night was divided into watches of four hours each. From the Accads we get the signs of the zodiac, the week of seven days, and the Sabbath, "the day of rest for the heart." Names had already been given to many stars and constellations, and the phases of Venus had been detected. The ecliptic, or "yoke of the sky," had been divided into three hundred and sixty parts, and the year into four seasons, twelve lunar months, and three hundred and sixty days. Intercalary months were introduced to correct the calendar. The month was divided into two parts of fifteen days each, and these again into periods of five days. It has been thought that the Accads, or early Assyrians or Babylonians, must have been acquainted with the use of some kind of optical instrument. Perhaps all of this had been accomplished before the Semites entered Shinar. If this be so, the latter received a goodly intellectual heritage from their Turanian predecessors in Chaldea. The oldest code of laws in the world comes from ancient Chaldea. This is full of instruction. Rare commercial documents, though belonging to a period later than Sennacherib, we have already noticed. In reading these legal treasures one might almost imagine he was reading pleas of modern lawyers and decisions of modern judges. There were the same tedious formality, the same citing of precedents, and the same care in drawing up, signing, sealing, and witnessing documents. It was believed that the gods favored the just judge, and that divine punishments were inflicted upon those who received bribes or extorted unlawful tribute. These laws exist in both the original Accadian and the Assyrian translation. From legal documents we may learn much concerning the real life of the people and their position in the scale of civilization. An oath was required of the judge each day by which he bound himself to judge according to the law and testimony; his decisions became precedents for the future. The slave and his children had certain rights in which they were protected; descent was counted through the mother; she held the highest rank in the family; divorce on the part of a wife was more blameworthy than divorce on the part of a husband; "whatsoever a married woman incloses shall be her own property;" sacrilege was a very grave offense; fine and imprisonment were the penalties for contempt of court; the high-roads and brick-yards were placed under the care of commissioners; the empire was divided into districts for purposes of taxation; careful records were kept of the purchase and sale of property; awful curses were pronounced upon those who removed landmarks, and endowments were bestowed upon literary men for celebrating the praises of the sovereign. If all these laws have not their origin among the Accadians, they certainly belong to a most ancient period. The high esteem in which women were held among the Accadian inventors of the syllabary is shown by the ideograph for mother, which means "deity of the house." This is far different from the esteem in which women were held among the Assyrians, to be mentioned hereafter. The ideograph for father means "maker of the nest," builder of the house.* The Accadian worship has not remained stationary during the centuries covered by our review. There are evidences of an advancement toward solar worship even before the influence of Semitism was felt. The old spirits of fetish worship were reorganized in the time of Sargon. The spirits which had been worshiped as spirits of earth, heaven, and other objects, became deities instead of zi or spirit of fetish. The remainder of the spirits were divided into spirits of heaven, or angels, and spirits of earth, or demons. These classes were only invoked collectively, and were regarded as the children of the greater gods, and the subjects of Anu and Hea. The old Accadian magic still remained, but was remanded to a subordinate position. In the Accadian inscriptions the great gods of the Assyrian pantheon are not mentioned, and sidereal deities receive but slight notice. The sidereal gods themselves were not invoked, but rather their spirits, which were considered as independent. The organized Chaldean hierarchy, with the development of the system of mythology and astro-theology, must have been the result of long study on the part of a learned priesthood. We present two liturgical prayers which will enable us to contrast the Accadian and Assyrian systems: I. From the curse, O Spirit of heaven, protect us! O Spirit of earth, protect us. O Spirit of the lord of lands, protect us. O Spirit of the lady of lands, protect us. *"Transactions Society of Biblical Archæology," vol. vi, pp. 474, 483. O Spirit of the lord of stars, protect us. O Spirit of the lord of the holy mound, protect us. II. May Bel, (pardon,) the king my creator. May Hea pardon, may Davkina pardon. May the Abyss, the house of wisdom, pardon. And so on for twenty-five lines more, calling on various gods. * In entering upon the discussion of the Assyrian religion we do not part with the Accadian. We shall meet with its influence again and again. After the court religion had become decidedly Assyrian, the Accadian probably lived long among the common people, and was never entirely abandoned. Relig ions, even the poorest and beggarliest, are tenacious of life, and die not without many a struggle. "The astrologers, the Chaldeans and the soothsayers" in the time of Nebuchadnezzar were the legitimate religious successors of the Accadian magicians. The religion of