[2] The following are the significations of the different Assyrian royal names mentioned in this chapter:— Rimmon-nirari, 'Rimmon (the Air-god) is my help.' Shalmaneser (Sallimanu-esir), 'Sallimanu (Solomon, the god of peace) directs.' The Babylonians changed the name to Sulman-asarid, 'Solomon is supreme.' Tiglath-Pileser (Tukulti-pal-E-Sára), 'The servant of (the god Adar) the son of E-'Sara (the temple of legions).' Assur-dân, 'Assur is strong.' Assur-natsir-pal, 'Assur is protector of the son.' Samas-Rimmon, 'The Sun-god is also Rimmon (the Air-god).' Sargon (Sarru-kunu), 'the constituted king.' Sennacherib (Sinu-akhi-erba), 'The Moon-god increased the brethren.' Esar-haddon (Assur-akh-iddina), 'Assur gave a brother.' Assur-bani-pal, 'Assur is creator of the son.' Assur-etil-ilani, 'Assur is prince of the gods.' [Illustration] * * * * * CHAPTER III. ASSYRIAN RELIGION. The Assyrians derived the greater part of their deities and religious beliefs, like their literature and culture generally, from Babylonia. The Babylonian gods were the gods of Assyria also. Most of them were of Accadian or præ-Semitic origin, but the Semitic Babylonians, when they appropriated the civilisation of the Accadians, modified them in accordance with their own conceptions. The Accadians believed that every object and phenomenon of nature had its _Zi_ or 'spirit,' some of them beneficent, others hostile to man, like the objects and phenomena they represented. Naturally, however, there were more malevolent than beneficent spirits in the universe, and there was scarcely an action which did not risk demoniac possession. Diseases were due to the malevolence of these spirits, and could be cured only by the use of certain charms and exorcisms. Exorcisms, in fact, gave those who employed them power over the spirits; they could by means of them compel the evil spirit to retire, and the beneficent spirit to approach. The knowledge of such exorcisms was in the hands of the priests, so that priest and magician were almost synonymous terms. Among the multitude of spirits feared by the Accadians, there were some which had been raised above the rest into the position of gods. Of these, Anu, 'the sky;' Mul-ge, 'the earth;' and Ea, 'the deep,' were the most conspicuous. At their side stood the 'spirits' of the heavenly bodies—the Moon-god, the Sun-god, the evening star, and the other planets. The Moon-god ranked before the Sun-god, as might indeed have been expected to be the case among a nation of astronomers like the Chaldeans.