kalu; _makhkhu_,
'soothsayer'; _surru_, a term which is still obscure; _shailu_, the
'inquirer,' who obtains an oracle through the dead or through the gods;
_mushelu_, 'necromancer'; _ashipu_ or _ishippu_, 'sorcerer.'[1456] These
names probably do not exhaust the various kinds of 'magicians' that were
to be found among the Babylonian priests. In the eighteenth chapter of
Deuteronomy, no less than eleven classes of magic workers are
enumerated, and there can be little doubt but that the Pentateuchal
opposition against the necromancers, sorcerers, soothsayers, and the
like is aimed chiefly against Babylonish customs. We have seen in
previous chapters how largely the element of magic enters into the
religious rites and literature of the Babylonian-Assyrian religion and
how persistent an element it is. For the masses, the priest remained
essentially a _mashmashu_. But we have also names like _ramku_ and
_nisakku_, 'libation pourer,' which emphasize the sacrificial functions
of the priest; and in an interesting list of temple servitors,[1457]
'the dirge singers' are introduced as a special class, and appropriately
designated as _munambu_, 'wailer,' and _lallaru_, 'howler.' Of some
terms in this list, like _asinnu_, it is doubtful whether they indicate
a special class of priests or are terms for servitors in general,
attached to a temple; in the case of others, like _nash pilakki_, 'ax
carrier,' we do not know exactly of what nature the service was.[1458]
Lastly, priests in their capacity as scribes[1459] and as judges[1460]
formed another distinct class, though it should be noted that in Assyria
we meet with scribes occasionally who are not priests.[1461]

The range thus covered by the temple service,--magic, oracles,
sacrifices, the lament for the dead, and the judiciary,--is exceedingly
large. The subdivisions, no doubt, varied in each center. In the smaller
sanctuaries, those who offered the sacrifices may also have served as
soothsayers and dirge singers, and the judicial functions may likewise
have been in the same hands as those who performed other services. On
the other hand, in a temple like E-Sagila the classes and subclasses
must have been very numerous. Of the details of the organization we as
yet know very little. There was a high priest, known as the
_shangam-makhu_,[1462] and from the existence of a title like
_sur-makhu_,--that is, the chief _surru_,[1463]--we may conclude that
each class of priests had its ch