the palace;--males they are not, females they are
not,--they are storms which pass quickly.--They take no wife, they give
birth to no child,--they know neither compassion nor kindness,--they
listen to no prayer nor supplication.--As wild horses they are born in
the mountains,--they are the enemies of Ba,--they are the agents of the
gods;--they are evil, they are evil--and they are seven, they are seven,
they are twice seven." Man, if reduced to his own resources, could have
no chance of success in struggling against beings who had almost reduced
the gods to submission. He invoked in his defence the help of the whole
universe, the spirits of heaven and earth, the spirit of Bel and of
Belit, that of Ninib and of Nebo, those of Sin, of Ishtar, and of
Bamman; but Gibir or Gibil, the Lord of Fire, was the most powerful
auxiliary in this incessant warfare. The offspring of night and of dark
waters, the Anunnaki had no greater enemy than fire; whether kindled
on the household hearth or upon the altars, its appearance put them to
flight and dispelled their power.

[Illustration: 142.jpg STRUGGLE BETWEEN A GOOD AND AN EVIL GENIUS.]

Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from Layard.

"Gibil, renowned hero in the land,--valiant, son of the Abyss, exalted
in the land,--Gibil, thy clear flame, breaking forth,--when it lightens
up the darkness,--assigns to all that bears a name its own destiny.
--The copper and tin, it is thou who dost mix them,--gold and silver,
it is thou who meltest them,--thou art the companion of the goddess
Ninkasi--thou art he who exposes his breast to the nightly enemy!--Cause
then the limbs of man, son of his god, to shine,--make him to be bright
like the sky,--may he shine like the earth,--may he be bright like the
interior of the heavens,--may the evil word be kept far from him," and
with it the malignant spirits. The very insistence with which help is
claimed against the Anunnaki shows how much their power was dreaded.
The Chaldean felt them everywhere about him, and could not move without
incurring the danger of coming into contact with them. He did not fear
them so much during the day, as the presence of the luminary deities in
the heavens reassured him; but the night belonged to them, and he was
open to their attacks. If he lingered in the country at dusk, they were
there, under the hedges, behind walls and trunks of trees, ready to
rush out upon him at every turn. If he ventured after sundown into the
stree