DELUGE LEGEND, THE ISLAND OF THE BLESSED, AND HADES
Babylonian Story of the Flood--The Two Immortals on the Island of
the Blessed--Deluge Legends in the Old and New Worlds--How
Babylonian Culture reached India--Theory of Cosmic
Periods--Gilgamesh resembles the Indian Yama and Persian
Yimeh--Links with Varuna and Mitra--The Great Winter in Persian and
Teutonic Mythologies--Babylonian Hades compared with the Egyptian,
Greek, Indian, Teutonic, and Celtic Otherworlds--Legend of Nergal
and the Queen of Death--Underworld originally the Grave--Why
Weapons, &c., were Buried with the Dead--Japanese and Roman
Beliefs--Palaeolithic Burial Customs--"Our Graves are our
Houses"--Importance of Babylonian Funerary Ceremonies--Doctrine of
Eternal Bliss in Egypt and India--Why Suppressed in Babylonia--Heavy
Burial Fees--Various Burial Customs.
The story of the Deluge which was related to Gilgamesh by
Pir-napishtim runs as follows:--
"Hear me, O Gilgamesh, and I will make revelation regarding the hidden
doings of the high gods. As thou knowest, the city of Shurippak is
situated upon the bank of the Euphrates. The gods were within it:
there they assembled together in council. Anu, the father, was there,
and Bel the counsellor and warrior, Ninip the messenger, and Ennugi
the governor. Ea, the wise lord, sat also with them. In their hearts
the gods agreed together to send a great deluge.
"Thereafter Ea made known the purpose of the divine rulers in the hut
of reeds, saying:[224] 'O hut of reeds, hear; O wall, understand ... O
man of Shurippak, son of Umbara Tutu, tear down thy house and build a
ship; leave all thou dost possess and save thy life, and preserve in
the ship the living seed of every kind. The ship that thou wilt build
must be of goodly proportions in length and height. It must be floated
on the great deep.'
"I heard the command of Ea and understood, and I made answer, saying,
'O wise lord, as thou hast said so will I do, for thy counsel is most
excellent. But how shall I give reason for my doings to the young men
and the elders?'
"Ea opened his mouth and said unto me, his servant: 'What thou shalt
say unto them is this.... _It hath been revealed unto me that Bel doth
hate me, therefore I cannot remain any longer in his domain, this city
of Shurippak, so I must depart unto the domain of Ea and dwell with
him.... Unto you will Bel send abundance of rain, so that you may
obtain birds and fishes in plenty and have a rich harvest. But Shamash
hath appointed a time for Ramman to pour down destruction from the
heavens._'"[225]
Ea then gave instructions to Pir-napishtim how to build the ship in
which he should find refuge. So far as can be gathered from the
fragmentary text, it appears that this vessel was to have a deck house
six stories high, with nine apartments in each story. According to
another account, Ea drew a plan of the great ship upon the sand.
Pir-napishtim set to work and made a flat-bottomed vessel, which was
120 cubits wide and 120 cubits in height. He smeared it with bitumen
inside and pitch outside; and on the seventh day it was ready. Then he
carried out Ea's further instructions. Continuing his narrative to
Gilgamesh, he said:
"I gathered together all that I possessed, my silver and gold and
seeds of every kind, and my goods also. These I placed in the ship.
Then I caused to go aboard all my family and house servants, the
animals of the field and the beasts of the field and the
workers--every one of them I sent up.
"The god Shamash appointed the time, saying: 'I will cause the Night
Lord to send much rain and bring destruction. Then enter thou the ship
and shut thy door.'
"At the appointed time the Night Lord sent at even-time much rain. I
saw the beginning of the deluge and I was afraid to look up. I entered
the ship and shut the door. I appointed Buzur-Kurgala, the sailor, to
be captain, and put under his command the great vessel and all that it
contained.
"At the dawn of day I saw rising athwart the heavens a dark cloud, and
in the midst of it Ramman thundered. Nebo and Merodach went in front,
speeding like emissaries over hills and plains. The cables of the ship
were let loose.
"Then Ninip, the tempest god, came nigh, and the storm broke in fury
before him. All the earth spirits leapt up with flaming torches and
the whole land was aflare. The thunder god swept over the heavens,
blotting out the sunlight and bringing thick darkness. Rain poured
down the whole day long, and the earth was covered with water; the
rivers were swollen; the land was in confusion; men stumbled about in
the darkness, battling with the elements. Brothers were unable to see
brothers; no man could recognize his friends.... The spirits above
looked down and beheld the rising flood and were afraid: they fled
away, and in the heaven of Anu they crouched like to hounds in the
protecting enclosures.
"In time Ishtar, the lady of the gods, cried out distressfully,
saying: 'The elder race hath perished and turned to clay because that
I have consented to evil counsel in the assembly of the gods. Alas! I
have allowed my people to be destroyed. I gave being to man, but where
is he? Like the offspring of fish he cumbers the deep.'
