anabal. As often as the Assyrian monarchs may have had
occasion to proceed to Babylonia--and the occasions were frequent, owing
to the constant disposition of the south to throw off the hated
yoke--they emphasized their devotion to Marduk, Nabu, En-lil, Shamash,
and the other gods who had their seats in the south. Sargon[1484] goes
so far in this homage as to pose as the reorganizer of the cults of
Sippar, Nippur, Borsippa, and Babylon, and of restoring the income to
temples in other places.[1485] But there was another side to this homage
that must not be overlooked. By sacrificing in the Babylonian temples,
the Assyrian rulers indicated their political control over the south.
Such homage as they manifested was the exclusive privilege of legitimate
rulers, and it was important for the Assyrians to legitimize their
control over the south.

A phase of sacrifice is represented by the libations of oil and wine to
which frequent references are found in the historical texts. It appears
to have been customary to anoint the foundation stones of temples and
palaces with oil and wine. Over the thresholds, too, and over the
stones--bearing commemorative or votive inscriptions--libations of oil,
honey, and wine were poured.

Nebopolassar[1486] speaks of placing sweet herbs under the walls, and
Nabonnedos[1487] pours oil over the bolts and doors, as well as on the
thresholds of the Shamash temple at Sippar, and fills the temple with
the aroma of frankincense. Much importance was attached to this rite,
and the kings take frequent occasion to adjure their successors who may
in the course of restoring edifices come across stones bearing the
record of former builders, to anoint these stones with oil and offer
sacrifices.[1488] Thus, Nabonnedos,[1489] when he finds the inscription
of Ashurbanabal in the Shamash temple at Sippar, carefully obeys the
injunction. The rite bears all the marks of great antiquity. The
instances of its occurrence in the Old Testament--notably in the case of
Jacob's act of pouring oil over the holy stone at Bethel[1490]--confirm
this view; and the interpretation for the rite suggested by Robertson
Smith[1491] that the oil was originally the fat of the sacrificed animal
smeared over an object or a person, as a means of investing them with
sanctity, accounts satisfactorily for the invariable juxtaposition in
the cuneiform texts of sacrificial offerings with the anointing of the
inscribed stones.

We have no evi