the Etruscans, so powerful in its influence throughout the history of Rome, probably came from a source common with that of the Accads. The Etruscan and Accadian languages may show upon comparison genuine affinities. The Assyrians believed in one supreme being, Ilu, "the god," formerly a hearth god, whose manifestations were at length identified with the planetary and sidereal systems. Ilu is found as an element in the word Bab-Ilu, Babylon, "the gate of Ilu," which in ironical alliteration the Hebrews called Babel, "the gate of confusion." Since the word Пlu is common to all Semitic tongues, Ilu must have been the god of the Semites before their dispersion. "Next to Ilu, the universal and mysterious source of all things, came a trinity composed of his three first exterior and visible Boscawen in "Transactions of the Society of Biblical Archæology," vol. vi, pp. 539, 540. manifestations, which were placed at the summit of the scale in the popular worship; Anu, the primordial chaos, the god of time and the world, (both xpóvos and кóσμoç,) uncreated matter issuing from the fundamental and unique principle of all things; Hea, the intelligence, or we would willingly say, the WORD, which animated matter and rendered it fertile, which penetrated the universe, directed and inspired it with life, being at the same time the king of the element of the water; in one word, the spirit which moved upon the face of the waters;" and lastly, Bel, the demiurgus and ruler of the organized universe. "These three co-equal and co-substantial divine persons were not of the same degree of emanation, but they issued, on the contrary, one from the other: Hea from Anu, and Bel from Nuah.*" From these gods came a female trinity; Anat, Belit, and Davkina-often confounded one with another, Belit ultimately excluding the others. We cannot hope to meet with entire consistency in any mythology, and must not be startled at the baldest inconsistencies. By another series of emanations was produced a second trinity: Sin, "the moon god," was the son of Bel; Samas, "the sun god,” the son of Hea; and Bin, "the air god," the son of Anu. Each of these deities had a spouse: "the supreme lady," Gula, and Sala. Next in rank came the five planetary deities: Adar or Saturn, Merodach or Jupiter, Nergal or Mars, Ishtar or Venus, and Nebo or Mercury. Adar was both son and spouse of Belit. Because of the two forms of Mercury and Venus, as seen morning and evening, there was a double Ishtar; and Nebo became Nebo and Nusku. Zarpanit was the consort of Merodach, Laz of Nergal, Tasmit of Nebo, and Duzi or Dumuzi of Ishtar. The twelve "great gods" were Anu, Hea, Bel, Belit, Sin, Samas, Bin, Adar, Merodach, Nergal, Ishtar, and Nebo. Many titles of the great gods acquired a distinct personality, and were invoked as deities. There were also many lesser gods, and personifications of the stars, which were thought to be animated by gods or lower supernatural beings. Here were placed the protecting spirits: the Sed, Alap, or Kirub, a bull with a human face; the Samas or Nirgal, a lion with a human head; the Ustur, of human form; and the Nattig, with the head of an eagle.t * "Chaldean Magic," pp. 114, 115. Cf. Ezekiel i, 10; x, 14. Here also we must place the Igili and Anunnaki, celestial and terrestrial spirits, three hundred of the former and six hundred of the latter. Anu, Hea, and Bel were sometimes called the children of Zicu or Zicara, "the sky," "the mother of Anu and all the gods," (Sige of Nicolaus Damascenus.) Assur and his wife Seruya were afterward placed at the head of the Assyrian pantheon, and then Assur was called the father of Anu, Hea, and Bel. Each god from time to time seems to be highest. This may be explained by attending to several considerations. In the first place, different gods were the patron deities of different places, and received special honors. Other gods were not neglected entirely, but were subordinate to the god who had the place under his special protection. Again, the inscriptions run through many centuries, during which the reputation of a god might rise or fall. We are also to notice that in the worship of the devoted Assyrian, he might exalt the god to whom he is praying as though there were no other, making that god highest to whom prayer is at the time offered. Generally many gods are addressed, that the worshiper may be on friendly terms with all. Anu, the Assyrian Zeus, the god of Erech, was the ruler of heaven. When the religion had developed by philosophical study, Anu became an abstract deity, the first principle and source of all divine emanations. He was He was "the ancient, the progenitor and father of the gods," and dwelt in the seventh heaven, called "the heaven of Anu." His sign was the star, or a symbol resembling a Maltese cross, which was often worn round the necks of Chaldean kings. His spouse was Anatu. The whole universe was sometimes divided into two regions; the upper, or heaven, was called Anu, the lower, or earth, Anatu. She was the lady of darkness, and of death and life. Bilkan, one of her sons, was the god of fire, (cf. Vulcan and TubalCain.) She is frequently confounded with her daughter, Ishtar, and, like the latter, was the impersonation of passive reproductive nature. As Anaitis, the wife of Reseph, she was worshiped by the Egyptians from the time of the Syrian conquests of Ramases II.* - Hea, identified with Oannes, the fish-god of Berosus, had "Chaldean Genesis," pp. 54, 55; "Archæological Dictionary," pp. 53, 54. |