ikewise, the numerous temples
enumerated by Nebuchadnezzar as erected or improved by him in Borsippa
were not far distant from Nabu's sanctuary,--the famous E-Zida. The
palaces of the kings were also erected near the temples. In Babylon, we
know that before Nebuchadnezzar's days, the palace stood so close to
E-Sagila that an enlargement of it was impossible without encroaching on
the sacred quarter.[1383] The tendency to combine with the worship of
the chief god, the cult of others is as characteristic of Assyrian
rulers as of their Babylonian predecessors. We are fortunate in
possessing an extensive list,[1384] enumerating the various deities
worshipped in the temples of Assyria, and the occasions on which they
are to be invoked. The information to be gained from this list is all
the more welcome since the Assyrian kings are chiefly interested in
transmitting an account of their military expeditions, and tell us
comparatively little of the religious edifices in their capitols. From
this list we learn that in the old temple sacred to Anu and
Ramman,[1385] in the city of Ashur--the oldest Assyrian temple known to
us,[1386]--some twenty deities were worshipped. Images at least of these
deities must have stood in the temple;[1387] but, since there is a
distinct reference _zikkurats_[1388] in the list, for some of them
special sanctuaries of some kind must have been erected within the
precinct. From the same list we learn that there was a temple to
Marduk[1389] in Ashur in which the cult of the Shamash, Sarpanitum,
Ramman, Ninib, Anunit was also carried on; similarly, in the temples of
Ashur, of Gula, and of Ninib, other gods were worshipped. Provisions of
some kind for the cult of these deities must have been made, and one
cannot escape the conclusion that in the Assyrian capitols, the sacred
precincts likewise covered considerable territory, and that the tendency
existed towards a steady increase of the structures erected in
connection with the cult of the patron deity. Sennacherib proudly
describes Nineveh as the city which contained the shrines of all gods
and goddesses.[1390]

The Names of the Zikkurats and Temples.

We have seen that every sacred edifice had a special name by which it
was known. This custom belongs to the oldest period of Babylonian
history, and continues to the latest. Through these names, to which, no
doubt, considerable significance was attached, we obtain a valuable
insight into the religious