Christianity as well as Judaism felt the fascination of the mystic lore of Babylonia. Gunkel[1615] has demonstrated the Babylonian origin of the myth embodied in the twelfth chapter of Revelations. This myth is but another form of the Marduk-Tiâmat contest, which, it will be recalled, is the chief episode in the Babylonian creation 'epic.'[1616] More significant is the influence exerted by the religious ideas of Babylonia upon the various Gnostic sects that arose within the Christian Church. That the source of Gnosticism was to be sought in Mesopotamia was always recognized by scholars, but until the discovery of Babylonian literature, it was customary to seek for Jewish influences in the formation of the various Gnostic sects. Kessler[1617] was the first to demonstrate clearly the dependence of the leading ideas of Gnosticism upon the Babylonian cosmology and the conceptions developed with reference to the gods. More recently, Anz[1618] has undertaken a renewed investigation of the subject, and, approaching the theme from various points of view, reaches conclusions confirmatory of Kessler's thesis. All of the Gnostic sects have certain fundamental doctrines in common, such as the dwelling of God in the abyss,[1619] the migration of the soul after death through seven zones, the emanation of aeons from a supreme aeon.[1620] All these doctrines exhibit such close affinities with Babylonian ideas as to warrant the assertion that the religion of Babylonia survives in Gnosticism; and since, as we know, Babylonian culture and customs maintained an undisturbed existence almost to the threshold of our era, there is no need to go back to the older periods of the Babylonian religion to find the connecting link, uniting Gnosticism with the Babylonian religion. The spread and influence of the Gnostic sects was notoriously wide. It is sufficient to recall the chief centers of Gnostic schools of thought in Antioch, Edessa, and Alexandria and the various branches of the powerful sect of the Ophites. The influence of these schools extended into Greece and Rome. While the Gnostic sects disappear in the sixth century, the influence of Gnosticism can be followed down to the twelfth century,—a significant testimony to the enduring qualities of Babylonian doctrines.
In the ancient world, prior to the rise of Christianity, Egypt, Persia, and Greece felt the influence of the Babylonian religion. Budge[1621] is of the opinion that many of the magic practices carried on in the Egyptian temples are to be traced back to the incantation rituals perfected by the Babylonian priests. In view of the early contact between Egypt and Babylonia, as revealed by the El-Amarna tablets, there were certainly abundant opportunities for the infusion of Babylonian views and customs into Egyptian cults. In Persia, the Mithra cult reveals the unmistakable influence of Babylonian conceptions;[1622] and if it be recalled what a degree of importance the mysteries connected with this cult acquired among the Romans, another link will be added connecting the ramifications of ancient culture with the civilization of the Euphrates Valley. The strong admixture of Semitic elements both in early Greek mythology and in Grecian cults is now so generally admitted by scholars as to require no further comment.[1623] These Semitic elements are to a large extent more specifically Babylonian. The spread of the Gilgamesh epic and of the Ishtar cult into Asia Minor and Greece may be instanced as illustrations of Babylonian influence; and granting that the Phoenicians acted largely as the mediators in carrying these ideas to the Greek settlements, still there must have been influences at work long before this direct contact with Semitic culture that prepared the way for the ready acceptance which Semitic conceptions and Semitic practices found. The time has not yet come for pronouncing an opinion as to the influence exerted by Babylonia upon lands in the distant East. The theory of DeLacouperie[1624] and Ball, which proposes to trace the Chinese script to the hieroglyphic system of Babylonia, is still to be tested. Early commercial contact between the Euphrates Valley and India is maintained as a probable theory by several scholars,[1625] and the possibility, therefore, of the spread of the religious ideas of Babylonia to the distant East is not to be rejected. Patient research and the additional discoveries (which are constantly being made) will alone place us in a position some day to give a definite answer to the question. Whatever that answer may be, the verdict as to the high quality and profound influence of the religion that arose in the valley of the Euphrates and that flourished for several millenniums will not be altered.
To show the general indebtedness of Grecian, Roman, mediaeval, and even modern civilization to Babylonian culture lies beyond the range of this work, but the profound impression made upon the ancient world by the remarkable manifestations of religious thought in Babylonia and by the religious activity that prevailed in that region is but an index of the influence that must have been exerted in other directions by the varied intellectual activity that converted a district, exposed to the by no means tender mercies of the elements, into one of the most notable illustrations of the power and achievements of man.
FOOTNOTES:
[1594] See above, pp. [183], [266].
[1596] Babylonian and Assyrian kings alike speak constantly of their fear of the gods. See the passages in Delitzsch's Assyrisches Handwörterbuch, pp. 526, 527, to which many more could be added.
[1597] See, e.g., Nebuchadnezzar, IR. 53, col. i, l. 31.
[1598] IVR. 60, B obv. 25.
[1599] IVR. 60, C obv. 14.