e case of the guardian spirit of an entire city or district, would
there result--and even this not invariably--an elevation to the grade of
deity, in the proper sense of the word. In many cases, however, this
guardian deity might be a heavenly body, as the moon or sun or stars,
all of which were supposed to regulate the fate of mankind or some force
of nature, as the rain or the storm; and even if this were not
originally the case, the protecting deity might, in the course of time,
become identified with one of the forces of nature; and, if for no other
reason, simply because of the prominence which the worship of the force
in question acquired in the place. As a consequence, the mixture of
local and nature cults is so complete that it is often impossible to
distinguish the one from the other. It is hard in many cases to
determine whether the deity which is identified with a certain city was
originally a mere local spirit watching over a certain restricted
territory, or a personification of a natural force associated in some
way with a certain section of Babylonia.

CHAPTER IV.

BABYLONIAN GODS PRIOR TO THE DAYS OF HAMMURABI.

With these preliminary remarks, we may turn, as the first part of our
subject, to a consideration of the oldest of the Babylonian gods. Our
main sources are the inscriptions of the old Babylonian rulers, above
referred to. These are, in most cases, of a dedicatory character, being
inscribed on statues, cylinders, or tablets, placed in the temples or on
objects--cones, knobs, stones--presented as votive offerings to some
god. Besides the inscriptions of the rulers, we have those of officials
and others. Many of these are likewise connected directly or indirectly
with religious worship.

The advantage of the historical texts over the purely religious ones
consists in their being dated, either accurately or approximately. For
this reason, the former must be made the basis for a rational theory of
the development of the Babylonian pantheon through the various periods
above instanced. The data furnished by the religious texts can be
introduced only, as they accord with the facts revealed by the
historical inscriptions in each period.

Taking up the group of inscriptions prior to the union of the Babylonian
States under Hammurabi, _i.e._, prior to 2300 B.C., we find these gods
mentioned: Bel, Belit, Nin-khar-sag, Nin-girsu, also appearing as
Shul-gur, Bau, Ga-tum-dug, Ea, Nin-a-gal, Nergal,