"The earth spirits were weeping with Ishtar: they sat down cowering
with tightened lips and spake not; they mourned in silence.
"Six days and six nights went past, and the tempest raged over the
waters which gradually covered the land. But when the seventh day
came, the wind fell, the whirling waters grew peaceful, and the sea
retreated. The storm was over and the rain of destruction had ceased.
I looked forth. I called aloud over the waters. But all mankind had
perished and turned to clay. Where fields had been I saw marshes only.
"Then I opened wide the window of the ship, and the sunlight suffused
my countenance. I was dazzled and sank down weeping and the tears
streamed over my face. Everywhere I looked I saw water.
"At length, land began to appear. The ship drifted towards the country
of Nitsir, and then it was held fast by the mountain of Nitsir. Six
days went past and the ship remained stedfast. On the seventh day I
sent forth a dove, and she flew away and searched this way and that,
but found no resting place, so she returned. I then sent forth a
swallow, and she returned likewise. Next I sent forth a raven, and she
flew away. She saw that the waters were shrinking, and gorged and
croaked and waded, but did not come back. Then I brought forth all the
animals into the air of heaven.
"An offering I made on the mountain. I poured out a libation. I set up
incense vessels seven by seven on heaped-up reeds and used cedar wood
with incense. The gods smelt the sweet savour, and they clustered like
flies about the sacrificer.
"Thereafter Ishtar (Sirtu) drew nigh. Lifting up the jewels, which the
god Anu had fashioned for her according to her desire, she spake,
saying: 'Oh! these gods! I vow by the lapis lazuli gems upon my neck
that I will never forget! I will remember these days for ever and
ever. Let all the gods come hither to the offering, save Bel (Enlil)
alone, because that he ignored my counsel, and sent a great deluge
which destroyed my people.'
"But Bel Enlil came also, and when he beheld the ship he paused. His
heart was filled with wrath against the gods and the spirits of
heaven. Angrily he spake and said: 'Hath one escaped? It was decreed
that no human being should survive the deluge.'
"Ninip, son of Bel, spoke, saying: 'Who hath done this save Ea alone?
He knoweth all things.'
"Ea, god of the deep, opened his mouth and said unto the warrior Bel:
'Thou art the lord of the gods, O warrior. But thou wouldst not
hearken to my counsel and caused the deluge to be. Now punish the
sinner for his sins and the evil doer for his evil deed, but be
merciful and do not destroy all mankind. May there never again be a
flood. Let the lion come and men will decrease. May there never again
be a flood. Let the leopard come and men will decrease. May there
never again be a flood. Let famine come upon the land; let Ura, god of
pestilence, come and snatch off mankind.... I did not reveal the
secret purpose of the mighty gods, but I caused Atra-chasis
(Pir-napishtim) to dream a dream in which he had knowledge of what the
gods had decreed.'
"Having pondered a time over these words, Bel entered the ship alone.
He grasped my hand and led me forth, even me, and he led forth my wife
also, and caused her to kneel down beside me. Then he stood between us
and gave his blessing. He spoke, saying: 'In time past Pir-napishtim
was a man. Henceforth Pir-napishtim and his wife will be like unto
deities, even us. Let them dwell apart beyond the river mouths.'
"Thereafter Bel carried me hither beyond the mouths of rivers."
* * * * *
Flood myths are found in many mythologies both in the Old World and
the New.
The violent and deceitful men of the mythical Bronze Age of Greece
were destroyed by a flood. It is related that Zeus said on one
occasion to Hermes: "I will send a great rain, such as hath not been
since the making of the world, and the whole race of men shall perish.
I am weary of their iniquity."
For receiving with hospitable warmth these two gods in human guise,
Deucalion, an old man, and his wife Pyrrha were spared, however. Zeus
instructed his host to build an ark of oak, and store it well with
food. When this was done, the couple entered the vessel and shut the
door. Then Zeus "broke up all the fountains of the deep, and opened
the well springs of heaven, and it rained for forty days and forty
nights continually". The Bronze folk perished: not even those who fled
to the hilltops could escape. The ark rested on Parnassus, and when
the waters ebbed the old couple descended the mountain and took up
their abode in a cave.[226]
In Indian mythology the world is destroyed by a flood at the end of
each Age of the Universe. There are four ages: the Krita or Perfect
Age, the Treta Age, the Dwapara Age, and the Kali or Wicked Age. These
correspond closely to the Greek and Celtic ages.[227] There are also
references in Sanskrit literature to the destruction of the world
because too many human beings lived upon it. "When the increase of
population had been so frightful," a sage related, "the Earth,
oppressed with the excessive burden, sank down for a hundred Yojanas.
