is applied more particularly to
that part of the mountain, also known as Kharsag[1117]-kurkura, _i.e._,
'the mountain of all lands' where the gods were born. Before the later
speculative view was developed, according to which the gods, or most of
them, have their seats in heaven,[1118] it was on this mountain also
that the gods were supposed to dwell. Hence Ekur became also one of the
names for temple,[1119] as the seat of a god. The dwelling of the dead
was regarded as a part of the 'great mountain.' It belonged to Ekur, and
the fact that it was designated simply as Ekur,[1120] is a valuable
indication that the dead were brought into close association with the
gods. This association is also indicated by the later use of Aralu as
the designation of the mountain within which the district of the dead,
Aralu proper, lay[1121]--synonymous, therefore, with Ekur. We shall see
in the course of this chapter that the dead are placed even more than
the living under the direct supervision of the gods.

A third name for the nether world which conveys an important addition to
the views held regarding the dead, was Shualu. Jensen, it is true,
following Bertin, questions the existence of this term in
Babylonian,[1122] but one does not see how the evidence of the passages
in the lexicographical tablets can be set aside in the way that he
proposes. Zimmern[1123] does not appear to be convinced by Jensen's
arguments and regards the question as an open one. Jensen's method of
disposing of Shualu, besides being open to serious objections, fails to
account for the fact that Shualu is brought into association with
various Babylonian terms and ideographs for the grave.[1124] This cannot
be accidental. That the term has hitherto been found only in
lexicographical tablets need not surprise us. Aralu, too, is of rare
occurrence in the religious texts. The priests appear to avoid the names
for the nether world, which were of ill omen, and preferred to describe
the place by some epithet, as 'land without return,' or 'dark dwelling,'
or 'great city,' and the like. Of such descriptive terms we have a large
number.[1125] The stem underlying Shualu signifies 'to ask.' Shualu is a
place of inquiry,[1126] and the inquiry meant is of the nature of a
religious oracle. The name, accordingly, is an indication of the power
accorded to the dead, to aid the living by furnishing them with answers
to questions, just as the gods furnish oracles through the mediat