A History of Sumer and Akkad: An account of the early races of Babylonia from prehistoric times to the foundation of the Babylonian monarchyKing, L. W. (Leonard William)
History
A History of Sumer and Akkad: An account of the early races of Babylonia from prehistoric times to the foundation of the Babylonian monarchy
King, L. W. (Leonard William)
Akkadians; Babylonia -- History; Sumerians
The peculiar honour paid to Enlil does not appear to have affected the
cult of the Moon-god, the patron deity of Ur, for both Bûr-Sin and
Gimil-Sin rebuilt and added to the great temple of Sin, or Nannar,
in their capital.[27] They also followed Dungi in his care for the
shrine of Enki at Eridu; and there is evidence that Bûr-Sin rebuilt
the temple of Ninni at Erech, while the last year of Gimil-Sin's reign
was signalized by the rebuilding of the city-temple at Umma. It is
thus clear that the later members of Ur-Engur's dynasty continued
the rebuilding of the temples of Babylonia, which characterized his
reign and that of Dungi. Another practice which they inherited was
the deification of the reigning king. Not only did they assume the
divine determinative before their names, but Bûr-Sin styles himself
"the righteous god of his land," or "the righteous god, the sun of his
land." He also set up a statue of himself, which he named "Bûr-Sin,
the beloved of Ur," and placed it in the temple of the Moon-god under
the protection of Nannar and Ningal. It would seem that it became the
custom at this time for the reigning king to erect statues of himself
in the great temples of the land, where regular offerings were made to
them as to the statues of the gods themselves. Thus a tablet from Tello
mentions certain offerings made at the Feast of the New Moon to statues
of Gimil-Sin, which stood in the two principal temples of Lagash,
those of Ningirsu and the goddess Bau.[28] It should be added that the
tablet is dated in the fifth year of Gimil-Sin's reign. In view of
Nannar's rank as god of the suzerain city, the Feasts of the New Moon
were naturally regarded, even in the provincial cities, as of peculiar
importance in the sacred calendar.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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