Suffering pain in all her limbs, and being deprived of her senses by
excessive pressure, the Earth in distress sought the protection of
Narayana, the foremost of the gods."[228]
Manu's account of the flood has been already referred to (Chapter II).
The god in fish shape informed him: "The time is ripe for purging the
world.... Build a strong and massive ark, and furnish it with a long
rope...." When the waters rose the horned fish towed the ark over the
roaring sea, until it grounded on the highest peak of the Himavat,
which is still called Naubandha (the harbour). Manu was accompanied by
seven rishis.[229]
In the Celtic (Irish) account of the flood, Cessair, granddaughter of
Noah, was refused a chamber for herself in the ark, and fled to the
western borders of the world as advised by her idol.[230] Her fleet
consisted of three ships, but two foundered before Ireland was
reached. The survivors in addition to Cessair were, her father Bith,
two other men, Fintan and Ladru, and fifty women. All of these
perished on the hills except Fintan, who slept on the crest of a great
billow, and lived to see Partholon, the giant, arriving from Greece.
There is a deluge also in Egyptian mythology. When Ra, the sun god,
grew old as an earthly king, men began to mutter words against him. He
called the gods together and said: "I will not slay them (his
subjects) until I have heard what ye say concerning them." Nu, his
father, who was the god of primeval waters, advised the wholesale
destruction of mankind.
Said Ra: "Behold men flee unto the hills; their heart is full of fear
because of that which they said."
The goddess Hathor-Sekhet, the Eye of Ra, then went forth and slew
mankind on the hills. Thereafter Ra, desiring to protect the remnant
of humanity, caused a great offering to be made to the goddess,
consisting of corn beer mixed with herbs and human blood. This drink
was poured out during the night. "And the goddess came in the morning;
she found the fields inundated, she rejoiced thereat, she drank
thereof, her heart was rejoiced, she went about drunken and took no
more cognizance of men."[231]
It is obvious that the Egyptian myth refers to the annual inundation
of the Nile, the "human blood" in the "beer" being the blood of the
slain corn god, or of his earthly representative. It is probable that
the flood legends of North and South America similarly reflected local
phenomena, although the possibility that they were of Asiatic origin,
like the American Mongoloid tribes, cannot be overlooked. Whether or
not Mexican civilization, which was flourishing about the time of the
battle of Hastings, received any cultural stimulus from Asia is a
question regarding which it would be unsafe to dogmatize, owing to the
meagre character of the available data.
The Mexican deluge was caused by the "water sun", which suddenly
discharged the moisture it had been drawing from the earth in the form
of vapour through long ages. All life was destroyed.
A flood legend among the Nahua tribes resembles closely the Babylonian
story as told by Pir-napishtim. The god Titlacahuan instructed a man
named Nata to make a boat by hollowing out a cypress tree, so as to
escape the coming deluge with his wife Nena. This pair escaped
destruction. They offered up a fish sacrifice in the boat and enraged
the deity who visited them, displaying as much indignation as did Bel
when he discovered that Pir-napishtim had survived the great disaster.
Nata and Nena had been instructed to take with them one ear of maize
only, which suggests that they were harvest spirits.
In Brazil, Monan, the chief god, sent a great fire to burn up the
world and its wicked inhabitants. To extinguish the flames a magician
caused so much rain to fall that the earth was flooded.
The Californian Indians had a flood legend, and believed that the
early race was diminutive; and the Athapascan Indians of the
north-west professed to be descendants of a family who escaped the
deluge. Indeed, deluge myths were widespread in the "New World".
The American belief that the first beings who were created were unable
to live on earth was shared by the Babylonians. According to Berosus
the first creation was a failure, because the animals could not bear
the light and they all died.[232] Here we meet with the germs of the
Doctrine of the World's Ages, which reached its highest development in
Indian, Greek, and Celtic (Irish) mythologies.
