The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria | Page 9

had
become elaborated into one homogeneous whole.
An interesting list.
One of the most interesting documents referring to the holy places of
Babylonia is a tiny tablet found at Nineveh, and preserved in the British
Museum. This text begins with the word Tiawthu "the sea," and goes
on to enumerate, in turn, Tilmun (identified with the island of Bahrein
in the Persian Gulf); Engurra (the Abyss, the abode of Enki or Êa), with
numerous temples and shrines, including "the holy house," "the temple
of the seer of heaven and earth," "the abode of Zer- panîtum," consort
of Merodach, "the throne of the holy place," "the temple of the region
of Hades," "the supreme temple of life," "the temple of the ear of the
corn-deity," with many others, the whole list containing what may be

regarded as the chief sanctuaries of the land, to the number of
thirty-one. Numerous other similar and more extensive lists,
enumerating every shrine and temple in the country, also exist, though
in a very imperfect state, and in addition to these, many holy places are
referred to in the bilingual, historical, and other inscriptions. All the
great cities of Babylonia, moreover, were sacred places, the chief in
renown and importance in later days being the great city of Babylon,
where Ê-sagila, "the temple of the high head," in which was apparently
the shrine called "the temple of the foundation of heaven and earth,"
held the first place. This building is called by Nebuchadnezzar "the
temple-tower of Babylon," and may better be regarded as the site of the
Biblical "Tower of Babel" than the traditional foundation, Ê-zida, "the
everlasting temple," in Borsippa (the Birs Nimroud)--notwithstanding
that Borsippa was called the "second Babylon," and its temple-tower
"the supreme house of life."
The Tower of Babel.
Though quite close to Babylon, there is no doubt that Borsippa was a
most important religious centre, and this leads to the possibility, that its
great temple may have disputed with "the house of the high head,"
Ê-sagila in Babylon, the honour of being the site of the confusion of
tongues and the dispersion of mankind. There is no doubt, however,
that Ê-sagila has the prior claim, it being the temple of the supreme god
of the later Babylonian pantheon, the counterpart of the God of the
Hebrews who commanded the changing of the speech of the people
assembled there. Supposing the confusion of tongues to have been a
Babylonian legend as well as a Hebrew one (as is possible) it would be
by command of Merodach rather than that of Nebo that such a thing
would have taken place. Ê-sagila, which is now the ruin known as the
mount of Amran ibn Ali, is the celebrated temple of Belus which
Alexander and Philip attempted to restore.
In addition to the legend of the confusion of tongues, it is probable that
there were many similar traditions attached to the great temples of
Babylonia, and as time goes on, and the excavations bring more
material, a large number of them will probably be recovered. Already

we have an interesting and poetical record of the entry of Bel and Beltis
into the great temple at Niffer, probably copied from some ancient
source, and Gudea, a king of Lagaš (Telloh), who reigned about 2700
B.C., gives an account of the dream which he saw, in which he was
instructed by the gods to build or rebuild the temple of Nin-Girsu in his
capital city.
Ê-sagila according to Herodotus.
As the chief fane in the land after Babylon became the capital, and the
type of many similar erections, Ê-sagila, the temple of Belus, merits
just a short notice. According to Herodotus, it was a massive tower
within an enclosure measuring 400 yards each way, and provided with
gates of brass, or rather bronze. The tower within consisted of a kind of
step-pyramid, the stages being seven in number (omitting the lowest,
which was the platform forming the foundation of the structure). A
winding ascent gave access to the top, where was a chapel or shrine,
containing no statue, but regarded by the Babylonians as the abode of
the god. Lower down was another shrine, in which was placed a great
statue of Zeus (Bel-Merodach) sitting, with a large table before it. Both
statue and table are said to have been of gold, as were also the throne
and the steps. Outside the sanctuary (on the ramp, apparently) were two
altars, one small and made of gold, whereon only unweaned lambs
were sacrificed, and the other larger, for full-grown victims.
A Babylonian description.
In 1876 the well-known Assyriologist, Mr. George Smith, was
fortunate enough to discover a Babylonian description of this temple,
of which he published a /précis/. According to this document, there
were two courts of considerable extent, the