The Babylonian Legends of the Creation | Page 9

and the fixed stars. In the Fifth
Tablet of the Creation Series (l. 2) the Signs of the Zodiac are called
Lumashi [1], but unfortunately no list of their names is given in the
context. Now these are supplied by the little tablet (No. 77,821) of the
Persian Period of which a reproduction is here given. It has been
referred to and discussed by various scholars, and its importance is very
great. The transcript of the text, which is now published (see p. 68) for
the first time, will be acceptable to the students of the history of the
Zodiac. Egyptian, Greek, Syriac and Arabic astrological and
astronomical texts all associate with the Signs of the Zodiac twelve
groups, each containing three stars, which are commonly known as the
"Thirty-six Dekans." [2] The text of line 4 of the Fifth Tablet of the
Creation Series proves that the Babylonians were acquainted with these
groups of stars, for we read that Marduk "set up for the twelve months
of the year three stars apiece." In the List of Signs of the Zodiac here
given, it will be seen that each Sign is associated with a particular

month.
[Footnote 1: This is the original of the Syriac word for the Signs of the
Zodiac _malwâshê_ (plural of _malwâshâ_). The Syrians added to it an
m, thus giving it a participial form.]
[Footnote 2: [Greek: Dekanoi] also called [Greek: prosopa], [Greek:
horoskopoi], [Greek: philokes] and [Greek: episkopoi]. They were well
known to the Egyptians, who, as early as the fourteenth century B.C.,
possessed a full list of them. See Lepsius, Chronologie, Berlin, 1848,
and Brugsch, _Thesaurus (Astronomische und Astrologische
Inschriften)_, Leipzig, 1883.]
[Illustration: Tablet inscribed with a list of the Signs of the Zodiac. [No.
77,821.]]
At a later period, say about 500 B.C., the Babylonians made some of
the gods regents of groups of stars, for Enlil ruled 33 stars, Anu 23 stars,
and Ea 15 stars. They also possessed lists of the fixed stars, and drew
up tables of the times of their heliacal risings. Such lists were probably
based upon very ancient documents, and prove that the astral element
in Babylonian religion was very considerable.
The accompanying illustration, which is reproduced from the Boundary
Stone of Ritti-Marduk (Brit. Mus., No. 90,858), supplies much
information about the symbols of the gods, and of the Signs of the
Zodiac in the reign of Nebuchadnezzar I, King of Babylon, about 1120
B.C.. Thus in Register 1, we have the Star of Ishtar, the crescent of the
Moon-god Sin, and the disk of Shamash the Sun-god. In Reg. 2 are
three stands (?) surmounted by tiaras, which represent the gods Anu,
Enlil (Bel) and Ea respectively. In Reg. 3 are three altars (?) or shrines
(?) with a monster in Nos. 1 and 2. Over the first is the lance of Marduk,
over the second the mason's square of Nabû, and over the third is the
symbol of the goddess Ninkharsag, the Creatress. In Reg. 4 are a
standard with an animal's head, a sign of Ea; a two-headed snake = the
Twins; an unknown symbol with a horse's head, and a bird,
representative of Shukamuna and Shumalia. In Reg. 5 are a seated
figure of the goddess Gula and the Scorpion-man; and in Reg. 6 are

forked lightning, symbol of Adad, above a bull, the Tortoise, symbol of
Ea (?), the Scorpion of the goddess Ishkhara, and the Lamp of Nusku,
the Fire-god. Down the left-hand side is the serpent-god representing
the constellation of the Hydra.
The mutilated text of the Fifth Tablet makes it impossible to gain
further details in connection with Marduk's work in arranging the
heavens. We are, however, justified in assuming that the gaps in it
contained statements about the grouping of the gods into triads. In royal
historical inscriptions the kings often invoke the gods in threes, though
they never call any one three a triad or trinity. It seems as if this
arrangement of gods in threes was assumed to be of divine origin. In
the Fourth Tablet of Creation, one triad "Anu-Bel-Ea" is actually
mentioned, and in the Fifth Tablet, another is indicated,
"Sin-Shamash-Ishtar." In these triads Anu represents the sky or heaven,
Bel or Enlil the region under the sky and including the earth, Ea the
underworld, Sin the Moon, Shamash the Sun, and Ishtar the star Venus.
When the universe was finally constituted several other great gods
existed, e.g., Nusku, the Fire-god, Enurta, [1] a solar god, Nergal, the
god of war and handicrafts, Nabu, the god of learning, Marduk of
Babylon, the great national god of Babylonia, and Ashur, the great
national god of Assyria.
[Footnote 1: Formerly known as Ninip.]
When Marduk had arranged heaven and earth, and had established the
gods in their