There is no evidence, however, that any effort was made to spread Ikhnaton's cult over the Egyptian dominions in Western Asia, and the possibility of Asiatic influence upon the shaping of the cult cannot be altogether excluded. We quote a {105} few lines from Professor Breasted's translation to illustrate Ikhnaton's conceptions of the sun-god, whose worship was one of the most popular in Babylonia and Assyria, who, indeed, was regarded there not merely as an illuminator but as a supreme and righteous judge, the god of truth and justice. 'When thou risest in the eastern horizon of heaven, Thou fillest every land with thy beauty. * * * * * When thou settest in the western horizon of heaven, The world is in darkness like the dead. * * * * * Bright is the earth when thou risest in the horizon, When thou shinest as Aton by day. The darkness is banished, when thou sendest forth thy rays. * * * * * How manifold are all thy works, They are hidden from before us, O thou sole god, whose powers no other possesseth, Thou didst create the earth according to thy desire, While thou wast alone. * * * * * The world is in thy hand, Even as thou hast made them. When thou hast risen, they live. When thou settest, they die. For thou art duration, beyond thy mere limbs, By thee man liveth, And their eyes look upon thy beauty, Until thou settest.'[2] [2] See further the appreciative account of the reform by J. H. Breasted, _History of Egypt_, _pp._ 355-378. {106} +The Influence of Babylonia.+--The fact that Palestine used the script and language of Babylonia suggests that it shared other features of its culture. Among the Amarna Tablets were Babylonian mythological texts which had been carefully studied or used for reading-exercises in Egypt. One, the myth of Eresh-ki-gal and Nergal, narrating the descent of the latter into Hades, recalls the story of Persephone. Another, the myth of Adapa, tells how the hero who refused the food and water of life in heaven was denied the gift of immortality. It is inconceivable that Palestinian speculation did not turn to the mysteries of life and death, or that a people should acknowledge Nergal--or any other deity--without some formal beliefs. May we assume, therefore, that Palestinian thought was pre-eminently Babylonian? The question is as important for our period as for the Old Testament, and, in the absence of texts wherewith to institute a comparison, we conclude with a brief account of the bearing of the available evidence upon the problem.