Babylonian Religion
Babylonian Religion involves the religious beliefs and ritual practices of the ancient Babylonians. The Babylonians believed in a pnatheon consisting of beings, human in form but superhuman in power and immortal, each of whom, although invisible to the human eye, ruled a particular component of the cosmos, and controlled it in accordance with well-laid plans and duly prescribed laws. Each was in charge of one of the great realms of heaven, earth, sea, and air; or of one of the major astral bodies such as the sun, moon, and planets; in the realm of the earth of such natural entities as river, mountain and plain, and of such social entities as city and state. Tools and implements, such as the pickax, brick mold, and plow, were under the charge of specially appointed deities. Each Babylonian had a personal god to whom prayers were addressed and through whom salvation could be found. At the head of this multitude of divine beings was Marduk, the Amorite tribal god, who had played only a minor and relatively unimportant role in the religious life of the land befoire the time of the ruler Hammurabi in the 17th and 18th centuries BCE. According to the Babylonian mythological poem known in world literature as Enuma elish("When above"), Marduk was garnted the leadership of the pantheon as well as the "kingship over the universe entire' as a reward for avenging the gods by defeating Tlamat, the savage and defiant goddess of chaos, and her monstrous host. Following his victory, Marduk fashioned heaven and earth, arranged and regulated the planets and stars, and created the human race. Among the more important Babylonian deities, in addition to Marduk, were Ea(god of wisdom, spells, and incantations; Sin(the moon god who had his main temples at Ur and Haran; Shamash(the sun god and god of justice who is depicted on the stele, or tablet, inscribed with the code of Hammurabi; Ishtar(the ambitious, dynamic, and cruel goddess of love and war); Adad(the god of wind, storm, and flood); and Marduk's son Nabu, the scribe and herald of the gods, whose cult eventually rivaled his father's in popularity. In addition to the sky gods were the netherworld deities, as well as alrge variety of demons, devils, and monsters, who were a constant threat to humanity and its well-being, and a few good, angelic spirits. Each of the important deities had a large temple where they were worshiped as divine civic ruler and protector in one of more Babylonian cities. The larger cities also conatianed many temples and chapels dedicated to just one deity.
Temple services were generally conducted in open courts containging fountains for ablution and altars for sacrifices. The cella (inner part of the temple) in which the statue of the deity stood on a pedestal in a special niche, was the holy of holies, and only the high priest and priveleged members of the clergy and court were permitted to enter it. In the temples of the larger cities, a ziggurat was often built, crowned by a small sanctuary, which was probably reserved for the all important sacred-marriage ceremony celebrated in connection with the new-year festival. The upkeep of the major Babylonian temples required large revenues, which were provided primarily by gifts and endowments from the court and the wealthy. The temple was the house of the god, in which all the needs of the deity were provided for in accordance with ancient rites and impressive ceremonies carried out by a vast institutionalized clergy. The latter comprised high priests, sacrifice priests, musicians, singers, magicians, soothsayers, diviners, dream interpreters, astrologers, female devotees, and hierodules(temple slaves). Sacrifices, which were offered daily, consisted of animal and vegetable foods, libations of water, wine, and beer, and the burning of incense. Numerous animal and monthly festivals were held, including a feast to celebrate the new moon. The most important festival of all was the celebration of the new year at the spring equinox; it was known as the Akitu festival because some of its more esoteric ritual was enacted in the Akitu, Marduk's shrine outside of Babylon. The festival lasted 11 days and included such rites as pruification, sacrifice, propitiation, penance, and absolution, but it also involved colorful processions. The ethical and moral beliefs ot the Babylonian people stressed goodness and truth, law and order, justice and freedom, wisdom and learning, and courage and loyalty. Mercy and compassion were espoused, and special protection was accorded widows, orphans, refugees, the poor, and the oppressed. Immoral and unethical acts were considered sins against the gods and the divine order and were believed to be puished by the gods accordingly. No one was considered sinless, and therefore all suffering was held to be deserved. The proper course for Babylonians unhappy with their condition in life was not to argue and complain but to plead and well, to lament and confess their inevitable sins and failings before their personal god, who acted as their mediator in the assembly of the great gods. For the babylonians, death was the consuming dread. The Babylonians believed that at death the disembodied spirit decended to the dark netherworld, and that human existence beyond the grave at best was a dismal reflection of life on earth. Any hope of eternal reward for the righteous was absent; everyone was impartially consigned to the world below. This is evidenced in the most popular and creative Babylonian literary work, the Gilgamesh Epic, which centers on a vain and pathetic quest for eternal life.
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