The Old Testament In the Light of The Historical Records and Legends Part 15

Besides the names of west Semitic deities, however, the names of west Semites themselves occur, and show that there was a considerable immigration in those ancient days into the country. Thus the word Amurru, "the Amorite," is exceedingly common, and one is not surprised to learn that, in consequence of the Amorites being so numerous, there was an Amorite district in the neighbourhood of Sippar. Other names of men which are apparently from the country spoken of are, Sar-ili, probably "prince of G.o.d," and the same as Israel; Karanatum (probably for Qaranatum), which would seem to mean "she of the horned deity" (compare Uttatum, "he of the sun," Sinnatum, "he of the moon"), and reminds us of Ashteroth Karnaim, "Ashteroth of the two horns," the well-known site in Palestine. Besides these, we meet more than once with such names as Ya'kub, Jacob, with its longer form, Ya'kub-ilu, Jacob-el; and in like manner the name of Joseph and its longer form Joseph-el occur-Yasup and Yasup-ilu. esa, the father of a man named Siteyatum, reminds us of Esau; Abdi-ili, "servant of G.o.d,"

is the same as Abdeel; and Ya'zar-ilu, "G.o.d has helped" (compare Azrael), Yantin-ilu, "G.o.d has given" (compare Nethanel), with many others similar, receive ill.u.s.tration. In all probability, too, many of the bearers of names compounded with Addu (Hadad), Amurru, and other names of deities naturalized in Babylonia, as well as some of the bearers of true Babylonian names, were, in reality, pure west Semites. Further examples will be found in the texts translated farther on, and the more noteworthy will be pointed out when they occur.

It will thus be seen that the population of Babylonia 2000 years before Christ had a considerable admixture of west Semites, many of whom would come under the designation of Amorites; besides other nationalities, such as Armenians or people of Aram-Naharaim (Mesopotamia)-at least two tablets refer exclusively to transactions between members of this northern race-Sut.i.tes, and Gut.i.tes, who were low-cla.s.s people seemingly light-haired, "fair Gutian slaves" being in one place spoken of.

Life in Babylonia at this early period must have been exceedingly primitive, and differed considerably, as the East does even now, from what we in Europe are accustomed to. The city of which we can get the best idea, Sippar, the Sippara of the Greeks, generally regarded (though probably wrongly) as the Sepharvaim of the Bible, now represented by the mounds known as Abu-habbah, whence most of the early contract-tablets revealing to us the daily life of these ancient Babylonians came, was situated on the Euphrates, "the life of the land." The name of this river is written, when phonetically rendered, by the characters Purattu (probably really p.r.o.nounced Phuraththu), in Akkadian Pura-nunu, "the great water-channel," often expressed (and then, of course, not phonetically) with characters meaning "the river of Sippar," showing in what estimation the ancient Babylonians held both river and city. The mound of Abu-habbah is four miles from the river Euphrates, and situated, in reality, on the ca.n.a.l called Nahr-Malka, "the royal river," which runs through it; but the tablets of the period of which we are now speaking refer not only to the city itself, but to the district all round from the Tigris on the east to the Euphrates on the west.

The following paragraph from Mr. Ra.s.sam's _a.s.shur and the Land of Nimrod_ will give a fair idea of what this district is like:-

"It is most interesting to examine this ca.n.a.l (the Nahr-Malka) all the way between the Euphrates and the Tigris, as it shows the magnitude of the Babylonian agricultural industry in days gone by, when it irrigated hundreds of miles of rich alluvial soil. The remains of countless large and small watercourses, which intersect the country watered by those two branches(23) of Nahr-Malka, are plainly seen even now. Vestiges of prodigious basins are also visible, wherein a surplus supply must have been kept for any emergency, especially when the water of the Euphrates falls low in summer."

