The History of the Ancient Civilizations. Duncker Max

as has been remarked, Erech was of importance, as the seat of the worship of Nana, Ur contained the temple of the moon-god, and Sepharvaim was the abode of Anu and Samas, and the city of the sacred scriptures.

      The relation of the deities to the luminaries of the sky occupied a very prominent place in the minds of the Babylonians. The powerful operation of the sun was due to the god Samas; the moon, as we have seen, belonged to Sin, Saturn to Adar, Jupiter to Merodach, Mercury to Nebo, Mars to the war-god Nergal, Venus to Istar-Bilit. From the inscriptions of Nebuchadnezzar II. we learn that there existed at Borsippa, the seat of the worship of Nebo, an ancient temple to "the seven lamps of the earth." The horizon of the Babylonian plain was very extensive; the more uniform and boundless the expanse of earth, the more did the eye turn upwards towards the changes, movements, and life of the sky. In the clear atmosphere the eye followed the regular paths of the planets, and discovered each morning new stars, while others disappeared every evening. With the higher or lower position of the sun, or of this or that star, a new season commenced, or changes took place in the natural world; the inundation rose, and vegetation began to awaken or decay. On the rising and setting of the sun, the moon, and the stars, the life of mankind, their waking and sleeping, their vigour and weariness, depended; the seasons of budding and ripening fruit, of favourable or unfavourable navigation, commenced with the appearance of certain stars and ended with their disappearance. It was natural, amid such conceptions, to believe that the whole life of nature and man depended on the luminaries of the sky, and that the earth and mankind received their laws from above, from the gleaming paths of the constellations. The good or evil effect which these stars were thought to exercise upon the life of nature, applied also to their influence on the life of man.

Within the circle of such conceptions the planets naturally occupied a prominent place. The Greeks inform us that the Chaldæans called these stars "interpreters," as proclaiming the will of the gods.[377] Among them Jupiter and Venus (Merodach and Istar-Bilit) passed with the later astrologers as luck-bringing powers. Jupiter was supposed to bring the beneficent and genial warmth of the atmosphere, while Venus, the star of evening (Bilit), poured forth the cool fructifying dew. Saturn (Adar) was an unlucky star, the Great Evil; and this confirms the conclusion already drawn that Adar was thought to be a god averse to generation, and hostile. Mars (Nergal) was also a pernicious planet: his fiery glow brought scorching heat, and he is the Lesser Evil of astrologers. Mercury, the moon, and the sun, i.e. Nebo, Sin, and Samas, stood midway between the good and evil stars; they were of an intermediate undefined character.[378]

But according to the Chaldæans the planets also assumed the influence and character of the constellations in which they passed over the earth. They divided the path of the sun into twelve stations or houses, according to the constellations which it passes through in its course. The sun's proper house was its highest position in the sign of Leo. The paths of the planets were divided in a similar way; and to the Chaldæan these "houses of the planets" became divine powers, because they altered and defined the character and operation of the planets. Hence they even call them "lords of the gods."[379] On the other hand thirty other fixed stars are "counselling gods," because they were thought to exercise only a secondary influence on the planets; and lastly, twelve fixed stars in the northern sky, and twelve in the southern were called the "judges." Of these twenty-four stars, those which were visible decided on the fortunes of the living, and those which were invisible on the fortunes of the dead.[380] The inscriptions also distinguish two classes of twelve stars each; of which one is named "the stars of Accad," the other "the stars of the West."[381] Each month of the year belonged to a god; the first to the god Anu: the seven days of the week belonged to the sun, moon, and five planets; after the moon came Mars, then Mercury, then Jupiter, then Venus, and last of all Saturn. The day belonged to the planet to which the first hour after midnight was allotted; in the next hour the planet ruled which came next in proximity to the sun; and in the same way followed the remaining planets, first in a solar, then in a lunar series.

Thus the Chaldæans worshipped "the sun, and the moon, and the zodiac;" thus they offered incense, as the Hebrews say, to the "houses of the planets, and the whole host of heaven."[382] This lore was the work of the priests, who accordingly understood how to read the will of the gods in the constellations of the sky, and to foretell the fate of life from the hour of birth, and from the ever-changing position of the stars to fix the suitable moment for commencing any task or undertaking. How the stars passed through the sky, how they approached each other, or diverged, imparted or withdrew their operation, were found in equipoise or opposition—on this depended the prosperity or misfortune of the kingdom, the king, the year, the day, the hour. Moreover it was of importance at what season of the year, and in what quarter of the sky the stars rose, or disappeared, and what colours they displayed.[383] To the east belonged withering heat, to the south warmth, to the west fertilising moisture, and to the north cold; and the planets exercised greater or less power as they stood higher or lower.[384] Tablets discovered at Nineveh allow us a closer insight into the system of these constellations. On some of these we find written as follows:—"If Jupiter is seen in the month of Tammuz, there will be corpses." "If Venus comes opposite the star of the fish, there will be devastation." "If the star of the great lion is gloomy, the heart of the people will not rejoice." "If the moon is seen on the first day of the month, Accad will prosper." One tablet supplies information for all the periods of the day and night in the 360 days of the year, telling us what day and what period is favourable or unfavourable for commencing a campaign, or a siege, for storming the enemy's walls, or for defence.[385]

      Such was the faith and doctrine of the Babylonians. In the original conception of El as lord of the sky, and Adar as the highest of the star gods, there may have been nobler and simpler traits, yet even these early views were not without their harshness and cruelty, as we are forced to conclude from the Hebrew accounts of the sacrifices offered to Adar. Such traits are also more than outweighed by the licentious worship of Mylitta, in which the sensual elements of the Semitic character are seen in all their coarseness. With the growth of the kingdom, and the consequent effeminacy and luxury of life in Babylonia, this side of their religion must have become predominant, while, on the other hand, the great conception of a world ruled and governed by the movements of the stars tended in time to degenerate into mere astrological computations and fortune-telling.

Our knowledge of the life and position of the priests of Babylon is scanty. The Greeks tell us that they took the same place as in Egypt. Their rank was hereditary; the son was instructed by the father from an early age. Some occupied themselves with the offerings and purifications; others strove to avert existing or threatening evils by expiations and charms; others explained any miraculous phenomena of nature, interpreted dreams, and prophesied from the flight of birds. The Hebrew scriptures speak of interpreters of stars and signs, magicians and prophets.[386] According to the accounts of Western writers, the priests at Babylon inhabited a special quarter of the city, and there were schools of priests at Sippara.[387] The fragments of Berosus pointed out Babylon, Sippara, and Larancha (p. 239) as centres of priestly wisdom even before the flood, inasmuch as they attribute to these places special revelations of the gods Anu and Dakan. They speak of the sacred books saved in Sippara from the flood. These books they divide into ancient, mediæval, and modern. By the "ancient" books we must understand the announcements which the god Anu caused to be made to the two earliest kings, Alorus and Alaparus, of Babylon. Under the "mediæval" are comprised the revelations received by Ammenon and Daonus of Sippara, and lastly, under