Babylon in nt

1. In Mt l""-", Ac 7«» (adapted from Am 5") the name certoinly denotes the ancient city. 2. The name occurs in Rev 14' 16'" 17' IS-'"". In 17° it is described as iivmipior, i.e. a name to be allegorically interpreted (cf. Kev 11» 16'- 2'^- -"). A full discHs.'sion would require an investigation of the apocalyptic imagery generally. The chief conditions, however, of the problem are these : B. is described (1) as 'the harlot,' the supreme anti- thesis of 'the bride,' 'the holy city, 'the new Jerus.' ; (2) as the centre and ruler of the nations, 14" 17"- "• " ; (3) as seated on ' seven mountains,' 17' (see Wetstein's note) ; (4) as the source of idolatry and impurity, \V- 18» 19» (cf. Ho l'»-2», Ejih 4'"'-, 1 P 4''-) ; (5) as a great trading centre, Ijj3.n-i9. (6) as enervated by luxury, is'-'^f-^S; (7) as the arch-persecutor of the saints and of ' the witnesses of Jesus,' 17" 19". These considerations, taken together, are decisive (a) against the view of a few interpreters, that by B. is meant Jems ; (6) in favour of the almost universal view that Rome is symbolised by B. This use of the name in an early Judseo-Christian book is in harmony with (1) the many analogies between ancient B. and Home, both being capitals of great empires, homes of idolatry and impure luxury, oppressors of ' the Israel of God ' ; (2) the Jewish love for mystic names, Rome and the Rom. Empire being often designated among the Jews as Edom (see, e.g., Buxtorf, Lex. Chald. p. 29 IT. ) ; (3) the Jewish con- ception of the antagonism of the Rom. Empire to, and its destruction by, the Messianic kingdom (see Weber, Die Lehrcn des Talmud, p. 3G4 f . ; Edersheim, Jesus the Messiah, ii. p. 439) ; (4) the fact that Rome is called B. in what may well be an early Jewish portion of the Sibylline Oracles, viz. v. 143, 158 (for the different views on Bk. v. see Schiirer, HJP U. iii. 286 f.). The comparison of Rome to B. underlies much of Jewish apocalyptic litera- ture (2 Es, Apoc. Baruch ; cf. Ryle and Jtmes' note on Psalms of Solomxm, ii. 29). The only passage from Talmudic literature commonly cited for this mystic use of B. is the Midrosn Shir hashirim Ilahba, i. 6 (quoted by Wetstein on Apoc. 17" ; see also Levy, Neuh. u. CKald. Worterb. 190i). Zunz (Lit. der Synag. Poesie, n. 100 f.) refers also to Midr. Ps. 121 and liamidhar rabba, c. 7 (end), noting that the name Babylonians was given by Jews to the Christians {Gen. Haggada, c. 27, in Jellinck's Bcthha Midrash, iv. p. 41). The interpretation of B. in the Apoc. as Rome dates from the earliest times ; it is implied in Iren. v. 26. 1, di.-itiiiclly stated in Tert. ado. Marc. iii. 13 = arf«. Jiidmus, 9). So Jerome and Augustine, quoted by Wetstein on Apoc. 17". Andreas (Cramer, Catena, p. 060) speaks of it as derived ' from ancient teachers of the Church.' Such opinions as that by B. is meant (a) ' New Rome' ( = Constantinople), ' because in it, in the times of the Arians, much blond of tlie orthodox was shed ' (Cramer, Catena, p. 429) ; (6) the Papacy.eitherat Avijrnonorat Rome {see Speaker's Com. IV. 754), scarcely belong to historical inter- pretation. 3. The name B. is found in 1 P 5", dard^rrai u/xas 1^ ^f ha^vXuivi avveKXfKT^. tt and some otiier authorities add iKKXriaia.. Two cursives read iv 'Pu/Mj). Three interi>retations of B. in this passage have been suggested: (1) The Egyp. B., which, however, is described by Strabo (xvii. p. 807 1 as simply (t>fiovpiov ipvitfhv. (2) The Assyr. B. l!\it {a) there is apparently no evidence cillicr that St. Peter was ever at B. ur that a Christian church existed there in early times ; (A) in Jos. Ant. xviil. ix. 5-9 we have positive evidence as to the desola- tion which befell the Bab. Jews alx>ut A.u. 40, and the consequent im|>robability that an Apostolic Church would have been jilantcd among them (cf. Nculiauer, G(ogr. du Talm. p. 314). (3) Rome. Till' evidence in its favour is both internal and exti-.riial : {a) Internal evidence. It bormonisea 1 huvu to Uiuiik ttiu K«v, A. LukyD WUlianu for tbis rafereooe 214 BABYLOXIA BABYLONIA with (i.) The context. The language is allcgorioal, the Church being spoken of as a lady (cf . 2 .In i- 1^). Moreover, St. Mark is mentioned as being with St. Vetcr. Now, St. Mark was summoned to Rome by St. Paul (2 Ti 4"), probably towards the close of A.D. ()7, and very early tradition describes St. Mark as St. Peter's companion and interpreter (Papias ap. Eus. JJE iii. 3',)) at Kome (Iren. iii. 1, Clem. Alex. ap. Ku.s. HE ii. 16, vi. 14). (ii.) The figurative application elsewhere in the epistle (P 2^'") of language primarily used of ancient Israel, (iii.) The general tone of the epistle, especially in regard to persecution, duty towards the state, and ' the universality of [St. Peter's] teaching' (Uort, Jutl'iistic Christianitij, p. 155). (iv.) The order of the provinces in 1', Silvanus coming from the West and lauding in Poiitus. {b) External evidence, (i.) The Apoc. (see above) shows that Asiatic Christians at this time would so understand the name B. (ii.) Such was the ancient interpre- tation. Eus. HE ii. 15 introduces it by the significantly indefinite <paa-i (see the (paaif just above ; it may, however, refer to Papias and Clement Alex, just mentioned). It seems, indeed, to have been univer.sally accepted, till Calvin {in loc), for controversial reasons, urged the litei-al interpretation, (iii.) Ancient testimony is unani- mous, and from its range seems decisive, for a visit of St. Peter to Rome. The evidence for this visit is collected and discussed by Bishop Lightfoot, Clement, ii. p. 493 ff. See also art. on ST. Pkter. F. H. Chase. ••BABYLONIA, the cradle of the civilisation of the wliole of anterior Asia and the West, and prob- ably also of tliat of ancient Egypt, is the territory enclosed by the lower Euphrates and Tigris, ex- tending from the neighbourhood of the modern Baghdad to ' the mouth of the rivers.' The latter, however, in ancient times flowed separately into the Persian Gulf, a little above Basra. The e.xtra- ordinary fertility of the soil here, as in the case of the Delta of the Nile, was due to the extensive and careful canal system of the early colonists. As soon as these canals fall into disrepair, the same cheerless waste of waters presents Itself again to view, as in primitive times. The country of Babylonia, which extends from about 30°-3:l-^ N. lat., is bounded on the W. by the Arabian desert, from which it is separated only by a veiy narrow strip of cultivated land ; on the N. by Mesopotamia proper; on the E. by the plain at the foot of the Elamite Mountains, over which in ancient times nomadic Aranuean tribes used to wander (the land of Kir [^V] of Is 226, Am 9") ; and on the S. by the Persian Gulf. The Climate, especially in South B.abylonia, is extraordinarily warm. The months during which rain prevails are from November to February. At the ijresent day, according to the accounts of travellers, the heaviest rains occur in November and December; but in ancient times, as the names of the months prove, the rainy season would appear to have been in 'I'ebet (^?;? Est 2'") and Sliebat (^J'f '^^'^ 1')) »•<'• fi'"'" ^'i^ ''nd of December to the end of February. Not only the Sumerian names for tliiwe months {ab-ha-i(d-du 'coming from the sea,' and asli-a-an 'curse of the rain'), but also the Semitic {tibetu 'submersion,' and shabatu 'destruction'), refer to rain-storms. The fertility of the soil, already mentioned, went hand in hand with the mildness of the climate. There were two sowings every year (in 'lebet and in Nisan), and two harvests (the fii-st in Adar and the second in Sivan, i.e. May-June). Tlie Chief Productions were wheat (Sumerian ziij, zid. whence n?Tos, Semitic .s'/ic'd)) which gave from lifly to a hundred fohl return ; sesame, which yielded oil; and the date-palm, introduced at a very •• rnviirinhl. IfiSS, by early period from Arabia (Magan). This tree satis- fied all the remaining wants of the people, since from it they obtained wine, vinegar, honey, flour, and material for all kinds of wickerwork. The stones were used by smiths as a substitute for char- coal, and when steeped served for fattening oxen and sheep. The reed which grew l.iy the numer- ous canals attained a height of 15 feet, and was used for building huts and for the construction of mats, and even boats. In the latter case asphalt was employed for pitching purposes. Gn C" 'xy 1DJ (AV 'an ark of gopher wood') must probably be explained in this way, since yijiaru means originally a 'reed-stand.' On the other hand, there were none of the trees characteristic of the lands adjoining the Mediterranean Sea (the vine, the olive, and the fig). For these only the Western Semites have common names, although the vine (Sumer. giahlin 'tree of life,' .Semitic-Uabylonian karanu), and the fig tree ( Sum. dib. Sem. tiutu, tittu) were in course of time introduced from abroad. Stone and minerals were almost unknown in the alluvial soil. The ab.sence of these was, how- ever, atoned for by the excellent building material that lay to hand in the clay, while the best possible mortar was obtained from the asphalt con- tained in the numerous naphtha wells. All the buildings in ancient Babylonia were accordingly constructed of brick. When sandstone, or still harder kinds of stone, such as basalt or diorite, were used (e.g. for statues), they were brought by ship — even in the earliest times — from the terri- tories along the frontier (Mesopotamia, Elam, Arabia). The same is true of alabaster, marble, gold, silver, copper, tin, iron, and lead ; all of which are mentioned as early as the Sumer. inscriptions. With regard to the Fauna, the lion ((li.sw, labbti) was a very common tenant of the reed-beds between Arabia and Babylonia ; and not only the i>anther (nimru), the jackal (ak-hti, hnrbani), the fox (.^elilnt), and the wild lioar (shakhS, dabw), but especially the wild ox (r?niH, Heh. 2s-i)^ frequently figure in the literature and the pictorial repre- sentations (e.g. on the oldest cylinder-seals). Many species of gazelles, antelopes, and wild goats were found along the frontiers of the country. The horse (.</s«, Heb. did, but Syr. ''^P'O) was unknown to the earliest settlers. The Sumerians called it ' ass of the East ' or ' the mountain ' (an.thu kurra), just as by circumlocution they called the lion lig-magh ' big dog.' The strictly domestic animals were the cow {alpri), the sheep {semi, lahru, and other words), the goat (i))Z!()-the ass (imeru, an incorrectly written form of himeni, Sumerian anslni), and the dog (kalbu). The elephant (ptru) of Mesopotonua, the camel (gam- miilti) and the wild ass (bjir'imu) of Arabia, were also known to the Babylonians. Such a word as gammalu shows by its very form (if it were a geiuiine Babylonian word it would be written i/amlu) that it has been borrowed from Arabia. Of tame birds, we may mention the raven (aribu), the swallow (sinnntu), and the dove (summatu) (cf. Gn 8''- and the Babylonian account of the Flood) ; of half-wild birds, geese and waterhens (the late Heb. Siiii 'cock,' comes from the Sumerian dar-nugalln 'king's fowl'), falcons {surdu) which were tamed even at this early period by the Babylonians for the purj^ose of hunting. Of birds of jirey, the eagle {aru and ertt, also nasliru) holds the first place, then come the owl {issipu, Heb. n'">:']:) and the horn-owl (kadR), etc. In the sphere of Ethnology and Language, it can be shown that a du.alisiu existed in Babylonia from the earliest period. The Sumerians, who in all probability came from Central Asia, and whose language is related to the Turanian, as the Babylonian method of writing proves, were the Charles .^en'hner^^ .'<nr}x BABYLONIA BABYLONIA 215 founders of all the civilisation of anterior Asia. Besides these, we find ;i.s early as li.C. 5000 or 6000 distinct traces of a Semilic population, which came from the Xorth-Wcst (Mesopotamia) and took possession of the civilised settlements founded by the }>unicrians, until, by their gradual incorpora^ tion with the orii;inal inhabitants of the countr}', there arose a sinde new race. The Semitic Babylonians have the closest re- lationship with the other Semites (Hebrews, Arabs, and Aramaeans), and yet, in opposition to these, they form a special group, as the grammar atid lexicon clearly prove. If the Syro-Arabian Semites may be properly designated jcest Semites, the ancient Kgyplian speech, on the other hand, beloni.'s to the east Semitic, or the Bab.-Assyrian branch of Semitic languages. The Egyptians must in the remotest antiijuity have emigrated from .Mesopotamia to Africa. Apart from considerations of grammar and the great number of Suinerian loan-words contained in their language (which is otherwise Semitic), this is proved by extensive coincidences between the Egyptian and Babylonian systems of writing, their religion, and other branches of culture. Tlie Religion of the Baljylonians meets us even in the oldest inscriptions as a tolerably finished system. Although most of the names of the gods are Sumerian, the Semites must have had a more or less important share in the development of this system. Many gods have two names, one .Semitic and one Sumerian, e.g. Belu 'Lord' (West Semitic Baal), Sumerian En-lilln, 'Lord of the air,' and we cannot always be certain that the Sumerian name is the older and more original. As kings who are without doubt Semitic {e.g. the kings of Nisin) set up Sumi-rian inscriptions, so may Semitic gods in primitive times have received Sumerian names even from Semitic Babylonians, especially since Sumerian continued for long to be the sacred tongue. The beginnings of B.ibylonian culture go farther back than any inscri]>ti()ns, and we cannot therefore answer questions such as this witli any- thing like certainty. We get, however, the general im|)rission that the baser elements of the Baby- lonian religion originally belonged to the Sumer- ians, while the purer and nobler ideas in it came from the Semites. The .sovereign position occu- pied by Bel (in spite of his .secondary rank in the genealogical system) points to this conclusion. Even the Star-worsliip (Sun, Moon, and Planets), which the Semites at an early date conjoined witli the cult of Bel, is a far purer and nobler type of Polytheism than the crude idolatry of so many other heathen peoples. If the fttimerianii in their old incantations always invoke Heaven anil Earth as the two highest powers of nature, regarding the earth-god as the 'good' spirit and offering him the greater devotion, it seems to have been the Semili's who i-xpaniled this dualism into a genealogical .system : first liy insertins: their Bel between the original two, and then by adding the sun and planet-gods, which were all regarded as children of the earth-god. It s.'ems to have been the Semites, too, who converted the more general concejilion of 'Heaven' into the more special one of an 'ocean of heaven,' which extended over the Firmament ('the waters above the Eirmament,' Gn T). To this they gave the Sumerian title nun (with a dialectical variant <liiit). and regarded it also as continuing behind the horizon and inider the earth. This 'Ocean of Heaven,' Atiun or Aiiitm (as the Sumerians pre- ferred to write it), was placed at the top of the gencilogieal tree. Then came Bel, ' Lord of the air' (En-liUa, Sem. Ilel-zakiki), as his son, and Ea or En-ki (-Lord of the earth') as his grandson. An ancient title for Bel, as god of the air and the storm, was Ramman (Sumer. Marlii and Imir), who in course of time became a separate god, worshipped alongside of Bel. In primitive times the Moon-god (Sin) and Ea had likewise common titles (e.g. En-zu, 'Lord of wisdom,' Semitic Bel- nimeki), the Moon-god being hence called the first- born son of the god Bel. Anum (shortened, Anu) was originally thought of as without a consort, for the goddess Anator Autu is (inly a later philosophical abstraction, and has nothing whatever to do with the West Semitic rjy. On the other hand, both the consort of Bel, Mn-lilla ('mistress of the air,' in Semitic abso- lutely Bellu 'mistress') or Ba'u, and the consort of Ea, Dam-gal-minna or Damkina, were female per.sonificatiims of the Ocean of Heaven. The four children of the Earth-god (who was represented as a Kam) and his consort Damkinn, the goddess of Heaven, were Mimdach (Aiuar-iiduk, Mar- vduk, and simply Mardiik, as he was specially called in Babylon), the god of the morning-and- springsun, his sister and consort IsCitr, his hostile brother Nergal, and the lalter's consort Ghanna (~y;) or Gula, whose name wa-s written with the same ideogram as the town of Nineveh (Nina). A very ancient designation of Merodach was Gur-alimma (same ideogram as 'domicile' and 'eye'). A god originally identified with Nergal (god of agriculture and of the kingdom of the dead), but afterwards differentiated from him, was Ninib (or Nindar) god of war. The god Dumu-zi or Tnmmuz, of whom the same myth is related as of the Egyptian Osiris, was only another mani- festation of Merodach. Finally, mention must be made of the son of Merodach, Xahu or .V!