and
_gala,_ "great;" so that he is "the great man," or "the great hero." He
is the special god of war and of hunting, more particularly of the
latter. His titles are "the king of battle," "the champion of the gods,"
"the storm ruler," "the strong begetter," "the tutelar god of Babylonia,"
and "the god of the chase." He is usually coupled with Nin, who likewise
presides over battles and over hunting; but while Nin is at least his
equal in the former sphere, Nergal has a decided pre-eminence in the
latter.

We have no distinct evidence that Nergal was worshipped in the primitive
times. He is first mentioned by some of the early Assyrian kings, who
regard him as their ancestor. It has, however, been conjectured that,
like Bil-Nipru, he represented the deified hero, Nimrod, who may have
been worshipped in different parts of Chaldaea under different titles.

The city peculiarly dedicated to Nergal was Cutha or Tiggaba, which is
constantly called his city in the inscriptions. He was worshipped also
at Tarbisa, near Nineveh, but in Tiggaba he was said to "live," and his
shrine there was one of great celebrity. Hence "the men of Cuth," when
transported to Samaria by the Assyrians, naturally enough "made Nergal
their god," carrying his worship with them into their new country.

[Illustration: PLATE 20]

It is probable that Nergal's symbol was the Man Lion. [PLATE XX.] Nir
is sometimes used in the inscriptions in the meaning of "lion;" and the
Semitic name for the god himself is "Aria"--the ordinary term for the
king of beasts both in Hebrew and in Syriac. Perhaps we have here the
true derivation of the Greek name for the god of war, _Ares,_ which has
long puzzled classical scholars. The lion would symbolize both the
fighting and the hunting propensities of the god, for he not only engages
in combats upon occasions, but often chases his prey and runs it down
like a hunter. Again, if Nergal is the Man-Lion, his association in the
buildings with the Man-Bull would be exactly parallel with the
conjunction, which we so constantly find, between him and Nin in the
inscriptions.

Nergal had a wife, called Laz, of whom, however, nothing is known beyond
her name. It is uncertain which among the emblems of the gods appertains
to him.

ISHTAR, or NANA.

Ishtar, or Nana, is the planetary Venus, and in general features
corresponds with the classical goddess. Her name Ishtar is that by which
she was known in Assyria; a