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the religion of babylonia and assyria-第10章

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na; 〃knowledge…lord;〃 as the compound ideograph expressing his name may be read and translated。 Besides this compound ideograph; the name of the god Sin was also expressed by the character for 〃30;〃 provided with the prefix of divinity; an ideograph which is due to the thirty days of the month; and is thought to be of late date。 With regard to Nannar; Jastrow explains it as being for Narnar; and renders it 〃light…producer。〃 In a long hymn to this god he is described in many lines as 〃the lord; prince of the gods; who in heaven alone is supreme;〃 and as 〃father Nannar。〃 Among his other descriptive titles are 〃great Anu〃 (Sum。 /ana gale/; Semitic Bab。 /Anu rab?/)another instance of the identification of two deities。 He was also 〃lord of Ur;〃 〃lord of the temple Gi?nu…gala;〃 〃lord of the shining crown;〃 etc。 He is also said to be 〃the mighty steer whose horns are strong; whose limbs are perfect; who is bearded with a beard of lapis…stone;'*' who is filled with beauty and fullness (of splendour)。〃

'*' Probably of the colour of lapis only; not made of the stone     itself。

Besides Babylonia and Assyria; he was also worshipped in other parts of the Semitic east; especially at Harran; to which city Abraham migrated; scholars say; in consequence of the patron…deity being the same as at Ur of the Chaldees; where he had passed the earlier years of his life。 The Mountain of Sinai and the Desert of Sin; both bear his name。

According to king Dungi (about 2700 B。C。); the spouse of Sin or Nannara was Nin…Uruwa; 〃the lady of Ur。〃 Sargon of Assyria (722…705 B。C。) calls her Nin…gala。


                           Addu or Rammanu。

The numerous names which Hadad bears in the inscriptions; both non… Semitic and Semitic; testify to the popularity which this god enjoyed at all times in Babylonia。 Among his non…Semitic names may be mentioned Mer; Mermer; Muru; all; it may be imagined; imitative。 Addu is explained as being his name in the Amorite language; and a variant form; apparently; which has lost its first syllable; namely; Dadu; also appearsthe Assyrians seem always to have used the terminationless form of Addu; namely; Adad。 In all probability Addu; Adad; and Dadu are derived from the West Semitic Hadad; but the other name; Rammanu; is native Babylonian; and cognate with Rimmon; which is thus shown by the Babylonian form to mean 〃the thunderer;〃 or something similar。 He was the god of winds; storms; and rain; feared on account of the former; and worshipped; and his favour sought; on account of the last。 In his name Birqu; he appears as the god of lightning; and Jastrow is of opinion; that he is sometimes associated on that account with ?ama?; both of them being (although in different degrees) gods of light; and this is confirmed by the fact that; in common with the sun…god; he was called 〃god of justice。〃 In the Assyrian inscriptions he appears as a god of war; and the kings constantly compare the destruction which their armies had wrought with that of 〃Adad the inundator。〃 For them he was 〃the mighty one; inundating the regions of the enemy; lands and houses;〃 and was prayed to strike the land of the person who showed hostility to the Assyrian king; with evil…working lightning; to throw want; famine; drought; and corpses therein; to order that he should not live one day longer; and to destroy his name and his seed in the land。

The original seat of his worship was Muru in South Babylonia; to which the patesi of Girsu in the time of Ibi…Sin sent grain as an offering。 Its site is unknown。 Other places (or are they other names of the same?) where he was worshipped were Ennigi and Kakru。 The consort of Addu was ?ala; whose worship was likewise very popular; and to whom there were temples; not only in Babylonia and Assyria; but also in Elam; seemingly always in connection with Addu。


                                A??ur。

In all the deities treated of above; we see the chief gods of the Babylonian and Assyrian pantheon; which were worshipped by both peoples extensively; none of them being specifically Assyrian; though worshipped by the Assyrians。 There was one deity; however; whose name will not be found in the Babylonian lists of gods; namely; A??ur; the national god of Assyria; who was worshipped in the city of A??ur; the old capital of the country。

