igious conception: he held his high position, not by his own merits,
but because the prevailing theology of an early period had been the work
of his priesthood.

* I know of Sayce only who has endeavoured to explain the
historical formation of the triads. They are considered by
him as of Accadian origin, and probably began in an
astronomical triad, composed of the moon-god, the sun-god,
and the evening star, Sin, Shamash, and Ishtar; alongside
this elementary trinity, "the only authentic one to be found
in the religious faith of primitive Chaldaea," the Semites
may have placed the cosmogonical trinity of Anu, Bel, and
Ea, formed by the reunion of the gods of Uruk, Nipur, and
Eridu.

The characters of the three personages who formed the supreme triad can
be readily deduced from the nature of the elements which they represent.
Anu is the heaven itself--"ana"--the immense vault which spreads itself
above our heads, clear during the day when glorified by the sun, obscure
and strewn with innumerable star clusters during the night. Afterwards
it becomes the spirit which animates the firmament, or the god which
rules it: he resides in the north towards the pole, and the ordinary
route chosen by him when inspecting his domain is that marked out by our
ecliptic. He occupies the high regions of the universe, sheltered from
winds and tempests, in an atmosphere always serene, and a light always
brilliant. The terrestrial gods and those of middle-space take refuge in
this "heaven of Anu," when they are threatened by any great danger, but
they dare not penetrate its depths, and stop, shortly after passing its
boundary, on the ledge which supports the vault, where they loll and
howl like dogs. It is but rarely that it may be entered, and then
only by the highly privileged--kings whose destiny marked them out for
admittance, and heroes who have fallen valiantly on the field of
battle. In his remote position on unapproachable summits Anu seems to
participate in the calm and immobility of his dwelling. If he is quick
in forming an opinion and coming to a conclusion, he himself never puts
into execution the plans which he has matured or the judgments which
he has pronounced: he relieves himself of the trouble of acting, by
assigning the duty to Bel-Merodach, Ea, or Eamman, and he often employs
inferior genii to execute his will. "They are seven, the messengers of
Anu their king; it is th