There is another feature connected with the oracles that must be touched upon before passing on. The oracles stand obviously in close relationship to the penitential psalms. It was, naturally, in times of political distress that the kings would be particularly zealous in maintaining themselves on good terms with the powerful gods. Without their aid success could not be expected to crown any efforts. Guiding their steps by frequent consultations of the priests, the appeals of the kings would increase in earnestness and fervor as the campaign progressed and assumed more serious aspects. When disaster stared them in the face, they would be forced to conclude that the gods were angered, and there was only one way left of averting the divine wrath--a free confession of sins, accompanied, of course, by offerings and magic rites. The Assyrian kings do not tell us in their annals of discomfitures that they encountered. The penitential psalms supply this omission. We have such a psalm written in the days of Ashurbanabal,[535] in which that proud monarch humbles himself before the great god Nabu, and has the satisfaction in return of receiving a reassuring oracle. He prays: I confess to thee, Nabu, in the presence of the great gods, [Many[536] (?)] are my sins beyond endurance?[537] [Lord (?)] of Nineveh, I come before thee, the warrior among the gods, his brothers. [Prolong (?)] the life of Ashurbanabal for a long period. ... At the feet of Nabu I prostrate myself. The god reassures the king: I will grant thee life, O Ashurbanabal, even I, Nabu, to the end of days Thy feet shall not grow weary, nor thy hands weak (?), These lips of thine shall not cease to approach me, Thy tongue shall not be removed from thy lips, For I give thee a favorable message. I will raise thy head, I will increase thy glory in the temple of E-babbara.[538] The reference to the temple of Shamash at Sippar reveals the situation. Babylonia was the cause of much trouble to Ashurbanabal, owing chiefly to the intrigues of his treacherous brother Shamash-shumukin.[539] Ashurbanabal at one time was not merely in danger of losing control over the south, but of losing his life in the rebellion organized by his 'faithless brother.' A successful rebellion is a clear sign of a god's displeasure. Marduk, as we have seen, was not often appealed to by the Assyrian kings, but Nabu seemed always ready to help them. Hence the king confesses his sins and makes an appeal to the great Babylonian god and not to Ashur. He is encouraged by the promise that his life will be spared, and that his supremacy will be recognized in Babylonia. The great sanctuary of Sippar is here employed figuratively for the temples of Babylonia in general. To be glorified in that famous temple was equivalent to a recognition of royal authority.