he superior deity, does not appear to be manifested in Chaldaea under
any such threefold representation.

As a substantive deity, distinct from her husband, Gula's characteristics
are that she presides over life and over fecundity. It is not quite
clear whether these offices belong to her alone, or whether she is
associated in each of them with a sister goddess. There is a "Mistress
of Life," who must be regarded as the special dispenser of that blessing;
and there is a "Mistress of the Gods," who is expressly said to "preside
over births." Concerning these two personages we cannot at present
determine whether they are really distinct deities, or whether they are
not rather aspects of Gula, sufficiently marked to be represented in the
temples by distinct idols.

Gula was worshipped in close combination with her husband, both at Larsa
and Sippara. Her name appears in the inscriptions connected with both
places; and she is probably the "Anammelech," whom the Sepharvites
honored in conjunction with Adrammelech, the "Fire-King." In later times
she had also temples independent of her husband, at Babylon and Borsippa,
as well as at Calah Asshur.

The emblem now commonly regarded as symbolizing Gula is the eight-rayed
disk or orb, which frequently accompanies the orb with four rays in the
Babylonian representations. In lieu of a disk, we have sometimes an
eight-rayed star and even occasionally a star with six rays only. It is
curious that the eight-rayed star became at an early period the universal
emblem of divinity: but perhaps we can only conclude from this the
stellar origin of the worship generally, and not any special pre-eminence
or priority of Anunit over other deities.

[Illustration: PAGE 84]

VUL, OR IVA

The third member of the second Triad is the god of the atmosphere, whose
name it has been proposed to render phonetically in a great variety of
ways. Until a general agreement shall be established, it is thought best
to retain a name with which readers are familiar; and the form Vul will
therefore be used in these volumes. Were Iva the correct articulation,
we might regard the term as simply the old Hamitic name for "the air,"
and illustrate it by the Arabic _heva,_ which has still that meaning.

The importance of Vul in the Chaldaean mythology, and his strong positive
character, contrast remarkably with the weak and shadowy features of
Uranus, or AEther, in the classical system. Vul indeed corre