(.<t/t-!/, the messenger of ^he gods, the god of the art of writing, who also appears as the god of fire, and bears other titles besides (e.g. Niii-giah-zidda). His consort was Tashmetu (' hearing prayer '). In very early times Merodach, Istar, Nergal, Nindar, and Xabu (Nebo) became Planet-gods, and, corresponding to their relative distance from the earth, the following was the primitive arrange- ment: Sin (Moon), Xahli or Dnn-pa-nddu (Mer- cury), Islar OT Dilhat (Venus), .S'dma.s- (Sun), Nin-ib or Kdieanu (Mars), Marduk or (iudhir (Jupiter), and .Veri/ni (Saturn). A fterwardsXin-ib and Nergal changed places, Kaivanu becoming Saturn. Siini- larly, the title Gud-bir was at a later period given to Nabii (Merodach's son), and the new name Mulu-habbar (written Te-u(l) assigneil to Jupiter. The conjunction of Sakkul (read ^^-°) and Kevan ' in Am 5-» may bo compared with the conjunction of the gods Tibal (Earth? ''PO), Sakktit (title of Nindar, originally Sn-kud, 'judge,' sc. of the dead in the under-world), and KaicSmi in a Semitic exorci.sm ( 11^1/ iv. o9, 8). The oldest sanctuary of the gods, whose names and genealogical connexions have just been enumerated, and the special home of the gods in Babylonia, was the ancient town of Xiin-ki ('place of heaven') or Eridu ( Urn-Dugga, ' good town ' or ' town of the good god,' I.e. Ea). There too, 'at the mouth of the rivers,' stood the holy palm (GU-kin, Semitic Kiskanfi), the famous oracle-tree of Eridu, to which the ancient Babylonian ideas of Paradise ■attach themselves, since here is to be found 'the pure abode, which stretches out its shade like a grove, but within it no one treads ' (W'AI iv. 16, 5'2 ff. ). Besides this, the Babylonians h,ad also another conception of a land of the gods to the south of the mouth of the Euphrates, and of a river of death and an Island of the Blessed far out in the ocean. In the epic of Gisdubar, the hero, the biblical Nimrod, sets out from Erech by laud throuuh .Arabia, to seek for his gre.at-gr.ind father Sit-napisti (the biblical Noah), who ii.as been translated to Paradise. Between Aga and Salma, 216 BABYLONIA BABYLONIA the mountains of the land of Mashu, dwell the mythical scorpion-raen, who guard the gold of Mount Arallu. • After a long journey 'through the land of darkness,' Gisdubar at last reaches the sea-coast and the palace of the virgin goddess Sabitu (i.e. the Sabiean), thence he travels to the ' waters of death,' and crossing over arrives at the residence of Sit-napisti. It looks as if the incense-island Sokolra, to the south of Arabia, had furnislied the material for this conception. The conception of Hades or 'the land without return ' (Bab. tShelu, from shu'alu ' place of judg- ment,' al iisiti 'town of the under-world,' and other .similar names) is also found amongst the Babylonians, who place it in the farther south, where the waters of the ocean extend below the earth and connect themselves with the under part of the Ocean of Heaven. Here the different gods of the under-world, especially the night-and-winter sun (also called the South sun, Nin-ib, Nergal) but also the fire-demon Nebo-Nusku, and the Moon-god, acted as judges of the dead. All this clearly implies the notion of a retribution beyond the grave. Besides the Eden, which is conceived of as situated on the coast of the Persian Gulf (]-\y from Sumerian Edin, ' desert,' ' low ground '), there is also a I'aradise above in Heaven with the names Ey-ars^aff-kur-kurra ('Mountain-house of the lands') E-linrsag-kalamma ('House of the Mt. of the World'), Ekur ('Mountain-house,' properly E-(iur 'House of the Ocean of Heaven'), E-sharra (' House of assembly,' T^ "'? Is 14i^f). Since the Babylonians thought of the north as above, and of the south as below, it is evident why this mountain of the gods is, in Is 14'^, placed to the north (its opposite is Sheol, 14'=), and we are not to think of any carthlij mountain, svicli as Ararat. The Babylonians also connect the serpent with Paradise. In the epic of Ninirod it is the serpent which snatches the plant of rejuvenescence from Gisdubar as he returns home. In a well-known picture on an old cylinder-seal, a serpent is twining itself behind a seated female (?) figure. In front of the figure stands a palm, and on the other side of the palm sits a personage whose ox-horns mark him out as a divinity. Both figures, however, are stretching out their hands to the fruit of the tree tliat stands between them. The Babylonian dragon of the primeval world is represented as a monster witli the head of a lion and the feet of an eagle; but after his defeat by Merodach he is transpoi-ted to Heaven in the form of a serpent. In connexion with this we may remember that the ' sei^pent-god,' who is regarded as masculine, is called the ' watcher (rCihisu) of the house of heaven.' Finally, Nebuchadrezzar set up, both at the gates of Babylon and on the threshold of the temple of Bel, colossal bulls and enormous serpents of metal as guardians. Unfortunately, no direct parallel to the biblical account of the Fall and the expulsion of man from Paradise has been as yet found in Babylonian literature. Nevertheless, apart from the pictorial representati(m mentioned above, the legend of Adapa presents a parallel. Adapa, who is called the 'seed of mankinil,' forfeits for ever the immortality offered to liiiu by tlie god of heaven liy his refusal to take the bread and water of life. If, in addition to this, we note the prominent place occupied by the knowledge of sin and the yearning after forgive- ness amongst the Babylonian Semites, the exist- ence of a narrative of the Fall, .standing in intimate relation to I'aradise, can scarcely any longer be doubted. The same remark applies to the con- fasion of tongues at the building of the Tower. The Tower of Babel (Gn 11) is indeed a tower of Observe the wonting of Gn "28 'and God planted ft pardon in Eden,' i-e. according to tlie .above explanation, out in tlie wa.te.' Steps, and, as such, a temple ; and, according to the Babylonian conception, men were created by God to build temples for the gods. At the same time the presumption of wishing to climb up to heaven comes out clearly in the Etana legend, where it is punished by a downfall. Sacrijice.i and jiraijers played an important part among the Babylonians at all times. Besides the priests, there were also the magicians and sooth- sayers with their exorcisms. The laws and or- dinances (terlti .ni-i'n) of the gods are often men- tioned ; and we can see clearly, from the hymns and litanies that have come down to us, that the ritual of sacrifice and worship was a rich one. Liturgical forms, like so much else, had their home in Baby- lonia, as can be proved down even to the minutest details of expression. There are two chief kinds of sacrilices mentioned in tlie oldest inscriptions: the prescribed daily sacrifice ginu or sattukku (Sumer. sa-diifj, probably a word originally borrowed from the Arabian xadukat 'right'), and the freewill sacrifice nindabil ( ^^,',")t w-hich originally consisted of a gift of corn (Sumer. nidab) to the goddess Istar. Other expressions for sacrifice are: kurhatinu ('?1'^). properly ' presentation,' niku (properly ' liba- tion,' but used for sacrifice in general, since libations were always useil at the sacrifice of beasts), kutrinnn ' incense-offering,' zibu (from 2(6' ii = nT),sirku (■ drink-offering'), and .^7<rA-fn7(. It is worth remarking that the same word which is used in Hebrew of pardon and forgiveness, "^?, is used in Babylonian of sprinkling sick or unclean men. Sickness, howe%'er, is always treated by the Baby- lonians as a re.sult of sin, and hence sacrifice is ■always regarded as a propitiation for sin. Human sacrifice, up to the present, has been found por- trayed only upon ancient seal-cylinders, and it is still open to question whether the victim does not represent a god rather than a man. In that case there would be an allusion to a myth unknown to us. Of the many expressions for 'prayer' and 'petition ' in use, siippii, a denominative from sijipu, a thresh- old, has a special interest, because the threshold of the house or the temple was the place at which prayer and sacrifice were offered in ancient times. From the earliest times the temples were re- garded in Babylonia as the earthly dwelling- places of the gods (Bab. bttu, i.sirtn, and ekallu ■^:'r\, which u.sually, however, means palace:. They were generally in the form of a tower of steps (zikkui-atu), and were three storeys and sometimes seven storeys high, the latter being an earthly copy of the seven heavenly spheres, or circles, of the planets. Occasionally these temples contained also the graves of the kings ((/iyvmt), as in the case of a temple of Gudea. In the ' Holy of Holies ' there were special divisions, which were called by .several names, parakku, papahu, panpanu, di'u, uszikku, and stikkti (cf. ^r?, also used in a religious sense). It is remarkable that the oldest form of the ideogram for parakku clearly represents tapestry or a curtain (cf. 'P?). The functions of the priests, seers or prophets, magicians and soothsayers, often overlap one another in the texts, though they were in reality always very carefidly differentiated. The most common expressions for priest are kaia and iangu (Sumerian snr/), the liigh priest being hence called sancin-maljttu (Srom sag 'priest' and mail 'high'), for "seer and prophet mahliU, from which the word magician is derived, asu (which also means ' physician,' Sumer. azu, originally signifying ' he who knows'), and barii ('the seer,' e.xactly = the Heb. ■"'?^). The Heb. word x'?' is also found, at any rate in the name of the god Xahi'u, Xnbli, Nebo ('proclaimer,' 'herald,' as a planet, Hermes). • Menant. Collection de Clercg, No. 170-182 ; pierrtt ffrorieit, i. fifjs. 94. 95, 97. BABYLONIA BABYLONIA 217 The Heb. j^i also has its equivalent in the Bab. miuU-'inii (from mii.^kahinii), ' one who pays homage or worships.' The rich cultus of the Babjloniaas, in addition to its immerous sacrifices, prayers, and litanies, included from an early period also sacred water (aijuhbu), censers (arftji/Hcii), processions (maHdaliu). barges of the gods (as in Kgypt). All these naturally had their chief place at the numerous festivals. Not only were there Festivals which were re- peated on certain fi.Ked days every month (as the nuhaltii or festival specially connected with the worship of Merodach and his consort Zarpanit on the 3rd, 7th, and IGth days of the month, or the so-called 'unlucky-day,' umn limnu [corre- si)onding to the Hebrew Sabbath], which Wius held on the 7th, I4th, 10th. 21st, and 28th of the month, <and ha<l to be observed as a day of fasting and repents ance even by the king), but there was also a series of annual festivals, of which the Festival of the New Year (zarjmnL-ku. ak'itu) was regarded as the most sacred. At this festival Bel (in Babylon Bel- .Merodach, in SiriiuUa Xingirsu, as the consort of Ba'u) entered the holy assembly-ruoin {uhiugiuna) in order to fix the fates of men, es])ecially that of the king, for the coming year. This Festival of the Xew Year and the Spring wa.s also held in re- membrance of the day of Creation. After Bel had comiuered the dragon and made the world, on the 8th and 11th days of the new year he entered Dnlnzagijn, the ' holy of holies' of Ubsuc/inna, for the purpose mentioned above (Epic of the Creation, Table iii. 1. til, Nebuk. ii. .a-l-tioj. In this connexion the ancient names of the Babylonian Months, as they are given from about B.I'. 20110 both ill Sumerian and Semitic, are as follows : — 1. Barag-zag-gar ('the Holy of Holies of the Temple'). Xisminii, also named Arah — rahrili (month of the great gods, i.e. Ann and Bel) : begins on iilst of March. March- April. 2. Gu(l:i)-di (' ox of right guidance ' (?)). lyaru. April-May. 3. Sliigga (month of bricks). Sivanu, likewise called KuKallu and Sitau. May-.June. 4. .S'/i"-f/"«iia (sowing). JDi/'Ssw (Taininuz), also I'U-hahi (' opening of door'). .June-July. 5. Bil-hil-gar (fire month). Abu, also month of the star or bow (or Sirius). July- August. 0. Gur-Xinni (harvest of Istar). Uliilu (Elul). Auiiust-September. 7. Diil-aziigga (see above). Tashrltu ( = begin- ning). September-October. 8. Aphi-diia (the lifting of the watering-can ?). Anih-samna (the eighth month, Marches- van). October-November. 9. Gan-gan-na-ud-dii (month of clouds). JCisilivu. November-December. 10. Ab-ba-ud-du (month of the sea). Tibitu, also Tamtiru (rain). December-January. 11. AnU-a-an (curse of rain). fyhdhatu, also Jaiii-Jiamman (festival of the storm-god), .laiiuary -February. 12. Shi'-yiir-kud (grain-harvest). Adam, also Arah-sibuli (month of the seven evil gods). February-March. The names of months in use amongst the Hebrews after the Exile are well known to have been derived from the Semitic names which are always mentioned second in the foregning li.st. As the names Dul-azagga, which is used in connexion with the New Year, and Ti.iri, which signifies ' beginning,' show, the New Year Festival must, at some early date, have been held in harvest instead of in spring. This .also exphiins why the god of the seventli month is Samas (the sun, who rules the year), and why the Babylonians, even in later times, instead of a second Adar, intercalated occvsioiially a second Elul (very rarely a second Nisan) as the last month of the year. In the time of Abraham the month in Babylonia h.id .30 days, as is clear from the contract-tablets. The year thus consisting of 300 days, it was necessary every six years to inter- calate a thirteenth month — generally a second Adar. The Babylonians also recognised a lunar year of 324 days, whose months each contained 27 days. From this they fixed the ratio of silver (moon) to gold (sun) as 27 : 3(50 (lunar month : solar year) =3 : 40 = 1 : 13|. A lunar month had three weeks of 9 days or (iO nddit (the itddu was reckoned as 6x6x6 = 216 minutes). The Babylonians divided the day into twelve double- hours, and the double-hour into 60 minutes, their unit of time being thus equal to about two minutes of our reckoning, corresponding to the time taken by the sun to traverse a space in the heavens equal to his apparent diameter. In the contract-tablets of the later kings of Vr (about no. 2300), some centuries therefore before Abraham, we find a list of Sumerian names for the months, only three of which correspond with those mentioned above, viz. the 4th (Shu-gunna),the 5th (Festival of the Fire-god), and the 12th (Shc- gur-kud). The first month in this old li-st is called She-ilia ('when the grain grows tall'), the 7tli ' Feast of Tamnniz,' the 8th ' Feast of king Dungi ' (who was worshipped as a god), and the 9tli ' Fea.st of Ba'u.' Even at this date there is already evidence of the intercalation of a second Adar (dir she-gtir-kud). It is much to be regretted that no special calendar of festivals has been discovered up to the present. We only know that Bel was the patron god of Ni.san. Ea of lyyar. Sin of Sivaii, Niii-ib of Tammuz, Nin-gis-zidda (Nebo, as Fire-god) of Ab, Istar of Elul, Samas of Tisri, Merodach of Arah.samna, Nerg,al of Kislcv, and Kaniman of Shebat, and that jirobably the chief festival of the gods mentioned was held in the months that corresponded to them. It is most likely, however, that not only different epochs, but also different places of worship, had their own special festivals. At Sippar, for instance, the City of the Sun in N. Babylonia, Sani.as bad special fea.st-days not only on 7th Nisan and 7th Tisri, but also on 10th lyyar, 3rd Elul, loth Marcheshvan, and loth Adar. In this connexion it may be noted that, judging from the Ueb. Feast of Puriin (14lh and 15th Adar), there was probably in Babylonia a feast observed in honour of Istar the sister of Samas. The circumstance that each month had its patron deity, has a partial connexion also with the Division of the Zodiac, which originated in Babylonia before m . ."000. At th.at early date the principal constellations, and especially tho.se that are traversed by the sun, moon, and planets, were already known by nearly the same names as they bear to-day. They formed twelve 'stations' (manzaztu, hence mazzartu and mazznltu, from which are borrowed llcb. ^i^^P, ^''^\~ [Job 38-, 2 K 2.3''] and .Arab, manznl). From n.c. 2(HI0 onwards it can be demonstrated tb.at the order of t)ie months was Nisan, lyyar, etc. This reckoning starts with the Ham (Aries) as the vernal point, but there was an older order which began with the Hull (Taurus, the .symbol of the god Merodach). The latter system, which finds the vernal point in the Pleiades, carries us back at least to somewhere .about 11.1 4000. The Zodiac was also divided into a region of .