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VR. 61, col. iv. ll. 33, 34. IR. 7, no. ix. Heuzey in De Sarzec's Découvertes en Chaldée, p. 209. Several examples occur in De Sarzec's Découvertes en Chaldée. See also Ward, Proc. Amer. Oriental Soc., May, 1888, p. xxix, and Peters' Nippur, ii. pl. 2. Wellhausen, Reste Arabischen Heidenthums, p. 106. Grotefend Cylinder, col. li. ll. 36-39.
Now Ishtar never appears in this capacity in the Babylonian inscriptions. If there is one goddess with whom she has nothing in common, it is Belit of Nippur. To account for this curious statement on the part of the Assyrian scribes, it is only necessary to bear in mind that the name Belit signifies 'lady, and Ishtar is constantly spoken of as the Belit or lady of battle.
Still, while cheerfully acknowledged by Ea as his equal, it is evident that in older traditions Ea was far superior to Marduk, and the latter replaces Ea as he does Bel. The real creator of mankind, according to certain traditions, is Ea, just as in all probabilities a third tradition existed which arose in Nippur giving to Bel that distinction.
Another of the recently published Sumerian mythological compositions from Nippur includes a number of myths in which Enki is associated first with Ninella, referred to also as Nintu, "the Goddess of Birth", then with Ninshar, referred to also as Ninkurra, and finally with Ninkharsagga.
Heuzey, in a valuable note, already suggests the comparison with the two columns of Solomon's which is here maintained on the basis of the excavations at Nippur. Ib. p. 64. The best example for Assyria is furnished by the magnificent bronze gates of Balawat, now in The British Museum. See the illustrations in Perrot and Chiplez, History of Art in Chaldea and Assyria, i. 142, 143.
These kings of Agade extended their jurisdiction as far north, at least, as Nippur on the one side and Sippar on the other. It is not until about the middle of the third millennium before this era, that Babylon comes into prominence. In the south, as already intimated, the rulers of Lagash and the dynasty of Ur are the earliest of which we have any record.
No city had been created, no creature had been made, Nippur had not been created, Ekur had not been built, Erech had not been created, Eanna had not been built, Apsû had not been created, Eridu had not been built, Of the holy house, the house of the gods, the habitation had not been created. All lands were sea. Here we have the definite statement that before Creation all the world was sea.
But the Baalim were as multitudinous as their worshippers and the high-places whereon they were adored; there was little difficulty, therefore, in identifying the gods and "spirits" of Sumer with the local Baals of the Semitic creed. El-lil became Bel of Nippur, Asari or Merodach Bel of Babylon. But in taking a Semitic form, the Sumerian divinities did not lose their old attributes.
Recently, the expedition of the University of Pennsylvania to Nippur has unearthed remains that appear to belong to an older period, though nothing can be dated with any degree of certainty earlier than 2500 B.C. Still, with proper caution, even the material belonging to a later period may be used for the older periods.
The Assyrian inscriptions prove that, as early as the twelfth century, the theoretical absorption on the part of Marduk, of the rôle taken by the old god Bel of Nippur, which was enlarged upon in a preceding chapter, had already taken place.
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