Tiawath was not the only monster known to Babylonian mythology. But
she is sometimes likened to or confounded with the serpent of darkness
with which she had originally no connexion whatever. This being was,
however, like Tiawath, the offspring of the great deep and the enemy of
the divine powers. We are told in the second verse of Genesis that "the
earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the
deep," and therefore resembling the abyss of Babylonian myth. We are
also informed that the serpent was esteemed as "more subtle than other
beast of the field," and this, it has been pointed out by Professor
Sayce, was probably because it was associated by the author or authors
of Genesis with Ea, the god of waters and of wisdom. To Babylonian
geographers as to the Greeks, the ocean was a coiling, snake-like
thing, which was often alluded to as the great serpent, and this soon
came to be considered as the source of all evil and misfortune. The
ancients, and especially the ancient Semites, with the exception of
the Phœnicians, appear to have regarded it with dread and loathing.
The serpent appears to have been called Aibu, 'the enemy.' We can see
how the serpent of darkness, the offspring of chaos and confusion,
became also the Hebrew symbol for mischief. He was first the source of
physical and next the source of moral evil.
Winged Bulls
The winged bulls so closely identified with ancient Chaldean mythology
were probably associated with Merodach. These may have represented
the original totemic forms of the gods in question, but we must not
confound the bull forms of Merodach and Ea with those winged bulls
which guarded the entrances to the temples. These, to perpetrate a
double 'bull,' were not bulls at all but divine beings, the gods or
genii of the holy places. The human head attached to them indicated
that the creature was endowed with humanity and the bull-like body
symbolized strength. When the Babylonian translated the word 'bull'
from the Akkadian tongue he usually rendered it 'hero' or 'strong
one.' It is thought that the bull forms of Ea and Merodach must have
originated at Eridu, for both of these deities were connected with
the city. The Babylonians regarded the sky-country as a double of the
plain in which they dwelt, and they believed that the gods as planets
ploughed their way across the azure fields of air. Thus the sun was
the 'Bull of Light,' and Jupiter, the nearest of the planets to the
ecliptic, was known as the 'Planet of the Bull of Light.'
The Dog in Babylonia
Strangely enough the dog was classed by the Babylonians as a monster
animal and one to be despised and avoided. In a prayer against the
powers of evil we read, "From the dog, the snake, the scorpion, the
reptile, and whatever is baleful ... may Merodach preserve us." We
find that although the Babylonians possessed an excellent breed of dog
they were not fond of depicting them either in painting or bas-relief.
Dogs are seen illustrated in a bas-relief of Assur-bani-pal, and five
clay figures of dogs now in the British Museum represent hounds which
belonged to that monarch. The names of these animals are very amusing,
and appear to indicate that those who bestowed them must have suffered
from a complete lack of the humorous sense, or else have been blessed
with an overflow of it. Translated, the names are: 'He-ran-and-barked,'
'The-Producer-of-Mischief,' 'The-Biter-of-his-foes,'
'The-Judge-of-his-companions,' and 'The-Seizer-of-enemies.' How well
these names would fit certain dogs we all know or have known! Here is
good evidence from the buried centuries that dog nature like human
nature has not changed a whit.
But why should the dog, fellow-hunter with early man and the companion
of civilized humanity, have been regarded as evil? Professor Sayce
considers that the four dogs of Merodach "were not always sent on
errands of mercy, and that originally they had been devastating winds."
A Dog Legend
The fragment of a legend exists which does not exhibit the dog in any
very favourable light.
Once there was a shepherd who was tormented by the constant assaults of
dogs upon his flocks. He prayed to Ea for protection, and the great god
of wisdom sent his son Merodach to reassure the shepherd.
"Ea has heard thee," said Merodach. "When the great dogs assault thee,
then, O shepherd, seize them from behind and lay them down, hold them
and overcome them. Strike their heads, pierce their breasts. They are
gone; never may they return. With the wind may they go, with the storm
above it! Take their road and cut off their going. Seize their mouths,
seize their mouths, seize their weapons! Seize their teeth, and make
them ascend, by the command of Ea, the lord of wisdom; by the command
of Merodach, the lord of revelation."[1]
Gazelle and Goat Gods
The gazelle or antelope was a mythological animal in Babylonia so far
as it represented Ea, who is entitled 'the princely gazelle' and 'the
gazelle who gives the earth.' But this animal was also appropriated
to Mul-lil, the god of Nippur, who was specially called the 'gazelle
god.' It is likely, therefore, that this animal had been worshipped
totemically at Nippur. Scores of early cylinders represent it being
offered in sacrifice to a god, and bas-reliefs and other carvings show
it reposing in the arms of various deities. The goat, too, seems to
have been peculiarly sacred, and formed one of the signs of the zodiac.
