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There are a few so-called sacred places and shrines in Nazareth the supposed scene of the Annunciation; the traditional Workshop of Joseph; the alleged Mensa Christi, a flat stone which He is said to have used as a table when He ate with His disciples; and so on. But all these uncertain relics and memorials, as usual, are inclosed in chapels, belit with lamps, and encircled with ceremonial.
Belit-ekalli i.e., Belit of the palace appears as the consort of Ninib, the epithet 'ekalli' being added to specify what Belit is meant, and to avoid confusion with the consort of Bel. Ninib's consort, as we know from other sources, was Gula.
Lastly, Sargon calls one of the gates of his palace after Bel, whom he designates as the one who lays the foundation of all things. In this case, too, the old Bel is meant. Belit. In the case of Belit a curious species of confusion confronts us in the Assyrian inscriptions.
Besides this, the old Bel is of course meant, when associated with Anu, as the powers that, together with Belit, grant victory, or as a member of the old triad, Anu, Bel, and Ea, whose mention we have seen is as characteristic of the Assyrian inscriptions as of the Babylonian.
Besides being applied to the consorts of Ashur and of Shamash, 'Belit, in the general sense of 'mistress, is applied only to another goddess, the great Ishtar of the Assyrian pantheon generally, however, as a title, not as a name of the goddess. The important position she occupied in the Assyrian pantheon seemed to justify this further modification and extension in the use of the term.
They are also used in the sense of any permanent provision for a temple through an endowment. Lit., 'the steady' sacrifice. See the technical employment, Dan. viii. 11. VR. 61, col. iv. l. 48-col v. l. 6; see also Ashurbanabal, Rassam Cylinder, col. iv. l. 90. Belit here used for Ashur's consort; see p. 226. See p. 652. Inscription B, cols. vii-viii.
I.e., the Intercalated Elul. Lit., 'raising of his hand to a god' the attitude in prayer. Text erroneously 'mistress. Here and elsewhere Ishtar is used in a generic sense for 'chief goddess'; in the present case Sarpanitum. See above, pp. 82, 151, 206. 'Belit, as 'mistress' in general. Lit., 'place of secrecy, the reference being to that portion of the temple where the god sat enthroned.
We certainly may conclude from these references that the people were taxed in some way for the support of the temples. Ashurbanabal in one place speaks of reimposing upon the population of the south the provision for the sattûku and ginû due to Ashur and Belit and the gods of Assyria; but, for all that, it is not certain that the regular sacrifices at the temples partook of a popular character.
Again Ashurbanabal, in a dedicatory inscription giving an account of improvements made in the temple of Ishtar, addresses the goddess as Belit 'lady of lands, dwelling in E-mash-mash. Anu and Anatum.
Corresponding to each male deity was a female deity: thus, the consort of Marduk was Ishtar, while that of Bel was Belit. Furthermore, the ancient myths appear to have been, cooerdinated, so that from this time on Babylonian, theology presents a certain unity and symmetry, although one is constantly reminded of the very different elements out of which it had been built up.
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