colophon-dates record many instances of this. Sumu-abu, for instance, rebuilt or restored the temples of the Lady of Isin, and the temple Ê-maḫ of Nannar (the Moon-god); Sumu-la-îla made a throne of gold and silver for the great shrine of Merodach; Abil-Sin seems to have given a similar object to the temple of the Sun at Babylon; Ḫammurabi restored or gave thrones to the temples of Zer-panitum, Ištar of Babylon, Nannar (the moon), and built a great shrine for Bel. Samsu-iluna, likewise, was not negligent of the gods, for it is related of him that he dedicated a bright shining mace (?) of gold and silver, the glory of the temple, to Merodach, and made Ê-sagila (the great temple of Belus at Babylon) to shine like the stars of heaven. It is needless to [pg 162] say, that the long lists of the pious works of the rulers of Babylon would be much too long to enumerate here.

All this the kings did from motives of policy, to conciliate the priests, and, through them, the people. Sometimes, though, they had need of the priests, who were able to render them service, and then, naturally, they bought their good-will cheerfully. The service which the priests rendered in return was to pray to the gods for the king's health and his success against his enemies, or in any undertaking in which he might be engaged, and to inquire of the gods for him whether he would be successful. Many, too, were the ceremonies and festivals in which king, priests, and people took part, and the king (who was himself a priest) and the priesthood thrived exceedingly.

Sometimes, too, it happened that a devotee or servant of another god than that which was the divinity of the place, struck with the neglect of the deities whom he worshipped, would decide to remedy that defect, and to this end he would found a small temple himself, and endow it. The following will show in what way this took place—

“Nûr-îli-šu has built for his god the temple of Šarru and Šullat. One šar (is the measure of) the temple of his god—he has dedicated it for his life. Pî-ša-Šamaš is the priest of the temple. Nûr-îli-šu shall not make a claim against the priesthood (i.e. demand the restitution of the property he has given). He is an enemy of Šamaš and Suma-îlu who brings an action.

“Before Bur-nunu, son of Ibubu (?);

before Ibik-ištar, son of Ibubu;

before Sin-rabu, son of Aba-Ellila-kime;

before Idin-Sin, son of Ilu-malik;

before Sin-idinnaššu, son of Lu-Ninsaḫ;

before Aḫum-ḫibum, son of Aḫu-šina;

before Sin-idinnaššu, son of Pi-ša-Nin-Karak,”

“The light of his god,” Nûr-îli-šu apparently wished to justify his name, and to show what a faithful servant he was, and he therefore dedicated the temple to the deity mentioned. This, according to the inscriptions, should be Merodach, one of whose titles was šarru, “the king.” It is to be noted, however, that in the district of Sippar the Sun-god was “king,” and if this be the case, the pious giver of the temple, instead of wishing to honour the patron god of another district, merely intended to honour the patron god of his own in another aspect, namely, as king in the heavens, along with his consort, here called Šullat, a name which, to all appearance, simply means “the bride.” That the Sun-god was intended seems to be indicated by the name of the priest, Pî-ša-Šamaš, “Word of the Sun-god,” though it was not by any means impossible for a man bearing the name of another god as part of his own to officiate in this capacity, especially in the case of Merodach, for the latter was, in many respects, a sun-god, and therefore identified with Šamaš. In any case, the new temple was under the protection of the Sun-god, as the statement (“he is an enemy of Šamaš and Šuma-ilu”) shows. It is noteworthy that, in the names of the witnesses, Šamaš does not occur as a component part in any case.

But a small foundation like this must have had but little influence beside the great temple of the Sun-god at Sippara, with its revenues from lands, dues on grain, tithes, free-will offerings, and gifts on special occasions. In addition to all that has been mentioned above, the temple of the Sun-god was the great court of justice, and the people resorted thither to settle their disputes, and in all probability gifts were made to the Sun-god on those occasions. The gates of the city, too, were favourite places for this, especially that of Šamaš, and there is every probability that gifts to the god had to be made there also. The power and [pg 164] influence of the places of worship on account of all these temporal and sacerdotal duties invested in them can be easily imagined.