A god called Uz has for his name the Akkadian word for goat. Mr Hormuzd
Rassam found a sculptured stone tablet in a temple of the sun-god at
Sippara on which was an inscription to Sin, Shamash, and Ishtar, as
being "set as companions at the approach to the deep in sight of the
god Uz." This god Uz is depicted as sitting on a throne watching the
revolution of the solar disc, which is placed upon a table and made to
revolve by means of a rope or string. He is clad in a robe of goat-skin.
The Goat Cult
This cult of the goat appears to be of very ancient origin, and the
strange thing is that it seems to have found its way into mediæval
and even into modern magic and pseudo-religion. There is very little
doubt that it is the Baphomet of the knights-templar and the Sabbatic
goat of the witchcraft of the Middle Ages. It seems almost certain
that when the Crusaders sojourned in Asia-Minor they came into contact
with the remains of the old Babylonian cult. When Philip the Fair of
France arraigned them on a charge of heresy a great deal of curious
evidence was extorted from them regarding the worship of an idol that
they kept in their lodges. The real character of this they seemed
unable to explain. It was said which the image was made in the likeness
of 'Baphomet,' which name was said to be a corruption of Mahomet, the
general Christian name at that period for a pagan idol, although others
give a Greek derivation for the word. This figure was often described
as possessing a goat's head and horns. That, too, the Sabbatic goat
of the Middle Ages was of Eastern and probably Babylonian origin is
scarcely to be doubted. At the witch orgies in France and elsewhere
those who were afterwards brought to book for their sorceries declared
that Satan appeared to them in the shape of a goat and that they
worshipped him in this form. The Sabbatic meetings during the fifteenth
century in the wood of Mofflaines, near Arras, had as their centre a
goat-demon with a human countenance, and a like fiend was adored in
Germany and in Scotland. From all this it is clear that the Sabbatic
goat must have had some connexion with the East. Eliphas Levi drew a
picture of the Baphomet or Sabbatic goat to accompany one of his occult
works, and strangely enough the symbols that he adorns it with are
peculiarly Oriental--moreover the sun-disc figures in the drawing. Now
Levi knew nothing of Babylonian mythology, although he was moderately
versed in the mythology of modern occultism, and it would seem that if
he drew his information from modern or mediæval sources that these must
have been in direct line from Babylonian lore.
Adar, the sun-god of Nippur, was in the same manner connected with the
pig, which may have been the totem of the city he ruled over; and many
other gods had attendant animals or birds, like the sun-god of Kis,
whose symbol was the eagle.
Those monsters who had composed the host of Tiawath were supposed,
after the defeat and destruction of their commandress, to have been
hurled like Satan and his angels into the abyss beneath. We read of
their confusion in four tablets of the creation epic. This legend seems
to be the original source of the belief that those who rebelled against
high heaven were thrust into outer darkness. In the Book of Enoch we
read of a 'great abyss' regarding which an angel said to the prophet,
"This is a place of the consummation of heaven and earth," and again,
in a later chapter, "These are of the stars who have transgressed the
command of God, the Highest, and are bound here till 10,000 worlds, the
number of the days of their sins, shall have consummated ... this is
the prison of the angels, and here they are held to eternity." Eleven
great monsters are spoken of by Babylonian myth as comprising the host
of Tiawath, besides many lesser forms having the heads of men and the
bodies of birds. Strangely enough we find these monsters figuring in a
legend concerning an early Babylonian king.
The Invasion of the Monsters
The tablets upon which this legend was impressed were at first known
as 'the Cuthæan legend of creation'--a misnomer, for this legend does
not give an account of the creation of the world at all, but deals with
the invasion of Babylonia by a race of monsters who were descended from
the gods, and who waged war against the legendary king of the period
for three years. The King tells the story himself. Unfortunately the
first portions of both tablets containing the story are missing, and
we plunge right away into a description of the dread beings who came
upon the people of Babylonia in their multitudes. We are told that they
preferred muddy water to clear water. These creatures, says the King,
were without moral sense, glorying in their power, and slaughtering
those whom they took captives. They had the bodies of birds and some
of them had the faces of ravens. They had evidently been fostered by
the gods in some inaccessible region, and, multiplying greatly, they
came like a storm-cloud on the land, 360,000 in number. Their king
was called Benini, their mother Melili, and their leader Memangab,
who had six subordinates. The King, perplexed, knew not what to do.