The Biblical account of the flood is familiar to readers. "It forms",
says Professor Pinches, "a good subject for comparison with the
Babylonian account, with which it agrees so closely in all the main
points, and from which it differs so much in many essential
details."[233]
The drift of Babylonian culture was not only directed westward towards
the coast of Palestine, and from thence to Greece during the
Phoenician period, but also eastward through Elam to the Iranian
plateau and India. Reference has already been made to the resemblances
between early Vedic and Sumerian mythologies. When the "new songs" of
the Aryan invaders of India were being composed, the sky and ocean
god, Varuna, who resembles Ea-Oannes, and Mitra, who links with
Shamash, were already declining in splendour. Other cultural
influences were at work. Certain of the Aryan tribes, for instance,
buried their dead in Varuna's "house of clay", while a growing
proportion cremated their dead and worshipped Agni, the fire god. At
the close of the Vedic period there were fresh invasions into middle
India, and the "late comers" introduced new beliefs, including the
doctrines of the Transmigration of Souls and of the Ages of the
Universe. Goddesses also rose into prominence, and the Vedic gods
became minor deities, and subject to Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. These
"late comers" had undoubtedly been influenced by Babylonian ideas
before they entered India. In their Doctrine of the World's Ages or
Yugas, for instance, we are forcibly reminded of the Euphratean ideas
regarding space and time. Mr. Robert Brown, junr., who is an authority
in this connection, shows that the system by which the "Day of Brahma"
was calculated in India resembles closely an astronomical system which
obtained in Babylonia, where apparently the theory of cosmic periods
had origin.[234]
The various alien peoples, however, who came under the spell of
Babylonian modes of thought did not remain in a state of intellectual
bondage. Thought was stimulated rather than arrested by religious
borrowing, and the development of ideas regarding the mysteries of
life and death proceeded apace in areas over which the ritualistic and
restraining priesthood of Babylonia exercised no sway. As much may be
inferred from the contrasting conceptions of the Patriarchs of Vedic
and Sumerian mythologies. Pir-napishtim, the Babylonian Noah, and the
semi-divine Gilgamesh appear to be represented in Vedic mythology by
Yama, god of the dead. Yama was "the first man", and, like Gilgamesh,
he set out on a journey over mountains and across water to discover
Paradise. He is lauded in the Vedic hymns as the explorer of "the
path" or "way" to the "Land of the Pitris" (Fathers), the Paradise to
which the Indian uncremated dead walked on foot. Yama never lost his
original character. He is a traveller in the Epics as in the
Vedas.[235]
Him who along the mighty heights departed, Him who searched and
spied the path for many, Son of Vivasvat, gatherer of the people,
Yama, the King, with sacrifices worship. _Rigveda_, x, 14, 1.[236]
To Yama, mighty King, be gifts and homage paid, He was the first
of men that died, the first to brave Death's rapid rushing stream,
the first to point the road To heaven, and welcome others to that
bright abode. _Sir M. Monier Williams' Translation_.[237]
Yama and his sister Yami were the first human pair. They are identical
with the Persian Celestial twins, Yima and Yimeh. Yima resembles Mitra
(Mithra); Varuna, the twin brother of Mitra, in fact, carries the
noose associated with the god of death.[238]
The Indian Yama, who was also called Pitripati, "lord of the fathers",
takes Mitra's place in the Paradise of Ancestors beside Varuna, god of
the sky and the deep. He sits below a tree, playing on a flute and
drinking the Soma drink which gives immortality. When the descendants
of Yama reached Paradise they assumed shining forms "refined and from
all taint set free".[239]
In Persian mythology "Yima", says Professor Moulton, "reigns over a
community which may well have been composed of his own descendants,
for he lived yet longer than Adam. To render them immortal, he gives
them to eat forbidden food, being deceived by the Daevas (demons).
What was this forbidden food? May we connect it with another legend
whereby, at the Regeneration, Mithra is to make men immortal by giving
them to eat the fat of the _Ur-Kuh_, the primeval cow from whose slain
body, according to the Aryan legends adopted by Mithraism, mankind was
first created?"
Yima is punished for "presumptuously grasping at immortality for
himself and mankind, on the suggestion of an evil power, instead of
waiting Ahura's good time". Professor Moulton wonders if this story,
which he endeavours to reconstruct, "owed anything to Babylon?"
Yima, like the Babylonian Pir-napishtim, is also a revealer of the
secrets of creation. He was appointed to be "Guardian, Overseer,
Watcher over my Creation" by Ahura, the supreme god. Three hundred
years went past--
Then the earth became abounding,
Full of flocks and full of cattle,
Full of men, of birds, dogs likewise,
Full of fires all bright and blazing,
Nor did men, flocks, herds of cattle,
Longer find them places in it.
_Jackson's Translation_.
The earth was thereafter cloven with a golden arrow. Yima then built a
refuge in which mankind and the domesticated animals might find
shelter during a terrible winter. "The picture", says Professor
Moulton, "strongly tempts us to recognize the influence of the
Babylonian Flood-Legend."[240] The "Fimbul winter" of Germanic
mythology is also recalled. Odin asks in one of the Icelandic Eddie
poems:
What beings shall live when the long dread winter
Comes o'er the people of earth?[241]
In another Eddie poem, the Voluspa, the Vala tells of a Sword Age, an
Axe Age, a Wind Age, and a Wolf Age which is to come "ere the world
sinks". After the battle of the gods and demons,
The sun is darkened, earth sinks in the sea.
In time, however, a new world appears.
I see uprising a second time
Earth from the Ocean, green anew;
The waters fall, on high the eagle
Flies o'er the fell and catches fish.
When the surviving gods return, they will talk, according to the Vala
(prophetess), of "the great world serpent" (Tiamat). The fields will
be sown and "Balder will come"[242]--apparently as Tammuz came. The
association of Balder with corn suggests that, like Nata of the Nahua
tribes, he was a harvest spirit, among other things.