\nu ( T.aunts, (iemini, Cancer, Leo), a regicm of Bel (Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius), and a region of the earth-and-water god Ea (Cai>ri- cornu.s, Aquarius, Pisces, Aries). These last four 218 BABYLONIA BABYLONIA constellations, lying between Sagittarius and tlie I'leiades (''J't, cf. Hab. khntu, ' family '), and form- ing the path of Ea, are what are called in Job 9' ' tlie cliauibers of the south ' (i^" "'^1'?). Along this path of Ea (Sumer. sil si(/(/a, written with the signs tar and pa), lay, according to Bab. notions, the entrance to the under-world ; hence the constella- tion Sagittarius was calleil ka-sil ' opening of the path,' and the corresponding month Kisilivtt (Ki.slev). But as the Babylonians were fond of applying one and the same designation to stars in opposite quarters of the heavens, Orion was also named ka-sil (Heb. '''Df) and the month Sivan, wliich belonged to Gemini, was called Kusnllu. It is certainly no fortuitous circumstance that pre- cisely at the point where the path of Ea begins (between Sagittarius and Capricornus), another path, the Milky Way, intersects the ecliptic, and that the ecliptic is again crossed by the Milky Way at the point where the path ends, exactly between Gemini (month Sivan) and Orion (Bab. shn-gi or shibu, also ka-sil, Heb. ^^°^). The Great Bear was called by the Babylonians 'Wagon-star' (more precisely ka/ckab sumbi, ' star of the baggage- wagon '), by the W. Semites ' Lion-star ' (Heb. '•^"X, cf. Syr. "^"''1 Arab, 'ayiith), for the Arab, na'sh (Bab. neshu) also meant originally 'lion.' The unilerlying explanation is probably that the Lion of the Zodiac (Bab. 'dog-star'), on account of his nearness to the sign of llie Great Bear, was thought of as harnessed to the latter as his wagon. At a later period the Babylonians designated the Dog (our Leo) aril (' lion ' ) ; in Sumer. Ug means ' dog,' anil lig-magh 'lion' (literally 'big dog'). The oldest reliable evidence for tlie Bab. origin of the zodiacal signs is derived from tlie ancient Bab. boundary-stones with their pictorial repre- sentations. These date from the 12th cent. B.C., and from them we obtain the following series : — Kam, Bull, two dragons = Gemini, Hydra (south of Cancer) with a spindle, Dog, P^ar of corn with a cow (the symbol of the virgin Istar), Balance (Yoke), Scorpion, Scorpion, man with a bow (Sagittarius), Goat-fish (a goat with the body and tail of a lisli) or Tortoise, Pitcher, and Water-hen (Ibirse), to which the Uaven, as symbol of the intercalary month (originally a second Elul), is added as a thirteenth sign (hence the raven is viewed as a bird of evil omen). That the real origin of this system goes back, however, to a far remoter antiquity, is proved not only by the star- names found in the so-called astrological wcn'k (c. H.(-. 201J0), but by the circumstance that tlu'oughout the latter the Pleiades (Taurus) appear as the first of the zodiacal signs. Tlie exact astronomical proof was rendered possible by the Planet-tables of the Arsacid perio<l (2nd cent. n.C), and the laborious task was undertaken by the Jesuit fathers Epping and Strassmaier. It turned out, moreover, that the Babylonians were aciinainted not only with the twelve signs of the Zodiac, Init ((juite in accord with tlie testimony of Diodorus, ii. 30) also with 24 (afterwards 27) stations of the moont and 3G stations of the planets (the so-called dfcani). That is to say, they divided the ecliptic as the path of the sun into 12, as that of the moon into 27, and as that of the planets into 3(5 parts, and distiiignishcil each part by certain stars. The same investigation makes it probable that the 24 ' hour-stars ' and the 30 ' rfccan /-stars' of the ancient Egyptians were borrowed in the remotest antiquity from Baby- lonia. (We shall presently describe [p. 220 f.] how the Babylonians wove the signs of the Zodiac into The proof of this will he fouiwi in llotntiiersort. t^r.spriint' u. Alter il. anlb. ?terrin:iliUMi ' in ZDMG, l!il. 4.\ pp. 592-«l!>. t The names of these passed in course of time from the Baby- lonians to the Arabs, Persians. Hindus, and Chinese. the composition of both their great epic poems, the one concerning the Creation, the other concerning Nimrod.) Of remaining stars we have yet to men- tion Sirius, 'bow-star' (kakkab kashti) ; Procyoii {kakkab mishri, lit. ' north star ' or ' northern weapon,' in contradistinction to the 'soutliern weapon,' viz. Sirius) ; ashkar or iku (Arab, 'aipjuk) = Capella ; ' king-star ' = Kegulus in Leo ; ' jackal- star' = Antares in Scorpio; sig-bil-sagga = Myia, Ce.ti, south of Aries, the 'fire-star' (or star of Nimrod or Gisdubar) ; etc. etc. In the whole list there are only a few names which cannot now be identified. Babylonia was the home not only of Mathe- matics (see below) and Astronomy, but of Astrology. This is eloquently witnessed to by the so-called astrological work mentioned above, which bears the special title, n^r Bel, ' illumina- tion of Bel.' The seers (ftarfi) and magicians (ma/i/nt), who are so often mentioned along with the priests, were, above all, ' star-gazers ' and ' prognosticators ' ; cf. Dn 2'-, where already the name Kasdim (Chaldieans) appears as synonymous with magicians. That the ixdyoi. of JNIt 2' were likewise CliaUheans, is plain from various passages of the astrological work, where we read, ' Under such and sucii a constellation a great king shall arise in the land of Martu (Palestine), and peace and joy shall prevail in the land.' If Bab. Medicine did not reach a level much higher than that of magical formulw, the ac- qiiaintance of the Babylonians with Mathematics deserves all the fuller recognition. The subject will be best elucidated by a brief survey of the Bab. Metrology, from wliich admittedly all the ancient metrological systems (that of ancient Egypt included) were derived. The latter circum- stance proves indirectly how remote is the anti- (piity to which the beginnings of the system must be carried back, jletrology, moreover, lays the foundation for the material civilisation of a people, as religion does for their spiritual develop- ment. Eor the Babylonians the connecting link between the two was Astronomy. First, as regards linear measure, we now know from the scale of Gudea (c. B.C. 2000), published in de Sarzec's Di'convertes, that the half-cubit (J great cubit) was divided into lo finger-breadths of lU'ti mm. each. The cubit thus contained 49S mm., and the great cubit (ammatu rahitn) 990 mm. These again were divided respectively into 30 and 00 finger-breadths. Both the small and the great cubit were also divided into six equal parts, tlie former containing 0x5, the latter 0 x 10 finger-breadths. The latter system of division appears, for instance, in the tablet of Senkereh (]\'AI iv.- 37), on the reverse of which are given the squares and cubes of the cubit from the number 1 up to 01), and on the obverse the fractions and multiples of the cubit. We learn that a 'reed' (gi or kanfi) was 0 great cubits ; a gar (written with the sign slia) 12 great cubits ; an risk (stadium) 00 gar or 720 great cubits; a kashu (para.saiig) 30 nsh (c. 21 kiloinet.) ; and a donble-kasbii On nsh. In all pro-, bability there was also a small kasbii, answering to the" small cubit, and containing 10,800 cubits (r,. lOf kilomet.). Besides its division into sixths, the cubit was divided also into 10 (5) hand-breadths (each of (i finger-breadths). Further, as we learn from the • Important conclusions can be deduced, however, from tlie liub litenuure. nolablv from the biliiifrnal inapical fonnulie and from the Kpic of Simrod, resrardlni; the nature of certain diseases. For instance, the 'head-disease' so frequently men- tioned, which is accompanied witli violent fever, is erynipelnK ; the symptoms of Gisdubar's illness arc those of turn venerea ; while' the disease of Ea-bani appears to have been leprosy. Tliere Is also frequent mention In the religioaa texts of fever and plague. BABYLONIA BABYLONIA 219 scale of Gudea, the finger-breadth (16-6 mm.) was divided into 180 parts, of wliich, however, the only ones in actual use were the yV (r's°i5). tj (rVa)' i (,%). i (.'<•;!)' i (iVo), I (rA). and h (t'A)- '^^^ liand-breadth, whose miiiiinuiu was taken at 9n, and maxiniuui at '.''.1-(J mm., served, moreover, as the side uf a cube which contained exactly a ia i; nearly a litre), and which, ichen filled loith icater, weighed a great mina (c. 'MO grammes). In the same way, as is well known, a cubical decimetre {i.e. a litre) of water weighs a kilogramme. In this most ingenious fashion did the Babylonians in that remote anli'iuity derive not only their superficial measures and tlieir nieiisures of capacity, but even their weights from a common standard, the hand- breadth. It is furtlier to be noted that in the latitude of Habylon (Sl° N. lat.) the length of the seconds' pendulum is 992-35 mm., which is almost e.xacilv equal to the length of the Bab. double- cubit (99iJ-yyU mm.). From their linear measure the Babylonians de- rived also their reckoniiif/ of time. A distance of atiO double-cubits is covered by an average walker in 4 minutes (j!^ of the whole day), a great kasbu (21,000 cubits) in four hours or a night-watch. Thus the kasbtt was used to mark the periods of the day ; /, of a day (2 ho.) being a small, and ,1 a great kaab^t. The reckoning was controlled by the observation that the sun requires exactly 2 minutes (j'j of the double-hour) to traverse a space equal to his apparent diameter. Thus dis- covered, the system of reckoning by 60 (sussu, originally .■ntdsu, i.e. J of .'SCO) was adopted by the Babylonians as the fundamental principle of their whole mctrological system. It was astronomy then, in conjunction with the linear measures derived from the cubit and the hand-breadth, that gave birth to the famed sexai/esimal system, which spread from Babylon over almost the whole world. \Vitli this goes naturally the division of the circle into 720 (300) degrees ; and the observation that the sixth part of the circumference of a circle is equal to the radius, stands also in the closest relation to the same system. Both the principles referred to were known to the Babylonians from the earliest times. By squaring the various linear measures, we obtain the corresponding superficial measure. As early as the time of the kings of Ur we meet with the 'field' (f/an) = 1800 'gardens' (sar) ; and the 'garden' (60 sq. cubits ?)=fi0 3(H.t Then the Jin ( 1 sq. cul)it ?) was divided into 180 she. Besides the great r/an of 1800 sar, there was originally a small firm of 180 sar; hence the great gan bears the name aUso of bur-gan ('ten gardens'). The Baby- Innians, moreover, gave designations to pieces of land according to the amount of seed-corn required to HOW them. Thus, e.ij., they would speak of a 6 ijur rornfield. This introduces us to — Me<isHres of capacity. In Abraham's time there were already three systems sinmltaneously in u.se: the yur of 300 ia, the yur of 300 ia (} le«.s than the first, and standing to it in the same relation :us the gold mina of 50 shekels to the silver mina of 60 shekels), and the gur of 180 i-a. The last-named .system of reckon- ing, ace. to which the ia contained about 2 litres, was the oidy one in u.se in the New Bab. period. Now, since the Ileb. kor (i:) contained 180 iab {^?.), just as the Bab. gur contained 180 • K?»i)0(HftlIy throtif;)) the obsorvallon thut In the coiirAc of the appnn-'nt ruviihittiui of iIk< ci'lestlnl sphere, i^ of Iho uoliptle (/./•. 1 «lirn of Uie Zotliiio) lAkos exnetly two hours (j^ of a ftldereal »lny) to pasA before tlio oyo of one watching the slarrj- heavens by nitiht. t It Is possltilc, tiowever. tlmt the lenirlli of side of the tinr was fi'i ureal eiiblts. tii whteh ease Its area wmiM l»o Mt'-oil sq. eilblls. while that .if tlie yin wouM Ije i^lsq. •ilMl,-, and of the «/ie J of a sij. cubll. ia, it is clear that the Hebrews borrowed both the names and the divisions from the Baby- lonians. The Ileb. has even preserved the original an(.l fuller form of the name ia, namely iab. Besides the ia (see above for its origin) there were also larger sub-divisions of the gur or kor, such as the pi or ' ass's burden ' (imiru Ileb. i^h) = i gur ; the a.? (Ileb. Bath or Ephah) = .^^ gur ; the bar (Ileb. .SV'aft) = j',, gur, etc. In addition to this, the ia (originally about a litre) was divided into 60 parts, wliich, as in the case of the mina and the sar, were called yin. Since among the Hebrews the hin (r"i ) was the 60th part of the kor, as amongst the Babylonians the gin was the GOth part of the ia, pn must also be a Bab. loan-word. It found its way into Heb. through the medium of Egypt, where the hin was the fundamental measure ; and the name ephah also comes from Egypt. Besides this division of the ia into 60 gin, we meet with another into 10 gnr (written sha). Finally, in regard to weights, the talent (gun, Serait. perhaps f/a(/(7nri() contained 60 mina; (mana, Semit. manu) ; the mina 60 shekels (gin with the sign tu, iSemit. .iiilu 'weiglit,' and, as the original measure, iuddu 'cup') ; tlie sliekel 360 (180) she (or grains of corn). But, as happened so often in the Bab. metrology, there were several systems of weight in use simultaneously: [1] The heavy mina of about 990 gr. (the weight of the ia filled with water, see above). [2] The light mina, which weighed 5 of the heavy, i.e. c. 495 gr. (491-492 gr. in the case of the weight-s still extant). [3] A weight = J of the light mina (50 instead of 60 shekels) used specially for gold, the so-called gold mina, usually = 409-410 gr. Even c. B.C. 2000, however, there had come into use a gold mina of a higher (so-called royal) standard = 427i gr., as can be proved from a weiglit recently found at Nippur. [4] A weight about }, more than the light mina, the Bab. silver mina = 546 gr. Although the last- named is a derived and secondary weight, it is still very ancient, for its 60tli part, the silver shekel of 9-1 gr., answers exactly to the ancient Rgyp. ied, which is likewise = 9-1 gr. The Bab. ideogram for shekel has not only the pronuncia- tion Hiilu i'^}^') , but also iuddu (Arab, iada/i ' cup ' ) , and this iuddu is naturally the prototype of the Egyp. ied, which weighs exactly the same. Ten of these ied made up the Egyp. pound (dehen, not uten) of 10 sliekels (91 gr.), and in point of fact there was also a Bab. weifiht of 10 shekels, whose name was in Sumer. yarasli\ and in Semit. tibnu, but which was also designated absolutely abnu 'stone' (cf. 2 S H'M ^'^P0 m, and Pr lOH d-? 'la.s^ Bab. aban kisi). Three of these made up a lialf- mina, and six a mina. In regard to Bab. Art Carcliitecture, sculpture, engraving, etc.), our former conceptions have been fundamentally clianiicd by the excavations at Telloh and Niffer (in South and Central Baby- lonia). From these we see that as early a.s it.c. 4000-3000 the bloom of art in Babylon was such as was in some respects never attained in later days, — a case quite .analogous to that of Egypt in the era of the Pyramids. Under the older kings of SirguUa the style of art is of conr.se still some- what awkward and crude, but under the older I'atesi it shows a high finish, e.g. in the carving of the beautiful silver Viuses of En-tiinena {e. a c. 3HO0) ; and the cylinder-seals and reliefs of the old kings of Ag.ade (Akkad), c, li.c. 3500, are still more finely executed. At Nippur, prior to li.c. 4000, architects already iLsed the arch of burned brick, which formerly was supposed to have originated at a The ICfvp. word fittiiili ('Ipt) la, however. Itself urlKinallv derlvid fi-oin the Ital). /»//«. + This ffitniMli Is the Perso-Indlan ktirun/ia, which Is also a weight of 10 shekels. 