spirit of the Babylonians; but it is
important to note that the custom does not appear to have been as
general[1391] in Assyria, where the temples are simply known as the
house of this or that god or goddess. Of special interest are those
names which were suggested by the original design of the temples. Such
are E-Kur, 'the mountain house' at Nippur, E-kharsag-kurkura, 'the house
of the mountain of all lands,' the name of several temples.[1392] The
same idea finds expression also in such names as E-kharsag-ella, or
'house of the glorious mountain,' the name of a temple to Gula in
Babylon; E-kharsag, 'the mountain house,' a temple in Ur;[1393]
E-khur-makh, 'the house of the great mountain,' which a text[1394]
declares to be equivalent to E-kharsag-kalama. Closely allied with these
names are those indicating in one way or the other, the height or
greatness of the buildings, as the general aim of the builders.
Prominent among such names are E-Sagila, 'the lofty house,' the famous
temple and temple area at Babylon; E-makh, 'the great house,' a chapel
to Nin-kharsag, situated perhaps within E-Sagila; E-gal-makh, 'the great
palace,' an old temple in Ur; E-anna, 'the heavenly house,' that is, the
house reaching up to heaven, which is the name of the temple of Ishtar
or Nana at Erech; E-lgi-e-nir-kidur-makh,[1395] 'the tower of the great
dwelling' sacred to Ninni at Kish. To the same class belong such
designations as E-dur-an-ki, 'the link of heaven and earth,'[1396] the
name of a zikkurat at Larsa; E-an-dadia, 'the house reaching to heaven,'
the zikkurat at Agade; E-pa, 'the summit house,' the zikkurat to
Nin-girsu at Lagash; E-gubba-an-ki, 'the point of heaven and earth,' one
of the names of the zikkurat in Dilbat; E-dim-anna, 'the house of
heavenly construction,' the chapel to Sin within the precinct of E-Zida
at Borsippa,--a name that again conveys the notion of an edifice
reaching up to heaven. The names of the zikkurats at Erech and Borsippa,
'the house of seven zones' and 'the house of the seven divisions of
heaven and earth,' respectively, while conveying, as we saw,[1397]
cosmological conceptions of a more specific character, may still be
reckoned in the class of names that embody the leading purpose of the
tower in Babylonia, as may also a name like E-temen-an-ki, 'the
foundation stone of heaven and earth,' assigned to the zikkurat to
Marduk in Babylonia.

The sacred edifice, as the dwelling of the god to whom it is d