SURVIVALS OF ANIMISM IN THE BABYLONIAN RELIGION.
The Assyrian influence however was only one factor, and a minor factor
at that, in maintaining the belief in countless spirits that occupied a
place of more or less importance by the side of the great and lesser
gods. That conservatism which is a distinguishing trait of the popular
forms of religion everywhere, served to keep alive the view that all the
acts of man, his moods, the accidents that befell him, were under the
control of visible or invisible powers. The development of a pantheon,
graded and more or less regulated under the guidance of the Babylonian
schoolmen, did not drive the old animistic views out of existence. In
the religious literature, and more especially in those parts of it which
reflect the popular forms of thought, the unorganized mass of spirits
maintain an undisputed sway. In the incantation texts, which will be
discussed at length in a subsequent chapter, as well as in other
sections of Babylonian literature embodying both the primitive and the
advanced views of the Babylonians regarding the origin of the universe,
its subdivisions, and its order of development, and, thirdly, in the
legends and epics, hundreds of spirits are introduced, to which some
definite function or functions were assigned. In many, indeed in the
majority of cases, the precise character of these functions still
escapes us. The material at our disposal is as yet inadequate for any
satisfactory treatment of this phase of Babylonian belief, and we must
content ourselves for the present with some generalizations, or at the
most with some broad classifications. Besides the texts themselves, we
have proper names containing a spirit as an element, and also lists of
those spirits prepared by the schoolmen on the basis of the texts. When,
as sometimes happens, these lists contain explanatory comments on the
spirits enumerated, we are able to take some steps forward in our
knowledge of the subject.
In the first place, then, it is important to bear in mind that the
numerous spirits, when introduced into the religious and other texts,
are almost invariably preceded by a sign--technically known as a
determinative--which stamps them as divine. This sign being the same as
the one placed before the names of the gods, it is not always possible
to distinguish between deities and spirits. The use of a common sign is
significant as pointing to the common origin of the two classes of
superior powers that thus continue to exist side by side. A god is
naught but a spirit writ large. As already intimated in a previous
chapter, a large part of the development of the Babylonian religion
consists in the differentiation between the gods and the spirits,--a
process that, beginning before the period of written records, steadily
went on, and in a certain sense was never completed. In the historical
texts, the gods alone, with certain exceptions, find official
recognition, and it is largely through these texts that we are enabled
to distinguish between the two classes of powers, the gods and the
spirits; but as a survival of a primitive animism, the demons, good,
bad, and indifferent, retain their place in the popular forms of
religion. Several hundred spirits occur in the incantation texts, and
almost as many more in other religious texts. We may distinguish several
classes. In the first place, there are the demons that cause disease and
all manner of physical annoyances. The chief of these will be considered
when we come to the analysis of the incantation texts. Against these
demons the sufferer seeks protection by means of formulas, the utterance
of which is invested with peculiar power, and again by means of certain
rites of an expiatory or purificatory character. Next, we have the
demons supposed to inhabit the fields, and to whom the ground is
supposed to belong. These were imaged under various animal forms,
serpents and scorpions being the favorite ones. When possession was
taken of the field, the spirits inhabiting it had to be propitiated. The
owner placed himself under their protection, and endeavored to insure
his rights against wrongful encroachment by calling upon the demons to
range themselves on his side. It was customary, especially in the case
of territory acquired by special grant of the monarch, or under
extraordinary circumstances, to set up a so-called boundary stone,[213]
on which the owner of the field detailed his right to possession,
through purchase or gift, as the case may be. This inscription closed
with an appeal to various gods to strike with their curses any intruder
upon the owner's rights. In addition to this, the stones are embellished
with serpents, scorpions, unicorns, and various realistic or fantastic
representations of animal forms. These, it would seem, symbolize the
spirits, the sight of which, it was hoped, might act as a further and
effectual warning against interference with the owner's rights.[214]
A special class of demons is formed by those which were supposed to
infest the resting-places of the dead, though they stand in a certain
relationship to the demons that plague the living. A remarkable monument
found a number of years ago, and which will be fully described in a
subsequent chapter, affords us a picture of some of these demons whose
sphere of action is more particularly in the subterranean cave that
forms the gathering-place of the dead. They are represented as half
human, half animal, with large grotesque and terror-inspiring
features.[215] Their power, however, is limited. They are subject to the