220 BABYLONIA BABYLONIA much later period. The Bab. temples, formed of brick like Bab. buildings in general, were in ' stage ' form, and had either three or seven storeys, the latter number in imitation of the seven planet- spheres (see p. 21(3''). The oldest kings already refer, in their inscriptions, to palaces, and on a statue of Gudea (c. 2S)00) we find even the plan of such a building. The surface of each brick was stamped witli an inscription of six to ten lines, and formed a square with a side of 330 mm. {i.e. i of a cubit = I Bab. foot). The science of hydraulics was also highly developed (dams, canals, sluices, cisterns, etc.). From the fragments of vases which still exist (beautifully ornamented, and in some cases with lengthy inscriptions), formed either of alabaster or of clay, we see tiiat pottery had made great advances in the very earliest times. The same is true of weaving. Long before tlie time of Abraham, the magnificent Bab. carjjets and mantles were in high repute (cf. Jos. 7-'). Music and poetry (on the latter see the remarks on Bab. literature, below) were sedulously cultivated. As early as the time of Gudea we find a twelve- stringed harp portrayed. To the forms of poetry belonged, as we have now learned, a highly- complicated strophic system, as well as the regular succession of a certain number of cadences, and finally the so-called parallelismus membroriim. The diorite statues of the Patesi of Sirgulla may confidently be matched against the famous statues of wood and diorite whicli belong to tlie Egyp. art of the so-called ancient empire. Special skill was displayed, however, by tlie Babylonians at all periods, in engraving ; and their cylinder- seals, which date as far back as c. H.C. 4000, show a fineness of execution which cannot but arouse our admiration. Mythological scenes are the favourite subject ; particidarly common is the portrayal of such as belong to the circle of legends which formed itself around Gisdubar (Nimrod). The in- scriptions appended give, as a rule, simply the name and title of the owner of the seal and his father ; but as these are freijuently kings, such cylinder-seals not infrequently serve as important sources for the tracing of history. Jletallurgy, finally, was also in an advanced stage in early days. The relation of silver to gold was in point of value 3 : 40, or 1 : 131, the same ratio as that of the ancient lunar month of 27 days to the solar year of 300 days. From the first we find the Babylonians acquainted also with the smelting of iron. The latter was originally obtained from meteoric stones, hence the Sumer. name an-har, 'heavenly metal.' They had also learned the composition of bronze (Sumer. zabar, Semit. siparni) from copper and tin. They were ac- quainted even with the manufacture of glass. As early as c. B.<'. l.jOO we meet with cobalt-coloured glass as an artificial substitute for the costly lapis- lazuli imported from Media. The Literature of Babylon, as was to be ex- pected from a people so highly civilised, was of the most varied character and greatest extent. Un- fortunately, in spite of the numerous discoveries made by excavation (esp. the remains of actual libraries, inscribed on clay tablets), only the ruins of this literature have been preserved ; but in this form we liave specimens of at least all the more important branches. First, as regards literature in the narrower sense, the poetry of Babylon, even the so-called secular epic, e.g. the Nimrod-epos, bore an essen- tially religious character. To the poetical fragments which have come down to us either in Sumerian alone, or (as is generally the case) with a Semitic interlinear translation as well, belong above all the numerous magical formuhe (with the title enna or shiplu, 'incantation'), as well as a great number of hymns to the gods, and penitential psalms. While the first-named are composed in relatively old and pure Sumerian and generally written ideographically, the last two show an admixture of numerous later forms of speech : they contain Semit. loan-words and frequent in- stances of phonetic WTiting (the so-called inii-sal forms or ' women's speech ' in opposition to the 'priests' speech' of the earliest period). From all this, the N. Babylonian and Semit. origin of the penitential psalms, and of a large number of the hymns to tlie gods, may be certainly inferred. Moreover, the line of thought in the penitential psalms, notwithstanding their being composed in Sumerian, is far more Semitic than Sumerian. In particular, there appear in them with tolerable clearness purer religious conceptions, approaching monotheism. While the magical formulie cer- tainly go back to a very remote antiquity, the penitential psalms may possibly have taken their rise somewhere between B.C. 3000 and 2000, i.e. in the last centuries before Abraham. In any case, they are essentially more recent than the formulue. By far the greater half of the Bab. literature was composed, however, only in tlie Semit. idiom of the country. This is true of certain magical formulfe {€.(/. the so-called ' burning series ' or mailG, i.e. burning of wax figures of evil spirits or of witches) and many hymns to the gods. To the same class belong, above all, the epic poems of which, fortunately, a whole series have come down to us, more or less perfectly preserved. These poems might with equal propriety be called mythological texts, for the purely epic and narra- tive element in them is constantly mingled and combined with the mythological. The most im- portant and (as is proved by the order adopted foi- the zodiacal signs, the Ram, fcwsari'A-A-H, being last i the oldest poem is — (rt) The Creation epos. ' When heaven above had not yet been named and earth below yet bore no name — but the ocean {npsii, Dc:s), the primeval, their progenitor, and chaos {Tihamat or mtimmn T.) the bearer of them all, yet mingled their waters together, when as yet no cornfield was cultivated, and no reed seen — when as yet none of the gods existed, no name they bore, destinies were not yet assigned, then were born the gods [of mummu or chaos] ; I-ukhmii and Lakliamu came forth [first], sons grew up ( = elapsed?) . . . Aiishar and Kishar were born, long days pa-ssed by till at length Anu, Bel, and Ea were produced ; [but the son of Ea and Damkina was Marduk the creator of the world].' So begins, in remarkable accord with Gn 1'^, this poem, whose commencement has also come down to us in Greek in Damascius' Quaatl. de primis principiis. The further course of events described is briefly as follows: After the above-named gods originated from chaos, a strife arose between Tili.lmat (°'''"''?), the female personifi- cation of the primeval ocean, and the rest of the gods. Anu claims the right to decide the dispute ; TihSmat, however, declares war, and binds the tablets of destiny (cf. the L'rim and Thummira of OT) to the bre.ast of her consort Kingu. Anshar, after fruitless attempts, tlirougli the medium of Anu, Ea, and Marduk, to conciliate Tihiimat, sends to inform Luklimu and Lakli.lmu that Marduk is prepared to undertake the conflict with Tihamat. The detailed account of this conflict between the god of li.ght, Marduk, and the dark primeval ocean, t makes up the 4th canto of the ep(«, which fortunately we possess complete. Marduk Oritrlnnllv i«U^ntic.il with .\nu. .\n-.sarbein[r = heaven's ho!, but afterwards (lltl"erentlati-<i Irofii him. and at a later i»erio.l assimtlrtled to .\>sur (Damaseius '\a<Tup6v). + In pictorial representation.s Tihamat appears as a drairon (hence the serpent of the Bab. bonndary-stones) with a lion's head, hence she is called also tahliu, Hon.' BABYLONIA BABYLONIA 221 conquers the dragon and his eleven helpers (cf. Job '.I'-'j, cleaves Tiliamat, and oul of the one half fashions the tinuament of heaven, in which he assiu'us their places to tlie gods Anu, Uel, Ka, and to the moon and the stars, while out of tlie other half he fashions the earth. The eleven helpers were placed in the sky as the zodiacal signs, Merodach himself being the twelfth. The connected frag- ments still extant make it plain that thereafter followed a description of how plants and animals, and finally man, were all formed by Bel-Merodacli. Beside this there was another Bab. niytli, according to which it was the god ICa who formed man of clay. Moreover, in the epos, Bel the god of the air and of storm, whom the Babylonians portrayed with thunderbolts in his hand, is confounded with Merodach, a circumstance which points to Babylon, whose tutelary deity, Merodach, w;is called the younger Bel. The original notion tliat the elder Bel (^Semit. Belu 'lord' kot' ({■jx')'') ^^'•'s the creator, finds its echo in Genesis (cf . tlie ' spirit of God ' of Gn 1^ with the Suinerian name of Bel, En-litla. ' lord of the air' or ' the wind '). (6) The .so-called Nimrod-epos (cf. Gn lO'-'''). The 12 cantos of this magnificent poem .stand in eviilent relation to the 12 signs of the Zodiac, of which, however, it is no longer the Bull but the Kam that comes first. The hero Gi.sdubar, also called Xarfldu (for Xamrudu), Nanira.sit, and Gibil-gamis, sprang from a city which afterwards completely disappeared, Surippak (on the river Surappu ?;. He becomes king of Kreoh, where he rules as a tyrant, until the gods create Ea-baiii, a kind of I'riapus, to destroy him. The two, however, strike up a friend.ship after Gi.sdubar has overcome a mighty lion. (This last scene is often depicted on cylinder-seals and reliefs. ) Together they next deliver the city of Erech from the Elamite oppressor Khumbaba (Combabos). Istar, the giKldess of love, now offers to Gisdubar her liand, which, however, is refused by the hero (Canto 6). Out of revenge Istar sends a .scorpion, whose sting proves fatal to Ea-bani ; Gisdubar himself she smites with an incurable di.sease. In con.seciuence of this he sets out, in quest of relief, for the dwelling-place of his great-grandfather Sit-napisti ( = rescue of life), the Bab. Noah (' Rest' i.e. of the soul), far away on the ocean in the Isles of the Blessed. With this aim he first traverses, amidst great dangers, the land of Mashu (Central Arabia, f^^l or x'^"? of the O'V), and then crosses the waters of death to Sit-napisti, who (Canto 11) gives him a detailed account of his escape from the Deluge (see below), heals him of his dise.Lse, and presents him with the plant of life. The latter, however, is snatched from him on his way home by an earth-lion (i.e. a .serpent). On his arrival at Erech, he bewails, in the temple of the goddess Ninsuniia, the death of his friend Ea-baiii, and prays the god Nergal to restore the sjiirit of Ea-biinT to him. With the granting of tliis re- quest, and a graphic description by Ea-biini of the under-wcirld, the epos closes. (r) The Bab. Story of the Deluge. This is con- tained in the llth canto of the Nimrod-epos (see previous section). When the great gods, with Bel in his i|uality of storm-god (Bel-Uaniman) at their head, determined to send a Hoi>d, Ea revealed to Sit-napisti in .a dream how he might save himself by constructing a ship. Ten i/nr (120 cubits) was to be the height of its sides, and tlie same was to be the width of its deck ; it was to have six storeys, each of which was to have seven divisions, while Aft R jii<liriiu-nt on the pins of ttio hilmbitniits of SuHppAlc. Thtft Is clfiir from the close of tlio Dclucestory, t.ff. Hues IS^i-.^ (or, ftcc. to nnollicr rcckoninjf, I. l"ii). where we reiwl. ' I'poii the jtiniior iel lils sin He, mid upon the Irnnftpresmor his trnns- fcr^^Mon, liitUel no titmd come an 1/ mure asapuni«hment uj/on man ' (rf. (ho pnrnllil In On s"!. the area was divided into 9 parts (3 on each side of a square?). fSince the length is not specified, we are probably to think of the Bab. ark as square- shaped, thus forming a cube. On the 7th day the vessel was ready ; then for 6 days on end the rain fell in torrents, till on the 7th day again the storm abated. After other 7 days, during the whole of which the ark had been in sight of Mt. Nisir ('rescue'), Sit-napisti sent forth a dove. 'The dove flew hither and thither, but since it found no resting-place, it returned. Then 1 sent forth a swallow,' so proceeds the .story, 'and let it go ; the swallow flew hither and thither, but since there was no resting-place, it returned. Then I sent forth a raven, and let it go ; the raven flew away, saw the abating of the waters, approached wading and croaking, but returned not.' On the top of Mt. Ni.sir, S. of Lake Ur- mia and E. of Assyria, and thus between Media and Armenia (Ararat), the ark stranded. The gods smelt with pleasure the odour of the seven vessels of inceii.se offered by Sit-napisti ; especially gratified was Istar, the goddess of the bow ; and Ea besought Bel never more to send a flood upon the earth. Bel suffered himself to be persuaded, t took STt-napisli and his wife by the hand, blessed them (cf. Gn '.('), and traii.slated them to Paradise. We have to note finally that here, as in the case of the Creation-epos, both the OT writers, the .Tahwist (J) and the Elohist (P), have a surprising number of points of contact with the details of the Bab. text, from which it is evident that these coincidences carry us back to a very early date. {(1) Istar's descent to Hades. Istar determines to descend to Hades to free the dead who dwell there. As she passes through the seven gates of the under-world, all her garments and ornaments are taken from her, and Nin-ki-gal or AUatu (for Aralatu), the goddess of Hades, orders her servant Namtar the plague-demon, to smite Istar with disease. Meanwhile in the upper, world all ))rocreation ceases, owing to the absence of the goddess of love, until the gods send Fddusu- namir ('his brightness is fair,' a transposition of the name Namra-uddu or Ninirod) to AUat with the request that she would allow Istar to return to earth. (e) The Namtar-Iegend. The gods are holding a banquet, and send to their sister Nin-ki-gal (Al- latu), who had been carried off by Nergal, a message desiring that she would send for the portion of food meant for her. Thereupon she sends luv herald Namtar to heaven. Nergal's distrust is awakened by this intercourse between his wife and the heavenly powers, and he imagines that she is planning flight. Accordingly, although he loves lier dearly, yet, tortured by jealousy, he resolves to have her put to death. He stations the four- teen watchers of the under-world as sentinels at the gates, and orders Namtar to strike off the head of Nin-ki-gal. The latter pleads with her husband to spare her life, and she will submit to any ton- ditions, nay, will give to him the sovereignty over the earth. Nergal wee|)s for joy, kisses his wife, and wipes away her tears. Unfortunately, the other parts of this legend, which has come down to us ill a copy written in Egypt amongst the Tel el- Amarna correspondence, are of so fragmentary a character that it is impossible to extract from them a connected story. (/) The Adapa-legend (also derived from Tel el- Amarna). Merodach, the son of Ea, appears here • Tlie Assyr. klnj; .\fotur-nnzlr-pnl mentions this mountain In connexion with no expeJltlun tu the liind of Zamua. 8ce AssYKl.1 (p. IS'tb). t It Is wortli notliifr that Rel, upon a similar occasion, namely, after ills conc|uost of Tlhi'uimt. elves up his bow to Anu. who solemnly. In the presence of ali the jftnls. hanps it up in heaven (cf. the ttow of (Jn 'J" which God sets 'In the cloud'). BABYLONIA BABYLONIA under the name of Adnpa as the progenitor of man. Adapa, who had broken tlie wings of the south wind, is cited before the god of heaven to justify himself. His father, Ea, coun.sels liim not to accept of the food offered him there, as it will cause death. Adapa follows this advice, but finds that by his refusal he has forfeited immortality, since it was really the 'food of life' which Ann offered him. (r/) The Etana-legend. Etana (t?'! 1 K 5" ?) applies to the sun-god for something to mitigate the pains of parturition for his wife. He is referred to the Eagle, which can furni.sh him with the requisite ' birth-plant.' As Elaiia relates to the Eagle how in a dream (?) lie had seeii the gate of Anu and that of Istar, the Eagle offers to carry him up to heaven. 