The digging of ca.n.a.ls, which was an exceedingly important work in those days, as indeed it is now, was evidently very systematically done, and the king often, to all appearance, made a bid for increased popularity by digging an important new ca.n.a.l for irrigation purposes, to which his name was attached. Thus we find the work of Sumu-la-ilu, Sin-mubali?, ?ammurabi, Samsu-iluna, and other kings recorded and chosen as the event of the year to date by. This, with the rebuilding or new decoration of the temples and shrines, endeared the king to the people and the priesthood, ensuring for him the faithful service of both, and willing submission to his rule. Indeed, there is but little doubt that the presence of foreign rulers in the country was often due to their having made friends of the priestly cla.s.ses, and afterwards of the people, in this way.

The Religious Element.

As may be judged from the specimens of Babylonian names already given, the inhabitants of this part of the world were exceedingly religious. In every city of the land there were great temples, each of which made its claim on the people who formed the congregation-in other words, the whole population. In the district of which we are at present treating-the tract where the majority of early contract-tablets were found, namely, Sippar-the chief objects of wors.h.i.+p were the Sun-G.o.d ama; his consort, the Moon-G.o.ddess, Aa; Bunene, a deity of whom but little is known; Anunitum, a G.o.ddess identified with Itar or Venus; Addu or Rammanu (Hadad or Rimmon), and, in later times at least, among others, "the divine Daughters of e-babbarra.(24)" All these deities were wors.h.i.+pped in the temple of the place, called e-babbarra, "the (divinely) brilliant house,"

the earthly abode of the G.o.d ama and his companions. In addition to this great and celebrated temple, of such renown in later times that even Egyptians, sun-devotees in their own country, attended the services and made gifts, temples were erected to the other G.o.ds of Babylon, notably Sin, the Moon-G.o.d; to Merodach, the chief deity of Babylon; and likewise in all probability to Merodach's consort, Zer-panitum, who was wors.h.i.+pped along with him. There was probably hardly a town in ancient Babylonia and a.s.syria where one or more of these G.o.ds were not honoured-indeed, the sun had also another centre of wors.h.i.+p, namely, Larsa, the Ellasar of Gen.

xiv. 1, as well as less renowned shrines. Itar was venerated at Erech along with Anu; Sin, the moon, under the name of Nannar, had a great and celebrated temple at Ur (generally regarded as Ur of the Chaldees), and also at Haran, the city of Abraham's sojourning; Nebo was wors.h.i.+pped at Borsippa; Nergal at Cuthah; Gula, G.o.ddess of healing, at Babylon; e-girsu ("the lord of Girsu") at the city of Girsu, apparently a part of Laga; ea and Tammuz at Eridu, etc.

In the province of which Sippar was capital, however, the people were more than usually religious, or else more records of their piety have come down to us. Numerous persons, more especially women, are described as devotees, or perhaps priestesses, of the Sun-G.o.d there, and sometimes similar devotees of Merodach are mentioned. Though we have no certain information, it is very probable that there were all over the country people dedicated to the various deities, "the G.o.ds of the land," for what was customary in the district of Sippar (Sippar-Amnanu and Sippar-Ya'ruru) was in all probability equally so in the other provinces of the empire. From the earliest times the temples acquired and held large tracts of land, which the priests let to various people, agriculturists and others, to cultivate, a certain proportion of the produce being paid to them, added to the revenues of the temples, and pa.s.sed into the treasury of the G.o.d.

To this lucrative business of land-letting was added that of money-lending, and interest in the weaving-industry of the place, both of which increased enormously in later times. That the temples received from time to time rich gifts from the king, goes without saying, for the colophon-dates record many instances of this. Sumu-abu, for instance, rebuilt or restored the temples of the Lady of Isin, and the temple e-ma?

of Nannar (the Moon-G.o.d); Sumu-la-ila made a throne of gold and silver for the great shrine of Merodach; Abil-Sin seems to have given a similar object to the temple of the Sun at Babylon; ?ammurabi restored or gave thrones to the temples of Zer-panitum, Itar of Babylon, Nannar (the moon), and built a great shrine for Bel. Samsu-iluna, likewise, was not negligent of the G.o.ds, for it is related of him that he dedicated a bright s.h.i.+ning mace (?) of gold and silver, the glory of the temple, to Merodach, and made e-sagila (the great temple of Belus at Babylon) to s.h.i.+ne like the stars of heaven. It is needless to say, that the long lists of the pious works of the rulers of Babylon would be much too long to enumerate here.

