deity' had been given the added distinction of 'lord of the Deep' when his people reached the Euphrates valley." Ea, the old water-god was adopted by the Babylonians, becoming the patron god of the city of Eridu, south of Babylon at the mouth of the Euphrates, where his celebrated temple, E-Apsu, was located. He is represented as semi-human and semi-piscine, the lower part of his body and legs being fish-like and covered with scales.

Ea was conceived in a universal sense, and his fame had descended from very ancient times as the friend and general protector of the human race. He was the inventor of writing, the possessor of supreme wisdom, and a teacher who instructed his people in the arts of civilization, industries, literature, and all culture." He was the source of general beneficence, and so of the healing art, and he was the 'lord of incantations,' knowing the potent magic which averted evil, thwarted the designs of evil spirits, demons, and witches, exorcised the demons of disease, appeased the gods, and gained their favor." When he opened his mouth and gave a decision, his word was law; and his oracles were announced with the sound of the roaring surf. The learned priests of the temples conducted schools and were adepts in the rituals of incantation, in the magic arts of divination and astrology, and in the interpretation of all omens and portents, while the highest culture of Babylonia came from his temple at Eridu.

Ea, representing the healing qualities of springs and waters, was the supreme god of healing and was the last resort of the sick and suffering." Appeal was made to

63 Jastrow, "Sumerian and Akkadian Views of Beginnings," in JAOS, 1916, xxxvi, 287, 294-295; and in AMH, 1917, i, 234. 64 Jastrow, Aspects, pp. 89, 93, 95.

65 Id., Religion, pp. 275, 276.

66 Id., Civilization, p. 211.

68

him by sacrifices, prayers, hymns, and incantations, and his ritual revolved about the use of water and of oil, especially the former." The body of the sufferer was sprinkled or bathed with the waters of the Euphrates or of the Tigris, or with those of some sacred stream or spring, to the accompaniment of incantations for purification and for exorcism, the image of the demon of disease being plunged in water and symbolically drowned, or being placed in a boat which was blown away or capsized. Ea was credited with the power of raising the dead," and Damkina, his consort, was sometimes appealed to by the sick, being mentioned in several incantation texts. After the rise of Marduk, who was accepted as the son of Ea, he became the intermediary through whom invocations were made to Ea; Marduk was addressed, but he was supposed to consult with Ea and to receive instructions concerning the methods for healing, Ea being the source, and Marduk the manifestation, of the creative power. The priests of Ea, dressed in robes resembling fish-skins as representatives of the god," recited the rituals of incantation, performed the rites of purification and of sacrifice, and directed the administration of the various remedies with oral and manual magic, the water-expert (the asu, or physician) being a servitor of Ea, and knowing how to secure the coöperation of the deity. The cult of Ea, extending throughout Babylonian and Assyrian territory, retained the respect of the people and continued to exert a strong influence long after the fall of the Mesopotamian Empires."2

67 Jastrow, Religion, p. 289; id., Civilization, p. 253.

68 Jastrow, op. cit., p. 247.

69 M. Jastrow, "Babylonia and Assyria, History," in EB iii, 102. 70 Zimmern, in ERE ii, 310.

71 Jastrow, in AMH, 1917, i, 234.

72 Id., Civilization, pp. 210-211; also Thompson, in ERE iv, 742; Zimmern, in ERE ii, 310.

GIBIL, OR GIRU

GIBIL, a fire-god and a healing deity of Babylonia, assimilated to Nusku and sometimes to Nabû," is mentioned in the incantation-texts as directing the fires for purification and is named in the performance of the rites of symbolic magic by fire which destroyed demons of disease. He also acted as a mediator between the sick and Ea."

GULA, BAU, OR NIN-KARRAK

GULA, an early goddess of the Assyrians, originally appearing as Ma-Ma," was a divinity of fertility, the 'mother of mankind,' and the consort of Ninib at Nippur and at Calah, being honored with him both by the Assyrians and by the Babylonians. She was identified with Bau, the consort of Ningirsu," and was a celebrated healing divinity," her name frequently occurring in incantationtexts, sometimes as the 'guardian patroness' of the curative art." She was a 'great physician' and a 'life-giver' who preserved health, removed disease by the touch of her hand, and "leads the dead to new life"; but at times she exercised her diametrically opposite power of inflicting evil and misfortune. In portrayals of her, the dog appears as her emblem."

ISHTAR

ISHTAR, the most prominent and most popular goddess of the Assyro-Babylonian pantheon, was of Semitic

73 Jastrow, Religion, p. 220.

74

▲ Id., Civilization, p. 226; also Zimmern, in ERE ii, 313.

75 Jastrow, Religion, p. 105.

76 Id., Civilization, p. 200.

77 Ib., p. 199.

78 Zimmern, in ERE ii, 312; Jastrow, Religion, p. 175. T9 Jastrow, Civilization, p. 417.

origin and was universally worshipped by that people throughout Mesopotamia; but unlike other consorts of the male divinities, who were only pale reflections of their husbands, she was an independent deity of rank and dignity, and was unsurpassed in splendor. In Assyria she was Bêlit ('Mistress'), the goddess of battle, the goddess of heaven, the 'Goddess of Totality,' second only to the national divinity, Assur, as whose co-equal she at times appeared. As a deity of war she manifests herself robed in flames, armed with quivers, a bow, and a drawn sword, declaring that she marches before Assurbanipal; and again, when the king is discouraged, she promises through a dream that he shall have his heart's desire, and that his strength shall not fail in battle.81

82

In general, Ishtar was the gracious mother of creation, and the goddess of love, of fertility, of child-birth, and of healing. She was the kind, sympathetic mother of mankind who listened to the supplications of sinners, and she was invoked for relief from pain, from suffering, and from demons of disease, while as a goddess of childbirth she received the epithet Mylitta, 'she who causes to bear." In the Etana legend, although appeal was made to Shamash for the birth-plant which insured happy delivery, the imperfect lines of the text seem to imply that it was obtained from her.85

Ishtar absorbed the titles, rites, and functions of other female divinities in their own sanctuaries, and thus she appears in different aspects and in different characters 80 Paton, in ERE ii, 297.

84 L. B. Paton, "Ashtart (Ashtoreth), Astarte," in ERE ii, 116. 85 Jastrow, Religion, pp. 519-523; Ward, The Seal Cylinders of Western Asia, p. 142; Zimmern, in ERE ii, 315; T. G. Pinches, "Birth (Assyro-Babylonian)," in ERE ii, 644.