Leaving, meantime, the many problems which arise from consideration of
the Deluge legends and their connection with primitive agricultural
myths, the attention of readers may be directed to the Babylonian
conception of the Otherworld.
Pir-napishtim, who escaped destruction at the Flood, resides in an
Island Paradise, which resembles the Greek "Islands of the Blessed",
and the Irish "Tir nan og" or "Land of the Young", situated in the
western ocean, and identical with the British[243]
island-valley of Avilion,
Where falls not hail, or rain, or any snow,
Nor ever wind blows loudly, but it lies
Deep meadow'd, happy, fair with orchard lawns
And bowery hollows crowned with summer sea.[244]
Only two human beings were permitted to reside on the Babylonian
island paradise, however. These were Pir-napishtim and his wife.
Apparently Gilgamesh could not join them there. His gods did not
transport heroes and other favoured individuals to a happy isle or
isles like those of the Greeks and Celts and Aryo-Indians. There was
no Heaven for the Babylonian dead. All mankind were doomed to enter
the gloomy Hades of the Underworld, "the land of darkness and the
shadow of death; a land of darkness, as darkness itself; and of the
shadow of death, without any order, and where the light is darkness",
as Job exclaimed in the hour of despair, lamenting his fate.[245]
This gloomy habitation of the dead resembles the Greek Hades, the
Teutonic Nifelhel, and the Indian "Put". No detailed description of it
has been found. The references, however, in the "Descent of Ishtar"
and the Gilgamesh epic suggest that it resembled the hidden regions of
the Egyptians, in which souls were tortured by demons who stabbed
them, plunged them in pools of fire, and thrust them into cold outer
darkness where they gnashed their teeth, or into places of horror
swarming with poisonous reptiles.
Ishtar was similarly tortured by the plague demon, Namtar, when she
boldly entered the Babylonian Underworld to search for Tammuz. Other
sufferings were, no doubt, in store for her, resembling those,
perhaps, with which the giant maid in the Eddic poem "Skirnismal" was
threatened when she refused to marry Frey, the god of fertility and
harvest:
Trolls shall torment thee from morn till eve
In the realms of the Jotun race,
Each day to the dwellings of Frost giants must thou
Creep helpless, creep hopeless of love;
Thou shalt weeping have in the stead of joy,
And sore burden bear with tears....
May madness and shrieking, bondage and yearning
Burden thee with bondage and tears.[246]
In like manner, too, the inhabitants of the Indian Hell suffered
endless and complicated tortures.[247]
The Persephone of the Babylonian Underworld was Eresh-ki-gal, who was
also called Allatu. A myth, which was found among the Egyptian
Tel-el-Amarna "Letters", sets forth that on one occasion the
Babylonian gods held a feast. All the deities attended it, except
Eresh-ki-gal. She was unable to leave her gloomy Underworld, and sent
her messenger, the plague demon Namtar, to obtain her share. The
various deities honoured Namtar, except Nergal, by standing up to
receive him. When Eresh-ki-gal was informed of this slight she became
very angry, and demanded that Nergal should be delivered up to her so
that he might be put to death. The storm god at once hastened to the
Underworld, accompanied by his own group of fierce demons, whom he
placed as guardians at the various doors so as to prevent the escape
of Eresh-ki-gal. Then he went boldly towards the goddess, clutched her
by the hair, and dragged her from her throne. After a brief struggle,
she found herself overpowered. Nergal made ready to cut off her head,
but she cried for mercy and said: "Do not kill me, my brother! Let me
speak to thee."
This appeal indicated that she desired to ransom her life--like the
hags in the European folk tales--so Nergal unloosed his hold.
Then Eresh-ki-gal continued: "Be thou my husband and I will be thy
wife. On thee I confer sovereignty over the wide earth, giving thee
the tablet of wisdom. Thou shalt be my lord and I will be thy lady."
Nergal accepted these terms by kissing the goddess. Affectionately
drying her tears, he spoke, saying: "Thou shalt now have from me what
thou hast demanded during these past months."
In other words, Nergal promises to honour her as she desired, after
becoming her husband and equal.
In the "Descent of Ishtar" the Babylonian Underworld is called Cuthah.
This city had a famous cemetery, like Abydos in Egypt, where many
pious and orthodox worshippers sought sepulture. The local god was
Nergal, who symbolized the destructive power of the sun and the sand
storm; he was a gloomy, vengeful deity, attended by the spirits of
tempest, weariness, pestilence, and disease, and was propitiated
because he was dreaded.
In Nether Cuthah, as Ea-bani informed Gilgamesh, the worm devoured the
dead amidst the dust and thick darkness.