'I'he enterprise succeeds in the first instance, and the two arrive at the gate of Aim, but in flying to the gate of Istar the strength of the Eagle gives way. he falls headlong, and Etana atcmes for his presumption by his death. He is transferred as a demi-god ti> the under-world. Shortly afterwards the Eagle also loses his life through the cunning of a serpent whose young he had devoured. (ft) The legends of the god Zfl (Siimer. Im-dugud, the 'storm-bird god'). Ace. to one form of the story, Zfi steals the tablets of destiny from Bel- Merodach, and Ramnian and various other gods decline, from fear, to take them back from him. Ace. to another text, the god Lugal-banda (the moon-god) sets out for the distant mountain of >Sal)u (in Central Arabia) to overreach Za by cunning. In the heavens the god ZiT is represented by the constellation Pegasus, and Taurus (Mero- dach) is his .son. (»■) The legend of the god Girra (Nergal as god of war). A devastating inroad of the Sut«i (the Semitic nomad tribes of Mesopotamia) directed agaiii.st Babel, Sippar, and Erech, is in dramatic fashion connected with the conflict of Xergal and his herald, the fire-god (or Nebo), with Merodach, the tutelary god of Babylon. The mention of the Assyrians and the Kassites plainly indicates that this poem did not originate prior to the so-called Kassite period. Special mention is due also to the .second tablet (written entirely in Semit. ) of the exorcism-series shiirpHy in which the priest in the form of a long litany inquires what may have been the trans- gressions that have brought the punisliment of the gods on the man who is possessed or sick. ' Has he perchance set his parents or relations at variance, sinned against God, despi.sed father or mother, lied, cheated, dishonoured his neighbonr's wife, shed his neighbour's blood?' etc. The coincidences with the Heb. Decalogue, and with the Egyp. Ptah- hotep sentences, or the Trial of the Dead before the 42 judges of the dead, are unmi;;takable. That the Babylonians, as well as the ancient Egyptians, possessed also historical narratives in romance-form, is proved by the stories of Sargon of Ag.ade and Kudur-Duffmal. The former of these has also come down to us in Greek from the pen of vElian, imly thai the Gr. writer has con- founded the name of Sargon with that of Gilgames. Sargon is the illegitimate son of a princess, who gives birth to him in secret and exposes him to perish. The child, however, is brought up by a gardener, and in the end comes to the throne. The only new element .Elian introduces into the story is tliiit the boy was rescued by an eagle. (This is prob. due to a mistaken combination with the Etana-legend). The legend (in metrical form) « In Berosus' list of the patii.irclis. .\ilapa (Alapsros is « con- fusion wltli llnpnit, the name of the ine«.Hcn)jer of .\nii> fs the son of Aloros (i.e. the f^ojdess Aruru, the wife of Ea) and fotber of Amelon (amelu=man). of the invasion of Babylonia by the Elamite king Kudur-Dugmal (a later form of Kudur-Lagamar) furnislies at the .same time the best proof of the historicity of Gu 14. Eor the Heb. narrative is in accord with the original inscriiitions dating from the time of Khammurabi (Amraphel), and not with the later Bab. legend. Yet the latter is what W(^ should have expected if the Hebrews had first made acquaintance with the matter of Gn 14 during the Exile. The history knows of only the father of Iriaku (Arioch) of Larsa, who was king of lamutbal, and resided at Dur-ilu on the Elain.-Bab. frontier ; the legend, on the other hand, makes of the city Dur-ilu a son of Iriaku. viz. Drn-makh-ili, of whom neither the Bible nor the inscriptions contain any notice. Of great variety, although not belonging in tlie stricter sense to literature, are the other com- ponents of Bab. writing. 'I'ables of paradigms and lexical-lists served to facilitate the learning and practice of the Humer. speech. But along witli these there were also lists containing oidy Semitic words (the so-called synonym-lists) and forms {e.if. the word-table, ]VAI v. pi. 45). As an intro- duction to the complicated toriting, there wen- syllabaries and collections of signs. Very numerous also are the commentaries which the Babylonians have left to us. These deal partly with the poetical literature, especially with the rare words that occur in it, and partly with the explana- tion of legal and agricultural terms in the old Bab. contract-tablets (the so-called ana-iui-xu .series). In such instances whole laws are some- times quoted verbatim, so that we thus get a glimpse of the most ancient codes of the Baby- lonians. "The contract-tablets themselves, which have come down to us in great abundance from all epochs of Bab. history, do not indeed belong to literature, but deserve special mention here because they supply ns with the most interesting informa- tion not only about business but about all the possible details of private life. A sort of counterpart to the lexical-lists is pre- sented by the lists of names of places, countries, temples, officials, and stars, as well as the numerous lists of gods. We must mention also the numerous omen-texts, medical prescriptions, astronomical and mathematical tables, and finally some lists connected with the history of literature (<>.;/. a list of epic poems with the names of the authors or collectors). The historical literature will be dealt witli below, when we come to speak of the sources of Bab. history. How the most important of the latter, namely, the inscriptions, were brcutght to light, we learn from the intensely interesting History of Excavations. As early as 1802 the first considerable Bab. in.scription, on the so-called Caillou de .^/irhatix. a boundary-stone of the 12th cent, is.c, was brought to Europe, and soon after- wards, through the efforts of the Ivtst India Company, a whole collection of Bab. antiquities (among them considerable inscriptions of Nebuch- adrezzar) was brought from liassorah to the British Museum and the East India llnise. But it was not till 1811 that Mr. C. J. Kirh. the re- discoverer of Nineveh, was able to explore more thoroughly Hillah, the ruins of ancient Babylon. In the fifties archieologlcal research was resumed in Babylonia by the Englishmen, W. K. Loft us, J. E. Taylor, and A. H. Layard, who discovered the ruined sites of Nil'fer (Nippur), Warka (Uruk I'r Erech), Senkereh(Larsa), .Mukayyar (I'r), and Abu Sliahrein (Eridu) ; and by the Frenchmen, Eresiu'l and Oppert, who instituted further excavations at Hillah (Babel and Horsippa). In these ruins just named, in S. Habylonia, the inscriptions discovered were all brief, but on acc(mnt of their antiquity they were proportionately important. These con- BABYLONIA BABYLONIA 223 sisted for the most part of so-called brick stamps, altlioujih ill Babel inoio considiTable inscriptions Were found, datins; especially from the period of the New Bab. empire. Meanwhile Henry Kawlin- son had deciphered the Bab. version (the so-called third form) of the trilingual Ach;emenid;ean in- scription of Persepolis. The key was found in the old I'ers. version (the so-called first form), whicli had already lieen interpreted by G. F. Grotefend (1802), Hawlinson. and Burnouf, and whicl: had been proved, by the two last named in particular, to bo in an Indo-Gerinaiilc languaite. The work of deciphering the third form (whereby also the cuneiform inscriptions of the Ninevile monuments became readable and intelligible) was cimtinued and perfected in the sixties by the talented Hincks, the lOnglishuian K. Xorris, and the Parisian scholar .Julius < Ippert. Later on, in the seventies, the excavations in Baliylonia, notably at Habel and in the surrounding country, were continued, especially by George Smith and llormuzd U;i.ssam. Ill the course of his last expedition (1880-1881) l{assam discovered the ruins of Sii)par-Agade at the modern Alni-llabba, along with the archives of the ancient temple of the sun. Moreover, by digging in Tell Ibrahim, 10 Eiig. miles E. of Babel, he was able to prove once for all that this was the site of the ancient KuUia, as Hawlinson had already conjectured. The work of bringing to light the oldest civilisa- tion of Babylonia (Sumer. as well a-s Seniit.), leaving out of account the small beginnings of Loftus and Taylor, has been <iue especially to the Frenchman de Sarzec, and to the American rniversity of I'l-nn- sylvania (I'eters ami others, and at a later period, above all. .1. H. Haynes and the scientific director of the fund, I^rof. H. V. Ililprecht). Through their excavations at Telloh (18711-1881) and at Xiffer (1888-1890), the history and archicology of Babylonia have been enriched as they had never been before ; from c. ll.i'. oOOO we can trace continuously the civilisation of Babylonia by aid of raoiuiments and inscriptions. Instead of the cuneiform jiroper, the oldest inscriptions still use linear signs, in which it is often ijuite possible to trace clearly the figures that form the basis of the system. The Americans also discovered at .\ilTer nearly 1000 contract-tablets of the so-called Ivasslte period, who.se dates now enable us to fix with certainty the exact succession of the then reigning monarclis. ()( 'finds' outside Babylonia, we must men- tion above all the clay tablets which were dis- covered at Tel el-Amarna In Upper Egypt (see AssYIUA). Among these there are letters to the Pharaohs not only from Bab. kings, but also from a great many Pluen. and Pal. governors. The Bab. writing and language were then (c. 1400 is.c.) em|)loyed for diplomatic communications over almo.st the whole of W. Asia. The Islamites loo borrowed their mode of writing from the Baby- lonians, as at a later period the Armenians did from the Assyrians. Further, It is becoming ever more probable that even the so-called Can. or Phien. form of writing, to whicli the S. Arabian is most nearly allied, wr..s derived not from the Egyptians, but fium the Babylonians, and as early indeed a.s r. li.c :i()0(l. It is a transformation Into cursive of a number of i^ld Bab. signs, and may have originated in E. Arabia about the time lif the first N. Bab. dynasty, which wa.s of Arabian descent. Sources for Bab. History. These are, first and fiiremosi, the inscriptions discovered in course of the excavations we have described ; but the • The only exceptions wore Sonkereh ( Lnr.nn) nnd (he mllnrent Tel SIfr; f.)r lliore Loflin fcmnil n (freul nillnl>er of olrl Hiili. corilracltnlilets diitlni; from tlio Umo of Klinininlirabi anil Irlnku (or tlie opooh of .VbriiljiinO. As.syr. libraries brought to light in the palaces of Nineveh have also suitplied us with a number of copies not only of the Bab. religious writings, but also of historical records. In the art. AssYlii.v we have already spoken of the so-called ' synchron- istic history ' and of the ' Bab. chronicle.' During the last two decades there have been recovered also numerous remains of Bab. libraries, esp. from the time of Nebuch. downwards, reaching as far as the Seleucid period. To these we are indebted not only for the many Bah. thiplicati-s of the remains of Bab. literature hitherto known oidy from the library of Assurbanipal, but also for not a few pa.ssages that are entirely new. Even at Tel el-Amarna, as was already remarked (p. 221'') the fragments of two ancient Bab. legends aboui the gods were found. Apart from the innumerable contemporaneous and original monuments of Bab. kings, and the contract-tablets so iinjiortant for a knowledge of chronology and of private life, not to speak of other records of a more private character, wo have to mention as a historical source of the very first rank the great Bab. List of Kintjs. This contains the names of the kings of Baliel from the Arab dynasty down to the last native king Xabonidus (Nabu-na'id), with note of the length' of the reign of each. We have already (]>. 222") referred \o some poetically embelli.shed traditions. On the omen-lists, as they are called, and on the great astro- logical work, as important historical sources for the old Bab. era, we shall speak afterwards, when we come to deal with the history of Sargon and the so- called younger kings of Ur. Amongst extra-Bab. sources, the first rank must be a.sslgned to the OT writings (Gn, esp. chap. 14, the Blis of Kings, the Prophets, esp. .Jer, Ezk, Is 4i)-G0, and finally Ezr-Xeh). Only a secondary place belongs to the scanty notices of classical writers, whose import- ance is specially due to the fact that they have preserved for us some valuable citations from the work (unhappily lost) of the Balj. priest. Berosus. For the m^w Bab. period, and esp. fen- the tojio- graphy of Babel, a valuable authority on many points Is Herodotus, who himself visited Babel in the course of his travels. Also in .Strabo'.s geography we find .several interesting details regarding Babylonia. On the other hand, the information must be pronounced rather untrust- worthy and inexact which the extant fragments of Ctesias give us concerning Bab. History. We have already (see Assvm.v) said all that is most essential about the value of the so-called Canon of Ptolemy (2nd cent. A.l>.) for Bab. chronology. In con- junction with the so-called Bab. Chroiiicle, which runs parallel to It, and the list of kings (which unhappily is not free from gaps), whose starling- point was first accurately fixed by aid of the Canon, the latter forms the most im]iortaut source ior the Chronology. Besides the Canon of Ptolemy and the As.syr. anil Egj-p. synchronisms already described in art. Assvitl.v, Impcn-lant chronological data are supplied by the later historical inscrip- tions, esp. those of N.abonldns, and by .some earlier monuments. In using these data, however. It must always be borne in mind that In all pro- bability, as early as the time of Assurbanipal, the Bab. chronographers had already fallen into the error of making Ihe first two dynasties in the li.st of kings successive instead of contemporaneous. Conseipiently, a number of the following dates must lie reduced by .•(08 years, the duration of the .second dynasty. a. A bonmlary-stone, dated the 4tli year of king Bel-nadin-apli (Ililprecht, Old Jinh. /lisrrip. i. pi. .'50), informs us that from Gnlkisliar, king of the sea-laiul (i.e. Gulki.sar, the sixth king of the second dynasty), to Nebuch. I., there were 224 BABYLONIA BABYLONIA 696 years. Now, since Bel-nadin-apli was the immediate successor of Nebuch. I., tlie first four years of l>is own reign must be added to tiie above number, giving us tlie round number of 700 years between the death of Gulkisar and the time when tlie boundary-stone was set up. As the latter date is c. li.c. 1118, the death of Gul- kisar would have to be dated B.C. 1818, or a fevf decades later, for the round number 700 may, if need be, stand also for 050 or 660. b. Sennacherib relates that 418 years before the destruction of Babylon (H.C. 689), Marduk-nadin- akhi, the contemporary of Tiglath-pileser I. of Assyria, carried away two images of gods from the Assyr. city of Ikallati to Babylon. This im- plies that in li.r. 1107, and during the reign of Marduk-nadin-akhi, Babylonia had the upper hand of Assyria. Now it so happens that a boundary-stone, dated the 10th year of Marduk- nadin-akhi, records a great victory gained that year over Assyria, so that this 10th year will be B.C. 1107, or, in other words, the first year of M.'s reign must be dated B.C. 1117. c. Assurbanipal, in conne.Kion with the conquest of Elam (c. 640 or later), mentions that the image of a god brought back by him from Elam to Erech had been carried away from the latter city 1635 years before, by Kudur-nankhundi. This invasion of Babylonia by the Elamites must accordingly have taken place c. B.C. 227.5. It is quite possible, however, that, for the reason stated above, this last number ought to be reduced by 368 years, and that the date should be B.C. 1007. d. Mabonidus relates that he restored the temple E-ulmash at Sippar-Anunit (i.e. Agade), which had not been restored since the reign of Shaga- raktiburiash 800 years before. This gives us as the year of the death of the latter (which took place 7.50-800 years before Xabonidus, who himself reigned B.C. 555—539) a date somewhere between B.C. 1300 and 1350. (See further below, under Kurigalzu U.) e. In tlie same inscription (Tr..4/, v. pi. 64) Xabonidus states that 3200 years before himself, the old king Naram-Sin, son of Sargon (now known to us from the inscriptions as Sargiini-shar-ali, king of A.gadc), founded the temple of Samas at Sippar. This carries us to the high antiquity of B.C. 3750 for the reign of NarS,m-Sin. This fi.gure, however, for the above reason, should certainly be reduced to c. B.C. 3400. f. Nabonidus further mentions, in an inscription which found its way to the I5rit. Museum in 1885, that Burnaburias restored the temple of the sun at Larsa 700 years after Ivhamnuirabi. Since this undoubtedly refers to the more celebrated monarch of that name, Burnaburias II. (c. 1400- 1375), we are enabled thus to fi.