[23] Wiedemann, Religion of the Ancient Egyptians, p. 94 sq. Maspero, Études, ii. 163.
The religion of the Chaldeans was a religion of dread. Everywhere they felt themselves surrounded by hostile demons; feared above all were the seven evil spirits, who were everywhere and yet invisible, who slipped through bolts and doorposts and sockets, and who had power even to bewitch the gods.[24] In their incessant warfare against these fiends men were assisted by the more propitious among the deities: by Marduk, the “merciful” god, the god of the youthful sun of spring and early morning;[25] by Ea, the “good” god, the god of the waters of the deep and the source of wisdom;[26] by Gibil-Nusku, the lord of fire, who put to flight the demons of night when the fire was kindled on the household hearth, and who in the flame carried to the other gods the sacrifices offered them;[27] as also by the tutelary deities of each individual, household, and city.[28] The gods were on the whole favourably disposed towards man. But they helped only those who piously observed the prescribed rites, who recited the conventional prayers and offered them sacrifices; on such persons they bestowed a happy old age and a numerous posterity. On the other hand, he who did not fear his god would be cut down like a reed; and by neglecting the slightest ceremonial detail the king excited the anger of the deities against himself and his subjects.[29] During the whole of their lives the Chaldeans were haunted by the dread of offending their gods, and they continually implored pardon for their sins.[30] But the sinner became conscious of his guilt only as a conclusion drawn from the fact that he was suffering from some misfortune, which he interpreted as a punishment sent by an offended god. It mattered little what had called forth the wrath of the god or whether the deity was acting in accordance with just ideas;[31] and in none of the penitential psalms known to us is there any indication that the notion of sin comprised offences against fellow men. It is true that in the incantation series ‘Shurpu’ not only offences against gods and ceremonial transgressions, but a large number of wrongs of a social character, are included in the list of possible causes of the suffering which the incantation is intended to remove. On behalf of the afflicted individual the exorciser asks:—“Has he sinned against a god, Is his guilt against a goddess, Is it a wrongful deed against his master, Hatred towards his elder brother, Has he despised father or mother, Insulted his elder sister, Has he given too little,[32] Has he withheld too much, For ‘no’ said ‘yes,’ For ‘yes’ said ‘no’?… Has he fixed a false boundary, Not fixed a just boundary, Has he removed a boundary, a limit, or a territory, Has he possessed himself of his neighbour’s house, Has he approached his neighbour’s wife, Has he shed the blood of his neighbour, Robbed his neighbour’s dress?” and so forth.[33] But I fail to see any legitimate ground for the conclusion which Schrader and Zimmern have drawn from these passages, to wit, that the gods were believed to be angry with persons guilty of any of the offences enumerated.[34] It seems to me quite obvious that the evils which were hypothetically associated with injuries inflicted upon fellow men were ascribed, not to the avenging activity of a god, but to the curses of the injured party. The gods are expressly invoked to relieve the unhappy individual from the curses under which he is suffering, whether he has been cursed by his father, mother, elder brother, elder sister, friend, master, king, or god, or has approached an accursed person, or slept in such a person’s bed, or sat on his chair, or eaten from his dish or drunk from his cup.[35] In these incantations there is no plea for forgiveness; the possible causes for the suffering are enumerated simply because the mention of the real cause is supposed to go a long way towards expelling the evil.[36] Some of the gods, however, are invoked as judges. This is frequently the case with Shamash, the sun god, “the supreme judge of heaven and earth,” who, seated on a throne in the chamber of judgment, receives the supplications of men.[37] Of the moon god Sin it is said in a hymn dedicated to him that his “word produces truth and justice, so that men speak the truth.”[38] And the lord of fire is addressed as a judge, who burns the evildoers and annihilates the bad,[39] and is exhorted by the conjurer to help him to his right;[40] but this probably means little more than the invocation, “Eat my enemies, destroy those who have done harm to me.”[41] Of a moral retribution after death there is no trace in the Chaldean religion. Those who have obtained the goodwill of the gods receive their reward in this world, by a life of happiness and of good health, but the moment that death ensues the control of the gods comes to an end. All mankind, kings and subjects, virtuous and wicked, go to Aralû, the gloomy subterranean realm presided over by Allatu and her consort Nergal, where the dead are doomed to everlasting sojourn or imprisonment in a state of joyless inactivity. A kind of judgment is spoken of, but nothing indicates that it is based on moral considerations.[42] According to the Gilgamesh epic, however, the fortunes awaiting those who die are not all alike. Those who fall in battle seem to enjoy special privileges, provided that they are properly buried and there is someone to make them comfortable in their last hour and to look after them when dead. But he whose corpse remains in the field has no rest in the earth, and he whose spirit is not cared for by any one is consumed by gnawing hunger.[43]
[24] Jastrow, Religion of Babylonia and Assyria, p. 260 sqq. Smith, Chaldean Account of Genesis, pp. 87, 88, 106 sq. Idem, Chaldäische Genesis, edited by Delitzsch, pp. 83, 306 sq.
[25] Mürdter-Delitzsch, Geschichte Babyloniens und Assyriens, p. 31. Sayce, Hibbert Lectures on the Religion of the Ancient Babylonians, p. 98. King, Babylonian Magic and Sorcery, p. 52 sqq. Jensen, Die Kosmologie der Babylonier, pp. 87, 88, 249 sq. Schrader-Zimmern, Die Keilinschriften und das Alte Testament, p. 372 sq.
[26] Hommel, Die semitischen Völker und Sprachen, i. 374 sqq. Mürdter-Delitzsch, op. cit. p. 27. Sayce, op. cit. pp. 131, 140.
[27] Tallqvist, ‘Die assyrische Beschwörungsserie Maqlû,’ in Acta Soc. Scient. Fennicæ, xx. 25, 28 sq.
[28] Mürdter-Delitzsch, op. cit. p. 37 sq. Maspero, Dawn of Civilization, pp. 643, 674, 682 sq.
[29] Jeremias, Die babylonisch-assyrischen Vorstellungen vom Leben nach dem Tode, p. 46 sq. Maspero, Dawn of Civilization, pp. 697, 705.
[30] See Zimmern, Babylonische Busspsalmen, passim.
[31] Cf. Jastrow, op. cit. p. 313 sqq.