It is evident that this Underworld was modelled on the grave. In early
times men believed that the spirits of the dead hovered in or about
the place of sepulture. They were therefore provided with "houses" to
protect them, in the same manner as the living were protected in their
houses above the ground.
The enemies of the human ghosts were the earth spirits. Weapons were
laid beside the dead in their graves so that they might wage war
against demons when necessary. The corpse was also charmed, against
attack, by the magical and protecting ornaments which were worn by the
living--necklaces, armlets, ear-rings, &c. Even face paint was
provided, probably as a charm against the evil eye and other subtle
influences.
So long as corpses were left in their graves, the spirits of the dead
were, it would appear, believed to be safe. But they required food and
refreshment. Food vessels and drinking urns were therefore included in
the funerary furniture, and the dead were given food offerings at
regular intervals. Once a year the living held feasts in the burial
ground, and invited the ghosts to share in the repast. This custom was
observed in Babylonia, and is not yet obsolete in Egypt; Moslems and
Coptic Christians alike hold annual all-night feasts in their
cemeteries.
The Japanese "Land of Yomi" is similarly an underworld, or great
grave, where ghosts mingle with the demons of disease and destruction.
Souls reach it by "the pass of Yomi". The Mikado, however, may be
privileged to ascend to heaven and join the gods in the "Eternal
Land".
Among the ancient Romans the primitive belief survived that the spirit
of the dead "just sank into the earth where it rested, and returned
from time to time to the upper world through certain openings in the
ground (mundi), whose solemn uncovering was one of the regular
observances of the festal calendar".[248]
According to Babylonian belief, the dead who were not properly buried
roamed through the streets searching for food, eating refuse and
drinking impure water.
Prior to the period of ceremonial burials, the dead were interred in
the houses in which they had lived--a custom which has made it
possible for present-day scientists to accumulate much valuable data
regarding primitive races and their habits of life. The Palaeolithic
cave-dwellers of Europe were buried in their caves. These were then
deserted and became the haunts of wild animals. After a long interval
a deserted cave was occupied by strangers. In certain characteristic
caves the various layers containing human remains represent distinct
periods of the vast Pleistocene Age.
When Mediterranean man moved northward through Europe, he utilized
some of these caves, and constructed in them well-built graves for his
dead, digging down through older layers. In thus making a "house"
within a "house", he has provided us with a link between an old custom
and a new. Apparently he was influenced by local practices and
beliefs, for he met and mingled in certain localities with the men of
the Late Palaeolithic Age.
The primitive house-burial rite is referred to in the Ethiopic version
of the life of Alexander the Great. The "Two-horned", as the hero was
called, conversed with Brahmans when he reached India. He spoke to one
of them, "saying: 'Have ye no tombs wherein to bury any man among ye
who may die?' And an interpreter made answer to him, saying: 'Man and
woman and child grow up, and arrive at maturity, and become old, and
when any one of them dieth we bury him in the place wherein he lived;
thus our graves are our houses. And our God knoweth that we desire
this more than the lust for food and meat which all men have: this is
our life and manner of living in the darkness of our tombs.'" When
Alexander desired to make a gift to these Brahmans, and asked them
what they desired most, their answer was, "Give us immortality".[249]
In the Gilgamesh epic the only ray of hope which relieves the gloomy
closing passages is Ea-bani's suggestion that the sufferings endured
by the dead may be alleviated by the performance of strict burial
rites. Commenting on this point Professor Jastrow says: "A proper
burial with an affectionate care of the corpse ensures at least a
quiet repose.
Such a one rests on a couch and drinks pure water;
But he whose shade has no rest in the earth, as I have seen and
you will see,
His shade has no rest in the earth
Whose shade no one cares for ...
What is left over in the pot, remains of food
That are thrown in the street, he eats."[250]
_Gilgamesh Epic_.
By disseminating the belief that the dead must be buried with much
ceremony, the priests secured great power over the people, and
extracted large fees.
In Egypt, on the other hand, the teachers of the sun cult sold charms
and received rewards to perform ceremonies so that chosen worshippers
might enter the sun-barque of Ra; while the Osirian priests promised
the just and righteous that they would reach an agricultural Paradise
where they could live and work as on earth, but receive a greater
return for their labour, the harvests of the Otherworld being of
unequalled abundance.
In the sacred books of India a number of Paradises are referred to. No
human beings, however, entered the Paradise of Varuna, who resembles
the Sumerian Ea-Oannes. The souls of the dead found rest and enjoyment
in the Paradise of Yama, while "those kings that yield up their lives,
without turning their backs on the field of battle, attain", as the
sage told a hero, "to the mansion of Indra", which recalls the Valhal
of Odin. It will thus be seen that belief in immortality was a tenet
of the Indian cults of Indra and Yama.