orders of the gods whose dominion is the lower world, more particularly
to Nergal and his consort Allatu. In the advanced eschatology of the
Babylonians the demons play a minor part. It is with the gods that the
dead man must make his peace. Their protection assured, he has little to
fear; but the demons of the lower world frequently ascend to the upper
regions to afflict the living. Against them precautions must be taken
similar to the means employed for ridding one's self of the baneful
influence of the disease-and pain-bringing spirits. Reference has
already been made to the spirits that belong to the higher phases of
Mesopotamian culture,--those that have a share in the production of
works of skill and art. We have seen that in accounting for these we are
justified in assuming a higher phase of religious belief. The dividing
line between god and spirit becomes faint, and the numerous protecting
patrons of the handicrafts that flourished in Babylonia and Assyria can
hardly be placed in the same category with those we have so far been
considering. Still, to the popular mind the achievements of the human
mind were regarded as due to the workings of hidden forces. Strange as
it may seem, there was an indisposition to ascribe everything to the
power of the gods. Ea and Nabu, although the general gods of wisdom, did
not concern themselves with details. These were left to the secondary
powers,--the spirits. Hence it happens that by the side of the great
gods, we have a large number of minor powers who preside over the
various branches of human handiwork and control the products of the
human mind.
Reserving further details regarding the several classes of demons and
spirits enumerated, it will suffice to say a few words about one
particular group of spirits whose role was peculiarly prominent in both
historical, liturgical, and general religious texts. The tendency to
systematize the beliefs in spirits manifests itself in Babylonia,
equally with the grouping of the gods into certain classes. In
consequence of this general tendency, the conception arose of a group of
spirits that comprised the associated secondary powers of earth and
heaven, somewhat as Anu, Bel, and Ea summed up the quintessence of the
higher powers or gods. This group was known as the
Anunnaki and Igigi.
Regarding these names it may be said that the former has not yet been
satisfactorily interpreted. On the assumption that the union of the
syllables A-nun-na-ki[216] represents a compound ideograph, the middle
syllable _nun_ signifies 'strength,' whereas the first is the ordinary
ideograph for 'water.' Hommel[217] proposed to interpret the name
therefore as 'gods of the watery habitation.' The artificiality of this
manner of writing points, as in several instances noted, to a mere
'play' upon the real name. _Anunna_ reminds one forcibly of the god
_Anu_ and of the goddess _Anunit_, and the element _ak_ is quite a
common afformative in Babylonian substantives, conveying a certain
emphatic meaning to the word. If therefore we may compare Anun with the
name of the god of heaven, the name _Anunnak_ embodying, as it does in
this case, the idea of power, would be an appropriate designation for
the spirits, or a group of spirits collectively. Be it understood that
this explanation is offered merely as a conjecture, which, however,
finds support in the meaning attached to the term 'Igigi.' This, as
Halevy and Guyard have recognized, is a formation of a well-known stem
occurring in Babylonian, as well as in other Semitic languages, that has
the meaning 'strong.' The ideographic form of writing the name likewise
designates the spirits as 'the great chiefs.' The 'Igigi,' therefore,
are 'the strong ones,' and strength being the attribute most commonly
assigned to the Semitic deities,[218] there is a presumption, at least,
in favor of interpreting Anunnak, or Anunnaki,[219] in the same way. The
'Igigi' are at times designated as the seven gods, but this number is
simply an indication of their constituting a large group. Seven is a
round number which marked a large quantity. At an earlier period five
represented a numerical magnitude, and hence the Anunnaki are at times
regarded as a group of five.[220] The Anunnaki and Igigi appear for the
first time in an historical text in the inscription of the Assyrian king
Ramman-nirari I., who includes them in his appeal to the great gods. He
designates the Igigi as belonging to heaven, the Anunnaki as belonging
to the earth. The manner in which he uses the names shows conclusively
that, at this early period, the two groups comprehended the entire
domain over which spirits, and for that matter also the gods, exercised
their power. Indeed, it would appear that at one time the two names were
used to include the gods as well as the spirits. At least this appears
to be the case in Assyria, and the conclusion may be drawn, from the
somewhat vague use of the terms, that the names belong to a very early
period of the religion, when the distinction between gods and spirits
was not yet clearly marked. However that may be, in Babylonian hymns and
incantations the Igigi and Anunnaki play a very prominent part. Anu is
represented as the father of both groups. But they are also at the
service of other gods, notably of Bel, who is spoken of as their 'lord,'
of Ninib, of Marduk, of Ishtar, and of Nergal. They prostrate themselves
before these superior masters, and the latter at times manifest their
anger against the Igigi. They are sent out by the gods to do service.
