We are fortunate in possessing a pictorial representation of the nether world that confirms the view to be derived from a study of the religious literature. A number of years ago, Clermont-Ganneau directed attention to a remarkable bronze tablet which was purchased at Hamath in northern Syria.[1195] The art was clearly Babylonian, and there was no reason to question the genuineness of the production. Quite recently a duplicate has been found at Zurghul, in Babylonia,[1196] so that all suspicions are removed. The bronze tablet contains on the one side, the figure of a monster with a lion-like face and body, but provided with huge wings. Standing erect, his head rises above the tablet, his fore legs rest on the edge, and the demon is thus represented in the attitude of looking over to the other side of the tablet. At the side of the monster, are two heads of hideous appearance.
The illustrations on the reverse are devoted to a portrayal of a funeral ceremony, and of the general aspects of the nether world. There are five distinct divisions,[1197] marked off from one another by four heavy lines drawn across the tablet. In the first division appear the symbols of the chief gods of the Assyrian pantheon, Marduk, Nabu, Sin, Ishtar, Shamash, Ramman, etc.[1198] These gods, as inhabiting the heaven, are placed at the head of the tablet. Next come seven evil spirits figured as various animals,[1199] who, as inferior to the gods, and perhaps also as messengers of the latter, are assigned a place midway between heaven and earth. In the third section, there is pictured the funeral ceremony proper. A dead body lies on a couch. Two rather strange figures, but apparently priests, have taken up a position, one at each end of the funeral bier, performing some rite of purification. One of the priests has a robe of fish scales and is bearded; the other is smooth-faced and clothed in a long garment. Censers are placed near the priests. The latter appear at the same time to be protecting the body against two demons whose threatening gestures suggest that they are endeavoring to secure possession of the dead.[1200] These demons may be the special messengers of the gods of the nether world, who have brought about the death of their victim. Below this scene, we come to a view of the nether world. The division is much larger than any of the others. Two hideous figures dominate the scene, both of fantastic shape, and evidently so portrayed as to suggest the horror of the nether world. One of these figures[1201] stands erect in a menacing attitude; the other is resting in a kneeling position on a horse.[1202] The second figure is a representation of the chief goddess of the nether world—Allatu. The demon at her side would then be the special messenger of this goddess, Namtar. The goddess has her two arms extended, in the act of strangling a serpent. The act symbolizes her strength. Her face is that of a lioness, and she is suckling two young lions at her breasts. If it be recalled that Nergal, the chief god of the lower world, is also pictured as a lion,[1203] it seems but natural to conclude that the monster covering the one side of the tablet is none other than the consort of Allatu, the heads on either side of him representing his attendants. At the left side of Allatu are a series of objects,—a jar, bowl, an arrowhead (?), a trident, which, as being buried with the dead, are symbols of the grave. The goddess and the demon at her side direct their gaze towards these objects.
The nether world reaches down to the Apsu,—the 'deep' that flows underneath the earth. This is indicated in the design by placing the horse, on which the goddess rests, in a bark. The bark, again, is of fantastic shape, the one end terminating in the head of a serpent, the other in that of some other animal,—perhaps a bull. The bark reaches into the fifth division,[1204] which is a picture of flowing water with fish swimming from the left to the right, as an indication of the direction in which the water flows. At the verge of the water stand two trees.[1205] What these trees symbolize is not known, and there are other details in the third and fourth sections that still escape us. For our purposes, it is sufficient to note: (a) that the sections represent in a general way the divisions of the universe, the heavens, the atmosphere, the earth, the nether world, and the deep;[1206] (b) that the nether world is in the interior of the earth, reaching down to Apsu; and (c) that this interior is pictured as a place full of horrors, and is presided over by gods and demons of great strength and fierceness.
Such being the view of the nether world, it is natural that the living should regard with dread, not only the place but also its inhabitants. The gloom that surrounded the latter reacted on their disposition. In general, the dead were not favorably disposed towards the living, and they were inclined to use what power they had to work evil rather than for good. In this respect they resembled the demons, and it is noticeable that an important class of demons was known by the name ekimmu, which is one of the common terms for the shades of the dead. This fear of the dead, which is the natural corollary to the reverence felt for them, enters as an important factor in the honors paid by the living to the memory of the deceased. To provide the dead with food and drink, to recall their virtues in dirges, to bring sacrifices in their honor,—such rites were practised, as much from a desire to secure the favor of the dead and to ward off their evil designs as from motives of piety, which, of course, were not absent. The dead who was not properly cared for by his surviving relatives would take his revenge upon the living by plaguing them as only a demon could. The demons that infested graveyards were in some way identified with the 'spirits,' or perhaps messengers, of the dead, who, in their anger towards the living, lay in wait for an attack upon those against whom they had a grudge.
The Pantheon of Aralû.
We have seen how the mystery coupled with death led to the view which brought the dead into more direct relationship with the gods. Closely allied with this view is the power ascribed to the dead to work evil or good and, like the gods, to furnish oracles. This power once acknowledged, it was but a short step to the deification of the dead, or, rather, of such personalities who in life exercised authority, by virtue of their position or innate qualities. On the other hand, the gloominess of the nether world, the sad condition of its inhabitants, the impossibility of an escape or a return to this world, necessarily suggested to the Babylonians that the gods worshipped by the living had no control over the fate of the dead. The gods, to be sure, were at times wrathful, but, on the whole, they were well disposed towards mankind. When angry, they could be pacified, and it was impossible to believe that they should deliberately consign their creatures to such a sad lot as awaited those who went down to Aralû. The gods who ruled the dead must be different from those who directed the fate of the living. A special pantheon for the nether world was thus developed. Such deities as Marduk, Ea, Nabu, Shamash, or Ashur, who acted, each in his way, as protectors of mankind, could find no place in this pantheon; but a god like Nergal, who symbolized the midday sun, and the sun of the summer solstice that brought misery and fever to the inhabitants of the Euphrates Valley; Nergal, who became the god of violent destruction in general, and, more particularly, the god of war, the god whose emblem was the lion, who was cruel and of forbidding aspect,—such a god was admirably adapted to rule those who could only look forward to a miserable imprisonment in a region filled with horror. Nergal, therefore, became the chief god of the pantheon of the lower world.
In the religious texts, the cruel aspects of this god are almost exclusively emphasized. He is the one god towards whom no love is felt, for he is a god without mercy. The fierce aspects of the solar Nergal are accentuated in Nergal, the chief of the pantheon of Aralû. He becomes even more ferocious than he already was, as a god of war. His battle is with all mankind. He is greedy for victims to be forever enclosed in his great and gloomy domain. Destruction is his one and single object; nothing can withstand his attack. Armed with a sword, his favorite time for stalking about is at night, when he strikes his unerring blows. Horrible demons of pestilence and of all manner of disease constitute his train, who are sent out by him on missions of death. The favorite titles by which he is known appear in a hymn[1207] addressed to him, as god of the lower world. He is invoked as the
Warrior, strong whirlwind, sweeping the hostile land,[1208]
Warrior, ruler of Aralû.
Another hymn[1209] describes him as a