The Old Testament in the Light of the Historical Records and Legends of Assyria and BabyloniaPinches, Theophilus G. (Theophilus Goldridge)
Religion
The Old Testament in the Light of the Historical Records and Legends of Assyria and Babylonia
Pinches, Theophilus G. (Theophilus Goldridge)
Bible. Old Testament -- Criticism, interpretation, etc.
Assyriologists early recognized the attributes of the god whose name they
then read Hea. They saw that he was regarded by the ancient Babylonians
and Assyrians as the god of streams, rivers, seas, and the watery abyss of
the under-world—the waters under the earth. Of the god Ae or Ea all sorts
of wonderful stories were told by the Babylonians, who attributed to him,
as the god of wisdom and knowledge, the origin of the civilization which
they enjoyed. His name, as god of deep wisdom, was Nin-igi-azaga, “the
lord of the bright eye,” a name which would seem to show that the
Akkadians (the names of most of the deities of the Assyro-Babylonian
Pantheon are written in Akkadian) associated, as we also do at the present
day, intelligence with brightness of the eyes, or, more correctly, with
alertness of appearance.
But this god had many other names than those mentioned above. He was
En-ki, “lord of the world”; Amma-ana-ki, “lord of heaven and earth”;
Engur, “god of the Abyss”; Nudimmud, “god of creation”; Nadimmud, “god of
everything”; Nun-ura, “god of the potter”; Nin-agal, “god of the smith”;
Dunga, “god of the singer” (?); Nin-bubu, “god of the sailor”;
Kuski-banda, “god of goldsmiths”;—in fact, he seems to have been the god
of arts and crafts in general. He was also called Ellila-banda, “the
powerful lord”; En-uru and Nin-uru, “the protecting lord”; Lugal-ida,
“king of the river”; Lugal, En, Nuna, and Dara-abzu, “king,” “lord,”
“prince,” and “ruler of the abyss”; Dara-dim, Dara-nuna, and Dara-banda,
honorific titles as “creator,” “princely ruler,” and “powerful ruler”;
Alima-nuna, Alima-banda, and Alima-šum-ki, “princely lord,” “powerful
lord,” and “lord disposer of the earth.” He bore also besides these a
large number of names, among which may be cited, as an example of his
many-sidedness, the following—
Šaršara, apparently “the overwhelmer,” probably as lord of the sea
and its teeming myriads.
En-tî, “lord of life.”
Gana-si, probably “the enclosure full (of life).”
Nam-zida, “righteousness.”
Idima (Akk.) or Naqbu (Bab.), “the deep.”
Sa-kalama, “ruler of the land.”
Šanabaku and Šanabi, the god “40.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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