\ the date of Khanimurabi's reign at c. B.C. 2100. And, as a matter of fact, we obtain c. 2139-2084 as the date of his reign, if we follow tlie later custom of adding together the years of dynasties A and B as if they had been successive instead of con- temporaneous, and if we assume (with Dr. Peiser, Zeitsch. f. Assyr. vi. 264-271) as the probable duration of dynasty C only 399 instead of the traditional 576 years (6 sosses and 39 years, instead of 9 sosses and .30 years). In reality, however, Khammurabi, the contemporary of Abraham, must have reigned B.C. 1772-1717 or 1949-1894. History of Babylonia. As far back as we can go, and thus in any case considerably earlier than B.C. 4000, we find Sumerians and Semites side by side in Babylonia. Yet we can see clearly enough — (1) that the Semites in the earliest period were .settled for the most part in the X.W., and that they penetrated into Babylonia from Meso- In any case, Burnaburias i. reigned only 40 years earlier. potamia (Harran), while the Sumerians, at a very early date, were confined to the extreme S.E. of the Euphrates region ; (2) that the Sumerians were the founders of Bab. civilisation, and that in the remotest antiquity they certainly at one time occupied the whole of Babylonia. The Semites not only employed at all times the Stimerian wrilinfj, which they accommodated as they best could to their purposes, but for a long time (at least for official records, such as dedicatory inscrip- tions) they used the Sumer. language as well. It was not till shortly before Sargon of Agade (c. B.C. 3500) that in N. Babylonia inscriptions began to be composed also in Semitic. At the period to which the oldest hitherto dis- covered inscriptions belong, the canal running from N. to S. (the modern Sliatt-el-Hai), and uniting the Tigris with the Euphrates, formed the boundary between two very ancient kingdoms — the Sumer. kingdom of Sirgulla (Lagash) or Girsu, lying to the E. of the above-named canal, and the Semit. kingdom of Uruk (Erech) and Ur to the W. of the same canal. A part of the latter kingdom, probably the region between Ur, Arabia, and the Persian Gulf, on the right bank of the Euphrates, was already known as Ki-Ingi, i.e. region of Ingi, a name which soon came to be applied to the whole kingdom of Erech, but more especially to that part of it which lay in S. Babylonia, to the W. of Sirgulla. The oldest form of this name appears to have been Imgur or Imgir. From Ki- Imgir arose in cotirse of time, through dialectical pronunciation, Shimir, Shtimir (from the time of Khammurabi onwards the name for S. Babylonia) ; while the intermediate form Shingnr has been preserved in the Heb. i>j'J', .S7i i'h a r, properly Shing- har (Gn lO'" 11"). The oldest religious centre of the kingdom of Sirgulla was Xun-ki or Uru-dugga (Eridu, see above, p. 215''), while that of Erech and of the Bab. Semites in general was Nippur, with its sanctuary of Bel of ancient fame. Ace. to Talmudic tradition, the biblical Calneh (Gn lO'o, cf. Is 10^ I. XX, TT}V x^par T7JC ^Trartij Ba8v\u>vos Kal XaXafinj, ol 6 ivvpyot <f'KoSoiirj8ri) was only another name for Nippur, and, in point of fact, in an enumeration of the most important cities of Nim- rod's kingdom (Babel, Erech, Accad, Calneh), Nippur could scarcely be omitted. A third kingdom which meets us even in the oldest inscriptions (e.g. in those of king En-shag- sag-anna [Bel-shar-shame ?]) as a rival of Erech, is that of Kis (written Kis-ki). This name was also borne at a later period by a city that lay some three leagues N.E. of Babel. A close con- nexion subsisted between this Kis, whose popula- tion was also undoubtedly Semitic, and a city on the Tigris called Sabban (written Ud-ban-ki, 'city of the" hordes of the bow'), probably the later Opis. In the oldest dedicatory inscriptions found at Nippur, we find mention not only of priest- princes (Patesi, e.g. a certain Utuk), but also of kings of Kis (e.g. En-bil-ugun and Ur-Dun-pa- uddu or Amil-Nabu). One of the most remarkable of the above-named kings of Erech was Lugal-zag gi-si (Semit. perhaps Sharru-mali-imukki-kini, -the king is full of eternal strength'). He calls himself 'king of Erech, king of the world (kalamma),'' while to his father Ukush he gives only the title ^patesi of Gishban' ('bow-city,' i.e. Harran in Mesopotamia). Besides Erech, he possessed also I'r, Earsa, Nippur, and Gishban (Harran) ; Sippar-Agade and Babel appear as yet to have played no part in history, while both in Kis and in Sirgulla their own kings held sway. The date of these old kings of Erech must Vie fixed at the latest at somewhere before B.C. 4000. .ludging from the type of writing, this period included also a certain Lugal-ki-^aU-ni-gul- B.4_BYL0XIA BABYLONIA yul (Sem. perliaps Sharru-mushaklil-manzazi) and liis son Lugal-si-kisal, both of whom style them- selves -king of Eicch, king of Ur.' The kings of Sirgulla, En-ghigalla, and Uru-kaginna must also be assigned to the same era. While the two last- name<l very ancient moiiarchs have left us only a few inscriptions, we have all the more nuinunients of Ur-ghanna (ace. to others to be read Ur-Xiiut), and of his Lrrandson E-dingirrana-du. The latter in partieular, who by preference styles himself • pdlesi,' in.stead of 'king,' of Sirgulla, must have been a great warrior. The so-called ' Vulture- Stele ' (now in Paris), the earliest monument of old Bab. sculpture, and otlier recently-discovered stones, give us both by word and by picture a detailed account of his great victory over the cities of Gishbau (Harran), Kis, Sabban, and Az, and the consequent deliverance of Erech, Ur, and Larsa from the lian<ls of the N. Bab. Semites. It is an interesting circumstance that already at this dale there is mention also of a city A-idinna (.Semit. NSdu), in which we may recognise with certiiinty the 'Nod in front of Eden' of Gn 4'^. It is, perhaps, the same city whieli meets us some centuries later under the name Agade (Akkad) or Sippar-Anunit. To the nephew of E-dingirrana- du, the patesi En-timinna, we owe a silver vase, remarkable for the fineness of its execution, with the figures of anitnals portrayed upon it. As (leilicatory inscriptions of this patesi have been found also at N'ipjjur, he nmst certainly, like his uncle, have had possession also of N. Babylonia. This hegemony of .Sirgulla over Erech and Nippur may have existed about and after B.i'. 40110. During the following centuries, however, we find Xippur again in the hands of Semit. kings, who arrogate to themselves the proud title luijal ki-ih, i.e. ' king of the world.' t To these monarclis (.\Ia-ishtu-su and Alu-musharshid) we owe the earliest known of Bab. inscriptions coinpo.sed in Setiiitic. They resided either at Kis or at Agade. Shortly thereafter (c. B.C. 3.J00) we meet witii the first real kings of Agade (see above, p. ^i}"), Sar- gani-shai'-ali (later curtailed to Sargani) or Sargon, and his son Naram-Sin the latter of whom, how- ever, no longer styles himself 'king of Agade,' but ' king of the four quarters of the world ' (skar kihiu'iti arha'i). An omen-tablet, dating from a later period, tells us of great expeditions of Sargon, reiichiiig as far as the coast of the .\Iediter., which is perfectly credible, for it was the Conquest of Syria that led to the introduction of the title 'king of the four quarters of the world,' which was actually a.ssumed by Sargon's son. And the evidence that NarS,tn-Sin extended his sway far beyond the limits of Babylonia is furnished by the inscription, coupled with a portrait of him, which was found at Diarbekr in N. Mesopotamia, and by the alabaster vase which is entitled 'a piece of booty from the land of Magan,' i.e. Arabia. That at this period the Bab. sway extended over N. Syria, Mesopotamia, Elam, ami N. Arabia, may be regarded as certain, and one of the most recent 'finds' of do Sarzec has proved al.so that amongst the va-s-sals of Naram-Sin was a patesi of Sirgulla. named Lugal-ushumgal. Whether the rule of these kings of Agade en- dured yet longer we know not. On the other hand, the pate.^i of Sirgulla must have for many centuries maintained their supremacy over S. E. liabylonia. < )ne of these, the famous Gudea, prob- ably exttMuled his sway over even tlio whole of Babylonia. In his numerous and lengthy inscrip- • Or K-illnKiirrAna'i;innn. Tlic name = ' bringing (going) Into tlio liMusu of liU iro(l.' t Thi" ilotvnnlimtlvo of jilixcc bilnc omillml. ■ Kin? of Kin ' " oulil lie liignl A'h/i-ii ; luit, nt the niiliio tlini', tho title liigill <•!»/) oont.iliis a |.lav upMn th.' iKiinc of tli.> dtv Kli. tions, all composed entirely in Sumerian, he boasts of having brought the stones and timber for his buildings from the most diverse regions and moun- tains of the west country (Martu) and Arabia. Moreover, he conquered Elam, especially the jiart of it known as Anshan ('asses' land'). Special interest is awakened by the mention of the cedar mountain Amaiiu, the mountain Ibla (for Libia, i.e. I^ebanon ?), the m(niiitain Tidanu of Martu (Dedan in the E. Jordan district), and the name Martu itself (for Amartu, i.e. land of the Amor- ites). (Jf Arabian districts, we find named not only Magan (originally Ma'an ?) or E. Arabia, but also Milukh (N.W. Arabia, probably including the Sin. peninsula), Khakh (near Medina), and Ki- mash (' di.strict of Mash,' the modern Gebel Sham- mar). Kliiikh yielded gold dust, Milukh gold dust and precious stones, Jlagan and Ki-mash copper. Notwithstanding all this, Gudea no- where styles himself ' king of the four quarters of the world,' whence it appears plain that he did not actually possess these regions outsitie Babylonia, but simply ensured by treaties the passage of his cara- vans through them. Of his predecessors (Ur-Ba'u, Nam-inaghani. Ur-Xiiisuu, etc.) we know nothing of this kind ; their sphere of activity was probably restricted to Sirgulla. Gudea's son, Ur-Ningirsu, was still patesi of Sirgulla, but shortly thereafter a king of Ur named Ur-gur, who was probably of Semit. origin, succeeded in sulijugating the greater part of Babylonia. In almo.st all the cities of Babylonia (Ur, Erech, Larsa, Nipjiur) we encounter temples built by him, and he was, at the same time, the first to assume the title 'king of Ki- Ingi and Ki-bnr-bur (Akkad),' which, at a Inter period, was rendered 'king of Sumer and Akkad.' But it was his son Dungi who succeeded in de- throning the last patesi of Sirgulla, one IdimiuiXni (written Gullu-ka-ni). Dungi also built a temple for Nin-Shu-anna (i.e. 'lady of Babel,' to be identi- fied with Zarpanit the wife of Merodach), and for Nergal (Shit-lani-ta-uddu-a) the temple of Shit- lam at Kutha, as well as various temples at Sir- gulla and Girsu (Telloh). To what period Ur-gur atid Dinigi are to be assigned cannot unfortunately be determined with certainty, since we do not know whether the space of time that intervened between them and the kings of Nisin was a long or a short one. The very latest date we can assign to Gudea is c. li.C. 2500, to Ur-gur and Dungi of Ur c. 2400, and to the kings of Nisin c. 2.'300-2100 ; but it is quite conceivable that Ur-gur and Dungi reigned as early as c. 2700-2(i00, and (iuiiea c. 2800. It must further be mentioned that there are Semit. as well as Sumer. inscriptions, in which Dungi styles himself not ' king of Ki-Ingi and Akkad,' but 'king of the four quarters of the world,' a ciicutnstance which points to the fact that he must have held possession of part of Syria atid Elam, and thus, as a matter of course, of Mesopotamia. About the same period we Iiave to place a certain Mutabil, governor of Dtlr-ilu, who calls himself ' breaker of the heads of tho people of Anshan (Elam), uprooter of Barakhsi.' Since his special god is Gudi ( = Nabfi?), and his capital Dflr-ilu, it is certain that the Elatnite district of lamutbal, wlio.se capital was also Dur-ilu, derived its name from him (Elam. t(i = land, and Miiilml = . Mutabil). The land of Barakhsi is already mentioned, in conjunction with Elam, by Alii- musar.sid of Kis, as a concpieied region ; the name reminds one both of Barkhazia (a Median province in time of Tiglath-pileser ill.) and of the well- known Barsua (for Barakhsi may bi' read Bara'si). Of thc> same date, iu all probability, are the bricks, found by M. I'ognon, of the three patesi of Ashiiunna (or UinliaslO, viz. Ibalpll, Ur-Ningi.s- 226 BABYLONIA BABYLONIA zidda (or Ainil-Xusku), and KuUaku. It is differ- ent with tlie inscription of Icing Anu-banini of Lnlub, found in tlie mountains of Batir (tlie modern Ser-i-pul near Holvan), and esp. witli tliat of king Lasirab of Guti. Tlie character of the signs used justifies us in assigning these to a mucli earlier date, about the time of Naram-Sin of Agade, or shortly thereafter. The kings of Nisin, of whom we now know a whole series (Ishbi-Xergal, Amil-Nindar [I'r-Nin- ib], Libit-Istar, Uur-Sin, Idin-Dagan, and Ishmi- Dagan), were, as their names show, Semites. Tliey held Nippur (which is always named first in their inscriptions), Ur, Eridu, Erecb, and Xisin ; and, like the middle kings of Ur (Ur-gur and Dungi), they style themselves ' king of Ki-Ingi and Ivi- bur-bur (Sumer and Akkad).' The site of Xisin has not yet been accurately determined ; at a later period it was jironounced Isin, and in the time of the so-called Pashi-dyna.sty (12th cent. B.C.) was the seat of a Bab. governor, on the same footing as Babel itself, Khalvan, Namar, and Ushti. The last of these monarchs, Ishmi-Dagan, was followed by the so-called younger kings of Ur. The first of these was one Gungunu. probably, as his name suggests, a usurper. Besides him we know of three successive kings, Ini-Sin, Bur-Sin (written differently from the king of Xisin of the same name), and Gimil-Sin. In addition to Ur, they held in Babylonia certainly Xippur and Eridu, and styled themselves not ' king of Ki- Ingi and Akkad,' but uniformly ' king of the four quarters of the world.' Numerous contracts of sale, dating from this period, te.stify not only to the flourishing condition of trade, cattle-breeding, and agriculture, but also to the political import- ance of the kingdom. These kings of Ur waged successful wars against Zapshali (on the borders of Cilicia and Syria), Elam (Anshan), Lnlub (in X.E. of Babylonia), Sabu, and Ki-mash (in N. Arabia), and other territories. Several of these countries became Babylonian va.ssal-kingdoins, whose princes married Babylonian princesses. This was the case, e.g., with Zapshali, Anshan, and Markhasi. Nevertheless, these kings of Ur do not appear to have had posse.ssion of the whole of Babylonia ; for the great a.strological work, 'Illumination of Bel,' which originated at this epoch, and which once names even king Ini-Sin, makes it plain that be- sides the kings of Ur there were kings of Kisharra (Sumer. ki-sharra, synonym, with kish, 'world') and Akkad. These are mentioned even as rivals of the Ur monarchs. We hear also of kings of Imgi (cf. Ingi in the name Ki-Ingi). Since Imgi became afterwards the ideogram for Kaldu, ' Chaldees,' this will, at the time of the kings of Ur, have been the designation of the extreme south of Babylonia, the .so-called 'sea-land.' The a.stro- logical work mentions also foreign enemies, such as Elam and Anshan, Guti, the Sut;ean nomads, Ishnunna, the island of Bahrein, Xituk or Dilniun, the land of Khatlu. and very frequently the land of Martu. If this first mention of the Hittites is highly interesting, still more worthy of our atten- tion is the connexion in which Martu (the west land) is introduced. This implies that at that period Ur exercised supremacy over the whole of Palestine (including the eastern Jordanic teiTitory and Ccele-Syria). For, when the king of Ki- sharra (N. Babylonia) in passing snatches the sceptre of Ur, Martu at the same time falls into his hands. The name Sab Manda (or Umraan Manda, a designation at a later period of the Scy- thians and Medes) also occurs in the astrological work, where it is applied to the Elamite mountain- eers, who carried off the image of Bel (the god of Nippur). To the same period (c. bc. 2100-I90O at the latest) ought to be assigned, in all probability, certain kings of Erech, who have left us inscrip- tions, viz. Sin-f/ashit (who, like Gisdubar, styles himself son of the moon-goddess Nin-sun, and whose possessions, besides Erech, included the Elamite border-land of Amnanu) and Sin-gamil, A vassal of the latter, named Ilu-ma-ilu (properly Ilii-ma-Gisdubba, but generally called simply Ilu-ma), the sou of Nab-shimia, was the founder of the so-called 2nd dynasty in the Bab. list of kings (B.C. 1948-1580). Within the last decades of the yoimger kings of Ur falls also the attack upon Erech by the lilamite monarch Kudur- naukhutidi (see above, p. 22-1''). The younger kings of Ur were followed by the kings of Larsa (c". B.C. 1900-1750 at the latest). One of the first of these was y^ur-Bamman, who takes the title 'shepherd of Ur, king of Earsa.' His son iSin-idiiina first arrogated to himself the additional title, 'king of Ki-Ingi and Ki-bur-bur (Sumer and Akkad),' which implies that he must have extended his sway from the region of Ur and Earsa as far as N. Babylonia. His successors bore the same title ; we know two of them — one whose name also begati with Sin, and another tlie Elamite king's son Ira-Aku, who as king of Earsa took the names also of Rim-Sin and Arad-Sin. (All three forms of the name mean ' servant of the moon-god.') About the same time as Sin-idinna assumed the title 'king of Sumer and Akkad.' an Arabian dynasty established itself in Babylon, which now for the first time becomes of political importance. This is dynasty A of the Bab. list of kings. Ace. to the most probable reckoning, it lasted from 1884- 1580 B.C., and its kings were the following : — years Sumu-abi . . 