It is possible that the Gilgamesh epic in one of its forms concluded
when the hero reached the island of Pir-napishtim, like the Indian
Yama who "searched and spied the path for many". The Indian "Land of
the Pitris" (Ancestors), over which Yama presided, may be compared to
the Egyptian heaven of Osiris. It contains, we are told, "all kinds of
enjoyable articles", and also "sweet, juicy, agreeable and delicious
edibles ... floral wreaths of the most delicious fragrance, and trees
that yield fruits that are desired of them". Thither go "all sinners
among human beings, as also (those) that have died during the winter
solstice"[251]--a suggestion that this Paradise was not unconnected
with the Tammuz-like deity who took up his abode in the spirit land
during the barren season.
The view may be urged that in the Gilgamesh epic we have a development
of the Tammuz legend in its heroic form. Like Ishtar, when she
descended to Hades, the King of Erech could not return to earth until
he had been sprinkled by the water of life. No doubt, an incident of
this character occurred also in the original Tammuz legend. The life
of the god had to be renewed before he could return. Did he slumber,
like one of the Seven Sleepers, in Ea's house, and not awake again
until he arrived as a child in his crescent moon boat--"the sunken
boat" of the hymns--like Scef, who came over the waves to the land of
the Scyldings?
It seems remarkable that the doctrine of Eternal Bliss, which obtained
in Egypt on the one hand and in India on the other, should never have
been developed among the Babylonians. Of course, our knowledge in this
connection is derived from the orthodox religious texts. Perhaps the
great thinkers, whose influence can be traced in the tendencies
towards monotheism which became marked at various periods, believed in
a Heaven for the just and good. If they did, their teachings must have
been suppressed by the mercenary priests. It was extremely profitable
for these priests to perpetuate the belief that the spirits of the
dead were consigned to a gloomy Hades, where the degree of suffering
which they endured depended on the manner in which their bodies were
disposed of upon earth. An orthodox funeral ceremony was costly at all
times. This is made evident by the inscriptions which record the
social reforms of Urukagina, the ill-fated patesi of Lagash. When he
came to the throne he cut down the burial fees by more than a half.
"In the case of an ordinary burial," writes Mr. King, "when a corpse
was laid in a grave, it had been the custom for the presiding priest
to demand as a fee for himself seven urns of wine or strong drink,
four hundred and twenty loaves of bread, one hundred and twenty
measures of corn, a garment, a kid, a bed, and a seat." The reformer
reduced the perquisites to "three urns of wine, eighty loaves of
bread, a bed, and a kid, while the fee of his (the priest's) assistant
was cut down from sixty to thirty measures of corn".[252]
The conservative element in Babylonian religion is reflected by the
burial customs. These did not change greatly after the Neolithic
period. Prehistoric Sumerian graves resemble closely those of
pre-Dynastic Egypt. The bodies of the dead were laid on their sides in
crouching posture, with a "beaker", or "drinking cup" urn, beside the
right hand. Other vessels were placed near the head. In this
connection it may be noted that the magic food prepared for Gilgamesh
by Pir-napishtim's wife, when he lay asleep, was also placed near his
head.
The corpse was always decked with various ornaments, including rings,
necklaces, and armlets. As has been indicated, these were worn by the
living as charms, and, no doubt, they served the same purpose for the
dead. This charm-wearing custom was condemned by the Hebrew teachers.
On one occasion Jacob commanded his household to "put away the strange
gods which were in their hand, and all the ear-rings which were in
their ears; and Jacob buried them under the oak which was by
Shechem".[253] To Jacob, personal ornaments had quite evidently an
idolatrous significance.
"A very typical class of grave furniture", writes Mr. King, "consisted
of palettes, or colour dishes, made of alabaster, often of graceful
shape, and sometimes standing on four feet.... There is no doubt as to
their use, for colour still remains in many of them, generally black
and yellow, but sometimes a light rose and light green." Palettes for
face paint have also been found in many early Egyptian graves.
The gods had their faces painted like the living and the dead and were
similarly adorned with charms. In the course of the daily service in
the Egyptian temples an important ceremony was "dressing the god with
white, green, bright-red, and dark-red sashes, and supplying two kinds
of ointment and black and green eye paint".[254] In the word-picture
of the Aryo-Indian Varuna's heaven in the _Mahabharata_ the deity is
depicted "attired in celestial robes and decked with celestial
ornaments and jewels". His attendants, the Adityas, appear "adorned
with celestial garlands and perfumed with celestial scents and
besmeared with paste of celestial fragrance".[255] Apparently the
"paste", like the face paint of the Babylonians and Egyptians, had
protective qualities. The Picts of Scotland may have similarly painted
themselves to charm their bodies against magical influences and the
weapons of their enemies. A painted man was probably regarded as one
who was likely to have good luck, being guarded against bad luck.
