Among the masses, the sacrifice was unquestionably that feature of worship best understood. It seems to have been an instinct born in man to make offerings to appease the wrath of a god, and to seek by the same means to win his favor. The priests acted as mediators between the people and the divinity. To a priest, the farmer, laborer, and slave as well as the noble and prince, brought each his offering, and such portions as were considered sacred were offered upon the altar. As the Egyptian provided food for the _ka_ of the deceased, so also the Babylonian provided it for the _zi_ of his dead. It is possible that the belief in the shadowy ka came originally from the valley of the Euphrates. Gods were supposed to visit their shrines at intervals and so food was placed for them. The masses of the people were so ignorant that it is entirely probable they regarded the image of the god as the god himself, and that they thought these images of clay and stone actually devoured the food they brought.[1] The more enlightened had no such crude notions, but realized that the god-spirit was something apart from anything they saw and worshipped. If we substitute the name of the Hebrew deity in place of the Babylonian god, worshippers of Judah might have used some of the hymns of prayer and praise used in Babylonia: "The heart of my lord is wroth; may it be appeased! O lord, my sins are many, my transgressions are great! The sin that I sinned I knew not, The transgression I committed I knew not, The lord in the wrath of his heart has regarded me, God in the fierceness of his heart has revealed himself to me. I sought for help and none took my hand; I wept, and none stood at my side; I cried aloud, and there was none that heard me. I am in trouble and hiding; I dare not look up. To my god, the merciful one, I turn myself, I utter my prayer; The sins I have sinned turn into a blessing; The transgressions I have committed let the wind carry away! Strip off my manifold wickedness as a garment! O my god, seven times seven are my transgressions: forgive my sins!" Another, written first to Sin of Ur, and later incorporated into the hymns of the nation: "Father, long-suffering and full of forgiveness, Whose hand upholdeth the life of all mankind! First-born, omnipotent, whose heart is immensity, and there is none who may fathom it! In heaven who is supreme? Thou alone, thou art supreme! On earth, who is supreme? Thou alone, thou art supreme! As for thee, thy will is made known in heaven, and the angels bow their faces. As for thee, thy will is made known upon earth, and the spirits below kiss the ground." Elsewhere we find Ashur appealed to as "lord of the gods, _who has created himself_."