15 Siiinu-ia-ilu 85 Zabi'ii . . . 14(sonoffonner) Apil-Sin . . 13 „ Sin-nuiballit SO „ Kbammu-rabi 55 „ As we mentioned already, Iri-Aku, the contem- porary of Khammurabi, was of Elamite origin. His father Kudur-Mabuk was king of the border- land of lamutbal (see above, p. 225''). It was the latter who, under the protection of the Elamite king Kudur-Lagamar (see above, p. 222'), dethroned the Semite kings of Larsa, and installed his son Iriaku in their place. In an inscription Kudur- Mabuk even calls himself adda (i.e. in W. Semit. mnlik, 'king') of Martu. This renders perfectly intelligible the account given in Gn 14 of Kndur- Lagamar's (Chedorlaomer's) attack upon the terri- tory extending from Sodom to Elath. King Tud- ghiil (Tidal) "of Guti (Goiim), and Khammu-rabi (semitici.sed Kimtu-rapaltu, hence Amarpal, the Amraphel of Gn 14') of Babylon, were vassals of the Elamites. As early as the reign of Sin- nmballit, Iriaku had captured the city of Nisin, as we learn from dates in contract-tablets. An in- scription of Iriaku's further mentions the capture of Erech. The later Bab. legend (.see above, p. 222>>) could even tell of a plundering of Babylon by Kudur-Lagamar. The energetic Ivhammnrabi (prob. K.v. 1772-1717) succeeded, however, in shaking off the Elamite yoke, and in driving not only Iriaku of Larsa, but also his father Kudur-Mabuk, out of Babylonia. In this way the supremacy over the west land (Martu) came into Khammurabi's hands, as is i>erfectly established by recently discovered inscriptions, in which not only Khammurabi, but his third successor Animi-satana, take the title ' king of Martu,' in .addition to such Bab. titles as ' king of Babel,' or ' king of Sumer and Akkad.' • It is certiinlv no fortuit<>iis circumstance tbat in Egypt, abont tbe same pei-iod, an Arabian dynasty, the so-called Uylisos, held rule. years Samsu-iluna ' H5(son of former) Abishu'a . . 25 ,, Ammi-satana 2.5 ,, Ammi-zaduga 22 ,, Samsu-satana 31 ,, BABYLONIA BABYLONIA 227 From the time of Kliaiiimurabi onwards, the city of Babel (Jiab-ili, "pate of God,' Sumer. Ka- dinyirra and Tin-tir, the huter='seal of life') con- tinued to be the residence of the Bab. monarchs. Altlioush the above-named kinj; was of Arabian descent, yet the Babylonians, down to the latest generations, considered him, on account of his ex- pulsion of the Klamites ami his canal works, to be the real founder of the Bab. kint;ilom, which from his time onwards was inseparably associated in men's u)inds with the metropolis Babel. The pros- perity of the countrj' under his rule and that of his successors is witnessed to by a number of contract- tablets. In one of the latter, dating from the reign of Ai)il-Sin, we encounter Abi-nXmu as a per- sonal name, as the father indeed of one Sha-raartu ; showing that the biblical name Abraham was current in Babylonia even two generations earlier than Khamuuirabi. Nearly about the same date falls also the founding of the Assyrian empire (see AssVHi.v). This took its rise probably from Nisin, for Hesen of Gn lO^^ is the same name as Nisin (cf. I'nuk with Uruk, Erech), and the royal name, Ishmi-Dagan, meets us botli at Nisin and at Assur, and that too at the earliest i)eriod, c. B.i'. 1800. The Arabian dynasty (A in kings' list) was in all probability succeeded immediately by the so-called Kassite dynasty (C of list.c. li.c. 1 580-1 i80), which derives it.s name from the ancient designation Kash for Klam. This explanation is to be pre- ferred to that which derives the epithet from Koffffaioi, the wild mountaineers who were subdued by Sennacherib, and who by him are certainly called Ka.s.<u. The founders of the Kassite dynasty were natives rather of the extreme south of Baby- lonia, bordering upon Klam, the region which was called Kardunias, i.e. land of the Kardu (dialecti- cally Kasdu) or Kaldu. In the lime of the Kassite dyna.sty this name was extended to designate the whole of Babylonia. The first king of this dynasty was Gnddash (in kings' list Gandish), who styles him.sclf 'king of the four quarters of the world, king of Sumer and Akkad, king of Babalain.' We have no very e.\acl details till we come to the seventh king, A'ju-knk-rimi (also called simply Agu), the son of Ir-Ziguruvash. He calls hini.self ' king of the Ka.s.sites and .\kka<lians. Icing of the wide land of Babel, who causes luinierons peoples to .settle in the land of Ashnunnak, king of I'adan (Mesopotamia, cf. the ()T ' I'addan-aram ') and Alman (the district E. of Mesopotamia and S. of As.syria), king of the land of (iuti, widely extended peoples, the king who rules the four quarters of the world.' He records how he brought back from the land of Kliani (N. Syria) the images of Merodach and Zarpanit, which had formerly been carried off. Khani (also called Akhilnu, lakhanu, and Khiana) is the region between Carchemish and 'Azaz, hav- ing Arpad for its capital. The juoper home of the Hillitcs was Khani-rabbat, the 'great Kheta-land ' of the Egyp. inscriptions, to the N. of the above region, between Mar'ash and Malatiyeh. As the territorial name Khattu w;is ))robably originally Klianlu, an invasion of Babylonia by the llitliles must have taken place shortly before the reign of Aiin-kak-rimi. Now the accession of the latter nnist be dated c. B.C. 1500, and this mention of predatory incursions of the llittites into Babylonia thus tallies pretty well with the first mention of the llittites in the Egyp. inscriptions under Talmtmes in. (iic. 150:{-l"4-lfl). With the third or fourth successor of Agu-kak- rimi begin the relations of Babylonia with the aspiring empire of Assyria. (The details have already been fully given in article Assvi:i.\, hence in what follows we shall notice only what has no connexion with Assyr. history.) The first kings about whom we again possess detailed information are those who had diplomatic relations with the Pharaohs Amenhotep III. and IV., and whose letters have been recovered through the famous ' find ' of clay tablets at Tel el-.\marna (see above, p. ii2.'!"). The circumstance that at that period (shortly before and after I! ( . 1400) Babylonian was the language used for official communications all over W. Asia, is now readily explained as the con- sequence of the hegemony of Babylon over the western land, which endured for centuries (from the time of the younger kings of Ur till c. B.C. 1600). From the correspondence between Kallimnia- Sin of Kardunias and Nimmuria (Amenhotep III.) of Egypt, we gather that the father of Kallininia- Sin (probably Kurigalzu I.) had formerly given his daughter in marriage to Amenhotep III., and that a daughter of Kallirama-Sin's is now to be sent to the harem of Amenhotep. The same subject, that of marriage and gifts, is discussed in the letters of king Burnaliurii'.<i II. (B.C. 1410-1380?) to Nap- khuraria (Amenhotep IV.) the son of Nimmuria. Burnaburias speaks of hini.self as the son of Kuri- galzu, and of the latter ;us the contemporary and friend of Amenhotep III.; presumably, tlierefore, B. w.as a younger brother of Kallimma-Sin, who must have died young. Of the Assyrians B. speaks as his own subjects, but of the land of Kinahhu (Canaan) as an Egyp. province through which his ambassadors have to pass. It is also mentioned that the friendly relations between Egypt and Babylonia date from the time of the Bab. king Kara-indas, i.e. the fourth or fifth predeces.sc u- of Burnaburias II. Burnaburias II. was probably succeeded liy Kndur-Bel (who reigned at leitst eight years) ; theii came Kara-k-lianlan, the son-in-law of the Assyr. king Assur-uballit, who reigned but a .short time, and'was .succeeded by his son luiiliis/imaii-k-liarhi I. The latter conquered the Snla'an nomads, and constructed fortresses for defence against them in the land of Amurrfi (Coele-Syria). On account of his relationship, however, to the Assyr. king, he was not regarded as a gemiine Kassite, and was assassinated. Shuzig<as (or, ace. to another account, Nazibugas) was placed upon the throne, but was immediately deposed by the Assyrians, who in- stalled in his place Assur-uballit's gi'andson, Kuri- gal-vu II. (i:!(!4-i;i:;0 ?) who was still in his minor- it}'. It is impo.ssible to say for certain whether the previously mentioned (p. iLM") Shaijardktihnrias, the son of Kudur-Uel, was a rival king (perhaps during the minorily of Knrig.alzu II.), or whether he directly followed Kudur-Bel. The first, how- ever, appears the more likely. In a recently-dis- covered passage of the synchronistic history (IW, new series, v. 108) there is nfcrence to internal complications during part of the reign of Kuri- galzu II. The latter, the 'king without an equal,' was a powerful monarch ; he conquered the city of .Shfisha in Elam, i.e. the well-known ,Susa, and .assumed the title of 'king of Sumer and Akkad, king of the four (|uarters of the world.' The name of the Elamite king whom he conciuered was Khurba-tila. Kurigalzu II. was succeeded by \a:i-miiniddaii (i;J20- 1206), Juida/lman-liiriiii (1204-1278), Kadasmait-huria.s (1277-1276), an un- named king (1275-1270), Skdi/iirakti-.iunas (l2(i'.i- 1257), Bihiiia.i (1250-l'24i0, 'Hel-Si(m-idiiHl (1248- VHl),Kad,ishman-khiirbi //. (1247-124()),and 7i''/»i- mUn-Sum-idiiui (124(1-1240). See AssviUA. Under the last three Babylonia had uuich to suffer from the inroads of the Elamite king Kidin-khutrutas. An upward movement, however, again took place during the .'iO years' reign of HammClnium-iKur (12;i»-1200) and the reigns of his son Meli-Siiuik (1208-1194) and his grandson ^fa)■duk-|)al■idilla (110;!-11S|). To the time of these three kings 228 BABYLOXIA BABYLONIA belong the oldest known boundary-stones with the zodiacal signs portrayed upon them. (These are fully described by T. G. Pinches, in liis Guide tu the Nimroud Central Saloon, London, 1880, pp. 44-55. After the last of these Kassite kings Zamama-sum-idina (B.C. 1180) and Bel-sum-idina (1180-1177) there followed a Semitic reaction, which connects itself with the Dynasty of Pashi (1177-1043). Unfortunately, the name of the founder of this new dynasty is un- known. The fourth, in all probability, of its kings was XabO-kudurri-uzur (Nebuchadrezzar) /., the son of Xindar-nadin-sami (written Nin-ib-suni-niu). He waged war on the mountaineers of E. Babylonia (including Elani), and also on the land of JIartu. Unfortunately, his inscriptions do not make it perfectly clear with what part of Syria he engaged in hostilities, but it appears to have been the district of Antilibanus, for in an inscription which ought probably to be ascribed to him there is mention of a war against the peoples of the land of Khattu and against Ammananu (cf. Lamanan of the Kgj'p. inscriptions). From an elegiac poem we learn that the statue of Bel had been captured by the enemy, but was then recovered by Nebu- chadrezzar. On this occasion the king consulted the ancient oracles of the astrological work ' Illumination of Bel,' where in point of fact there is mention of the return of the statue of Bel from Elam to Nippur in the time of the younger kings of Ur. From all this it is quite plain that when Nebuchadrezzar received the kingdom it was in a dilapidated condition. Nebuchadrezzar was succeeded by Bel-nadin- apU. Then came Marduk-nadin-akhi (see above, p. 224»), who reigned B.C. 1117-c. 1100, Mardiik-iSapik- zirim, and Bamman-pal-idina (see AssviMA). The next to the last of the eleven Paslii kings was Marduk-akhe-irha (B.C. 1064-10-52). To his reign belongs a boundary-stone, on which we read the name of a Khabirite, Kudurra the son of Basish, along with a certain Kassa an<l one Khirbi-Bel. We know also of a Khabirite, Kharbi-shipak, from another text which treats of campaigns of the Assyrians and Babylonians in Phoenicia ( Il'-l/, pi. y4. No. 2). This shows that the Khahiri, who play an important r61e in the Tel el-Amarna corre- spondence as enemies of Jerusalem, cannot possibly be the Hebrews, but must have been Kassite Babylonians. The Pashi dynasty was followed by the kings of the Sea-land, i.e. the district in the extreme south of Babylonia. The Kassite nationality of this dynasty, which lasted from B.C. 104:5-1022, is evident from the names of its kings — Simmas- shipiik, Ea-mukin-ziri, and KaH.su-nKdin-ukhi. Tlie next dynasty was that of Bazi, which in- cluded three kings who reigned from 1021-1002, viz. E-ulmash-sliakin-shumi, Xindar-kiidurri-uzttr, and Amil-Skukamuna. These were followed by a single Elamite kinf, whose name has not been preserved (1002-09G). This whole period, from the end of the Pashi dynasty, was a stormy one. Shortly before, the temple of Samas at Sippar had been destroyed by the Sutasan nomads ; then during the reign of Ka.ssfi-nadin-akhi there was a great famine — so that the land had no rest. It was not until the next, once more a Babylonian dynasty, that better conditions were again inaugurated (B.C. 995-7.32). The tirst king, Xabii-mukin-apli, to whose reign an extant boundary-record must be assigned, reigned 36 years (B.C. 995-900), and Xahii-pal- idina, who is known from As.syrian history as a contemporary of Assur-nazir-pal, also had a reign of more than 30 years (c. B.C. 885-853). Be- For the pronf that it is really the twelve-fold diviMon of the Zodiac that is represented here, .see F. Hommel's AstroDcmie der olten ChaldSer' in Ausland, lSUl-lb92. tween these two reigns there is an unfortunate gap, which as yet is represented by only a few names. Only the liist four kings of this dynasty are included in the kings' list. To Nabi'i-pal-idina we owe the beautiful Cttltus- tablet of Sippar, which is adorned with a relief of the sun-god. It was this king that restored the temple of the sun which had lain in ruins since the ravages of the Sutieans, and re-established his worship in Sippar, From the reign of his son and successor Mardnk-.^um-idina down to the rise of the New Babylonian empire under Nabo- pola-ssar, the history of Babylon, so far at least as known to us, is coimected in the closest fashion with that of Assyuia (to which article the reader is referred for details). During this period Baby- lonia was in complete political dependence upon Assyria. When independent movements show themselves, they proceed almost invariably from the Kaldi (Chaldceans) in .s. Babylonia, who were the Semitic successors of the Kassites, and from the nomadic .-^ranifean tribes between Elam and Babylonia. The best type of these Kaldi princes is Marduk-pal-idinn II., the Merodach-baladan of OT, and contemporarj- of Sargon and Sennacherib (see ASSYRIA). A votive inscription of his (in the Berlin Museum) contains a grandiloquent descrip- tion of the prosperity of the land under his sway as compared with the misery of the 'rulerless time ' that preceded his reign. Of Chald;iean oriirin were also the founders of the New Babylonian empire, Nabopolassar and his son Nebuchadrezzar ll. Kahii-pal-uzur (B.C. 62.5-605) wrested his inde- pendence froiii Assyria, and caused himself to be proclaimed king of Babylon. We have inscriptions of his, in which he speaks of building temples at Babel and Sippar, and of constructing a canal at the latter city. Some Bab. cities, however, such as Erech, still belonged to the Assyr. king Sin- sar-iskun. With the view of conquering and detlironing the latter, Nabopolassar allied himself with the >Ianda king (.Vrbaces? See ASSVKIA), i.e. with the leader of the Medo-Scythian hordes. While Nabopol. advanced in person with his army against N. Slesopotamia, the Manda hordes burst into Babylonia, where they plundered the cities that still owned the Assyr. sway, and into Assyria itself, where, c. B.C. 007, Nineveh fell into their hands, and was utterly destroyed. In order to help Nabopolassar, who was hard pressed by the Assyrians, the Manda invaded also the territory of ilarran. It was upon this occasion that the very ancient temple of the moon, which existed there, was destroyed. Thus, by the aid of the Medes, the Babylonians came once more into posse.ssion of Mesopotamia, and so paved the way towards Syria. There, in B.C. 605, at Car- chemish, the crown-prince Nebuchadrezzar defeated Necho of Egj'pt, and in consequence of his victory was acknowledged .is sovereign lord by the whole country as far as the S. border of Palestine. Amongst others, homage was done to him by Judah in the per.son of its king Jelioiakim. The news of his father's death recalled Nebuchadrezzar to Babylon. Xabu-kudurri-uznr II. (the Nebuchadrezzar of OT), during his long reign of 44 years (B.i-. 