depths I poured cane, cedar, and scented wood(?).
The gods smelled a savour,
The gods smelled a sweet savour,
The gods gathered like flies over the sacrificer."

Following in the footsteps of their great progenitor, the Babylonians
and Assyrians became a most pious race, constantly rendering to their
gods the glory for everything which they succeeded in bringing to a
successful issue. Prayer, supplication, and self-abasement before
their gods seem to have been with them a duty and a pleasure:--

"The time for the worship of the gods was my heart's delight,
The time of the offering to Istar was profit and riches,"

sings Ludlul the sage, and all the people of his land were one with
him in that opinion.

It is noteworthy that the offering of the Chaldaean Noah consisted of
vegetable produce only, and there are many inscriptions referring to
similar bloodless sacrifices, and detailing the ritual used in
connection therewith. Sacrifices of animals, however, seem to have
been constantly made--in any case, offerings of cattle and fowl, in
list-form, are fairly numerous. Many a cylinder-seal has a
representation of the owner bringing a young animal--a kid or a
lamb--as an offering to the deity whom he worshipped, and in the
inscriptions the sacrifice of animals is frequently referred to. One
of the bilingual texts refers to the offering of a kid or some other
young animal, apparently on behalf of a sick man. The text of this,
where complete, runs as follows:--

"The fatling which is the 'head-raiser' of mankind--
He has given the fatling for his life.
He has given the head of the fatling for his head,
He has given the neck of the fatling for his neck,
He has given the breast of the fatling for his breast."

Whether human sacrifices were common or not is a doubtful point. Many
cylinder-seals exist in which the slaying of a man is depicted, and
the French Assyriologist Menant was of opinion that they represented a
human offering to the gods. Hayes Ward, however, is inclined to doubt
this explanation, and more evidence would seem, therefore, to be
needed. He is inclined to think that, in the majority of cases, the
designs referred to show merely the victims of divine anger or
vengeance, punished by the deity for some misdeed or sin, either
knowingly or unknowingly committed.

In the Assyrian galleries of the British Museum, Assur-nasir-apli,
king of Assyria, is several times shown engaged in religiou