Subordinate to these limitless and vague beings, the theologians placed their second triad, made up of gods of restricted power and invariable form. They recognized in the unswerving regularity with which the moon waxed and waned, or with which the sun rose and set every day, a proof of their subjection to the control of a superior will, and they signalized this dependence by making them sons of one or other of the three great gods. Sin was the offspring of Bel, Shamash of Sin, Kamman of Anu. Sin was indebted for this primacy among the subordinate divinities to the preponderating influence which Uru exercised over Southern Chaldaea. Mar, where Ramman was the chief deity, never emerged from its obscurity, and Larsam acquired supremacy only many centuries after its neighbour, and did not succeed in maintaining it for any length of time. The god of the suzerain city necessarily took precedence of those of the vassal towns, and when once his superiority was admitted by the people, he was able to maintain his place in spite of all political revolutions. Sin was called in Uru, “Uruki,” or “Nannar the glorious,” and his priests sometimes succeeded in identifying him with Anu. “Lord, prince of the gods, who alone in heaven and earth is exalted,--father Nannar, lord of the hosts of heaven, prince of the gods,--father Nannar, lord, great Anu, prince of the gods,--father Nannar, lord, moon-god, prince of the gods,--father Nannar, lord of Uni, prince of the gods....--Lord, thy deity fills the far-off heavens, like the vast sea, with reverential fear! Master of the earth, thou who fixest there the boundaries [of the towns] and assignest to them their names,--father, begetter of gods and men, who establishest for them dwellings and institutest for them that which is good, who proclaimest royalty and bestowest the exalted sceptre on those whose destiny was determined from distant times,--chief, mighty, whose heart is great, god whom no one can name, whose limbs are steadfast, whose knees never bend, who preparest the paths of thy brothers the gods....--In heaven, who is supreme? As for thee, it is thou alone who art supreme! As for thee, thy decree is made known in heaven, and the Igigi bow their faces!--As for thee, thy decree is made known upon earth, and the spirits of the abyss kiss the dust!--As for thee, thy decree blows above like the wind, and stall and pasture become fertile!--As for thee, thy decree is accomplished upon earth below, and the grass and green things grow!--As for thee, thy degree is seen in the cattle-folds and in the lairs of the wild beasts, and it multiplies living things!--As for thee, thy decree has called into being equity and justice, and the peoples have promulgated thy law!--As for thee, thy decree, neither in the far-off heaven, nor in the hidden depths of the earth, can any one recognize it!--As for thee, thy decree, who can learn it, who can try conclusions