604- 561), contrived to make Babylonia in the fullest sense the heir of the shatt(>red As.syr. empire. At the same time, by his building activity, he con- verted his capital Babylon into one of the most magnificent and most beautiful cities of antiquity. His chief attention was directed to the Bel-temple Sag-ilia at Babylon, and the Nebo-temple Zidda at Borsippa, but he liy no means neglected the temples at Sippar, Kiitha, Erech, Larsa, and Ur. In addition he constructed in Babylon new streets. BABYLONIA BABYLONIA 229 embankments, and palaces (cf. tlie Greek legend of tlie ' hanging gardens' of Somiramis), and forti- fied the city by double walls, so strong that it might be deemed impregnable. As the inscriptions of Nebuch. speak of almost nothing but his buildings, we have to gain in- formation about his numerous wars from various extra-Babylonian sources, such as the OT and the classical writers. We know the course of events in Jiiildh, where, at tlie instigation of the warlike I'liaraoh Hophra (Apries), Zedekiah, a Babylonian Viissal, renounced his allegiance, an act to wliich Xebuch. replied by laving siege to Jerusalem (•2 K 2o'). The fail of "jeru.salem in B.C. 587 led to the exile of the .lews in Babylon (B.C. 580-537), and made of Judah a Bab. province. A similar fate befell the other states which, in reliance upon Egypt, had withheld their tribute from Babylon, viz. Edom, Moab, Amnion, 'l"y re, and Sidon. Tyre, however, in spite of a 18 years' siege, could not be taken, but had to resume payment of the former tribute. Hophra, after the defeat of his army by Xebuch. (B.C. 587), ventured on no further attack. and it was not till 5ti8 thiit Xebuch. again took the field against Kgypt (where meanwhile Aniiisis had dethroned Hophra), and occupied some parts of the Delta. Of a war carried on by Nebuch. au'ainst ttie Arabs of Kedar we know from .ler 4jii-33 In j|)g course of the war which tlie Median king Cyaxares waged with Lydia, Nebuch. usetl his influence, after the battle on the Halys, B.C. 585, to bring about peace between Lydia and Media. By this politic step lie prevented his dangerous rival from becoming too .strong. Within the reign of Xebuch. al.so falls an event, which at a later period uiuler his succe.ssors proved to have been charged with fateful issues from the Xew Bab. empire, — the occupation of Elam by the newly- arisen kings of Ansan in N. Elara. As late as the beginning of Nebuch. 's reign Jeremiah knows of reigning kings of Elam (.ler 25''^), whereas in 585 Ezekiel already speaks of the Elaniites as dead and gone (Ezk Si-). We know that an Indo- tiermanic prince of I'ers.-Achiemenid.'ean origin, named Teispis (Tslieispis). proclaimed himself king of An.san c. B.C. (JIH). He was the great-grand- father of the famous Kuras (f'yrus), and he left behind him two sons. The elder, Kuras by name (grandfather of Cyrus), fell heir to the kingdom of Ansan, which he probably enlarged by coiKjUer- iiig the rest of Elam ; the younger, Ariaramna, founded for himself a kingdom in E. Iran. He was the great-granilfather of ' Darius the Mede,' the future king of I'ersia. What share Xebuch. had in this conquest of Elam we know not, but some share in it is suggested by a recently-dis- covered inscription, according to which X(^buch. brought back an image of Istar from Su.sa to Erech. The son and successor of Xebuch. was Amil- mardnk (the Evil-merodacli of OT), who reigned from 601-500. It was he who releiised the uiifor- tunateJehoiachin of Judah from his prison(2 K 25-'). Failing to establish him.self on a right footing with the priests, he was murdered by his own brother-in- law, Xeryalsliiir-iizur (the Xeri-gli.ssar of classical writers), who had the priests upmi his side. Neriglis.sar (li.c. 659-550) w,ia m.arried to a d.aughter of Nebuch., and even during the reign of the latter enjoyed the greatest consideration, a-s is )>r'ived by various conlrael-tablets. Like his father, Bel-suin-iskun, he bore the title ruhU imga (' the exalted sage'), a ciivumstance which proves at the same time that Neriglis.sar is to be identified with the Kab-m.ag (= rH'/ffi iniffa) Nergal-sharezer of Jer '.\',fi- ". Xeiigl.'s inscriptions tell us of his building of temples and of the comiiletion of his palace in Babylon. 'I'lje iiii-:s;n;e which runi, 'the rival and adversary 1 destroyed, the foes I exter- minated, the insubordinate opposers I consumed,' refers not only to the murder of Amil-Marduk, but also to foreign enemies, in whom we should probably recognise the same Manda hordes whom Nabonidus shortly afterwarils drove back from Mesopotamia. Neriglissar died in 550, leaving a son scarcely come of age, Lahashi- Marduk, wlio, according to the judgment of the jirie.sts, wiis not fit to rule on account of ' bad character '; and was consequently deposed the same year. A Babylonian, not a Chaldee. was called to the throne in his room, Nabxi-naUd ('the god Nebj is exalted'), the Xabonidus of the classical writers, who reigned from B.C. 555-539. He was more a lover of anti- quarian research than an energetic ruler. He rebuilt a whole series of the oldest Bab. temples, e.g. at Sippar, Larsa, and Ur, and at the same time instituted elaborate inquiries into the history of the building (cf. the dates that have been thus recovered, above, ]). 224"). On the other hand, with the most painful shyness he avoided 15abylon, even when its situation was one of extreme peril ; it was his son Bid-sliar-nziir, the Belshazzar of Daniel, who, in the capital, carried on the work of government, without, however, bearing the title of king. Nabonidus' first concern was to rebuild the ancient temple of Sin in Ilarran. The Manda king Istuvigu {i.e.. the Meiiian iirince Astyages') had, however, invaded Mesopotamia, and it was only when he had been repelled through the assist- ance of king Kuras of Ansan (i.e.. the well-known Cyrus king of Persia, B.C. 558-531)) that Nabonidus was able to prosecute his building design. This repulse of the Manda took place c. B.C. 5.54 or 553. Through his decisive victory over Astyages (B.C. 5.50), Cyras became at the same time king of the Median empire; conse<jueiilly the Bab. Chronicle now calls him 'king of Parsu,' instead of giving him his official title, ' king of Ansan.' In the year 547 took place the successful campaign of Cyrus against Croisus of Lydia, during which Xabonidus .and the king of Egypt h.ad joined the league formed .against Cyrus. The latter was now master of the whole of Asia Minor. The punish- ment of Egypt was deferred till the time of Cyrus' successor C;imby.ses (B.C. .525), but that of Baby- lonia came in 539, in which year (lOth Tamnuiz, i.e. about the beginning of July) Cyrus got posses- sion of Babylon, through the treachery of its priests, without drawing a sword. Three and a half months later he made his trium|)hal entry into the city, and eight days afterwards his general Cubaru (tJobryas) caused the king's son, i.e. BcKshazzar, to be put to de.atli (cf. also Dn 5). X.abonidus was spared, and banished to Karmania. This was the end of the independence of Babylonia, and the beginning of the great Persian world- empire. Xeveitheless, the kings of Persia did every- thing possible to mitigate the lot of the Baby- lonians: they allowed the native form of worship to continue ; exalted B.abylonian to the rank of one of the three languages of the empire (Persian, Elamite, Babylonian ; see above, p. 223") ; and called themselves upon Bab. inscriptions ' king of Babel, king of the countries.' Under the mild rule of Cyrus, the day of return also drew nigh for the .Tews who h.ad remained true to the old home. Thus the end of the Bab. empire means at the same time the beginning of the .lewish conimunily, whose real commencement coincides with the re- building of the temple predicted in Is 44-". When in the latter pas.sage ('yrus (Koresh) is called by J" ' my shepherd,' there is here an allusion to the Elamite etymology of the name Kuras (' shepherd '). According to Strabo, the Aryan name of Cyrus w.as Agra<lates. The later history of Babylon is bound np with 230 BABYLONIA BACCHIDES that of Persia, and afterwards of Alexander the Great and his successors, the Seleucid and Arsacid kings. The names of all these rulers occur in Connexion with the dating of Bab. contract-tablets and in other inscriptions. There is extant, for in.stance, a cylinder-in.scription of Antiochus Soter from IJirs Nirin-oud, in which also the ciueen Stratonike (Astartanikku) is commended to the protection of the Bab. gods. Not only so, but the Bab. literature, even bilingual (Sumer.-Semit. ) liymns not excepted, was still copied out and clierished as late as the Parthian era. The agri- cultural impoverishment of the country under the Parthians led, however, to the gradual dying out of the tradition of the priests which had been so long preserved. The knowledge of the ancient writing and speech was utterly lost until in our own century it was recovered through the acute- ness and enthusiasm of European scholars, and is now in ever-increasing measure shedding light upon the history of the most ancient civilisation, but above all upon biblical history. LITER ATtTRE. — (Those works are not included which deal vfiih Assyria as well as liabylonia. as they have been already enumerated in Literature at end of Assyria). l.O ExcAVAxroNS AND IsspRipTiONS. — V. J .T^lch, Xft ffati ve of u JoHriiey to the ftite of Biih. in. 1811, London, 139; 3. E. Taylor, XotfK on the RuiuKOf Muqeyer, London. 18,5.5 (,//,MN'). yotenon Ahii S/iiihre inn nit' T,l t/ /.o)uii. London. \^:,a{jn AS): W. K. Lot'tus, Tiutri'lKtnul Rfsi'tirctien in ( 'holitfFtt nml Sitsi- atiij, icitlt an Arroutit of Kx4-ttritfion-^(lt WttH'a. the Erech of Ximro.l. London, Km; .1. Oppert, Ejji/'il. en Mimpot.. Paris. l^■.;i ; IL l;a>sani, A'< rtnt IfiKCoverie'i of A tw. Bitli. Cities, Lon- don, 1 ^^4 ( /■.s'Z.'.t ) ; E.deSarzee, Ihi-ou'rerte^m Chii/i/ee, Paris.. l^^l ff. ; U. V, Hilprecht, 7'he BiiIj. Exjieditiou of the I'niT. of J', inif^i/ivttnia. Series A. Cuneif. Texts, vol. i. 2 parts. Philad. KM. 1S96; FnL Uelitzsch, A«Ki/r. Lesextriel-e'. Lei|,2ifr, 188,"); H. Winckler, Der Thontofr/fiiiiil von. E/-Auoirna. 1889-1890 (the tablets of the musounis of Bei-liri and Cairo) ; ('. Ilezold and E. A. Wallis Budce. Thr Tet el-Anulrnrl Tithleta in the Brit. Mut.. London. 189"^; €, Hezold. Catal. of I'l/n. Tot>tets in Komnlnjik t^Meetittn of Brit. Mufi.,i vols^ London, 1SS9-1890; r. Il'aupt. Dim B<ib. XimrmJepoi). Leipzig. 18~l, 1891 ; T, (i. Pini'ties, Texts in the Bab. Wedge- Writing. honi\r)n. lss2; .LN. Stra.ssmaier. Btll>. Texte (New-Bab. contract-tablets), Leipzip, l-^^T It". : (ieortfe Ileisner, Sumer.-Bah. lltpnnen nach. Thonttl- felnt/riech. Zeit. (of the Berlin .Mus.). lierlin. 18;i0. iB) Sr.MEKlAN Languagk (forthe Seniit.-Hal). see Askvria). — A. H. Sayre, On an. Acradian Seat. London. 1871 (Journ. of Philolotry); Act-ad ian Phonotot/i/.'Vrans. of Philol.Soc, London, 18T" ; Fr. l.enoi-niant, La tan(/iie prhnitirede la Chatd^e et leu idiomex '/'oirranienn, Paris, 187,5, Etnden .\t'eadiennei^. :! vols, Paris. lsT:i-lsT9; F. Holnmel. Die mtmero-akkad. S/trarhe. Leipzig', l-'^l (/Ceitsch. f. Ketlschriftf.), The Sinner. Lani./tia{/e and itn Ajtinilien, London, 18S6 (,Afi.l.8l, Siiiiitr. lenrKliicAe, Miinchen, 1894, Oer balj. Cruprmif/ d . irifi/pt _ Kiiltur. Munchen, 1S92; P. \\i\\i\i\. Akkad. u. mnner. K'eHnrhriflte.rte, Leipzijr. Issl-188-2. Die akkad. Sprarhe. Berlin, 1>^1; li. E. Brunnow. A C/a.ii.iri"l /.intof I •iin. Iileoiiraplm. I.,-yderi, 1889 ; A. Amiaud etL. Mefliiliaox, Tatileail eonniare de.^ieri tares Bah. et AnHl/r., Paris, l-^s"; C V. Lehinanli, Vie Eri.ifeiis d. mnner. Spraelie (ai.':nnst Ilalevy's liecliercliei rritii/iiei mir I'origine de la eiriliiiatiun Bab.. Paris, 1870. and other pamphlets of the same author), Leipzig, 1892 (cb. 4 on Samas-sum-ukin making up more than a third of the whole book). {C) Translations, Commkntartes, etc. — E. Schrader, Kei- linm'hriftl. Bibliot. vol. ill. (Bab. historical inscriptions), Ber- lin, 1S90-1S92, vol. iv. (.juridical texts by F. Peiser), Berlin, Is9i;, vol, V. (the Tel el-Amarna letters by IL ■\Vineklcr). Berlin, 18911 ; C. Bezold. Die .-{chivmenid . Innehr.. Leipzig, 1882 ; H. Ziminern. Bab. Bninpnalmen. Leipzii:. ls>.,5; c. F. Lebmann, Sa7nati-nnni- ukin, Konifi eon liati.. Leipzig. I?ir2 (see also above, under (/i)); H. Molssner, Btitrdi/e z. altbiib. Priratrecht (contract- tablets of the linieof Khainniurabil, Leipzig, 1898; H, Ziminern, lieitriige z. Kenii1ninn d. bah. lieliffion (I. die Bescbworungs- tafeln -Surjut'), Leipzig. 189fi; K. L. Tnllrivlst. Die anHi/r. BeHchicorun{if(ne.rie \Maklii,' Helsingfors 1891, 1894 (Acta Son, Fennlea!; L, W, King, Bab. .Ma{/>c and Stirrer;/, being the prayerti of the lifting of the ArtH//, London, 1896; P, Haunt, Die mnner. Eaniiliengesetze, Leipzig, 1879; IL Pognon, Jn- Hcrip. Bah. du Wadi Brissa, Paris, 1887; Fried. Delitzscli, Bab. WeltKchl,pf.-epoa, Leipzig, 1S9C. (/>) Civilisation, Astronomy. Rklioion, etc, — F. Iloniinel, Die Heniit. Volker u. Sprarlien. vol. i.. Die Vornemit. Kitltitren i" JEyitp. u. Bab.^ Leipzig, ISSS, Die Astronomie d. alien rhaldi/er, Stuttgart (In the weekly journal 'Ausland'). 1891, 1892; P. .lonsen, h'onntolof/ie d. Bab., Strassburg, 1890; A. IL Savce, llibberl Lectures (Religion of the ancient Babylonians), London, l'~s7. I/I'.V. 1st ed. 189:i, Dth ed. ISS.'); Ed. Stlicken. .!«- traliiii/lhen d. Hel,r..Bab.. n.,Egyp.. Leipzig. I89t;; A..Ieremias, liab.-Ansyr. Vorstell. r. Leben n. d. Tode. Leipzig. 1887; Fr. Lenormant, La inagie ches les Chaldeens, Paris, 1874 (Eng, tr.. London, 1877), Ladii'ination et la science des presages vhezles Chaldeens, Paris, 1875 ; C. P. Tiele, Gesch. d. Relig. im Alter- turn. I., Gesch, d. eegyp. u. d. bab.-assyr. Relig., Gotha, 189.5; Fr. Lenormant, Les origines de Vhistoire, 2 v(jIs. Paris, 1880, 1882; IL Gunkel, Schiipfung u. (''haos, Gottingen, 189.5; De Clercc) et .J. Menant, Catalogtce method, et raisonne de la col' lection de Clercq, vol, i. (seal-cylinders) Paris, 18S.5 ti'. ; C. F. Lehinanii. Das altbab. Mass- n. Geirichtssystein, Leiden. 1893. (K) History. — G. Smith. Hist, of Babylonia, ed. by .V. H. Sayce, London, 1S77 ; G. Maspero, the Dawn of Civilization ', ed. by A. IL Savce. London, l^'Ji'i; The Struggle of the Xiitions, e<i. by A. II. Sayce, London. 1896; ,1, F. McUurdy, History, Prophecy, and the JVoniinients. vol. 1. New Tofk and London, 1894, vol. 11. New York and London, 1896. F. HOMMEL. BABYLONISH GARMENT n}^' ^V'*, <A'Xi to<- kIXt], RV Bab. mantle). — The Heb. means, liter- ally, 'mantle of Shinar' (Jos 7-i), the name by which Bab. was known to the ancient Hebrews. Naturally, it is not an ea.sy matter to decide, even approximately, what kind of garment this can have been. Jos (Ant. v. i. 10) gives rein to his Imagination, and describes it as 'a royal .garment woven entirely of gold,' or ' all woven with gold.' There is no doubt that a dress of this description would be ' goodly ' in the extreme. The probability is that it was a garment of em- broidered stuff, such as Babylon was famed for (cf. Pliny, viii. 74, and Martial, Ep. viii. 28) ; and the statement in the Bereshith Ilabba (§ 85, fol. 75. 2), that it was a robe of purple (an opinion which R. Chanina bar R. Isaac also shared ; cf. Kimchi on .Jos 7-1), is just as likely to be correct as any other. There were probably many centres of the weaving industry in ancient Babylon, that of Sip|iar being niiLst likely the chief. Many tablets referring to woven stuffs have been found on the site of that city, and testify to the extent of the industiy ; and long lists of dress material and garments bear testimony to the diversity of the work and tlie patterns used. The common expression Iithnlti hirme is generally taken to mean stuffs woven in patterns of various designs, like embroidery, the weaver of such cloth being called l^par (or ulhar) hirmi. T. G. PiNCUES.