From this circumstance; it may be regarded as certain; that A??ur was the local god of the city whose name he bore; and that he attained to the position of chief god of the Assyrian pantheon in the same way as Merodach became king of the gods in Babylonianamely; because A??ur was the capital of the country。 His acceptance as chief divinity; however; was much more general than that of Merodach; as temples to him were to be found all over the Assyrian kingdoma circumstance which was probably due to Assyria being more closely united in itself than Babylonia; causing his name to arouse patriotic feelings wherever it might be referred to。 This was probably partly due to the fact; that the king in Assyria was more the representative of the god than in Babylonia; and that the god followed him on warlike expeditions; and when engaged in religious ceremoniesindeed; it is not by any means improbable that he was thought to follow him wherever he went。 On the sculptures he is seen accompanying him in the form of a circle provided with wings; in which is shown sometimes a full…length figure of the god in human form; sometimes the upper part only; facing towards and drawing his bow against the foe。 In consequence of its general appearance; the image of the god has been likened to the sun in eclipse; the far…stretching wings being thought to resemble the long streamers visible at the moment of totality; and it must be admitted as probable that this may have given the idea of the symbol shown on the sculptures。 As a sun…god; and at the same time not the god ?ama?; he resembled the Babylonian Merodach; and was possibly identified with him; especially as; in at least one text; Bêltu (Bêltis) is described as his consort; which would possibly identify A??ur's spouse with Zer…pan?tum。 The original form of his name would seem to have been Au?ar; 〃water…field;〃 probably from the tract where the city of A??ur was built。 His identification with Merodach; if that was ever accepted; may have been due to the likeness of the word to Asari; one of that deity's names。 The pronunciation A??ur; however; seems to have led to a comparison with the An?ar of the first tablet of the Creation…story; though it may seem strange that the Assyrians should have thought that their patron…god was a deity symbolising the 〃host of heaven。〃 Nevertheless; the Greek transcription of An?ar; namely; /Assoros/; given by Damascius; certainly strengthens the indications of the ideograph in this matter。 Delitzsch regards the word A??ur; or A?ur; as he reads it; as meaning 〃holy;〃 and quotes a list of the gods of the city of Nineveh; where the word A??ur occurs three times; suggesting the exclamation 〃holy; holy; holy;〃 or 〃the holy; holy; holy one。〃 In all probability; however; the repetition of the name three times simply means that there were three temples dedicated to A??ur in the cities in question。'*' Jastrow agrees with Delitzsch in regarding A?ur as another form of A?ir (found in early Cappadocian names); but he translates it rather as 〃overseer〃 or 〃guardian〃 of the land and the peoplethe terminationless form of /a?iru/; which has this meaning; and is applied to Merodach。

'*' Or there may have been three shrines to A??ur in each temple     referred to。

As the use of the characters /An…?ar/ for the god A??ur only appears at a late date (Jastrow says the eighth century B。C。); this would seem to have been the work of the scribes; who wished to read into the name the earlier signification of An?ar; 〃the host of heaven;〃 an explanation fully in accord with Jastrow's reasonings with regard to the nature of the deity。 As he represented no personification or power of nature; he says; but the general protecting spirit of the land; the king; the army; and the people; the capital of the country could be transferred from A??ur to Calah; from there back to A??ur; and finally to Nineveh; without affecting the position of the protecting god of the land in any way。 He needed no templethough such things were erected to himhe had no need to fear that he should suffer in esteem by the preference for some other god。 As the embodiment of the spirit of the Assyrian people the personal side of his being remained to a certain extent in the background。 If he was the 〃host of heaven;〃 all the deities might be regarded as having their being in him。

Such was the chief deity of the Assyriansa national god; grafted on to; but always distinct from; the rest of the pantheon; which; as has been shown; was of Babylonian origin; and always maintained the characteristics and stamp of its origin。

The spouse of A??ur does not appear in the historical texts; and her mention elsewhere under the title of Bêltu; 〃the lady;〃 does not allow of any identification being made。 In one inscription; however; A??uritu is called the goddess; and A??ur the god; of the star Sib…zi… anna; identified by Jensen with Regulus; which was apparently the star of Merodach in Babylonia。 This; however; brings us no nearer; for A??uritu would simply mean 〃the Assurite (goddess)。〃


                        The minor divinities。

Among the hundreds of names which the lists furnish; a few are worthy of mention; either because of more than ordinary interest; or in consequence of their furnishing the name of some deity; chief in its locality; but identified elsewhere with one of the greater gods。

Aa。This may be regarded either as the god êa (though the name is written differently); or as the sun…god assuming the name of his consort; or (what is; perhaps; more probable) as a way of writing A'u or Ya'u (the Hebrew Jah); without the ending of the nominative。 This last is also found under the form /Aa'u/; /ya'u/; /yau/; and /ya/。

Abil…addu。This deity seems to have attained a certain popularity in later times; especially among immigrants from the West。 As 〃the son of Hadad;〃 he was the equivalent of the Syrian Ben…Hadad。 A tablet in New York shows that his name was weakened in form to /Ablada/。

Aku; the moon…god among the heavenly bodies。 It is this name which is regarded as occurring in the name of the Babylonian king Eri…Aku; 〃servant of the moon…god;〃 the biblical Arioch (Gen。 xiv。)。

Amma…an…ki; êa or Aa as lord of heaven and earth。

Amna。A name only found in a syllabary; and assigned to the sun…god; from which it would seem that it is a form of the Egyptian Ammon。

Anunitum; the goddess of one of the two Sippars; called Sippar of Anunitum; who was worshipped in the temple ê…ulma? within the city of Agadé (Akkad)。 Sayce identifies; on this account; these two places as being the same。 In a list of stars; Anunitum is coupled with ?inunutum; which are explained as (the stars of) the Tigris and Euphrates。 These were probably names of Venus as the morning and evening (or evening and morning) star。

Apsu。The deep dissociated from the evil connection with Tiawath; and regarded as 〃the house of deep wisdom;〃 i。e。 the home of the god êa or Aa。

Aruru。One of the deities of Sippar

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