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Sixty great gods are round about thee Drawn up in battle array in the center of the citadel. On men do not rely. Lift up thine eyes to me. Look up to me! I am Ishtar of Arbela. Ashur is gracious to thee. Fear not! glorify me! Is not the enemy subdued Who has been handed over to thee? I proclaim it aloud, What has been will be. I am Nabu, the lord of the willing tablet, Glorify me.
Every New Year's day the son paid a visit to his father, on which occasion the statue of Nabu was carried in solemn procession from Borsippa across the river, and along the main street of Babylon leading to the temple of Marduk; and in return the father deity accompanied his son part way on the trip back to E-Zida.
Nebuchadnezzar, so devoted to Marduk and Nabu, appears to have regarded E-Kur as a serious rival to E-Sagila and E-Zida. Some traces of building operations at E-Kur appear to date from the Persian period, but, practically, the history of E-Kur comes to an end at the close of the seventh century.
Taking unto himself the functions of Nabu, he even appears to play upon the name, which signifies 'proclaimer, and styles himself the nabiu Anu, 'the proclaimer of Anu. However this may be, the attempt to suppress Nabu did not succeed, a proof that in early times he had gained popular favor. He had to be readmitted into the Babylonian pantheon, though in a subordinate position to Marduk.
From these two examples we may conclude that the process which resulted in the identification of Saturn with Ninib, Mars with Nergal, Mercury with Nabu rested similarly on an association of ideas, derived from certain conceptions held of the gods involved.
With the prayer to Sin, appeals to other gods and also goddesses are frequently combined, to Marduk, Ishtar, Tashmitum, Nabu, Ramman, and the like.
To Shamash they assigned the rôle played by Marduk. There was no danger in paying homage to Nabu, the son of Marduk. Ishtar they regarded as their own goddess quite as much as Ashur. These four deities, therefore, Ishtar, Shamash, Nabu, and Ashur, are the special gods of oracles recognized by the Assyrian rulers.
On the other hand, the priests in turn would not hesitate speaking of course in the name of the gods to accuse the kings of neglecting Ishtar or Nabu or Shamash, as the case may be. In an oracle addressed to Esarhaddon, Ishtar of Arbela is represented as complaining that the king has done nothing for her, although she has done so much for him. Such a state of affairs cannot go on.
The future additions to the list, it is safe to assert, will increase the second class and only slightly modify, if at all, the first class. Bearing in mind this distinction we may put down as active forces in Assyria the following: Anu, Ashur, Bel, Belit, Gula, Dagan, Ea, Khani, Ishtar, Marduk, Nabu, Nergal, Ninib, Nusku, Ramman, Sin, Shala, Shamash, Tashmitum.
So an oracle, coming from Ishtar and Nabu and uttered by a woman Baya, a native of Arbela, announces: Fear not, Esarhaddon, I, the lord, to thee do I speak. The beams of thy heart I strengthen as thy mother, Who gave thee life. Sixty great gods are with me Drawn up to protect thee. The god Sin is on thy right, Shamash on thy left.
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