Weapons and implements were also laid in the Sumerian graves,
indicating a belief that the spirits of the dead could not only
protect themselves against their enemies but also provide themselves
with food. The funerary gifts of fish-hooks suggests that spirits were
expected to catch fish and thus obtain clean food, instead of
returning to disturb the living as they searched for the remnants of
the feast, like the Scottish Gunna,
perched alone
On a chilly old grey stone,
Nibbling, nibbling at a bone
That we'll maybe throw away.
Some bodies which were laid in Sumerian graves were wrapped up in reed
matting, a custom which suggests that the reeds afforded protection or
imparted magical powers. Magical ceremonies were performed in
Babylonian reed huts. As we have seen, Ea revealed the "purpose" of
the gods, when they resolved to send a flood, by addressing the reed
hut in which Pir-napishtim lay asleep. Possibly it was believed that
the dead might also have visions in their dreams which would reveal
the "purpose" of demons who were preparing to attack them. In Syria it
was customary to wrap the dead in a sheep skin.[256] As priests and
gods were clad in the skins of animals from which their powers were
derived, it is probable that the dead were similarly supposed to
receive inspiration in their skin coverings. The Highland seer was
wrapped in a bull's skin and left all night beside a stream so as to
obtain knowledge of the future. This was a form of the Taghairm
ceremony, which is referred to by Scott in his "Lady of the
Lake".[257] The belief in the magical influence of sacred clothing
gave origin to the priestly robes. When David desired to ascertain
what Saul intended to do he said, "Bring hither the ephod". Then he
came to know that his enemy had resolved to attack Keilah.[258] Elisha
became a prophet when he received Elijah's mantle.[259]
Sometimes the bodies of the Sumerians were placed in sarcophagi of
clay. The earlier type was of "bath-tub" shape, round and
flat-bottomed, with a rounded lid, while the later was the
"slipper-shaped coffin", which was ornamented with charms. There is a
close resemblance between the "bath-tub" coffins of Sumeria and the
Egyptian pottery coffins of oval shape found in Third and Fourth
Dynasty tombs in rock chambers near Nuerat. Certain designs on wooden
coffins, and tombs as early as the First Dynasty, have direct
analogies in Babylonia.[260]
No great tombs were erected in Sumeria. The coffins were usually laid
in brick vaults below dwellings, or below temples, or in trenches
outside the city walls. On the "stele of victory", which belongs to
the period of Eannatum, patesi of Lagash, the dead bodies on the
battlefield are piled up in pairs quite naked, and earth is being
heaped over them; this is a specimen of mound burial.
According to Herodotus the Babylonians "buried their dead in honey,
and had funeral lamentations like the Egyptians".[261] The custom of
preserving the body in this manner does not appear to have been an
ancient one, and may have resulted from cultural contact with the Nile
valley during the late Assyrian period. So long as the bones were
undisturbed, the spirit was supposed to be assured of rest in the
Underworld. This archaic belief was widespread, and finds an echo in
the quaint lines over Shakespeare's grave in Stratford church:--
Good friend, for Jesus' sake forbeare
To dig the dust enclosed heare;
Blest be the man that spares these stones,
And curst be he that moves my bones.
In Babylonia the return of the spirits of the dead was greatly
dreaded. Ishtar once uttered the terrible threat: "I will cause the
dead to rise; they will then eat and live. The dead will be more
numerous than the living." When a foreign country was invaded, it was
a common custom to break open the tombs and scatter the bones they
contained. Probably it was believed, when such acts of vandalism were
committed, that the offended spirits would plague their kinsfolk.
Ghosts always haunted the homes they once lived in, and were as
malignant as demons. It is significant to find in this connection that
the bodies of enemies who were slain in battle were not given decent
burial, but mutilated and left for birds and beasts of prey to devour.
The demons that plagued the dead might also attack the living. A
fragmentary narrative, which used to be referred to as the "Cuthean
Legend of Creation",[262] and has been shown by Mr. L.W. King to have
no connection with the struggle between Merodach and the dragon,[263]
deals with a war waged by an ancient king against a horde of evil
spirits, led by "the lord of heights, lord of the Anunaki (earth
spirits)". Some of the supernatural warriors had bodies like birds;
others had "raven faces", and all had been "suckled by Tiamat".
For three years the king sent out great armies to attack the demons,
but "none returned alive". Then he decided to go forth himself to save
his country from destruction. So he prepared for the conflict, and
took the precaution of performing elaborate and therefore costly
religious rites so as to secure the co-operation of the gods. His
expedition was successful, for he routed the supernatural army. On his
return home, he recorded his great victory on tablets which were
placed in the shrine of Nergal at Cuthah.
This myth may be an echo of Nergal's raid against Eresh-ki-gal. Or,
being associated with Cuthah, it may have been composed to encourage
burial in that city's sacred cemetery, which had been cleared by the
famous old king of the evil demons which tormented the dead and made
seasonal attacks against the living.