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Secondly, if Shamash conquers Zu, we should expect the sun-god to have the tablets of fate in his possession. Such, however, is not the case, and the only god besides En-lil who is represented in the religious literature of the Babylonians as holding the tablets is Marduk.
Passing on to the lists and the legal documents of the second period, we may note that the gods in whose name the oath is taken are chiefly Marduk, Shamash, Â, Ramman, and Sin. Generally two or three are mentioned, and often the name of the reigning king is added to lend further solemnity to the oath.
In order to maintain the large household represented by such an organization as that of the temple of Enlil of Nippur, that of Ningirsu at Lagash, that of Marduk at Babylon, or that of Shamash at Sippar, large holdings of land were required which, cultivated by agents for the priests, or farmed out with stipulations for a goodly share of the produce, secured an income for the maintenance of the temple officials.
The laws are engraved on a great stele of diorite in no less than forty-nine columns of writing, of which forty-four are preserved,* and at the head of the stele is sculptured a representation of the king receiving them from Shamash, the Sun-god. * See King, Letters and Inscriptions of Hammurabi, 3 vols.
To thy great divinity, O Shamash! great lord! may it be pleasing, and may an oracle be sent in answer! In some of the prayers a second series of omen indications are given. What the oracle announced we are, of course, not told. The ritual is not concerned with results. From the analysis just given it will be seen that the consultation of a deity was often entailed with much ceremony.
The gods, especially Marduk, Ishtar, Shamash, and Ramman, by putting 'grace' into the omens, could at any time change them into favorable indications. Vorgeschichte der Indo-Europaer, pp. 221 seq. E.g., IIIR. 51. Ib. no. 1. The 1st month of the year. IIIR. 51. no. 2. Ib. no. 3. IIIR. 51, no. 9. Ib. no. 7. What the station of this official was we are not told. IIIR. 58, no. 7.
There is more ground for recognizing real departmental gods in Babylonia and Assyria, though even there the evidence is not quite satisfactory. The great gods, Ea, Bel, Sin, Shamash, Marduk, Ishtar, Ashur, preside over all human interests. Nabu stands for agriculture as well as for wisdom, and Ea for wisdom as well as for the great deep. Nergal is not the only god of war.
The second class of triads, Sin, Shamash, and Ramman, follow, and then the other great gods, Nin-ib, Marduk, Nergal, Nusku, and Gibil; and finally the chief goddesses are added, notably Ishtar, Nin-karrak, or Gula, and Bau. But besides the chief deities, an exceedingly large number of minor ones are found interspersed through the incantation texts.
If it is not possible, let me stretch myself on the ground." Sabitum speaks to Gilgamesh: "O Gilgamesh! there has never been a ferry, And no one has ever crossed the ocean. Shamash, the hero, has crossed it, but except Shamash, who can cross it? Difficult is the passage, very difficult the path. How canst thou, O Gilgamesh, traverse the ocean?
Etana, like Rustem, is accompanied by an eagle, and it would appear that the eagle aids Etana in obtaining the plant. The eagle, in many mythologies, is a symbol of the sun, and it is plausible to conclude that the bird is sent to Etana at the instigation of Shamash.
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