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It would appear, then, that 'Revelation, from being so constantly associated with Nabu, was personified, dissociated from him, as it were, through the conception of a distinct goddess bearing the name of 'Tashmitum. This process of thought, in giving rise to a new goddess, may have been, in part, a popular one.
The natural desire for novelty together with other circumstances that escape us led one to choose Ramman, another Nin-ib, a third Shamash, and a fourth, as we shall see, Nabu. In doing so they were not conscious of any lack of respect towards Ashur, of whose good will they always felt certain.
The consort of Marduk is only incidentally referred to: once by Sargon, who groups Bel with Sarpanitum and Nabu and Tashmitum, at the head of the gods of Babylonia; and similarly by Tiglathpileser III., on the occasion of his enumerating the chief gods of the Babylonian pantheon. Nabu.
"Lead him to the execution," cried the king, "and let his head be severed from his body and cast one hundred ells away." Falling on his knees, Ikkor pleaded that at least he should be granted the privilege of being executed within his own house so that he might be buried there. This request was granted, and Nabu Samak, the executioner, led Ikkor a prisoner to his palace.
Tashmit has no shrine or temple, so far as known, either in Borsippa or in any of the places whither the Nabu cult spread.
It is always 'Nabu and Tashmitum, and it is never Tashmitum without Nabu. While the creation of Tashmitum may be a product of Babylonian religious thought, it is in Assyrian texts that her name is chiefly found.
The union of Nabu and Marduk was symbolized by a visit which the former paid to his father, the chief of the Babylonian pantheon. In his ship, magnificently fitted out, Nabu was carried along the street known as Ai-ibur-shabû, leading from Borsippa across the Euphrates to Babylon. The street was handsomely paved, and everything was done to heighten the impressiveness of the ceremony.
But besides being the god of wisdom and intelligence, Nabu is a patron of agriculture, who causes the grain to sprout forth. In religious and historical texts, he is lauded as the deity who opens up the subterranean sources in order to irrigate the fields. He heaps up the grain in the storehouses, and on the other hand, the withdrawal of his favor is followed by famine and distress.
In combination, Anu, Bel, and Ea did not mean as much, nor the same thing, to a Babylonian or an Assyrian, as when he said Marduk, or Nabu, or Ashur, or Sin, as the case might be. It was different when addressing these gods individually, as was occasionally done.
The Assyrian rulers regarded it as both a privilege and a solemn duty to come to Babylon and invoke the protection of Marduk and Nabu. In E-Sagila the installation of the rulers over Babylonia took place, and a visit to Marduk's temple was incomplete without a pilgrimage across the river to E-Zida.
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