tablets or discs of lapis lazuli, agate, turquoise, gold, silver,
copper, antimony, and other metals with dedicatory inscriptions were
deposited in the temples. What particular purpose they served we do not
know. As a specimen of the more common formula on these tablets, a lapis
lazuli tablet of Nippur may be chosen. It is offered by a Cassite king,
and reads[1509] as follows:

To Bel
His lord
Kadashman-Turgu
For his life
Presented.

A knob-shaped object[1510] of fine limestone contains a dedication in
similar phrases to Marduk. It is offered by Bel-epush, who is probably
identical with a Babylonian ruler of this name in the seventh
century,--a contemporary of Sennacherib:[1511]

To Marduk, his lord
Bel-epush for the preservation of his life
Made and presented.

Kings, however, do not appear to be the only ones for whom these votive
offerings were prepared. A dedication to a personage otherwise unknown
and to all appearances a layman reads:[1512]

To Ea,[1513] his lord, Bel-zir,
Son of Ea-Ban,
For the preservation of his life
Made and presented.

The formulas are thus seen to be conventional ones, though occasionally
the inscription is somewhat longer. So, for example, Nazi-Maruttash,
another Cassite king, puts a little prayer on a votive offering:

[To Bel, his lord]
Nazi-Maruttash,
Son of Kurigalzu,
To hearken to his supplication,
To be favorable to his prayer,
To accept his entreaty,
To lengthen his days,
[He made and presented].

This inscription appears, as Dr. Hilprecht informs us,[1514] on an ax
made of imitation lapis lazuli.[1515] Other votive inscriptions are
found on rings and on knobs of ivory or magnesite.[1516] These various
designs no doubt all had some symbolical significance. The ring suggests
some ultimate connection between votive offerings and amulets. The seal
cylinders, we know, although put to practical use in impressing the
design on a clay tablet as a substitute for a personal signature, were
also regarded as amulets, and this accounts for the frequency with which
scenes of religious worship were introduced as designs on the cylinders.
The ring is distinctly an amulet in Babylonia as elsewhere, and hence it
is by no means improbable that the custom of carrying little inscribed
tablets, discs, or knobs about the person as a protection against
mischances preceded the use of such tablets as votive offerings to be
placed in a temple.

A