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It was to the papakhu that the priests retired when they desired to obtain an oracle direct from the god; and as in the course of time the sanctity of the spot increased, we may well suppose that the occasions when the deity was directly approached in his papakhu became rarer.
In a general way, what holds good of Marduk's papakhu applies to every sacred chamber in a temple, and no doubt views were once current of the papakhu of Bel at Nippur and of the 'holy of holies' in E-Babbara and elsewhere that formed in some measure, a parallel to what the Marduk priests told of their favorite sanctuary.
The assembly of the gods presupposes a systematization of the pantheon, and the fact that it is only the papakhu in Marduk's temple which is known as Du-azagga is a sufficient indication of the influences at work which produced this conception. In the creation epic, there is a reference to the Ubshu-kenna which shows the main purpose of a divine assembly in the eyes of the priests of Babylon.
We may, therefore, take the illustration as a sample of the general character of the sacred chambers in the Babylonian and Assyrian temples in the great centers. The papakhu was decorated with great lavishness. The floors and walls and also the ceiling were studded with precious stones.
Discoveries among the Ruins of Nineveh and Babylon, plan 2. Papakhu for Pakhpakhu, from the stem pakhû, "to close." Parakku, from Parâku, "to shut off, to lock." Inscription D, col. ii. l. 9. V. Rawlinson, pl. 60. See the chief passage, IR. 54, col. ii, ll. 54-65; another name is E-Kua, 'dwelling. See p. 423. VR. 50, col. i. l. 5. VR. 41, No. 1, Rev. 18. IVR. 57, 24a.
In the first place, the close relationship between Marduk and Nabu was emphasized by placing a papakhu to Nabu in the precinct of E-Sagila, which built in imitation of E-Zida at Borsippa was called by the same name. This papakhu, it would seem, was independent of a special temple to Nabu known as E-Makh-tila, and which lay in Borsippa.
Complementing in a measure, the cosmological associations that have been noted in connection with the zikkurat, the papakhu of Marduk was regarded as an imitation of a cosmical 'sacred chamber. As the zikkurat represented the mountain on which the gods were born and where they were once supposed to dwell, so the sacred room was regarded as the reproduction of a portion of the great mountain where the gods assembled in solemn council.
This council chamber was situated at the eastern end of the great mountain, and was known as Du-azagga, that is, 'brilliant chamber. The chamber itself constituted the innermost recess of the eastern limit of the mountain, and the special part of the mountain in which it lay was known as Ubshu-kenna, written with the ideographic equivalents to 'assembly room. It will be apparent that such a view of the papakhu is the result of theological speculation, and is not due, as is the conception of the zikkurat, to popular beliefs.
We may assume that the same was the case with the larger temples of Babylonia, and this three-fold division of the interior, the vestibule, or pronaos, the main hall, or naos, and the papakhu, further warrants the comparison of a Babylonian sacred edifice with the Solomonic temple, where likewise we have the vestibule, the hall known as the 'holy' part, and the 'holy of holies, the one leading into the other.
This room, known as the papakhu or parakku, was the most sacred part of the temple, and it is doubtful whether any but the king or the highest officials had access to it. Certainly, no one could approach the presence of the deity without the mediation of a priest.
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