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A later chiefly theoretical amalgamation of Nabu with a god Nusku will be discussed in a subsequent chapter. Hammurabi and his immediate successors, it is noteworthy, do not make mention of Nabu. A sufficient number of inscriptions of this period exists to make it probable that this omission is not accidental. This dynasty was chiefly concerned in firmly establishing the position of Marduk.
Water and fire are the two great sources of symbolical purification that we meet with in both primitive and advanced rituals of the past. The fire-god appears in the texts under the double form of Gibil and Nusku. The former occurs with greater frequency than the latter, but the two are used so interchangeably as to be in every respect identical.
We must sharply distinguish however, as already emphasized, between the origin and the present form of the rituals. Again, those parts of a ritual in which Gibil, or Nusku, appears prominently would most naturally be produced by priests connected with a temple sacred to the one or the other of these gods.
As for the fire-god Gibil, with whom Nusku is identified, we have merely a reference to a month of the year sacred to the servant of Gibil in a passage of the inscriptions of Sargon. Bel-Marduk.
Shalmaneser II.'s pantheon embraces Ashur, Anu, Bel, Ea, Sin, Shamash, Nin-ib, Nergal, Nusku, Belit, and Ishtar eleven in all. Sargon's practice varies. The best list is furnished by his account of the eight gates of his palace and of two walls, which he names after the gods in the following order: For the inner wall. Nin-ib, who lays the foundations of the city. For the outer wall.
Rawlinson, iii. 68, 22, occurs a deity, 'swine of the right hand, i.e., propitious. Rawlinson, ii. 59, 23. The second element in Pap-sukal is the common Babylonian word for 'servant, or 'messenger; other deities therefore standing in a subsidiary position are also called Pap-sukal. So e.g., Nebo and Nusku. See further on and compare Hommel, Semiten, pp. 479, 480. Inscription B, col iii. 2.
Nebopolassar and his successors are fond of giving themselves the title of 'beautifier of E-Sagila and E-zida. In these great temples sacred to Marduk and Nebo, there were shrines to Sarpanitum, Tashmitum, Nusku, Ea and others, which also engaged the energies of the rulers.
Nusku, great offspring of Anu, The likeness of his father, the first-born of Bel, The product of the deep, sprung from Ea, I raise the torch to illumine thee, yea, thee. The sorcerer who has bewitched me, Through the witchcraft by means of which he has bewitched me, do thou bewitch him.
Of these it is purely accidental that Gibil, Dibbarra, Nusku, and Shala are not mentioned, for, except those that are foreign importations, they belong to Babylonia as much as to Assyria and fall within the periods of the Babylonian religion that have been treated of. Kadi is a foreign deity. There remains, as the only god peculiar to Assyria, the god Ashur.
One of these addresses begins: Nusku, great god, counsellor of the great gods, Guarding the sacrificial gifts of all the heavenly spirits, Founder of cities, renewer of the sanctuaries, Glorious day, whose command is supreme, Messenger of Anu, carrying out the decrees of Bel, Obedient to Bel, counsellor, mountain of the earthly spirits, Mighty in battle, whose attack is powerful, Without thee no table is spread in the temple.
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