“In the month Tammuz, 11th day, when the deities Miniṭṭi and Kaṭuna, daughters of Esagila,[504] go unto Ezida[505] and in the month Kislev, 3d day, when the deities Gazbaba and Kazalsurra, daughters of Ezida, go unto Esagila—Why do they go? In the month Tammuz the nights are short. To lengthen the nights the daughters of Esagila go unto Ezida. Ezida is the house of [pg 331] night. In the month Kislev, when the days are short, the daughters of Ezida to lengthen the days go unto Esagila. Esagila is the house of day.” The tablet then explains the Sumerian ideogram gubarra=Ašrat, the western mother goddess Ashtarte, and says that Ašrat of Ezida is poverty stricken.[506] But Ašrat of Esagila is full of light and mighty.[507] Some mystic connection between Ašrat or Geštinanna, mistress of letters and astrology,[508] scribe of the lower world, and the daughters of night and day existed. This cabalistic tablet here refers to a mirror which she holds in her hand and says she appeared on the 15th day to order the decisions. The 15th of the month Tammuz is probably referred to or the beginning of the so-called dark period when the days begin to shorten and Nergal the blazing sun descends to the lower world to remain 160 days.[509] For some reason Ašrat, here called the queen,[510] appears to order the decisions, probably the fates of those that die. The phrase “The divine queen appeared” is usually said of the rising of stars or astral bodies, but the reference here is wholly obscure. As a star she was probably Virgo. At any rate some mystic pantomime must have been enacted in the month of Tammuz in which the daughters of Esagila and Ezida and the queen recorder of Sheol were the principal figures. The pantomime represented the passing of light, the reign of night and the judgment of the dead. Clearly an elaborate ritual attended by magic ceremonies characterized the ceremony. At this point the tablet gives a commentary on [pg 332] the mystic meaning of cult objects used for the healing of the sick or the atonement of a sinner. Obviously some connection exists between this mystagogy and the myth described. The commentary is probably intended to explain the hidden powers of the objects employed in the weird ritual, at any rate the mystery is thus explained.[511]
(1) Gypsum is the god Ninurta.[512] (2) Pitch is the asakku-demon.[513] (3) Meal water (which encloses the bed of the sick man) is Lugalgirra and Meslamtaea.[514] [A string of wet meal was laid about the bed of a sick man or about any object to guard them against demons. Hence meal water symbolizes the two gods who guard against demons. See especially Ebeling, KTA. No. 60 Obv. 8 zisurrá talamme-šu, “Thou shalt enclose him with meal water.”]
(4) Three meal cakes are Anu, Enlil and Ea.[515] (5) The design which is drawn before the bed is the net which overwhelms all evil. (6) The hide of a great bull is Anu. [Here the hide of the bull is the symbol of the heaven god as of Zeus Dolichaîos in Asia Minor.]
(7) The copper gong[516] is Enlil. But in our tablet II 13 symbol of Nergal and in CT. 16, 24, 25 apparently of Anu. The term of comparison in any case is noise, bellowing.
(8) The great reed spears which are set up at the head of the [pg 333] sick man are the seven great gods sons of Išhara. The seven sons of Išhara are unknown, but this goddess was a water and vegetation deity closely connected with Nidaba goddess of the reed.[517] The reed, therefore, symbolizes her sons.
(9) The scapegoat is Ninamašazagga. Here the scapegoat typifies the genius of the flocks who supplies the goat. See, however, another explanation below Obv. II 17.
(10) The censer is Azagsud. The deity Azagsud in both theological and cult texts is now male and now female. As a male deity he is the great priest of Enlil, CT. 24, 10, 12, and always a god of lustration closely connected with the fire god Gibil, Meek, BA. X pt. 1 No. 24,4.[518] But ordinarily Azagsud is a form of the grain goddess who was also associated with fire in the rites of purification. As a title of the grain goddess, see CT. 24, 9, 35 = 23, 17; SBP. 158, 64 A-sug where Zimmern, KL. 11 Rev. III 11 has Azag-sug. She is frequently associated with Ninḫabursildu and Nidaba (the grain goddess) in rituals, Zimmern, Rt. 126, 27 and 29; 138, 14, etc. The censer probably symbolizes both male and female aspects, the fire that burns and the grain that is burned. See below II 9, where the censer is symbol of Urashâ a god of light.
(11) The torch is Nusku the fire god in the Nippur pantheon. Below (II 10) the torch is Gibil, fire god in the Eridu pantheon.
The mystic identifications do not always agree, but the term of comparison can generally be found if the origin and character of the deities are known and the nature of the symbol determined. Each god was associated with an animal and a plant and with other forms of nature over which they presided. When the cult utensils are symbols the term of comparison is generally clear. [pg 334] Below will be found such interpretations of these mysteries as the condition of the tablet and the limits of our knowledge permit. Most difficult of all are the metal symbols which begin with Obv. I 10. Here silver is heaven, but it can hardly be explained after the manner of the same connection of Zeus Dolichaîos with silver in Kommagene. The cult of this Asiatic heaven god is said to have been chiefly practiced at a city in the region of silver mines.[519] That is an impossible explanation in the case of Anu whose chief cult center was at Erech. The association of gold with Enmesharra, here obviously the earth god, is completely unintelligible. In Obv. I 31 he is possibly associated with lead or copper as the planet Saturn. In lines I 14-18 the symbols are broken away, but they are probably based upon astronomy. Metals seem to be connected with fixed stars and planets on the principle of color. The metallic symbolism of the planets was well known to Byzantine writers who did not always agree in these matters. Their identifications are certainly a Græco-Roman heritage which in turn repose upon Babylonian tradition.[520] The following table taken from Cook, Zeus, p. 626, will illustrate Græco-Roman ideas on this point:
Kronos—lead (Saturn); Zeus—silver (Jupiter); Ares—iron (Mars); Helios—gold (Sun); Aphrodite—tin (Venus); Hermes—bronze (Mercury); Selene—crystal (Moon).