Their character is, on the whole, severe and cruel. They are not
favorable to man, but rather hostile to him. Their brilliancy consumes
the land. Their power is feared, and Assyrian kings more particularly
are fond of adding the Igigi and Anunnaki to the higher powers--the gods
proper--when they wish to inspire a fear of their own majesty. At times
the Igigi alone are mentioned, but generally the Igigi and Anunnaki
appear in combination. To the latest period of Babylonian history these
two groups continue to receive official recognition. Nebuchadnezzar
II.[221] dedicates an altar, which he erects at the wall of the city of
Babylon, to the Igigi and Anunnaki. The altar is called a structure of
'joy and rejoicing,' and on the festival of Marduk, who is the 'lord of
the Anunnaki and Igigi,' sacrifices were offered at this altar. In the
great temple of Marduk there was a fountain in which the gods and the
Anunnaki, according to a Babylonian hymn, 'bathe their countenance'; and
when to this notice it be added that another hymn praises them as the
'shining chiefs' of the ancient city of Eridu, it will be apparent that
the conceptions attached to this group span the entire period of
Babylonian-Assyrian history.
Besides the Igigi and Anunnaki there is still a third group of seven
spirits, generally designated as the 'evil demons,' who represent the
embodiment of all physical suffering to which man is subject. They
appear, however, only in the incantation texts, and we may, therefore,
postpone their consideration until that subject is reached. The point to
be borne in mind, and which I have attempted to emphasize in this place,
is the close relationship existing in the _popular_ forms of the
Babylonian religion between the gods and the spirits. The latter belong
to the pantheon as much as the former. Primitive animism continues to
enchain the minds of the people, despite the differentiation established
between the higher and the secondary powers, and despite the high point
of development reached by the schoolmen in their attempts to systematize
and, in a measure, to purify the ancient beliefs.
FOOTNOTES:
[213] The technical name for this class of monuments was _Kudurru_,
_i.e._, mark, and then used like the German word _Mark_ both for
boundary and for the territory included within the bounds. A notable
contribution to the interpretation of the Kudurru monuments was made by
Belser, in the _Beitraege zur Assyriologie_, ii. 111-203.
[214] The question has been raised (see Belser, _ib._ p. 111) by Pinches
whether these representations are not the symbols of the zodiac, but, as
Belser justly remarks, the attempt to interpret the pictures in this way
has not been successful. It still seems most plausible to regard the
pictures as symbols of spirits or demons. Such an interpretation is in
accord with the Babylonian and general Semitic view of land ownership.
At the same time it must be confessed that we are still in the dark as
to the motives underlying the choice of the animals portrayed. There may
be some ultimate connection with _some_ of the signs of the zodiac,--so
Hommel believes,--but such connection would have to be judged from the
earlier forms that animism takes on, and not in the light of an advanced
theology such as appears in the zodiacal system of the Babylonians.
[215] See Perrot and Chiplez, _History of Art in Chaldaea and Assyria_,
I. 351.
[216] The element _ki_ is sometimes omitted. The force of _na_ is not
clear, unless it be a phonetic complement merely.
[217] _Semitische Voelker_, p. 369.
[218] Very many of the names of the Semitic gods and heroes signify
strong, _e.g._, _El_, _Adon_, _Baal_, _Etana_, _Kemosh_, etc.
[219] The final vowel _i_ would, on the basis of the explanation
offered, be paralleled by the _i_ of Igigi--an indication of the plural.
See Delitzsch, _Assyr. Gram._ Sec. 67, 1.
[220] The Igigi are designated ideographically as v plus ii, and Hommel
(_Semitische Voelker_, p. 491) properly suggests that this peculiar
writing points to an earlier use of five as constituting the group.
Hommel, however, does not see that neither five nor seven are to be
interpreted literally, but that both represent a large round number,
and, therefore, also a holy one.
[221] IR. 55, col. iv. ll. 7-13.