He was afraid that if he gave them battle he might in some way offend
the gods, but at last through his priests he addressed the divine
beings and made offerings of lambs in sacrifice to them. He received a
favourable answer and decided to give battle to the invaders, against
whom he sent an army of 120,000 men, but not one of these returned
alive. Again he sent 90,000 warriors to meet them, but the same fate
overtook these, and in the third year he despatched an army of nearly
70,000 troops, all of whom perished to a man. Then the unfortunate
monarch broke down, and, groaning aloud, cried out that he had brought
misfortune and destruction upon his realm. Nevertheless, rising from
his lethargy of despair, he stated his intention to go forth against
the enemy in his own person, saying, "The pride of this people of the
night I will curse with death and destruction, with fear, terror, and
famine, and with misery of every kind."
Before setting out to meet the foe he made offerings to the gods. The
manner in which he overcame the invaders is by no means clear from the
text, but it would seem that he annihilated them by means of a deluge.
In the last portion of the legend the King exhorts his successors not
to lose heart when in great peril but to take courage from his example.
He inscribed a tablet with his advice, which he placed in the shrine
of Nergal in the city of Cuthah. "Strengthen thy wall," he said,
"fill thy cisterns with water, bring in thy treasure-chests and thy
corn and thy silver and all thy possessions." He also advises those
of his descendants who are faced by similar conditions not to expose
themselves needlessly to the enemy.
It was thought at one time that this legend applied to the
circumstances of the creation, and that the speaker was the god Nergal,
who was waging war against the brood of Tiawath. It was believed that,
according to local conditions at Cuthah, Nergal would have taken the
place of Merodach, but it has now been made clear that although the
tablet was intended to be placed in the shrine of Nergal, the speaker
was in reality an early Babylonian king.
[Illustration: Eagle-headed Mythological Being In the Louvre.--Photo W.
A. Mansell and Co.]
The Eagle
As we have seen, the eagle was perhaps regarded as a symbol of the
sun-god. A Babylonian fable tells how he quarrelled with the serpent
and incurred the reptile's hatred. Feeling hungry he resolved to eat
the serpent's young, and communicated his intention to his own family.
One of his children advised him not to devour the serpent's brood,
because if he did so he would incur the enmity of the god Shamash. But
the eagle did not hearken to his offspring, and swooping down from
heaven sought out the serpent's nest and devoured his young. On his
arrival at home the serpent discovered his loss, and at once repaired
in great indignation to Shamash, to whom he appealed for justice. His
nest, he told the god, was set in a tree, and the eagle had swooped
upon it, destroying it with his mighty wings and devouring the little
serpents as they fell from it.
"Help, O Shamash!" cried the serpent. "Thy net is like unto the broad
earth, thy snare is like unto the distant heaven in wideness. Who can
escape thee?"
Shamash hearkening to his appeal, described to him how he might succeed
in obtaining vengeance upon the eagle.
"Take the road," said he, "and go into the mountain and hide thyself in
the dead body of a wild ox. Tear open its body, and all the birds of
heaven shall swoop down upon it. The eagle shall come with the rest,
and when he seeks for the best parts of the carcase, do thou seize him
by his wing, tear off his wings, his pinions, and his claws, pull him
in pieces and cast him into a pit. There may he die a death from hunger
and thirst."
The serpent did as Shamash had bidden him. He soon came upon the body
of a wild ox, into which he glided after opening up the carcase.
Shortly afterwards he heard the beating of the wings of numberless
birds, all of which swooped down and ate of the flesh. But the eagle
suspected the purpose of the serpent and did not come with the rest,
until greed and hunger prompted him to share in the feast.
"Come," said he to his children, "let us swoop down and let us also eat
of the flesh of this wild ox."
Now the young eagle who had before dissuaded his father from devouring
the serpent's young, again begged him to desist from his purpose.
"Have a care, O my father," he said, "for I am certain that the serpent
lurks in yonder carcase for the purpose of destroying you."
But the eagle did not hearken to the warning of his child, but swooped
on to the carcase of the wild ox. He so far obeyed the injunctions
of his offspring, however, as closely to examine the dead ox for the
purpose of discovering whether any trap lurked near it. Satisfied that
all was well he commenced to feed upon it, when suddenly the serpent
seized upon him and held him fast. The eagle at once began to plead for
mercy, but the enraged reptile told him that an appeal to Shamash was
irrevocable, and that if he did not punish the king of birds he himself
would be punished by the god, and despite the eagle's further protests
he tore off his wings and pinions, pulled him to pieces, and finally
cast him into a pit, where he perished miserably as the god had decreed.
[1] Sayce, _Hibbert Lectures_, p. 288 (by permission of Messrs Williams
and Norgate).