In a third inscription a devil is named "Abdi," which may be derived from the root abad, and be regarded as the same as the New Testament Abaddon (Rev. ix. 10)—the king of the slaughterers, bucaneers, rovers, &c. We can fancy that Negroes who are captured and sold in droves to foreigners, might imagine that Abdi was the devil which ruled the African slave drivers and Christian purchasers. This demon is associated with Levatta,—with tribulations, the machinations of the Assyrians, misery, treachery, rebellion; Nidra, with sorrows generally; and Shoq, which I take to be from a root like shuq, or shaqaq—i.e., "enemies thirsting for booty, rangers, bands of robbers." Compare—"And the spoilers came out of the camp of the Philistines in three companies" (1 Sam. xiii. 17). See also—He "delivered them into the hand of the spoilers" (Jud. ii. 14; 2 Kin. xvii. 20). Amongst the devils must, I think, also be classed Asdarta, which is clearly the same as the goddess Astarte, and she is closely associated with "the machinations of the Assyrians."
The good angels of this inscription are Barakiel, Ramiel, Raamiel, Nahabiel, and Sharmiel, over whose names we will not now linger, except to notice that the devils have names compounded with jah, whilst the good ones are derived from EL.
In the fifth inscription, amongst the bad things are mentioned evil spirits, both male and female, the evil eye, sorcery, and enchantments both from men and women, along with Nidra and Levatta. The good angels are called Babnaa, Ninikia, and Umanel, which I take to be intended for Wu, banahel=El builds, or "the strong one who establishes us;" nachaghel. El is powerful, or the Angel of Strength; and amanel, or "the fostering angel."
In some fragments the names of good angels found have been Nadkiel, Ramiel, Damael, Hachael, and Sharmiel, which we shall probably notice again subsequently.
We do not lay any particular stress upon the fact of the bowls, on which these inscriptions were found, having been dug up amongst Babylonian ruins; nor do we care to prove either that they were of Jewish or Chaldean origin. What we here desire to show is, that there existed in Babylon a full belief in the existence of evil and good influences which were invisible; that some individuals had, or were thought to possess, supernatural powers for harm, which could be counteracted by those who placed themselves under the protection of potencies supposed to be holier, wiser, or stronger than the evil genii From the method in which everything connected with witchcraft, magic, astrology, and the like, is spoken of in the Old Testament, and from the fact that slaves are much more likely to imitate their masters than conquerors to become pupils of the vanquished, we conclude that it was not the Hebrews who taught the Chaldees, but that the contrary was the case.
In the view thus enunciated we are confirmed by the manner in which old Jewish writers spoke of the nation that enslaved them—e.g., "Babylon, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency" (Isa. xiii. 19); "All of them princes to look at after the manner of the Babylonians of Chaldea."... And "she (Jerusalem) doted upon them, and sent messengers unto them into Chaldea; and... she was polluted with them, and her mind was alienated from (or by) them" (Ezek. xxiii. 15-17); "It is a mighty nation, it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language thou knowest not" (Jerem. v. 15)—Jeremiah knew more about the people than Isaiah (see Isa. xxiii. 13). Habakkuk, again, speaking of the same people, says (chap, i. 6-10)—"The Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation... terrible and dreadful:... they shall scoff at the kings, and the princes shall be a scorn unto them." Such being the estimation of the Babylonians by Hebrew prophets, it is morally certain that the Jews would regard them with respect, admire, study, and copy them. To what extent the imitation went it is difficult to say.
When, therefore, we find that the descendants of Abraham, a patriarch whom a veneration for the ancient Babylonians induced the Israelite mythologists to represent as being a Chaldee; and those who were taught on the banks of the Euphrates, were spoken of in Rome about the time of our era, and shortly afterwards, as being almost synonymous epithets for sorcerers, astrologers, charmers, &c., we must conclude that the Mesopotamian was the master, the Palestinian the pupil. That the two were regarded as relatives we infer from Juvenal (sat. vi. 544-552)—"For a small piece of money the Jews sell whatever dreams you may choose, but an Armenian or Commagenian soothsayer promises a tender love;... but her (i.e., the lady who consults such folk) confidence in Chaldeans will be the greater."
But, ere we leave this portion of our Essay, we must notice one other piece of evidence of considerable value which is drawn from the New Testament. We find, for example, in Acts xxiii. 8, "The Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither angel nor spirit, but the Pharisees confess both." If we inquire into the origin of these sects—and we shall be greatly assisted in doing so by two very elaborate articles by the erudite Dr. Ginsburg, in Kitto's Cyclopaedia of Biblical Knowledge—we shall see reason to believe that the Sadducees were a sect who considered that they were not bound to believe any tenet as necessary unless they could find it distinctly enunciated in the Pentateuch. They resolutely declined, therefore, to accept as revelation such stories as had been adopted by the Hebrews from Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, and possibly from the Romans.
We might institute a comparison between the Sadducees and those whom we know as "reformers." The first acknowledged the authority of Moses alone, such as they found it in "the five books;" the second acknowledged the authority of Jesus and his apostles, such as they found it in the New Testament: the first rejected the commentaries of Rabbis; the second those of "the fathers." Both appealed to antiquity, and both traced to what we may designate paganism, heathenism, or foreign sources generally, a large portion of the current faith which they saw around them. The Sadducees regarded the doctrine of seraphic interference, and all the angelic mythology common in their time, as the fond fancy of those who desired to harmonize Judaism with Gentilism. The Reformers, in their turn, rejected all the fables of Papal anchorites, &c.; denied the power of any martyr to influence the condition of the living after their death; and generally opposed the saintly, as the Sadducees opposed the angelic, hierarchy. Individuals who sympathize with Luther, Calvin, and those of a similar way of thinking, may readily understand the Sadducees, whereas, those of what is called the "High Church," will give their interest to the Pharisees, who upheld the then mediaeval customs, &c.
It is probable that some will say, that Jesus of Nazareth, being the son of God, a deity incarnate, and consequently familiar with everything which goes on in the court of heaven; having adopted the angelic mythology; having conversed familiarly with the devil; having sent, at least, two thousand devils out of one man into a herd of swine; having gone down to hell, wherever that may be; and having preached to the spirits imprisoned there, whoever they may be or have been; having, still further, had an angel to comfort him; having had a conference with Moses and Elijah on a certain hill; having asserted that he had only to pray to his father to obtain the assistance of twelve legions of angels; and having also told us that every child has an angel who stands before the face of God—seeing these things, I say, one can imagine persons asseverating that all our current notions of angels, which are built upon the New Testament, must be true.