All this the kings did from motives of policy, to conciliate the priests, and, through them, the people. Sometimes, though, they had need of the priests, who were able to render them service, and then, naturally, they bought their good-will cheerfully. The service which the priests rendered in return was to pray to the G.o.ds for the king's health and his success against his enemies, or in any undertaking in which he might be engaged, and to inquire of the G.o.ds for him whether he would be successful. Many, too, were the ceremonies and festivals in which king, priests, and people took part, and the king (who was himself a priest) and the priesthood thrived exceedingly.

Sometimes, too, it happened that a devotee or servant of another G.o.d than that which was the divinity of the place, struck with the neglect of the deities whom he wors.h.i.+pped, would decide to remedy that defect, and to this end he would found a small temple himself, and endow it. The following will show in what way this took place-

"Nur-ili-u has built for his G.o.d the temple of arru and ullat. One _ar_ (is the measure of) the temple of his G.o.d-he has dedicated it for his life. Pi-a-ama is the priest of the temple. Nur-ili-u shall not make a claim against the priesthood (_i.e._ demand the rest.i.tution of the property he has given). He is an enemy of ama and Suma-ilu who brings an action.

"Before Bur-nunu, son of Ibubu (?); before Ibik-itar, son of Ibubu; before Sin-rabu, son of Aba-Ellila-kime; before Idin-Sin, son of Ilu-malik; before Sin-idinnau, son of Lu-Ninsa?; before A?um-?ib.u.m, son of A?u-ina; before Sin-idinnau, son of Pi-a-Nin-Karak,"

"The light of his G.o.d," Nur-ili-u apparently wished to justify his name, and to show what a faithful servant he was, and he therefore dedicated the temple to the deity mentioned. This, according to the inscriptions, should be Merodach, one of whose t.i.tles was _arru_, "the king." It is to be noted, however, that in the district of Sippar the Sun-G.o.d was "king," and if this be the case, the pious giver of the temple, instead of wis.h.i.+ng to honour the patron G.o.d of another district, merely intended to honour the patron G.o.d of his own in another aspect, namely, as king in the heavens, along with his consort, here called ullat, a name which, to all appearance, simply means "the bride." That the Sun-G.o.d was intended seems to be indicated by the name of the priest, Pi-a-ama, "Word of the Sun-G.o.d," though it was not by any means impossible for a man bearing the name of another G.o.d as part of his own to officiate in this capacity, especially in the case of Merodach, for the latter was, in many respects, a sun-G.o.d, and therefore identified with ama. In any case, the new temple was under the protection of the Sun-G.o.d, as the statement ("he is an enemy of ama and uma-ilu") shows. It is noteworthy that, in the names of the witnesses, ama does not occur as a component part in any case.

But a small foundation like this must have had but little influence beside the great temple of the Sun-G.o.d at Sippara, with its revenues from lands, dues on grain, t.i.thes, free-will offerings, and gifts on special occasions. In addition to all that has been mentioned above, the temple of the Sun-G.o.d was the great court of justice, and the people resorted thither to settle their disputes, and in all probability gifts were made to the Sun-G.o.d on those occasions. The gates of the city, too, were favourite places for this, especially that of ama, and there is every probability that gifts to the G.o.d had to be made there also. The power and influence of the places of wors.h.i.+p on account of all these temporal and sacerdotal duties invested in them can be easily imagined.

The King.

Around the Babylonian king is hedged a certain amount of mystery, for we see him but dimly. What he did year by year we know, but what his general way of life was the tablets do not reveal to us. He lived in a "great house," _e-gala_ in Akkadian, _ekallu_ in Semitic Babylonian, and there is hardly any doubt that the people looked upon him as a great high-priest, and often as being himself divine. Indeed, some, if not many, of the Babylonian kings were regarded as G.o.ds, and had their wors.h.i.+ppers, apparently whilst they were still inhabitants of this earth. The deification of the early Babylonian kings is made known to us by the scribes placing the usual divine prefix before their names, and with certain rulers this is seldom or never wanting. Thus we know that Dungi (about 2650 B.C.) was deified, as were also Bur-Sin, Gimil-Sin, and Ibi-Sin. This custom seems to have been continued until later times, for Rim-Sin of Larsa, the opponent of ?ammurabi or Amraphel, was thus honoured, and even ?ammurabi himself, who never has this divine prefix before his name, was sometimes paid this exceptional tribute, as such names as ?ammurabi-ami, "Hammurabi is my Sun," or "my Sun-G.o.d," show.

The East was ever the home of flattery, which could hardly reach a higher point than that of deification.

[Plate VI A.]

The Adoration of a Deified King. Impression of a cylinder inscribed "Danatum, son of Sin-taar, servant ( = wors.h.i.+pper) of Rim-Sin" (see p.

164). Published by permission of the owner, Mr. J. Offord, and the Society of Biblical Archaeology.

[Plate VI B.]

The Adoration of a G.o.d. Impression of a cylinder-seal inscribed with the name of Appani-il (see p. 555). (The figure on the left has been added by a later hand to obliterate part of the inscription.) Published by permission of the owner, Mr. J. Offord, and the Society of Biblical Archaeology.

Yet the king does sometimes come forth from his sh.e.l.l, and then we see him in his two aspects-as king, giving his orders to the officials of his court and army, and as the chief citizen of the country over which he ruled. The former is ill.u.s.trated by the despatches and letters in which his name occurs, and the latter by such references to him as we find in the contracts-and these are very few, as the colophon-dates and invocations of his name in the legal oaths do not count.

Many letters of ?ammurabi have been found, and indicate how active he was as a ruler. These texts, which, as far as they are published, are generally in a very incomplete state, nevertheless show that this most successful king paid every attention to the welfare of his subjects, even those in distant parts of the country. Thus in one of these communications he gives instructions to Sin-idinnam (who was apparently military governor of Larsa or Ellasar) to p.r.o.nounce judgment against a certain person who laid claim to a field. Another letter to the same person refers to grain taken by Awel-ili, concerning which the king says, "I have seen these reports. The grain of the recorder (?), which Awel-ili has taken, let him return to the recorder." In another place he writes to his officer rather angrily because Inu?-samar, apparently Sin-idinnam's lieutenant, had taken away from Sin-magir certain doc.u.ments signed by the king. He asks Sin-idinnam why he had done this (placing the blame directly upon him), and concludes, "The doc.u.ments, the property of Sin-magir ... with the impress of my seal, which thou hast taken, restore to him." If Sin-idinnam had not been a very high-placed official, he would in all probability have been dismissed.

The following is a letter from king Ammi-?itana to his agent-

"To the agent of Sippar-Ya'rurum say thus: 'It is Ammi-?itana. The wool-merchant has thus informed me: "I keep sending to the purveyor of Sippar-Ya'rurum concerning the wool ordered from him, to cause (it) to be sent to Babylon, but he has not caused the wool ordered from him to be sent." Thus he informs me. Why hast thou not caused the wool ordered from thee to be sent to Babylon? As thou hast not feared to do this, when thou seest this tablet, cause the wool ordered from thee to be brought to Babylon.' "

It will thus be seen that the early kings of Babylonia identified themselves with the people of the country over which they ruled much more than the sovereigns of Europe have for many hundreds of years been accustomed to do. More than this-their families were accustomed to intermarry with the people, as did Elmeu-"Diamond" or "Crystal," daughter of Ammi-?itana-

("Tablet of) Elmeum, daughter of Ammi-?it[ana the king], whom Kizirtum, daughter of Ammi-?itana the king, by the consent of umum-libi, her brother, ama-lipir, son of Ri-ama, and Taram-ullim (?), his wife, have married to Ibku-Annunitum, their son, as (his) consort. Four shekels of silver, the wedding-gift of Elmeu, daughter of Ammi-?itana, the king, umum-libi, son of Ammi-?itana, the king, and Kizirtum, his sister, have received. If Ibku-Annunitum, son of ama-lipir, say to Elmeum, his wife, 'Thou art not my wife,' he shall pay (1)[] (?) mana of silver. If Elmeum say to Ibku-Annunitum, her husband, 'Thou art not my husband,' to....

Before Utul- ...; before ... -emi, son of ... -um; before Ibni-Addu, son of ... -um; before umma-lum- ..., (son of) Ili-bani; before Addu-arrum, son of Ri-ama; before Bai-ilu (?), son of ... -mar; before Nabi-ilu (?), (son of) ... -be (?); before ... -pi- ....

"Month Sebat, day 2nd, year Ammi-?itana the king built (?) Kar- ... (and) the wall of...."

This is not only a curious doc.u.ment-it is also an interesting one, and shows under what conditions a woman of royal blood and race could in ancient Babylonia be wedded to a commoner. To all appearance the king himself, Elmeu's father, had nothing to do with the transaction-perhaps he purposely held aloof-and this being the case, it is the bride's brother and sister who have charge of the ceremony and contract; and, with the bridegroom's father and mother, marry her as consort to Ibku-Annunitum.

The wording differs from that used in ordinary cases, and is more elegant and select. A wedding-gift of four shekels of silver is hardly, perhaps, what one would expect to be made to a royal bride, but perhaps it was the customary amount in such cases. The penalty if the husband afterwards divorced his wife was, as usual, a money-payment, but the amount is doubtful, though it seems to be above the average. The penalty if Elmeu forsook her husband is unfortunately wanting by the mutilation of the doc.u.ment, but in ordinary cases it was generally death.

Naturally, the members of the king's family were rich, and had a tendency to "add field to field," for their own advantage. Or they would, like other people of means, hire land adjoining their own, in order to cultivate them both together, as did Iltani, daughter of king Abeu'-

"1/3 _gan_, a field in the good tract, beside the field of the king's daughter, its first end (_i.e._ front) the river (or ca.n.a.l) Pariktum, from Melulatum, sun-devotee, daughter of Ibku-a, owner of the field, Iltani, the king's daughter, has hired the field for cultivation, and for profit.

At harvest-time, (upon) every _gan_, she will pay six _gur_ of grain, the due of the Sun-G.o.d, in Kar-Sippar.

"Before Edi- ..., (son of) ...-te (?); before Abil (?)- ... (son of) ...

-aqar; before umu-libi, son of Pi-a-Sin; before Addu-napiti-iddina, the scribe.

"Month Nisan, day 2nd, year Abeu', the king (made ?) an image (?) of (gold) and silver."

Thirty years, or thereabouts later, Iltani (or a younger namesake, daughter of Ammi-zaduga) is found providing the wherewithal for agricultural operations-

"One _gur_ of grain, the property of the Sun-G.o.d, for the reaper, which was from Iltani, sun-devotee, daughter of the king, eritum, son of Ibni-Amurru, has received. At harvest-time, (in) the month Adar, he will come-(if) he come not, he shall be like a king's thrall.

"Before Idin-Marduk, the officer, son of Idin-ili-u; before Ina-lali-u, son of Ibni-Marduk.

"Month Adar, day 25th, year Ammi-zaduga the king (made ?) a weapon (?) of gold."

This contract is not quite clear without a little explanation. The grain advanced was, to all appearance, from the storehouse of the temple of the Sun-G.o.d at Sippara, and Iltani, as a sun-devotee, seems to have had it at her disposal for the benefit of the temple. In any case, the amount came from her, and was received by eritum, who seems to have been the reaper referred to. He promises to come to do the work in Adar, that very month, when the grain would have to be reaped, and the penalty for failing to fulfil his contract was apparently slavery. Evidently the work was urgent.

It is needless to say, that interesting as these texts are, they are very incomplete, and leave a great deal to the imagination, and still more altogether unrecorded. Nevertheless, they are very valuable as far as they go, and show us the royal family of Babylonia at the time working among the people as members of the community. Each one, however, evidently worked for his or her own interest, or for the interest of the religious community to which he or she belonged, and not for the people at large. It was only the king who worked for his people, and he did it, it is hardly going too far to say, because it was his interest to do so. Most people, however, acted for their own interest in those days, as now.